Holiday in Georgia?

File this under Department of Unintentional Irony: Even as Russian troops drive deeper into Georgian territory, the thoughts of many around the world must inevitably turn to more thorny issues, like where to take that well deserved but so far unplanned vacation before the summer ends. So we find, at the bottom of a 10 August 2008 HuffPost news update about the deepening conflict, describing the death and destruction being dealt out by Russian forces on the ground and from the air, the following tantalizing advertisement:

Ads by Google

Tbilisi

Hvad med en ferie i Tbilisi? Billige flybilletter - Bestil I dag

[How about a vacation in Tbilisi? Inexpensive air tickets - Order Today]

www.CzechAirlines.dk

Tbilisi, in case you don't know, is the capital city of Georgia - not the Georgia that was invaded by Sherman's troops during the American Civil War, but the Georgia currently being invaded by Russian troops to secure the breakaway provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Of course I'm sure the ad appeared elsewhere the same day, and had nothing to do with HuffPost specifically. This is simply what happens when an automated on-line program mindlessly relates web-page content to a potential advertiser based on the appearance of a few key words. Something exciting going on in Georgia? What could be a better time to fly down there for a holiday! Well, maybe it's really okay, because the Russians have denied any intentions to advance as far south as Tbilisi. In any case, the ad has disappeared by now. Instead, today's story had the following ad beneath it:

Ads by Google

Russian Brides Denmark

Single Russian and Ukrainian Brides for Denmark men. Dating, Marriage

Site2Date.com?RussianDenmarkDating

Gee, what could be a better time to think about finding a Russian bride....

Getting my duck in a row

Sunset over Furesø, Holte (12 June 2008)

This isn't a scene from Nørrebro, but a bit further north, in the town of Holte, where some friends of mine live. They have a rather sizable lake, called Furesø. Nice place to have a beer and watch the sun go down. This is what it can look like on a summer evening when the weather is good. There were a couple more ducks floating around in the scene, but they didn't survive the crop.

Poking around Nørrebro (8)

Tex-Mex (06 April 2008)

The Tex-Mex take-out at Griffenfeldsgade 9 has been renovated since this picture was taken, but the Cowboy is still there, moved front and center in the display. I got food there once, but forgot to ask the owner if he's from Texas or Mexico. I suspect not, although that doesn't mean very much. I'll just have to drop in there again some time soon.

Poking around Nørrebro (7)

View of southeastern Nørrebro and swans across Peblinge Sø (22 June 2008)

The line-of-sight is down Korsgade to Hellig Kors Kirke (Holy Cross Church) in the background. It was late afternoon on a cloudy day, so the light wasn't great; in fact a particular quality of the light coming through a gap in the clouds was what I was most interested in capturing. By the time I got the shot set up where I wanted, the light was gone. A keen observer of nature, I didn't even notice the swans until later, when I downloaded the day's photos to my laptop and had a closer look.