Friday, May 27, 2011

Plaça de Catalunya Webcam, Barcelona Protests and Champion's League Final Screening

The Placa de Catalunya promises to be an interesting location this weekend, with youth unemployment anti-government protestors being joined by FC Barcelona football fans watching the Champion's League final.

This live feed is in Barcelona:


Location Information:

Barcelona is the home of the Plaça de Catalunya, generally considered to be both its city centre and the place where the old city (see Barri Gòtic and Raval, in Ciutat Vella) and the 19th century-built Eixample meet. Some of the city's most important streets and avenues meet at Plaça Catalunya: Passeig de Gràcia, Rambla de Catalunya, La Rambla or Portal de l'Àngel, in addition to Ronda de Sant Pere, Carrer de Vergara or Carrer de Pelai. The plaza occupies an area of about 50,000 square metres. It is especially known for its fountains and statues, its proximity to some of Barcelona's most popular attractions, and for the flocks of pigeons that gather there.

After the medieval city walls were demolished in the 19th century, ambitious designs for the city's public spaces were conceived under the guidance of notable urban planners. Plaça Catalunya was conceived as part of pla Rovira in 1859, but no official permission from the government was given until the 1888 Universal Exposition. It was urbanised for the first time in 1902 and was further modified in 1929, on the occasion of the 1929 Barcelona International Exposition, which also included the construction of a metro station. Architect Francisco Nebot designed the changes made in 1929.

Puerto del Sol Webcam Feed at Madrid Youth Unemployment Protest

Tens of thousands of protestors continue to occupy Madrid’s Puerta del Sol Square, a protest that is now being taken up by the young unemployed in cities all across Spain.

This live feed is in the Puerto del Sol Square:

Puerto del Sol Square webcam

Location Information:

The Puerta del Sol (Spanish for "Gate of the Sun") is one of the best known and busiest places in Madrid. This is the centre (Km 0) of the radial network of Spanish roads. The square also contains the famous clock whose bells mark the traditional eating of the Twelve Grapes and the beginning of a new year. The New Year's celebration has been broadcast live on TV since 31 December 1962.

The Puerta del Sol contains a number of well known sights associated both domestically and internationally with Spain. On the south side, the old Post Office serves as the office of the President of Madrid, the head of the regional government of the Autonomous Community of Madrid (not to be confused with the Madrid City Council, which is housed elsewhere). Also on its south side, the square holds a mounted statue of Charles III of Spain, nicknamed "el rey alcalde" ("the king mayor") due to the extensive public works programme he set in motion. The famous Tio Pepe lighted sign is above the square's eastern building between the Calle de Alcalá and the Carrera de San Jerónimo. On the east side lies a statue of a bear and a madrone tree (madroño), the heraldic symbol of Madrid. Until 2009, the statue stood on the north side at the entrance to Calle del Carmen. The Mariblanca (actually Venus) marks the place of a former fountain.The Puerta is located in the very heart of Madrid. Immediately to the southwest lies the Plaza Mayor; the Palacio Real, the official home of the Royal Family, is further west. Parliament and the museum district are to the east and the train station Atocha is to the southeast.

San Francisco Carnaval 2011 Live Feed, Parade & Festival Webcam Stream

Carnaval San Francisco is an annual street parade and festival in San Francisco, California on the last weekend in May. It was founded by a large group of visionary artists brought together by percussionist Marcus Gordon, dancer Adela Chu, and costume designer Pam Minor in 1979.

This live feed is in San Francisco for the Carnaval:

SF Carnaval Live Feed

Event information:

The San Francisco Bay Area Carnaval season begins in February as the great Western hemisphere Carnaval celebrations are concluding. The four Carnaval Cities with the greatest influence and presence in the San Francisco Carnaval are Port of Spain, Trinidad; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Salvador, Brazil; and Oruro, Bolivia. The Mission District, San Francisco, California since the 1950s, has been a metro center for the many different Spanish speaking populations of Latin America and these groups will often enter a group or Carnaval contingent in the parade.

Carnaval or Mardi Gras is best seen as a spring festival celebrating the rebirth of life and thus it is a universal festival celebrated by all cultures as well as the first festival. Besides the strong American hemisphere presence in the parade there are generally Carnaval groups from the Philippines, India, China, Middle East and Africa.

As a parade, Carnaval San Francisco is most recognized for its spectacular choreographed dancers and scantily clad beautiful women. The Inner Mission District with two BART stations supports the Bay Area's highest concentration of dance studios and instructors. Many of these dance instructors have been pillars of the Carnaval parade instilling the sublime sense of uniting with the Carnaval spirit though movement and song into their students during the peak moments best experienced in the parade.

Indy 500 Live Stream 2011 Indianapolis Motor Speedway

The Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, also known as the Indianapolis 500, the Indy 500 or The 500, is an American automobile race, held annually, typically on the last weekend in May (specifically over the Memorial Day weekend) at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana.

This live feed is in Speedway for the Indianapolis 500:

Indy 500 Live Stream

Event Information:

The event, billed as The Greatest Spectacle in Racing, is considered one of the three most significant motorsports events in the world. The official attendance is not disclosed by Speedway management, but the permanent seating capacity is more than 257,000 people, and infield seating raises capacity to an approximate 400,000. The race was originally advertised as the "International 500-Mile Sweepstakes Race" from 1911-1916. However, from the start the race was known as the Indianapolis 500 or, more simply as the "500."

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway, located in Speedway, Indiana (an enclave suburb of Indianapolis) in the United States, is the home of the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race and the Brickyard 400. It has existed since 1909, and is the original Speedway, the first racing facility historically to incorporate the word. With a permanent seating capacity for more than 257,000 people and infield seating that raises capacity to approximately 400,000, it is the largest and highest-capacity sporting facility in the world.

Considered relatively flat by American standards, the track is a two-and-a-half-mile, nearly rectangular oval with dimensions that have remained essentially unchanged since its inception: four 1/4-mile turns, two 5/8-mile long straightaways between the fourth and first and second and third turns, and two 1/8-mile short straightaways, termed "short chutes," between the first and second, and third and fourth turns.