Category Archives: Views

Fall Foliage: Itasca State Park, Northern Minnesota

CBS Sunday Morning (November 12, 2023) – Sunday Morning” takes us deep into the autumn colors at Itasca State Park in northern Minnesota.

Established in 1891, Itasca is Minnesota’s oldest State Park. In this 32,000 acre sanctuary, the mighty Mississippi River begins its 2,552 mile journey to the Gulf of Mexico. Points of interest include old growth pine at Preacher’s Grove, Peace Pipe Vista, bison kill site and over 100 lakes. 

Videographer: Kevin Kjergaard.

Norway Travel: Exploring Fjords From Bergen (2023)

DW Travel (November 12, 2023) – The harbor city of Bergen is also known as “the heart of the fjords.”

Video timeline: 00:00 Intro 00:30 Bryggen 01:37 Mini-cruise along the Osterfjord 06:30 Fisketorget food hall

From Norway’s second largest seaport, you can go on a boat tour along the Osterfjord – as our reporter Aisha Sharipzhan did. Let her take you right into the stunning landscape of Norway’s fjords!

Profiles: American Artist Ed Ruscha – “NOW THEN” Exhibition At MoMA NYC

CBS Sunday Morning (November 12, 2023) – The largest exhibition ever of works by Ed Ruscha, one of the most celebrated American artists of the postwar era, is now on display at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

ED RUSCHA / NOW THEN

Through Jan 13, 2024

Ruscha, now 85, talks with correspondent David Pogue about collecting much of his life’s work into one retrospective; the cryptic nature of many of his paintings; and his use of unusual materials (like chocolate and axle grease).

“I don’t have any Seine River like Monet,” Ed Ruscha once said. “I’ve just got US 66 between Oklahoma and Los Angeles.” ED RUSCHA / NOW THEN will feature over 200 works—in mediums including painting, drawing, prints, photography, artist’s books, film, and installation—that make use of everything from gunpowder to chocolate. Exploring Ruscha’s landmark contributions to postwar American art as well as lesser-known aspects of his more than six-decade career, the exhibition will offer new perspectives on a body of work that has influenced generations of artists, architects, designers, and writers.

In 1956, Ruscha left his hometown of Oklahoma City and drove along interstate highway 66 to study commercial art in Los Angeles, where he drew inspiration from the city’s architecture, colloquial speech, and popular culture. Ruscha has recorded and transformed familiar subjects—whether roadside gasoline stations or the 20th Century Fox logo—often revisiting motifs, sites, or words years later. Tracing shifts in the artist’s means and methods over time, ED RUSCHA / NOW THEN  underscores the continuous reinvention that has defined his work.

The New York Times — Sunday, November 12, 2023

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Army Ammunition Plant Is Tied to Mass Shootings Across the U.S.

The site was built for the military, but commercial sales are booming with little public accountability. Rounds have been bought by murderers, antigovernment groups and others.

Gaza Hospitals Near Collapse as Fighting Rages Nearby

Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City on Friday, where a Gazan taking shelter said, “Everyone is on top of one another, displaced people, wounded people, even the medical staff.”

Facing power outages and shortages of food, water and medical supplies, hospitals are struggling just to keep patients alive, Gazan health authorities say.

They Ran Into a Bomb Shelter for Safety. Instead, They Were Slaughtered.

Hamas’s assault on southern Israel began with a barrage of rockets, sending scores of people into roadside refuges. Then gunmen came to hunt them.

Sweeping Raids, Giant Camps and Mass Deportations: Inside Trump’s 2025 Immigration Plans

If he regains power, Donald Trump wants not only to revive some of the immigration policies criticized as draconian during his presidency, but expand and toughen them.

Tourism: Newly Reopened ‘Treehouse’ At Disneyland

Los Angeles Times (November 11, 2023) – A guided tour of the newly reopened Adventureland Treehouse at Disneyland Park, originally opened by Walt Disney and his Imagineers in 1962.

A new family has moved in. Everything is fashioned from found objects, natural resources—and pure ingenuity! Follow the wood rope stairways up, up, up into the boughs and find the mother’s music den, the young sons’ nature room and the teenage daughter’s astronomy loft. Adjacent to the stairway is the home’s iconic waterwheel, which generates the energy needed to power the family’s gadgets and inventions.

The New York Times — Saturday, Nov 11, 2023

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Gaza City Hospitals Are Caught in Deadly Crossfire

Patients and displaced people line a corridor in Al Shifa hospital on Friday.

Battling Hamas fighters, Israeli forces are “closing in” on hospitals where thousands of people are stranded, while the chief U.S. diplomat says “far too many Palestinians have been killed.”

F.B.I. Seizes Eric Adams’s Phones as Campaign Investigation Intensifies

The F.B.I. seized electronic devices from Mayor Eric Adams in a dramatic escalation of a federal campaign contribution investigation.

Days after a raid at Mr. Adams’s chief fund-raiser’s home, federal agents took the mayor’s phones and iPad, two people with knowledge of the matter said.

With Manchin Out, Democrats’ Path to Holding the Senate Is Narrow

While the party will be on defense in every competitive race, Republicans face some messy primaries and a recent history of nominating extreme candidates who have lost key contests.

After Antisemitic Attacks, Colleges Debate What Kind of Speech Is Out of Bounds

Pro-Palestinian students say that they are speaking up for an oppressed people, but critics say that their rhetoric is deeply offensive.

Travel: Aerial Tour Of The Williamsburg Bridge, NYC

Drone Snap Films (November 10, 2023) – The Williamsburg Bridge is a suspension bridge in New York City across the East River  connecting the Lower East Side of Manhattan at Delancey Street  with the  Williamsburg  neighborhood of  Brooklyn  at  Broadway  near the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (Interstate 278). Completed in 1903, it was the longest suspension bridge span in the world until 1924.

Travel: Hiking Besseggen Ridge In Southern Norway

Amazing Places on Our Planet (November 10, 2023) – Besseggen Ridge is considered one of the best hikes in Scandinavia. It is situated in the Jotunheimen National Park in Norway. This epic trail runs between lakes of different colors and heights above sea level. It takes 6-8 hours to complete this challenging hike.

The Besseggen mountain ridge is forged by Thor, and one of the most known places in “The Home of the Giants” and Jotunheimen National Park. The unique aspects of this hike is the view across the ridge. The spectacular view is made from the two lakes the Gjende lake with the distinct green color, one the one side of the ridge and 400 meter above on the other side we find Bessvatnet with its blue color typical of other lakes.

The colors from Gjende is a result from glacier runoff containing clay and rock flour. Looking down towards Memurubu one can see the nearby river Muru coloring the water with a light colored runoff.

Design: Rooftop Garden House, Hampton Bays, NY

The Local Project (November 10, 2023) – Emerging out of the meadow is Peconic House by Mapos Studio, a family home with a rooftop garden located on a narrow stretch of landscape in Hampton Bays, New York.

Video timeline: 00:00 – Introduction to the Architectural Family House 00:53 – Not the Typical Hamptons House 01:29 – Emerging from the Landscape 02:09 – A Noble Material Palette 03:26 – A Walkthrough of the Home 04:32 – Incorporating A Bit of Fun 05:35 – The Star of the Exterior 05:54 – Respecting the Site 06:18 – Proud Moments

Designed to be the opposite of a typical Hamptons home, Peconic House has been built out of materials that help it become part of the landscape. Emphasising red cedar – due to the clients’ love for the material – Mapos Studio employs the wood in both the interior design and exterior architectural elements. Throughout the house, the red cedar is used for cabinetry, walls and floorboards and also gives the interior a unique aroma.

Additionally, as shown in the house tour, the cedar over the exterior architecture will weather over time due to the salt air, humidity and seasons, allowing for the clients to watch their house slowly age. As the house tour travels into the main living space of the home, there is an expansive view of Peconic Bay that immediately grabs attention. Sunken behind a bookshelf is the main living area that doubles as the family’s band room and television room, separated only by a two-sided fireplace.

To the right of the family room is the dining room and kitchen, which has become the heart of the home. Though the residence sprawls over 3,800 square metres, Mapos Studio has broken it up into smaller spaces to encourage more intimate family gatherings and connections. Moreover, there is a green roof with an overhanging sycamore tree that allows the children to climb up it and play in the rooftop garden. Designed for a New York family of five, the house encourages social connection.

The New York Times — Friday, November 10, 2023

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Israeli Forces Have Limited Time in Gaza, U.S. Officials Say

Israel launched a ground invasion in Gaza after the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad fighters in southern Israel.

Israel’s response to the Hamas attacks has fueled sympathy around the world for the Palestinian cause even as Israel continues to bury its dead.

Manchin Says He Will Not Seek Re-election, Dealing Blow to Democrats

“I have made one of the toughest decisions of my life,” Mr. Manchin said.

The decision by Senator Joe Manchin III will leave open a seat in a deeply red state, threatening Democrats’ hold on the Senate.

Vatican Says Transgender People Can Be Baptized and Become Godparents

A document approved by Pope Francis lays out nuanced guidance in keeping with his vision of a more inclusive church, but it does not amount to a policy change in the church, the Vatican says.

A New Law Supercharged Electric Car Manufacturing, but Not Sales

President Biden’s 2022 climate act spurred big investments in U.S. battery factories, but it has not similarly boosted E.V. sales.