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Water puppetry (Vietnamese: Múa rối nước, lit. "puppets that dance on water") is a tradition that dates back as far as the 11th century CE when it originated in the villages of the Red River Delta area of northern Vietnam. Today's Vietnamese water puppetry is a unique variation on the ancient Asian puppet tradition.

 

The puppets are made out of wood and then lacquered. The shows are performed in a waist-deep pool. A large rod supports the puppet under the water and is used by the puppeteers, who are normally hidden behind a screen, to control them. Thus the puppets appear to be moving over the water. When the rice fields would flood, the villagers would entertain each other using this form of puppet play.

 

history

 

Múa rối is sa.o considered to have originated in the delta of the Red river in Vietnam in the 11th century, and the art remains highly developed today in this country. Some of the earliest troupes were found in the Nguyên Xá commune, Đông Hưng district, Thai Binh province.[1]

 

In ancient Vietnam, the rural Vietnamese believed that spirits controlled all aspect of their lives, from the kitchen to the rice paddies. The Vietnamese devised water puppetry as a way to satisfy these spirits, and as a form of entertainment, using what natural medium they could find in their environment. In ancient times, the ponds and flooded rice paddies after harvest were the stage for these impromptu shows. [2]

 

This art form is unique to North Vietnam and only found its way to the world stage in recent years as a result of normalized relations with the West.[3] During the early 1990s the country's three foremost companies, the National Puppet Theatre (Nhà hát Múa rối Trung Ương), the municipal Thăng Long Puppet Company (Nhà hát Múa rối Thăng Long) of Hanoi and the Hồ Chí Minh City Puppet Company (Đoàn Nghệ thuật Múa rối Thành Phố Hố Chí Minh) gained increased international attention. The main venues in Vietnam itself are the Thăng Long Water Puppet Theatre in Hanoi and the Golden Dragon Water Puppet Theatre in Saigon.

  

Performance

 

Modern water puppetry is performed in a pool of water 4 meters square with the water surface being the stage. Performance today occurs on one of three venues—on traditional ponds in villages where a staging area has been set up, on portable tanks built for traveling performers, or in a specialized building where a pool stage has been constructed[4].

 

Up to 8 puppeteers stand behind a split-bamboo screen, decorated to resemble a temple facade, and control the puppets using long bamboo rods and string mechanism hidden beneath the water surface. The puppets are carved out of wood and often weigh up to 15 kg.

 

A traditional Vietnamese orchestra provides background music accompaniment. The instrumentation includes vocals, drums, wooden bells, cymbals, horns, Đàn bầu (monochord), gongs, and bamboo flutes. The bamboo flute's clear, simple notes may accompany royalty while the drums and cymbals may loudly announce a fire-breathing dragon's entrance.[5]

 

Singers of chèo (a form of opera originating in north Vietnam) sing songs which tell the story being acted out by the puppets. The musicians and the puppets interact during performance; the musicians may yell a word of warning to a puppet in danger or a word of encouragement to a puppet in need.

 

The puppets enter from either side of the stage, or emerge from the murky depths of the water.

 

Spotlights and colorful flags adorn the stage and create a festive atmosphere.

 

Content

 

The theme of the skits is rural and has a strong reference to Vietnamese folklore. It tells of day-to-day living in rural Vietnam and Vietnamese folk tales that are told by grandparents to their grandchildren. Stories of the harvest, of fishing and of festivals are highlighted.

 

Legends and national history are also told through short skits. Many of the skits, especially those involving the tales of day-to-day living, often have a humorous twist.

 

português

 

O Teatro Aquático de Fantoches (Múa Rối Nước) é uma modalidade de Teatro de Fantoches, uma manifestação cultural característica do Vietnam.

 

Histórico

 

Sua origem é obscura, mas possivelmente já no século XI integrava a vida cultural do país. Era uma arte cujos segredos, mantidos restritos, se transmitiam dos mais velhos aos mais jovens dentro de uma mesma família.

 

Em 1980 foi considerada uma arte extinta, quando uma organização francesa veio proporcionar nova vida a esta tradição. Os grupos atualmente existentes já se apresentaram em outros países, e podem ser vistos em atividade tanto em Hanói como na cidade de Ho Chi Minh.

 

No Thăng Long (Teatro Aquático de Hanói) o ingresso custa 40.000 đ (cerca 2 €, no câmbio de dezembro de 2003), preço que inclui um CD de músicas. Quem deseje fotografar ou filmar deve pagar 1 ou 5 dólares americanos extras, respectivamente. O espectador recebe programas em vários idiomas, além do vietnamita (em inglês, francês, japonês e chinês), o mesmo ocorrendo com os anúncios.

 

Orquestra

O espetáculo é musicado por uma pequena orquestra (que conta, inclusive, com um monocórdio típico vietnamita, chamado Đàn Bầu), que toca durante toda a apresentação. Além disso, os integrantes da orquestra emprestam suas vozes para os bonecos.

 

A orquestra fica posicionada a um lado do "palco", que na verdade é uma espécie de piscina ou tanque.

 

O Palco

Originalmente este tanque era a lagoa da aldeia, ou mesmo um lago próximo. No tanque, os protagonistas são instalados sobre postes feitos de bambu, que ficam submersos enquanto os bonecos ficam sobre a superfície. Ao fundo deste local está uma cortina, também feita de bambu.

 

Protagonistas

Os bonecos, movidos por hastes de bambu, têm seu controle situado atrás da cortina de bambu. São de tamanhos que variam de 30 centímetros a 1 metro de altura, com peso variando de 1 a 5 quilogramas. Sua confecção é feita em madeira de pés de figo nativos, tornadas impermeáveis por uma cobertura de resina e verniz.

 

Assim como outras peças móveis, os bonecos são guiados pela outra extremidade das varas, por vezes com uso de cordas.

  

Personagens e peças

 

As peças têm como personagens, geralmente, pessoas e cenas da vida rural, ou figuras típicas como o flautista montado num búfalo, ou um plantador de fumo. Além desses quadros bucólicos, são encenadas danças místicas de leões e dragões, bem como dos quatro animais sagrados: a Fênix, o kỳ lân (Qilin, o unicórnio chinês), Long ( o Dragão chinês), e a tartaruga.

 

Um outro motivo folclórico também costuma ser encenado, que é a lenda da batalha do rei Le Loi.

Windriaan of, Orbites strai of respectievelijk E_ring zijn de namen voor een nieuw soort windturbine.

 

Windriaan or, Orbite est Strai or, E-rings are the names for a new kind of windmill.

 

Deze genormaliseerde windmolen / turbine kenmerkt zich door de normale krachtenoverdracht en zuivere uitstroming van de wind. Achter de wieken staat namelijk geen mast, waardoor de uitstroom van de wind niet wordt verstoord. Door de zuivere uitstroming van de wind krijgen de wieken niet telkens een "tik" te verwerken.

 

De manier van inklemmen.

 

Daar waar de lift het grootst is, is vlees.

 

The way of holding the blades is new.

 

Conventionele windturbines hebben zwabberende wieken en hebben masten die, achter de wieken, staan opgesteld zodat de uitstroming van de wind wordt verstoord. Verder kenmerkt de Windriaan zich dus doordat de wieken aan de snelle kant worden ingeklemd. Er is echter een type binnen de Orbites Strai familie, type Missy (plaatje 51 www.flickr.com/spailingstrailing), dat de bladen aan de buitenzijde van de ring vasthoudt.

 

Windriaan or, Orbites strai or respectively E_ring are the names for a new kind of wind turbine. This turbine does not blow to pieces in high winds because of the normalized lift transfer and the clean outflow of the wind. Behind the blades is no mast so, that the mentioned outflow is not disturbed. This is why Windriaans do not get tired ( fatique ) and, consequently, do not fail. The wind has no limit any more. E=MW^3 counts for severe winds too, like cyclones. Energy problem solved. Harmony with the planet. Water and food come from Spailboat Formula.

 

Conventional wind turbines, on the other hand, have masts behind the blades so that, the outflow is disturbed. Windriaan and Spailboat can be made ever lasting. Carbon fibers, oil, for building material and hydrogen as fuel. That is Formula Spailboat.

 

Further on, Windriaan characterises itself because the blades are jammed in at the fast side of the blade. There is, however, a type within the Orbites strai family, type Missy (picture 51 in www.flickr.com/spailingstrailing) which holds the blades at the slow side, better known as the origin.

Binnen conventionele windturbines en windmolens ontspruiten de wieken altijd vanuit de as, waar de snelheid nadert tot nul.

 

Within conventional wind turbines the blades always spring out from the centre, where the speed of the blades is almost zero.

 

time for better.

 

Windriaans hebben dus een ringconstructie van waaruit de bladen ontspruiten en hebben geen centrale as.

Windriaan has a ring construction from where the blades originate, respectively spring out.

Met een illustratie ( plaatje 19 www.flickr.com/spailingstrailing ) is getracht uit te duiden hoe de Windriaan tot stand kwam. Hiertoe moeten we terug naar den beginne, naar de Dhows over de rivier Nijl. Het feit doet zich namelijk voor dat de wind altijd haaks over de Nijl blaast zodat de zeilboten “half-wind” de rivier op en neer kunnen bevaren. De eerste zeilboten leken zodoende op kitesurfers. Half wind is heel belangrijk omdat de VMG nul is. De velocity made good is nul. Ofwel, de terreinwinst tegen de wind in is, nul en bovendien gaat de zeilboot het hardst, als er half wind wordt gevaren.

With an illustration (picture 19 www.flickr.com/spailingstrailing) is tried to explain how Windriaan sprung out. Therefor we have to go back to the very beginning, to the Dhows at the river Nile. The fact is the coincidence of the wind blowing always perpendicular over the river Nile so that sailing boats always sail half wind. The first sailing boats looked a lot like windsurfers and kitesurfers. The half wind sailing course is very important because the velocity made good, VMG, is zero. In other words, there is no gaining towards the wind. And on top, the maximum speed of sailing boats is obtained in the half wind sailing course.

Tijd werd geld en ook buiten de rivier Nijl ging men zeilen. Men kwam er successievelijk achter dat langs getuigde zeilboten hoger, respectievelijk scherper tegen de wind in konden zeilen. Echter, langs getuigde zeilschepen zijn instabiel. Na de stoommachine en zeker na de verbrandingsmotor verdwenen zowel de dwars getuigde klippers als de langs getuigde zeilboten van het toneel. Het volk nam na WOII het zeilen onder handen en ging terug naar stabiel zeilen; windsurfen en kitesurfen, in de half windse surfkoers. De half windse koers is de surfkoers omdat de wind de golven opzwiept en dus haaks op de wind lopen. Met surfen wordt er nooit gedwongen een golf gepenetreerd. Dit, doordat het surfen op zich het doel is. Door de stabiliteit, door de afwezigheid van de zogenaamde arm tussen lift en reactiekracht op het water, kan er zelfs ruime wind in stormachtige wind worden gekoerst.

Time became money and also outside the river Nile mankind sailed. Sailing boats got other rigs to gain towards the wind. After the steam machine and the combustion engine sailing disappeared from the scene. After WOII the common people took over sailing and came up with kwindsurfing and kitesurfing. The stable sailing and the along going speed in the half wind racing course was back. Hahlf wind is the urf course because the waves are swept by the wind. Windsurfers want surf and do not need to penetrate waves. No, they fall towards even lower courses than half wind and surf along with waves. This, because the surfing and the speed are the goals. Not to get somewhere. In freedom time and destinations do not exist. Because of stability, caused by the absence of the so called excentricity or arm between the lift and the reaction at the water, the Spailboat is able to sail even lower courses than half wind in high winds.

Het doel van Speelboot of, Spailboat, is, zodoende, snelheid. De kinetische energie is massa maal snelheid in het kwadraat gedeeld door twee, in Joules. Dus, windsurfen, half wind en ruime wind, met stabiele Speelboten levert energie, waterstof.

The goal of Spailboat is therefor, speed. The kinetic energy of the sailing mass is the mass times the square of the velocity, divided by two, in Joules. So, windsurfing half wind and even lower delivers energy, hydrogen.

De snelheid is maximaal en de massa kan belangrijk worden vergroot doordat de boel stabiel is. Stabiliteit is de voorwaarde om groot te gaan. Conventionele zeilboten hebben hun maximum bereikt, Speelboten kunnen wel een kilometer lang worden.

 

The speed is top and the mass can be increased dramatically because the configuration is stable. Stability is the condition to build big. Conventional sailing ships reached maximum size long ago while Spailboats can be a kilometer in length.

Indien men, theoretisch, over de evenaar zou zeilen in de half windse koers dan ontstaat er een ringbaan en de Windriaan was geboren.

When one, theoretically, would sail over the equator in the half wind sailing course then a ring comes up. Windriaan was born.

Windriaan en Speelboot behandelen de krachten normaal en Windriaans trillen niet kapot door de verstoorde wind.

Windriaan and Spailboat handle the forces in a normal way, because of the absence of excentricity or arm in the lift transference and Windriaan does not shake to pieces by the disturberd airflow becasue of the mast.

Nu kan men windrijke gebieden op aarde gaan benutten. En, is het energie probleem opgelost. Maar, het gaat verder. Nu de olie niet meer nodig is voor de verbranding kan deze worden bewaard als bouwmateriaal voor de toekomstige ruimteschepen. Over 400.000.000 jaar is de zon opgebrand en moet de mensheid zijn geëvacueerd naar een zonnestelsel. We moeten het ruim zien.

So, now mankind is able to exploit the high winds on earth. And, the energy problem is solved. The oil is no longer needed for combustion so that the oil can be preserved as building material for future constructions and space crafts. In about 400.000.000 the sun is burned up and mankind has to be evacuated to another solar system.

Tesla was “rood”. Tesla wilde gratis energie voor de hele mensheid en dat wil ik ook. Het is bekend dat het communisme een derde revolutie nodig heeft en bij deze. Elk weldenkend mens zal het leven boven geld kiezen. Met Windriaan, Spailboat en het wrijvingsloze wiel, hetgeen een voorloper is van de vliegende schotel, kan de mensheid met nog eens een factor duizend toenemen zonder dat er roofbouw is. China en Rusland zullen Windriaan, Speelboot en het wrijvingsloze wiel met open armen ontvangen. Uitgedacht door de man van de straat.

Tesla was “red”. Tesla wanted free energy for everyone and so will I. My goal is to save life and to preserve the oil for later purposes, like space crafts and buildings. We are now in a lack of input energy to make hydrogen. Problem solved with Windriaan and Spailboat. The steel can decrease and everyone has enough food. Energy makes food.

Mijn doel is om het leven te redden en de olie te bewaren voor latere ruimteschepen en bouwwerken. De staal kan dan ook afknijpen. Het lijkt me duidelijk dat deze rooftocht ten einde komt. Iedereen voldoende eten. In harmonie, de basis, kan de mens de aarde en het leven preserveren. Diep in het hart wil iedereen dat.

De opgewekte waterstof is na verbranding, water. De olie kan dus vervangen worden door waterstof. Het ontbreekt ons vooralsnog aan de energie om waterstof te maken. Dus maakte ik Spailboat, SB, met als spin off, Windriaan, ofwel Orbite est Strai, of E_rings en het wrijvingsloze wiel.

Hydrogen is water after burning.

SB is een normale zeilboot en Windriaan is een normale windturbine. “Normaal” wil zeggen in de techniek dat, de krachten normaal worden overgedragen zodat, de compositie stabiel en is en louter op sterkte bezwijkt. Dus, we kunnen Windriaan en Spailboaten (SB) sterk genoeg maken. De moderne constructie materialen als, carbonfiber (C, olie), bieden uitkomst.

Er is, binnen de SB-formule, geen kapseizend koppel aanwezig op SB en de wieken van Windriaan worden stevig ingeklemd aan de snelle kant door een ringconstructie. Windriaan en SB zijn stabiele en normaal in de krachtenoverbrengingen en gaan dus niet niet stuk. SB en Windriaan falen niet in cyclonen.

Nu kan Antarctica worden aangeboord door Windriaan en de Stille Zuidzee door Spailboaten.

De hele wereld kan zich voeden met energie, de waterstof, mbv SB en Windriaan. SB en Windriaan zijn windomzetters die, de windkracht omzetten in spinning, respectievelijk draaiing van ronde lichamen tbv de aanmaak van hanteerbare energie als, elektra en daarna waterstof, LH2.

Wind? De Stille Zuidzee en Antarctica. E_kinetisch=1/2 M v^2, met M, massa, in kg en v, snelheid, in m/s en E_kinetisch in Joules. Voor windturbines geldt zelfs een macht drie! E_kin = M W^3. Met W als windsnelheid.

Daarnaast is er nog een wrijvingsloos wiel als spin off, ook te zien op genoemde site. De moeite waard. Holland redden is de wereld Spailboaten en Windriaans geven.

Windriaan is een normale windturbine geschikt voor zelfs de hardste wind ooit gemeten. Binnen Windriaan zijn de bladen aan de snelle kant ingeklemd.

Er staat dan dat Antarctica in beeld komt als waterstofbron voor de hele planeet.

Het waait nu eenmaal op de Stille Zuidzee, vooral zuidelijk.

Windriaan is reeds gemaakt in 2009 en getest in de jaren erna en Spailboat wordt heden gemaakt.

Hoogachtend,

ir Donald HJ Goudriaan

den haag

06-85861800

 

Waterstof is na verbranding, water. De olie kan in principe vervangen worden door waterstof. Het ontbreekt ons, de mensheid, aan de energie om waterstof te maken. Dus maakte ik Spailboat, SB, met als spin off, Windriaan, ofwel Orbite est Strai, www.flickr.com/spailingstrailing.

 

SB is een normale zeilboot en Windriaan is een normale windturbine. “Normaal” wil zeggen, in de techniek, dat, de krachten normaal worden overgedragen zodat, de compositie stabiel en is en louter op sterkte bezwijkt. Dus, we kunnen Windriaan en Spailboaten (SB) sterk genoeg maken. De moderne constructie materialen als, carbonfiber (C, olie), bieden uitkomst.

Er is, binnen de SB-formule, geen kapseizend koppel aanwezig op SB en de wieken van Windriaan worden stevig ingeklemd aan de snelle kant door een ringconstructie. Windriaan en SB zijn stabiel en normaal in de krachtenoverbrengingen en gaan dus niet niet stuk. SB en Windriaan falen niet in cyclonen.

Sinds dertig jaar werk ik aan een uitvinding (normale zeilboot, Spailboat, speelboot) die uitmondde in een tweede en derde: een stabiele windturbine (normale windturbine, Windriaan, E-rings) en een wrijvingsloos wiel.

 

Als windsurfer en als zeiler moest ik eerst de scheiding duidelijk maken tussen de twee. Zeilen is instabiel, en wind- en kitesurfen zijn stabiel. Stabiliteit is de voorwaarde om groter te bouwen. De zeilboten hebben hun maximale grootte wel bereikt; de formule voor windsurfers en kite-surfers impliceert dat de opschaling door kan gaan.

 

De formule voor (kinetische-) energie is namelijk E_kin. = 1/2 M v^2 ( v, is snelheid in m/s en de snelheid werkt in het kwadraat, net als in Einsteins E = M c kwadraat ) in Joules, of Watt, ofwel, in woorden: de kinetische energie is een half maal de massa maal de snelheid ( van de surfer ) in het kwadraat. Stabiliteit impliceert dat de massa belangrijk omhoog kan. In feite lossen Spailboat en Windriaan het wereldwijde energie probleem op want, nu kan het zuidelijk halfrond worden ontgonnen. Ontginnen is een groot woord, want het enige dat we doen is, de wind en de (korte wind-) golven omzetten in waterstof, LH2. De kinetische energie van de aarde (wind en korte windgoven) kan met behulp van Spailboat worden omgezet in LH2. LH2 is vloeibaar waterstofgas.

 

Zijsprong: in 1973 wilden de VS een windsurfboot. Dit, naar aanleiding van de oliecrisis. Het lukte ze niet, maar, mij wel. Ze trokken het, de tekeningen, daar gewoon uit mijn handen, en ik zei: neem het maar, Nederland slaapt. Dit is twintig jaar geleden. De VS namen het aanbod niet aan omdat het een nationale schande zou betekenen. Hollands glorie is dus Speelbooot, Windriaan en het wrijvingsloze wiel; te vinden www.flickr/spailingstrailing

 

Natuurlijk moet de mens, als bediener van de windsurfzeilen en kites, vervangen worden door een mechanisme. De mens kan niet worden opgeschaald maar, een mechanisme wel.

 

Energie loopt, dus, op twee parameters, te weten, massa en snelheid. Nu kan de massa belangrijk worden vergroot en opent zich de stille zuidzee. Spin off van de Spailboat is Windriaan ( E-rings) en die zijn geschikt voor land. Antarctica en de Stille Zuidzee, bronnen van wind ( en, hoge korte windgolven), zijn de doelen.

  

Nu kan Antarctica worden aangeboord door Windriaan en de Stille Zuidzee door Spailboaten.

De hele wereld kan zich voeden met energie, de waterstof, mbv SB en Windriaan. SB en Windriaan zijn windomzetters die, de windkracht omzetten in spinning, respectievelijk draaiing van ronde lichamen tbv de aanmaak van hanteerbare energie als, elektra en daarna waterstof, LH2.

Wind? De Stille Zuidzee en Antarctica. E_kinetisch=1/2 M v^2, met M, massa, in kg en v, snelheid, in m/s en E_kinetisch in Joules. Voor windturbines geldt zelfs een macht drie! E_kin = M W^3. Met W als windsnelheid.

Daarnaast is er nog een wrijvingsloos wiel als spin off, ook te zien op genoemde site. De moeite waard. Holland redden is de wereld Spailboaten en Windriaans, dus watetstof geven.

 

This shown turbo windmill is spin off from the Spailboat.

   

A mantling ring around the blades holds the blades firmly in position. The ends of the blades are clipped in by this ring and the only freedom this ring has, is to turn. Above that, due to mantling around the blades with supporting construction, no mast is placed behind the blades. The blades do never pass a mast, so that the wind that leaves the blades is not disturbed anymore.

   

Conventional wind turbines use long masts to catch the wind at the highest possible vertical blade covering area as possible, because the conventional wind turbines are operating near living ground and over here is little wind -our ancestors could choose, and they chose to live here, instead of living at places with a lot of wind-. Long masts cause no particular problems in low wind speeds, however, in high winds, the masts tend to flip over and start to vibrate. To be exact, the vibrations in/at the masts do enforce the vibrations in the blades. Conventional wind turbines can not use high winds, because:

 

1: vibrations in the mast and tendency to flip over

 

2: vibrations in the blades, because of loose ends

 

3: vibrations of the blades, caused by passing the masts at the lowest point of the circular motion of the blades. It sounds like this: zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz , flope, zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz, flope... et cetera, in where zzzzzzzzzzzz is the sound without passing the masts and flope is the sound while passing the mast.

   

The masts in old Dutch windmills are even wider, in order to house the big wooden cog wheels for the transmission, axles and specific industries in the "mast". The sails, or fabric, spread out over the rate construction at the beams of the blades, make an even bigger floping sound and a closer look learns that, during passing the mast, the sails are even coming loose from this rate construction. So, every time a blade passes the mast, the blade is loosing lift force. In the early days this constantly changing of the lift force in the wind mill beams was not a problem, because the mill making was done with wood and wood never tires.

 

Until 1800 A.D. we needed the windmills for powering our industries. Today, we need the wind again for, for instance, countering the raise of nuclear power, coal -, and gas, burning / using power plants for electricity, and to make an alternative for combustion engines.

   

Since the windsurfers, and later, the kite surfers, introduced a stable way of holding up sails, by holding the sails in such a way that the capsizing is no longer flipping the sailing composition over, even high winds can be used.

   

In a way it is trivial that exactly James Watt's steam machine triggered the industrial revolution, which resulted in global warming that increased the wind. So, we have more wind here and there [close to where we live and close to the arctic zones] and we can now use most of it.

   

The low wind speed regime can be used by conventional modern wind turbines and conventional modern sailing boats and high winds by turbo windmills and Spailboats. By using any kind of wind, until 12bft, any where on earth, we can say that the wind is to be used on demand, and his is exactly the reason of why the industrial revolution took off.

   

In 1773, when James improved the steam machine, we did not have carbon fibers, steel, composites and the windsurf formula, so that the steam machine did not have a competition.

   

En fin, by means of windsurfing high winds at oceans with spaiboats and using high winds by turbo windmills, the combination with conventional modern wind users for the low wind regime leads to new a competition for nuclear power plants et cetera. So the comparison of today is the combination of all wind converters, for making axles spin, with for instance the steam machine and his brothers -nuclear power plants, coal -, and gas, burning power plants-, which all still boil water in a big kettle, and combustion engines which are also still burning fossil fuels. Once again, we are on a certain track since the steammachine, which track provided us also combustion engines. Look: a cylinder in a combustion engine is a kind of kettle and the high pressure is caused by burning fuel in it to make axles spin. It is therefore, that the steam machine, nucluar power, combustion engines and powerplants are all brothers of eachother. I will fight these brothers now with the windsurf formula.

   

The windsurf formula implies that lift from the blades lines up with the reaction force and that the blades are hold steady and firm, so that high winds can be used.

   

The blades -rotors- in a turbo windmill are at their ends mantled by a ring. The ring is born within wheels in the housing. Because turbo wind mills use high winds, this mantle piece can be placed at/near the ground, so that there is no significant occurance of vibrating at the ends of the blades. The blade ends can not move with respect to the ring and the ring not with respect to the housing and housing not with respect to foundations. A blade end in a turbo windmill can not vibrate. I mean, I dare you, universities around the world, to give me some, because off course there are always vibrations. However, I want to speak in human langue and that means that wind mill blades do not vibrate to pieces in high winds.

   

In order to use high winds, the blades have to be hold firmly in place, leaving only the opportunity open for the blades to turn, or to move, perpendicular on the winds direction with as a consequence that Pythagoras' law comes in as foundation to calculate the angle of attack in the blades and the value of vector, S. Further on, one will see that windsurfing is done in the half wind sailing course and waves are swept by the wind, so that wave riding is falling with sailing half wind. Perfect.

   

High speed, directed perpendicular on the wind, leads also to the fact that a given sail area will be used optimally. And because cavitation, air bubbles around the swords, are restricting the windsurfers' speed, spailboat has wheels for swords. You, as reader, have to take it from here, because I can not force you to swallow dry food. Please, take one step at the time. To get started, you firstly need to understand that when a plate is placed flat -perpendicular- on the wind, there is maximum blockage of the wind by that plate. Next step. We imaginary move this plate with in the direction flat to the wind. Now we'll see that the actual wind speed, S, that hits the blade is to be calculated by Pathagoras' law, S^2 =W^2+V^2, in where, V, is the speed of the blade perpendicular on the winds' direction and W is the wind speed. If now the original wind speed is very low, say, 1 m/s, and the speed flat to wind is 300 m/s, then we might as well assume that the actual wind speed that hits the blade is still 300 m/s. In other words, when an almost flat on the wind positioned blade is moving with very high speed -in the line of its plane, perpendicular on the original wind's direction-, then the actual wind speed that hits the blades, comes almost from the front, parallel with the plane of the blade. A blade end of a windmill moves faster than that blade does near the center, so that blade ends are almost positioned flat to the wind. The same counts for windsurf sails. Although the sails are hold almost flat to the wind, the actual wind flow that hits the sails is coming, more or less, from the front. This means that we want high speed, in order to get maximum conversion of a given sail area. High speed implies high lift forces, and therefore we need stable and strong configurations that hold the blades.

   

I worked on stable sailing machines for twenty years now, because the capsizing and the catapulting with my catamaran scared the ........ out off me. Oh, I sailed from six years old, and won in 1988 the second biggest cat race in the world, together with my nephew, Ruud Goudriaan, who still is a class-A cat sailor. I went to college, and later to the technical university in Delft, and therefore I sold my cat, but continued windsurfing on cheap gear. However, windsurfing on old wave boards with old gear is still going much faster than the fastest cat. I kept on wondering why and when I figured it out [in 1994], I started to create a mechanically operated windsurf boat.

   

Sailing and windsurfing are very much like music, a well written song can be played live on stage over and over again, and every time this song improves itself. I can only ensure you, that the windsurf formula is an outstanding song, in the way to speak. Everything comes together, with as result that the windy circumstances on earth are perfect to use sails, wings, for making axles spin, as well on the oceans, by means of windsurfing -a combination of surfing and sailing stable half wind-, as on land, by means of using turbo windmills.

   

The only limitations in using the high winds are now caused by preoccupation of the existing economy. For instance, the car industries, the airplane industries, wind turbine industries, sailing boats industries, et cetera, keep our engineers in hostage. If we only could stop the production and the developing of the car making, airplane making et cetera, for just one week, and bring this way all the engineers to one imaginary table then the formula of windsurfing is understood. Once the leading engineers understand the windsurf formula, then the building of the prototypes is a year away. Some floors of the car industries and the airplanes industries can make room for new production lines.

   

And to make an even bigger example. When the second world war broke out, suddenly all floors of the car industries and airplane industries were making room for the production of tanks, jeeps, fighter planes, bombers et cetera. So, it is just a matter of priorities.

   

By now, saving this planet is priority number one, and still all industries and all governments around the world do not see the windsurf formula. Even a child can see that windsurfing is sensational. Just look at windsurfing from above. The waves make pipelines, and the only safe course in high winds falls parrallel with them. These pipelines lay, notably per definition, perpendicular on the wind's direction and windsurfing is always done half wind, so that the windsurfers automatically go as fast as possible and have a relatively safe ride between the waves. All in all, the windsurf formula implies that a given sail area is optimally used, that the waves are helping in making speed, that the half wind course is always leading to gliding along with the waves, that windsurfing is therefore relatively safe, that a stable configuration is the condition to make big structures, so that former dangerous windy circumstances at open ocean are just perfect to move a significant amount of mass with high speed. The kinetic energy is measured by the formula: 1/2 times the mass of the composition times the square of the speed. This world is dying for energy. So, please, understand the windsurf formula and please make Spailboats for over water, and turbo wind mills for on land.

 

I mean, did you ever see a professor, 60 years old, windsurfing on large waves with 10 bft at open sea? No, that is the problem. These kind of persons rule the world.

   

Just go on the Internet, and see for yourself that the formula, for calculating the maximum sailing speed, is still only counting for non flying sailing boats. This means that they assume that the hull is still always dragging through water. For the cavitation speed they still assume always that a sword is not moving with respect to the hull. In Spailboats, on the other hand, the water cutting part of a sword does move along with respect to the hull, so that the speed of the hull and the speed of through water dragging sword have two different values. Here in Holland at the university of Delft, a leading professor -who works on his own sailing boat, off course-, once told me in person that no matter what kind of sailing boat, or windsurfer, it could never over top the 100km/hr barrier, because of cavitation around the swords. I came to him, at one of those appointments, to inform him about the new rigging, so that spailboats are almost flying above the water and to inform him about the reason -to overcome cavitation around the water cutting profile of the sword wheels- for using circle shaped spinning swords. So, I walked through his door, showed him my work, and in stead letting me talk about my work, he did not look at my work at all. He talked for half an hour, and by the time he finished, I wanted to reply, but then he said, your time is up, leave, please. I have tried to make another appointment, but in vain. A few months later, he had a full page in one of Holland's main newspapers, the Saturday edition, in where he presented his own sailing boat. The public was misled. This sailing boat was so-called state of the art, but, it did not fly, it did still capsize, it could not operate in high seas, people, it was a worthless piece of ....... . So, I came in, and he asked, what did you study,? I said: civil engineering, and that answer was apparently wrong, because he worked at the aircraft and space department. Pyramids, remember, people, we still build them. The only thing that matters, is that I am a good sailor and windsurfer , and that I made windsurf robot. Even if I did not have any masters degree at the technical university at all, he should have asked me what my work was, and not what my title was. This story goes on, because before I talked to him, the boss so to speak, I had several meetings with his students and they were impressed. But at the moment they found out that I was working outside the university they boycotted me, right away. I had to give earlier given nice 3D pictures of wings back, and also my usb stick with several drawings had to be erased. Since then I am not welcome anymore. My own professor, Marcel Donze, then always brings calm to me, with this: Who would be the worst enemy of the Pope? Jesus Christ. No rank and bare footed, and closer to God as him.

   

I am closer to the wind, that is the point.

 

It is therefore that these two new inventions fall under: the environmental revolution.

   

We, the hard working people, can easily see that windsurfers go faster than the good old sailing boats. And still, billions and billions are spend on sailing boats for the happy few, like the rich men's toys for the Volvo Ocean Race, America's cup, the immense yachts et cetera. The same thing counts for the swallowing up of our best engineers for the car industries, formula 1 racing, jet fighter plane making et cetera.

   

If only the engineers and the people who rule the world want to save this planet, then the prototypes of the turbo windmills and the spailboats will be operating within a year.

   

In the past seven years I really tried endlessly to talk with professors around the world. They are just not at home. On the phone it goes like this. Who are you? What did you study, and I say, civil engineering. Oh, that has nothing to do with planes and/or mills, we are not interested.

   

Off course, I do not talk like them, every error in the conversation means the final cut of the conversation and once such a door is closed, it never opens again.

   

So, you as reader will never read or hear about windsurf machines and turbo windmills, which can save the planet, other than in this slide show.

   

I was a good cat sailor and a good windsurfer in the eighties. From childhood on I was at sea. Above that fact, I was born in Zaandam, the place where a cluster of windmills is stacked in an open air museum. I had the kite surfing formula on the drawing board, long before it took off, because the kites are hold just the same as windsurf sails are hold, only now on wires and further away from the board. In fact, I actually kite surfed on a small wooden plank on the beach in the eighties of the past century when I was ten years old. My nephews tried it, but were to heavy, and logically, I had to try. And it worked. Kite surfing is nothing more than using a big kite to move yourself. So, who do you want to believe, me, or the universities?

   

Get úp, stand up, get up for your right. Bob Marley. He believed that music unites all people one day. Wind sounds like music, doesn't it? No more nuclear power, no more burning fossil fuels.

   

Turbo windmill, or Jet Wind Mill [JWM] / JWM is a nephew, resp. spin off, of Spailboat, the stable sailing Speed Sail Craft.

   

Stability: only when stability is firstly established, then a structure might be built tall. A sailing boat might be made endlessly strong, still, it capsizes, so that it is useless to make endlessly strong masts. A Spailboat however is stable, and therefore a Spailboat can be made big, very big, as big oceanliners, with 100 meter long masts. This is part of the windsurf formula. And remember, mass in motion implies the kinetic energy.

   

We need energy. For making fresh drinking water, for irrigation, for making electricity, making hydrogen, for moving cars, trains, planes and so on.

   

The windsurf formula is here, for everyone to use in the world, because I dropped my patents. It is free, for you, Africa, Asia, America, Europe, the south pacific continents and islands. Just have a look and run this show a few times. It is like the wheel itself, it is normal, revolutionary and it will change the world. No nuclear power is needed any longer, just usage of high winds and swell on the oceans. And the turbo windmill is spin off, because these blades are in fact circular moving steady in positioned hold windsurf sails.

   

If you want be a sponsor for the building of the prototype for a turbo wind mill, please deposit your gift to

 

Rabobank account number 374138354 from ACJ Goudriaan in Zaandam, Holland.

   

Als u een geldbedrag wilt doneren voor de, nu reeds gestarte, bouw van het prototype van de turbo windmolen, svp maak geld over naar Rabobank nummer RABO 374138354 tnv ACJ Goudriaan te Zaandam

 

Until now, windturbines used a mast. A mast vibrates. And, above that vibrating, the tips of the blades are also loose ends, also resulting in vibrating. Vibrations of the blades and the masts were leading to a restricted operational wind window.

   

From now on, with the blades hold firmly in the around the blades mantling ring, the blades are to be considered as transversely moving blades. Transversely moving steady in position hold blades can go through air with 700km/hr.

   

The blades -rotors- are at their ends mantled by a ring. The ring is born within wheels in the housing. Because turbo wind mills use high winds, this mantle piece can be placed at/near the ground, so that there is no significant vibrating occurring at the ends of the blades.

   

In order to use high winds, the blades have to be hold firmly in place, leaving only the opportunity open for the blades to turn, or to move, perpendicular on the winds direction with as a consequence that Pythagoras law comes in as foundation to calculate the angle of attack in the blades. Further on, one will see that windsurfing is done in the half wind sailing course and waves are swept by the wind, so that wave riding is falling with sailing half wind. Perfect.

   

High speed, directed perpendicular on the wind, leads also to the fact that a given sail area will be used optimally. And because cavitation, air bubbles around the swords, are restricting the windsurfers' speed, spailboat has wheels for swords. You, as reader, have to take it from here, because I can not force you to swallow dry food. Please, take one step at the time. To get started, you firstly need to understand that when a plate is placed flat -perpendicular- on the wind, there is maximum blockage of the wind by that plate. Next step. We imaginary move this plate with for instance 300 m/s in the direction flat on the wind. Now we'll see that the actual wind speed, S, that hits the blade is to be calculated by Pathagoras' law, S^2 =W^2+V^2, in where, V, is the speed of the blade perpendicular on the winds' direction and W is the wind speed. If now the original wind speed is very low, say, 1 m/s, than we might as well assume that the actual wind speed that hits the blade is still 300 m/s. In other words, when an almost flat on the wind positioned blade is moving with very high speed, perpendicular on the original wind's direction, then the actual wind speed that hits the blades, comes almost from the front. A blade end of a windmill moves faster than that blade does near the center, so that blade ends are almost positioned flat on the wind. The same counts for windsurf sails, although the sails are hold almost flat on the wind, the actual wind flow that hits the sails is coming more or less from the front. This means that we want high speed, in order to get maximum conversion of a given sail area. High speed implies high lift forces, and therefore we need stable and strong configurations that hold the blades.

   

I worked on stable sailing machines for twenty years now, because the capsizing and the catapulting with my catamaran scared the ........ out off me. Oh, I sailed from six years old, and won in 1988 the second biggest cat race in the world, together with my nephew, Ruud Goudriaan, who still is a class-A cat sailor. I went to college, and later to the technical university in Delft, and therefore I sold my cat, but continued windsurfing on cheap gear. However, windsurfing on old wave boards with old gear is still going much faster than the fastest cat. I kept on wondering why and when I figured it out [in 1994], I started to create a mechanically operated windsurf boat.

   

Sailing and windsurfing are very much like music, a well written song can be played live on stage over and over again, and every time this song improves itself. I can only ensure you, that the windsurf formula is an outstanding song, in the way to speak. Everything comes together, with as result that the windy circumstances on earth are perfect to use sails, wings, for making axles spin, as well on the oceans, by means of windsurfing -a combination of surfing and sailing stable half wind-, as on land, by means of using turbo windmills.

   

The only limitations in using the high winds are now caused by preoccupation of the existing economy. For instance, the car industries, the airplane industries, wind turbine industries, sailing boats industries, et cetera, keep our engineers in hostage. If we only could stop the production and the developing of the car making, airplane making et cetera, for just one week, and bring this way all the engineers to one imaginary table then the formula of windsurfing is understood. Once the leading engineers understand the windsurf formula, then the building of the prototypes is a year away. Some floors of the car industries and the airplanes industries can make room for new production lines.

   

And to make an even bigger example. When the second world war broke out, suddenly all floors of the car industries and airplane industries were making room for the production of tanks, jeeps, fighter planes, bombers et cetera. So, it is just a matter of priorities.

   

By now, saving this planet is priority number one, and still all industries and all governments around the world do not see the windsurf formula. Even a child can see that windsurfing is sensational. Just look at windsurfing from above. The waves make pipelines, and the only safe course in high winds falls parrallel with them. These pipelines lay, notably per definition, perpendicular on the wind's direction and windsurfing is always done half wind, so that the windsurfers automatically go as fast as possible and have a relatively save ride between the waves. All in all, the windsurf formula implies that a given sail area is optimally used, that the waves are helping in making speed, that the half wind course is always leading to gliding along with the waves, that windsurfing is therefore relatively safe, that a stable configuration is the condition to make big structures, so that former dangerous windy circumstances at open ocean are just perfect to move a significant amount of mass with high speed. The kinetic energy is measured by the formula: 1/2 times the mass of the composition times the square of the speed. This world is dying for energy. So, please, understand the windsurf formula and please make Spailboats for over water, and turbo wind mills for on land.

   

I mean, did you ever see a professor, 60 years old, windsurfing on large waves with 10 bft at open sea? No, that is the problem. These kind of persons rule the world.

   

Just go on the Internet, and see for yourself that the formula, for calculating the maximum sailing speed, is still only counting for non flying sailing boats. This means that they assume that the hull is still always dragging through water. For the cavitation speed they still assume always that a sword is not moving with respect to the hull. In Spailboats, on the other hand, the water cutting part of a sword does move along with respect to the hull, so that the speed of the hull and the speed of through water dragging sword have two different values. Here in Holland at the university of Delft, a leading professor -who works on his own sailing boat, off course-, once told me in person that no matter what kind of sailing boat, or windsurfer, it could never over top the 100km/hr barrier, because of cavitation around the swords. I came to him, at one of those appointments, to inform him about the new rigging, so that spailboats are almost flying above the water and to inform him about the reason -to overcome cavitation around the water cutting profile of the sword wheels- for using circle shaped spinning swords. So, I walked through his door, showed him my work, and in stead letting me talk about my work, he did not look at my work at all. He talked for half an hour, and by the time he finished, I wanted to reply, but then he said, your time is up, leave, please. I have tried to make another appointment, but in vain. A few months later, he had a full page in one of Holland's main newspapers, the Saturday edition, in where he presented his own sailing boat. The public was misled. This sailing boat was so-called state of the art, but, it did not fly, it did still capsize, it could not operate in high seas, people, it was a worthless piece of ....... . So, I came in, and he asked, what did you study,? I said: civil engineering, and that answer was apparently wrong, because he worked at the aircraft and space department. Pyramids, remember, people, we still build them. The only thing that matters, is that I am a good sailor and windsurfer , and that I made windsurf robot. Even if I did not have any masters degree at the technical university at all, he should have asked me what my work was, and not what my title was. This story goes on, because before I talked to him, the boss so to speak, I had several meetings with his students and they were impressed. But at the moment they found out that I was working outside the university they boycotted me, right away. I had to give earlier given nice 3D pictures of wings back, and also my usb stick with several drawings had to be erased. Since then I am not welcome anymore. My own professor, Marcel Donze, then always brings calm to me, with this: Who would be the worst enemy of the Pope? Jesus Christ. No rank and bare footed, and closer to God as him.

   

It is therefore that these two new inventions fall under: the environmental revolution.

   

We, the hard working people, can easily see that windsurfers go faster than the good old sailing boats. And still, billions and billions are spend on sailing boats for the happy few, like the rich men's toys for the Volvo Ocean Race, America's cup, the immense yachts et cetera. The same thing counts for the swallowing up of our best engineers for the car industries, formula 1 racing, jet fighter plane making et cetera.

   

If only the engineers and the people who rule the world want to save this planet, then the prototypes of the turbo windmills and the spailboats will be operating within a year.

    

So, you as reader will never read or hear about windsurf machines and turbo windmills, which can save the planet, other than in this slide show.

   

I was a good cat sailor and a good windsurfer in the eighties. From childhood on I was at sea. Above that fact, I was born in Zaandam, the place where a cluster of windmills is stacked in an open air museum. Zaandam is oldest industrial cluster in Europe.

 

I had the kite surfing formula on the drawing board, long before it took off, because the kites are hold just the same as windsurf sails are hold, only now on wires and further away from the board. In fact, I actually kite surfed on a small wooden plank on the beach in the eighties of the past century when I was ten years old. My nephews tried it, but were to heavy, and logically, I had to try. And it worked. Kite surfing is nothing more than using a big kite to move yourself. So, who do you want to believe, me, or the universities?

   

Get úp, stand up, get up for your right. Bob Marley. He believed that music unites all people one day. Wind sounds like music, doesn't it? No more nuclear power, no more burning fossil fuels.

  

Windriaan, E_ring, Orbite est Strai is spin off from the normalized Spailboat, the stable sailing Speed Sailing Craft.

  

Stability: only when stability is firstly established, then a structure might be built tall. A sailing boat might be made endlessly strong, still, it capsizes, so that it is useless to make endlessly strong masts. A Spailboat however is stable, and therefore a Spailboat can be made big, very big, as big oceanliners, with 100 meter long masts. This is part of the windsurf formula. And remember, mass in motion implies the kinetic energy.

  

We need energy, hydrogen, LH2 for making fresh water out of marine water, for irrigation ( for food ).

 

Via Spailboat and Windriaan comes the wind.

  

Until now the wind does not exist above ten Beaufort.

 

Tot nu toe bestaat de wind boven tien Beaufort niet.

  

The windsurf formula, p 18.

 

Just have a look and run this show a few times. Be aware that SB 2016 is almost ready and you can figure it out via p 001 - 007. It is normal, revolutionary and will change the world. No nuclear power is needed any longer, just usage of high winds and swell on the oceans. And the Windriaan is spin off, because these blades are in fact circular moving steady in positioned hold windsurf sails.

 

Spailboat and Windriaan bring the wind and so, life. Energy.

"In the grand tradition of generals and surrealists, we have been playing games. People learn things better through the open-ended, empathetic participation in knowledge-making that games allow. Just dispensing information to people-- though at times enlightening-- can also encourage apathy or forgetfulness. Lately, we have been using games to critically examine the dynamics and assumptions of larger social givens.Our new game SET was inspired by toy collectors, tourists, and museum curators. Throughout the game, players "play" by intervening and reorganizing existing groups of objects, thus questioning categories by constructing and redrawing them. In foregrounding the player's relation to the categories, SET explores the value of one's authorship in the production of knowledge. While games often risk normalizing power relationships by setting social roles and rules in stone, we have tried here to do just the opposite."

 

People learn things better through the open-ended, empathetic participation in knowledge-making that games allow. Just dispensing information to people-- though at times enlightening-- can also encourage apathy or forgetfulness. A project developed by Erik Carver and Marisa Jahn, SET is a game that critically examines the dynamics and assumptions of larger social givens. It's a game inspired by toy collectors, tourists, and museum curators. Throughout the game, players "play" by intervening and reorganizing existing groups of objects, thus questioning categories by constructing and redrawing them. In foregrounding the player's relation to the categories, SET explores the value of one's authorship in the production of knowledge. While games often risk normalizing power relationships by setting social roles and rules in stone, SET tries to do just the opposite.

 

--

 

Erik Carver

 

Erik Carver is an architect and artist. He is a founder of the Institute for Advanced Architecture (advancedarchitecture.org)-- an organization dedicated to advancing architecture through research, exchange, and exhibition-- as well as the Common Room exhibition space (common-room.net) and the interdisciplinary art group Seru. He lives in Brooklyn and teaches architecture at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

 

Erik has worked for the firms of Diller+Scofidio, Laura Kurgan, and Lyn Rice before starting his own practice. These designs have included a student center renovation, an art museum, apartment renovations, a vacation home, exhibitions, a performance space/bar, an expo pavilion, schools, offices and an interpretation center.

 

His work has appeared in Volume magazine, Art in America, and Nature, and he has shown work and lectured at venues including Exit Art, the Ise Foundation, and Columbia's Neiman Gallery, and the Storefront for Art and Architecture (NYC), The Institute of Contemporary Art (Philadelphia), CAVS (MIT), Basekamp (Philadelphia), the Contemporary Art Center (North Adams, MA), and Pond (San Francisco).

  

Marisa Jahn

 

Of Ecuadorian and Chinese descent, Marisa Jahn is an artist whose work explores, constructs, and intervenes natural and social systems. In 2000, Jahn has co-founded Pond: art, activism, and ideas (www.mucketymuck.org), a non-profit organization dedicated to showcasing experimental art. Jahn has presented and exhibited work in museums, galleries, and spaces at venues such as The Institute of Contemporary Art (Philadelphia), the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (San Francisco), ISEA/Zero One 06/08 (San Jose, CA), MoKS (Estonia), the Moore Space (Miami), the Museum of Contemporary Art (North Miami), in galleries and public places in Tokyo, Honduras, Estonia, Turkey, North America, and Taiwan. Jahn's work has been reviewed in Art in America, Frieze, Punk Planet, Clamor, San Francisco Chronicle, the Fader, Artweek, Metropolis, the Discovery Channel, and Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). She has received awards and grants such as the Robert & Colleen Haas Scholarship, MIT Department of Architecture Fellowship (2005-8), CEC Artslink, and is an artist in residence at the MIT Media Lab (2007-9) and at the Headlands Center for the Arts (2008). She received her BA from UC Berkeley and an MS from MIT's Visual Arts Program. She lives between Boston and New York, where she functions as the Immediator of art-activist campaigns for The Church of Stop Shopping/Reverend Billy. www.marisajahn.com, www.mucketymuck.org

The 2020 EPI pollution emissions issue category includes the following indicators: sulfur dioxide (SO2) emission growth rate and nitrogen oxides (NOx) emission growth rate. All indicators and composite indices in the EPI are normalized as a 0–100 proximity-to-target score, with 100 representing "at target" and 0 being furthest from the target.

America and China just celebrated 30 years of normalized diplomatic relations, so I looked through some old pix to mark the occasion and found this one, which I think captures the natural warmth that usually develops when Chinese and Americans meet.

 

It was taken alongside the Guilin-Yangshuo road in December, 1985. My seven American classmates from Berkeley and I booked a minivan to take us from the Guilin airport to Yangshuo and these two local ladies were our guides, along with a driver. Pictured here with them is my classmate Kathy.

 

Let's hope the next thirty years will continue to have scenes like this!!! 中美友谊关系万岁!

  

"In the grand tradition of generals and surrealists, we have been playing games. People learn things better through the open-ended, empathetic participation in knowledge-making that games allow. Just dispensing information to people-- though at times enlightening-- can also encourage apathy or forgetfulness. Lately, we have been using games to critically examine the dynamics and assumptions of larger social givens.Our new game SET was inspired by toy collectors, tourists, and museum curators. Throughout the game, players "play" by intervening and reorganizing existing groups of objects, thus questioning categories by constructing and redrawing them. In foregrounding the player's relation to the categories, SET explores the value of one's authorship in the production of knowledge. While games often risk normalizing power relationships by setting social roles and rules in stone, we have tried here to do just the opposite."

 

People learn things better through the open-ended, empathetic participation in knowledge-making that games allow. Just dispensing information to people-- though at times enlightening-- can also encourage apathy or forgetfulness. A project developed by Erik Carver and Marisa Jahn, SET is a game that critically examines the dynamics and assumptions of larger social givens. It's a game inspired by toy collectors, tourists, and museum curators. Throughout the game, players "play" by intervening and reorganizing existing groups of objects, thus questioning categories by constructing and redrawing them. In foregrounding the player's relation to the categories, SET explores the value of one's authorship in the production of knowledge. While games often risk normalizing power relationships by setting social roles and rules in stone, SET tries to do just the opposite.

 

--

 

Erik Carver

 

Erik Carver is an architect and artist. He is a founder of the Institute for Advanced Architecture (advancedarchitecture.org)-- an organization dedicated to advancing architecture through research, exchange, and exhibition-- as well as the Common Room exhibition space (common-room.net) and the interdisciplinary art group Seru. He lives in Brooklyn and teaches architecture at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

 

Erik has worked for the firms of Diller+Scofidio, Laura Kurgan, and Lyn Rice before starting his own practice. These designs have included a student center renovation, an art museum, apartment renovations, a vacation home, exhibitions, a performance space/bar, an expo pavilion, schools, offices and an interpretation center.

 

His work has appeared in Volume magazine, Art in America, and Nature, and he has shown work and lectured at venues including Exit Art, the Ise Foundation, and Columbia's Neiman Gallery, and the Storefront for Art and Architecture (NYC), The Institute of Contemporary Art (Philadelphia), CAVS (MIT), Basekamp (Philadelphia), the Contemporary Art Center (North Adams, MA), and Pond (San Francisco).

  

Marisa Jahn

 

Of Ecuadorian and Chinese descent, Marisa Jahn is an artist whose work explores, constructs, and intervenes natural and social systems. In 2000, Jahn has co-founded Pond: art, activism, and ideas (www.mucketymuck.org), a non-profit organization dedicated to showcasing experimental art. Jahn has presented and exhibited work in museums, galleries, and spaces at venues such as The Institute of Contemporary Art (Philadelphia), the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (San Francisco), ISEA/Zero One 06/08 (San Jose, CA), MoKS (Estonia), the Moore Space (Miami), the Museum of Contemporary Art (North Miami), in galleries and public places in Tokyo, Honduras, Estonia, Turkey, North America, and Taiwan. Jahn's work has been reviewed in Art in America, Frieze, Punk Planet, Clamor, San Francisco Chronicle, the Fader, Artweek, Metropolis, the Discovery Channel, and Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). She has received awards and grants such as the Robert & Colleen Haas Scholarship, MIT Department of Architecture Fellowship (2005-8), CEC Artslink, and is an artist in residence at the MIT Media Lab (2007-9) and at the Headlands Center for the Arts (2008). She received her BA from UC Berkeley and an MS from MIT's Visual Arts Program. She lives between Boston and New York, where she functions as the Immediator of art-activist campaigns for The Church of Stop Shopping/Reverend Billy. www.marisajahn.com, www.mucketymuck.org

2021-03-13 Hambidge Second Saturday STUDIO TOUR at the Cross-Pollination Art Lab Lindbergh Center

 

SCHEDULE

• In the Cube Gallery (noon-4pm) you will find "The Space Between," a new project from Dr. Fahamu Pecou that works to dispel the pervasive myth of violence and discord within the Black male community, and seeks to both normalize expressions of care, concern, and compassion while challenging the pervasive image of Black violence and trauma.

• Jessica Brooke Anderson will be offering visitors (one at a time) an opportunity to select a gift from her collection of family objects. She recently inherited 3 houses worth of heirlooms, and is using this opportunity to redistribute these items to the community. In exchange for "adopting" a piece of her family history, she is asking to photograph each object with its new owner, in hopes of creating a new family tree, made up of strangers, all interconnected through the lives and objects that came before.

• Participate in a self-led writing exercise / creativity booster in the space outside of Arvin Temkar’s studio. Arvin is a writer and photographer whose work examines complexity, tension, and hope in a multiracial, multiethnic America, and has been published in major publications across the country. He will also be displaying some of his photography in the windows of his studio.

• Visit the Teller Productions Workshop to observe artist Scottie Rowell’s shadow puppet play time and experience Push. Press. Pull., an ever-changing art installation exploring human’s love of buttons. Only one family/group/pod allowed in the space at time.

• Jasmine Williams and Sierra King are excited to share with the public in progress works across both of their disciplines of printmaking and archiving. The public at large is welcomed into their space, limited to 2 at time, to view THROUGHLINE - where the lives of Black Women Artists intersect. Additionally there will be limited edition "I AM WOMAN" tote bags that were hand printed in the art lab and older edition prints available to purchase by Jasmine Nicole Williams.

• FRANK/ie CONSENT will present ‘Love Shrines,’ their first installation of shared things, in which their new album (collaborated with The Cradle) will play with casual, non-demanding events happening and video documentation of their recent love baptism. After the installation, there will be a live music performance by FRANK/ie CONSENT and the generosities of people they love. The performance will begin around 5:30.

• Floyd Hall will be presenting Seeing + Sounds, featuring a series of streaming recorded audio content in addition to visual projections.

• From 2-3:30, Matriarc Society will be providing a photo shoot session with a local femme music maker at no cost. Guests may observe the process from the windows on the corner of Magnolia Lane and Morosgo Drive.

• Dance Hub ATL residents are approaching this event as an open process with space to have conversations if visitors are interested in learning more. Four artists - Porter Grubbs, Catherine Messina, Frankie Mulinix and Nadya Zeitlin - will share glimpses of their current creations. In addition to performances, we will introduce a new addition to our Hub - installations by Dima Alekseyev. For more details and updates, check their Instagram page @dance_hub_atl. Donations are greatly appreciated and will support artists' further process.

Dance Hub ATL Performance Schedule - IN-PERSON and VIRTUAL

2:00 - Studio is open to live visitors (up to 16 people at the same time, 10 chairs in the seating area. Masks are required).

2:30 - Catherine Messina's process is a peek into the creation of phrasework for a large scale piece, and how to restage that work after a year away due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Two of the original cast of eight will share some of the prompts in creating duets, unison work, formations, and more. Online via Instagram Live and in-person.

3:00 - Nadya Zeitlin will show Alice, study #1 - the beginning stage of a new work that Bautanzt Here is designing inside Dance Hub ATL. Online via Instagram Live and in-person.

3:30 - The butoh piece performed by Frankie Mulinix is exploring memory, changing identity, and brain injury. Online via Instagram Live and in-person.

4:30 - Porter Grubbs will share some improvisation scores that they've been working on for Medium Collective’s summer series. Plus they will set up a layout with some of their Demon Body portraits and narratives that they've drafted. Online via Instagram Live and in-person.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vt7PvTwYF3E&feature=share&...

Full Feature in 9 Parts

American International Pictures lived up to its name on this project. Terrore nello spazio was a Spanish/Italian/American effort. The American release title, Planet of the Vampires (PoV) suggests a campier film than it is. There actually aren't any vampires in the usual sense. Yet, it is still a horror/sci-fi hybrid. Director Mario Bava (famous for horror pictures) gives the dark screenplay by Ib Melchior a good presentation, despite a low budget.

Synopsis

Mysterious signals received from a distant planet named Aura suggest some intelligent life, perhaps a distress call. Two interplanetary space ships are sent to investigate. The Galliot goes in first, but seems to crash. The crew of the Argos go lower to check on them. A sudden increase of gravity pins everyone to the floors and the Argos seems to be doomed to crash. At the last minute, the gravity normalizes and Captain Mark Markary is able to land the Argos. When various members of the crew awaken, they go viciously homicidal temporarily. Captain Mark is able to restore order. The Galliot is found near by, perfectly intact. When a team of the Argos investigate, they find the entire crew of the Galliot dead. They killed each other. The Galliot's "Meteor Rejector" device is smashed, making the ship unspaceworthy. The Argos team return later to find no bodies. (They are rising from the dead, but the Argos crew don't know this yet.) A team from the Argos find a derelict alien ship with a huge alien skeleton out front. Mark and Sanya check it out and almost become trapped inside. Various crewmen, usually given lone sentry jobs, disappear one by one. Two Galliot crewmen appear with a story of being unconscious after the landing. They are taken aboard the Argos, but it was a trick. They were zombies who came to steal the Argos's "Meteor Rejector" device. One zombie explains that Aura is inhabited by a race of energy beings. The Auran sun is dying but they cannot construct spaceships. So, they lured other race's ships to Aura to hijack their bodies and flee. The takeover can be done willingly too. Captain Mark says "Never". Mark, Sanya and Wess steal back the Meteor Rejector and plant bombs aboard the Galliot. They take off in the Argos. Wess discovers that Mark and Sanya are possessed by the Aurans. He smashes the Meteor Rejector, thinking he's stopping the Aurans. He dies in the process. Possessed Mark and Sanya decide to set down on an obscure little planet: Earth. The End.

PoV has the quirky charm typical of Italian sci-fi, but also some visual fun via Bava's sense of art.

The American title is a misnomer, but probably deemed better (by A.I.P.) for marketing. The dead bodies, re-animated by the Auran energy beings, were more the classic zombie than the classic vampire. There is no sucking of blood or needing of human blood, etc. The whole rising-from-the-grave scene is clearly in the zombie idiom. Mixed into the zombie trope is the familiar 50s theme of alien-takeover.

 

Like many B movies, the production budget for PoV was very tight. Modern viewers could easily scoff at the modest special effects and simple sets. Yet, fans of B sci-fi can appreciate how much mileage Bava got from his shoestring budget. He made an entire alien planet out of a few "rock" props left over from a prior sword-and-sandal film, making use of lots of dry ice fog to disguise how sparse things were. The ship models were quite small (and therefore cheaper), but he manages to make them look larger. To save on matte art and optical effects, Bava used mirrors to put actors and small models into the same shot. Of course, having the Argos and Galliot be identical ships meant handy double use. The giant alien skeleton was probably his biggest expense, but well worth it.

 

Bava also made ample use of strong color to make things look "alien." Pairs of red-green, or red-blue, or green-orange lights add a vivid other-worldliness. The lighting is reminiscent of that used in the soviet film: Mechte Navstrechu ('62) ("A Dream Come True"). American audiences wouldn't get to see the soviet footage until 1966 when A.I.P. created another of their mash-ups, this one entitled: Queen of Blood.

 

Some viewers see an inspiration for Ridley Scott's famous Alien (1979). Certainly the scene in which Mark and Sanya discover and explore the derelict alien ship bears a strong resemblance. Even though this scene in PoV is more of a sidetrack than pivotal, it is certainly possible that Scott drew upon it as a portion of his story.

Screenwriter Ib Melchior was fond of the notion that alien planets harbored mysterious danger. His dark vision was quite the opposite of the almost glib notion that alien beings would be pretty women in short skirts. Melchior's Angry Red Planet ('60) featured ominous unseen Martians who tell the earthlings to get lost and never ever come back. Journey to the Seventh Planet ('62) featured a malicious intellect being that messed with the earthlings' minds and was trying to get off its cold, dark moon, to a better planet -- like earth.

The ending of PoV is decidedly un-hollywood. Most of the crew die. Even the last uncompromised humans (Wess) dies trying to stop the Aurans. He fails, despite his heroic sacrifice. Auran-Mark and Auran-Sanya fly down to an unsuspecting earth. The danger of the mind-controlling energy being Aurans was about to be loosed on our simple civilization. On its own, such an ending does have nihilist overtones. It also smacks of a potential sequel along the Body Snatchers line.

 

Bottom line? PoV will not impress modern viewers who rate movies by how lavish the effects are. It is still a budget film. It also suffers some of the usual pitfalls of foreign films repackaged for American release. There are almost too many characters who are easy to mix up (everyone wore identical leather suits) Nonetheless, it one of the better B movies of the 60s.

  

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vt7PvTwYF3E&feature=share&amp...

Full Feature in 9 Parts

American International Pictures lived up to its name on this project. Terrore nello spazio was a Spanish/Italian/American effort. The American release title, Planet of the Vampires (PoV) suggests a campier film than it is. There actually aren't any vampires in the usual sense. Yet, it is still a horror/sci-fi hybrid. Director Mario Bava (famous for horror pictures) gives the dark screenplay by Ib Melchior a good presentation, despite a low budget.

Synopsis

Mysterious signals received from a distant planet named Aura suggest some intelligent life, perhaps a distress call. Two interplanetary space ships are sent to investigate. The Galliot goes in first, but seems to crash. The crew of the Argos go lower to check on them. A sudden increase of gravity pins everyone to the floors and the Argos seems to be doomed to crash. At the last minute, the gravity normalizes and Captain Mark Markary is able to land the Argos. When various members of the crew awaken, they go viciously homicidal temporarily. Captain Mark is able to restore order. The Galliot is found near by, perfectly intact. When a team of the Argos investigate, they find the entire crew of the Galliot dead. They killed each other. The Galliot's "Meteor Rejector" device is smashed, making the ship unspaceworthy. The Argos team return later to find no bodies. (They are rising from the dead, but the Argos crew don't know this yet.) A team from the Argos find a derelict alien ship with a huge alien skeleton out front. Mark and Sanya check it out and almost become trapped inside. Various crewmen, usually given lone sentry jobs, disappear one by one. Two Galliot crewmen appear with a story of being unconscious after the landing. They are taken aboard the Argos, but it was a trick. They were zombies who came to steal the Argos's "Meteor Rejector" device. One zombie explains that Aura is inhabited by a race of energy beings. The Auran sun is dying but they cannot construct spaceships. So, they lured other race's ships to Aura to hijack their bodies and flee. The takeover can be done willingly too. Captain Mark says "Never". Mark, Sanya and Wess steal back the Meteor Rejector and plant bombs aboard the Galliot. They take off in the Argos. Wess discovers that Mark and Sanya are possessed by the Aurans. He smashes the Meteor Rejector, thinking he's stopping the Aurans. He dies in the process. Possessed Mark and Sanya decide to set down on an obscure little planet: Earth. The End.

PoV has the quirky charm typical of Italian sci-fi, but also some visual fun via Bava's sense of art.

The American title is a misnomer, but probably deemed better (by A.I.P.) for marketing. The dead bodies, re-animated by the Auran energy beings, were more the classic zombie than the classic vampire. There is no sucking of blood or needing of human blood, etc. The whole rising-from-the-grave scene is clearly in the zombie idiom. Mixed into the zombie trope is the familiar 50s theme of alien-takeover.

 

Like many B movies, the production budget for PoV was very tight. Modern viewers could easily scoff at the modest special effects and simple sets. Yet, fans of B sci-fi can appreciate how much mileage Bava got from his shoestring budget. He made an entire alien planet out of a few "rock" props left over from a prior sword-and-sandal film, making use of lots of dry ice fog to disguise how sparse things were. The ship models were quite small (and therefore cheaper), but he manages to make them look larger. To save on matte art and optical effects, Bava used mirrors to put actors and small models into the same shot. Of course, having the Argos and Galliot be identical ships meant handy double use. The giant alien skeleton was probably his biggest expense, but well worth it.

 

Bava also made ample use of strong color to make things look "alien." Pairs of red-green, or red-blue, or green-orange lights add a vivid other-worldliness. The lighting is reminiscent of that used in the soviet film: Mechte Navstrechu ('62) ("A Dream Come True"). American audiences wouldn't get to see the soviet footage until 1966 when A.I.P. created another of their mash-ups, this one entitled: Queen of Blood.

 

Some viewers see an inspiration for Ridley Scott's famous Alien (1979). Certainly the scene in which Mark and Sanya discover and explore the derelict alien ship bears a strong resemblance. Even though this scene in PoV is more of a sidetrack than pivotal, it is certainly possible that Scott drew upon it as a portion of his story.

Screenwriter Ib Melchior was fond of the notion that alien planets harbored mysterious danger. His dark vision was quite the opposite of the almost glib notion that alien beings would be pretty women in short skirts. Melchior's Angry Red Planet ('60) featured ominous unseen Martians who tell the earthlings to get lost and never ever come back. Journey to the Seventh Planet ('62) featured a malicious intellect being that messed with the earthlings' minds and was trying to get off its cold, dark moon, to a better planet -- like earth.

The ending of PoV is decidedly un-hollywood. Most of the crew die. Even the last uncompromised humans (Wess) dies trying to stop the Aurans. He fails, despite his heroic sacrifice. Auran-Mark and Auran-Sanya fly down to an unsuspecting earth. The danger of the mind-controlling energy being Aurans was about to be loosed on our simple civilization. On its own, such an ending does have nihilist overtones. It also smacks of a potential sequel along the Body Snatchers line.

 

Bottom line? PoV will not impress modern viewers who rate movies by how lavish the effects are. It is still a budget film. It also suffers some of the usual pitfalls of foreign films repackaged for American release. There are almost too many characters who are easy to mix up (everyone wore identical leather suits) Nonetheless, it one of the better B movies of the 60s.

  

ROMA ARCHEOLOGICA & RESTAURO ARCHITETTURA 2021. “La Roma di Mussolini” - The strange backdrop to the G-20: A Roman neighborhood built as a fascist showpiece. The Washington Post (27/10/2021). Anche: Il G20 nel quartiere d’epoca fascista: "Il Washington Post" ora la cancel culture prenderà di mira l’Eur? Corriere Della Sera (28/10/2021). S.v., “Architettura fascista non fascista" (1991/2017); in: Dr. Arch. Rossana Vinci (2017); Dr. Arch. Flavia Marcello (2007); Prof. Arch. Rossana Bossoglia & Prof. Arch. Giorgio Muratore (2003) & Dr. Arch. Elisabetta Terragni (1991). wp.me/pbMWvy-287

 

Foto: Mauro Pagliai, “Son of the Century.” SKYPIXEL (29 Jan. 2020); in: RARA 2021 [21/08/2021].

www.flickr.com/photos/imperial_fora_of_rome/51637355274

 

1). ROME - The strange backdrop to the G-20: A Roman neighborhood built as a fascist showpiece. The Washington Post (27/10/2021).

 

In the Roman neighborhood known as EUR, all the classic telltales of Rome drop away. Gone are the cobblestone roads, the antiquities, the worn palazzi dappled like watercolors. What you get instead are broad boulevards and imposing white buildings, plus a man-made lake. Everything is orderly, planned. Look in the right direction, and you’ll even see a sculpture heroically depicting the planner: Benito Mussolini.

 

Conceived as a fascist showpiece for an event that never happened — war canceled the 1942 World’s Fair — EUR is getting a chance eight decades later to serve as a backdrop for a global gathering: this time, the Group of 20 summit.

 

Reminders of what EUR (pronounced Ay-oor) was supposed to represent are still vivid. Mussolini had hoped it would stand as an example of an ideal city, with gardens and open spaces, and he commissioned some of the most acclaimed Italian architects and artists to remake a land used previously only by farmers and an abbey of cloistered monks. EUR’s boundaries were marked off in a near-perfect pentagon. Mussolini planted a tree at the 1938 groundbreaking.

 

But today, EUR also has lanyard-wearing office workers eating $12 salmon wraps. It has monuments designed to glorify the fascist ideal that now house global companies, like Fendi. It has a couple of eerie blocks almost resembling Pyongyang — empty, colossal and colonnaded — but it also has dentist’s office and chain restaurants, energy company headquarters and upper-middle-class apartments.

 

“What I’ve often heard is that a neighborhood like this could only be built by a dictator,” said Lorenzo Volpato, 49, a self-described leftist who lives and works in EUR and called the neighborhood pleasant regardless of the fascist markers. “It’s got metro stations. It’s modern. It’s more livable than Rome.”

 

The neighborhood has managed to grow — and normalize — in large part because of a Roman willingness to rebuild, move on and coexist with even the worst parts of the past. It’s especially striking at a time when monuments to enslavers, Confederate generals, kings and colonial leaders have come toppling down across the United States and other parts of Europe. In EUR, such monuments have become just a part of the low-slung skyline.

 

“It was to be a place where you wouldn’t be bound by antiquity,” Luca Ribichini, a professor of architecture at Rome’s Sapienza University. “It was supposed to personify the new modernity.”

 

The plans, at least initially, fell into chaos. By 1945, the fascist regime had been toppled, Mussolini had been executed — his body hung upside down in public — and EUR was only half-completed, sealed off and all but abandoned.

 

But over the next decade, the postwar Italian government moved ministries to the area. Ahead of the 1960 Olympics, construction firms built roads and apartment buildings and finished what the fascists had started. Eventually, it became a sort of alternative Rome — while showing what more of Italy might have looked like had Mussolini retained power.

 

Foto: Mrsimone7, “Rome – Foro Italico / Stadium at Night,” Skypixel (20 Dec. 2016); in: RARA 2020 [04/08/2020].

www.flickr.com/photos/imperial_fora_of_rome/51635880647

 

“It’s this relic of a megalomaniacal project that has been turned into a business district,” said Agnes Crawford, a 20-year resident of Rome who leads private tours, including, occasionally, in EUR, where she said the museums are high-quality and crowd-free.

 

“But,” Crawford said, “it still retains some menacing overtones.”

 

Some of the fascist markers have been removed over the years. But other reminders remain. One of the most noteworthy markers is a large inscription at the top level of the Fendi building. The quote, without context, is fairly innocuous, paying tribute to Italians as a people of “poets, artists, heroes, saints, thinkers, scientists, navigators, migrants.” But that quote echoes a part of Mussolini’s 1935 speech announcing the invasion of Ethiopia, a campaign that later led to charges of war crimes.

 

Just a few blocks away, there is an even more overt Mussolini homage. It comes in the form of a towering bas-relief sculpture, selectively narrating the long history of Rome. The sculpture moves through time from top to bottom, starting with the mythological founding of the city by Romulus and Remus, continuing through the centuries with Roman conquerors returning with spoils from Jerusalem, and with the construction of St. Peter’s Square. At the bottom of the sculpture there is one dominant image: Mussolini on horseback, surrounded by soldiers, as children and women lift their hands.

 

Sculpted in 1939, it stands at the entrance of a building housing EUR S.p.A., the company that owns many of the properties in the neighborhood. Inside, there’s also a courtyard fountain inlaid with fascist eagles. In one of the conference rooms, sitting without fanfare in the corner, is a metal head of Mussolini.

 

“The debate about art and beauty goes far beyond the history of the most ferocious regimes,” said Antonio Rosati, the chief of EUR S.p.A., who said his politics lean left and he isn’t bothered by the remnants of Mussolini’s era.

 

There are numerous theories about why Italians have felt less of a need to fully remove the propaganda of a terrible time. One idea is that Romans have so much history, they didn’t feel compelled to single out the most recent horror. Some have noted that the fascist icons — unlike the Confederate monuments — were built contemporaneously, and don’t reflect some after-the-fact nostalgia for an earlier period.

 

For David Hannuna, a Jewish lawyer who was born and raised in EUR, the icons have never been a source of anger — instead, he said, they provide a reminder about progress.

 

“There was pride in being able to freely live, freely and openly practicing our religion, in a place where in another time that would’ve been a problem,” Hannuna said.

 

Standing on a street corner, awaiting a tire change, Claudio Foglia, 69, said he, too, never saw a problem with the propaganda-infused art and architecture in his 40 years of working in the neighborhood, at the Italian energy firm Eni. But he is retired now. He has started reading more, including about fascism. He said he now worries that Italy “metabolized” fascism too quickly, and without fully addressing the sentiments that made it vulnerable. Just the previous weekend, a rally in Rome against the coronavirus Green Pass had turned violent, spurned in part by leaders of Forza Nuova, a neofascist group.

 

“It’s painful for an Italian to read these things and realize we haven’t dealt with them,” Foglia said. “We are acting as if nothing happened.”

 

One thing is clear about Mussolini’s aesthetic: He liked his buildings to be seen. He signed off on the demolition of entire neighborhoods around the Vatican and the Colosseum, clearing the way for broad, showy thoroughfares that created sightlines for the most famous spots in the city. He used the same idea in EUR, where the most celebrated buildings are set off at wide distances from one another, connected by straight, flat roads.

 

One such road connects the Piazza della Civiltà Italiana — the arched and statue-lined Fendi headquarters — with the Palazzo dei Congressi, a travertine-clad hall designed for conferences and events.

 

To some observers over time, the palazzo has felt intimidating in its geometric vastness. When TV travel documentarian Anthony Bourdain visited the facility for a 2016 episode, his film crews trained their cameras on a single custodian, cleaning a hall that Bourdain said had been designed to “dwarf the individual.”

 

For the G-20, the palazzo is serving as a media center. Large banners with the slogan “People, Planet, Prosperity” are draped outside, and on a recent afternoon, work crews were spread out in all areas, putting up prefabricated walls, building temporary meeting spaces or interview rooms.

 

An official from Eur S.p.A., which manages the building, led a tour to the heart of the palazzo: a vaulted space with ample lighting, adorned in perforated material the color of gold.

 

“It’s a perfect cube,” said one of the officials on the tour. It’s 124 feet high, wide and long. And for now it houses 72 white media work desks.

 

The tour continued up to the roof deck — an area of rectangular benches, all cold marble — that was depicted as a mental institution in a classic 1970 movie, “The Conformist.” During the shooting for that film, the sky was nearly the same gray as the marble. The monochrome conveyed an eerie vibe.

 

But if you visit now on a gorgeous day, the marble benches glow. The severity is softened by olive trees growing from spots of soil interspersed along the roof. From way up here, you can see all of EUR — the apartments, the offices, the people ending their workdays.

 

The neighborhood has at least one thing in common with the rest of Rome: The view at sunset is lovely.

 

Fonte / source:

--- The Washington Post (27/10/2021).

www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/10/27/g20-rome-eur/

 

Fonte / source, foto:

--- Mauro Pagliai, “Son of the Century.” SKYPIXEL (29 Jan. 2020); in: RARA 2021 [21/08/2021].

ROMA ARCHEOLOGICA & RESTAURO ARCHITETTURA 2021. “Via dell’Impero? È ancora in fondo a destra.” La Repubblica (21/08/2021). S.v., Mayor Virginia Raggi, NYT (22/03/2017); Francesco Rutelli, NYT (29/06/2001) & Benito Mussolini, NYT (22/04/1924). Dr. Ruth Ben Ghiat & Vera Fisogni (07/2017); Dr. Arch. Rossana Vinci (2017); Dr. Arch. Flavia Marcello (2007); Prof. Arch. Rossana Bossoglia & Prof. Arch. Giorgio Muratore (2003); Dr. Arch. Elisabetta Terragni (1991) & Prof. Arch. William L. MacDonald (1983).

 

Fonte / source, foto:

--- Mrsimone7, “Rome – Foro Italico / Stadium at Night,” Skypixel (20 Dec. 2016); in:

ROMA ARCHEOLOGICA & RESTAURO ARCHITETTURA 2020. The World Is Tearing Down Racist [or Fascist] Monuments but Not in Italy. The Daily Beast (15 August 2020). S.v., Finestre sull’Arte (04/08/2020) & La Repubblica (03/08/2020); anche: THE NEW YORKER (5 October 2017); Il giornale dell architettura (27/10/2017) & Il Sole 24 Ore (08/10/2017). wp.me/pbMWvy-uw

 

Foto: Riccardo, “Fendi’s palace, other side of Rome – This is the Fendi palace in Rome, also known as the “Square Colosseum.” Skypixel.com. (22/03/2019).

www.flickr.com/photos/imperial_fora_of_rome/51635880387

 

2). ROMA - Il G20 nel quartiere d’epoca fascista: "Il Washington Post" ora la cancel culture prenderà di mira l’Eur? Corriere Della Sera (28/10/2021).

 

Il Washington Post colpito dallo «strano sfondo» del summit: mentre i monumenti di schiavisti e e colonizzatori negli Usa sono stati eliminati a Roma sono entrati a far parte del panorama.

 

La scelta dell’Eur come sede del G20 romano stuzzica i guardiani Usa del politically correct. E qualcuno vorrebbe spingere la cancel culture americana attraverso l’Atlantico. Presentando l’evento con un articolo pubblicato da decine di quotidiani statunitensi e di molti altri Paesi del mondo, dall’India al Brasile, l’Associated Press si limita a menzionare che, come sede del vertice, è stata scelta un’area edificata nell’era fascista, ma il Washington Post va molto più in là: in un servizio intitolato «Lo strano sfondo del G20: un quartiere romano che doveva essere il fiore all’occhiello del fascismo» analizza storia e architettura di un luogo progettato come sede dell’Esposizione Universale di Roma del 1942 (da qui l’acronimo Eur), mai tenuta a causa della Guerra mondiale.

 

Il Post ripercorre il desiderio di Mussolini di celebrare con l’Expo del ’42 il ventennio fascista, la scelta dei governi antifa-scisti del Dopoguerra di «normalizzare» il quartiere, oggi zona di uffici, e il modo in cui la città ha metabolizzato l’Eur. Ma dà anche voce a chi lo considera «la reliquia di un progetto megalomane trasformata in distretto d’affari». Soprattutto, il quotidiano critica il fatto che in alcuni luoghi siano rimaste sculture dell’era fascista come il bassorilievo all’ingresso dell’edifico dell’Ente Eur che descrive varie ere storiche: da Romolo e Remo alla costruzione della basilica di San Pietro, per poi finire con un Mussolini a cavallo. Il giornale trova «scioccante che, mentre i monumenti di schiavisti, generali confederati, re e colonizzatori sono stati eliminati negli Stati Uniti e in gran parte d’Europa, a Roma sono entrati a far parte del panorama». Conclusione sconsolata: a Roma c’è talmente tanta storia che la gente non fa troppo caso a certe cose.

 

Fonte / source, foto:

--- Riccardo, "Fendi's palace, other side of Rome - This is the Fendi palace in Rome, also known as the "Square Colosseum." Skypixel.com. (22/03/2019).

www.skypixel.com/photos/other-side-of-rome

 

Fonte / source:

--- Corriere Della Sera (28/10/2021).

www.corriere.it/esteri/21_ottobre_28/g20-quartiere-d-epoc...

"In the grand tradition of generals and surrealists, we have been playing games. People learn things better through the open-ended, empathetic participation in knowledge-making that games allow. Just dispensing information to people-- though at times enlightening-- can also encourage apathy or forgetfulness. Lately, we have been using games to critically examine the dynamics and assumptions of larger social givens.Our new game SET was inspired by toy collectors, tourists, and museum curators. Throughout the game, players "play" by intervening and reorganizing existing groups of objects, thus questioning categories by constructing and redrawing them. In foregrounding the player's relation to the categories, SET explores the value of one's authorship in the production of knowledge. While games often risk normalizing power relationships by setting social roles and rules in stone, we have tried here to do just the opposite."

 

People learn things better through the open-ended, empathetic participation in knowledge-making that games allow. Just dispensing information to people-- though at times enlightening-- can also encourage apathy or forgetfulness. A project developed by Erik Carver and Marisa Jahn, SET is a game that critically examines the dynamics and assumptions of larger social givens. It's a game inspired by toy collectors, tourists, and museum curators. Throughout the game, players "play" by intervening and reorganizing existing groups of objects, thus questioning categories by constructing and redrawing them. In foregrounding the player's relation to the categories, SET explores the value of one's authorship in the production of knowledge. While games often risk normalizing power relationships by setting social roles and rules in stone, SET tries to do just the opposite.

 

--

 

Erik Carver

 

Erik Carver is an architect and artist. He is a founder of the Institute for Advanced Architecture (advancedarchitecture.org)-- an organization dedicated to advancing architecture through research, exchange, and exhibition-- as well as the Common Room exhibition space (common-room.net) and the interdisciplinary art group Seru. He lives in Brooklyn and teaches architecture at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

 

Erik has worked for the firms of Diller+Scofidio, Laura Kurgan, and Lyn Rice before starting his own practice. These designs have included a student center renovation, an art museum, apartment renovations, a vacation home, exhibitions, a performance space/bar, an expo pavilion, schools, offices and an interpretation center.

 

His work has appeared in Volume magazine, Art in America, and Nature, and he has shown work and lectured at venues including Exit Art, the Ise Foundation, and Columbia's Neiman Gallery, and the Storefront for Art and Architecture (NYC), The Institute of Contemporary Art (Philadelphia), CAVS (MIT), Basekamp (Philadelphia), the Contemporary Art Center (North Adams, MA), and Pond (San Francisco).

  

Marisa Jahn

 

Of Ecuadorian and Chinese descent, Marisa Jahn is an artist whose work explores, constructs, and intervenes natural and social systems. In 2000, Jahn has co-founded Pond: art, activism, and ideas (www.mucketymuck.org), a non-profit organization dedicated to showcasing experimental art. Jahn has presented and exhibited work in museums, galleries, and spaces at venues such as The Institute of Contemporary Art (Philadelphia), the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (San Francisco), ISEA/Zero One 06/08 (San Jose, CA), MoKS (Estonia), the Moore Space (Miami), the Museum of Contemporary Art (North Miami), in galleries and public places in Tokyo, Honduras, Estonia, Turkey, North America, and Taiwan. Jahn's work has been reviewed in Art in America, Frieze, Punk Planet, Clamor, San Francisco Chronicle, the Fader, Artweek, Metropolis, the Discovery Channel, and Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). She has received awards and grants such as the Robert & Colleen Haas Scholarship, MIT Department of Architecture Fellowship (2005-8), CEC Artslink, and is an artist in residence at the MIT Media Lab (2007-9) and at the Headlands Center for the Arts (2008). She received her BA from UC Berkeley and an MS from MIT's Visual Arts Program. She lives between Boston and New York, where she functions as the Immediator of art-activist campaigns for The Church of Stop Shopping/Reverend Billy. www.marisajahn.com, www.mucketymuck.org

2021-03-13 Hambidge Second Saturday STUDIO TOUR at the Cross-Pollination Art Lab Lindbergh Center

 

SCHEDULE

• In the Cube Gallery (noon-4pm) you will find "The Space Between," a new project from Dr. Fahamu Pecou that works to dispel the pervasive myth of violence and discord within the Black male community, and seeks to both normalize expressions of care, concern, and compassion while challenging the pervasive image of Black violence and trauma.

• Jessica Brooke Anderson will be offering visitors (one at a time) an opportunity to select a gift from her collection of family objects. She recently inherited 3 houses worth of heirlooms, and is using this opportunity to redistribute these items to the community. In exchange for "adopting" a piece of her family history, she is asking to photograph each object with its new owner, in hopes of creating a new family tree, made up of strangers, all interconnected through the lives and objects that came before.

• Participate in a self-led writing exercise / creativity booster in the space outside of Arvin Temkar’s studio. Arvin is a writer and photographer whose work examines complexity, tension, and hope in a multiracial, multiethnic America, and has been published in major publications across the country. He will also be displaying some of his photography in the windows of his studio.

• Visit the Teller Productions Workshop to observe artist Scottie Rowell’s shadow puppet play time and experience Push. Press. Pull., an ever-changing art installation exploring human’s love of buttons. Only one family/group/pod allowed in the space at time.

• Jasmine Williams and Sierra King are excited to share with the public in progress works across both of their disciplines of printmaking and archiving. The public at large is welcomed into their space, limited to 2 at time, to view THROUGHLINE - where the lives of Black Women Artists intersect. Additionally there will be limited edition "I AM WOMAN" tote bags that were hand printed in the art lab and older edition prints available to purchase by Jasmine Nicole Williams.

• FRANK/ie CONSENT will present ‘Love Shrines,’ their first installation of shared things, in which their new album (collaborated with The Cradle) will play with casual, non-demanding events happening and video documentation of their recent love baptism. After the installation, there will be a live music performance by FRANK/ie CONSENT and the generosities of people they love. The performance will begin around 5:30.

• Floyd Hall will be presenting Seeing + Sounds, featuring a series of streaming recorded audio content in addition to visual projections.

• From 2-3:30, Matriarc Society will be providing a photo shoot session with a local femme music maker at no cost. Guests may observe the process from the windows on the corner of Magnolia Lane and Morosgo Drive.

• Dance Hub ATL residents are approaching this event as an open process with space to have conversations if visitors are interested in learning more. Four artists - Porter Grubbs, Catherine Messina, Frankie Mulinix and Nadya Zeitlin - will share glimpses of their current creations. In addition to performances, we will introduce a new addition to our Hub - installations by Dima Alekseyev. For more details and updates, check their Instagram page @dance_hub_atl. Donations are greatly appreciated and will support artists' further process.

Dance Hub ATL Performance Schedule - IN-PERSON and VIRTUAL

2:00 - Studio is open to live visitors (up to 16 people at the same time, 10 chairs in the seating area. Masks are required).

2:30 - Catherine Messina's process is a peek into the creation of phrasework for a large scale piece, and how to restage that work after a year away due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Two of the original cast of eight will share some of the prompts in creating duets, unison work, formations, and more. Online via Instagram Live and in-person.

3:00 - Nadya Zeitlin will show Alice, study #1 - the beginning stage of a new work that Bautanzt Here is designing inside Dance Hub ATL. Online via Instagram Live and in-person.

3:30 - The butoh piece performed by Frankie Mulinix is exploring memory, changing identity, and brain injury. Online via Instagram Live and in-person.

4:30 - Porter Grubbs will share some improvisation scores that they've been working on for Medium Collective’s summer series. Plus they will set up a layout with some of their Demon Body portraits and narratives that they've drafted. Online via Instagram Live and in-person.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vt7PvTwYF3E&feature=share&amp...

Full Feature in 9 Parts

American International Pictures lived up to its name on this project. Terrore nello spazio was a Spanish/Italian/American effort. The American release title, Planet of the Vampires (PoV) suggests a campier film than it is. There actually aren't any vampires in the usual sense. Yet, it is still a horror/sci-fi hybrid. Director Mario Bava (famous for horror pictures) gives the dark screenplay by Ib Melchior a good presentation, despite a low budget.

Synopsis

Mysterious signals received from a distant planet named Aura suggest some intelligent life, perhaps a distress call. Two interplanetary space ships are sent to investigate. The Galliot goes in first, but seems to crash. The crew of the Argos go lower to check on them. A sudden increase of gravity pins everyone to the floors and the Argos seems to be doomed to crash. At the last minute, the gravity normalizes and Captain Mark Markary is able to land the Argos. When various members of the crew awaken, they go viciously homicidal temporarily. Captain Mark is able to restore order. The Galliot is found near by, perfectly intact. When a team of the Argos investigate, they find the entire crew of the Galliot dead. They killed each other. The Galliot's "Meteor Rejector" device is smashed, making the ship unspaceworthy. The Argos team return later to find no bodies. (They are rising from the dead, but the Argos crew don't know this yet.) A team from the Argos find a derelict alien ship with a huge alien skeleton out front. Mark and Sanya check it out and almost become trapped inside. Various crewmen, usually given lone sentry jobs, disappear one by one. Two Galliot crewmen appear with a story of being unconscious after the landing. They are taken aboard the Argos, but it was a trick. They were zombies who came to steal the Argos's "Meteor Rejector" device. One zombie explains that Aura is inhabited by a race of energy beings. The Auran sun is dying but they cannot construct spaceships. So, they lured other race's ships to Aura to hijack their bodies and flee. The takeover can be done willingly too. Captain Mark says "Never". Mark, Sanya and Wess steal back the Meteor Rejector and plant bombs aboard the Galliot. They take off in the Argos. Wess discovers that Mark and Sanya are possessed by the Aurans. He smashes the Meteor Rejector, thinking he's stopping the Aurans. He dies in the process. Possessed Mark and Sanya decide to set down on an obscure little planet: Earth. The End.

PoV has the quirky charm typical of Italian sci-fi, but also some visual fun via Bava's sense of art.

The American title is a misnomer, but probably deemed better (by A.I.P.) for marketing. The dead bodies, re-animated by the Auran energy beings, were more the classic zombie than the classic vampire. There is no sucking of blood or needing of human blood, etc. The whole rising-from-the-grave scene is clearly in the zombie idiom. Mixed into the zombie trope is the familiar 50s theme of alien-takeover.

 

Like many B movies, the production budget for PoV was very tight. Modern viewers could easily scoff at the modest special effects and simple sets. Yet, fans of B sci-fi can appreciate how much mileage Bava got from his shoestring budget. He made an entire alien planet out of a few "rock" props left over from a prior sword-and-sandal film, making use of lots of dry ice fog to disguise how sparse things were. The ship models were quite small (and therefore cheaper), but he manages to make them look larger. To save on matte art and optical effects, Bava used mirrors to put actors and small models into the same shot. Of course, having the Argos and Galliot be identical ships meant handy double use. The giant alien skeleton was probably his biggest expense, but well worth it.

 

Bava also made ample use of strong color to make things look "alien." Pairs of red-green, or red-blue, or green-orange lights add a vivid other-worldliness. The lighting is reminiscent of that used in the soviet film: Mechte Navstrechu ('62) ("A Dream Come True"). American audiences wouldn't get to see the soviet footage until 1966 when A.I.P. created another of their mash-ups, this one entitled: Queen of Blood.

 

Some viewers see an inspiration for Ridley Scott's famous Alien (1979). Certainly the scene in which Mark and Sanya discover and explore the derelict alien ship bears a strong resemblance. Even though this scene in PoV is more of a sidetrack than pivotal, it is certainly possible that Scott drew upon it as a portion of his story.

Screenwriter Ib Melchior was fond of the notion that alien planets harbored mysterious danger. His dark vision was quite the opposite of the almost glib notion that alien beings would be pretty women in short skirts. Melchior's Angry Red Planet ('60) featured ominous unseen Martians who tell the earthlings to get lost and never ever come back. Journey to the Seventh Planet ('62) featured a malicious intellect being that messed with the earthlings' minds and was trying to get off its cold, dark moon, to a better planet -- like earth.

The ending of PoV is decidedly un-hollywood. Most of the crew die. Even the last uncompromised humans (Wess) dies trying to stop the Aurans. He fails, despite his heroic sacrifice. Auran-Mark and Auran-Sanya fly down to an unsuspecting earth. The danger of the mind-controlling energy being Aurans was about to be loosed on our simple civilization. On its own, such an ending does have nihilist overtones. It also smacks of a potential sequel along the Body Snatchers line.

 

Bottom line? PoV will not impress modern viewers who rate movies by how lavish the effects are. It is still a budget film. It also suffers some of the usual pitfalls of foreign films repackaged for American release. There are almost too many characters who are easy to mix up (everyone wore identical leather suits) Nonetheless, it one of the better B movies of the 60s.

  

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vt7PvTwYF3E&feature=share&amp...

Full Feature in 9 Parts

American International Pictures lived up to its name on this project. Terrore nello spazio was a Spanish/Italian/American effort. The American release title, Planet of the Vampires (PoV) suggests a campier film than it is. There actually aren't any vampires in the usual sense. Yet, it is still a horror/sci-fi hybrid. Director Mario Bava (famous for horror pictures) gives the dark screenplay by Ib Melchior a good presentation, despite a low budget.

Synopsis

Mysterious signals received from a distant planet named Aura suggest some intelligent life, perhaps a distress call. Two interplanetary space ships are sent to investigate. The Galliot goes in first, but seems to crash. The crew of the Argos go lower to check on them. A sudden increase of gravity pins everyone to the floors and the Argos seems to be doomed to crash. At the last minute, the gravity normalizes and Captain Mark Markary is able to land the Argos. When various members of the crew awaken, they go viciously homicidal temporarily. Captain Mark is able to restore order. The Galliot is found near by, perfectly intact. When a team of the Argos investigate, they find the entire crew of the Galliot dead. They killed each other. The Galliot's "Meteor Rejector" device is smashed, making the ship unspaceworthy. The Argos team return later to find no bodies. (They are rising from the dead, but the Argos crew don't know this yet.) A team from the Argos find a derelict alien ship with a huge alien skeleton out front. Mark and Sanya check it out and almost become trapped inside. Various crewmen, usually given lone sentry jobs, disappear one by one. Two Galliot crewmen appear with a story of being unconscious after the landing. They are taken aboard the Argos, but it was a trick. They were zombies who came to steal the Argos's "Meteor Rejector" device. One zombie explains that Aura is inhabited by a race of energy beings. The Auran sun is dying but they cannot construct spaceships. So, they lured other race's ships to Aura to hijack their bodies and flee. The takeover can be done willingly too. Captain Mark says "Never". Mark, Sanya and Wess steal back the Meteor Rejector and plant bombs aboard the Galliot. They take off in the Argos. Wess discovers that Mark and Sanya are possessed by the Aurans. He smashes the Meteor Rejector, thinking he's stopping the Aurans. He dies in the process. Possessed Mark and Sanya decide to set down on an obscure little planet: Earth. The End.

PoV has the quirky charm typical of Italian sci-fi, but also some visual fun via Bava's sense of art.

The American title is a misnomer, but probably deemed better (by A.I.P.) for marketing. The dead bodies, re-animated by the Auran energy beings, were more the classic zombie than the classic vampire. There is no sucking of blood or needing of human blood, etc. The whole rising-from-the-grave scene is clearly in the zombie idiom. Mixed into the zombie trope is the familiar 50s theme of alien-takeover.

 

Like many B movies, the production budget for PoV was very tight. Modern viewers could easily scoff at the modest special effects and simple sets. Yet, fans of B sci-fi can appreciate how much mileage Bava got from his shoestring budget. He made an entire alien planet out of a few "rock" props left over from a prior sword-and-sandal film, making use of lots of dry ice fog to disguise how sparse things were. The ship models were quite small (and therefore cheaper), but he manages to make them look larger. To save on matte art and optical effects, Bava used mirrors to put actors and small models into the same shot. Of course, having the Argos and Galliot be identical ships meant handy double use. The giant alien skeleton was probably his biggest expense, but well worth it.

 

Bava also made ample use of strong color to make things look "alien." Pairs of red-green, or red-blue, or green-orange lights add a vivid other-worldliness. The lighting is reminiscent of that used in the soviet film: Mechte Navstrechu ('62) ("A Dream Come True"). American audiences wouldn't get to see the soviet footage until 1966 when A.I.P. created another of their mash-ups, this one entitled: Queen of Blood.

 

Some viewers see an inspiration for Ridley Scott's famous Alien (1979). Certainly the scene in which Mark and Sanya discover and explore the derelict alien ship bears a strong resemblance. Even though this scene in PoV is more of a sidetrack than pivotal, it is certainly possible that Scott drew upon it as a portion of his story.

Screenwriter Ib Melchior was fond of the notion that alien planets harbored mysterious danger. His dark vision was quite the opposite of the almost glib notion that alien beings would be pretty women in short skirts. Melchior's Angry Red Planet ('60) featured ominous unseen Martians who tell the earthlings to get lost and never ever come back. Journey to the Seventh Planet ('62) featured a malicious intellect being that messed with the earthlings' minds and was trying to get off its cold, dark moon, to a better planet -- like earth.

The ending of PoV is decidedly un-hollywood. Most of the crew die. Even the last uncompromised humans (Wess) dies trying to stop the Aurans. He fails, despite his heroic sacrifice. Auran-Mark and Auran-Sanya fly down to an unsuspecting earth. The danger of the mind-controlling energy being Aurans was about to be loosed on our simple civilization. On its own, such an ending does have nihilist overtones. It also smacks of a potential sequel along the Body Snatchers line.

 

Bottom line? PoV will not impress modern viewers who rate movies by how lavish the effects are. It is still a budget film. It also suffers some of the usual pitfalls of foreign films repackaged for American release. There are almost too many characters who are easy to mix up (everyone wore identical leather suits) Nonetheless, it one of the better B movies of the 60s.

  

Except that on friday night it poured buckets of rain in Malate for over an hour. Nothing normalized here.

A moderated discussion with David Lipton, First Deputy Managing Director of the IMF, which will cover key new issues facing the global economy, including normalization of monetary policy, digitalization, and other topical issues. How should policy makers be thinking about these new challenges and their potential impact? Come join the discussion.

"In the grand tradition of generals and surrealists, we have been playing games. People learn things better through the open-ended, empathetic participation in knowledge-making that games allow. Just dispensing information to people-- though at times enlightening-- can also encourage apathy or forgetfulness. Lately, we have been using games to critically examine the dynamics and assumptions of larger social givens.Our new game SET was inspired by toy collectors, tourists, and museum curators. Throughout the game, players "play" by intervening and reorganizing existing groups of objects, thus questioning categories by constructing and redrawing them. In foregrounding the player's relation to the categories, SET explores the value of one's authorship in the production of knowledge. While games often risk normalizing power relationships by setting social roles and rules in stone, we have tried here to do just the opposite."

 

People learn things better through the open-ended, empathetic participation in knowledge-making that games allow. Just dispensing information to people-- though at times enlightening-- can also encourage apathy or forgetfulness. A project developed by Erik Carver and Marisa Jahn, SET is a game that critically examines the dynamics and assumptions of larger social givens. It's a game inspired by toy collectors, tourists, and museum curators. Throughout the game, players "play" by intervening and reorganizing existing groups of objects, thus questioning categories by constructing and redrawing them. In foregrounding the player's relation to the categories, SET explores the value of one's authorship in the production of knowledge. While games often risk normalizing power relationships by setting social roles and rules in stone, SET tries to do just the opposite.

 

--

 

Erik Carver

 

Erik Carver is an architect and artist. He is a founder of the Institute for Advanced Architecture (advancedarchitecture.org)-- an organization dedicated to advancing architecture through research, exchange, and exhibition-- as well as the Common Room exhibition space (common-room.net) and the interdisciplinary art group Seru. He lives in Brooklyn and teaches architecture at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

 

Erik has worked for the firms of Diller+Scofidio, Laura Kurgan, and Lyn Rice before starting his own practice. These designs have included a student center renovation, an art museum, apartment renovations, a vacation home, exhibitions, a performance space/bar, an expo pavilion, schools, offices and an interpretation center.

 

His work has appeared in Volume magazine, Art in America, and Nature, and he has shown work and lectured at venues including Exit Art, the Ise Foundation, and Columbia's Neiman Gallery, and the Storefront for Art and Architecture (NYC), The Institute of Contemporary Art (Philadelphia), CAVS (MIT), Basekamp (Philadelphia), the Contemporary Art Center (North Adams, MA), and Pond (San Francisco).

  

Marisa Jahn

 

Of Ecuadorian and Chinese descent, Marisa Jahn is an artist whose work explores, constructs, and intervenes natural and social systems. In 2000, Jahn has co-founded Pond: art, activism, and ideas (www.mucketymuck.org), a non-profit organization dedicated to showcasing experimental art. Jahn has presented and exhibited work in museums, galleries, and spaces at venues such as The Institute of Contemporary Art (Philadelphia), the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (San Francisco), ISEA/Zero One 06/08 (San Jose, CA), MoKS (Estonia), the Moore Space (Miami), the Museum of Contemporary Art (North Miami), in galleries and public places in Tokyo, Honduras, Estonia, Turkey, North America, and Taiwan. Jahn's work has been reviewed in Art in America, Frieze, Punk Planet, Clamor, San Francisco Chronicle, the Fader, Artweek, Metropolis, the Discovery Channel, and Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). She has received awards and grants such as the Robert & Colleen Haas Scholarship, MIT Department of Architecture Fellowship (2005-8), CEC Artslink, and is an artist in residence at the MIT Media Lab (2007-9) and at the Headlands Center for the Arts (2008). She received her BA from UC Berkeley and an MS from MIT's Visual Arts Program. She lives between Boston and New York, where she functions as the Immediator of art-activist campaigns for The Church of Stop Shopping/Reverend Billy. www.marisajahn.com, www.mucketymuck.org

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vt7PvTwYF3E&feature=share&...

Full Feature in 9 Parts

American International Pictures lived up to its name on this project. Terrore nello spazio was a Spanish/Italian/American effort. The American release title, Planet of the Vampires (PoV) suggests a campier film than it is. There actually aren't any vampires in the usual sense. Yet, it is still a horror/sci-fi hybrid. Director Mario Bava (famous for horror pictures) gives the dark screenplay by Ib Melchior a good presentation, despite a low budget.

Synopsis

Mysterious signals received from a distant planet named Aura suggest some intelligent life, perhaps a distress call. Two interplanetary space ships are sent to investigate. The Galliot goes in first, but seems to crash. The crew of the Argos go lower to check on them. A sudden increase of gravity pins everyone to the floors and the Argos seems to be doomed to crash. At the last minute, the gravity normalizes and Captain Mark Markary is able to land the Argos. When various members of the crew awaken, they go viciously homicidal temporarily. Captain Mark is able to restore order. The Galliot is found near by, perfectly intact. When a team of the Argos investigate, they find the entire crew of the Galliot dead. They killed each other. The Galliot's "Meteor Rejector" device is smashed, making the ship unspaceworthy. The Argos team return later to find no bodies. (They are rising from the dead, but the Argos crew don't know this yet.) A team from the Argos find a derelict alien ship with a huge alien skeleton out front. Mark and Sanya check it out and almost become trapped inside. Various crewmen, usually given lone sentry jobs, disappear one by one. Two Galliot crewmen appear with a story of being unconscious after the landing. They are taken aboard the Argos, but it was a trick. They were zombies who came to steal the Argos's "Meteor Rejector" device. One zombie explains that Aura is inhabited by a race of energy beings. The Auran sun is dying but they cannot construct spaceships. So, they lured other race's ships to Aura to hijack their bodies and flee. The takeover can be done willingly too. Captain Mark says "Never". Mark, Sanya and Wess steal back the Meteor Rejector and plant bombs aboard the Galliot. They take off in the Argos. Wess discovers that Mark and Sanya are possessed by the Aurans. He smashes the Meteor Rejector, thinking he's stopping the Aurans. He dies in the process. Possessed Mark and Sanya decide to set down on an obscure little planet: Earth. The End.

PoV has the quirky charm typical of Italian sci-fi, but also some visual fun via Bava's sense of art.

The American title is a misnomer, but probably deemed better (by A.I.P.) for marketing. The dead bodies, re-animated by the Auran energy beings, were more the classic zombie than the classic vampire. There is no sucking of blood or needing of human blood, etc. The whole rising-from-the-grave scene is clearly in the zombie idiom. Mixed into the zombie trope is the familiar 50s theme of alien-takeover.

 

Like many B movies, the production budget for PoV was very tight. Modern viewers could easily scoff at the modest special effects and simple sets. Yet, fans of B sci-fi can appreciate how much mileage Bava got from his shoestring budget. He made an entire alien planet out of a few "rock" props left over from a prior sword-and-sandal film, making use of lots of dry ice fog to disguise how sparse things were. The ship models were quite small (and therefore cheaper), but he manages to make them look larger. To save on matte art and optical effects, Bava used mirrors to put actors and small models into the same shot. Of course, having the Argos and Galliot be identical ships meant handy double use. The giant alien skeleton was probably his biggest expense, but well worth it.

 

Bava also made ample use of strong color to make things look "alien." Pairs of red-green, or red-blue, or green-orange lights add a vivid other-worldliness. The lighting is reminiscent of that used in the soviet film: Mechte Navstrechu ('62) ("A Dream Come True"). American audiences wouldn't get to see the soviet footage until 1966 when A.I.P. created another of their mash-ups, this one entitled: Queen of Blood.

 

Some viewers see an inspiration for Ridley Scott's famous Alien (1979). Certainly the scene in which Mark and Sanya discover and explore the derelict alien ship bears a strong resemblance. Even though this scene in PoV is more of a sidetrack than pivotal, it is certainly possible that Scott drew upon it as a portion of his story.

Screenwriter Ib Melchior was fond of the notion that alien planets harbored mysterious danger. His dark vision was quite the opposite of the almost glib notion that alien beings would be pretty women in short skirts. Melchior's Angry Red Planet ('60) featured ominous unseen Martians who tell the earthlings to get lost and never ever come back. Journey to the Seventh Planet ('62) featured a malicious intellect being that messed with the earthlings' minds and was trying to get off its cold, dark moon, to a better planet -- like earth.

The ending of PoV is decidedly un-hollywood. Most of the crew die. Even the last uncompromised humans (Wess) dies trying to stop the Aurans. He fails, despite his heroic sacrifice. Auran-Mark and Auran-Sanya fly down to an unsuspecting earth. The danger of the mind-controlling energy being Aurans was about to be loosed on our simple civilization. On its own, such an ending does have nihilist overtones. It also smacks of a potential sequel along the Body Snatchers line.

 

Bottom line? PoV will not impress modern viewers who rate movies by how lavish the effects are. It is still a budget film. It also suffers some of the usual pitfalls of foreign films repackaged for American release. There are almost too many characters who are easy to mix up (everyone wore identical leather suits) Nonetheless, it one of the better B movies of the 60s.

  

"In the grand tradition of generals and surrealists, we have been playing games. People learn things better through the open-ended, empathetic participation in knowledge-making that games allow. Just dispensing information to people-- though at times enlightening-- can also encourage apathy or forgetfulness. Lately, we have been using games to critically examine the dynamics and assumptions of larger social givens.Our new game SET was inspired by toy collectors, tourists, and museum curators. Throughout the game, players "play" by intervening and reorganizing existing groups of objects, thus questioning categories by constructing and redrawing them. In foregrounding the player's relation to the categories, SET explores the value of one's authorship in the production of knowledge. While games often risk normalizing power relationships by setting social roles and rules in stone, we have tried here to do just the opposite."

 

People learn things better through the open-ended, empathetic participation in knowledge-making that games allow. Just dispensing information to people-- though at times enlightening-- can also encourage apathy or forgetfulness. A project developed by Erik Carver and Marisa Jahn, SET is a game that critically examines the dynamics and assumptions of larger social givens. It's a game inspired by toy collectors, tourists, and museum curators. Throughout the game, players "play" by intervening and reorganizing existing groups of objects, thus questioning categories by constructing and redrawing them. In foregrounding the player's relation to the categories, SET explores the value of one's authorship in the production of knowledge. While games often risk normalizing power relationships by setting social roles and rules in stone, SET tries to do just the opposite.

 

--

 

Erik Carver

 

Erik Carver is an architect and artist. He is a founder of the Institute for Advanced Architecture (advancedarchitecture.org)-- an organization dedicated to advancing architecture through research, exchange, and exhibition-- as well as the Common Room exhibition space (common-room.net) and the interdisciplinary art group Seru. He lives in Brooklyn and teaches architecture at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

 

Erik has worked for the firms of Diller+Scofidio, Laura Kurgan, and Lyn Rice before starting his own practice. These designs have included a student center renovation, an art museum, apartment renovations, a vacation home, exhibitions, a performance space/bar, an expo pavilion, schools, offices and an interpretation center.

 

His work has appeared in Volume magazine, Art in America, and Nature, and he has shown work and lectured at venues including Exit Art, the Ise Foundation, and Columbia's Neiman Gallery, and the Storefront for Art and Architecture (NYC), The Institute of Contemporary Art (Philadelphia), CAVS (MIT), Basekamp (Philadelphia), the Contemporary Art Center (North Adams, MA), and Pond (San Francisco).

  

Marisa Jahn

 

Of Ecuadorian and Chinese descent, Marisa Jahn is an artist whose work explores, constructs, and intervenes natural and social systems. In 2000, Jahn has co-founded Pond: art, activism, and ideas (www.mucketymuck.org), a non-profit organization dedicated to showcasing experimental art. Jahn has presented and exhibited work in museums, galleries, and spaces at venues such as The Institute of Contemporary Art (Philadelphia), the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (San Francisco), ISEA/Zero One 06/08 (San Jose, CA), MoKS (Estonia), the Moore Space (Miami), the Museum of Contemporary Art (North Miami), in galleries and public places in Tokyo, Honduras, Estonia, Turkey, North America, and Taiwan. Jahn's work has been reviewed in Art in America, Frieze, Punk Planet, Clamor, San Francisco Chronicle, the Fader, Artweek, Metropolis, the Discovery Channel, and Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). She has received awards and grants such as the Robert & Colleen Haas Scholarship, MIT Department of Architecture Fellowship (2005-8), CEC Artslink, and is an artist in residence at the MIT Media Lab (2007-9) and at the Headlands Center for the Arts (2008). She received her BA from UC Berkeley and an MS from MIT's Visual Arts Program. She lives between Boston and New York, where she functions as the Immediator of art-activist campaigns for The Church of Stop Shopping/Reverend Billy. www.marisajahn.com, www.mucketymuck.org

"In the grand tradition of generals and surrealists, we have been playing games. People learn things better through the open-ended, empathetic participation in knowledge-making that games allow. Just dispensing information to people-- though at times enlightening-- can also encourage apathy or forgetfulness. Lately, we have been using games to critically examine the dynamics and assumptions of larger social givens.Our new game SET was inspired by toy collectors, tourists, and museum curators. Throughout the game, players "play" by intervening and reorganizing existing groups of objects, thus questioning categories by constructing and redrawing them. In foregrounding the player's relation to the categories, SET explores the value of one's authorship in the production of knowledge. While games often risk normalizing power relationships by setting social roles and rules in stone, we have tried here to do just the opposite."

 

People learn things better through the open-ended, empathetic participation in knowledge-making that games allow. Just dispensing information to people-- though at times enlightening-- can also encourage apathy or forgetfulness. A project developed by Erik Carver and Marisa Jahn, SET is a game that critically examines the dynamics and assumptions of larger social givens. It's a game inspired by toy collectors, tourists, and museum curators. Throughout the game, players "play" by intervening and reorganizing existing groups of objects, thus questioning categories by constructing and redrawing them. In foregrounding the player's relation to the categories, SET explores the value of one's authorship in the production of knowledge. While games often risk normalizing power relationships by setting social roles and rules in stone, SET tries to do just the opposite.

 

--

 

Erik Carver

 

Erik Carver is an architect and artist. He is a founder of the Institute for Advanced Architecture (advancedarchitecture.org)-- an organization dedicated to advancing architecture through research, exchange, and exhibition-- as well as the Common Room exhibition space (common-room.net) and the interdisciplinary art group Seru. He lives in Brooklyn and teaches architecture at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

 

Erik has worked for the firms of Diller+Scofidio, Laura Kurgan, and Lyn Rice before starting his own practice. These designs have included a student center renovation, an art museum, apartment renovations, a vacation home, exhibitions, a performance space/bar, an expo pavilion, schools, offices and an interpretation center.

 

His work has appeared in Volume magazine, Art in America, and Nature, and he has shown work and lectured at venues including Exit Art, the Ise Foundation, and Columbia's Neiman Gallery, and the Storefront for Art and Architecture (NYC), The Institute of Contemporary Art (Philadelphia), CAVS (MIT), Basekamp (Philadelphia), the Contemporary Art Center (North Adams, MA), and Pond (San Francisco).

  

Marisa Jahn

 

Of Ecuadorian and Chinese descent, Marisa Jahn is an artist whose work explores, constructs, and intervenes natural and social systems. In 2000, Jahn has co-founded Pond: art, activism, and ideas (www.mucketymuck.org), a non-profit organization dedicated to showcasing experimental art. Jahn has presented and exhibited work in museums, galleries, and spaces at venues such as The Institute of Contemporary Art (Philadelphia), the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (San Francisco), ISEA/Zero One 06/08 (San Jose, CA), MoKS (Estonia), the Moore Space (Miami), the Museum of Contemporary Art (North Miami), in galleries and public places in Tokyo, Honduras, Estonia, Turkey, North America, and Taiwan. Jahn's work has been reviewed in Art in America, Frieze, Punk Planet, Clamor, San Francisco Chronicle, the Fader, Artweek, Metropolis, the Discovery Channel, and Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). She has received awards and grants such as the Robert & Colleen Haas Scholarship, MIT Department of Architecture Fellowship (2005-8), CEC Artslink, and is an artist in residence at the MIT Media Lab (2007-9) and at the Headlands Center for the Arts (2008). She received her BA from UC Berkeley and an MS from MIT's Visual Arts Program. She lives between Boston and New York, where she functions as the Immediator of art-activist campaigns for The Church of Stop Shopping/Reverend Billy. www.marisajahn.com, www.mucketymuck.org

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vt7PvTwYF3E&feature=share&amp...

Full Feature in 9 Parts

American International Pictures lived up to its name on this project. Terrore nello spazio was a Spanish/Italian/American effort. The American release title, Planet of the Vampires (PoV) suggests a campier film than it is. There actually aren't any vampires in the usual sense. Yet, it is still a horror/sci-fi hybrid. Director Mario Bava (famous for horror pictures) gives the dark screenplay by Ib Melchior a good presentation, despite a low budget.

Synopsis

Mysterious signals received from a distant planet named Aura suggest some intelligent life, perhaps a distress call. Two interplanetary space ships are sent to investigate. The Galliot goes in first, but seems to crash. The crew of the Argos go lower to check on them. A sudden increase of gravity pins everyone to the floors and the Argos seems to be doomed to crash. At the last minute, the gravity normalizes and Captain Mark Markary is able to land the Argos. When various members of the crew awaken, they go viciously homicidal temporarily. Captain Mark is able to restore order. The Galliot is found near by, perfectly intact. When a team of the Argos investigate, they find the entire crew of the Galliot dead. They killed each other. The Galliot's "Meteor Rejector" device is smashed, making the ship unspaceworthy. The Argos team return later to find no bodies. (They are rising from the dead, but the Argos crew don't know this yet.) A team from the Argos find a derelict alien ship with a huge alien skeleton out front. Mark and Sanya check it out and almost become trapped inside. Various crewmen, usually given lone sentry jobs, disappear one by one. Two Galliot crewmen appear with a story of being unconscious after the landing. They are taken aboard the Argos, but it was a trick. They were zombies who came to steal the Argos's "Meteor Rejector" device. One zombie explains that Aura is inhabited by a race of energy beings. The Auran sun is dying but they cannot construct spaceships. So, they lured other race's ships to Aura to hijack their bodies and flee. The takeover can be done willingly too. Captain Mark says "Never". Mark, Sanya and Wess steal back the Meteor Rejector and plant bombs aboard the Galliot. They take off in the Argos. Wess discovers that Mark and Sanya are possessed by the Aurans. He smashes the Meteor Rejector, thinking he's stopping the Aurans. He dies in the process. Possessed Mark and Sanya decide to set down on an obscure little planet: Earth. The End.

PoV has the quirky charm typical of Italian sci-fi, but also some visual fun via Bava's sense of art.

The American title is a misnomer, but probably deemed better (by A.I.P.) for marketing. The dead bodies, re-animated by the Auran energy beings, were more the classic zombie than the classic vampire. There is no sucking of blood or needing of human blood, etc. The whole rising-from-the-grave scene is clearly in the zombie idiom. Mixed into the zombie trope is the familiar 50s theme of alien-takeover.

 

Like many B movies, the production budget for PoV was very tight. Modern viewers could easily scoff at the modest special effects and simple sets. Yet, fans of B sci-fi can appreciate how much mileage Bava got from his shoestring budget. He made an entire alien planet out of a few "rock" props left over from a prior sword-and-sandal film, making use of lots of dry ice fog to disguise how sparse things were. The ship models were quite small (and therefore cheaper), but he manages to make them look larger. To save on matte art and optical effects, Bava used mirrors to put actors and small models into the same shot. Of course, having the Argos and Galliot be identical ships meant handy double use. The giant alien skeleton was probably his biggest expense, but well worth it.

 

Bava also made ample use of strong color to make things look "alien." Pairs of red-green, or red-blue, or green-orange lights add a vivid other-worldliness. The lighting is reminiscent of that used in the soviet film: Mechte Navstrechu ('62) ("A Dream Come True"). American audiences wouldn't get to see the soviet footage until 1966 when A.I.P. created another of their mash-ups, this one entitled: Queen of Blood.

 

Some viewers see an inspiration for Ridley Scott's famous Alien (1979). Certainly the scene in which Mark and Sanya discover and explore the derelict alien ship bears a strong resemblance. Even though this scene in PoV is more of a sidetrack than pivotal, it is certainly possible that Scott drew upon it as a portion of his story.

Screenwriter Ib Melchior was fond of the notion that alien planets harbored mysterious danger. His dark vision was quite the opposite of the almost glib notion that alien beings would be pretty women in short skirts. Melchior's Angry Red Planet ('60) featured ominous unseen Martians who tell the earthlings to get lost and never ever come back. Journey to the Seventh Planet ('62) featured a malicious intellect being that messed with the earthlings' minds and was trying to get off its cold, dark moon, to a better planet -- like earth.

The ending of PoV is decidedly un-hollywood. Most of the crew die. Even the last uncompromised humans (Wess) dies trying to stop the Aurans. He fails, despite his heroic sacrifice. Auran-Mark and Auran-Sanya fly down to an unsuspecting earth. The danger of the mind-controlling energy being Aurans was about to be loosed on our simple civilization. On its own, such an ending does have nihilist overtones. It also smacks of a potential sequel along the Body Snatchers line.

 

Bottom line? PoV will not impress modern viewers who rate movies by how lavish the effects are. It is still a budget film. It also suffers some of the usual pitfalls of foreign films repackaged for American release. There are almost too many characters who are easy to mix up (everyone wore identical leather suits) Nonetheless, it one of the better B movies of the 60s.

  

English

 

Water puppetry (Vietnamese: Múa rối nước, lit. "puppets that dance on water") is a tradition that dates back as far as the 11th century CE when it originated in the villages of the Red River Delta area of northern Vietnam. Today's Vietnamese water puppetry is a unique variation on the ancient Asian puppet tradition.

 

The puppets are made out of wood and then lacquered. The shows are performed in a waist-deep pool. A large rod supports the puppet under the water and is used by the puppeteers, who are normally hidden behind a screen, to control them. Thus the puppets appear to be moving over the water. When the rice fields would flood, the villagers would entertain each other using this form of puppet play.

 

history

 

Múa rối is sa.o considered to have originated in the delta of the Red river in Vietnam in the 11th century, and the art remains highly developed today in this country. Some of the earliest troupes were found in the Nguyên Xá commune, Đông Hưng district, Thai Binh province.[1]

 

In ancient Vietnam, the rural Vietnamese believed that spirits controlled all aspect of their lives, from the kitchen to the rice paddies. The Vietnamese devised water puppetry as a way to satisfy these spirits, and as a form of entertainment, using what natural medium they could find in their environment. In ancient times, the ponds and flooded rice paddies after harvest were the stage for these impromptu shows. [2]

 

This art form is unique to North Vietnam and only found its way to the world stage in recent years as a result of normalized relations with the West.[3] During the early 1990s the country's three foremost companies, the National Puppet Theatre (Nhà hát Múa rối Trung Ương), the municipal Thăng Long Puppet Company (Nhà hát Múa rối Thăng Long) of Hanoi and the Hồ Chí Minh City Puppet Company (Đoàn Nghệ thuật Múa rối Thành Phố Hố Chí Minh) gained increased international attention. The main venues in Vietnam itself are the Thăng Long Water Puppet Theatre in Hanoi and the Golden Dragon Water Puppet Theatre in Saigon.

  

Performance

 

Modern water puppetry is performed in a pool of water 4 meters square with the water surface being the stage. Performance today occurs on one of three venues—on traditional ponds in villages where a staging area has been set up, on portable tanks built for traveling performers, or in a specialized building where a pool stage has been constructed[4].

 

Up to 8 puppeteers stand behind a split-bamboo screen, decorated to resemble a temple facade, and control the puppets using long bamboo rods and string mechanism hidden beneath the water surface. The puppets are carved out of wood and often weigh up to 15 kg.

 

A traditional Vietnamese orchestra provides background music accompaniment. The instrumentation includes vocals, drums, wooden bells, cymbals, horns, Đàn bầu (monochord), gongs, and bamboo flutes. The bamboo flute's clear, simple notes may accompany royalty while the drums and cymbals may loudly announce a fire-breathing dragon's entrance.[5]

 

Singers of chèo (a form of opera originating in north Vietnam) sing songs which tell the story being acted out by the puppets. The musicians and the puppets interact during performance; the musicians may yell a word of warning to a puppet in danger or a word of encouragement to a puppet in need.

 

The puppets enter from either side of the stage, or emerge from the murky depths of the water.

 

Spotlights and colorful flags adorn the stage and create a festive atmosphere.

 

Content

 

The theme of the skits is rural and has a strong reference to Vietnamese folklore. It tells of day-to-day living in rural Vietnam and Vietnamese folk tales that are told by grandparents to their grandchildren. Stories of the harvest, of fishing and of festivals are highlighted.

 

Legends and national history are also told through short skits. Many of the skits, especially those involving the tales of day-to-day living, often have a humorous twist.

 

português

 

O Teatro Aquático de Fantoches (Múa Rối Nước) é uma modalidade de Teatro de Fantoches, uma manifestação cultural característica do Vietnam.

 

Histórico

 

Sua origem é obscura, mas possivelmente já no século XI integrava a vida cultural do país. Era uma arte cujos segredos, mantidos restritos, se transmitiam dos mais velhos aos mais jovens dentro de uma mesma família.

 

Em 1980 foi considerada uma arte extinta, quando uma organização francesa veio proporcionar nova vida a esta tradição. Os grupos atualmente existentes já se apresentaram em outros países, e podem ser vistos em atividade tanto em Hanói como na cidade de Ho Chi Minh.

 

No Thăng Long (Teatro Aquático de Hanói) o ingresso custa 40.000 đ (cerca 2 €, no câmbio de dezembro de 2003), preço que inclui um CD de músicas. Quem deseje fotografar ou filmar deve pagar 1 ou 5 dólares americanos extras, respectivamente. O espectador recebe programas em vários idiomas, além do vietnamita (em inglês, francês, japonês e chinês), o mesmo ocorrendo com os anúncios.

 

Orquestra

O espetáculo é musicado por uma pequena orquestra (que conta, inclusive, com um monocórdio típico vietnamita, chamado Đàn Bầu), que toca durante toda a apresentação. Além disso, os integrantes da orquestra emprestam suas vozes para os bonecos.

 

A orquestra fica posicionada a um lado do "palco", que na verdade é uma espécie de piscina ou tanque.

 

O Palco

Originalmente este tanque era a lagoa da aldeia, ou mesmo um lago próximo. No tanque, os protagonistas são instalados sobre postes feitos de bambu, que ficam submersos enquanto os bonecos ficam sobre a superfície. Ao fundo deste local está uma cortina, também feita de bambu.

 

Protagonistas

Os bonecos, movidos por hastes de bambu, têm seu controle situado atrás da cortina de bambu. São de tamanhos que variam de 30 centímetros a 1 metro de altura, com peso variando de 1 a 5 quilogramas. Sua confecção é feita em madeira de pés de figo nativos, tornadas impermeáveis por uma cobertura de resina e verniz.

 

Assim como outras peças móveis, os bonecos são guiados pela outra extremidade das varas, por vezes com uso de cordas.

  

Personagens e peças

 

As peças têm como personagens, geralmente, pessoas e cenas da vida rural, ou figuras típicas como o flautista montado num búfalo, ou um plantador de fumo. Além desses quadros bucólicos, são encenadas danças místicas de leões e dragões, bem como dos quatro animais sagrados: a Fênix, o kỳ lân (Qilin, o unicórnio chinês), Long ( o Dragão chinês), e a tartaruga.

 

Um outro motivo folclórico também costuma ser encenado, que é a lenda da batalha do rei Le Loi.

as people try to normalized their daily routines,

for some it will take a longer time for normality to resume,

for some, life will never be the same,

some are deliberating on moving their homes to higher ground,

but all of us for sure are praying that another typhoon won't hit us this week again,

too much too soon...

Here is the second photo set for the Babes & Boobs project, a pro-public breastfeeding photo essay I wanted to personally start up in hopes of persuading society to normalize and not criticize breast feeding, as well as hoping to change the future for expecting moms.

 

While we went out for ice cream, we had a wonderful chat with the woman working the ice scream parlor! (FYI her name is Portia)

 

Portia: “Are you just out taking pictures?”

Me: “Actually we’re working on a photo project that supports public breast feeding!”

Portia: *face lights up* “Well that’s just wonderful, I don’t see anything wrong with a woman feeding her child. I know that lady that just walked out, she has 5 of her own - all breastfed!”

 

See more at:

www.babesandboobsblog.tumblr.com

This is a mean and median average of all of the bOING bOING zine covers posted by Mark Fraunfelder on his Flickr album.

 

Averaged using my normal methods, then normalized.

 

my blog

1. First society condones and makes normal stupid, ignorant, and lazy people who do not want to support themselves. 2. Due to this support and normalization, many of those who are not prone to being stupid, ignorant, and lazy join in - and why not? If one is not taking property, they are giving it up. 3. Stupid, ignorant, and lazy people become arrogant and bored, so they go out and act as if every convenience store clerk, successful individual, and cop owe them something. 4. They are struck with reality when someone, often a cop, protects the property the looter believes is theirs. 5. The city, infested with stupid, ignorant, and lazy people, is shocked when they realize their freedom to take isn't infinite. 6. The cops then rationalize they should be more like the military to protect themselves from the stupid, lazy, and ignorant masses. 7. THIS as well becomes normalized while no one questions the core of the problem (looters and moochers who are allowed to thrive with cell phones, 60" TVs, health care, and a place to live on someone else's dime, as opposed to being forced to work for their keep or at least ask for charity as every stupid, lazy, and ignorant person should). 8. It all ends with a wonderful little country where everyone is owed everything and those who are responsible are rewarded with a "live as we say or else" ultimatum until they can't take it anymore. This is when the war begins.

 

Photo by Nocturnales Airlines of flickr

AIRS radiances and standard retrievals were used to obtain thin cirrus particle size and optical depth over the tropical oceans. (a) Normalized probability distribution of cloud top temperature for a total of 29 days. Histograms are partitioned into 5 bins of (0.0-0.1, 0.1-0.25, 0.25-0.5, 0.5-0.75, and 0.75-1.0). (B) Joint probability distributions of cloud top temperature and particle size for the same time period and intervals as (A). (C) Histograms of particle size for the same bins listed in (B). These results illustrate the usefulness of AIRS to characterize the cloudy atmosphere in the upper tropical troposphere. They also show that particle size tends to increase with optical depth and cloud top temperature, results that are consistent from other studies that use satellite, surface-based, or aircraft observational platforms.

 

Citation

Kahn, B. H., Chahine, M. T., Stephens, G. L., Mace, G. G., Marchand, R. T., Wang, Z., Barnet, C. D., Eldering, A., Holz, R. E., Kuehn, R. E., and Vane, D. G.: Cloud type comparisons of AIRS, CloudSat, and CALIPSO cloud height and amount, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 8, 1231-1248, 2008.

 

______________________________________________________________________

 

About AIRS

The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder, AIRS, in conjunction with the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit, AMSU, sense emitted infrared and microwave radiation from the Earth to provide a three-dimensional look at Earth's weather and climate. Working in tandem, the two instruments make simultaneous observations all the way down to the Earth's surface, even in the presence of heavy clouds. With more than 2,000 channels sensing different regions of the atmosphere, the system creates a global, 3-dimensional map of atmospheric temperature and humidity, cloud amounts and heights, greenhouse gas concentrations, and many other atmospheric phenomena. The AIRS and AMSU fly onboard NASA's Aqua spacecraft and are managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, under contract to NASA. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

 

Credit

NASA/JPL AIRS Project

 

Download the image

Various sizes of the image are available, and there are two ways to download:

1) Right-click on the image. Click on a size next to "View all sizes".

2) Click on the "Actions" menu located above the image. Select "View all sizes".

 

Resources

Atmospheric Infrared Sounder web site

 

How to get the AIRS data

Data Products

Data Portals

Documentation

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vt7PvTwYF3E&feature=share&...

Full Feature in 9 Parts

American International Pictures lived up to its name on this project. Terrore nello spazio was a Spanish/Italian/American effort. The American release title, Planet of the Vampires (PoV) suggests a campier film than it is. There actually aren't any vampires in the usual sense. Yet, it is still a horror/sci-fi hybrid. Director Mario Bava (famous for horror pictures) gives the dark screenplay by Ib Melchior a good presentation, despite a low budget.

Synopsis

Mysterious signals received from a distant planet named Aura suggest some intelligent life, perhaps a distress call. Two interplanetary space ships are sent to investigate. The Galliot goes in first, but seems to crash. The crew of the Argos go lower to check on them. A sudden increase of gravity pins everyone to the floors and the Argos seems to be doomed to crash. At the last minute, the gravity normalizes and Captain Mark Markary is able to land the Argos. When various members of the crew awaken, they go viciously homicidal temporarily. Captain Mark is able to restore order. The Galliot is found near by, perfectly intact. When a team of the Argos investigate, they find the entire crew of the Galliot dead. They killed each other. The Galliot's "Meteor Rejector" device is smashed, making the ship unspaceworthy. The Argos team return later to find no bodies. (They are rising from the dead, but the Argos crew don't know this yet.) A team from the Argos find a derelict alien ship with a huge alien skeleton out front. Mark and Sanya check it out and almost become trapped inside. Various crewmen, usually given lone sentry jobs, disappear one by one. Two Galliot crewmen appear with a story of being unconscious after the landing. They are taken aboard the Argos, but it was a trick. They were zombies who came to steal the Argos's "Meteor Rejector" device. One zombie explains that Aura is inhabited by a race of energy beings. The Auran sun is dying but they cannot construct spaceships. So, they lured other race's ships to Aura to hijack their bodies and flee. The takeover can be done willingly too. Captain Mark says "Never". Mark, Sanya and Wess steal back the Meteor Rejector and plant bombs aboard the Galliot. They take off in the Argos. Wess discovers that Mark and Sanya are possessed by the Aurans. He smashes the Meteor Rejector, thinking he's stopping the Aurans. He dies in the process. Possessed Mark and Sanya decide to set down on an obscure little planet: Earth. The End.

PoV has the quirky charm typical of Italian sci-fi, but also some visual fun via Bava's sense of art.

The American title is a misnomer, but probably deemed better (by A.I.P.) for marketing. The dead bodies, re-animated by the Auran energy beings, were more the classic zombie than the classic vampire. There is no sucking of blood or needing of human blood, etc. The whole rising-from-the-grave scene is clearly in the zombie idiom. Mixed into the zombie trope is the familiar 50s theme of alien-takeover.

 

Like many B movies, the production budget for PoV was very tight. Modern viewers could easily scoff at the modest special effects and simple sets. Yet, fans of B sci-fi can appreciate how much mileage Bava got from his shoestring budget. He made an entire alien planet out of a few "rock" props left over from a prior sword-and-sandal film, making use of lots of dry ice fog to disguise how sparse things were. The ship models were quite small (and therefore cheaper), but he manages to make them look larger. To save on matte art and optical effects, Bava used mirrors to put actors and small models into the same shot. Of course, having the Argos and Galliot be identical ships meant handy double use. The giant alien skeleton was probably his biggest expense, but well worth it.

 

Bava also made ample use of strong color to make things look "alien." Pairs of red-green, or red-blue, or green-orange lights add a vivid other-worldliness. The lighting is reminiscent of that used in the soviet film: Mechte Navstrechu ('62) ("A Dream Come True"). American audiences wouldn't get to see the soviet footage until 1966 when A.I.P. created another of their mash-ups, this one entitled: Queen of Blood.

 

Some viewers see an inspiration for Ridley Scott's famous Alien (1979). Certainly the scene in which Mark and Sanya discover and explore the derelict alien ship bears a strong resemblance. Even though this scene in PoV is more of a sidetrack than pivotal, it is certainly possible that Scott drew upon it as a portion of his story.

Screenwriter Ib Melchior was fond of the notion that alien planets harbored mysterious danger. His dark vision was quite the opposite of the almost glib notion that alien beings would be pretty women in short skirts. Melchior's Angry Red Planet ('60) featured ominous unseen Martians who tell the earthlings to get lost and never ever come back. Journey to the Seventh Planet ('62) featured a malicious intellect being that messed with the earthlings' minds and was trying to get off its cold, dark moon, to a better planet -- like earth.

The ending of PoV is decidedly un-hollywood. Most of the crew die. Even the last uncompromised humans (Wess) dies trying to stop the Aurans. He fails, despite his heroic sacrifice. Auran-Mark and Auran-Sanya fly down to an unsuspecting earth. The danger of the mind-controlling energy being Aurans was about to be loosed on our simple civilization. On its own, such an ending does have nihilist overtones. It also smacks of a potential sequel along the Body Snatchers line.

 

Bottom line? PoV will not impress modern viewers who rate movies by how lavish the effects are. It is still a budget film. It also suffers some of the usual pitfalls of foreign films repackaged for American release. There are almost too many characters who are easy to mix up (everyone wore identical leather suits) Nonetheless, it one of the better B movies of the 60s.

  

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vt7PvTwYF3E&feature=share&...

Full Feature in 9 Parts

American International Pictures lived up to its name on this project. Terrore nello spazio was a Spanish/Italian/American effort. The American release title, Planet of the Vampires (PoV) suggests a campier film than it is. There actually aren't any vampires in the usual sense. Yet, it is still a horror/sci-fi hybrid. Director Mario Bava (famous for horror pictures) gives the dark screenplay by Ib Melchior a good presentation, despite a low budget.

Synopsis

Mysterious signals received from a distant planet named Aura suggest some intelligent life, perhaps a distress call. Two interplanetary space ships are sent to investigate. The Galliot goes in first, but seems to crash. The crew of the Argos go lower to check on them. A sudden increase of gravity pins everyone to the floors and the Argos seems to be doomed to crash. At the last minute, the gravity normalizes and Captain Mark Markary is able to land the Argos. When various members of the crew awaken, they go viciously homicidal temporarily. Captain Mark is able to restore order. The Galliot is found near by, perfectly intact. When a team of the Argos investigate, they find the entire crew of the Galliot dead. They killed each other. The Galliot's "Meteor Rejector" device is smashed, making the ship unspaceworthy. The Argos team return later to find no bodies. (They are rising from the dead, but the Argos crew don't know this yet.) A team from the Argos find a derelict alien ship with a huge alien skeleton out front. Mark and Sanya check it out and almost become trapped inside. Various crewmen, usually given lone sentry jobs, disappear one by one. Two Galliot crewmen appear with a story of being unconscious after the landing. They are taken aboard the Argos, but it was a trick. They were zombies who came to steal the Argos's "Meteor Rejector" device. One zombie explains that Aura is inhabited by a race of energy beings. The Auran sun is dying but they cannot construct spaceships. So, they lured other race's ships to Aura to hijack their bodies and flee. The takeover can be done willingly too. Captain Mark says "Never". Mark, Sanya and Wess steal back the Meteor Rejector and plant bombs aboard the Galliot. They take off in the Argos. Wess discovers that Mark and Sanya are possessed by the Aurans. He smashes the Meteor Rejector, thinking he's stopping the Aurans. He dies in the process. Possessed Mark and Sanya decide to set down on an obscure little planet: Earth. The End.

PoV has the quirky charm typical of Italian sci-fi, but also some visual fun via Bava's sense of art.

The American title is a misnomer, but probably deemed better (by A.I.P.) for marketing. The dead bodies, re-animated by the Auran energy beings, were more the classic zombie than the classic vampire. There is no sucking of blood or needing of human blood, etc. The whole rising-from-the-grave scene is clearly in the zombie idiom. Mixed into the zombie trope is the familiar 50s theme of alien-takeover.

 

Like many B movies, the production budget for PoV was very tight. Modern viewers could easily scoff at the modest special effects and simple sets. Yet, fans of B sci-fi can appreciate how much mileage Bava got from his shoestring budget. He made an entire alien planet out of a few "rock" props left over from a prior sword-and-sandal film, making use of lots of dry ice fog to disguise how sparse things were. The ship models were quite small (and therefore cheaper), but he manages to make them look larger. To save on matte art and optical effects, Bava used mirrors to put actors and small models into the same shot. Of course, having the Argos and Galliot be identical ships meant handy double use. The giant alien skeleton was probably his biggest expense, but well worth it.

 

Bava also made ample use of strong color to make things look "alien." Pairs of red-green, or red-blue, or green-orange lights add a vivid other-worldliness. The lighting is reminiscent of that used in the soviet film: Mechte Navstrechu ('62) ("A Dream Come True"). American audiences wouldn't get to see the soviet footage until 1966 when A.I.P. created another of their mash-ups, this one entitled: Queen of Blood.

 

Some viewers see an inspiration for Ridley Scott's famous Alien (1979). Certainly the scene in which Mark and Sanya discover and explore the derelict alien ship bears a strong resemblance. Even though this scene in PoV is more of a sidetrack than pivotal, it is certainly possible that Scott drew upon it as a portion of his story.

Screenwriter Ib Melchior was fond of the notion that alien planets harbored mysterious danger. His dark vision was quite the opposite of the almost glib notion that alien beings would be pretty women in short skirts. Melchior's Angry Red Planet ('60) featured ominous unseen Martians who tell the earthlings to get lost and never ever come back. Journey to the Seventh Planet ('62) featured a malicious intellect being that messed with the earthlings' minds and was trying to get off its cold, dark moon, to a better planet -- like earth.

The ending of PoV is decidedly un-hollywood. Most of the crew die. Even the last uncompromised humans (Wess) dies trying to stop the Aurans. He fails, despite his heroic sacrifice. Auran-Mark and Auran-Sanya fly down to an unsuspecting earth. The danger of the mind-controlling energy being Aurans was about to be loosed on our simple civilization. On its own, such an ending does have nihilist overtones. It also smacks of a potential sequel along the Body Snatchers line.

 

Bottom line? PoV will not impress modern viewers who rate movies by how lavish the effects are. It is still a budget film. It also suffers some of the usual pitfalls of foreign films repackaged for American release. There are almost too many characters who are easy to mix up (everyone wore identical leather suits) Nonetheless, it one of the better B movies of the 60s.

  

Post-Playtex Era Strong In Cullman

 

Chamber of Commerce weather greeted several dozen lactating women and their families at the Walmart Pavilion inside Heritage Park on Saturday morning.

 

The gathering celebrated the 4th annual BIG Latch On. This event ran from 10 am until noon.

 

Cullman County nursing mothers along with their husbands and other support members convened to breastfeed their babies in a supportive, lactation-friendly environment.

 

Ashley Wright, the lead organizer of this event, invited all area lactating moms as well as their friends, family, and community to come out and participate in the cause.

 

The BIG Latch On is an annual, global event that celebrates, promotes and supports breastfeeding.

 

The larger goal of the global BIG Latch On movement is to normalize breastfeeding.

 

There was a worldwide synchronization latch from 10:30 to 10:31 am Cullman time.

 

Groups of nursing moms and their supporters around the world either latched their babies, expressed milk or fed breast milk by spoon to their babies all at the same time across the world. It was a sacred, touching and profound moment at Heritage Park.

 

cullmantoday.com/2017/08/06/post-playtex-era-strong-in-cu...

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vt7PvTwYF3E&feature=share&...

Full Feature in 9 Parts

American International Pictures lived up to its name on this project. Terrore nello spazio was a Spanish/Italian/American effort. The American release title, Planet of the Vampires (PoV) suggests a campier film than it is. There actually aren't any vampires in the usual sense. Yet, it is still a horror/sci-fi hybrid. Director Mario Bava (famous for horror pictures) gives the dark screenplay by Ib Melchior a good presentation, despite a low budget.

Synopsis

Mysterious signals received from a distant planet named Aura suggest some intelligent life, perhaps a distress call. Two interplanetary space ships are sent to investigate. The Galliot goes in first, but seems to crash. The crew of the Argos go lower to check on them. A sudden increase of gravity pins everyone to the floors and the Argos seems to be doomed to crash. At the last minute, the gravity normalizes and Captain Mark Markary is able to land the Argos. When various members of the crew awaken, they go viciously homicidal temporarily. Captain Mark is able to restore order. The Galliot is found near by, perfectly intact. When a team of the Argos investigate, they find the entire crew of the Galliot dead. They killed each other. The Galliot's "Meteor Rejector" device is smashed, making the ship unspaceworthy. The Argos team return later to find no bodies. (They are rising from the dead, but the Argos crew don't know this yet.) A team from the Argos find a derelict alien ship with a huge alien skeleton out front. Mark and Sanya check it out and almost become trapped inside. Various crewmen, usually given lone sentry jobs, disappear one by one. Two Galliot crewmen appear with a story of being unconscious after the landing. They are taken aboard the Argos, but it was a trick. They were zombies who came to steal the Argos's "Meteor Rejector" device. One zombie explains that Aura is inhabited by a race of energy beings. The Auran sun is dying but they cannot construct spaceships. So, they lured other race's ships to Aura to hijack their bodies and flee. The takeover can be done willingly too. Captain Mark says "Never". Mark, Sanya and Wess steal back the Meteor Rejector and plant bombs aboard the Galliot. They take off in the Argos. Wess discovers that Mark and Sanya are possessed by the Aurans. He smashes the Meteor Rejector, thinking he's stopping the Aurans. He dies in the process. Possessed Mark and Sanya decide to set down on an obscure little planet: Earth. The End.

PoV has the quirky charm typical of Italian sci-fi, but also some visual fun via Bava's sense of art.

The American title is a misnomer, but probably deemed better (by A.I.P.) for marketing. The dead bodies, re-animated by the Auran energy beings, were more the classic zombie than the classic vampire. There is no sucking of blood or needing of human blood, etc. The whole rising-from-the-grave scene is clearly in the zombie idiom. Mixed into the zombie trope is the familiar 50s theme of alien-takeover.

 

Like many B movies, the production budget for PoV was very tight. Modern viewers could easily scoff at the modest special effects and simple sets. Yet, fans of B sci-fi can appreciate how much mileage Bava got from his shoestring budget. He made an entire alien planet out of a few "rock" props left over from a prior sword-and-sandal film, making use of lots of dry ice fog to disguise how sparse things were. The ship models were quite small (and therefore cheaper), but he manages to make them look larger. To save on matte art and optical effects, Bava used mirrors to put actors and small models into the same shot. Of course, having the Argos and Galliot be identical ships meant handy double use. The giant alien skeleton was probably his biggest expense, but well worth it.

 

Bava also made ample use of strong color to make things look "alien." Pairs of red-green, or red-blue, or green-orange lights add a vivid other-worldliness. The lighting is reminiscent of that used in the soviet film: Mechte Navstrechu ('62) ("A Dream Come True"). American audiences wouldn't get to see the soviet footage until 1966 when A.I.P. created another of their mash-ups, this one entitled: Queen of Blood.

 

Some viewers see an inspiration for Ridley Scott's famous Alien (1979). Certainly the scene in which Mark and Sanya discover and explore the derelict alien ship bears a strong resemblance. Even though this scene in PoV is more of a sidetrack than pivotal, it is certainly possible that Scott drew upon it as a portion of his story.

Screenwriter Ib Melchior was fond of the notion that alien planets harbored mysterious danger. His dark vision was quite the opposite of the almost glib notion that alien beings would be pretty women in short skirts. Melchior's Angry Red Planet ('60) featured ominous unseen Martians who tell the earthlings to get lost and never ever come back. Journey to the Seventh Planet ('62) featured a malicious intellect being that messed with the earthlings' minds and was trying to get off its cold, dark moon, to a better planet -- like earth.

The ending of PoV is decidedly un-hollywood. Most of the crew die. Even the last uncompromised humans (Wess) dies trying to stop the Aurans. He fails, despite his heroic sacrifice. Auran-Mark and Auran-Sanya fly down to an unsuspecting earth. The danger of the mind-controlling energy being Aurans was about to be loosed on our simple civilization. On its own, such an ending does have nihilist overtones. It also smacks of a potential sequel along the Body Snatchers line.

 

Bottom line? PoV will not impress modern viewers who rate movies by how lavish the effects are. It is still a budget film. It also suffers some of the usual pitfalls of foreign films repackaged for American release. There are almost too many characters who are easy to mix up (everyone wore identical leather suits) Nonetheless, it one of the better B movies of the 60s.

  

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vt7PvTwYF3E&feature=share&amp...

Full Feature in 9 Parts

American International Pictures lived up to its name on this project. Terrore nello spazio was a Spanish/Italian/American effort. The American release title, Planet of the Vampires (PoV) suggests a campier film than it is. There actually aren't any vampires in the usual sense. Yet, it is still a horror/sci-fi hybrid. Director Mario Bava (famous for horror pictures) gives the dark screenplay by Ib Melchior a good presentation, despite a low budget.

Synopsis

Mysterious signals received from a distant planet named Aura suggest some intelligent life, perhaps a distress call. Two interplanetary space ships are sent to investigate. The Galliot goes in first, but seems to crash. The crew of the Argos go lower to check on them. A sudden increase of gravity pins everyone to the floors and the Argos seems to be doomed to crash. At the last minute, the gravity normalizes and Captain Mark Markary is able to land the Argos. When various members of the crew awaken, they go viciously homicidal temporarily. Captain Mark is able to restore order. The Galliot is found near by, perfectly intact. When a team of the Argos investigate, they find the entire crew of the Galliot dead. They killed each other. The Galliot's "Meteor Rejector" device is smashed, making the ship unspaceworthy. The Argos team return later to find no bodies. (They are rising from the dead, but the Argos crew don't know this yet.) A team from the Argos find a derelict alien ship with a huge alien skeleton out front. Mark and Sanya check it out and almost become trapped inside. Various crewmen, usually given lone sentry jobs, disappear one by one. Two Galliot crewmen appear with a story of being unconscious after the landing. They are taken aboard the Argos, but it was a trick. They were zombies who came to steal the Argos's "Meteor Rejector" device. One zombie explains that Aura is inhabited by a race of energy beings. The Auran sun is dying but they cannot construct spaceships. So, they lured other race's ships to Aura to hijack their bodies and flee. The takeover can be done willingly too. Captain Mark says "Never". Mark, Sanya and Wess steal back the Meteor Rejector and plant bombs aboard the Galliot. They take off in the Argos. Wess discovers that Mark and Sanya are possessed by the Aurans. He smashes the Meteor Rejector, thinking he's stopping the Aurans. He dies in the process. Possessed Mark and Sanya decide to set down on an obscure little planet: Earth. The End.

PoV has the quirky charm typical of Italian sci-fi, but also some visual fun via Bava's sense of art.

The American title is a misnomer, but probably deemed better (by A.I.P.) for marketing. The dead bodies, re-animated by the Auran energy beings, were more the classic zombie than the classic vampire. There is no sucking of blood or needing of human blood, etc. The whole rising-from-the-grave scene is clearly in the zombie idiom. Mixed into the zombie trope is the familiar 50s theme of alien-takeover.

 

Like many B movies, the production budget for PoV was very tight. Modern viewers could easily scoff at the modest special effects and simple sets. Yet, fans of B sci-fi can appreciate how much mileage Bava got from his shoestring budget. He made an entire alien planet out of a few "rock" props left over from a prior sword-and-sandal film, making use of lots of dry ice fog to disguise how sparse things were. The ship models were quite small (and therefore cheaper), but he manages to make them look larger. To save on matte art and optical effects, Bava used mirrors to put actors and small models into the same shot. Of course, having the Argos and Galliot be identical ships meant handy double use. The giant alien skeleton was probably his biggest expense, but well worth it.

 

Bava also made ample use of strong color to make things look "alien." Pairs of red-green, or red-blue, or green-orange lights add a vivid other-worldliness. The lighting is reminiscent of that used in the soviet film: Mechte Navstrechu ('62) ("A Dream Come True"). American audiences wouldn't get to see the soviet footage until 1966 when A.I.P. created another of their mash-ups, this one entitled: Queen of Blood.

 

Some viewers see an inspiration for Ridley Scott's famous Alien (1979). Certainly the scene in which Mark and Sanya discover and explore the derelict alien ship bears a strong resemblance. Even though this scene in PoV is more of a sidetrack than pivotal, it is certainly possible that Scott drew upon it as a portion of his story.

Screenwriter Ib Melchior was fond of the notion that alien planets harbored mysterious danger. His dark vision was quite the opposite of the almost glib notion that alien beings would be pretty women in short skirts. Melchior's Angry Red Planet ('60) featured ominous unseen Martians who tell the earthlings to get lost and never ever come back. Journey to the Seventh Planet ('62) featured a malicious intellect being that messed with the earthlings' minds and was trying to get off its cold, dark moon, to a better planet -- like earth.

The ending of PoV is decidedly un-hollywood. Most of the crew die. Even the last uncompromised humans (Wess) dies trying to stop the Aurans. He fails, despite his heroic sacrifice. Auran-Mark and Auran-Sanya fly down to an unsuspecting earth. The danger of the mind-controlling energy being Aurans was about to be loosed on our simple civilization. On its own, such an ending does have nihilist overtones. It also smacks of a potential sequel along the Body Snatchers line.

 

Bottom line? PoV will not impress modern viewers who rate movies by how lavish the effects are. It is still a budget film. It also suffers some of the usual pitfalls of foreign films repackaged for American release. There are almost too many characters who are easy to mix up (everyone wore identical leather suits) Nonetheless, it one of the better B movies of the 60s.

  

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vt7PvTwYF3E&feature=share&...

Full Feature in 9 Parts

American International Pictures lived up to its name on this project. Terrore nello spazio was a Spanish/Italian/American effort. The American release title, Planet of the Vampires (PoV) suggests a campier film than it is. There actually aren't any vampires in the usual sense. Yet, it is still a horror/sci-fi hybrid. Director Mario Bava (famous for horror pictures) gives the dark screenplay by Ib Melchior a good presentation, despite a low budget.

Synopsis

Mysterious signals received from a distant planet named Aura suggest some intelligent life, perhaps a distress call. Two interplanetary space ships are sent to investigate. The Galliot goes in first, but seems to crash. The crew of the Argos go lower to check on them. A sudden increase of gravity pins everyone to the floors and the Argos seems to be doomed to crash. At the last minute, the gravity normalizes and Captain Mark Markary is able to land the Argos. When various members of the crew awaken, they go viciously homicidal temporarily. Captain Mark is able to restore order. The Galliot is found near by, perfectly intact. When a team of the Argos investigate, they find the entire crew of the Galliot dead. They killed each other. The Galliot's "Meteor Rejector" device is smashed, making the ship unspaceworthy. The Argos team return later to find no bodies. (They are rising from the dead, but the Argos crew don't know this yet.) A team from the Argos find a derelict alien ship with a huge alien skeleton out front. Mark and Sanya check it out and almost become trapped inside. Various crewmen, usually given lone sentry jobs, disappear one by one. Two Galliot crewmen appear with a story of being unconscious after the landing. They are taken aboard the Argos, but it was a trick. They were zombies who came to steal the Argos's "Meteor Rejector" device. One zombie explains that Aura is inhabited by a race of energy beings. The Auran sun is dying but they cannot construct spaceships. So, they lured other race's ships to Aura to hijack their bodies and flee. The takeover can be done willingly too. Captain Mark says "Never". Mark, Sanya and Wess steal back the Meteor Rejector and plant bombs aboard the Galliot. They take off in the Argos. Wess discovers that Mark and Sanya are possessed by the Aurans. He smashes the Meteor Rejector, thinking he's stopping the Aurans. He dies in the process. Possessed Mark and Sanya decide to set down on an obscure little planet: Earth. The End.

PoV has the quirky charm typical of Italian sci-fi, but also some visual fun via Bava's sense of art.

The American title is a misnomer, but probably deemed better (by A.I.P.) for marketing. The dead bodies, re-animated by the Auran energy beings, were more the classic zombie than the classic vampire. There is no sucking of blood or needing of human blood, etc. The whole rising-from-the-grave scene is clearly in the zombie idiom. Mixed into the zombie trope is the familiar 50s theme of alien-takeover.

 

Like many B movies, the production budget for PoV was very tight. Modern viewers could easily scoff at the modest special effects and simple sets. Yet, fans of B sci-fi can appreciate how much mileage Bava got from his shoestring budget. He made an entire alien planet out of a few "rock" props left over from a prior sword-and-sandal film, making use of lots of dry ice fog to disguise how sparse things were. The ship models were quite small (and therefore cheaper), but he manages to make them look larger. To save on matte art and optical effects, Bava used mirrors to put actors and small models into the same shot. Of course, having the Argos and Galliot be identical ships meant handy double use. The giant alien skeleton was probably his biggest expense, but well worth it.

 

Bava also made ample use of strong color to make things look "alien." Pairs of red-green, or red-blue, or green-orange lights add a vivid other-worldliness. The lighting is reminiscent of that used in the soviet film: Mechte Navstrechu ('62) ("A Dream Come True"). American audiences wouldn't get to see the soviet footage until 1966 when A.I.P. created another of their mash-ups, this one entitled: Queen of Blood.

 

Some viewers see an inspiration for Ridley Scott's famous Alien (1979). Certainly the scene in which Mark and Sanya discover and explore the derelict alien ship bears a strong resemblance. Even though this scene in PoV is more of a sidetrack than pivotal, it is certainly possible that Scott drew upon it as a portion of his story.

Screenwriter Ib Melchior was fond of the notion that alien planets harbored mysterious danger. His dark vision was quite the opposite of the almost glib notion that alien beings would be pretty women in short skirts. Melchior's Angry Red Planet ('60) featured ominous unseen Martians who tell the earthlings to get lost and never ever come back. Journey to the Seventh Planet ('62) featured a malicious intellect being that messed with the earthlings' minds and was trying to get off its cold, dark moon, to a better planet -- like earth.

The ending of PoV is decidedly un-hollywood. Most of the crew die. Even the last uncompromised humans (Wess) dies trying to stop the Aurans. He fails, despite his heroic sacrifice. Auran-Mark and Auran-Sanya fly down to an unsuspecting earth. The danger of the mind-controlling energy being Aurans was about to be loosed on our simple civilization. On its own, such an ending does have nihilist overtones. It also smacks of a potential sequel along the Body Snatchers line.

 

Bottom line? PoV will not impress modern viewers who rate movies by how lavish the effects are. It is still a budget film. It also suffers some of the usual pitfalls of foreign films repackaged for American release. There are almost too many characters who are easy to mix up (everyone wore identical leather suits) Nonetheless, it one of the better B movies of the 60s.

  

These images show the joint distributions of cloud top temperature, particle size, and optical depth with relative humidity with respect to ice (RHic), all of which are calculated from AIRS. (A) Normalized frequency distributions of RHic binned into intervals of 10%. (B) Percentage of cases with specific humidity between 15-30 ppmv; instances with specific humidity <15 ppmv not included because of the insensitivity and unreliability of specific humidity in dry conditions. (C) RHic vs. cloud top temperature (K). (D) RHic vs. particle size (microns). These figures show that RHic tends to increase with decreasing cloud top temperature, increasing optical depth, and decreasing particle size. Even though the thin cirrus clouds are usually geometrically thinner than the vertical resolution of AIRS temperature and specific humidity, these results are consistent with those from some in situ campaigns and demonstrate the utility of AIRS to characterize joint distributions of humidity and cloud properties.

    

Citation

Kahn, B. H., Liang, C. K., Eldering, A., Gettelman, A., Yue, Q., and Liou, K. N.: Tropical thin cirrus and

relative humidity observed by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 8, 1501-1518, 2008.

 

______________________________________________________________________

 

About AIRS

The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder, AIRS, in conjunction with the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit, AMSU, sense emitted infrared and microwave radiation from the Earth to provide a three-dimensional look at Earth's weather and climate. Working in tandem, the two instruments make simultaneous observations all the way down to the Earth's surface, even in the presence of heavy clouds. With more than 2,000 channels sensing different regions of the atmosphere, the system creates a global, 3-dimensional map of atmospheric temperature and humidity, cloud amounts and heights, greenhouse gas concentrations, and many other atmospheric phenomena. The AIRS and AMSU fly onboard NASA's Aqua spacecraft and are managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, under contract to NASA. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

 

Credit

NASA/JPL AIRS Project

 

Download the image

Various sizes of the image are available, and there are two ways to download:

1) Right-click on the image. Click on a size next to "View all sizes".

2) Click on the "Actions" menu located above the image. Select "View all sizes".

 

Resources

Atmospheric Infrared Sounder web site

 

How to get the AIRS data

Data Products

Data Portals

Documentation

 

"In the grand tradition of generals and surrealists, we have been playing games. People learn things better through the open-ended, empathetic participation in knowledge-making that games allow. Just dispensing information to people-- though at times enlightening-- can also encourage apathy or forgetfulness. Lately, we have been using games to critically examine the dynamics and assumptions of larger social givens.Our new game SET was inspired by toy collectors, tourists, and museum curators. Throughout the game, players "play" by intervening and reorganizing existing groups of objects, thus questioning categories by constructing and redrawing them. In foregrounding the player's relation to the categories, SET explores the value of one's authorship in the production of knowledge. While games often risk normalizing power relationships by setting social roles and rules in stone, we have tried here to do just the opposite."

 

People learn things better through the open-ended, empathetic participation in knowledge-making that games allow. Just dispensing information to people-- though at times enlightening-- can also encourage apathy or forgetfulness. A project developed by Erik Carver and Marisa Jahn, SET is a game that critically examines the dynamics and assumptions of larger social givens. It's a game inspired by toy collectors, tourists, and museum curators. Throughout the game, players "play" by intervening and reorganizing existing groups of objects, thus questioning categories by constructing and redrawing them. In foregrounding the player's relation to the categories, SET explores the value of one's authorship in the production of knowledge. While games often risk normalizing power relationships by setting social roles and rules in stone, SET tries to do just the opposite.

 

--

 

Erik Carver

 

Erik Carver is an architect and artist. He is a founder of the Institute for Advanced Architecture (advancedarchitecture.org)-- an organization dedicated to advancing architecture through research, exchange, and exhibition-- as well as the Common Room exhibition space (common-room.net) and the interdisciplinary art group Seru. He lives in Brooklyn and teaches architecture at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

 

Erik has worked for the firms of Diller+Scofidio, Laura Kurgan, and Lyn Rice before starting his own practice. These designs have included a student center renovation, an art museum, apartment renovations, a vacation home, exhibitions, a performance space/bar, an expo pavilion, schools, offices and an interpretation center.

 

His work has appeared in Volume magazine, Art in America, and Nature, and he has shown work and lectured at venues including Exit Art, the Ise Foundation, and Columbia's Neiman Gallery, and the Storefront for Art and Architecture (NYC), The Institute of Contemporary Art (Philadelphia), CAVS (MIT), Basekamp (Philadelphia), the Contemporary Art Center (North Adams, MA), and Pond (San Francisco).

  

Marisa Jahn

 

Of Ecuadorian and Chinese descent, Marisa Jahn is an artist whose work explores, constructs, and intervenes natural and social systems. In 2000, Jahn has co-founded Pond: art, activism, and ideas (www.mucketymuck.org), a non-profit organization dedicated to showcasing experimental art. Jahn has presented and exhibited work in museums, galleries, and spaces at venues such as The Institute of Contemporary Art (Philadelphia), the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (San Francisco), ISEA/Zero One 06/08 (San Jose, CA), MoKS (Estonia), the Moore Space (Miami), the Museum of Contemporary Art (North Miami), in galleries and public places in Tokyo, Honduras, Estonia, Turkey, North America, and Taiwan. Jahn's work has been reviewed in Art in America, Frieze, Punk Planet, Clamor, San Francisco Chronicle, the Fader, Artweek, Metropolis, the Discovery Channel, and Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). She has received awards and grants such as the Robert & Colleen Haas Scholarship, MIT Department of Architecture Fellowship (2005-8), CEC Artslink, and is an artist in residence at the MIT Media Lab (2007-9) and at the Headlands Center for the Arts (2008). She received her BA from UC Berkeley and an MS from MIT's Visual Arts Program. She lives between Boston and New York, where she functions as the Immediator of art-activist campaigns for The Church of Stop Shopping/Reverend Billy. www.marisajahn.com, www.mucketymuck.org

"In the grand tradition of generals and surrealists, we have been playing games. People learn things better through the open-ended, empathetic participation in knowledge-making that games allow. Just dispensing information to people-- though at times enlightening-- can also encourage apathy or forgetfulness. Lately, we have been using games to critically examine the dynamics and assumptions of larger social givens.Our new game SET was inspired by toy collectors, tourists, and museum curators. Throughout the game, players "play" by intervening and reorganizing existing groups of objects, thus questioning categories by constructing and redrawing them. In foregrounding the player's relation to the categories, SET explores the value of one's authorship in the production of knowledge. While games often risk normalizing power relationships by setting social roles and rules in stone, we have tried here to do just the opposite."

 

People learn things better through the open-ended, empathetic participation in knowledge-making that games allow. Just dispensing information to people-- though at times enlightening-- can also encourage apathy or forgetfulness. A project developed by Erik Carver and Marisa Jahn, SET is a game that critically examines the dynamics and assumptions of larger social givens. It's a game inspired by toy collectors, tourists, and museum curators. Throughout the game, players "play" by intervening and reorganizing existing groups of objects, thus questioning categories by constructing and redrawing them. In foregrounding the player's relation to the categories, SET explores the value of one's authorship in the production of knowledge. While games often risk normalizing power relationships by setting social roles and rules in stone, SET tries to do just the opposite.

 

--

 

Erik Carver

 

Erik Carver is an architect and artist. He is a founder of the Institute for Advanced Architecture (advancedarchitecture.org)-- an organization dedicated to advancing architecture through research, exchange, and exhibition-- as well as the Common Room exhibition space (common-room.net) and the interdisciplinary art group Seru. He lives in Brooklyn and teaches architecture at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

 

Erik has worked for the firms of Diller+Scofidio, Laura Kurgan, and Lyn Rice before starting his own practice. These designs have included a student center renovation, an art museum, apartment renovations, a vacation home, exhibitions, a performance space/bar, an expo pavilion, schools, offices and an interpretation center.

 

His work has appeared in Volume magazine, Art in America, and Nature, and he has shown work and lectured at venues including Exit Art, the Ise Foundation, and Columbia's Neiman Gallery, and the Storefront for Art and Architecture (NYC), The Institute of Contemporary Art (Philadelphia), CAVS (MIT), Basekamp (Philadelphia), the Contemporary Art Center (North Adams, MA), and Pond (San Francisco).

  

Marisa Jahn

 

Of Ecuadorian and Chinese descent, Marisa Jahn is an artist whose work explores, constructs, and intervenes natural and social systems. In 2000, Jahn has co-founded Pond: art, activism, and ideas (www.mucketymuck.org), a non-profit organization dedicated to showcasing experimental art. Jahn has presented and exhibited work in museums, galleries, and spaces at venues such as The Institute of Contemporary Art (Philadelphia), the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (San Francisco), ISEA/Zero One 06/08 (San Jose, CA), MoKS (Estonia), the Moore Space (Miami), the Museum of Contemporary Art (North Miami), in galleries and public places in Tokyo, Honduras, Estonia, Turkey, North America, and Taiwan. Jahn's work has been reviewed in Art in America, Frieze, Punk Planet, Clamor, San Francisco Chronicle, the Fader, Artweek, Metropolis, the Discovery Channel, and Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). She has received awards and grants such as the Robert & Colleen Haas Scholarship, MIT Department of Architecture Fellowship (2005-8), CEC Artslink, and is an artist in residence at the MIT Media Lab (2007-9) and at the Headlands Center for the Arts (2008). She received her BA from UC Berkeley and an MS from MIT's Visual Arts Program. She lives between Boston and New York, where she functions as the Immediator of art-activist campaigns for The Church of Stop Shopping/Reverend Billy. www.marisajahn.com, www.mucketymuck.org

Markings: GROSS KARL W, TUCSON ,Az

Serial Number 1002

 

Specifications (2007 Mooney M20TN Acclaim)

General characteristics

Crew: one pilot

Capacity: 3 passengers

Length: 26 ft 9 in (8.15 m)

Wingspan: 36 ft 5 in (11.1 m)

Height: 8 ft 4 in (2.5 m)

Wing area: 175.7 sq ft (16.3 m²)

Airfoil: NACA 63-215

Empty weight: 2370 lb (1074 kg)

Loaded weight: 3374 lb (1528 kg)

Useful load: 1004 lb (454 kg)

Max takeoff weight: 3374 lb (1528 kg)

Powerplant: 1× Continental Motors TSI0-550-G Turbo-normalized with twin turbo and dual intercoolers air-cooled, 6-cylinder, horizontally-opposed piston engine, 280 hp (171 kW)

Performance

 

Maximum speed: 242 knots (278 mph, 448 km/h)

Cruise speed: 237 knots (272 mph, 438 km/h)

Range: 1445 nm (std tanks) (1662 mi, 2676 km)

Service ceiling: 25,000 ft (7625 m)

Rate of climb: 1240 ft/min (378 m/min)

Wing loading: 19.2 lb/ft² (96 kg/m²)

Power/mass: 12.0 lb/hp (0.11 kW/kg)

 

The Mooney M20 is a family of high performance, piston-powered, propeller-driven general aviation aircraft, all featuring a low-wing and tricycle gear, manufactured by the Mooney Airplane Company.[2][3][4]

 

The "M20" was the twentieth design from Al Mooney, and his most successful. The M20 series was produced in many variations over the last 50 years, from the wooden wing M20 and M20A models of the 1950s,[4] to the M20TN Acclaim that debuted in the 21st century and is currently in production.

 

Variants

M20 and M20A

The original M20 (1955–1958) and the M20A (1958–1960) have wings made of wood and covered with cloth, but are otherwise similar to later all-metal models. With the M20A, the power was increased from the M20's 150 hp (110 kW) to 180 hp (130 kW).[5][4]

Early in the model's history there were several incidents of wooden tails breaking up in flight due to water damage and the resulting rot. Consequently, most tails have now been replaced with all-metal copies, as required by Mooney Service Bulletin M20-170A and the FAA Airworthiness Directive 86-19-10. Without the possibility of metal fatigue, the wooden wing has an indefinite life expectancy and is considered by some pilots provide a smoother ride in turbulence.[6][7]

The M20 received its type certification on 24 August 1955 with the M20A following on 13 February 1958.[8]

M20B

Mooney addressed the dwindling supply of woodworkers by switching to an all metal design in 1961 with the M20B. The all metal design added some weight and cost 5 to 8 knots (9 to 15 km/h) in top end speed versus the wood-wing models. There have been no reported in-flight breakups of all-metal M20s other than as a result of flight directly into a thunderstorm.[citation needed]

The M20B was type certified on 14 December 1960.[8]

M20C

 

An M20C Mark 21In 1962 Mooney made further incremental improvements in the M20C Ranger, produced between 1962–1978.[5][2]

The M20C was the last short body Mooney in production, with more M20Cs produced than any other Mooney model.[citation needed]

The M20C was type certified on 20 October 1961.[8]

M20D

In 1963 Mooney introduced the M20D Master,[5] essentially an M20C with fixed gear and a fixed-pitch propeller.[2][4]

The M20D was type certified on 15 October 1962.[8]

The aircraft was intended primarily for flight training and for owners seeking lower insurance rates.[citation needed]

The M20D lasted in production only until 1966. Most have now been converted to M20Cs for increased cruise speed and climb performance.[citation needed]

M20E

 

A very early production 1964 model Mooney M20E Super 21The first truly high performance Mooney, the M20E, was produced from 1964 to 1975 and marketed as the Chaparral and Super 21.[2][5]

The M20E was essentially an M20C with a more powerful 200 hp (150 kW) fuel-injected engine.[4] It was type certified on 04 September 1963.[8]

This short body Mooney still has the distinction of having the shortest takeoff runway requirement at lower elevations.[citation needed]

Turbocharging, which would maintain this performance at higher elevations, is available as an after-market option.[citation needed]

M20F & M20G

 

A Mooney M20F Executive in Gimli, Manitoba, May 1987

M20F Executive at Centennial AirportMooney stretched the fuselage and added a third fuselage side window for the first time with the M20F Executive 21, which was produced between 1966–1977.[5][2] The M20F is otherwise similar to the M20E.[4]

The M20G Statesman, produced 1968–1970, was a stretched M20C incorporating the carburated 180hp engine.[2] Many M20G owners later converted to the 200hp engine.[citation needed]

In 1969 Mooney made electrically-operated landing gear and flaps standard across all its aircraft. Prior to that, pilots extended and retracted the standard landing gear using a heavy metal Johnson bar. Electrically-extended landing gear was an option.[citation needed]

The M20F was type certified on 25 July 1965 with the M20G following on 13 November 1967.[8]

M20J

 

An M20J in Australia

Mooney M20J (VH-SPN) at Rottnest Island, Western AustraliaMooney hired Roy LoPresti to undertake an aerodynamic cleanup of the M20F, resulting in the 1977 model year debut of the M20J. The M20J was marketed under the name Mooney 201 because of its 201 mph (323 km/h) top speed in level flight. The M20J first flew in September, 1976 and was type certified on 27 September 1976.[5][2][4][8]

The improved aerodynamic shape and updated 200 hp (150 kW) engine made the M20J the second most popular variant of the M20 series, after the M20C. It is often used as a training aircraft for commercial pilots. It was originally designed as a private/commercial touring aircraft because of the high cruising speed and relatively low operational cost. This model was marketed as the Mooney 205. The J model had a long production run, lasting until 1998, thus ending the medium body M20 series.[citation needed]

M20K

Up through the M20J all Mooney M20s had four-cylinder Lycoming engines. After designing the M20J, Mooney modified the basic design to include a variety of more powerful six-cylinder engines, including some models with turbocharged engines. The first such design was the turbocharged M20K, which was produced between 1979–1998.[5][4]

The M20K was marketed as the Mooney 231. This model's Continental TSI0-360-GB engine was challenging to operate at acceptable engine temperatures, so by 1986 it was replaced with an intercooled engine, eliminating the temperature problems and achieving a top speed of 252 mph (406 km/h) in level flight (at FL 280). This variant was marketed as the Mooney 252.[5][2]

The M20K was type certified on 16 November 1978.[8]

M20L

In 1988 Mooney went to even greater lengths, partnering with Porsche to include their geared single-lever Porsche PFM 3200 N03 engine of 217 hp (162 kW) and stretching the fuselage the last time to produce the first long body M20. Most M20Ls no longer use this unique engine. M20L production ended in 1990. This model was marketed as the Mooney PFM.[5]

The M20L achieved type certification on 25 February 1988.[8]

M20M

The M20M (1989–2006) boosted output initially to 270 hp (200 kW) and was also turbocharged. The M20R (1994–) started at 280 hp (210 kW) and was normally aspirated. With minor changes in engine output (e.g. the M20S "Eagle") and various performance tweaks, these two basic models (both high power, both with long bodies, one with turbocharging) remain in production today as the "Bravo" and "Ovation".[5]

The M20M was type certified on 28 June 1989.[8]

M20R

Introduced in 1994, the M20R Ovation mated a long body fuselage to a Continental IO-550-G normally aspirated powerplant of 280 hp (210 kW). This model was named Flying Magazine's single-engine plane of the year in 1994.[5]

The M20R was type certified on 30 June 1994.[8]

M20S

The M20S Eagle was introduced in 199 and was powered by a Continental IO-550-G engine of 244 hp (182 kW). In 2001 the Eagle 2 was introduced. This model included such refinements as a 3-bladed propellor, a 100 lb (45 kg) gross weight increase and standard leather interior.[5]

The M20S was type certified on 07 February 1999.[8]

M20T

 

Mooney M20T Predator prototype, N20XT, on display at Sun 'n Fun 2006The M20T Predator, a canopy-equipped version of the basic M20 design powered by a Lycoming AEIO-540 engine, was Mooney's entrant in the USAF Enhanced Flight Screener competition. The prototype was built in 1991 and displayed in tiger-stripe paint scheme. The contract was won by the ill-fated Slingsby T-67 Firefly and the M20T was not developed or certified. The sole prototype, registered N20XT, was flown in the Experimental - Market Survey category and was still owned by Mooney Aircraft in 2008.[9][10][8]

 

Mooney M20TN AcclaimM20TN

The M20TN Acclaim is latest version of the M20 design, powered by a turbo-normalized Continental Motors TSI0-550-G powerplant with twin turbochargers and dual intercoolers. It was type certified on 15 October 2006.[8]

The Acclaim replaced the Mooney M20M Bravo in the current company product line.[11]

Mooney and Columbia Aircraft (now owned by Cessna) have frequently traded positions as producer of the fastest production single-engine piston aircraft. Currently, the Acclaim's 242 knot cruise speed at FL250[12][13] puts it ahead of the Cessna 400 (formerly known as the Columbia 400) and the turbo-charged version of the Cirrus SR22 GTS. The Cessna 400 is advertised has having a 235 kn (435 km/h) cruise speed, while the Cirrus SR22 GTS has a 220 kn (410 km/h) cruise, both attained at FL250. The Acclaim has retractable landing gear, while the Cessna and Cirrus both have fixed landing gear.

6754 frames mean averaged with G'MIC. Normalized in GIMP

 

my blog

Portuguese version below.

 

BRICS Leaders met on 5 September 2013, ahead of the formal opening of the G20 Summit in St Petersburg.

 

The Leaders noted the continued slow pace of the recovery, high unemployment in some countries, and on-going challenges and vulnerabilities in the global economy, particularly in advanced economies. They believe that major economies, including G20, could do more to boost global demand and market confidence.

 

In light of the increase in financial market and capital flow volatility during recent months, the BRICS Leaders reiterated their concerns they had expressed in the Durban Summit in March, regarding the unintended negative spillovers of unconventional monetary policies of certain developed economies. They emphasized that the eventual normalization of monetary policies needs to be effectively and carefully calibrated and clearly communicated.

 

BRICS Leaders also expressed their concern with the stalling of the International Monetary Fund reform process. They recalled the urgent need to implement the 2010 IMF Quota and Governance Reform, as well as to complete the next general quota review by January 2014 as agreed at the G20 Seoul Summit in order ensure the Fund’s credibility, legitimacy and effectiveness.

 

The Leaders look forward to the 9th World Trade Organisation’s Ministerial conference to be held in December 2013, and expect that it will be a stepping stone to the successful and balanced conclusion of the Doha Development Round.

 

The Leaders of Brazil, India, China and South Africa congratulated Russia for the successful Presidency of the G20 in 2013 and appreciated the emphasis by the Russian Presidency on the development agenda.

 

The Leaders welcomed the good progress made towards the establishment of the BRICS-led New Development Bank (NDB) and the Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA).

 

On the NDB, progress has been made in negotiating its capital structure, membership, shareholding and governance. The Bank will have an initial subscribed capital of US$ 50 billion from the BRICS countries.

 

On the CRA, consensus has been achieved on many key aspects and operational details regarding its establishment. As agreed in Durban, the CRA will have an initial size of US$100 billion. Country’s individual commitments to the CRA will be as follows: China – US$ 41 billion; Brazil, India, and Russia – US$ 18 billion each; and South Africa – US$ 5 billion.

 

In light of the progress achieved both in the negotiations of the NDB and CRA the BRICS leaders expect tangible results by the time of the next Summit.

 

The Leaders welcomed the first meeting of the BRICS Business Council held recently in Johannesburg, South Africa, and encouraged the business community to increase contacts and cooperation.

 

The Leaders noted that the recent developments in the world economy and emphasised the necessity for intra-BRICS economic cooperation.

***********

St. Petersburg, September 5, 2013

***********

 

05/09/2013 - Reunião informal dos Líderes do BRICS à margem da Cúpula do G-20 em São Petersburgo

 

São Petersburgo, 5 de setembro de 2013

 

English version below

 

Os Líderes do BRICS encontraram-se em 5 de setembro de 2013, previamente à abertura formal da Cúpula do G-20 em São Petersburgo.

 

Os Líderes registraram a continuidade do ritmo lento da recuperação, da alta taxa de desemprego em alguns países e da persistência de desafios e vulnerabilidades na economia global, em particular nas economias avançadas. Acreditam que as principais economias, inclusive as do G-20, poderiam fazer mais para impulsionar a demanda global e a confiança do mercado.

 

À luz do aumento da volatilidade do mercado financeiro e do fluxo de capitais nos últimos meses, os Líderes do BRICS reiteraram suas preocupações expressadas por ocasião da Cúpula de Durban, em março, a respeito das repercussões negativas não intencionais das políticas monetárias não convencionais de algumas economias desenvolvidas. Enfatizaram que a eventual normalização dessas políticas monetárias precisa ser calibrada de modo efetivo e cuidadoso e claramente comunicada.

 

Os Líderes do BRICS também manifestaram sua preocupação com a estagnação do processo de reforma do Fundo Monetário Internacional. Recordaram a necessidade urgente de implementar a Reforma de Quotas e Governança de 2010 do FMI, assim como de concluir a próxima revisão geral das quotas até janeiro de 2014, conforme acordado na Cúpula do G-20 em Seul a fim de assegurar a credibilidade, a legitimidade e a eficácia do Fundo.

 

Os Líderes aguardam com expectativa a 9ª Conferência Ministerial da Organização Mundial do Comércio a realizar-se em dezembro de 2013 e esperam que o evento constitua passo firme para a conclusão exitosa e equilibrada da Rodada de Doha para o Desenvolvimento.

 

Os Líderes de Brasil, Índia, China e África do Sul felicitaram a Rússia pelo êxito na Presidência do G-20 em 2013 e manifestaram apreço pela ênfase da Presidência russa na agenda para o desenvolvimento.

 

Os Líderes saudaram os avanços alcançados em direção ao estabelecimento do Novo Banco de Desenvolvimento liderado pelo BRICS e do Arranjo Contingente de Reservas (CRA).

 

Com relação ao Banco, houve avanços nas negociações relativas a sua estrutura de capital, composição, participação acionária e governança. O Banco contará com capital inicial subscrito pelos países do BRICS de US$ 50 bilhões.

 

No tocante ao CRA, alcançou-se consenso sobre muitos aspectos-chave e detalhes operacionais atinentes a sua criação. Conforme acordado em Durban, o CRA contará com montante inicial de US$ 100 bilhões. Os compromissos individuais dos países ao CRA serão os seguintes: China – US$ 41 bilhões; Brasil, Índia e Rússia – US$ 18 bilhões cada; e África do Sul – US$ 5 bilhões.

 

À luz dos progressos realizados tanto nas negociações do Banco quanto do CRA, os Líderes do BRICS esperam resultados concretos por ocasião da próxima Cúpula.

 

Os Líderes saudaram a primeira reunião do Conselho Empresarial do BRICS, realizada recentemente em Johannesburgo, África do Sul, e incentivaram a comunidade empresarial a incrementar contatos e cooperação.

 

Os Líderes notaram os desdobramentos recentes na economia mundial e enfatizaram a necessidade de cooperação econômica intra-BRICS.

 

"In the grand tradition of generals and surrealists, we have been playing games. People learn things better through the open-ended, empathetic participation in knowledge-making that games allow. Just dispensing information to people-- though at times enlightening-- can also encourage apathy or forgetfulness. Lately, we have been using games to critically examine the dynamics and assumptions of larger social givens.Our new game SET was inspired by toy collectors, tourists, and museum curators. Throughout the game, players "play" by intervening and reorganizing existing groups of objects, thus questioning categories by constructing and redrawing them. In foregrounding the player's relation to the categories, SET explores the value of one's authorship in the production of knowledge. While games often risk normalizing power relationships by setting social roles and rules in stone, we have tried here to do just the opposite."

 

People learn things better through the open-ended, empathetic participation in knowledge-making that games allow. Just dispensing information to people-- though at times enlightening-- can also encourage apathy or forgetfulness. A project developed by Erik Carver and Marisa Jahn, SET is a game that critically examines the dynamics and assumptions of larger social givens. It's a game inspired by toy collectors, tourists, and museum curators. Throughout the game, players "play" by intervening and reorganizing existing groups of objects, thus questioning categories by constructing and redrawing them. In foregrounding the player's relation to the categories, SET explores the value of one's authorship in the production of knowledge. While games often risk normalizing power relationships by setting social roles and rules in stone, SET tries to do just the opposite.

 

--

 

Erik Carver

 

Erik Carver is an architect and artist. He is a founder of the Institute for Advanced Architecture (advancedarchitecture.org)-- an organization dedicated to advancing architecture through research, exchange, and exhibition-- as well as the Common Room exhibition space (common-room.net) and the interdisciplinary art group Seru. He lives in Brooklyn and teaches architecture at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

 

Erik has worked for the firms of Diller+Scofidio, Laura Kurgan, and Lyn Rice before starting his own practice. These designs have included a student center renovation, an art museum, apartment renovations, a vacation home, exhibitions, a performance space/bar, an expo pavilion, schools, offices and an interpretation center.

 

His work has appeared in Volume magazine, Art in America, and Nature, and he has shown work and lectured at venues including Exit Art, the Ise Foundation, and Columbia's Neiman Gallery, and the Storefront for Art and Architecture (NYC), The Institute of Contemporary Art (Philadelphia), CAVS (MIT), Basekamp (Philadelphia), the Contemporary Art Center (North Adams, MA), and Pond (San Francisco).

  

Marisa Jahn

 

Of Ecuadorian and Chinese descent, Marisa Jahn is an artist whose work explores, constructs, and intervenes natural and social systems. In 2000, Jahn has co-founded Pond: art, activism, and ideas (www.mucketymuck.org), a non-profit organization dedicated to showcasing experimental art. Jahn has presented and exhibited work in museums, galleries, and spaces at venues such as The Institute of Contemporary Art (Philadelphia), the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (San Francisco), ISEA/Zero One 06/08 (San Jose, CA), MoKS (Estonia), the Moore Space (Miami), the Museum of Contemporary Art (North Miami), in galleries and public places in Tokyo, Honduras, Estonia, Turkey, North America, and Taiwan. Jahn's work has been reviewed in Art in America, Frieze, Punk Planet, Clamor, San Francisco Chronicle, the Fader, Artweek, Metropolis, the Discovery Channel, and Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). She has received awards and grants such as the Robert & Colleen Haas Scholarship, MIT Department of Architecture Fellowship (2005-8), CEC Artslink, and is an artist in residence at the MIT Media Lab (2007-9) and at the Headlands Center for the Arts (2008). She received her BA from UC Berkeley and an MS from MIT's Visual Arts Program. She lives between Boston and New York, where she functions as the Immediator of art-activist campaigns for The Church of Stop Shopping/Reverend Billy. www.marisajahn.com, www.mucketymuck.org

Nikon D5600 RAW dynamic range compare with D5500, Canon 80D and Canon 5D Mark IV and Fujifilm X-Pro2!..

-

You can download original RAW files from under the small box window. Here link : www.dpreview.com/reviews/image-comparison/fullscreen?attr...

-

  

NGC 6820 is an emission nebula located 6000 light years away in the constellation Cygnus. This nebula is approximately 65 light years wide

 

Crop: flic.kr/p/2nD8z1K

 

-Equipment-

Scope: TS-Optics 94/414 EPDH (414mm focal)

Camera: ZWO ASI533MC Pro at -5°C gain 101 offset 49

Guiding: ZWO OAG

Guiding camera: ZWO ASI 120MM

Mount: Skywatcher AZ-EQ6

Filter: Optolong L-eXtreme

 

-Acquisition-

Light : 75x300s

Total integration time 6,3h

Dark: 100x300s Flat-50 Bias-100

Date : 7,8 August 2022

Location : France-Alsace Bortle 4/5

 

-Software-

Carte du Ciel, N.I.N.A, Phd2 , PoleMaster and PixInsight

Ez Processing Suite from darkarcon

darkarcon website : darkarchon.internet-box.ch:8443/

 

-Pre Processing in PixInsight-

Image Calibration

Cosmetic Correction

Debayer

Subframe Selector

Star Alignement

Local Normalization

Image Integration

Drizzle x2

Dynamic crop

 

-Processing

 

DBE MasterLRGB

 

___RGB layer___HOO

Split RGB channels to build Ha and Oiii

Ha=R Oiii= B*0.3+G*0.7

EZ_Soft Stretch

HOO combination with Foraxx formula

R=Ha

G=((Oiii*Ha)^~(Oiii*Ha))*Ha + ~((Oiii*Ha)^~(Oiii*Ha))*Oiii

B=Oiii

SCNR

 

___L layer___

Ez_Deconvolution

Ez_Soft Stretch

Local Histogram Equalization with nebula mask

UnsharpedMask with nebula mask

 

___LRGB___

Ez_Denoise

Curve Transformation

Annotation

Save as JPG

 

Clear skies !

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vt7PvTwYF3E&feature=share&...

Full Feature in 9 Parts

American International Pictures lived up to its name on this project. Terrore nello spazio was a Spanish/Italian/American effort. The American release title, Planet of the Vampires (PoV) suggests a campier film than it is. There actually aren't any vampires in the usual sense. Yet, it is still a horror/sci-fi hybrid. Director Mario Bava (famous for horror pictures) gives the dark screenplay by Ib Melchior a good presentation, despite a low budget.

Synopsis

Mysterious signals received from a distant planet named Aura suggest some intelligent life, perhaps a distress call. Two interplanetary space ships are sent to investigate. The Galliot goes in first, but seems to crash. The crew of the Argos go lower to check on them. A sudden increase of gravity pins everyone to the floors and the Argos seems to be doomed to crash. At the last minute, the gravity normalizes and Captain Mark Markary is able to land the Argos. When various members of the crew awaken, they go viciously homicidal temporarily. Captain Mark is able to restore order. The Galliot is found near by, perfectly intact. When a team of the Argos investigate, they find the entire crew of the Galliot dead. They killed each other. The Galliot's "Meteor Rejector" device is smashed, making the ship unspaceworthy. The Argos team return later to find no bodies. (They are rising from the dead, but the Argos crew don't know this yet.) A team from the Argos find a derelict alien ship with a huge alien skeleton out front. Mark and Sanya check it out and almost become trapped inside. Various crewmen, usually given lone sentry jobs, disappear one by one. Two Galliot crewmen appear with a story of being unconscious after the landing. They are taken aboard the Argos, but it was a trick. They were zombies who came to steal the Argos's "Meteor Rejector" device. One zombie explains that Aura is inhabited by a race of energy beings. The Auran sun is dying but they cannot construct spaceships. So, they lured other race's ships to Aura to hijack their bodies and flee. The takeover can be done willingly too. Captain Mark says "Never". Mark, Sanya and Wess steal back the Meteor Rejector and plant bombs aboard the Galliot. They take off in the Argos. Wess discovers that Mark and Sanya are possessed by the Aurans. He smashes the Meteor Rejector, thinking he's stopping the Aurans. He dies in the process. Possessed Mark and Sanya decide to set down on an obscure little planet: Earth. The End.

PoV has the quirky charm typical of Italian sci-fi, but also some visual fun via Bava's sense of art.

The American title is a misnomer, but probably deemed better (by A.I.P.) for marketing. The dead bodies, re-animated by the Auran energy beings, were more the classic zombie than the classic vampire. There is no sucking of blood or needing of human blood, etc. The whole rising-from-the-grave scene is clearly in the zombie idiom. Mixed into the zombie trope is the familiar 50s theme of alien-takeover.

 

Like many B movies, the production budget for PoV was very tight. Modern viewers could easily scoff at the modest special effects and simple sets. Yet, fans of B sci-fi can appreciate how much mileage Bava got from his shoestring budget. He made an entire alien planet out of a few "rock" props left over from a prior sword-and-sandal film, making use of lots of dry ice fog to disguise how sparse things were. The ship models were quite small (and therefore cheaper), but he manages to make them look larger. To save on matte art and optical effects, Bava used mirrors to put actors and small models into the same shot. Of course, having the Argos and Galliot be identical ships meant handy double use. The giant alien skeleton was probably his biggest expense, but well worth it.

 

Bava also made ample use of strong color to make things look "alien." Pairs of red-green, or red-blue, or green-orange lights add a vivid other-worldliness. The lighting is reminiscent of that used in the soviet film: Mechte Navstrechu ('62) ("A Dream Come True"). American audiences wouldn't get to see the soviet footage until 1966 when A.I.P. created another of their mash-ups, this one entitled: Queen of Blood.

 

Some viewers see an inspiration for Ridley Scott's famous Alien (1979). Certainly the scene in which Mark and Sanya discover and explore the derelict alien ship bears a strong resemblance. Even though this scene in PoV is more of a sidetrack than pivotal, it is certainly possible that Scott drew upon it as a portion of his story.

Screenwriter Ib Melchior was fond of the notion that alien planets harbored mysterious danger. His dark vision was quite the opposite of the almost glib notion that alien beings would be pretty women in short skirts. Melchior's Angry Red Planet ('60) featured ominous unseen Martians who tell the earthlings to get lost and never ever come back. Journey to the Seventh Planet ('62) featured a malicious intellect being that messed with the earthlings' minds and was trying to get off its cold, dark moon, to a better planet -- like earth.

The ending of PoV is decidedly un-hollywood. Most of the crew die. Even the last uncompromised humans (Wess) dies trying to stop the Aurans. He fails, despite his heroic sacrifice. Auran-Mark and Auran-Sanya fly down to an unsuspecting earth. The danger of the mind-controlling energy being Aurans was about to be loosed on our simple civilization. On its own, such an ending does have nihilist overtones. It also smacks of a potential sequel along the Body Snatchers line.

 

Bottom line? PoV will not impress modern viewers who rate movies by how lavish the effects are. It is still a budget film. It also suffers some of the usual pitfalls of foreign films repackaged for American release. There are almost too many characters who are easy to mix up (everyone wore identical leather suits) Nonetheless, it one of the better B movies of the 60s.

  

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vt7PvTwYF3E&feature=share&...

Full Feature in 9 Parts

American International Pictures lived up to its name on this project. Terrore nello spazio was a Spanish/Italian/American effort. The American release title, Planet of the Vampires (PoV) suggests a campier film than it is. There actually aren't any vampires in the usual sense. Yet, it is still a horror/sci-fi hybrid. Director Mario Bava (famous for horror pictures) gives the dark screenplay by Ib Melchior a good presentation, despite a low budget.

Synopsis

Mysterious signals received from a distant planet named Aura suggest some intelligent life, perhaps a distress call. Two interplanetary space ships are sent to investigate. The Galliot goes in first, but seems to crash. The crew of the Argos go lower to check on them. A sudden increase of gravity pins everyone to the floors and the Argos seems to be doomed to crash. At the last minute, the gravity normalizes and Captain Mark Markary is able to land the Argos. When various members of the crew awaken, they go viciously homicidal temporarily. Captain Mark is able to restore order. The Galliot is found near by, perfectly intact. When a team of the Argos investigate, they find the entire crew of the Galliot dead. They killed each other. The Galliot's "Meteor Rejector" device is smashed, making the ship unspaceworthy. The Argos team return later to find no bodies. (They are rising from the dead, but the Argos crew don't know this yet.) A team from the Argos find a derelict alien ship with a huge alien skeleton out front. Mark and Sanya check it out and almost become trapped inside. Various crewmen, usually given lone sentry jobs, disappear one by one. Two Galliot crewmen appear with a story of being unconscious after the landing. They are taken aboard the Argos, but it was a trick. They were zombies who came to steal the Argos's "Meteor Rejector" device. One zombie explains that Aura is inhabited by a race of energy beings. The Auran sun is dying but they cannot construct spaceships. So, they lured other race's ships to Aura to hijack their bodies and flee. The takeover can be done willingly too. Captain Mark says "Never". Mark, Sanya and Wess steal back the Meteor Rejector and plant bombs aboard the Galliot. They take off in the Argos. Wess discovers that Mark and Sanya are possessed by the Aurans. He smashes the Meteor Rejector, thinking he's stopping the Aurans. He dies in the process. Possessed Mark and Sanya decide to set down on an obscure little planet: Earth. The End.

PoV has the quirky charm typical of Italian sci-fi, but also some visual fun via Bava's sense of art.

The American title is a misnomer, but probably deemed better (by A.I.P.) for marketing. The dead bodies, re-animated by the Auran energy beings, were more the classic zombie than the classic vampire. There is no sucking of blood or needing of human blood, etc. The whole rising-from-the-grave scene is clearly in the zombie idiom. Mixed into the zombie trope is the familiar 50s theme of alien-takeover.

 

Like many B movies, the production budget for PoV was very tight. Modern viewers could easily scoff at the modest special effects and simple sets. Yet, fans of B sci-fi can appreciate how much mileage Bava got from his shoestring budget. He made an entire alien planet out of a few "rock" props left over from a prior sword-and-sandal film, making use of lots of dry ice fog to disguise how sparse things were. The ship models were quite small (and therefore cheaper), but he manages to make them look larger. To save on matte art and optical effects, Bava used mirrors to put actors and small models into the same shot. Of course, having the Argos and Galliot be identical ships meant handy double use. The giant alien skeleton was probably his biggest expense, but well worth it.

 

Bava also made ample use of strong color to make things look "alien." Pairs of red-green, or red-blue, or green-orange lights add a vivid other-worldliness. The lighting is reminiscent of that used in the soviet film: Mechte Navstrechu ('62) ("A Dream Come True"). American audiences wouldn't get to see the soviet footage until 1966 when A.I.P. created another of their mash-ups, this one entitled: Queen of Blood.

 

Some viewers see an inspiration for Ridley Scott's famous Alien (1979). Certainly the scene in which Mark and Sanya discover and explore the derelict alien ship bears a strong resemblance. Even though this scene in PoV is more of a sidetrack than pivotal, it is certainly possible that Scott drew upon it as a portion of his story.

Screenwriter Ib Melchior was fond of the notion that alien planets harbored mysterious danger. His dark vision was quite the opposite of the almost glib notion that alien beings would be pretty women in short skirts. Melchior's Angry Red Planet ('60) featured ominous unseen Martians who tell the earthlings to get lost and never ever come back. Journey to the Seventh Planet ('62) featured a malicious intellect being that messed with the earthlings' minds and was trying to get off its cold, dark moon, to a better planet -- like earth.

The ending of PoV is decidedly un-hollywood. Most of the crew die. Even the last uncompromised humans (Wess) dies trying to stop the Aurans. He fails, despite his heroic sacrifice. Auran-Mark and Auran-Sanya fly down to an unsuspecting earth. The danger of the mind-controlling energy being Aurans was about to be loosed on our simple civilization. On its own, such an ending does have nihilist overtones. It also smacks of a potential sequel along the Body Snatchers line.

 

Bottom line? PoV will not impress modern viewers who rate movies by how lavish the effects are. It is still a budget film. It also suffers some of the usual pitfalls of foreign films repackaged for American release. There are almost too many characters who are easy to mix up (everyone wore identical leather suits) Nonetheless, it one of the better B movies of the 60s.

  

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vt7PvTwYF3E&feature=share&amp...

Full Feature in 9 Parts

American International Pictures lived up to its name on this project. Terrore nello spazio was a Spanish/Italian/American effort. The American release title, Planet of the Vampires (PoV) suggests a campier film than it is. There actually aren't any vampires in the usual sense. Yet, it is still a horror/sci-fi hybrid. Director Mario Bava (famous for horror pictures) gives the dark screenplay by Ib Melchior a good presentation, despite a low budget.

Synopsis

Mysterious signals received from a distant planet named Aura suggest some intelligent life, perhaps a distress call. Two interplanetary space ships are sent to investigate. The Galliot goes in first, but seems to crash. The crew of the Argos go lower to check on them. A sudden increase of gravity pins everyone to the floors and the Argos seems to be doomed to crash. At the last minute, the gravity normalizes and Captain Mark Markary is able to land the Argos. When various members of the crew awaken, they go viciously homicidal temporarily. Captain Mark is able to restore order. The Galliot is found near by, perfectly intact. When a team of the Argos investigate, they find the entire crew of the Galliot dead. They killed each other. The Galliot's "Meteor Rejector" device is smashed, making the ship unspaceworthy. The Argos team return later to find no bodies. (They are rising from the dead, but the Argos crew don't know this yet.) A team from the Argos find a derelict alien ship with a huge alien skeleton out front. Mark and Sanya check it out and almost become trapped inside. Various crewmen, usually given lone sentry jobs, disappear one by one. Two Galliot crewmen appear with a story of being unconscious after the landing. They are taken aboard the Argos, but it was a trick. They were zombies who came to steal the Argos's "Meteor Rejector" device. One zombie explains that Aura is inhabited by a race of energy beings. The Auran sun is dying but they cannot construct spaceships. So, they lured other race's ships to Aura to hijack their bodies and flee. The takeover can be done willingly too. Captain Mark says "Never". Mark, Sanya and Wess steal back the Meteor Rejector and plant bombs aboard the Galliot. They take off in the Argos. Wess discovers that Mark and Sanya are possessed by the Aurans. He smashes the Meteor Rejector, thinking he's stopping the Aurans. He dies in the process. Possessed Mark and Sanya decide to set down on an obscure little planet: Earth. The End.

PoV has the quirky charm typical of Italian sci-fi, but also some visual fun via Bava's sense of art.

The American title is a misnomer, but probably deemed better (by A.I.P.) for marketing. The dead bodies, re-animated by the Auran energy beings, were more the classic zombie than the classic vampire. There is no sucking of blood or needing of human blood, etc. The whole rising-from-the-grave scene is clearly in the zombie idiom. Mixed into the zombie trope is the familiar 50s theme of alien-takeover.

 

Like many B movies, the production budget for PoV was very tight. Modern viewers could easily scoff at the modest special effects and simple sets. Yet, fans of B sci-fi can appreciate how much mileage Bava got from his shoestring budget. He made an entire alien planet out of a few "rock" props left over from a prior sword-and-sandal film, making use of lots of dry ice fog to disguise how sparse things were. The ship models were quite small (and therefore cheaper), but he manages to make them look larger. To save on matte art and optical effects, Bava used mirrors to put actors and small models into the same shot. Of course, having the Argos and Galliot be identical ships meant handy double use. The giant alien skeleton was probably his biggest expense, but well worth it.

 

Bava also made ample use of strong color to make things look "alien." Pairs of red-green, or red-blue, or green-orange lights add a vivid other-worldliness. The lighting is reminiscent of that used in the soviet film: Mechte Navstrechu ('62) ("A Dream Come True"). American audiences wouldn't get to see the soviet footage until 1966 when A.I.P. created another of their mash-ups, this one entitled: Queen of Blood.

 

Some viewers see an inspiration for Ridley Scott's famous Alien (1979). Certainly the scene in which Mark and Sanya discover and explore the derelict alien ship bears a strong resemblance. Even though this scene in PoV is more of a sidetrack than pivotal, it is certainly possible that Scott drew upon it as a portion of his story.

Screenwriter Ib Melchior was fond of the notion that alien planets harbored mysterious danger. His dark vision was quite the opposite of the almost glib notion that alien beings would be pretty women in short skirts. Melchior's Angry Red Planet ('60) featured ominous unseen Martians who tell the earthlings to get lost and never ever come back. Journey to the Seventh Planet ('62) featured a malicious intellect being that messed with the earthlings' minds and was trying to get off its cold, dark moon, to a better planet -- like earth.

The ending of PoV is decidedly un-hollywood. Most of the crew die. Even the last uncompromised humans (Wess) dies trying to stop the Aurans. He fails, despite his heroic sacrifice. Auran-Mark and Auran-Sanya fly down to an unsuspecting earth. The danger of the mind-controlling energy being Aurans was about to be loosed on our simple civilization. On its own, such an ending does have nihilist overtones. It also smacks of a potential sequel along the Body Snatchers line.

 

Bottom line? PoV will not impress modern viewers who rate movies by how lavish the effects are. It is still a budget film. It also suffers some of the usual pitfalls of foreign films repackaged for American release. There are almost too many characters who are easy to mix up (everyone wore identical leather suits) Nonetheless, it one of the better B movies of the 60s.

  

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