The loss of power...

I was reading a blog entry by my friend Dion about the way that the systems we live in are really about preserving their power.
I was struck by the power (hehe) of the Christian message (allow me to use the brand of Christian to include my own branch which is more about God's love).
True freedom/power/integrity/truth is only achieved in giving up power... yet wherever we find ourselves we try to collect as much as we can. All of my relationships go pear shaped when I try to control. It surprised me because I have become more and more worried about the abuse of power by the USA, but the same is true of every system we exist in. Churches are the worst. There are little pockets trying to preserve their 'power' be it in the community, the church, the choir or the Church Council.
How did we get it so wrong? It is only in giving up our lives that we get life! It is only in giving up power/control that we get freedom!
Doesn't that sound like some guy who wandered around the Middle East a couple thousand years ago... sheesh.

Airtap! Guitar Skills!!

The most unbelievable clip:

Guitar Skills

Can you say... gaaah!?!
(sorry - it seems to open in a new window... i'll try for YouTube)

Well since no-one even had a guess:
It is Saint Mark's Basilica in Venice. Pic taken across Saint Mark's Square with the Grand Canal behind somewhere and the lagoon on the right.

And no... no human bones.
Although apparantly it was called St. Mark's because the bones of Mark (as in Matthew Mark Luke John) are inside somewhere. They were stolen from Constantinople after it was conquered by the Turks (or whoever it was ...) according to legend.

OK, so lets try another one:

The roof was destroyed by an Allied (I think) bomb in WWII, but was restored with the same pattern and similar tiles. It is a very pretty roof, but we were a little too close to get a good pic, and the tour group was moving on!!

The most interesting church in Europe...

Of all the churches we saw in Europe this one is the most interesting:


Apparently the architecture is a mix of Islamic and Christian because the Patrician of the day wanted the most skilled artisans, and so he hired them from Constantinople. Europe was in decline and the Middle East was on the up.
The guys who were commissioned to build this church normally designed mosques and so they brought that influence into Venice.
Now 10 points if anyone can guess which church it is: