Showing posts with label scandinavian. Show all posts
Showing posts with label scandinavian. Show all posts

Thursday, 15 May 2014

What is "art"? (cartoons, illusions...)

Amber Larson, CC Liu, and Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly; the artist Saara (Arkiharha)
Saara (Arkiharha) pondering art and free expression in Finland (Weekday-Illusion)
 
The fun Finnish cartoonist, devi, and graphic artist noticed our coverage. Saara is an obscure but prolific talent. We love her work, which can be found at many outlets like such as Arkiharha and such as Weekday-Illusion (our nod to awkward beauty pageant contestant Miss South Carolina).
 
She is expressing herself in her work and in a letter to us:
 
"Susse" (Saara/Arkiharha/flickr)
"Wow, it's crazy to find a post full of my pictures and comics! Nice analysis, too. Maybe I kinda succeeded to pass on my thoughts in a visual way, because you get the idea from most of them -- even when they are written in Finnish!"
 
See Wisdom Quarterly coverage here: My cartoon ART is your perception

REPLY: Saara, send in art you are eager for the world to see, like your beautiful sketches of the Buddha. We would be overjoyed to feature more.
 
Comic vignettes as art "Kuva" (Saara/Arkiharha/flickr)
If you have "class" you know a bottle of "fine" wine and classical string instruments like a Stratavarious are the only things to sip or listen to. But you're wrong. Science says you're wrong. So surely when you add that only oil on canvas can be art and not no people pleasing cartoony comics, you're wrong, too. Don't tell us. We like classical. Tell it to science:
 
The way to get people to better enjoy craapy fermented grape juice that sells for thousands of dollars is to say it sells for more. Just a better bottle and a price change, or serving it with an elegant story of its venerable origins, its pedigree, is enough to make it "taste" better. How classy of study participants.

Can comics and webcam colors be called art?
fMRI scans prove bad alcohol actually tastes better when it's two-buck-chuck krup is said to be something more expensive and classy. Expensive wine tastes better. Let's call it "neuromarketing." Marketers have known about this effect for years regarding other foods. Before they started loading fruit juices with added flavorants (cynically called "natural flavors" not because they're natural but because they synthetically mimic something "natural" rather than something artificial) and artificial colorants.

My doggy, my doggy...oh, you've come back! "Sarjis 12.8"  (Saara/Arkiharha/flickr)
 
Vegan Food Fest, Los Angeles
Flavorless red colors make things taste better. Blindfolded we might not be able to tell a difference or say which drink is what fruit. We use color as a clue, and it works. The flavor of dull tasting juice is brightened just by brightening its color. Such is the illusion we live in and the hypnotic states we fall into every other moment.

If we would meditate, we could emerge and be dehypnotized.

Hungry ghost, psychic ("Bobb")
But we love our illusions, delusions, and dreams. And we would directly-personally-verifiably find that we are (w)holistic beings, not mind (intangible processes)/body (senses) possessing spirits like it seems.
 
Today a study is making headlines saying that an old Stradavarius violin sounds no better than a modern one. In fact, if one believes this study, the modern one sounds better. More musicians prefer it. (But maybe they are voting for the one they think is the Strad which is the one they fear the study would find inferior?)

The Distortions
It's all how we look at the world we are creating each and every without realizing what we're choosing. Art can sensitize and teach us as we clear our mental perception of the distortions/perversions (Wisdom Quarterly). "Hiljattain päivitetty" (Saara/Arkiharha).

Audio Test: Can we tell the difference between expensive and overpriced instruments?

Thursday, 17 April 2014

The Eurasian eagle huntress (photos)

Amber Larson and Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly;
Golden eagle and falconer Ashol Pan Central Asia (Asher Svidensky/BBC News Magazine)


Moon Goddess Artemis
"I am named of olde by Men, Artemis and Cerridwen..." (The Book of Shadows, Lady Sheba).
 
Even before the ancient Greeks recognized her as Artemis -- Goddess of the Moon, Archery, the Hunt, Katniss to Hollywood, and Diana to the Romans -- the devi (female deva) appeared to inspire others.

Homer in the Illiad (xxi 470 f.) calls her "Artemis of the wildland, Mistress of Animals." Here she is celebrated by Bjork and appearing today:

The mythological arrows are no accident
Most children, Asher Svidensky says, are a little intimidated by golden eagles.

Kazakh boys in western Mongolia, however, start learning to use the huge birds to hunt for foxes and hares at the age of 13, when the eagles sit heavily on their undeveloped arms. 

Ashol Pan is a good girl and huntress.
Buddhism in Kazakhstan refers to forms of Buddhism especially prevalent along the Silk Road in Central Asia. Its history is closely related to the Silk Road transmission of Buddhism during the first millennium CE. A number of Early Buddhist schools were historically prevalent throughout Central Asia. Three major phases of missionary activities are associated with these chronological sects: Dharmaguptaka, Sarvāstivāda, and Mūlasarvāstivāda. The Dharmaguptaka made more efforts than any other sect to spread Buddhism beyond India and Afghanistan, to areas such as Iran (Ariyan-land), other parts of Central Asia [at one time dominated by the ancient Greeks], and China, and they had great success in doing so... More
Map of Kazakhstan (upper left) and Mongolia
Svidensky, a photographer and travel writer, shot five boys learning the skill as well as the girl, Ashol-Pan

"To see her with the eagle was amazing," he recalls. "She was a lot more comfortable with it, a lot more powerful with it and a lot more at ease with it."



Kazakhs have good childhoods (HS-A)
The Kazakhs (Central Asia) of the Altai mountain range in western Mongolia are the only people who hunt with golden eagles, and today there are around 400 practicing falconers. Ashol-Pan, the daughter of a particularly celebrated hunter, may well be the country's only apprentice huntress. More

Eagle (garuda), pony (named Kanthaka?), and Kazakh falconer Ashol Pan (dailymail.co.uk)
A pony and a wandering, nomadic religion (shramanic Buddhism) for Ashol Pan (BBC)

Note the Uggs and harmony between human and animal realms (Asher Svidensky)
There are no such things as unicorns...except for this one and others like it. They have been bred back into existence by careful animal husbandry (dianapeterfreund.com).


Hunger Games III: "Divergent"

Take a teen angst trip all over again, this time with Shailene Woodley (as Tris Prior) instead of Jen Lawrence. Also starring Kate Winslet and Theo James as the mysterious Four.

Sunday, 23 February 2014

Thailand (Asia's Ukraine): Crisis in Bangkok

Ashley Wells, Dhr. Seven, Pat Macpherson, Wisdom Quarterly; BBC.co.uk; FEMEN.org/en
Ukrainian protesters resist brutal attacks and killing by pro-government police and military turning the tables on aggressors and oppressors (facebook/theunleashedmind.com).

Thai PM Yingluck Shinawatra, sister of ousted billionaire ex-PM Thaksin Shinawatra (now in self-imposed exile to avoid prosecution). Revolutionary Red Shirts, in spite of conservative Yellow Shirts, demand her ouster and want people's rule after years of political turmoil.



Thai police go on the offensive against protracted anti-gov't protests in Bangkok (BBC)
   
Thai protesters resist police (news.yahoo)
A [grenade] explosion has killed two people and wounded more than 20 others near an anti-government protest rally in the Thai capital of Bangkok. A boy aged 12 and a 40-year-old woman died in the attack near the Central World shopping mall, officials said. The BBC's Jonathan Head reports from Bangkok.

Police attack protesters, Feb. 17, 2014
[One remarkable thing is that, just as in neighboring Burma's "Saffron Revolution" and other uprisings, Theravada Buddhist monks and novices participate in protests and demonstrations against the corrupt governments and military rule. Sadly, young soldiers indoctrinated into the military-industrial complex of their nations do not shrink back from attacking and even killing monastics when ordered to do so by military and police commanders. But so important is the struggle for freedom and justice that monastics continue to participate.] More + VIDEO
Ex-Ukrainian PM and opposition leader, Yulia Tymoshenko liberated from jail.
  
Ukraine: Interim leader Turchynov stresses "European choice" 
Interim Pres. Turchynov (until Putin reacts)
Ukraine's new interim President Oleksandr Turchynov has said the country will focus on closer integration with the EU [rather than Putin's Russia]. Mr. Turchynov was appointed following the dismissal of [traitorous] President Viktor Yanukovych by MPs yesterday. [Pressured by Putin] Mr. Yanukovych's rejection of an EU-Ukraine trade pact triggered the protests that toppled him. 

Mourning protesters killed by police
Russia, which had backed Mr. Yanukovych, has recalled its ambassador to Ukraine for consultations. Earlier Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the opposition "had in effect seized power in [the capital of] Kiev, refused to disarm, and continued to place its bets on violence." The US [and a meddling Senator McCain] has said parliament's actions were legitimate and has warned Russia against military intervention. 
 
Ukrainians in camouflage and jeans beat brutal policeman who was trying to kill protesters.

World to end yesterday: Viking mythology

Pat Macpherson, Pfc. Sandoval, Wisdom Quarterly, George Knapp (Coast to Coast, 2-22-14)
From the point of view of quantum physics, there is plenty of room for interpretation within the realm of what is known (themindunleashed.org).
 
We collectively co-create physical reality
In quantum physics -- the scientific study of the nature of physical reality -- there is plenty of room for interpretation.
 
The most popular and mainstream, the Copenhagen interpretation, has as one of its central tenets the concept of wave function collapse: 

(Facebook/TheMindUnleashed)
That is, every event exists as a “wave function” that contains every possible outcome of that event, which “collapses” -- distilling into the actual outcome once it is observed.

For example, if a room is unobserved, anything and everything that could possibly be in that room exists in “quantum superposition” -- an indeterminate state, full of every possibility, until someone enters the room and observes it, thereby collapsing the wave function and solidifying the reality. More

Knapp's News 2/22/14Investigative journalist and radio host George Knapp shares several news items that have recently caught his attention, including articles on the Viking apocalypse, DHS's quest for a national license-plate recognition database, tsunami "ghost" stories from Japan, and the possibility of alien life inside of atoms:
Ready for the Viking apocalypse? Norse myth predicts world will end Saturday, Feb. 22
Nathan Klein (DailyMail.co.uk)
Apocalypse: Vikings believe Norse mythology claiming end of world will strike yesterday.
 
People in York, Jorvik Viking Festival
We have survived the Mayan apocalypse and Y2K, but be afraid -- the end of the world is coming...again!

This time it’s the Viking apocalypse that is allegedly set to destroy Earth, with Norse mythology claiming the planet will split open and unleash the inhabitants of Hel on Feb. 22.

Doom: The final battle of the gods [Buddhist devas], otherwise known as Ragnarok, signals the end of the world. Vikings believe the apocalypse will begin on Saturday.

Apocalypse NOW comes as the Viking community prepares for the Norse apocalypse called Ragnarok this Saturday [yesterday], in which the Earth is predicted to split open, and gods [devas] will battle for supremacy. 

According to Vikings Ragnarok is a series of events including the final predicted battle that results in the death of a number of major gods, the occurrence of various natural disasters and the subsequent submersion of the world in water.

The wolf Fenrir is also predicted to break out of his prison, the snake Jormungand will rise out of the sea, and the dragon of the underworld will resurface on Earth to face the dead heroes of Valhalla -- who, of course, have descended from heaven to fight them. More
   
APOCALYPSES THAT NEVER HAPPENED
THE MAYAN APOCALYPSE
The world was set to be destroyed by an asteroid, or some other interplanetary object such as an alien invasion on December 21, 2012. Scientists said this wasn't possible... and were proved right.
THE CHRISTIAN RAPTURE
When his four original predicted dates failed to come to fruition, Christian radio broadcaster Harold Camping revised his prediction and said that a "Spiritual Judgment" took place in May 2011, and that the end of the world would occur on October 21.
THE [HOAGLAND] COMET
There were grave fears Comet Elenin would cause disturbances to the Earth's crust, causing massive earthquakes and tidal waves in August 2011. Others predicted that Elenin would collide with Earth on October 16.
THE BLACK HOLES
A number of groups claimed that activation of the Large Hadron Collider experiment would bring about the end of the world through the production of planet-eating micro black holes on September 10, 2008. Similar claims were made two years later [just as the first nuclear test in the U.S. was thought to stand a good chance of destroying the world by sparking an uncontrolled series of nuclear fusion/fission events].
THE NUCLEAR WAR
In 2003, Japanese cult Aum Shinrikyo predicted the world would be destroyed by a nuclear war sometime between October 30 and November 29.
THE NATURAL DISASTERS
Yoruba priests in Nigeria predicted dramatic tragedy and crisis in 2002, including coups, war, disease, and flooding.
THE MILLENNIUM BUG
Diet is the secret to beauty.
Predictions a "Y2K" computer bug would crash computers and cause major catastrophes worldwide when the clock ticked over to midnight on January 1, 2000. Planes were tipped to fall out of the sky and electronic gadgets were predicted to malfunction, ultimately resulting in society ceasing to exist.
Daughter of Ukraine's jailed ex-PM Yulia Tymoshenko, Yevgenia, reads letter from her mother in front of giant screen displaying the opposition leader in 2012 during an anti-government protest in Kiev. Tymoshenko suffers from debilitating back pain and has accused prison guards of beating her (GlobalPost.com).

Thursday, 20 February 2014

The war to come in Kiev, Ukraine (video)

Editors, Wisdom Quarterly; BBC.co.uk; FEMEN.org; Los Angeles Times  UPDATED
There have been sporadic clashes through the day, as BBC's Duncan Crawford reports.
Putin says it's time for a police state in Kiev, and Ukraine president says sir, yes, sir!
 
Protesters momentarily get the upper hand.
Paramilitary police clashed with anti-government protesters in the center of Kiev on Feb. 18. State-sanctioned violence has left at least 100 citizens dead. Police snipers shot at protesters heads to bring them down with single wounds to the head; phalanxes of police have been firing shotguns into crowds; undercover police have been executing citizens; and military-armed police are firing deadly cannon-like rubber munitions at stone-throwing protesters near Ukraine's parliament.

Mind your own business, America!
Police also attacked civilians with smoke bombs and water cannons after protesters hurled paving stones as they sought to get closer to the heavily-fortified parliament building. Reports state that protesters have captured 64 police agents. See extensive coverage at KyivPost.com, but be forewarned it is sympathetic to murderous police and government shot callers.
 
FEMEN activist/topless protester for Kiev
Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has fired the head of the armed forces, Col. Gen. Volodymyr Zamana, according to the president's website.
  Reports
The move comes after the most intense violence in [former Soviet state] Ukraine's three-month crisis turned the capital of Kiev into a battle zone against civilians.

Ukraine is "going West," joining European Economic Union over Russia (femen.org)
 
Earlier the state security service announced it was launching a nationwide "anti-terrorist" [terrorist = protester] campaign, to deal with a growing "extremist threat."
 
F you, dictator Putin (femen.org/en)
There was a suggestion the armed forces could be deployed for the first time [to help the paramilitary police kill more civilian civil rights protesters]. Col. Gen. Zamana has been replaced by the commander of Ukraine's Navy, Admiral Yuriy Ilyin, by presidential decree, President Yanukovych's website said. [One military man for another, that ought to lead to peace and calm.] More + VIDEO
    Ukrainian protest fires burn in capital of Kiev after police kill protesters (BBC)
     
    This war began long ago
    You don't talk like that, young lady!
    (FEMEN.org) KIEV, Ukraine - "Ukraine is not Alina." FEMEN has long protested Russian Dictator Putin's intervention in the affairs of the Ukraine. FEMEN fought against electoral fraud during the elections to the Duma. In 2012 at polling station where operatives were "stealing for Putin!" FEMEN activists tried to take the voice of Putin during Russian presidential voting. "Putin is the Apocalypse"! In 2013 in Germany FEMEN said, "F*ck you, Putin!" As for Kiev at the Russian Embassy, it's "Forward Russia. More

    Pussy Riot beaten and whipped in Sochi
    Feb. 19, 2014)


    Pussy Riot in Sochi in balacavas (latimes.com)
    Mere days after police detained them in Sochi, Russia, Nadya Tolokonnikova, Masha Alyokhina, and other members of Pussy Riot were attacked by whip-wielding Cossacks in Sochi today, according to reports.
     
    According to The Guardian (UK) and other outlets, members of the punk feminist activist group had assembled in their iconic bright balaclavas [knitted face scarves] in an area about 20 miles from the site of the Winter Olympics.
     
    Senator McCain meddling for US
    As they prepared to play a new song, "Putin Will Teach You to Love the Motherland," they were surrounded by plainclothes security officers.

    There were also surrounded by uniformed Cossacks with whips, who were enlisted as an informal security force during the Sochi Games.
     
    Cossacks, an equestrian-focused rural Russian culture,  have re-emerged as a symbol of conservative and militaristic values during Putin's presidency [a.k.a. dictatorship]. More

    Deadliest Day in Ukraine Protests
    Victoria Butenko and Carol J. Williams (latimes.com, Feb. 18, 2014)


    Hundreds of thousands of protesters in streets
    KIEV, Ukraine - At least nine people were killed yesterday [Feb. 17th] in the deadliest day of the 3-month-old Ukrainian political crisis.

    [Paramilitary police attacked] demonstrators and later stormed their encampment at Kiev's Independence Square, the Maidan, local and international media reported.

    Live television coverage carried by the Russia-24 news channel and nine live-streaming video cameras at the protest site and relayed by Ukrainian opposition broadcasters showed fiery explosions illuminating the grimy tent city in the capital after demonstrators ignored a [threat] from police to clear the square.

    Ukrainians see their president as "traitor"
    [WHY? It seems Russian Dictator or Presisenty Putin has ordered Ukraine's President. Yanukovich to severely crack down on Ukrainian demonstrators -- with military weaponry, forces, snipers, and plain clothes assassins -- to stop drawing attention to the plight of Ukraine and away from nearby Sochi, where Russia is trying to host a glorious Winter Olympics.]

    Clouds of smoke from fires and tear gas could be seen wafting over the chaotic scene, eerily backlit with an orange glow from the multitude of blasts, burning sandbags, and smoldering debris.

    Protest action in Moscow (Denis Bochkarev)
    [Paramilitary police] forces began moving against the protesters' camp with water cannons and stun grenades after giving them 15 minutes' warning to leave.

    But thousands of protesters remained in the square despite the caustic gas engulfing the nerve center of the uprising against President Viktor Yanukovich. More

    Full coverage
    (Los Angeles Times)
    At least two dead as Ukraine protests rage: The crowd, many wearing helmets and brandishing homemade shields and wooden sticks, responded with a roar.
      
    Ukraine uprising erupts in killings, arson, raids
    Ukraine uprising erupts in killings, arson, raidsHe also accused two top U.S. diplomats -- Victoria Nuland, who oversees European affairs at the State Department... before Tuesday's violent eruption.
    Ukrainians see worrisome nationalistic elements among protesters
    ...oppose the revolution spreading like wildfire across the country," he said. "We can take any ministry, any court, any agency in Kiev today, and no one can prevent us."
    Ukraine president offers prime minister post to opposition leader
    Ukraine president offers prime minister post to opposition leader...year driver from the town of Obukhov near Kiev, said as [he] set fire to a piece of cloth in the neck of a beer bottle that was flung toward the police a second later. 
    Ukraine protesters reject deal with president
    Ukraine protesters reject deal with president...ground floor of the Agriculture Ministry next to Independence Square [Maidan] and captured the building, the UNIAN information agency reported. 
    Ukraine demonstrators clash with riot police
     Ukraine demonstrators clash with riot police ...I decided not to go to Grushevsky [Street] because by our presence we can only aggravate the provocation which is taking place there now."
    Why is John McCain meddling in Ukraine?