Aurora Borealis

(source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/karenlynn/62037112)


The Aurora Borealis, or the Northern Lights, are collisions between electrically charged particles from the sun that enter the earth's atmosphere at high speeds. They are seen in the magnetic poles at both southern and northern hemispheres. They are known as 'Aurora australis' in the south and as 'Aurora borealis' in the north. The lights are seen in the zone over the northern part of Scandinavia, southern part of Greenland, over Canada and Alaska, as well as the coast of Siberia. They show in shades of red, yellow, green, blue, and violent. The most common colors are pale green and pink. These lights are such a beautiful phenomenon that I look forward to one day witnessing.


Time-lapse display of the Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights, in British Columbia, Canada.
(source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIXs6Sh0DKs)

Time-lapse display of the Aurora Australis, or Southern Lights
(source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icugqEEOgkg)

The Parthenon

This the ancient building lies on Acropolis, the hill above Athens, Greece. This building was constructed around 440 B.C. and was originally a temple to Athena, one of the Greek goddesses.
The architects were Iktinos and Kallikrates and the sculptor Pheidias (who made the massive chryselephantine cult statue of the goddess).
(source: http://www.plutonicdesign.com/eaw/images/EAW_parthenon_exterior1.jpg)

The Parthenon is a a large structure. It has a rectangular floor plan with a series of low steps on every side, and columns extending around the outside of the entire structure, or a Doric peripteral temple. The room, the naos, housed the cult statue and the other room, the opisthodomos was used as a treasury.

Here is a floor plan:
(source: http://academic.reed.edu/humanities/110Tech/Parthenon.html)

It was built to replace two earlier temples of Athena on the Acropolis. One of these stood south of the Parthenon and hardly has any remains left.

The other was on the same spot as the Parthenon and was being built during the time of the Persian sack in 480.

The Parthenon receives attention from archaeologists, historians, architects, painters and poets. Also, from many tourists who come to learn about the Greek culture architecture.

(source: http://kbagdanov.wordpress.com/2009/03/05/the-acropolis/)

(sources: http://www.sacredsites.com/europe/greece/parthenon.html,
http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/The_Parthenon.html, http://kbagdanov.wordpress.com/2009/03/05/the-acropolis/)

Stonehenge

(source: my picture)

Stonehenge a national icon that stands in the Salisbury plain in Wiltshire, England, two miles west of the town of Amesbury. Archaeologists have said the stones were erected sometime between 2400-3000 BC. Stonehenge itself is managed by English Heritage and owned by the Crown, the surrounding land however, is owned by National Trust. No one is positive what the stones were created for, but theorists have concluded that the Druids, Greeks, Phoenicians, and Atlanteans may all have been involved. It is a landmark that attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists from around the world. I visited Stonehenge is May 2007 and had a wonderful time. it was amazing to see this landmark in person. It is one of the many places in the world I have always wanted to go, and one of the many wonders.

(source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36pA0xTl1yg&feature=player_embedded)

Challenges and Opportunities

Blogging offers many challenges as well as opportunities. Learning the blogging capabilities is the first step. Once that's taken care of, a person can use blogging as a chance to share their thoughts, ideas, and work with others. There can be blogs for personal use as well as business. You can showcase your work and also inform others about what's going on. Blogging is a great opportunity for those interested in public relations, advertising, and journalism. Enhancing the means of communication is another pro to blogging.

The challenge bloggers face is to have people visit their blog. Many people might not blog themselves, but if a blogger can get those people to look at their own, then they can communicate to the masses. Another challenge of blogging is that is lacks accountability. Anyone can blog about anything and it might not be true. Unlike journalists, blogger don't have to tell the truth. This enables them the ability to say what they want.

Blogging allows people to communicate and share their thoughts and ideas creatively. Both the challenges and opportunites offer a person a chance to express themselves.