Saturday, 27 September 2014

The Giver

THE GIVER


The Giver was written in 1993 and the likely inspiration behind subsequent book and movie franchises, The Hunger Games (2008) and Divergent (2011). It would also seem that M Night Shymalan's The Village (2004) took inspiration from Lois Lowry's book.

'The Giver' is about a society that has eliminated pain and suffering through 'sameness', by erasing feelings of jealousy, anger, and even love. The protagonist is introduced to these feelings and seeks to give them back to the rest of the society.

"If you can't feel, what's the point?"

"Faith is seeing beyond"


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Tuesday, 23 September 2014

Abandoned Places


ABANDONED PLACES

I found these pictures, along with the information, on Distractify. They are amazing!

Distractify - 38 of The Most Haunting Abandoned Places on Earth



These real life ruins offer an eerie glimpse into a world without humans. 




Source: boredpanda.com
Pripyat, a city of nearly 50,000, was totally abandoned after the nearby Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986. Due to radiation, it has been left untouched ever since the incident and will be for many thousands of years into the future. Nature now rules the city in what resembles an apocalyptic movie.
Source: wikipedia.org

2. Mirny Diamond Mine - Eastern Siberia, Russia

Source: imgur.com
The world's second largest man-made hole, Mirny was constructed by Stalin to satisfy the Soviet Union's demand for industrial diamond. Further digging efforts were eventually abandoned when it became too difficult to continue digging this massive hole.
Source: atlasobscura.com

4. Ryugyong Hotel - Pyongyang, North Korea

Source: wikipedia.org
The Ryugyong Hotel is a true display of North Korea's madness. Work started on this 105 story hotel only a few years before a massive famine plagued the country. Abandoned for 16 years, work once again began in 2008, when it was coated in $150 million worth of glass. Foreign guests have reported that although the structure now looks complete on the outside, a lot of the interior is still abandoned and incomplete.Source: dailymail.co.uk

Source: adwheelerphotography.com
Willard Asylum for the Chronic Insane was built in 1869 and closed in 1995. Housing 4000 patients at its peak, more than half of the 50,000 patients who called Willard Asylum their home died within its walls. This makes the asylums morgue (pictured above) one of the creepiest places we can imagine. By its closure, most patients were eventually integrated back into society, but in the early days "people didn't leave unless it was in a box."
Source: usatoday.com

6. Sanzhi UFO Houses - San Zhi, Taiwan

Source: picc.it
These homes were intended to be sold to U.S. military officers when construction began in 1978. In 1980, work was halted due to loss of investment.Source: wikipedia.org

Source: mnn.com
Severely damaged by Hurricane Katrina, Six Flags Jazzland has been abandoned since. Several of the rides still stand, a testimony to the resilience of New Orleans. Several companies have plans to develop the park, but until then it will remain as the perfect setting for a horror movie.
Source: mnn.com

8. Gulliver’s Travels Park - Kawaguchi, Japan

Source: Old Creeper
Constructed in the shadow of Mt Fuji, this theme park opened in 1997. Despite financial help from the Japanese government, it lasted only 10 years before being abandoned.
Source: weburbanist.com

9. Bannerman Castle - Pollepel Island, New York

Source: snackish.com
Bannerman Castle's owner, Francis Bannerman VI, built the structure as storage space after buying the American military surplus from the war with the Spanish. After 200lbs of ammunition exploded in 1920, much of the castle was destroyed and the rest abandoned.
Source: artificialowl.net

10. Disney’s Discovery Island - Lake Buena Vista, Florida

Source: flickr.com
A former wildlife attraction in the heart of Disney World, it is rumoured that the island was left to run wild after bacteria capable of killing humans was discovered in the surrounding water.

11. Aniva Rock Lighthouse - Sakhalinskaya Oblast, Russia

Source: michaeljohngrist.com/
A formal penal island used by the Russians, Aniva was once sought after by both the Russia and Japan. This now Russian controlled territory sits uninhabited in the seas between Japan and the eastern coast of Russia.
Source: wikipedia.org

12. Canfranc Rail Station, Spain

Source: blogspot.com
Canfranc Rail Station was part of an international railway route through Spain and France. An accident in 1970 destroyed a nearby bridge and ended international rail links between the two countires, leaving Canfranc deserted.

13. Chateau Miranda - Celles, Belgium

Source: imgur.com
The castle was originally built by French aristocrats fleeing the revolution. During and after World War II, Miranda Castle was used as an orphanage. It was abandoned in 1980, with the family refusing to allow authorities to care for the structure. Because of its past, this haunting castle remains a favourite amongst ghost hunters.
Source: wikipedia.org

15. Eilean Donan - Loch Duich, Scotland

Source: drronson.
Located in the Highlands of Scotland, the Eilean Donan island sat abandoned until 1911, when it was restored by a prominent retired military officer.
Source: wikipedia.org



Source: totallycoolpix.com
In the past Hashima Island was rich in coal, with over 5000 miners once living on the island. When petrol replaced coal as Japan's main source of fuel, the settlement was left abandoned. Now the once thriving town is creepily abandoned, with only shadows remaining.

Source: wikipedia.org

18. City Hall Station - New York City, New York

Source: imgur.com
City Hall Station was built in 1904 and closed in 1945 as only around 600 people used it only a daily basis.Source: huffingtonpost.com

19. Orpheum Auditorium - New Bedford, Massachusetts

Source: boredpanda.com
This Auditorium opened on the same day that the Titanic sunk, April 15th, 1912. A supermarket now occupies some of the building, but the rest remains beautifully deserted.
April 15th 1912
April 15th 1912
Source: urbanghostsmedia.com

Source: creepyabandonedplaces.tumblr.com
Holy Land USA was a theme park based on passages from the Bible. At its peak in the 1960s and 70s, the park attracted around 40,000 visitors annually. It was closed down in 1984, though the grounds remain intact.
Source: wikipedia.org

22. Wreck of the SS America - Fuerteventura, Canary Islands

Source: Pedro Lopez Batista
This former United States ocean liner was wrecked in 1994 after 54 years of service.





25. Red Sands Sea Forts - Sealand, United Kingdom

Source: flickr.com
Originally built during World War II to protect the River Thames, these forts are now lifeless. Except for those that have been claimed by Sealand, a micronation off the shore of England.

26. Overgrown section of the Great Wall - China

Source: Trey Ratcliff
The Great Wall is 13,170 miles long and vast sections receive little maintenance because of the enormous cost of caring for such a monumental structure.
Source: dailymail.co.uk

Source: boredpanda.com
Built through 1912 and 1913, Central Station served as the passenger rail depot for Detroit and was the tallest train station in the world. With the closure of the line in 1988, Central Station fell into disuse and all restoration plans have failed.

Source: wikipedia.org

31. Abandoned church with chairs still standing

Source: lovethesepics.com
This church was left to decay with the chairs still standing and a baby's coffin still visible. 

32. Wonderland Amusement Park - Beijing, China

Source: buzzfeed.com
Designed to be the biggest amusement park in Asia, Wonderland was never completed after financial issues. The land has since been cultivated by local farmers.

Source: wikipedia.org

35. El Hotel del Salto - Colombia

Source: today.it
Hotel del Salto was built in 1928 for wealthy tourists visiting the nearby Tequendama Falls. Eventually, the waterfall was contaminated and visitors lost interest, leading to the hotel’s abandonment.

Source: desertedplaces.blogspot.com

36. Christ of the Abyss - San Fruttuoso, Italy

Source: lensart.ru
Guido Galletti built this statue of Christ in 1954 and placed it into the water at a depth of 55 feet.

Source: wikipedia.org

Source: adwheelerphotography.com
Operated from 1829 until 1971, Eastern State was one of the first modern penitentiaries. Now a national landmark, the prison was designed in a revolutionary wagon wheel shape which became a globally adopted style. Eastern State held the likes of Willie Sutton and Al Capone. If only walls could talk…



Overgrown palace, Poland

Source: Lucas Malkiewicz
In 1910, this grand palace was built as a home for Polish Royalty. The rest of the century proved uncertain for the country and under communist rule the palace became an agricultural school, as well as a home for mentally handicapped adults and children. The former palace was deserted following the fall of the USSR.

Jet Star Rollercoaster, Seaside Heights, New Jersey

Source: http://www.indicepr.com
The Jet Star Rollercoaster was left submerged in the Atlantic Ocean after Superstorm Sandy in 2013. It stood rusting for six months, until it was plucked from the sea.






An abandoned church with a few lingering parishioners, Netherlands




Movie theater in Detroit, Michigan

Source: foiresaintgermain.org
With Detroit's decline, many of its historic buildings have fallen into disuse. This movie theater is both a fascinating and sad example.

Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California

Source: Ed Roppo (rustyjaw on Flickr)
The Mare Island Naval Shipyard acted as a submarine port during both of the World Wars. In the 1990s, the building was abandoned and flooding has since created an amazing mirror effect.

The titanic took its first and last voyage in April, 1912. It was not until 73 years later that the decaying wreck of what was once the greatest ship in the world was discovered. The 1,500 souls lost with the vessel had been devoured by sea life, leaving behind a ghost ship.

The "little belt railway" was a circular railway system built in 1852 to supply Paris' fortifications. When the city outgew its defenses in 1934, the railway system was also left to run wild.

Spreepark, Berlin, Germany

Source: Jan Van de Ven - Prints Available
Spreepark, opened in 1969, was the only amusement park in East Berlin during Soviet rule. When the wall fell, bigger and better parks opened, leading to Spreeparks closure in 2001.



Chris McCandless’ magic bus, Stampede Trail, Alaska

Bus 142 was left behind by the workers who built the railway at Stampede Trail. Christopher McCandless, an American hitchhiker whose story was told through the movie "Into The Wild, lived and died in what he referred to as the "magic bus" during the summer of 1992.

Staircase to nowhere, Pismo Beach, California

Source: twitter.com
Once giving access to the beach, the walkway that connected this staircase to the bluffs has long since rotted away.

Source: Chris Luckhardt
Nara Dreamland was built in 1961 after Disneyland took the world by storm. The entrance to the park was almost identical to Disneyland and included its own version of Sleeping Beauty's Castle. The park closed in 2006 because of low visitor numbers.



Methodist church, Gary, Indiana

Source: destroyed-and-abandoned.tumblr.com
Gary, Indiana, was founded in 1905 during the boom of US steel. During the 1950s, more than 200,000 people worked in the bustling city. As the manufacturing sector declined, nearly half of the city fell into disuse.

Church steeple peeking out of a frozen lake, Reschen, Italy

Source: twitter.com
Lake Reschen is an artifical reservoir which submerged several villages and a 14th century church.

Glenwood power station, New York

Source: Will Ellis
The Glenwood Power Station, built in 1906, has long been obsolete. After closing in 1968, the sight was used as a backdrop for creepy thrillers and zombie movies.

Car graveyard, Ardennes, Belgium

Source: rerun.soup.io
Many American soldiers based on the Western front during World War 2 purchased cars for personal use. When the war ended, they proved too expensive to ship home and many were left abandoned in this eerie graveyard.

Abandoned hospital bed. Chernobyl, Ukraine

Source: twitter.com
The city of Chernobyl was totally abandoned after the nearby nuclear disaster in 1986. Due to radiation, it has been left untouched ever since the incident and will be for many thousands of years into the future. Nature now rules the city in what resembles an apocalyptic movie.

Poveglia Island, Italy

Poveglia is an island in the Venetian Lagoon which under the rule of Napoleon Bonaparte became a dumping ground for plague victims and later an asylum for the mentally ill.

Beautiful Landmarks Re-imagined as Post-Apocalyptic Wastelands





Beautiful Landmarks Are Reimagined As Post-Apocalyptic Wastelands Remind Us That Nothing Is Forever

avatarPinar 29-AugLEAD ARTS & PHOTOGRAPHY WRITER
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A team of artists and designers at Naughty Dog have re-imagined some of the world's most recognizable landmarks as post-apocalyptic versions of themselves and it's unbelievably haunting, especially when you look at it in a before-and-after sequence.












Taking inspiration from The Last of Us, a popular video game that takes place in a post-apocalyptic world with zombies, Naughty Dog decided to imagine different international landscapes with the same visual effects. They managed to capture the horrifying abandonment of beloved cities and the weathering of their architecture as the earth would very likely reclaim it all.
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