New bridge in France

Gary W. Graley

Gary W. Graley

“Imagination is more important than knowledge"
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Mar 2, 1999
Messages
27,433
Check these images of this great bridge just opened a short while ago;

Bridge

Bridge2

Read about it Here

I'd love to go there and get some shots of this bridge!!!
I was in England when it was inaugurated on Dec 14th, 2004.

Sweet bridge, a little scary looking though!
G2
 
The Discovery Channel had a documentary on it recently. The two halves met up in the middle almost perfectly, quite a feat of engineering.
 
Temper said:
The two halves met up in the middle almost perfectly
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Oh. To bad. "Close, but no cigar," as they say. Fortunately, there nothing a little duct tape can't fix. :D
 
Gollnick/MyGuyver ;)

From what I read, it was heavily designed to withstand earthquakes, what they tend to play down is the fact that it was designed by a british fella by the name of Lord Foster...:)

G2
 
Quote"The bridge will serve as a symbol of "a modern and conquering France," he said."


Huh?!?!?!;)
 
Mike Hull said:
Quote"The bridge will serve as a symbol of "a modern and conquering France," he said.


Huh?!?!?!;)
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Well, the two halves did ALMOST meet.
 
Gollnick said:
Well, the two halves did ALMOST meet.
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Unlike the "modern France" and the "conquering France", separated by 150 years or so. :p

Seriously Gary, those are sweet photos. Thanks for bringing this to my attention.
 
Gollnick said:
"Close, but no cigar," as they say.
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I've always wondered where this phrase comes from, can anybody please explain ? I've seen it used inthe movies when somebody failed to achieve something (such as not winning a race) but don't quite understand why the "cigar" part :)
 
I think people have cigars as a celebration. So no celebrations.
Not sure about that though.

They did say that it was designed by the famous British architect Norman Foster. If you have a look at the projects that his company has undertaken it's really not surprising. He is probably one of the top architects in the world.
 
faramir said:
I've always wondered where this phrase comes from, can anybody please explain ? I've seen it used inthe movies when somebody failed to achieve something (such as not winning a race) but don't quite understand why the "cigar" part :)
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I think it refers to carnival game type situations, where you are striving to make a prize from some feat of strength or accuracy and just miss it, there by missing the prize of a fine cigar.

G2
 
faramir said:
I've always wondered where this phrase comes from, can anybody please explain ? I've seen it used inthe movies when somebody failed to achieve something (such as not winning a race) but don't quite understand why the "cigar" part :)
Click to expand...

Back in the older days, when Carnivals were still the height of entertainment, and political correctness meant appealing directly to the white, english-speaking male masses, the term "Close, but no cigar," was an alternative to the phrase, "Sorry, sucker, but you're a LOSER!"

The various games along a Carnival midway (most of them rigged heavily in favour of the house) would offer everything from toys to jewelry to--you guessed it--fine Cuban cigars as prizes. In those days, although you would often get some sort of lesser prize for participating, you would only get the really NICE stuff if you did the game perfectly (i.e., knocked down ALL the milk bottles with EVERY throw, shot nothing but bulls-eyes, rang the bell on every swing, etc.). When you had a run of luck going, the people running the game would start to get VERY nervous, since oftentimes the NICE prizes were bought as sucker-bait to get folks to play, and therefore quite expensive and singular. They would start to banter with you, or sneeze, or one of a million things to distract you, and then, when you fumbled the final go, they would breathe a sigh of relief and say, "OH!! SO CLOSE, BUT NO CIGAR, SIR!!" Then they would hand you your 12-cent kewpie doll, you would curse, hand it over to your sweetheart, and move on.

Nowadays, it has come to be applied to any effort which was damned fine, but not perfect. When someone battles their way through three rounds of Jeopardy, and bobbles the final question...or finishes second at the Olympics by .003 second...or shoots a 2699 in a bulls-eye competition...they have gotten "Close, but no cigar."

This, and more useless trivia, here on Bladeforums.com!! :D
 
Mike Hull said:
Quote"The bridge will serve as a symbol of "a modern and conquering France," he said."


Huh?!?!?!;)
Click to expand...
Maybe they mean it'll help other countries conquer France even easier than before.
 
Gary got in one. Remember-close only counts in horseshoes, hand grenades, and high yield thermonuclear devices. :D
 
"Fight with their feet,and make love with their faces"
A quote from"The Last of the Mohicans" about the French.
 
nifrand said:
"Fight with their feet,and make love with their faces"
A quote from"The Last of the Mohicans" about the French.
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"Explain to the major he has little to fear from this General Marquis de Montcalm in the first place, and therefore scant need of a Colonial Militia in the second, because the French haven't the nature for war. They'd rather eat and make love with their faces than fight!"

General Webb to ADC, for the benefit of Major Duncan Heyward.

maximus "Serious LOTM fan" otter
 
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