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Underwater Park

Photograph by Marc Henauer

Every spring, melting snow creates a dreamscape in Tragss, Austria. Green Lake, which for most of the year is no more than six feet deep, expands with the inflow of snowmelt, swallowing part of the park that surrounds it: trees, hiking trails, benches, bridges, and all. The lake's depth reaches some 30 feet and provides a unique experience for diversfor a few weeks at least.

This photo and caption were submitted to the 2014 National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest

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Riverside Blooms

Photograph by Scott Rotzoll, National Geographic Your Shot

"The Nakdong Riverside Yuchae Festival in Busan, South Korea, is an annual event that I'd never been to before," says Your Shot contributor Scott Rotzoll. "So when a notice appeared in a local magazine, I made sure to put aside the time to visit it. There really wasn't a lot of preparation for this shot. There were canola flowers blanketing the riverside as far as you could see, dotted with people. My main focus was to use the bridge to frame one side of the photo, with one or two points of interest within."

Rotzoll's picture recently appeared in the Your Shot Daily Dozen.

This photo was submitted to Your Shot. Check out the new and improved website, where you can share photos, take part in assignments, lend your voice to stories, and connect with fellow photographers from around the globe.

Swimming for Supper

Photograph by Narong Rattanaya, National Geographic Your Shot

"On Phuket, Thailand, monkeys [inhabit] the mangrove forest and tourists and locals come to feed them bananas and nuts," writes Narong Rattanaya, a member of our Your Shot community. "The monkeys swim and dive in the water while they wait for the food."

This photo was submitted to Your Shot. Check out the new and improved website, where you can share photos, take part in assignments, lend your voice to stories, and connect with fellow photographers from around the globe.

$230 Million Awarded for Comprehensive Urban Flood Protection Strategy

A comprehensive water management project that will protect Hoboken, Weehawken and northern Jersey City has won $230 million of federal funding as part of the Rebuild by Design resiliency competition. This unprecedented level of funding will enable Hoboken and its neighbors to finally solve the flooding problem that has plagued the region for so long.

“I have been advocating for a comprehensive solution to Hoboken’s flooding problems since I first ran for City Council in 2007,” said Mayor Dawn Zimmer. “This project will implement a water management strategy that will comprehensively protect all of our residents, businesses, and the critical assets we share like the PATH, transit stations, and hospital. One of the elements of the plan will use parks as flood protection, creating more open space for our residents to enjoy.”

The comprehensive strategy was developed by an international team of experts led by the firm OMA. The proposal titled “Resist, Delay, Store, Discharge: a Comprehensive Urban Water Strategy” employs a multi-pronged approach to address Hoboken’s historic flooding challenges. Details of the proposal can be found at www.rebuildbydesign.org/project/oma-final-proposal.

“During Superstorm Sandy, the Shades area in southern Weehawken was severely flooded due to the storm surge which entered near our border with Hoboken,” said Weehawken Mayor Richard F. Turner. “This plan will fully protect the residents of Weehawken and could serve as a national model for regional urban resiliency.”

Mayors Zimmer and Turner expressed their gratitude to HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan, Senior Advisor to Secretary Donovan Henk Ovink, Senator Robert Menendez, Senator Cory Booker, Representative Albio Sires, Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop and all the members of the Christie Administration who worked to help make this project a reality.

“Over 50 elected officials, agencies, and community organizations, leaders and individuals provided letters of support for the OMA proposal, and on behalf of the City of Hoboken, I would like to say thank you to everyone,” added Mayor Zimmer.

The City of Hoboken will be doing extensive outreach including holding a series of community meetings so residents can provide their input and learn more about this historic opportunity.

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sol H, 2012, 35×35 cm

sol H, detail

sol 13, 2013, 35×28 cm

sol 16, 2013, 75×60 cm

sol 43, 2013, 85×70 cm

sol 56, 2013, 47×40 cm

sol 15, 2013, 67×50 cm

tony wuethrich satellite, zürich

When looking at Swiss painter Conrad Jon Godly’s mountainous paintings, it takes a moment to truly appreciate the incredible skill behind what seems to be such an effortless application of paint. Up close the landscapes appear to be a thick, almost random mix of blue, white and black, the result oils mixed with turpentine to create a thick impasto that Godly often leaves dripping from the canvas. Take a few steps back (or just squint your eyes a bit) and miraculously you might as well be looking at a photograph of the Swiss Alps. It’s a visual trick that the artist has perfected in both small and large-scale paintings over the last few years.

Godly studied as a painter at the Basel School of Art from 1982 until 1986, but then worked as a professional photographer for 18 years. He only returned to painting in 2007 and it would seem his photographic work has had a subtle influence on his abstract painting. The artist most recently had exhibitions at Gallery Luciano Fasciati and Tony Wuethrich Gallery in Switzerland, and you can see many more paintings on his website. (via OEN, A Wash of Black)

Brave. The Jack Wilshere of goats.

Hey, happy Friday you absolute darlings.

On the menu today is something well seasoned, expensive and useful.

Who’s that? Eto’o.

He’s leaving Chelsea because they think he’s useless, but he’s not having it.

I said he’s not facking having it.

He wants to stay in London and prove he’s not an past it African superstar with a date of birth that is questionable.

I’d love him at Arsenal. He’s a name. He’s a legend. He’s a perfect option from the bench. He’s so outrageously rich, I’m sure we could pick him up on a pretty good deal. If he could contribute 10 goals to next season, that’s ten more goals than Sanogo offered this season. You also have the benefit of his experience filtering into our ‘fingers crossed’ superstar signing as well as teaching Sanogo where that damn goal is…

‘No Yaya, not there, and pull your shorts up you silly boy!’

I’d be bang up for a move like that. It adds a bit of seriousness to our squad. Even though he’s old, he’s still an exciting name. You don’t forget how to finish… do you?

No you don’t.

In other news, Wenger has signed on for three more years. Here’s a shocker, Bob Wilson is pleased.

‘This is a guy who works 24 hours a day all year around’

‘He hates to lose and revolutionised the game in the country. Some say he has too much power but a guy who dedicates himself to it like he does, you cherish.’

I don’t cherish his control or power. Nor do I care that he gives it his all. I earn about half of what he does and I’m working the weekend. Plenty of people work jobs they hate 7 days a week.

No doubt this deal will have no stipulations, no KPIs, no ‘look, if you don’t improve, let’s part waves’… just three years of ‘one or two players, we’re nearly there’.

Facepalm. I’ll have to reset my two year counter to three  years. Arsene Wenger, the never ending manager.

Another short one. So how about you do some work and tell me who our back up striker should be this season?

A day earlier than normal, this week’s playlist, Recover, has arrived and can be found here or in the Dad’s Jukebox widget in the right sidebar. Tomorrow, the World Cup begins in earnest. Older playlists can be found on Dad’s Jukebox.

And attention is turning toward Brazil, the commercialisation of the World Cup laid bare for all to see. FIFA is not the only business making money out of it, t-shirts will bring in big bucks as well. UK supermarkets have their own range, one cashing in on iconic imagery of Bobby Moore & Pele’s embrace in 1970. That pales into insignificance next to the “brand new Versace baroque print created using the colours of a Brazilian carnival, decorated with repeated images footballs and flowers. Gold chains and leopard print add luxury, while silhouettes of football players connect the glamour of Versace with the sportsmanship of Brazil”, all for an eye-watering £410. No, that’s a full-stop, not a misplaced decimal point.

Pele has decided to create 1,283 gems from the carbon in his hair. At which point the monologue that was about to follow sinks without a trace with the proceeds going to the “largest pediatric complex in Brazil“. It will be interesting to see how much is raised for the facility, particularly defining proceeds which normally includes a healthy profit-margin for licensor and manufacturer. That’s once my head has stopped spinning at the thought of jewels made from the carbon in Pele’s hair. What, I wonder, would Arsène be able to conjure from his, ahem, natural resources?

Arsenal as a club, have a different approach to the World Cup; we like to give things away. Swansea got the first gift, one slightly used Polish goalkeeper with Lukas Fabianski hopping onto the first express out of Paddington over the Severn Bridge. He has left to “save his career“. From what is not entirely clear, perhaps there are some fire-breathing dragons about to swoop on Colney, we just don’t know. Presumably he was referring to not getting a game in Arsenal’s first XI beyond the domestic cups. It’s a risk, unless he knows something we don’t and that is highly likely, as Swansea have two other goalkeepers in their squad. Michel Vorm has constantly been linked with a move away from the club, Anfield his most recent destination according to the back pages. Bacary Sagna too, has cleared his locker for the last time, confirming to French media that is leaving the club upon the expiry of his contract.

To varying degrees, both players will be missed. Sagna had versatility which needs two signings to replace. That’s a tall order for a manager who is on record as stating that any more than three arrivals is disruptive to the squad. Of course, he’s going to do whatever he thinks is necessary and there is often too much literalism attached to Arsène’s words by friend and foe alike. He’s signed more than three players in one window previously so that number is an ideal as opposed to a hard and fast rule. Or at least I hope that is the case. You need to have hope at this stage of the summer, don’t you?

Sagna’s experience will be missed and despite Carl Jenkinson having a good case to make, it seems likely a new right back will arrive in the summer. The club’s attempt to sign Juanfran from Atletico is interesting. At 29, the Spaniard seems likely to a player for one contract, one who will allow Jenkinson to continue to develop at his own pace and gradually take regular first team duties. It suggests Wenger thinks the youngster is not quite ready yet and at odds with the media frenzy over Serge Aurier, who being not much older than Jenkinson, would probably, to use one of Arsène’s favourite phrases, kill his career.

A new goalkeeper in that sense is more urgent. Damian Martinez may have gained experience at Sheffield Wednesday but is that enough to put pressure on Wojciech Szczesny? Is it enough to deputise on a long-term basis, as form or injury may dictate? Of course we don’t require an experienced back-up goalkeeper but to me, the specialised nature of the position means that it is preferable, particularly with our injury record. Even so, fifteen appearances for The Owls does not signal a vast tract of experience to draw upon. For that reason, the readiness and ability, I think Fabianski will be the harder of the two to replace.

I don’t blame either for leaving but they are not martyrs to any cause other than their own. Their departures are not symptomatic of any malaise at the club or any unwillingness to invest in the current squad. Fabianski is leaving to try to further his career, who knows if it the right move for him, I hope he finds the regular first team action he desires. He’s a good goalkeeper, his improved self-belief was shown last season before injury hit his chances of proving he could be first choice at Arsenal. Some disagree, so be it, that’s my view on him.

On the other hand it’s impossible to believe Bacary Sagna has left for anything other than monetary reasons. Idiots may taunt and abuse his loved one on anti-social media but they are guilty of the ghastliest hypocrisy and degrade nobody but themselves with their behaviour. Any of us, in his position, would have our heads turned by a contract that is 50% higher than an existing employer is offering. At these salary levels, my head spins at the thought of a weekly pay packet that big. Whilst we may pontificate over the morality, our conversations are from an idealistic perspective. We don’t know the feeling of earning that much and we certainly don’t know anything of Sagna’s circumstance or philosophy. Rushing to judgement is unseemly in its haste.

Nor by the same token will I condemn the club, particularly if the rumoured £130k per week salary is anywhere near correct. I understand the reasoning for not matching that and if the transfer gossip is anything to go by, opportunities exist to sign a replacement. On this occasion, I would venture it is a parting of the ways that whilst not in Arsenals best interests in the short-term, is not so damaging in the grand scheme of things. The proviso that the club act decisively over the summer in the transfer window obviously applies.

The hope is that these two departures unblock the Arsenal Transfer Express. The guard is pursing his lips around the whistle with the train readying itself to leave. Time to hop on board, Mr Wenger.

’til Tomorrow.