Author: Fernando Kaskais

Fernando KasKais Photography, minimalist and conceptual photography
Curiositys, Health, LivingLeave a comment

If You Smell Strong “Chlorine” In A Pool, You Should Probably Get Out

Fernando Kaskais

What you are smelling at the pool is not actually chlorine. By JAMES FELTON We regret to inform you that the smell which you call “chlorine” at the swimming pool is not, in fact, just the cleaning agent chlorine. In fact, if it smells too strongly of “chlorine” it might be a good idea to get out of the pool entirely, for it is the result of something called “chloramines”. Chlorine doesn’t actually give off the distinctive “pool smell”, although chlorinated water can have a slight chemical odor that can be smelled in pools without good ventilation. Chloramines, on the … Continue reading If You Smell Strong “Chlorine” In A Pool, You Should Probably Get Out

Media&Culture, Music, PhotographyLeave a comment

A lifelong friendship with David Bowie – In photos

Fernando Kaskais

Rock ‘n’ roll with me Text by Emma GarlandPhotography © Geoff MacCormack Singer, songwriter and producer Geoff MacCormack was by David Bowie’s side from their primary school days to touring the world. His new photographic memoir gives a unique and intimate insight into the man who changed music. When David Bowie calls you up and asks you to join him on tour, you say yes. For singer, songwriter and producer Geoff MacCormack, the decision was even more obvious. The pair first met at Burnt Ash Primary School in Bromley in the mid-1950s, when Bowie was just a boy known as David … Continue reading A lifelong friendship with David Bowie – In photos

Curiositys, History, Philosophy, PsychologyLeave a comment

Milk, pity and power

Fernando Kaskais

Cimon and Pero, also known as Roman Charity (c1625) by Peter Paul Rubens. Courtesy the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam Since antiquity, artists have depicted a perverse scene of a daughter breastfeeding her aged father. What does it mean? By Margie Orford, is a writer and journalist. She is the author of the literary crime fiction series the Clare Hart novels, which explore violence and its effects in South Africa, and have been translated into more than 10 languages. She is also an award-winning journalist who writes for newspapers in the United Kingdom and South Africa. She is an honorary fellow of St Hugh’s College, Oxford … Continue reading Milk, pity and power

PhotographyLeave a comment

Observatório

Fernando Kaskais

© FERNANDO KASKAIS Observam o barco, talvez gostassem de estar no barco para poderem gostar de estar em terra. Como diz o poeta; quem cruzou todos os mares cruzou somente a monotonia de si mesmo. Pois, neste mundo, viajantes, voluntários ou involuntários, entre o nada e o nada, ou, entre tudo e tudo, somos todos apenas passageiros, observadores, que não devem dar demasiado importância aos percalços do percurso, ás oscilações da embarcação e, ás imprecisões da trajectória. Continue reading Observatório

China, Globalization, Politics, RussiaLeave a comment

Reviving The Realm Of Czars And Emperors

Fernando Kaskais

Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping during a reception at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 21. (Pavel Byrkin / SPUTNIK / AFP) Civilizational identity stands behind Xi and Putin’s front against a liberal world order. BY NATHAN GARDELS – Nathan Gardels is the editor-in-chief of Noema Magazine. Where a host meets his guests reveals the context in which he wants to be regarded. The background decor of the chosen setting is more than a telling detail. It is the writing on the wall.  In the case of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, the image of power they want … Continue reading Reviving The Realm Of Czars And Emperors

Buddhism, Climate Change, Health, Philosophy, PsychologyLeave a comment

Meditation in an Age of Cataclysms

Fernando Kaskais

When despairing thoughts about climate collapse become overwhelming, try turning towards feeling.  By David Edwards  If consciousness is an ocean, thoughts are waves that can be churned into vast storms. Have you ever awakened in the wee small hours, adrift on your tiny raft of awareness, to find yourself confronted by such a storm? Perhaps an icy wind is whipping up the memory of something you read about COVID and slapping you in the face with it: So now I have to tell the daughter that both her parents are dead in a matter of three days. Her dad’s not even buried yet. … Continue reading Meditation in an Age of Cataclysms

Ásia, Esoteric, Health, PhilosophyLeave a comment

In the West, yoga is exercise. In the East, it is something much bigger

Fernando Kaskais

Yoga is more than just standing on your head. It’s about uniting with the divine. KEY TAKEAWAYS By Alexandra Keeler While yoga has become a trendy lifestyle and wellness practice in North America, its roots are ancient, spiritual, and profound. Originally developed in Hinduism, yoga provides a path to achieve a higher state of consciousness and to unite with the divine. The Sanskrit word yoga literally translates to “to yoke,” derived from the root word yiuj which means “to join,” “to integrate,” or “to harness.” The word yoga was first mentioned in one of the oldest texts known to humanity, the Rig Veda. The Rig Veda is … Continue reading In the West, yoga is exercise. In the East, it is something much bigger

History, Politics, Russia, WarLeave a comment

At the Kremlin in 1943

Fernando Kaskais

Stalin presented Orthodox leaders with a proposal: the Soviet state that had destroyed their Church would bring it back Russian Orthodox Monks, Zagorsk, USSR 1958. Photo courtesy Cornell Capa, International Center of Photography/Magnum Kathryn David is a historian with the Office of the Historian, US Department of State. She was formerly a Mellon Assistant Professor of Russian and East European Studies at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee. The views presented here are her own and do not necessarily reflect those of the US Department of State or the US government. She is working on the book One Ukraine, Under God. In September 1943, as … Continue reading At the Kremlin in 1943

Activism, Eco, Hypocrisy, ManipulationLeave a comment

Your ‘Recycled’ Grocery Bag Might Not Have Been Recycled

Fernando Kaskais

Top: In 2015, recycling is sorted at the Sims Municipal Recycling Facility in New York City. Visual: Spencer Platt/Getty Images Recent laws encourage recycling old plastic into new products. But verifying recycled content relies on tricky math. BY IAN MORSE TO JUMPSTART A paltry market for recycled plastic, governments across the globe are pushing companies to include recycled materials in their products. Last year, the United Kingdom introduced a tax on manufacturers that produce or import plastic packaging containing less than 30 percent recycled plastic. In 2024, New Jersey will begin enforcing similar rules, albeit with lower targets. California now requires that beverage containers be made of 15 … Continue reading Your ‘Recycled’ Grocery Bag Might Not Have Been Recycled

Freak U.S.A, History, Living, Media&CultureLeave a comment

Earthships, Mormons, Doomsdayers and Weed

Fernando Kaskais

Credit: Peter Yeung Scenes from our Paris-based correspondent’s epic three-month road trip across these “dizzyingly paradoxical” United States. By: Peter Yeung “America has only three cities: New York, San Francisco and New Orleans. The rest is Cleveland,” the great American playwright Tennessee Williams is more or less quoted to have said (even if the provenance is murky). Perhaps fittingly, though by complete coincidence, Cleveland is exactly where I began a recent three-month odyssey across the United States of America — to my foreign eyes, at least, a dizzyingly paradoxical and dysfunctional nation that is nonetheless studded with pockets of brilliance, defiance … Continue reading Earthships, Mormons, Doomsdayers and Weed