Bon mots from a few good women (dames, even, which is a whole other topic):
- When women go wrong, men go right after them. - Mae West
- I don't know who invented high heels, but all women owe him a lot. - Marilyn Monroe
- If you want something said, ask a man; if you want something done, ask a woman. - Margaret Thatcher
Source: Brainy Quotes
After invading southern Greece and receiving the submission of other key city-states, Philip turned his attention to Sparta and asked menacingly whether he should come as friend or foe. The reply was "Neither." Losing patience, he sent the message:
If I invade Laconia, I shall turn you out.
The Spartan ephors again replied with a single word:
If.
Philip proceeded to invade Laconia, devastate much of it, and eject the Spartans from various parts.
Source: Plutarch, via Wikipedia
Me again. Saying "If" in response to some "if/then" statement that you want to be dismissive of is cool, but there are two points:
- It's a better story when the last sentence is left off. That "if" actually happened.
- Today I learned that laconic derives from Laconia, the city-state that Philip invaded.
Posted: Jun 06
Stunning!
Tom
Tom – It is, isn’t it? My only regret was that I had no easy way to get early morning photos of it.
That’s an incredible bridge!
Great pictures
Xo
Kate
Kate – It is, isn’t it? They have many boring bridges, but this one makes up for them all.
It is a very nice bridge. Something along the lines of the bridge over the airport parkway, only nicer….
Did you get to see the Ha’penny bridge too?
Jim – Yes, it does remind me of our over-budget pedestrian flyover but, as you say, Dublin’s version is nicer. We did see the Ha’penny Bridge, but I didn’t get any photos. Perhaps it warrants another trip.
Great photos! Better than mine taken on a grey day. The designer was Calatrava, who has similar but differently inspired ones in Athens and Buenos Aires. I “collect” Calatrava bridges because of the nay-sayers in Calgary who decried the money spent on our own Calatrava, the Peace Bridge. My appreciation soars over time because he embarked on a new design theme for Calgary.
Judith – I haven’t put much attention (yet!) into collecting designers. Maybe the next project.
One closer to home is 2004, Sundial Bridge at Turtle Bay, Redding, California, US
Barry – Thanks! And here’s Wiki on it – a bridge that is also a sundial. Excellent!
Isabel – it is certainly a work of art. Like most works of art I expect it cost at least a factor of 10 more than it would have cost to construct a more standard bridge. Judith proves me correct.
J.L. Whitman, P.Eng.
John – I hear you, and when spending public funds I suppose there’s some limit on the premium that’s reasonable to achieve art on top of the required functionality. Maybe we could crowd-source the variance, improving a city’s landscape, while controlling public spending.
I think any object properly engineered has a beauty intrinsic to its design. There should be a moral in that concept as well.
Laurna – OK, that’s another approach. We can learn enough about engineering to appreciate the design in what John refers to as a “more standard” bridge.