A Virus Walks Into a Bar

…and tells some jokes about viruses, bacteria, photons, neutrinos and more. Watch this funny talk by Brian Malow.

To understand the Schrödinger's cat joke better, read this.

Dubai Ibn Battuta Mall

I wanted to visit the Ibn Battuta Mall because of its Chinese court. Before I show you the photos, let me tell you more about this mall. The Ibn Battuta Mall is on the way from Dubai to Abu Dhabi (Sheikh Zayed Road) past Dubai Internet City. The mall is named after the famous explorer Ibn Battuta. The mall’s theme is based on the countries he visited.

The mall has six courts:

1. Andalusia
2. Tunisia
3. Egypt
4. Persia
5. India
6. China

Our taxi dropped us off at the Andalusia side of the mall.

 
Taxi Stand at Ibn Battuta Mall

In the background you can see the giant arch entrance of the Ibn Battuta Gate Hotel.

Somebody told me to look up inside all the Dubai malls because the roofs are also decorated. They were right!

Roof decoration Ibn Battuta Mall

The decorations were beautiful. This one reminded me of the Alhambra in Andalusia:

Fountain Andalusia Court

The roof of the Tunisian Court looks like the shopping mall of Caesar's Palace, Las Vegas:

Tunisian Court

 
Tunisian Food Court

The Egypt Court

Entrance Persia Court

 
Persia Court

Roof Persia Court

 
India Court

The India Court holds a special reproduction: The Elephant Clock

Elephant Clock

This clock is powered by water and weights. Inside the elephant a bucket is slowly filled with water. This takes about 30 minutes. When the bucket is full a system of strings and balls pulls out the bucket and a drum is sounded to indicate a half hour has passed. The clock keeps running when there is enough water and balls available to empty the buckets.

Finally we arrived at the China Court:

China Court

 
China Court

Roof China Court

The Main China Court holds a Chinese Junk – a sailing vessel:

Chinese Junk at China Court

The mall also houses a Tony Roma’s. Beef ribs are served here, much larger than the regular ribs in the USA:

Dubai Burj Khalifa

The Burj Khalifa is the highest building in the world (as of January 2010). It is so high you can see it wherever you are in Dubai. It does not seem to get any smaller when you move away.


The Burj Khalifa is near the Dubai Mall (just right of the tower), the Dubai Fountain and the Address Hotel.

The Address Hotel reflected in the Dubai Fountain.

Construction of the Burj Khalifa was not completed when we were there. Unfortunately, the observation deck was closed, reason unknown. So I had to settle for some photos from the ground floor.
Click on the photo below to start the slide show or follow this link.

Trajectum Lumen

Just opened in the city of Utrecht, The Netherlands: Trajectum Lumen – A Utrecht Tale of Light.
Trajectum Lumen is an exploration route through Utrecht passing a number of light installations which illuminate historical locations. These light artworks shine a new light on the old buildings :-)
Opened on 7 April 2010, this free exposition will continue until 2018. The exposition starts with 18 light artworks. There will be 25 in total when everything is finished. The ambition of Utrecht is to become the cultural capital city of Europe in 2018.
The artworks will be switched on from dusk until midnight. I am planning to see the artworks by myself (I wonder what HDR photography will do here).  If you want to know when dusk starts in Utrecht – use the application TPE to determine this. I have written about this in an earlier post.
Meanwhile, take a look at the video below and the photos from the press kit.
 


Bakkerbrug


Buurkerk
  
Ganzenmarkt

Famous Failures

Watch the video…
If you have never failed, you have never lived!

Winnaar Fotowedstrijd Avro ‘De Maand van de Fotografie’

De maand maart stond in het teken van de fotografie bij Avro Kunst. Het thema van de wedstrijd was 'Jouw Stad als Kunst'. Kijk op 7 april, 21.30  naar Opium TV om te zien wie de winnaar van deze fotowedstrijd is geworden.