Opus – Page 105 – Encyclopædia of the sublime

Sumidagawa Fireworks Festival

The Sumidagawa Fireworks Festival is an annual fireworks festival held on the last Saturday in July, over the Sumidagawa near Asakusa. Unlike fireworks displays in other parts of the world, the Sumidagawa Hanabi Taikai is a competition held between rival pyrotechnic groups. Each group tries to out-do the last, and the result is an incredible variety of fireworks, not just in different colors and patterns, but forming shapes as complicated as Doraemon, Pikachu, or kanji.

Borobudur

This famous Buddhist temple, dating from the 8th and 9th centuries, is located in central Java.

Sonepur Mela Cattle Fair

An annual cattle fair that titles to one of the biggest in Asia. Going by the pattern of the stars, the fair takes place on the auspicious dates of Kartik Poornima (full moon day) in the month of November every year. The fair acts as a selling ground of not only cattle, but breeds of dogs, elephants, birds and camels also become part of the attractions.

Araya

The peninsula of Araya in northeastern Venezuela, is one of the most arid places on earth. For five hundred years, since its discovery by the Spanish, the region's salt has been exploited manually. A 17th-century fortress built to protect against pirate raids stands as a reminder of the days when salt was worth almost as much as gold and great fortunes were made. This documentary captures the life of the salineros and their back-breaking work in breathtaking images.

Kadupul flower

Kadupui is a flower that blooms at midnight and dies in the morning.

QSL cards

QSL cards are written confirmations of either a two-way radiocommunication between two amateur radio stations or a one-way reception of a signal from an AM radio, FM radio, television or shortwave station. They can also confirm the reception of a two-way radiocommunication by a third party. A typical QSL card is the same size and made from the same material as a typical postcard, and many are sent through the mail as a standard postcard.

Josef Koudelka

Josef Koudelka is a Czech photographer who’s most famous images were of the Warsaw Pact invasion of Prague in 1968.

Rat kings

Rat kings are phenomena said to arise when a number of rats become intertwined at their tails, which become stuck together with blood, dirt, ice, excrement or simply knotted. The animals reputedly grow together while joined at the tails. The numbers of rats that are joined together can vary, but naturally rat kings formed from a larger number of rats are rarer. The phenomenon is particularly associated with Germany, where the majority of instances have been reported. Historically, there are various superstitions surrounding rat kings, and they were often seen as an extremely bad omen, particularly associated with plagues.

Greek fire

Greek fire was an incendiary weapon used by the Byzantine Empire. The Byzantines typically used it in naval battles to great effect as it could continue burning even under water.

Erté

Erté was a Russian-born French artist and designer.