Barcelona Photoblog

January 17, 2007

Domino Tiles: Double-6 or Double-9 Set

Dominoes: Double Six is Enough
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Domino pieces, dominoes or tiles can be part of different sets being the most common the double-6, the double-9, the double-12 or even the double-15 sets. They are all named after the number of pips on the face of the highest tile. Hey, don't worry I am not into the games biz, maybe I should! My point is, now that I chose black and white detail, that in Barcelona as in many parts of the country is quite common to see people, mainly old people, playing dominoes in the bar (not downtown of course). It has been a traditional game here and they always use a double-6 set so I thought they would find this picture interesting and weird. In Latin America, especifically in the Caribbean. dominoes is considered the national game (I remember players shouting and sitting on the porch drinking beers or rum till late at night during a visit to Cuba where I bought this set) and they use double-9. Who would say that of a game invented in China as far back as the 12th century!.

January 16, 2007

Rusty Propeller

Rusty Propeller
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There is not much to say about this one, except that it is part of an old ship, a fragment laid on one side of a park along the beach walk. There was no shipwreck there as far as I know. I took a snapshot that was dark and green but with an interesting composition so I used Photomatix and its superb tone mapping function which gave me a much better image.

January 15, 2007

Pirena 2007: Dog Sleigh Show by the Beach

Pirena 2007: Dog Sleigh Show by the Beach


Last weekend we went to Nova Icaria Beach in Barcelona to witness one of the weirdest events you can think of: dog sleds racing on the sand!. It was the Pirena 2007 show. Skillful mushers, huskies, harnesses...but no snow, not even a flake!. In fact it was quite warm. We arrived late so we couldn't enjoy the whole thing. At the end there was a side contest where participants made their trained dogs run through a set up circuit of hurdles, tunnels and slides such as the one in the picture. Some of them went really fast so I had another chance to practice speed photography.
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