User:ThePromenader

Capsula Indicium

en This user is a native speaker of English.

fr-4 Cet utilisateur parle français à un niveau comparable à la langue maternelle, mais il l'écrit comme un pied.

ja-3 この利用者は流暢な日本語を話します。

la-3 Hic usor callidissima latinitate contribuere potest.

de-2 Dieser Benutzer hat fortgeschrittene Deutschkenntnisse.

8,420+ This user has made over 8,420 contributions to Wikipedia.

This user has reviewer rights on the English Wikipedia. (verify)

	This user is a Parisian.

	This user is a history buff.

	This user participates in the WikiProject History of Photography.

I award this The Tireless Contributor Barnstar to ThePromenader for exceptional work, enthousiasm on the Paris related articles and never sacrificing quality. Despite all your troubles, your work has not come unnoticed. Captain scarlet 08:40, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

ThePromenader, I hereby award you the Photographer's Barnstar for your beautiful photo of the Eiffel Tower at night, in spite of its complex copyright status. I hope you will contribute many more photos to Wikipedia in the years to come!--Eloquence* 03:58, 13 July 2006 (UTC)

I award this Exceptional Newcomer Award to ThePromenader for exceptional enthusiasm, skill, and boldness beyond his experience. Ian13ID:540053 20:58, 31 December 2005 (UTC)

Manual of Style Content Accessibility Article message boxes Biographies Disambiguation pages Infoboxes Linking Self-references Words to watch Dates and numbers Dates and numbers Formatting Abbreviations Capitalization Dates and numbers Pronunciation Proper names Spelling Text formatting Titles Images Captions Galleries Icons Images Layout Layout Footnotes Layout Lead section Tables Trivia sections Lists Embedded lists Lists of works Lists Road junctions Legal Legal Trademarks Arts topics Anime & Manga Comics Film Lyrics and Poetry Novels Television Visual arts Writing about fiction Music topics Music Samples Record charts Regional topics Canada France Hawaii Ireland Japan Korea Philippine Poland Religion topics Islam Latter Day Saints Science topics Chemistry Mathematics Medicine Computer commands Taxonomy Sports topics Cue sports Snooker more specifically Related guidelines Article size Article titles Categories, lists, and navigation templates Categorization Footnotes Template namespace Hatnotes Signatures Talk page guidelines Subpages User pages

Not so new to editing Wikipedia, but not at all new to reading it. Formerly known as Josefu, my present name is closer to what I'm all about. What motivated me into becoming a Wikipedian were a few articles greatly in need of a rewrite. Many of them still have this need, so if you're sharp on anything "Paris", do pitch in.

Work In Progress

Here are the pages I am working on for the moment, with links to the original article and its "personal sandbox" version:

• Paris - Although much improved from its former state, this article remains a b-class article largely because of an overdose of unsourced statistics and claims both challengable and speculative. Chasing these down will take some time, so pitch in if you can. I've done a large amount of work on the article already, so since a year I reduced my role there to observation only; I'm quite surprised that there have been absolutely no changes at all to the article since then. Where are the English-speakers with an interest in Paris? Some grammar refinement could help as well.

• Portal:Paris - I was very surprised to see that it doesn't exist. I'm going to need lots of help on this so once the basics (boxes, etc - nothing major) I'll get the word out. Perhaps this was a bit premature because I still don't have a complete idea what or how many "Paris" subjects are out there. I suppose starting this page is a way to group them all, so if you know of something please pitch in! For now I'm still sorting out the category problems.

• Chemin de fer de Petite Ceinture (de Paris) - I have a certain affection for abandoned factories and industrial sites (there are many in the inner Paris agglomeration) and I suppose that the "Petite Ceinture" railway falls into this category. Born from 1852, dead (for voyagers) in 1934, there remain still stations, rails and buildings and some machinery along almost its entire former length. I did the whole 32km tour in late 1996 and have almost completely researched its history. Looking for some machinery images (namely engines) for the time being.

• Wikipedia:WikiProject_Paris_Streets - This is a project to make an article for every notable street in Paris - a gargantuan task in reality. Myself I'll be chipping away at a few at a time, every day if I can. Anyone with a working knowledge of French can participate as there's a link to a citable source for all basic information on the project page. You can find the streets existing already in Wiki (named "rue ****" only) here, and the streets done in their 'formatted' version ("rue ****, Paris") here. The infobox is finally done - but the map coordinates could use some work. Suprise suprise, it seems to have become quite popular across wiki and even other sites - you can find it here. It still needs a coordinates system based on longitude and latitude, so If you're a whiz in that respect, please do...

• Mines of Paris - Paris' Catacombes ossurary fills only a part of its 340km of underground galeries whose origins are in the stone of many aboveground monuments - they are not one and the same. I am presently working on an article outlining how Paris' mines were created and exploited, and how later they were used and recuperated. This of course will link to the Paris_Catacombs article...

A bit about myself

Graphic Designer, photographer, "on call" Art Director, French history buff. Amoureux de Paris. I've been living in Paris since 1989 first as a photographer then also (again) as a graphic artist. I've recently "retired" from a more intensive line of work to develop projects with clients of my own. Research on Paris' history took up most of my spare time (as I also love to photograph her) so today I have more than enough to share. In case of doubt my love for books has given me a library enough to back that up. Wiki has proven to be quite a reliable source for some of my research (the pages on French Kings are brilliant), so now that I have more time to spare I thought I'd give some of that back.

I have a website of my own consecrated to Paris' history that you can find here: www.paris-promenades.com, and if you would like to see a bit of my "regular" work you can have a look here.

I work using several computers, and Wiki is quite often on 'research computer' computer #2. In spite of its dual-screen limitations, my intel iMac has become my principal workstation over my g5 - something about the screen (20") is quite agreeable, and since its move to front and centre I've got lots more room for all my documents and note-paper. There is some irony in making entire websites in a pizza-box.

(update 02/2008) I'm working full time from February for a photo rental company (MATPHOT) as an art director/system administrator/web designer. I now have a few more computers, namely the latest iMac and Macbook pro - only the latter is running in Leopard, and my iMac is now (quite happily) running Snow Leopard.

Interests

Photography, graphic design, history, 19th/early 20th century art and architecture, philosophy, exploration (les carrières de Paris particulièrement), maps and basically anything inventive that is useful, incites curiosity or "rings a bell".

Favourite Musicians/Music

• Talking Heads - Surtout "Talking Heads '77" and "Fear of Music" (the "Stop Making Sense tour" was my first concert)
• Gary Numan - I grew up with "Replicas"
• Sonic Youth - "Jet Set and No Star" - I love "Bull in the Heather"
• Radiohead - Can't get them out of my head for days every time I listen
• Crosby, Stills & Nash - Carry on, Questions. Brilliant.
• A Gang of Four - early works
• Nirvana - all the same chords down a stop, but still rock n' roll.
• John Coltrane - "My Favourite Things" for me was love at first... er, note.
• Miles Davis - Especially his earlier works, "Round Midnight" and "Sketches of Spain"
• Steve Lacy - "The Condor"
• Chet Baker
• Erik Satie - Best played by Jean-Joël Barbier
• Debussy - "Children's Corner"
• Beethoven - Sonata Nº14, Op. 27/2, Sonata quasi una Fantasia

Favourite Authors/Books

• Robert M. Pirsig - To tell you the truth I didn't really take to "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" because it concluded with "something that can't be explained". Mr. Pirsig later explained that "something" quite nicely in his second book "Lila," so together these two make quite a sensible pair.
• Richard Bach - Quite contrary to the precedent authour, non? For me every one if his "you can if you want to" theories work just fine when applied to the imagination. In fact I'd say that his theories are the very motor of creation.
• Nietzsche - "Aurore" (French title) was a head-nodder for me at a young age, but beyond his study of human behaviour...
• Ayn Rand - Another young-age head-nodder. I do agree with the "I do, therefore, I am", but objectivism has been (purposely, it seems) cut short of treating anything outside of the individual. We as interactive humans make together a big machine: we cannot pursue activities in the name of self-interest that will drain or destroy it, especially when the same is the source of our livelihood. A sure route to auto-destruction, and a "blank out" of its own (to those familiar with the term).
• Umberto Eco - I'm a big fan.
• Anne Rice - Ditto.
• John Irving - Double Ditto.
• Stephen King - Yes, I know. I began reading him though at around age nine - Loved "It" and the "Different Seasons" novella set. I also loved the "Dark Tower" series until his impatient and uninspired "Wizard and Glass" - at its outset the series was one of the most "contemporary" themes I had read to date. And well written too. Here's hoping he'll drop the Hollywood clique and start dialoguing with his readers once again.

Favourite Architects

• Victor Horta - The master of Art Nouveau IMHO. Coming a close second is...
• Hector Guimard - Un p'tit "bouche" ici, un p'tit "bouche" par là...
• Frank Lloyd Wright - Still contemporary.
• Le Corbusier - His earlier works
• Gustave Eiffel - Namely for his bridges
• François Mansart - solid solid solid. The "Salle Z" comes to mind, but you'd have to ask me about that one.

Promenade Gallery

After living here for fifteen years I discovered that I hadn't taken even one touristic photo. So last summer...

Paris Monuments

• 

  the Eiffel Tower from the Trocadéro

• 

  the Arc de Triomphe from the avenue Friedland

• 

  View mid-way along the rue Royale towards la place de la Concorde

• 

  the Obelisque centrepiece of la place de la Concorde

• 

  Montmartre from the centre Georges Pompidou

• 

  the place Vendome seen from the rue de la Paix

• Tour eiffel nuit jms.jpg

  the Eiffel tower was here. Gone thanks to the SNTE, the foggy elephant in the Pretty pictures of Paris publishing room.

Paris Souterrain

I severly doubt anyone will have any use for these but I have other more "classic" images I will upload when they are scanned properly. For the photos below, I put the (my) silhouette in there as a size reference by bouncing a flash away from the camera. I must be one of the only people in the history of the catacombs stupid enough to go down wearing a WWI leather jacket and 1930's borcalino - but I liked the effect.

• 

  Val-de-grace stair - red version "sans moi"

• 

  The "Radio Room" under the Val-de-Grâce

• 

  Twenty metres under the Fermiers-Généraux wall

• 

  Galerie PTT - Phone lines

• 

  French Flag Fun in the "Shiottes" of the Abri Laval

• 

  Long hallway - green version

• 

  Long hallway - yellow version

• 

  The famous "Salle Z"

• 

  Val-de-grace stair - blue version

• 

  Val-de-grace stair - red version

• 

  Autoportrait

...and here's a few 'normal' clichés without all the light fun. These were scanned from 36mm film ... the colour could use some work.

• 

  this is a stone tablet embedded in the foundations of Paris' former fortifications - it commemorates the completion of the city defenses in 1843

• 

  one of the largest caverns in Paris' 14e arrondissement

• 

  detail of a stair near the Marie de Médecis aqueduct in Paris' 14e arrondissement

• 

  A door to a part of the underground mines transformed into a bomb shelter.

Le Chemin de Fer de Petite Ceinture

I've got tons of these to rescan, so more will appear over time. From an abandoned railway that once ran rings around Paris.

• 

  Gare de Charonne-Voyageurs.

• 

  view from the rue Brancion bridge to the west: visible to the right are the remains of the quays of the Brancion-Bestiaux slaughterhouses

• 

  abandoned junction to the RATP (métro) hangars

• 

  under the bridge carrying the rue Raymond Losserand

Maps & Plans

I'm somewhat of a "mapaholic" - I've made more than a few of them in my time.

• 

  Plan of the île-de-France région.

• 

  Plan of Paris for Paris Streets Wikiproject infobox.

• 

  Demographic plan of 'round Paris, with land-use and urbanisation info.

• 

  Editable SVG of the Île-de-France, its eight départements and its 1,281 communes .

Infoboxes

Infobox:French Commune French Communes - this started out as a "French big city" infobox, and it was eventually taken over and much improved by the "French Communes" project. The "pointer map" was of my invention, but there was no means of placing the pointer on the map according to latitude and longitude data then. This is thankfully not the case today. What motivated me most was the blandness of the old template, plus the particularities of French demographics: France has been cut up into pre-defined "communes" since almost the 1789 revolution, and its demographic growth often ignores these unchanging boundries - thus the "urban spread" section that gives the reader a much clearer idea of how big a city really is.

Paris
Motto: Fluctuat nec mergitur (Latin: She is tossed by the waves but is not sunk)
The Eiffel Tower and the skyscrapers of the La Défense business district.
City flag	City coat of arms
Paris
Administration
Country	France
Region
Department
Subdivisions	20 arrondissements
Mayor	Bertrand Delanoë (PS) (2008–2014)
Statistics
Land area1	86.9 km2 (33.6 sq mi)
Population2	2,203,817  (January 2006 estimate)
- Ranking	1st in France
- Density	25,360 /km2 (65,700 /sq mi)
Urban area	2,723 km2 (1,051 sq mi) (1999)
- Population	10,142,983 (2006)
Metro area	14,518.3 km2 (5,605.5 sq mi) (1999)
- Population	11,769,433 (2006)
Time zone	CET (UTC +1)
Website	paris.fr
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Infobox:Paris Streetbox This one was a fun PITA: The graphics (sign top and corner "buttons") are photo details of actual streetsigns - I opted for the more "modern" mid-1990's version - enhanced through Adobe Illustrator. I re-used my "selector map" here (and it is unfortunately still in its non-coordinated "pixel placed" form). Getting everything to sit correctly across all platforms/browsers was the biggest PITA (thanks, IE), but by far most of the work went into the accumulation of the street data behind the template itself: the City of Paris has published, although in a rather archaic form, the dimensions, location, former names and even history of most all of its streets for the use of contractors and architects, and I created a unique database of my own based on these.

A few have complained that this template is too "loud" for the likes of Wikipedia, but in spite of this it is in heavy use in Wikipedia of all languages. The compliment that tickled me the most was from French Wikipedia: "Look what I found: even English Wikipedia can make pretty things for Paris."

I would like to make this template easier to implement, add a coordinates system, and somehow make it possible to make a custom-colour link in the bottom caption (as the "visited" blue matches almost exactly the background).

5e Arr^t

Rue de la HARPE
Arrondissement	Ve
Quarter	Sorbonne
Begins	31 rue de la Huchette
Ends	98 boulevard Saint-Germain
Length	220 m
Width	12 m
Creation
Denomination	Arr. préf. du 10 mai 1851, réunion de l'ancienne rue de la Harpe.
View northwards along Paris' rue de la Harpe.

Favorite sayings

"Pride is the belt that can hold your pants up, long after your pants are gone." - Stephen King, "Dreamcatcher"

"The road to hell is paved with good intentions" - my grandaddy

Self-aquired Wikiwisdom

12:44, 27 August 2006 (UTC) - solidly-coloured signatures leave a dominant footprint through a talk page: this has the adverse effect of singling out the activities of a single editor over others, and can can become distracting and even annoying to other editors with time.

WikiSagesse Scrapbook

"Chord-striking" bits of wisdom from Wiki user pages.

Wikipedia is a game. It is an entertainment, played in moves, according to rules, towards a goal.

1. "Each move must increase an entry's accuracy, transparency, selective completeness and weighted balance, using vision and appropriate wit."
2. "Twaddle and waffle are false moves." Twaddle is fatuous nonsense delivered with an authoritative and informed air implying unnamed but impeccable sources. Twaddle is what one is full of when one is "full of it". Twaddle may have an element of truth, as in the preceding. Waffle on the other hand is unnecessarily self-protective verbiage: "Nighttime is generally considered quite dark." Recognition and public acknowledgements of one's own twaddle and waffle are marks of an outstanding player.
3. "Avoid unnecessary interference."
4. "Leave your personal agenda on the porch." This rule is infinitely complicated and hard to interpret or follow.

The rest is mostly technique, minimal decorum and detail.

- from the UserPage of Wetman