Djerbahood

DJERBAHOOD is a place invested by artists from all over the world to transform the village into an open-sky museum. 

The town of Erriadh, on the island of Djerba and a part of Tunisia, has hosted the works of around 100 different nationalities. Erriadh, an authentic and traditional town, has become a major place of expression for artists from various cultures, a worldwide panorama of Street Art and an essential cultural attraction in Tunisia.

Over 150 street artists from 30 different countries transformed this traditional town into a giant canvas with a variety of art that added flair but honoured the tradition and values of local culture.

Check out these 10 murals that give a taste of what to expect when you visit this small town.

Takeover

What happens when you have a large building slated for renovation happening at the same time as your city is hosting a street artist festival? You get a TAKEOVER!!

When Cité Internationale Universitaire in Paris made plans to renovate one of their dormitories, they decided to allow 100 different artists to have free reign of the interior as part of the Rehab 2 festival which was going on at the time.

This festival is all about street art and since the renovation meant a total gut of the building, officials let the street artists use the interior as a giant canvas. Afterwards, the building was kept open to the public for a month to allow visitors to view the works and, to keep the imagery in perpetuity, Jonk Photography took a series of photographs to document the project and share it with the rest of the world.

Check out these cool shots of some of the amazing aerosol art in the old dorm.

Stare At These Stairs!

After doing a post about stair workouts, followed by some cool architecturally designed stairs that were found during my research, I also came across this interesting and unusual "installation" by an artist who altered the classical stairways of Poland's National Gallery. 

Leon Tarasewicz is a Polish contemporary painter who set the stage for an exhibit on his contemporaries being hosted at the gallery by splattering the stairs with paint. While appearing to be somewhat haphazard, the work is most certainly well thought out and well executed, and totally transforms the space.

I really like the contrast between the contemporary and the classical but questioned the permanency of the installation and wondered, of course, about how they'd clean things up and switch back to the original marble floors? No small feat in itself!!

Valentine's Day

To be totally honest, Valentines' Day is one of those holidays I quite detest! 

As if love can be quantified by the amount of money you spend on someone! Really, it's just another commercial opportunity that certain types of business exploit, putting pressure on you to convince you to spend money to "show your love", much like they do with Christmas.

And like Christmas, which is a religious holiday and not really in my own set of beliefs, Valentine's Day has roots in the Christian religion system. There are theories that it was originally designated as a celebratory day to supersede the pagan holiday of Lupercalia, much like many other Christian holidays have done with Pagan rituals.

St Valentine(s), and there are references to suggest there was more than one person considered as this person, was commemorated as a saint on February 14 in the 3rd Century. The association of Valentine with love however, actually came about and was perpetuated in the Middle Ages in England, likely tying to nature and the pairing of birds in February, then carried forth to become the Valentine's Day we know now. 

Just another "Hallmark Holiday' in my opinion. How about you try saving the money from that overpriced box of chocolates and bouquet or roses and, instead, always do something nice for your loved ones and tell them you love them on every day of the year! 

Speaking Of Stairs

After researching the benefits of stair climbing workouts, there were plenty of references to sites that contained some really interesting stair designs.
Check out these 10 sets of architecturally designed stairs that might not make for a good workout routine but certainly would add beauty to a home or office building. 

Take The Stairs

It's a no cost activity that's easy to prepare for, and it gives you a complete body workout, so what's not to like about stair climbing?

Without a doubt, stair climbing is an awesome cardio workout. Gravity forces you to work hard and there's maximum benefits attained in minimal times. 

One of the best parts of this type of routine is that is easily measurable. You can count your steps and repeat until your fitness level improves and you can add more sets. 

It's great for your legs, glutes and stomach, and, when done correctly, has low impact on your joints. You can target specific muscle groups by mixing up the ways you ascend and descend, and it definitely will help you hit your target heart rate . As with any exercise, it may be best to start out slow and steady and build your strength and endurance, as well as familiarize yourself with the proper techniques to avoid injury. 

Consider these variations to target specific areas of your body....

• Sprinting up sections or flights of stairs will give you a HIIT style of workout and improve your anaerobic capacity, great for fat burning.
• Do a ladder, where you start with small sections or minimal flights and then add more with each additional lap. This will switch you from anaerobic to aerobic as you go further and further up your ladder.
• Change up the stride, by going two steps at a time instead of one, focusing more on the back of your quad.
• Do crossover steps, alternating left on one flight and right on the other, to work different muscles and get your brain thinking too.
• Go up backwards, to target your calves and the back of your quad.
• Jump from step to step, to get a plyometric workout and improve explosive power.
• Bear crawl up to work your upper body, and down if you're feeling super strong and brave and want to push your limits even more.
• Sprint Plus, with a set of push-ups, sit-ups or other body weight workout done after each set of sprinted stairs.
• Partner Plus, where you or your partner do sets of body weight workouts while the other runs the stairs.
• Weighted, if your joints are good you can carry a few pounds or strap on a weighted back pack to add to your own body weight.
• Dual purpose, where you carry barbells or kettlebells and do bicep curls, overhead thrusts or some other upper body workout as you ascend or descend.

Ramsay stairs on Scotsman's Hill, going down from Salisbury St. to the Elbow River pathway.

I happen to live near a set of stairs which run down the bluff in Ramsay. There are 159 of them and they're fairly close to the spacing on a standard set of stairs, so it's not much of an adjustment to make when doing a workout routine. According to my GPS watch, the stairs cover 1/8 km on the horizontal over a 30 m elevation gain, so 20 laps will equal 5 km and give you 600 m of rise and descent.

Crescent Heights stairs, going down from Crescent Rd. to Memorial Drive

I've also run the Crescent Height stairs quite a few times. Interestingly, they're completely different than the Ramsay stairs, notwithstanding the additional 9 risers. The actual treads and risers have a completely different measurement than those on the Ramsay set and it makes for a slightly different workout, as you need to adjust your stride, so to speak. I find the ascent much easier on the deeper tread, especially since I run down and take two steps at a time. However, it feels a little bit awkward going up, when accustomed to my usual stair climb in Ramsay.

When the weather is nice you can probably find plenty of local places in your city to get out enjoy the great outdoors while doing your stair workout. Here's some ideas for Calgary stair climbs and check out these ones for Edmonton stair climbs. 

When it's cold, snowy or rainy, you can find something indoors, like that office tower you work in or condo building you call home. I've even done laps on the stairs when staying in a hotel. In any case, always be considerate of your personal safety as stairwells can be quite secluded. Might be best to run with a partner, which can also add challenges and motivation to improve your strength and endurance.

All in all, a stair climb is a great workout and quite adaptable to your fitness level, with many options to target specific muscles or improve aerobic or anaerobic capacity. Plus, it's a nice change from the usual routine and you know what they say..." a change is as good as a rest".  

Neologism