http://christerkarlstad.com/
Monday, November 15, 2010
BEAUTY: Painting--Christer Karlstad
Norway's Christer Karlstad paints haunting, evocative images of abandoned amusement park rides. They speak to a sense of nostalgia, of the loss of childhood and innocence, and of decay and an ominous encroaching sense of inevitable destruction.
http://christerkarlstad.com/
http://christerkarlstad.com/
Beauty: Art
"The Caretaker of Reality"
If anyone knows who created this superb work, please let me know so I can give credit.
UPDATE 6.17.11: I am so happy I have figured out who painted this gorgeous creation. It is by Julie Heffernan and it is titled "Great Scout Leader III."
If anyone knows who created this superb work, please let me know so I can give credit.
UPDATE 6.17.11: I am so happy I have figured out who painted this gorgeous creation. It is by Julie Heffernan and it is titled "Great Scout Leader III."
"Messages From My World"
Messages From My World
These bulletins, these updates in short bursts,
I am transmitting them all back.
You may receive them
through static on the radio
or as a ghost image on television,
superimposed over the news.
They may come to you like
dreams or visions or you may
hear voices like Joan of Arc.
Do not be alarmed. Instead,
just let me tell you that
I am of this world but
not in it. I was born into
the space between the spokes,
shot out into that small wedge of
nothing that is within the wheel,
caught, spinning and spinning,
banging back and forth but
not really part of the wheel.
Let me tell you that, today,
I am boiling even in this cold and
my soul sounds like a xylophone.
A man almost as old as my father
called me sir today and
years from now, I’ll remember
walking, nodding to passers by, hovering
in places I’d never been before
and never went back. On my death,
I’ll see my life as a long string of
unknown places, independent, alone.
So I continue outward, no luck, no logic.
The farther out I go, the less I remember
home—I look in my rear view mirror
and see it all shrinking into the distance.
The longer I’m gone, the more I find
there’s nowhere to go and nothing to know.
When I was born, I was shot from a sling and
I’ve been hurtling through the world ever since,
mapping out new territory, getting lost, then
finding my way again so I can
guide someone else when they’re lost.
I’m pedaling backward uphill and
someday I’ll return to the
starting point, I’ll come back home and
there’ll be cake and champagne for everyone.
Until then, stay tuned to the following messages…
©JEF 1998
These bulletins, these updates in short bursts,
I am transmitting them all back.
You may receive them
through static on the radio
or as a ghost image on television,
superimposed over the news.
They may come to you like
dreams or visions or you may
hear voices like Joan of Arc.
Do not be alarmed. Instead,
just let me tell you that
I am of this world but
not in it. I was born into
the space between the spokes,
shot out into that small wedge of
nothing that is within the wheel,
caught, spinning and spinning,
banging back and forth but
not really part of the wheel.
Let me tell you that, today,
I am boiling even in this cold and
my soul sounds like a xylophone.
A man almost as old as my father
called me sir today and
years from now, I’ll remember
walking, nodding to passers by, hovering
in places I’d never been before
and never went back. On my death,
I’ll see my life as a long string of
unknown places, independent, alone.
So I continue outward, no luck, no logic.
The farther out I go, the less I remember
home—I look in my rear view mirror
and see it all shrinking into the distance.
The longer I’m gone, the more I find
there’s nowhere to go and nothing to know.
When I was born, I was shot from a sling and
I’ve been hurtling through the world ever since,
mapping out new territory, getting lost, then
finding my way again so I can
guide someone else when they’re lost.
I’m pedaling backward uphill and
someday I’ll return to the
starting point, I’ll come back home and
there’ll be cake and champagne for everyone.
Until then, stay tuned to the following messages…
©JEF 1998
Saturday, November 13, 2010
One Step Closer To Dark Matter
Astronomers have created a new, incredibly detailed map of dark matter by using the Hubble Space Telescope to peer through a huge cluster of galaxies as if it were a cosmic magnifying glass.
Though invisible, dark matter makes its presence known through its gravitational tug on normal stuff. Scientists now calculate that dark matter could make up 80 percent of all the matter in the universe.
The new dark matter map could reveal secrets not just about dark matter, but about its equally enigmatic sibling, dark energy. This is the name given to the perplexing force that is pulling against gravity, causing the universe to balloon in size ever more rapidly.
The dark matter map was created with observations from the Hubble telescope of a large galaxy cluster called Abell 1689, located 2.2 billion light-years from Earth. This cluster is famous as a stunning example of gravitational lensing – a phenomenon predicted by Einstein that happens when massive objects warp the space-time around them, causing even light to travel on a bent path when it passes by.
When astronomers look at Abell 1689, they can see distorted pictures of the galaxies that lie beyond it in our line of sight: As those galaxies' light travels from them to us, it passes through Abell 1689 and is bent and magnified.
By studying this so-called lensing effect, scientists can deduce the mass that is causing the warping.
Astronomer Dan Coe of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., and Edward Fuselier of the United States Military Academy at West Point teamed up to apply a new mathematical formulation to Hubble observations of Abell 1689. The result is the most accurate, detailed calculation so far of the cluster's mass distribution, including the mass that can't be accounted for by the visible matter – meaning, the dark matter.
"The lensed images are like a big puzzle," Coe said. "Here we have figured out, for the first time, a way to arrange the mass of Abell 1689 such that it lenses all of these background galaxies to their observed positions."
Above: the new map of dark matter
12 November 2010
01:29 pm ET
Though invisible, dark matter makes its presence known through its gravitational tug on normal stuff. Scientists now calculate that dark matter could make up 80 percent of all the matter in the universe.
The new dark matter map could reveal secrets not just about dark matter, but about its equally enigmatic sibling, dark energy. This is the name given to the perplexing force that is pulling against gravity, causing the universe to balloon in size ever more rapidly.
The dark matter map was created with observations from the Hubble telescope of a large galaxy cluster called Abell 1689, located 2.2 billion light-years from Earth. This cluster is famous as a stunning example of gravitational lensing – a phenomenon predicted by Einstein that happens when massive objects warp the space-time around them, causing even light to travel on a bent path when it passes by.
When astronomers look at Abell 1689, they can see distorted pictures of the galaxies that lie beyond it in our line of sight: As those galaxies' light travels from them to us, it passes through Abell 1689 and is bent and magnified.
By studying this so-called lensing effect, scientists can deduce the mass that is causing the warping.
Astronomer Dan Coe of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., and Edward Fuselier of the United States Military Academy at West Point teamed up to apply a new mathematical formulation to Hubble observations of Abell 1689. The result is the most accurate, detailed calculation so far of the cluster's mass distribution, including the mass that can't be accounted for by the visible matter – meaning, the dark matter.
"The lensed images are like a big puzzle," Coe said. "Here we have figured out, for the first time, a way to arrange the mass of Abell 1689 such that it lenses all of these background galaxies to their observed positions."
Above: the new map of dark matter12 November 2010
01:29 pm ET
Friday, November 12, 2010
Some Day Here On Earth
It happens all the time in heaven,
and some day it will begin to happen again on earth...
that men and women who are married,
and men and men who are lovers,
and women and women who give each other light,
often will get down on their knees
and while so tenderly holding their lover's hand,
with tears in their eyes,
will sincerely speak, saying,
"My dear, how can I be more loving to you;
how can I be more kind?"
--Hafiz
and some day it will begin to happen again on earth...
that men and women who are married,
and men and men who are lovers,
and women and women who give each other light,
often will get down on their knees
and while so tenderly holding their lover's hand,
with tears in their eyes,
will sincerely speak, saying,
"My dear, how can I be more loving to you;
how can I be more kind?"
--Hafiz
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Algora
I discovered a new (to me) artist tonight. Algora is from Madrid, Spain and combines folk with electronica to great effect. His voice is lovely and goes down so easy and smooth.
I have been listening to these songs all night. They are from his 2007 debut release, "Planes de Verano."
"Viaje a San Francisco" ("Trip to San Francisco")
"David" (a beautiful song of unrequited love)
His newest collection, "Galimatias," was released this summer.
http://www.myspace.com/algoramusica
I have been listening to these songs all night. They are from his 2007 debut release, "Planes de Verano."
"Viaje a San Francisco" ("Trip to San Francisco")
"David" (a beautiful song of unrequited love)
His newest collection, "Galimatias," was released this summer.
http://www.myspace.com/algoramusica
Friday, November 5, 2010
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Currently listening to...
...the enchanting, dream-like "All The Big Trees" by Jónsi and Alex, while I drift off to sleep...
http://jonsiandalex.com/
http://jonsiandalex.com/
"Relocation"
Relocation
We are all still slightly groggy.
My father is outside repotting plants
that we took with us
when we fled to Dreamland.
But the only pots they have here
are Jadeite and they
chip and crack and split
when my father fills them with dirt.
I also brought my pet mouse, Ricky.
I would never leave him behind.
But he’s not in my hands
or in the house.
I can’t see him scurrying along
the baseboards or across
the living room carpet.
He escaped with us intact
but now he is gone and
I don’t know if he’s alive.
Outside, next to the house,
I call him. It is dusk and
the light is dim but out of the
shadows, I see him running
to me in a zig-zag, a flash
of fur, a crazy
rush of happiness.
I pick him up and pet his head.
Maybe things will be
better here after all.
©JEF 2000
We are all still slightly groggy.
My father is outside repotting plants
that we took with us
when we fled to Dreamland.
But the only pots they have here
are Jadeite and they
chip and crack and split
when my father fills them with dirt.
I also brought my pet mouse, Ricky.
I would never leave him behind.
But he’s not in my hands
or in the house.
I can’t see him scurrying along
the baseboards or across
the living room carpet.
He escaped with us intact
but now he is gone and
I don’t know if he’s alive.
Outside, next to the house,
I call him. It is dusk and
the light is dim but out of the
shadows, I see him running
to me in a zig-zag, a flash
of fur, a crazy
rush of happiness.
I pick him up and pet his head.
Maybe things will be
better here after all.
©JEF 2000
Currently listening to...
...Morrissey's brilliant, kickass "Ganglord." The sound is thick, substantial and serious and I love it.
"Ganglord, there's a clock on the wall
making fun of us all.
Ganglord, the clock on the wall
makes a joke of us all."
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
BEAUTY: Ceramics--Lisa Clague
Working in clay, Lisa Clague creates stunning figurative pieces of profound beauty. Her marvelous anthropomorphic/ zoomorphic forms are infused with an hallucinatory sense of fantasy, and a slight sense of dread and fear.
http://www.lisaclague.net/
http://www.lisaclague.net/
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Día de los Muertos 2010
Today is Día de los Muertos, a joyous, upbeat holiday originating in Mexico but now widely celebrated here in the United States. It is a day to celebrate and remember ancestors and departed loved ones. Altars are created in homes that feature pictures of dead loved ones along with favorite objects and food they liked when they were alive (called ofrenda or offerings), decorated sugar skulls, imagery of skeletons and calacas (a figure of a skull or a skeleton), colorful paper cut-outs, candles, and copious amounts of marigolds.
Above: Ofrenda on a home altar
Below: Examples of calacas
Families go to cemeteries to tend to family plots, gravesides and tombs. There is a carnival-like atmosphere in Mexico as huge crowds descend upon cemeteries to hold all night vigils and cook food not only for themselves but also for the spirits of the departed who can visit this earthly realm one night a year. Old women sit in chairs by the graves while children run and play tag, musicians play and sing, and people sit and talk with family members.
Above: A grave in Ocotepec, a town near Cuernavaca.
In the United States, the largest Día de los Muertos celebration is held in San Francisco. A street parade with drumming and dancing attracts thousands of people who dress up in traditional skull face paint and costumes. The video below is a nice clip of the street parade from 2008.
DIA DE LOS MUERTOS BEAUTY: Art
The work of contemporary Los Angeles-based artist Sylvia Ji speaks to the Día de los Muertos tradition by using images based on Mexican calacas.
Top to bottom: Red Quechquemitls; La Madrina; La Adelita; Red Shawl
http://www.sylviaji.com/
Top to bottom: Red Quechquemitls; La Madrina; La Adelita; Red Shawl
http://www.sylviaji.com/
Monday, November 1, 2010
La Toussaint, 2010
Aujourd'hui est le jour de La Toussaint en France.
En Français, la signification du mot est : Tous = All, Saint = Saints... ou "All Saints Day" en Anglais.
C'est un jour quand les familles vont aux cimetières pour régénérer les tombes et pour célébrer avec des pique-niques.
Tous les peintures que vous voyez ici sont par Emile Friant (1863-1932).
Longitudinal : La Toussaint; Angelus; The Prayer; Douleur
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