-------- Original Message -------- Subject: [Dewayne-Net] Voting Open for Seven Wonders of Modern World Date: Mon, 20 Feb 2006 00:20:29 -0800 From: Dewayne Hendricks <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Dewayne-Net Technology List <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> References: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
[Note: This item comes from reader Randall. DLH] > From: Randall <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Date: February 19, 2006 9:10:30 AM PST > To: Dave <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, Dewayne Hendricks > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, JMG <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: Voting Open for Seven Wonders of Modern World > > <http://htdaw.blogsource.com/post.mhtml?post_id=252002> > > Voting Open For Seven Wonders of Modern World > Sunday, February 19, 2006 at 12:08 PM EST > "New Seven" wonders list narrowed; now it's up to the world to choose > > By James Janega > > Chicago Tribune > > CHICAGO — In a way, the structures were just waiting for this. They > passed centuries in glorious esteem, sheltering kings from time to > time, > inspiring postcard photographers. Think of the vaguely disquieting > statues at Easter Island, the luminous marble of the Taj Mahal, the > stately Athenian Acropolis and the vast Great Wall of China. > > They're beyond landmarks. Many are official World Heritage Sites, > recognized as lovely and significant by the United Nations. Still, > there's something missing, a sense of incomplete acknowledgment. > > It's this, Swiss-born adventurer/filmmaker/entrepreneur Bernard Weber > said: Despite the United Nations' stamp of approval on so many, no one > has formally recognized them with the exclusive superlatives he thinks > they deserve. > > In 2000 he started a foundation to do that and is a year from > realizing > his dream. > > In the intervening six years, the project grew beyond a single > globetrotting European entrepreneur starting a Web site. It has > become a > pro-monument movement involving engineers, academics, architects and > former government functionaries, as well as 19 million others with > three > things in common: telephones, a yearning to vote on something obscure > and an interest in some particular place on Earth. > > In the past few years, voters nominated a number of manmade sites, and > the 77 top vote-getters advanced. They were narrowed to 21 in > January by > a panel of world-famous architects (seven of them). Results will be > announced Jan. 1, 2007, and if you've begun to spot the numerical > symbolism, you've got the idea. > > Since Philon of Byzantium named the original Seven Wonders of the > World > in 200 B.C., the Western world has relegated them to an awed mental > pedestal — and then promptly forgot what was on the list. (Name > them now > without skipping down. Try it.) > > In those centuries, six vanished. > > Still with us are the Pyramids at Giza. And, Weber believes, a > powerful > need to name a New Seven. > > The only remaining U.S. site in the top 21 is the Statue of Liberty, > though at least the Golden Gate Bridge, Empire State Building and > Mount > Rushmore made the list of 77 finalists. > > Even so, it's an interesting glimpse at which of humankind's > architectural accomplishments still have the power to inspire. > Besides, > the last list of Seven Wonders was decidedly Mediterranean-centric. > And, > at 2,200 years old, is getting a little dated. > > Fates unkind to originals > > Earthquakes leveled the Lighthouse of Alexandria. The Hanging > Gardens of > Babylon may never have existed. Crusading Maltese knights purloined > blocks from the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus to build a fortress. > > Other Wonders met more elaborate fates. The Colossus of Rhodes was > felled by earthquake, left prone by oracle's decree and hauled off on > mules by invading Arab merchants. A disaffected Ephesian burned the > Temple of Artemis, after which it was razed by Goths. > > Caligula tried to appropriate The Statue of Zeus, and broke it. A > Roman > successor closed its temple, which later suffered earthquakes, > landslides and fire. > > So no wonder nobody can name all seven. Perhaps, reasons Weber and his > panel of eminent architectural judges, it's time to start again. > > "Let's face it," he said. "There's so much destruction and negative > things in the world, and I think all of these buildings are > testimony of > what human beings can achieve by being creative and constructive." > > Other "wonders" lists > > Weber's starting place was the United Nations Educational, Scientific > and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Center in Paris, to > see if his plan had been tried. > > Through various means, UNESCO has a $15 million annual budget to > catalog > and help preserve 184 fantastic natural and architectural sites. > After a > brief consultation, in which he was told nobody had, Weber formed his > own group, filmmaker and UNESCO spokeswoman Gina Doubleday said. > > It's not the first time something of the kind has been attempted. > There > have been lists of Forgotten Wonders, Modern Wonders, Natural Wonders, > Travel Wonders, even a Pennsylvania gift shop called Wonders of the > World. > > But since the United Nations' efforts, Weber's push is one of the more > formal efforts to name and publicize a new list of seven, and > carries a > modicum of financial backing. > > Will anyone remember the new seven in another seven years? Who knows, > organizers say. But the attention can hardly hurt them, and any money > raised by the growing promotional effort could possibly fund the > monuments' upkeep. > > Weber said half the income from the project will be earmarked to > protect > the final picks and other remarkable edifices — a key point, > considering > what happened to the previous seven. > > [Vote here: http://www.n7w.com/ ] > > <http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/ > 2002815154_seven17.html> Weblog at: <http://weblog.warpspeed.com> ------------------------------------- You are subscribed as [email protected] To manage your subscription, go to http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/
