pictures from south america   ::   ::   ::   ::   :: Cristo Redentor, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil   Perched on the top of Corcovado, plum in the middle of town. The earliest European settlers called the place "Temptation Mountain," after Satan's tempting of Christ, offering him rule of all he saw. Something about being on the mountain does inspire thoughts of the divine, and the statue was a natural choice early in the 20th century.   Do the outreached arms mirror or prefigure the cross?   Or do they reach out in an all-loving embrace?   Or do they summon all to come and bow? From well out in front, it looks like he's presiding over his splendid creation, the dazzling natural beauty of Brazil.   From the side, it's easy to have a "Jerusalem, Jerusalem" moment — he seems to be gazing out on the squalid, flesh-worshipping city and crying for them to repent.   Standing there on the mountain right at his feet, it's just you and him.       ::   ::   ::   ::   :: Copacabana a borough of Rio   Looking down from the statue on Corcovado, you really get a sense of the density of this town (and Copacabana isn't even the densest part), slammed right up against fairly unspoiled nature.   Those weird "moundains" are really what give the place its Brycean otherworldliness.   Yeah! the most famous beach in the world, and rightly so. It really does look like the postcards.       B A R R Y L A N D .