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PARKRUN #223 - (Wycombe Rye parkrun)
Since achieving my CI (exercise intolerance diagnosis in June 2023) PB 3 weeks ago my times have been slowly slipping backwards again with today being my slowest running time in 9 weeks - still, not too bad for a veteran with a dicky ticker.
Distance: 5.00km
Time: 37:09 - (my overall PB remains 26:32, post Covid PB 30:31, CI PB 35:40, AFib PB 36:45)
Heart attack to 10K photo collection, nice to get a few more running pictures instead of hospital visits in this album ... www.flickr.com/photos/93491398@N06/albums/72157688356685841/
Latest blog in my heart attack to 10K series - Life changes ... peterjemmett.blogspot.com/2024/09/heart-attack-to-10k-par...
photo by Vicki Bacon
Birch Hill Cemetery, Fairbanks Alaska.
If you are an American, chances are either you or your ancestors were immigrants. And chances are you or your ancestors came here to escape persecution or to otherwise seek opportunities and a better life.
Despite the injustices committed by our founding immigrants on the indigenous populations, Native Americans display a remarkable patriotism and love of God and country. At the same time our country has a history of both tolerance and intolerance toward immigrants.
There is an irony and paradox here that defies explanation.
To my fellow Americans, I wish you a reflective and happy Fourth of July.
Governs the generation of beings and phenomena of nature. Protects those who wish to progress spiritually. Distinguished by genius; one of the great lights of philosophy.
Correspondence to Astrology
15° to 20° Pisces - Alchemy/Transformation
Info below from: UNIVERSE/CITY MIKAEL www.ucm.ca/en/info/the-72-angels
Qualities
Alchemy
Transforms evil into good
Healing
Regenerates, revitalizes, re-establishes harmony
Transforms, transmutes into spiritual gold
Masters instincts
Guides the first steps of the deceased into the other world
Transforms society with enlightened ideas
Helps accompany the dying
Distortions
Blockage, retention Tendency to get bogged down Problems of obesity Incomprehension of good and evil Atheism, disbelief Conflict, confrontation Incurable disease Fear of change and death Outbursts, excessive reactions Heaviness, overflow Incapable of setting objectives
Situations
Accompanying the dying Cancer Death Digestion Intestines Kidney stones Liver Mother Stomach
Transformation, transformation of evil into good
www.karmicangelclearings.com/page/491335722
Lucifer Angel Genius Bartholdi is the result of the passage of the forbidden and decision Freedom of Man, results DEATH. This death is the beginning of transmutation cycle of creation of man and of God himself, not under guardianship and without freedom.Bartholdi itself carried the sculpture of the winged female genius that dominates the red porphyry obelisk on which is written "Author / Lion of Belfort / and the Statue of Liberty / Enlightening the World." I'll have .....
From the Analogy ("The Matrix") page you learned that certain alchemist's authors praise Lucifer. And it doesn't stop there. It extends to their symbolism as well. It is important to STRESS that not all Masons worship Lucifer, only the top 5% do. Most of these writings were kept secret. Biblical admonition has been taken carefully, comparing alchemics teachings to the Holy Bible. In I John 4:1, we read: "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try (test) the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world." We see that any religious teaching that does not conform to Scripture is from a "false prophet." Many people still do not understand the importance of studying this subject to its logical conclusion. Their spiritual freedom is at stake. Remember two things about alchemy: "Cut through the outer shell and find a meaning; cut through that meaning and find another; under it, if you dig deep enough, you may find a third, a fourth -- who shall say how many teachings?" Many who are in alchemy are not aware that they are lied to. Finally, remember Albert Pike's bold assertion in Morals & Dogma, that "Masonry is identical to the ancient Mysteries," which means that all their teachings in all their books are precisely the same as the Ancient, Pagan, Satanic Mysteries. [p. 624, teachings of the 28th Degree] Of course these top 5% call Jesus Christ an "inferior god," they never, ever mention Him in their teachings or their rituals. This shouldn't surprise you since the Pope carries a bent Satanic cross as seen on another page which shames Christ on the cross.
Alchemits used Luciferic symbols within the layout of government center Washington D.C. worship Lucifer, the Light-Bearer. Lucifer and Satan are biblically the same individual, alchemy is really the worship of Satan. By quoting their own sources and depicting the symbols in which they use, this claim is proven. Alchemy gives itself away more through its symbols than it does in its writings. You saw in the analogy page of "The Matrix" that high level. Alchemists praise Lucifer. It is within these writings the "smoking gun" will be found, proof that Masons worship Satan. Once this is comprehended, you will understand why "they" have been trying to keep this all secret. If people really understood that Alchemy is the worship of Satan, no one in their right mind would join. Not only that but people would demand that this organization be outlawed. You have a continuous public relations campaign promoting the lie that Alchemy is not a religion, and is just a "good works social organization." As quoted above, you have secrets within secrets. LUCIFER PRAISED AS THE LIGHT-BEARER OF FREEMASONRY "Lucifer, the Light-bearer! Strange and mysterious name to give to the Spirit of Darkness! Lucifer, the Son of the Morning! Is it he who bears the Light, and with its splendors intolerable, blinds feeble, sensual, or selfish souls? Doubt it not!" [Albert Pike, Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, p. 321, 19th Degree of Grand Pontiff; Red Emphasis added] Alchemists from the first initiation which is the first degree are urged to mightily "seek the Light!" The average Mason is continually saying that he is "seeking the Light," and will spend his entire life "moving toward the Light." People who haven't studied this subject would assume that this "Light" is the revelation of the God of the Bible. This statement is continuously held up to try to convince us that Masonry is Christian. In the above quote, Albert Pike is saying that Lucifer is the One who bears the Light of Alchemy. The sentence immediately preceding confirms not only that Lucifer is the Light-bearer, but that alchemys of previous degrees have been led to believe that the opposite was true. The wording of this sentence is difficut to understand unless you have special knowledge. Doc Marquis was asked for his explanation, lets look at what he had to say:, "The Apocalypse is, to those who receive the nineteenth Degree, the Apotheosis of that Sublime Faith which aspires to God Alone, and despises all the pomps and works of Lucifer." [Ibid.] It seems to contradict the sentence first quoted above, It appears to contradict the quote above where Pike identifies Lucifer as the Masonic Light-bearer. However when you understand the esoteric explanation from Doc Marquis, your understanding clears up completely.
The Apocalypse is identified first by Pike as being the Book of Revelation written by the Apostle John. Pike then states that similar books from other religions are just as 'inspired' as Revelation, mentioning Plato, Philo, the Sephar Yezirah, and the Sohar. Pike says all three of these books -- Apocalypse [Revelation], the Sephar Yezirah, and the Sohar, are all identically "inspired." And since the last two books are of non-Christian faiths, Albert Pike is saying that the contents of Revelation are no big deal. Therefore, it is no big deal that the Book of Revelation denigrates the "pomp and works" of Satan, since the God of that book is known to hate Satan.
Pike then says that these three books "are the completest embodiment of Occultism." [Ibid.] Now, we understand that Pike views the God of the Apocalypse as being the opposite but equal to Satan just as typical Occultists believe and teach!
Secondly, Doc Marquis provides the esoteric, occultic, explanation. Pike is also saying in this sentence that, in the previous 18 degrees, alchemists believed that God was the Light-bearer, but now, in this 19th Degree, Pike is giving them new revelation. This insight completely squares with stated Masonic policy of deliberately misleading alchemists in the lower degrees until they were really ready for the "truth." This is the truth -- MasonLucifer: A must to Knowledge.ry worships Lucifer. PIKE'S TYPICAL SATANIC PHRASE -- OUT WHERE EVERYONE CAN SEE Concrete evidence is then given by Pike of alchemist's worship of Satan/Lucifer on the very front of the cover of Morals and Dogma. Pike writes a Latin phrase just below the round seal of "God," this is a phrase proven to be Satanic. Any "Satanic brother" looking at this phrase would know that the contents of this book are Satanic. They would also understand that the entire religion of alchemy is Satanic. "DEUS MEUMQUE JUS" is this phrase. The literal meaning is "God and My Right" Doc Marquis says this statement is a typical one within Satanism. There is one meaning within another with this statement. The first meaning is that the Freemason can depend upon their God to determine their Right and Justice. The second meaning is, since the God of Freemasonry is Lucifer, Achemitss are saying that they are "using occult methods," through Lucifer, to achieve their Rights and Justice. This phrase is very powerful and dangerous within Saanism says Marquis. A Satanist knows the content within Pike's book is Satanism just by reading, "DEUS MEUMQUE JUS." They don't even have to read the book, just the phrase to know.
"SEETHING ENERGIES OF LUCIFER WITHIN YOUR HANDS!"
"The day has come when Fellow Craftsman must know and apply their knowledge. The lost key to their grade is the mastery of emotion , which places the energy of the universe at their disposal. Man can only expect to be entrusted with great power by proving his ability to use it constructively and selflessly. When the Alchemists learns that the key to the warrior on the block is the proper application of the dynamo of living power, he has learned the mystery of his Craft. The seething energies of Lucifer are in his hands, and before he may step onward and upward, he must prove his ability to properly apply energy. He must follow in the footsteps of his forefather, Tubal-Cain, who with the mighty strength of the war god hammered his sword into a plowshare."
Once the Alchemists learns to control his emotion and to apply the "dynamo of living power," the Mason can be assured of being able to control the "seething energies of Lucifer" in his hands. He makes the admission that Alchemy is the Craft, which is an old name for Witchcraft. Satanists are assured that, if they will join the coven and learn the Craft, he will control the supernatural power of Satan, just as Manly P. Hall promises here. As you can see, they have exposed themselves. Powerful proof that Alchemy is Satanism. The language is direct and clear. It is not cluttered with deliberately confusing arcane language that only an insider can understand.
REVELATIONS OF TUBAL-CAIN Please take note that Hall makes reference to Tubal-Cain, above. We need to review this sentence because it too reveals Satanism. The Alchemist must "follow in the footsteps of his forefather, Tubal-Cain, who with the mighty strength of the war god hammered his sword into a plowshare." In the Alchemic Quiz Book, the candidate is asked this question: "Who was Tubal Cain?" Answer: "He is the Vulcan of the pagans." William P. Peterson. The Arcane Schools: A Review of their Origin and Antiquity: With a General History of Alchemy and Its Relation to the Theosophic Scientific and Philosophic Mysteries, Belfast, Ireland, William Tait, 1909, p. 30; also found in A. R. Chambers, Editor, Questions and Tubal-Cain is the password given in the Third Degree of Master Alchemist . You can identify Alchemy with paganism within this sentence. But what is the meaning of the Vulcan of the pagans? A very important question because Manly P. Hall advises the Mason that, once he has the seething energies of Lucifer in his hands, he is to walk in Tubal-Cain's footsteps.
Hall makes it sound like Tubal-Cain is one of the Greek gods, does he not? And, we know conclusively that Tubal-Cain is Vulcan of the Pagans. Let us review who Vulcan of the pagans is, by looking within occult sources. "Vulcan was a sun deity who was associated with fire, thunderbolts and light. The festival in honor of him was called the Vulcania in which human sacrifices were offered." [Percival George Woodcock, Short Dictionary of Mythology, New York, Philosophical Library, p. 152]. "According to Diel, he bears a family relationship to the Christian devil." [J.E. Cirlot, translated by Jack Sage, A Dictionary of Symbols , New York, Dorset Press, 1991, p. 362]. "It is fascinating to know that he married Venus, another name for Lucifer or the devil ." [Woodcock, op. cit., p. 150-151; Emphasis added] Manly P. Hall tells the Mason that he can have the seething energies of Lucifer in his hands, and then tells him to follow in the footsteps of the "Christian devil," to whom "human sacrifices" are offered. THE INFERNAL NAMES There may be some people who have read up to this point and still might be skeptical. Masonry cleverly masks its references to Satan. There are 77 names which pagans have used to refer to Satan over the centuries and they are in the Satanic Bible. We'll review some of these "Infernal Names" of Satanism found within Alchemy [Satanic Bible, Anton LaVey, p. 144-46]
We shall list the Freemason teaching on each of these names, and then the explanation. Baphomet -- "The Gnostics held that it [universal agent] composed the igneous [pertaining to fire] body of the Holy Spirit, and it was adored in the secret rites of the Sabbat or the Temple under the hieroglyphic figure of Baphomet or the hermaphroditic goat of Mendes ." [Pike, op. cit., p. 734, teaching of the 28th Degree; Emphasis added] It find absolutely incredible that the Freemasons should portray the Holy Spirit with the Satanic symbol, Baphomet.
Eliphas Levi created this symbol, one of the foremost Satanists and Alchemists of all time. The Baphomet is one of the most evil of all symbols. Looking closely at the Baphomet(left) you will see that the emphasis is on sex. This Being is androgynous -- both male and female -- you can see it has the breasts of a woman, and an erect phallus. You'll notice that the erect phallus has two serpents coiled around it. The Baphomet has the head of a "Horned Goat," another title for Satan.Alchemic and Occult Symbols Illustrated is a book in which Dr. Burns says, "In a book on witchcraft, The Complete Book of Witchcraft and Demonology ... the caption states that he is 'the horned god of the witches, symbol of sex incarnate'." [p. 51] And if you look at his right hand you will see Baphomet making the sign of the Devil's triad. "Baphomet is also known as the Sabbatic goat, in whose form Satan is to be worshipped at the Witches' Sabbath." [Frank Gaynor, Dictionary of Mysticism, New York, Philosophical Library, 1953, p. 24]. Then, we discovered that Baphomet is officially approved as a symbol of the Church of Satan [The Occult Emporium, Winter , 1993-1994, p. 54] and that it is worn by the Priest of Satan [Ibid., 1990-1991, p. 26]. Since Albert Pike linked Baphomet with the Goat of Mendes , we will show this obviously Satanic symbol, as well. It should also be noted that from the way a pentagram is normally seen(one point up, two down), rotating the pentagram 33 degrees you get a Satanic Pentagram. 33 is the highest degree there is in Alchemy.
www.theforbiddenknowledge.com/symbology/1o5.htm
Lucifer :Passage obligé vers la Connaissance
« Comment es-tu tombé des Cieux
Astre du Matin, fils de l’Aurore
Comment as-tu été jeté par terre
Toi qui vassalisais toutes les Nations
Toi qui disais en ton cœur :
J’escaladerai les Cieux par-dessus les étoiles de Dieu
J’érigerai mon trône, je siégerai sur la montagne de l’assemblée, dans les profondeurs du Nord,
Je monterai au sommet des nuages noirs
Je ressemblerai au Très Haut
Comment ! Te voila tombé au Schéol, dans les profondeurs de l’abîme »
ISAÏE XIV : 12-15
Dieu a prévu que l’Homme est appelé à jouir de la Connaissance, à l’acquérir et à accéder à la toute puissance sur la création que lui confère la Connaissance (ce qu’il n’a pas oublié de faire depuis). Mais le résultat du passage de l’interdit et de la prise de Liberté de l’Homme, a pour conséquence la MORT. Cette mort qui est le début du cycle de transmutation de la création de l’Homme et de Dieu lui-même, impossible sous tutelle et sans liberté. Cette mort acquise par transgression, devient un élément de la mise en marche du cycle cosmique, VIE-MORT, et donc de la possibilité de changement. L’Homme doit passer d’un état passif, jouir de la Connaissance, à un état actif, Connaître, en passant par la prise de possession de la Connaissance. Le but à atteindre est la divinité de l’Homme, qui ayant cueilli les fruits de la Connaissance, doit en transmuter la substance afin de s’en approprier les principes avant que d’accéder à l’Immortalité que lui confèrera l’état de Connaissant. En fait, le Serpent « LUCIFER » l’Homme et la Femme, participent à l’Unité en nous ramenant à l’UN. L’acte de rébellion consenti par Dieu, permet à l’Homme une amélioration sous forme de réintégration de sa propre divinité. Les égrégores Dieu et Lucifer, sont les inconscients de l’Homme. La Connaissance a offert la liberté de choisir entre le Bien et le Mal et donc d’évoluer sur l’arbre de Vie. LUCIFER libère l’homme de la tutelle de Dieu parce que Dieu l’a voulu. Il est un Dionysos judéo chrétien, génie de l’incarnation humaine, de l’individualité libre, expression visible de la vérité. Il est l’autre Verbe de Dieu, Archange déchu qui remonte et entraîne avec lui toute l’évolution humaine. Dans sa chute il aurait perdu une émeraude fixée à son front et dans laquelle aurait été taillé un vase qui ne serait autre que le GRAAL lequel aurait servi à récupérer « le sang du Christ » dont le symbole représente la Connaissance suprême qui procure l’illumination spirituelle, la montée des Ténèbres de la foi vers la Lumière de la GNOSE. Le terme est lâché : GNOSE
Cette Connaissance mystique des anciens Initiés (Isis, Eleusis, Dionysos, Pythagore) qui évoque la conception de la présence, en l’Homme, d’une étincelle divine dans le Monde soumis au destin, à la naissance et à la mort, et qui doit être réveillée par la contrepartie du Soi pour être finalement réintégrée dans le Tout Universel.
L’Homme se doit d’évoluer selon un schéma sur lequel se base quasiment l’intégralité des Ordres Initiatiques :
Niveau de la Matière : les Hyliques , esclaves prisonniers de la grotte de Platon, retenus par les chaînes de l’ignorance, incapables d’aller au delà de l’apparence et dont la pensée reste au niveau du geste et du rite confondant le mot et l’esprit.
Niveau de l’Esprit : les Psychiques, qui ont fait évoluer leur intellect et leur affectif, mais leurs mots n’aboutissent pas à l’idée claire et juste car l’intolérance, les passions et la peur, les aveuglent.
Niveau de l’Ame ou du Spirituel : les Pneumatiques qui sont les mystiques éclairés et initiés, ayant abandonné les préjugés, les fausses certitudes et valeurs, libres de la pesanteur de la matière. Ils sont capables de retrouver le sens perdu de la Parole et ont accès à la Gnose en s’élevant au niveau du spirituel.
Cette Gnose permet d’opérer la métamorphose de l’Homme et sa mutation interne.
Lorsque le profane se trouve dans le cabinet de réflexion, il lit ce mot : VITRIOL mais il ne sait pas encore qu’en inversant deux de ces lettres, le I et le R, il pourra écrire plus tard « L’OR I VIT « L’or, ce métal pur et précieux , qui pour les Alchimistes représente bien plus que cela, il est cette étincelle de Divinité que l’homme doit rechercher par la transmutation de ce métal vil et impur, le Mercure qui n’est autre que le symbole alchimique de LUCIFER.
Il s’avère que l’Alchimie assimile LUCIFER à l’œuvre au noir, la Putréfaction, sous une forme non démoniaque mais rédemptrice. Il représente la Pierre Brute, matière initiale de l’œuvre, qui sous son aspect vil et repoussant, n’en demeure pas moins le pilier de toute l’œuvre, car recelant en son sein, la lumière à suivre, l’étoile que suivirent les mages pour parvenir à l’Enfant philosophal.
LUCIFER représente des forces immenses qui travaillent en nous obscurément, à la réalisation du parangon humain. Les deux natures chez l’Homme sont Mortelle, être de chair, et Originelle Immortelle, être de lumière.
Deux voies différentes s’ouvrent à la prise de conscience :
L’Involution (VITRIOL) qui est la matérialisation progressive de l’esprit
L’Evolution qui est la réapparition de l’Esprit émergeant au sein de la Matière qu’il a fécondée, animée, évertuée.
Comme l’Alchimiste, l’Homme peut engager la transformation, la transmutation de sa propre nature existentielle.
« Lumière et vie, voilà ce qu’est le Dieu et Père de qui est né l’Homme. Si donc tu apprends à te connaître comme étant fait de vie et de lumière et que ce sont là les éléments qui te constituent, tu retourneras à la Vie. » (Hermès Trismégiste)
La poursuite du grand Œuvre est le symbole du chemin nécessaire à la réalisation de la transfiguration de l’âme, prélude à la résurrection de la figure divine originelle : l’Homme véritable, l’Adam Kadmon.
Créé par Dieu, l’ange devenu Homme par la chair doit de son vivant et dans ses actes opérer une mue pour ressusciter en toute conscience et librement sa grandeur angélique.
LUCIFER : PASSAGE OBLIGE VERS LA CONNAISSANCE
La quête Luciférienne est la quête du Graal, nous sommes tous des enfants de LUCIFER, ceux qui font des efforts vers la Connaissance et la Sagesse. En loge, nous venons chercher la lumière que nous dispense « notre Lucifer », notre très Vénérable Maître car c’est par lui que se transmet la Lumière qui ouvre nos travaux, qui nous fait passer des Ténèbres à la Lumière, du monde profane au Macrocosme, de Lucifer au GADLU.
Dieu et LUCIFER, lumière et obscurité sont les deux facettes de cette réalité suprême qui n’est qu’un.LUCIFER est la réflexion de Dieu à l’intérieur de nous même, l’ombre de notre Etre Divin en nous même. L’influx Luciférien est une force sans laquelle la Terre n’aurait pu poursuivre son évolution. La chute du grain de blé et son implantation en cette Terre, lui donnent une particulière chance d’éclosion : celle de devenir Dieu. Celui qui veut monter doit d’abord descendre, la chute hors du Monde de Lumière, l’exil et le combat dans le Monde de l’Aveuglement et de l’Ignorance, permet la triomphale rédemption finale.
LUCIFER et CHRIST sont complémentaires, ils sont les Ténèbres et la Lumière, le Pentagramme pointe en bas évoquant la Connaissance transcendante qui renvoie à la quête d’immortalité et d’absolu pour LUCIFER et pointe en haut pour CHRIST dont la rédemption lui permet l’accès au Divin.
Mais alors, lorsque le Compagnon voit pour la première fois l’Etoile Flamboyante, celle-ci ne devrait elle pas être pointe vers le bas et ne se redresser que lorsqu’il passe des Ténèbres à la Lumière, qu’il renaît HIRAM ?
Le sceau de Salomon est explicite, un Triangle vers le haut et un Triangle vers le bas ce qui permet à l’Homme Luciférien de se positionner au centre, pas encore pneumatique mais plus du tout Hylique. Un peu comme le positionnement du Maître maçon qui, une fois la transmutation opérée, est passé de l’Equerre au compas mais revient se positionner au centre pour parfaire son évolution spirituelle.
Albert Pike Maître alchimiste du XIX ème Siècle avait déjà largement compris la nécessité du passage obligé par l’instruction Luciférienne et avait dit à ce propos, je cite : « Pour les F :. M :. Gnostiques, le G.A.D.L.U est Lucifer, »le porteur de Lumière ». L'Alchimie devrait être maintenue dans la pureté de la doctrine luciférienne « (sic).
Mais le Connaissant n’en est pas pour autant un Sage. Le savoir pouvant donner le pouvoir, l’évolution spirituelle de l’Homme se fera en fonction de la bonne ou mauvaise utilisation qu’il en fera. Il se doit de dompter son savoir et de le faire évoluer de la Matière vers l’Esprit, de l’Equerre vers le Compas en faisant que le Compas reste ouvert sur l’Equerre, de LUCIFER vers le DIVIN.
« Il est de la nature de la Lumière de ne pouvoir paraître à nos yeux sans être revêtue de quelque corps et il faut que ce corps soit propre aussi à recevoir la Lumière.
Là où donc est la Lumière, là doit être aussi nécessairement le véhicule de cette lumière. Voila le moyen le plus facile pour ne point errer. Cherche donc la Lumière de ton Esprit, la Lumière qui est enveloppée dans les Ténèbres et apprends de là que le sujet le plus vil de tous les ignorants est le plus noble selon les Sages » (BOUDDHA)
Gnôthi Seauton (Connais toi toi-même)
J’ai dit Très Vénérable Maître.
barnabynutt.com/2017/06/12/travelogue-9-home/
After a decent breakfast in McClay’s, we took a walking tour of the city. It was the ‘Auld Firm’ derby (Rangers Vs Celtic) at noon and so every bar, and many of the shops, had security doormen from about 9.
We wandered the Merchant City, the Necropolis, along the Clyde to the ‘ski-jumps’, the bridge to nowhere, stopping off for coffee at The Lighthouse , the Rennie-MacKintosh newspaper building now converted into a creative architecture and design centre.
Glasgow is architecturally eclectic and seems to have had many phases of development, each at odds with the previous. It’s scruffy. Our visit was a Saturday morning, but it had the feel of a place constantly waking up with a hangover.
All reasons why I liked it a lot!
The urban motorway is ridiculous. There is no thought in the city for any other form of travel than the motorcar. Huge space is given over to tarmac with upto 16 lanes of traffic carving right through the city centre, right through people’s living space. Away from the motorways, making progress on foot is difficult with priority always with the traffic and little pedestrian infrastructure.
Along the way we found a some fantastic mural and street art (there’s a ‘Street Art Trail’ for next time). It was interesting to see how well respected the work was with no graffiti or ‘modifications’, quite different to the way that it’s treated in Poland.
The picture above and the two below show work by Australian artist, SMUG. Since marvelling at these magnificent, photorealistic pieces in Glasgow, he has produced another in Leicester, my home town. More of that in a future post.
We collected the car minutes before the parking vouchers expired and after a quick tour of the Clydeside docks and SCC Hydro, headed south and were home 7 hours later.
On the way, Iain pointed out the transition from the North to the Midlands, the Cheshire/Staffordshire border, and the same sense of unease came over us both.
We turned off the motorway and stopped for fuel in Stoke, or Brexitland as we know it. We were greeted by a depressing vision of tanning salons and vaping shops, litter, fast food and intolerance. Given the beauty of previous days, our return to this mundane familiarity was jarring. Iain and I ran out of things to say to one another, both in the same funk.
Over the previous week, the radio had been a constant companion. During the trip, either live or on iPlayer, the serendipity of Nemone’s perfect electronic soundtrack as we drove along the west coast, or the seemingly constant references to Kenny, Jonny and the Fife scene had been a perfect accompaniment to the journey.
Back home after unpacking, the shipping forecast came on the radio, and I could now put a place to those familiar, exotic names…
None better in my experience. It's one of those things for which I'll disregard my tendency toward wheat intolerance.
From Shane Phipps' Empathy Mining blog:
"I’ve had it. I’ve absolutely, freaking, had it.
I’ve had it with the mass shootings.
I’ve had it with the hateful, racist, and bigoted narrative coming from the White House.
I’ve had it with the Tweets.
I’ve had it with the lies.
I’ve had it with the fact that so many of these gunmen are heeding the dog whistles of the president and using his language and messages as the cornerstones of their sick, twisted manifestos.
I hate that, if I wanted to, I could purchase a gun such as the one used in El Paso, that is capable of firing 600 rounds per minute–that’s 10 shots per second.
I’ve had it with the fact that the NRA, an organization I once belonged to, still won’t budge an inch to support laws to limit the rate of fire for guns designed only to kill as many people in as short an amount of time as possible.
And I’ve had it with the fact that there are millions of right wing Christians who apparently have no problem with any of what I just listed above.
In a nation where our new Muslim members of Congress are singled out constantly and asked to denounce Islamic terrorism, as if they somehow supported it, we can’t get a right wing Christian to condemn the fact that white domestic terrorists are being spoon-fed the themes for their manifestos and the motivation to carry them out by the bigoted rubbish coming out of the president’s mouth or Twitter feed on a daily basis. It’s as plain as the nose on your face, right wing Christians, your guy in the White House shares so much of the blame for the increased hateful, racist, bigoted rhetoric and, God help us, actions that are popping up with alarming frequency under this administration. Yet, you refuse to see it. You continue to support the president. You continue to stand steadfastly by the NRA and cling to your right to own rapid-fire-death-spraying-machines. You continue to deflect the conversation away from sensible gun control to the conveniently vague mantra, “we don’t have a gun problem, we have a mental health problem.”
Guess what? I’m actually going to agree with you. We do have a mental health crisis. It starts in the Oval Office and it has spread like cancer into conservative churches across this nation. You have taken the once heart-felt phrase “thoughts and prayers” and dragged it through the blood until it is unrecognizable and meaningless. You have endorsed the architect of the most hateful and mean-spirited administration America has seen since Andrew Jackson, whose portrait Trump chose to hang in his office. You have, by proxy, aligned yourselves with domestic terrorists. You have chosen to remain ignorant of what is actually happening in the country you claim to love. You have taken the message of Jesus Christ and hidden it under a bushel of ignorance and intolerance.
Yes, we have a terrible mental health crisis in the United States right now. If you are among the segment of citizens who refuse to acknowledge the frightening rhetoric coming from the White House, I’m sorry, but you are knee-deep in the center of the problem."
At the MACBA Musuem Barcelona
Holzers 100 word statements on intolerance violence consumerism and abuse of power
Copyright © 2006 Tatiana Cardeal. All rights reserved.
Reprodução proibida. © Todos os direitos reservados.
Father Fire
send me back to the first days
send me back to the beginning
burn my fears, burn intolerance.
thanks for shinning in the sky
since the day we've started this journey.
>Indigenous Meeting at Betioga city.
The Terena People population is about 16.000,
in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul (in 2001)
Copyright © 2006 Tatiana Cardeal. All rights reserved.
Social Justice Night is an event that's part of a larger project put on by Vestal Elementary School in Portland, Oregon where kids learn about all kinds of different cultures from immigrants in their neighborhood. They learn about food, traditions, music, etc with the idea that knowing something about the diversity of people around us gives one an appreciation and respect for their various cultures and for them as human beings. Learning this kind of stuff, particularly from a young age will hopefully go a long way to creating a greater culture of people in the US who will see the positives of diversity and of loving their neighbor, rather than engaging in a culture of intolerance and hate...
"Children are remarkable for their intelligence and ardor, for their curiosity, their intolerance of shams, the clarity and ruthlessness of their vision"
~Aldous Huxley
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arch_of_Galerius_and_Rotunda
History
The 4th-century Roman Emperor Galerius commissioned these two structures as elements of an imperial precinct linked to his Thessaloniki palace. Archeologists have found substantial remains of the palace to the southwest.[1] These three monumental structures were connected by a road that ran through the arch, which rose above the major east-west road of the city.
At the crux of the major axes of the city, the Arch of Galerius emphasized the power of the emperor and linked the monumental structures with the fabric of 4th-century Thessaloniki. The arch was composed of a masonry core faced with marble sculptural panels celebrating a victory over the Sassanid Persians. Less than half of the arch is preserved.
The Rotunda was a massive circular structure with a masonry core that had an oculus like the Pantheon in Rome. It has gone through multiple periods of use and modification as a polytheist temple, a Christian basilica, a Muslim mosque, and again a Christian church (and archaeological site). A minaret is preserved from its use as a mosque, and ancient remains are exposed on its southern side.
Location and description of the Arch
Arch of Galerius, stands on what is now Egnatia & Dimitrios Gounari Street. The arch was built in 298 to 299 AD and dedicated in 303 AD to celebrate the victory of the tetrarch Galerius over the Sassanid Persians and capture of their capital Ctesiphon in 298.[2] The structure was an octopylon (eight-pillared gateway) forming a triple arch that was built of a rubble masonry core faced first with brick and then with marble panels with sculptural relief. The central arched opening was 9.7 m wide and 12.5 m high, and the secondary openings on other side were 4.8 m wide and 6.5 m high. The central arch spanned the portion of the Via Egnatia (primary Roman road from Dyrrhacium to Byzantium) that passed through the city as a Decumanus (east-west major street). A road connecting the Rotunda (125m northeast) with the Palace complex (235m southwest) passed through the arch along its long axis.
Only the northwestern three of the eight pillars and parts of the masonry cores of the arches above survive: i.e., the entire eastern side (4 pillars) and the southernmost one of the western pillars are lost.[3] Extensive consolidation with modern brick has been performed on the exposed masonry cores to protect the monument. The two pillars flanking the central arched passageway retain their sculpted marble slabs, which depict the wars of Galerius against the Persians in broadly panegyric terms.
Sculptural program of the Arch
Understanding of the sculptural program of the arch is limited by the loss of the majority of the marble panels, but the remains give an impression of the whole. Four vertically stacked registers of sculpted decoration were carved on each pillar, each separated by elaborate moldings. A label for the Tigris River indicates that there were likely labels on other representations as the builders deemed necessary. Artistic license was taken in the representations, for instance, the Caesar Galerius is shown in personal combat with the Sassanid Shah Narses in one of the panels; although they never met in battle.[citation needed] On the arch a mounted Galerius attacks a similarly mounted Narses with a lance as an eagle bearing a victory wreath in its talons approaches Galerius. The Caesar sits securely on his rearing horse, while the Persian king appears nearly unhorsed. Terrified Persians cower under the hooves of the Caesar’s horse in the chaos of battle. The panel expresses the power of the Caesar Galerius.
The relief of the imperial family conjoined in a sacrifice of thanksgiving owes its distant prototype to the Augustan reliefs on the Ara Pacis in Rome.[citation needed] Galerius' wife, Diocletian's daughter Valeria, is shown at his side, helping authenticate his connection to his predecessor. Here as elsewhere all the faces have been carefully chiselled off, whether as damnatio memoriae or in later cultural intolerance of images.
In another panel, the tetrarchs are all arrayed in the toga as a Victoria holds a victory wreath out to the heads of the two Augusti. A third panel celebrates the unity of the tetrarchy, with a depiction of the tetrarchs standing together; the depersonalized manner in which the tetrarchs are portrayed is reminiscent of the schematic statues of the tetrarchs in porphyry at St. Mark's Basilica in Venice.[citation needed] Only Galerius is dressed in armor, and he makes the offering upon the altar.
What remains of the arch asserts the glory of the tetrarchy and the prominence of Galerius within that system. The arch celebrates the Roman Empire as part of Galerius’ victory over the Sassanid king.[citation needed] On the right pictured, is Galerius on his horse in an attack on a Sassanid guard.
This is an organisation called Anonymous for the Voiceless and is a Vegan activist group growing throughout the free World, this particular shot shows a Cube of Truth, with images of Animal right violations shown on the monitors. I found their method very thought provoking and powerful (although I am not a Vegan). It is a wonderful thing to be able to express your opinions and openly debate things that you feel strongly about.
The other side of the coin though is a growing intolerance for opinions that are not always politically mainstream, I recall an incident outside our British Parliament where a very elderly gentleman who was a veteran of WW2 was expressing his opinion on a small billboard, (it was not an opinion I shared) but a crowd had gathered around the man and were verbally abusing him.
The right of freedom of speech was a very hard won battle and I believe the right to have an opinion voiced in a none threatening or abusive way is essential in this modern World, as is the right to confront those opinions and talk about them openly, if open discussion does not occur then opinions do not change and are allowed to fester into something far more damaging.
We have some wonderful freedoms and they must be preserved at all costs.
Remember Remember
The Wolfpack - The Wolf Demon by Daniel Arrhakis (2016)
It was not enough the Crimean Invasion, the Shot down of the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (MH17/MAS17), the bombing of Aleppo with the killing of innocents and the persecution of all forms of free expression in Russia now the Wolves also turn to the photographs expositions , vandalizing the free expression of artists !!
NEVER WILL SHUT THE VOICE OF THE INNOCENTS OR THE VOICE OF FREEDOM OF ARTISTS AND PHOTOGRAPHERS !!
theartnewspaper.com/news/moscow-gallery-shuts-photography...
themoscowtimes.com/news/photography-exhibit-on-ukraine-co...
_______________________________________________
It often seems to me that artists have been too silent before so much adversity in this our world dominated by populist politicians, dictators and unscrupulous people who have thrown our humanity to the Dark Ages ... It is time we open our eyes and leave the comfort of the creative uselessness!
In recent times in many countries vandalism and artistic cultural intolerance has grown to become a worrying phenomenon because strangles the Freedom Of Creativity and Art Expression of Peoples, even the destruction of our Cultural Heritage !
Since the attack on cartoonists in France and on writers like Nahed Hattar , through the shameful cover up nude Roman statues of goddesses so as not to offend Iranian president Hassan Rouhani during the visit to France and Italy, we have seen all in recent times !
www.cnn.com/2016/09/25/middleeast/jordan-writer-nahed-hat...
www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jan/26/rome-spares-iranian...
________________________________________________
THIS IS MY PROTEST !! I have had enough of all this !
By Victor Pross
“ART IS ABOUT DECONSTRUCTION!” Tammy cried out, bursting like a cork. “This is an art school, not a syndicated newspaper! This is not a work of art!” Tammy’s whole body was animated with anger.
The student’s turned, as if in reaction to gunfire and beheld a frizzled red head, her checks turning the color of her cherry mane. Her name was Tammy White, a first year art student. “Look at this,” she yelped, pointing to a stack of paintings and drawings of strangely morphed caricatures of celebrities and skewered social stereotypes that greatly exaggerated classes of people from all walks of life. She then spun around unleashing her anger onto a lone figure who stood at his easel in mid brush stroke, creating the wildly diverse caricatures.
“This is a serious art school and he is turning it to a second grade school!” Tammy sputtered to nobody in particular.
The lone figure was me.
I was secluded in a corner of the class room painting. My concentrated focus was momentarily distracted by the outburst. A little head head-turn, the rise of an eye-brow, and then a nod of indifferent acknowledgement was all I cared to offer. I returned to my painting as if nothing had happened.
Tammy’s appearance was as colourful as the paints she used: her hair was died, part red and green, her eye-shadow a gloss blue. Her eyes were made luminous by the dark purple eyeliner and her bone-white skin was stretched over her skeleton like shrink wrap. Her penchant for tie-die t-shirts and olive green army jackets pleaded for attention.
Tammy was not one to give up. “Look at that painting! What does he think he is doing?” I heard the first words of her rambling discourse but my mind dissolved into fog. By the time the diatribe ended, I addressed Tammy openly: “Anything you have to say to me doesn’t make the slightest bit of difference.” I said this without rancour. It was a statement of simple fact, spoken prosaically.
From day one, Tammy took an instant dislike to me, referring to me as “the hick.” In a school saturated with mass-marketed nonconformity, I stood out because it was impossible to classify me. My hair style was that of James Dean, complete with his soulful look, and I was given to wearing leather jackets reminiscent of Brando in “The Wild One”. I was dated, at least in appearance. Or perhaps I was completely from a different planet.
Tammy, too, stood out, but in an entirely different way than me. Her anger, her erratic behaviour raised a red flag in most people, even among those who were angry artist types. During her pubescent school years, Tammy White was trouble. At her high school proem, while other girls primed themselves before mirrors, Tammy sealed herself off in her room and listened to angst-ridden music indulging in self-mutilation. With a razor blade in hand she would carve parallel lines on her arms. A year later, she decided to attend art school to cure her malaise.
In this cadre of self-appointed elitist students, I faced challenges other than mastering drawing and painting skills. While in high school, I saw art school as a light at the end of a dark adolescent tunnel. I had hoped to advance my skills, perhaps find new friendships and enjoy, finally, a sense of direction and meaning. But art school was just as alienating. The students were not versed in the language of “classical realism”—which I had read about---and to which I was attracted. They responded to my work, at first, with quiet amusement. Their gentle sarcasm turned to hostility. Nicknames were becoming contagious and I became known as “the hungry artist” ---a nickname that was pinned with scorn. It was my fault. When I first arrived at the school, I was asked what kind of an artist I was. I did not entirely understanding the question and answered “a Hungry Artist.” This was met with laughter and derision.
Four months at the school, I began to wonder why I enrolled. This wasn’t a thought that came to full conscious awareness and it remained suppressed in the back of my mind. I was still hopeful that I would learn. I was attracted by the name of the school: The Advent-gurde Progressive Arts School. I didn’t know at the time of enrolment what “advent-gurde” meant, but the catchword “progressive” caught my attention.
The school was a melting pot of scamps and roughs, inhabiting a gaggle of pasty geeks and faux lunatic poseurs, a variable compost of cultural caricatures: pretentious beatniks, gay fashion designers, livid lesbians, vegan hippies, neo-beats and deadbeats, art punks, art fags, art Goths and sullen-art introverts who considered learning how to draw or paint an enormous imposition. Every kid’s face was pierced with dozens of rings with smatterings of tattoos on their face or body. Among this motley crew of mongrels, as I mentioned, I stood out…by not standing out. I did not mingle with these kids, these apprentices of abstract culture.
As far as I was concerned, each gum chewing, attention-challenged automaton had been spiritually lobotomized. They all fitted a blinkered mainstream and I was a proud outsider.
I was out of the loop, completely unfamiliar to the political manoeuvrings of the art school and out of step with the life of New York. I did not understand why the students held our vaguely swishy professor, Ivan Wine, in such high regard. In fact, the students loved him. They attached themselves like flies to a no-pest strip to his every word.
When Ivan Wine entered the class that day, he found Tammy in a state he had become accustomed to: perpetually pissed-off. Her sudden bursts of temper was accepted as a given. She was a handful, it was true, but as far as he was concerned, ill-temper and disagreeableness were traits that simply come with the package that is the artist. Ivan Wine had seen it all. Turning toward Wine, Tammy held her hands out in a gesture of frustrated helplessness: “Victor is desecrating the spirit of this school and everything for which we stand—again!”
Wine motioned for calm, placing his index finger against purse lips. He asked Tammy to regain her composure and to please take a seat. “Yes, sir,” she said dutifully, while shooting me a glance that said: step away from the painting to prepare for the daily lecture. The class took their seats and assembled around Wine.
Ivan Wine was a man given to wearing garish purple clothing as it were a classic black tux fitted for the Opera. He wore dark sunglasses in moderately lit rooms and his shaved head gave the appearance of a dirty tennis ball. When he removed his sunglasses, one was struck with piercing blue eyes set within a narrow face with gaunt cheekbones. His head was large for the emaciated, almost girlish overweight body. He wasn’t very tall, standing at 5’7. His skin was puffy, yellowish with thin lips. He was fifty-five years old, but he was blessed with a smooth ageless face. A tattoo that crawled up from his collarbone to his chin appeared to add to the image of youth.
Wine was the founder of the school. Through this school, he sought to erect a “pedantic myth”—using his words--by employing postmodernist philosophy as his framework, hoping that this would give his school a unique signature. He didn’t contribute to postmodernism art too much or its theoretical framework, but he hoped to cash in on it. He presented himself as postmodernism’s greatest defender, purporting great insight into its meaning and purpose.
As Wine began his speech, Tammy turned to the student nearest her and whispered: “He’s a genius.” I winced, turning to look at my surroundings. Wine’s voice faded out in my mind, becoming the sound of someone speaking into a pillow, and it was the room that took my notice. It looked like a dungeon--at worst--and a wine cellar, at best. The kiln brown-red brick that made up the walls was circa 1920s. It was a poorly lit room filled with canvasses, brushes, paints, cans, frames, filthy clothes and art supplies. A row of easels circled the room. My attention having went full circle, from one end of the room to the other, landing back on the students, who sat before the enigmatic flamboyantly purpled attired teacher. Wine’s words came back into my focus as if someone had turned up the volume on a stereo. Either from curiosity or boredom, I decided to listen in:
“The artist is seen as a curious creature, but he is nevertheless deeply admired for his rare talents,” he said, pacing back and forth, before his attentive students. An index finger rested against the palm of his hand. “He is admired for his so-called God-given talent and for his devotion to create masterful works for his fellow human beings that they themselves cannot create. Ideally, the artist should be seen as an altruistic creature, willing to live in poverty and obscurity, his only quest to enrich the spiritual life of the community. But the capitalistic endeavour to seek wealth and fame from one’s art degrades his art. Oh, yes, wealth and fame is sometimes thrust upon him, but such a state should never be the artist’s quest. People find inspiration in works of art--mired in the physical world as they are--and that art is cheapened if mired in enterprise. The true artist’s quest is to create art for art’s sake - his art is above the crass consumer society. Yes, let it be said again and again---the true artist is a solitary misfit who is above petty materialistic luxuries. This, I submit, is the genuine artist. This is the starving artist” Wine’s voice dropped to a baritone and his eyes narrowed and then he said with measured effect: “Ladies and gentlemen, become artists.”
Wine’s luxuriant speaking voice boomed out across the room, a theatrical voice capable of being heard in a large auditorium so that even half-deaf audiences could hear every syllable as if sitting center stage. There was an English lilt to his voice which had become “Americanized”—this being his term.
In a display of false modesty, Wine said: “Well, perhaps I have said enough.”
“Don’t stop now, Mr. Wine!” Tammy exhorted her beaming teacher and the class followed suit. This admiration encouraged Wine and he pressed on in full. He walked back and forth the floor, as if following a single straight line painted across the patch of ground he walked. His booming voice railed on:
“In this class, we will be focusing on creating art. We will not be focusing on marketing art. This is not a marketing class. This is not a business school. We are artists! We will be focusing on progressive art—not representational art. This is not an advertising agency, and in case you know nothing of history…the Renaissance is over. The days of painting the same old canards—half-naked woman in states of undress is over.” Wine’s eyes levelled the room like lava and the eyes of the student’s eyes were moisture. “I’m telling you now –and let it penetrate your young skulls – art and business make for strange bed fellows! Do you want to be artists or business men? I say, with great certainty and hope, you want to be artists!”
The class muttered its affirmation like a jungle tribe by the fire, the room becoming a flutter of doleful head shakes and clearly pronounced avowals of agreement. Nobody was more vocal than Tammy White. “Right on, man,” she called out, looking about to see if the others shared her degree of enthusiasm. The teacher smiled at Tammy, continuing his leisurely pace, summing up his thoughts, as if he were an attorney leading to the conclusion of his case. When Wine completed his speech, Tammy applauded with such vigour that it sounded as if the smacks were being drawn by a leather belt against a side of beef. “Right on, man! Right on!” The student’s enchantment was now complete.
As far as I was concerned, Wine projected both the saint and sinner. Both images, in this case, were unsavoury. As a saint, the image that came to mind was one of a faith healer supposedly healing the afflicted in assembly line fashion. As a sinner, one was reminded of a hair tonic barker selling a worthless liquid to balding narcissists. The truth was that Wine believed in his own dribble. There was no trace of insincerity could not be detected. I did not buy the bunkum that Wine spewed and this put me in considerable hot water with the other students.
****
Wine asked me to remain at the end of the class. I shrugged and nodded compliance. The class emptied, the teacher motioned for me to take a seat. Grabbing the nearest chair with a flourish, I sat in it backwards, tapping my fingers on the wooden back.
Wine pasted on an ingratiating smile and sat across from me. “You don’t seem to fancy the school affections, do you?”
“The a-a-affect…the what?”
“How old are you, Victor…if you don’t mind my asking?”
“I’m Twenty-one.”
“Ah, yes, of course. Well, it looks as though I have a good thirty years on you.”
My manner conveyed an impatient intolerance to small talk. This did not go unnoticed and the smile suddenly disappeared from Wine’s face much faster than when it first came.
He got straight to the point: “Are you pulling some kind of stunt?” Before I could utter a response, the teacher shot out a series of objections concluding with: …”if you are trying to draw attention to yourself…”
I held up my hand in protest. “That is not my attention.”
Wine’s smile returned, and this time it did not look warm, but was reminiscent of a wolf that senses the need to prepare for an attack.
“Well, then, what is your attention?”
“I’m trying to learn how to paint.” There was a moment of silence, as Wine touched the tip of his chin.
Then a velvet tone came: “Well, of course, Victor.” “That’s the point of this school. We all want to learn how to paint.”
“I’m trying to find my own voice.” I added.
“Of course.”
I felt as if Wine smirked derisively, or rather that is how I saw it reflected on his face. He answered, attempting to conceal what I had perceived: “You want to find your own individuality? Yes, of course. I understand that. Well, naiveté is a trait of youth.”
I said nothing. I looked Wine squarely in the eye, waiting for him to say something next. He did: “Why caricature?”
I shrugged. “Why not caricature. You gave us an assignment to paint to a person of our choice. I wanted to make it my own. I didn’t want it to be an exact replica of a photograph.”
“That is precisely my point,” Wine said, with sudden animation in voice, feeling he was making progress with the meeting. “I wanted to you and everybody else to paint from a photograph. I wanted to demonstrate to you, and the class, the banality of representational painting in our photographic age.”
“Okay, I understand the lesson. That’s why I chose to do a caricature. My painting is not a banal replica of a photograph. Hey, man, my intention was to express a microcosm, a small fraction of popular culture—or the sub culture—and to shoot it through my own individual prism. I have certain artistic goals that I want to reach…it’s something that I want to achieve. I have the imagination. I want to learn the craft and techniques of painting.” I pointed to the broad expanse of clear white canvases. “I want to express my own feelings and thoughts onto those. I don’t think I can do that effectively…if I don’t know the basics.” My eyes rested on the canvasses. It was as if they calling out to me to give them form and identity. My voice then fell to a near whisper: “I want to paint for my own satisfaction—and I want to make a living from my work. That’s why I’m here.” I tore my eyes off of the canvasses and they fell back on Wine. “Almost everything I’ve seen here, so far, goes against my instincts.” My statement was direct and without defiance. It was said as if I were simply stating my right to breath.
“Why of course,” Wine said, the velvet in his voice returned, only now more exaggerated than a caricature sketch. “There are some things you need to take into account. For over twenty-five hundreds humanity has learned new ways to create artistic expression, some of it very unorthodox. An artist who wishes to explore new terrain would do well from learning all he can from those who have gone before. If we are to express our, um, originally, we must not repeat the traditions of the past.”
I made a motion to speak, but Wine held his hand to hold me off.
“You are safe in the world of illustrations. You can work fairgrounds dishing out caricatures or you can work for an advertising agency creating disposable art, such as storyboards. And disposable is what it is; nobody reveres a storyboard artist. Their work does not hang in galleries and museums. You want to be recognized as an artist, Victor. Yes, and even though in some circles illustration can be considered as ‘art’ it will always remain inferior to gallery-sanctioned art. That bothers you, I’m sure. My speculation is that you want your peers, and eventually, I’m very positive, the art world to recognize that caricature as—potentially—an art form.”
“That’s not true,” I answered evenly. “I want to be recognized as an artist…because I am an artist. That’s first and primary. I’m an artist…who can paint and draw caricatures.” I said nothing else, a seconds passed between us.
I observed that Wine’s face was an expressionless mask, and that his eyes were icy with disapproval.
The bottom line to this little slice-of-life recall: the school was much more concerned with “expressing” than learning actual drawing and painting skills. That may very well be okay with other artist types, but it was not in the interest of this artist. I wanted to learn how to draw—than to break “the rules” if I so chose—and I wanted to learn how to paint—to paint outside of my drawn lines—if I so chose. I was the misfit among a cadre of faux misfits.
I left the school and I eventually went on to teach myself how to draw. What I learned…is what you now see in my art.
:}
Excerpt from Wikipedia:
Hollywood & Highland is a shopping center and entertainment complex at Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue in the Hollywood district in Los Angeles. The 387,000-square-foot (36,000 m2) center also includes TCL Chinese Theatre (formerly Grauman's Chinese Theatre, and Mann's Chinese Theatre) and the Dolby Theatre (formerly known as the Kodak Theatre), home to the Academy Awards. The historic site was once the home of the famed Hollywood Hotel. Located in the heart of Hollywood, along the Hollywood Walk of Fame, it is among the most visited tourist destinations in Los Angeles.
The complex sits just across Hollywood Blvd. from the El Capitan Theatre and offers views of the Hollywood Hills and Hollywood Sign to the north, Santa Monica Mountains to the west and downtown Los Angeles to the east. The centerpiece of the complex is a massive three-story courtyard inspired by the Babylon scene from the D.W. Griffith film Intolerance. The developer of the shopping center built parts of the archway and two pillars with elephant sculptures on the capitals, just as seen in the film, to the same full scale. It gives visitors an idea of how large the original set must have been.
The center has over 70 shops and 25 restaurants. Major retail tenants that face Hollywood Boulevard include American Eagle Outfitters, Forever 21, and Sephora. The complex also houses a Lucky Strike Lanes bowling alley, a six-plex movie theater, and a nightclub. Hollywood & Highland also houses 65,000 square feet (6,000 m2) of gathering spaces including the Grand Ballroom, used for the Oscars Governors Ball. Celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck operates his regional headquarters out of the complex. The center also includes television broadcast facilities that in 2004 included the studios for the daily talk show On Air With Ryan Seacrest. Currently, the studio is home to Revolt TV.
The 637-room Loews Hollywood Hotel is also part of the site. The Metro B Line's subway station of the same name is beneath the structure.
Society is always hostile to those who are somehow different from the majority...
Despite the fact that I put a particular original character here, this is not a scene for the story I mentioned. Actually this shot was inspired by some recent discussions I read this week out of my usual curiosity, and a lot of negative feedback there drove me to make a picture with a social commentary again, because there were too much emotions. :)
Vuk: "I told you they could never understand you. And what they don't understand, they fear. And what they fear..."
Jean Grey: "...they seek to destroy."
© X-Men: The Dark Phoenix
Dave favourite all time record
Itchycoo Park
The Small Faces
Cock Lane City of London
Dave told me how recently he headed to his local pub under a cloud of grief. His Uncle had recently died. Dave's Uncle had played a big role in his life, his family are tight and they all played their part. His Uncle had always been his protector and they were very close. Tragically he was senselessly attacked in a pub, no one knows why. It was quick and devastating and within a few timeless moments he was in the car park fighting for his life after the perpetrators had jumped down from a parked vehicle onto his head.
He died in hospital after being in a coma. Dave was by his bedside when heard the strains of Sweet Caroline being sung by spectators on television, which was his Uncle favourite karaoke tune. Somehow this made Dave realise this was the moment he was going to pass.
As Dave stood by the bar early on that Saturday morning it was obvious that he was suffering. Ultimately, he was missing his Uncle, his mate who he loved was gone and the silence and subsequent loneliness within their relationship was overwhelming at that point. The irreplaceable bond the normality of friendship torn apart by an act of cowardly senseless violence. The aftermath of this the people left behind will carry the weight of for life.
But he was approached by a stranger who basically asked if he was alright. Of course he wasn't and they started talking then had another drink. Someone had basically taken time to find out what was happening. Dave found this man's compassion moving. This man is called Bogdan and he is Romanian. He is in England to work - he is in traffic control - just so he can get enough money to send back to Romanian so his 12-year daughter can get a good education.
This disturbed Dave as he was upset that Bogdan couldn't live with his daughter together as a family. All he wanted to do was to make sure his daughter got an education that would benefit her future and if that meant time apart then that's what they had to do. A common struggle all over the world. Dave really felt a lot of empathy for Bogdan and his wife, this mirrored the empathy Bogdan had felt for Dave a stranger standing at a bar. The result somehow temporarily took Dave's mind away from his grief.
We now live in Brexit Britain and for years we had a sustained campaign to leave the European Union with slogan's like 'Take back control'. And while the EU wasn't perfect and needed reform and no country wants criminal gangs coming in, we were exposed to a Leave campaign that led to divisions intolerance and extremism. A campaign that perpetrated to help the working class against the 'elites' which was actually financed by super rich establishment figures who ticked every box of being 'elites' themselves and have no intention of a more equal society. They want even more control and the vote to leave helped them secure their wealth and power. Their agenda would be to paint Bogdan as a problem for the area he is staying, whereas the real problems are the violence and separation that led to Dave and Bogdan meeting in the first place.
And somehow Dave's interaction with Bogdan shined a light on the fact we are all part of the human race. With more understanding and tolerance, we can have better times finding what bonds us instead of looking for what divides us.
Dave and Bogdan ended up watching Romanian third division football highlights because of the incredible ability/wonders of modern technology.
A day both of them won't forget in a hurry, because it's life. Life to be shared and experienced.
This is a great quote from Dave "We are fortunate to get this chance to live and exist and find love and family. Our sadness at death is only a measure of how deeply we have loved."
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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arch_of_Galerius_and_Rotunda
The Arch of Galerius (Gr.: αψίδα του Γαλερίου) (or Kamara, Gr.:καμάρα) and the Rotunda (ροτόντα) are neighboring early 4th-century monuments in the city of Thessaloniki, in the region of Central Macedonia in northern Greece. The Rotunda is also known as the Church of Agios Georgios or (in English) the Rotunda of St. George.
History
The 4th-century Roman Emperor Galerius commissioned these two structures as elements of an imperial precinct linked to his Thessaloniki palace. Archeologists have found substantial remains of the palace to the southwest.[1] These three monumental structures were connected by a road that ran through the arch, which rose above the major east-west road of the city.
At the crux of the major axes of the city, the Arch of Galerius emphasized the power of the emperor and linked the monumental structures with the fabric of 4th-century Thessaloniki. The arch was composed of a masonry core faced with marble sculptural panels celebrating a victory over the Sassanid Persians. Less than half of the arch is preserved.
The Rotunda was a massive circular structure with a masonry core that had an oculus like the Pantheon in Rome. It has gone through multiple periods of use and modification as a polytheist temple, a Christian basilica, a Muslim mosque, and again a Christian church (and archaeological site). A minaret is preserved from its use as a mosque, and ancient remains are exposed on its southern side.
Location and description of the Arch
The Arch of Galerius
Arch of Galerius, stands on what is now Egnatia & Dimitrios Gounari Street. The arch was built in 298 to 299 AD and dedicated in 303 AD to celebrate the victory of the tetrarch Galerius over the Sassanid Persians and capture of their capital Ctesiphon in 298.[2] The structure was an octopylon (eight-pillared gateway) forming a triple arch that was built of a rubble masonry core faced first with brick and then with marble panels with sculptural relief. The central arched opening was 9.7 m wide and 12.5 m high, and the secondary openings on other side were 4.8 m wide and 6.5 m high. The central arch spanned the portion of the Via Egnatia (primary Roman road from Dyrrhacium to Byzantium) that passed through the city as a Decumanus (east-west major street). A road connecting the Rotunda (125m northeast) with the Palace complex (235m southwest) passed through the arch along its long axis.
Only the northwestern three of the eight pillars and parts of the masonry cores of the arches above survive: i.e., the entire eastern side (4 pillars) and the southernmost one of the western pillars are lost.[3] Extensive consolidation with modern brick has been performed on the exposed masonry cores to protect the monument. The two pillars flanking the central arched passageway retain their sculpted marble slabs, which depict the wars of Galerius against the Persians in broadly panegyric terms.
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Understanding of the sculptural program of the arch is limited by the loss of the majority of the marble panels, but the remains give an impression of the whole. Four vertically stacked registers of sculpted decoration were carved on each pillar, each separated by elaborate moldings. A label for the Tigris River indicates that there were likely labels on other representations as the builders deemed necessary. Artistic license was taken in the representations, for instance, the Caesar Galerius is shown in personal combat with the Sassanid Shah Narses in one of the panels; although they never met in battle.[citation needed] On the arch a mounted Galerius attacks a similarly mounted Narses with a lance as an eagle bearing a victory wreath in its talons approaches Galerius. The Caesar sits securely on his rearing horse, while the Persian king appears nearly unhorsed. Terrified Persians cower under the hooves of the Caesar’s horse in the chaos of battle. The panel expresses the power of the Caesar Galerius.
The relief of the imperial family conjoined in a sacrifice of thanksgiving owes its distant prototype to the Augustan reliefs on the Ara Pacis in Rome.[citation needed] Galerius' wife, Diocletian's daughter Valeria, is shown at his side, helping authenticate his connection to his predecessor. Here as elsewhere all the faces have been carefully chiselled off, whether as damnatio memoriae or in later cultural intolerance of images.
In another panel, the tetrarchs are all arrayed in the toga as a Victoria holds a victory wreath out to the heads of the two Augusti. A third panel celebrates the unity of the tetrarchy, with a depiction of the tetrarchs standing together; the depersonalized manner in which the tetrarchs are portrayed is reminiscent of the schematic statues of the tetrarchs in porphyry at St. Mark's Basilica in Venice.[citation needed] Only Galerius is dressed in armor, and he makes the offering upon the altar.
What remains of the arch asserts the glory of the tetrarchy and the prominence of Galerius within that system. The arch celebrates the Roman Empire as part of Galerius’ victory over the Sassanid king.[citation needed] On the right pictured, is Galerius on his horse in an attack on a Sassanid guard.
Rotunda of Galerius
Location and description of the Rotunda
UNESCO World Heritage Site Paleochristian and Byzantine Monuments of Thessaloniki
Name as inscribed on the World Heritage List
Ac.galerius2.jpg
The Rotunda of Galerius
Type Cultural
Criteria i, ii, iv
Reference 456
UNESCO region Europe and North America
Coordinates 40°38′00″N 22°57′10.5″E
Inscription history
Inscription 1988 (12th Session)
The Rotunda of Galerius is 125m northeast of the Arch of Galerius at 40°37'59.77"N, 22°57'9.77"E. It is also known (by its consecration and use) as the Greek Orthodox Church of Agios Georgios, and is informally called the Church of the Rotunda (or simply The Rotunda). The cylindrical structure was built in 306 AD on the orders of the tetrarch Galerius, who was thought to have intended it to be his mausoleum. It was more likely intended as a temple; it is not known to what god it would have been dedicated.
The Rotunda has a diameter of 24.5 m. Its walls are more than 6 m thick, which is why it has withstood Thessaloniki's earthquakes. The walls are interrupted by eight rectangular bays, with the south bay forming the entrance. A flat brick dome, 30 m high at the peak, crowns the cylindrical structure. In its original design, the dome of the Rotunda had an oculus, as does the Pantheon in Rome.
Uses of the Rotunda
View of the interior with remnants of the mosaics.
After Galerius's death in 311, he was buried at Gamzigrad (Felix Romuliana) near Zajecar, Serbia. The Rotunda stood empty until the Emperor Constantine I ordered it converted into a Christian church in the 4th century. The church was embellished with very high quality mosaics. Only fragments have survived of the original decoration, for example, a band depicting saints with hands raised in prayer, in front of complex architectural fantasies.
The building was used as a church for over 1,200 years until the city fell to the Ottomans. In 1590 it was converted into a mosque, called the Mosque of Suleyman Hortaji Effendi, and a minaret was added to the structure. It was used as a mosque until 1912, when the Greeks captured the city during the Balkan War. Greek Orthodox officials reconsecrated the structure as a church, and they left the minaret. The structure was damaged during an earthquake in 1978 but was subsequently restored. As of 2004, the minaret was still being stabilized with scaffolding. The building is now a historical monument under the Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities of the Greek Ministry of Culture, although the Greek Orthodox Church has access to the church for various festivities.
The Rotunda is the oldest of Thessaloniki's churches. Some Greek publications claim it is the oldest Christian church in the world, although there are competitors for that title. It is the most important surviving example of a church from the early Christian period of the Greek-speaking part of the Roman Empire.
(fr) : où Malthus rencontre Schumpeter . .
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Outlining a Theory of General Creativity . .
. . on a 'Pataphysical projectory
Entropy ≥ Memory ● Creativity ²
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Study of the day:
There is nothing, I say, that men can desire better to preserve their being than to agree with each other in all things, so that the spirits and the bodies of all compose, so to speak, one Spirit and one Body, to strive together to preserve their being, as far as they can, and to seek together, and each for oneself, the useful which is common to all. But (...) As men are subject to passions, it can not be said that they agree together in nature. (...) It is only as they live under the guidance of reason that men can agree together in nature.
Il n’est rien, dis-je, que les hommes puissent souhaiter de mieux pour conserver leur être que de se convenir tous en tout, en sorte que les Esprits et les Corps de tous composent pour ainsi dire un seul Esprit et un seul Corps, de s’efforcer tous ensemble de conserver leur être, autant qu’ils peuvent, et de chercher tous ensemble et chacun pour soi l’utile qui est commun à tous. Mais, (...) en tant que les hommes sont sujets aux passions, on ne peut pas dire qu'ils conviennent en nature. (...) C'est en tant seulement qu'ils vivent sous la conduite de la raison que les hommes peuvent convenir en nature.
( Baruch Spinoza, Eth. IV-18, IV-32..35 )
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rectO-persO | E ≥ m.C² | co~errAnce | TiLt
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the Oscar-winning Hollywood star Cate Blanchett has been appointed as a goodwill ambassador. In a statement from bmmky, Blanchett, where he met with Syrian refugees in Jordan and was said to have witnessed the difficulties faced by refugees. Blanchett, "I'm proud to take on this role. Could not be a more important time to show to and solidarity alongside refugees. Wife are having a crisis unprecedented and needs to be shared by all the world's responsibility. We fork in Current road, or did the compassion road intolerance Does the way we choose? I want my children to choose the path of compassion as a mother because that way more opportunities, there is more optimism and resolution."
the Apricot Kernels Nonsense
In November, 1921, a great English physician, Sir Robert McCarrison (after whom the McCarrison Society for Nutrition and Health is named), visited the USA at the invitation of the University of Pittsburgh, to deliver the annual sixth Mellon Lecture before the Society for Biological Research.
The subject of his paper was “Faulty Food in Relation to Gastro-Intestinal Disorders,” and its salient points centered on the marvelous health and robustness of the Hunzas, who dwell on the northwestern border of what was then British India (now Pakistan).
The sturdy, mountaineer Hunzas are a light-complexioned race of people, much fairer of skin than the natives of the northern plains of India. They claim descent from three soldiers of Alexander the Great who lost their way in one of the precipitous gorges of the Himalayas. They always refer to themselves as Hunzukuts and to their land as Hunza, but ignorant modern writers insist on calling the people Hunzas.
Most of the people of Hunza are Ismaili Muslims, followers of His Highness the Aga Khan. The local language is Brushuski. Urdu and English are also understood by most of people.
The Hunza valley is one of huge glaciers and towering mountains, below which are ice-fields, boulder-strewn torrents and frozen streams.
The lower levels are transformed into verdant gardens in summertime. Narrow roads cling to the crumbling sides of forbidding precipices, which present sheer drops of thousands of feet, with many spots subject to dangerously recurrent bombardments of rock fragments from overhanging masses.
The Hunzas live on a seven-mile line at an elevation of five or six hundred feet from the bottom of a deep cleft between two towering mountain ranges. Some of the glaciers in this section of the world are among the largest known outside the Arctic region. The average height of the mountains is 20,000 feet, with some peaks, such as Rakaposhi, which dominates the whole region, soaring as high as 25,000—a spectacle of breath-taking beauty, too steep to hold snow and usually scarfed by clouds.
Because of the scarcity of food, supplies and transport, the region is closed to the general public and special permission is required to enter it. Travellers to the region have thus been few but those who have seen the wonder of Hunza have returned with glowing tales of the charm and buoyant health of this people.
Snow is a constant factor; long winters keep the entire population more or less housebound for several months at a time. Yet in summer the mercury may climb to 95 degrees in the shade.
For months in the winter the landscape is all one drab, monotonous, monochromatic stretch of grey houses, apricot trees, fields and walls, all are of a uniformly dingy and depressing gray, with lifeless, low-hanging clouds.
Then in life miraculously returns and color is reborn in the rich greens and yellows of the crops and trees. Leading the explosion of awakening, the apricot blossoms in spring stud the landscape with a riot of pastel-tinted pink and white, in vast profusion.
However, it’s not all about the landscape and crops; Sir Robert McCarrison and other travelers who have visited the Hunza-land, have all been particularly impressed by its atmosphere of peace and by the splendid health and amiability of its people.
Cancer researchSo vibrant was the health of those Hunzas with whom McCarrison came into contact that he reported never having seen a case of asthenic dyspepsia, or gastric or duodenal ulcer, of appendicitis, mucous colitis or cancer. Cases of over-sensitivity of the abdomen to nerve impressions, fatigue, anxiety or cold were completely unknown.
The prime physiological purpose of the abdomen, as related to the sensation of hunger, constituted their only consciousness of this part of their anatomy.
McCarrison concluded this part of his lecture by stating, “Indeed, their buoyant abdominal health has, since my return to the West, provided a remarkable contrast with the dyspeptic and colonic lamentations of our highly civilized communities.”
In fact the Hunzas are not perfect: there is one tiny aspect of ill-health. They seem to suffer from eye disorders that are due to the lack of stoves and chimneys. A fire is made in the middle of the floor and the smoke escapes from a small hole in the roof. The gathering smudge in the air is a constant irritant to their eyes.
McCarrison was otherwise amazed at the health and immunity record of the Hunzas, who, though surrounded on all sides by peoples afflicted with all kinds of degenerative and pestilential diseases, still did not contract any of them.
Travelers who have lived and worked with the Hunzas are unanimous in praising their general charm, intelligence, and physical stamina.But the Hunzas were not entirely a benign or benevolent people, by our standards. There is a paradox here.
In his Mellon Lecture McCarrison told us, “They (the Hunzas) are unusually fertile and long-lived, and endowed with nervous systems of notable stability.
Their longevity and fertility were, in the case of one of them, matters of such concern to the ruling chief that he took me to task for what he considered to be my ridiculous eagerness to prolong the lives of the ancients of his people, among whom were many of my patients.
The operation for senile cataract appeared to him a waste of my economic opportunities, and he tentatively suggested instead the introduction of some form of lethal chamber, designed to remove from his realms those who by reason of their age and infirmity were no longer of use to the community.”
But there is no questioning the physical fitness and stamina of this race of men. One writer, R. C. F. Schomberg, commented, “It is quite the usual thing for a Hunza man to walk sixty miles at one stretch, up and down the face of precipices to do his business and return direct.” This author passed through the Hunza country many times. He describes how his Hunza servant went after a stolen horse “and kept up the pursuit in drenching rain over mountains for nearly two days with bare feet.”
Schomberg also tells of seeing a Hunza in mid-winter make two holes in an ice pond, repeatedly dive into one and come out at the other, with as much unconcern as a polar bear.
Sir Aurel Stein records a trip of 200 miles made on foot by a Hunza messenger, a journey that imposed the obstacle of crossing a mountain as high as Mont Blanc. The trip was accomplished in seven days and the messenger returned fresh looking and untired, as if it had been a common, everyday occurrence. The word “tired” does not seem to exist in their lexicon.
In the Journal of the Royal Society of Arts for January 2, 1925, Sir Robert McCarrison wrote: “The powers of endurance of these people are extraordinary; to see a man of this race throw off his scanty garments, revealing a figure which would delight the eye of a Rodin, and plunge into a glacier-fed river in the middle of the winter, as easily as most of us would take a tepid bath, is to realize that perfection of physique and great physical endurance are attainable on the simplest of foods, provided these be of the right kind.”
Now we are getting down to the real message.
McCarrison postulated four main reasons in explanation of their fabulous health. I think it both interesting and advisable to give them all in his own words. He said:
1) “Infants are reared as Nature intended them to be reared–at the breast. If this source of nourishment fails, they die; and at least they are spared the future gastrointestinal miseries, which so often have their origin in the first bottle.”
McCarrison is absolutely in tune with (or rather modern holistic and food experts like me are in tune with HIM!), in saying that if anything other than Mother’s colostrum is put in the infant’s mouth at birth, disastrous food intolerances follow, as night follows day.
2) “The people live on the unsophisticated foods of Nature: milk, eggs, grains, fruits and vegetables. I don’t suppose that one in every thousand of them has ever seen a tinned salmon, a chocolate or a patent infant food, nor that as much sugar is imported into their country in a year as is used in a moderately sized hotel of this city in a single day.”
I’m surprised at the dairy but raw milk fans will make a lot of this. But the number one here is, without question, NO SUGAR and not the apricots!
No manufactured food is also crucial. Never never eat anything that doesn’t look the way Nature created it (and never never eat anything that Monsanto and similar biotech companies have had their dirty hands on).
3) “Their religion (Islam) prohibits alcohol, and although they do not always lead in this respect a strictly religious life, nevertheless they are eminently a tee totalling race.”
(Colonel Lorimer says that the Hunzas occasionally drink a little wine at festivals. Alcohol is not forbidden to Ismalai Mohammedans, but in Hunza the distilling of alcohol has been prohibited in recent years, since McCarrison’s time). So a little quiet wine drinking seems to be no big hazard, if everything else is in place.
4) “Their manner of life requires the vigorous exercise of their bodies.”
No surprise here; we know that staying active is an essential part of health and definitely does protect from cancer.ers take note.
Prints available on my website HERE.
As time passes, I feel more and more disillusioned by human beings. Of course, I can't deny the fact that, as a whole, Humanity achieved impressive things, but as sub-groups or even individuals, results are frankly pathetic. I remember that, as a kid, I was looking at adults with much respect, as models, as goals: now that I am one of them, I see the truth, and I am ashamed.
The key word here is intolerance. It's simply everywhere, everyday. I don't think I need to be specific, but I can point out a few obvious examples: money, religion, sex orientation, skin color, nationality, education level, artistic tastes, etc. Everything is an excuse to start some kind of war, of crusade, against. Always against. Crush the rest to prove your value. Pathetic.
When it comes to those"end of world" discussions, I thought a bit about the subject, and failed to see much reason to actually regret human beings disappearance, besides the usual egocentric thoughts. I don't see how our presence is useful to anything, except to ourselves. So I simply imagined how I would feel the last day, and tried to depict it metaphorically: cold, dry, hopeless, defenseless, scared to the bone, still breathing thanks to the survival instinct, which would be obviously useless in such case.
The image is by no mean a realistic situation: reality is not my point, generally speaking. I don't care about it when I create my pictures, I am much more driven by emotions, impressions, feelings. A vision of the mind, not of the eye. I'm sure you can understand my point of view, even if you disagree with it. Some technical considerations:
- Everything was shot in my home studio, using the very same lighting setup to keep it consistent. This means I had to cover the floor with ashes (coming from my barbecue and chimney cleanings)
- I used 4 different photos of the two subjects holding themselves: my wife and I were posing, and it is always tricky to do it correctly without anyone to guide you. In fact, no photo was satisfactory, so I selected one for the general position, one for the heads position, one for the left arms position, and finally one for the legs.
- The smoke was shot there too, using a smoke machine.
- The hand and face in the ashes were also shot on the place.
- The ghostly faces in the smoke are mine (deformed of course, I don't look that bad).
Hope some will like it!
Shoes On The Danube Bank Memorial: A Poignant Tribute to Holocaust Victims
Introduction:
The Shoes On The Danube Bank Memorial, situated along the majestic Danube River in Budapest, Hungary, stands as a poignant testament to the atrocities of the Holocaust. Created by sculptor Gyula Pauer and filmmaker Can Togay, this memorial serves as a powerful reminder of the countless lives lost during one of the darkest chapters in human history.
Historical Context:
The memorial is a tribute to the Jewish victims of the Arrow Cross militiamen during World War II. In 1944-1945, Budapest witnessed a series of mass executions where thousands of Jews were ordered to remove their shoes before being shot at the edge of the Danube. The river carried away their lifeless bodies, leaving only their empty shoes behind.
Design and Symbolism:
Gyula Pauer and Can Togay's design for the Shoes On The Danube Bank Memorial is simple yet deeply symbolic. Along the riverbank, 60 pairs of iron shoes, ranging from children's shoes to adult footwear, are arranged in a somber fashion. The shoes symbolize the diverse ages and walks of life of the victims who met their tragic end on the same riverbank decades ago.
The arrangement of the shoes is not random; each pair is strategically placed, suggesting a sense of chaos and haste. Some shoes lay scattered, others leaning against each other, creating a haunting scene that reflects the chaotic and harrowing circumstances under which these innocent lives were taken.
The Cold, Unyielding Iron:
The use of iron for the shoes serves as a stark contrast to the vulnerability and humanity associated with footwear. Iron, unyielding and cold, signifies the brutality of the atrocities committed during the Holocaust. The decision to use this material amplifies the emotional impact on visitors, as the weight and rigidity of the shoes become a metaphor for the harsh reality of the events that unfolded along the Danube.
A Call to Remember:
The Shoes On The Danube Bank Memorial is not just a static representation of the past; it serves as a living memorial, urging visitors to reflect on the consequences of hatred and intolerance. As people stroll along the Danube, the sight of the empty shoes resonates with the collective memory of humanity, inviting a collective commitment to ensure that such atrocities never happen again.
Conclusion:
In the heart of Budapest, where the Danube River silently flows, the Shoes On The Danube Bank Memorial stands as a poignant and timeless tribute to the victims of the Holocaust. It is a powerful call to remember, to empathize, and to actively work towards a world where tolerance and compassion triumph over hatred and prejudice. This unassuming memorial, with its iron shoes echoing the footsteps of those who suffered, challenges each visitor to embrace the lessons of history and strive for a future free from the shadows of such dark chapters.
"ON JULY 28th Catalonia’s regional parliament outlawed bullfighting. It is a bit like a German state banning wurst or a French region condemning those pesky berets.
As is the way in fiercely independent Catalonia, the debate over bullfighting became caught up in regional politics. Many Catalans are concerned less about animal welfare than they are about rejecting the bull as a symbol of Spain and distancing Catalonia from Spaniards’ habit of referring to the corrida as the “national fiesta”.
One local newspaper reported that several nationalist parliamentarians had decided to back the ban as “revenge” for a recent decision by Spain’s constitutional court to strike down parts of Catalonia’s autonomy charter, approved by Catalans in a referendum four years ago. Never mind that bullfighting, although in decline in this part of Spain, was once an important part of local culture, or that plenty of Catalans find other ways of tormenting bulls at village fiestas.
Catalans are getting a taste for outlawing whatever irks them. The bar on bullfighting follows a decision by many Catalan towns and cities to ban the Islamic face-covering veil in municipal buildings. Parties are competing to come up with French-style proposals for taking burqa bans further, even though the garment is rarely seen on Catalan streets.
This spasm of intolerance has been incited by campaigns for elections to the Catalan parliament, which are due in late autumn. Many Catalans are tired of the uneasy three-way coalition of socialists, greens and separatists that has governed the region since 2003. Polls predict victory for the business-friendly Convergence and Union coalition (CiU), which preaches greater autonomy for Catalonia but not independence. By providing CiU with a mandate to press for reforms at national level, the return of the nationalists may be good for Spain’s economy, but the impact on Catalonia itself is more difficult to predict. Reaffirming the region’s Catalan identity, and use of the Catalan language, will still be priorities. The politicians are worried, but at least the bulls can sleep easier."
(The Economist - Jul 29th 2010)
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Plaza de la Monumental (Barcelona), 01.08.2010
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Panasonic GF1 + Minolta 58mm Rokkor-X PG f/1.2
St Peter, Stutton, Suffolk
The Ipswich to Manningtree road cuts off a long tongue of land from the rest of Suffolk. As the great Rivers Orwell and Stour roll towards the sea, the edge inexorably closer to each other, until at Shotley gate they meet before emptying into the North Sea. This huge natural harbour is now home to England's largest container port, but you wouldn't think anything of the kind could be so close in the gentle woods and lanes of the Peninsula, except for the cranes which occasionally peep above the treetops, of course. The setting of St Peter is idyllic: you head down through Holbrook, and then into the woods. It sits in a close with several awesomely grand houses for company, and the Stour estuary is below, wild Essex beyond.
The appearance of the church is a little unusual, and requires some investigation. This is one of the south towers found commonly in the Ipswich area. No south aisle was ever built beside it as at neighbouring Holbrook, but several successive Victorian restorations saw the addition of a long south transept which contains an organ chamber and a vestry which is largely invisible from inside the church, and the rebuilding of the chancel with the addition of a north aisle and transept. But the original tracery of the chancel east window was moved into the chancel aisle, which explains why such an overwhelmingly 19th century extension has a medieval window.
None of the restorations were the work of a major local architect. There seems to have been a rolling programme of refurbishment throughout the 1840s and 1850s, probably at the behest of a Tractarian-minded Rector. The two major restorations came in the 1860s and 1870s, and although Richard Phipson, as Norwich Diocesan Architect, certainly oversaw the work, the combination of, first, Hawkins of London, and then the firm of Francis, has left something unusual and interesting.
Stepping inside, this is an almost-entirely early Victorian interior of some high quality. The furnishings are the work of the great Ipswich woodcarver Henry Ringham, who, despite going bankrupt after overspending on his infamous Gothic House, was still sufficiently highly thought of some decades after his death to have an Ipswich road named after him. If they really date from 1842 then they are the major example of his early work.
An outstanding feature of the west end is Stutton's millennium window. These were installed in many churches at the turn of the century, and are too often kitschy and dull. No such charge could possibly levelled against Stutton's. The window is absolutely outstanding of its kind, at once enthralling, theologically articulate and inclusive. The artist was Thomas Denny, whose work is more familiar in the west of England. The upper part depicts a passage from Isaiah: And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind and a covert from the tempest; as rovers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. And the eyes of them that see shall not be dim and the ears of them that hear shall hearken. The lower part depicts the counterpoint passage from the book of Revelation: And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
Either side of the west end are memorials to 17th century Jermys. These are rather striking - they were moved here at the time the chancel was rebuilt, and depict Sir Isaac and Lady Jane Jermy on the south wall, with their son Sir John and Lady Mary Jermy opposite. The verses are well worth a second glance for an insight into 17th Century eloquence.
A remarkable memorial from more than a century earlier is at first sight rather unexciting. It is under the carpet at the east end of the nave, commemorating John Smythe of Stutton Hall, who died in 1534. It is a brass plaque in English, reading O(f your charity pray for the soule) of John Smythe, Knight. John deceased the XIIIIth day of August in the year of Our Lord MCCCCCXXXIIII O(n his soul)e Jesus have mercy. There is no figure, no heraldic devices, no trimmings at all. So what makes it so interesting? Well, at some stage, probably in the late 1540s, possibly in the early 1640s, or perhaps at some time between or shortly afterwards, all the parts of the inscription that reflect Catholic theology and doctrine have been viciously raked out, with either a sword-tip or chisel. So, we have lost f your charity pray for the soul and, at the end, n his soul. A fascinating document of the protestant intolerance of early modern England.
The chancel has been reordered in a curious manner. The rood screen is almost certainly also by Henry Ringham, making it a work of some significance, and was installed here before the chancel arch was rebuilt in 1862. It has been set further east, with the altar brought forward, and now provides an elegant backdrop to the sanctuary.
All the 19th Century glass is worth a look, being a record of work through the decades of the 19th century. Some is the 1840s work of Charles Clutterbuck, which as Pevsner points out makes them rare survivals in Suffolk. As often on the peninsula, the church suffered blast damage during the last War and several windows are lost, but these losses are recorded in their replacements. The Ward & Hughes-style window of St Helen and St Peter appears to date from the 1850s, and if so it is a remarkably early example of such a thing in Suffolk, where such papistry would have been controversial until well into the 1860s. Powell's glass of the post-Resurrection Christ greeting his Disciples on the shores of Galilee of a couple of decades later must have struck a chord of familiarity in this coastal parish, and remains a good example of the workshop's early work in Suffolk.
There is more good work in the north transept and chapel, but unfortunately this is now used as a meeting room, and is kept locked. You can see it through the glass partition, but it is impossible to photograph. Otherwise, this is a interesting and welcoming church, with a beautiful setting and a strong sense of continuity.
I took this shot about 20 minutes after we had returned home from the vet where Fynn had his ultrasound examination. Fynn hadn't been out in the garden all morning because only a masochist or an incurable optimist lets a cat out who is supposed to go to the vet later during the day. I don't fall in either of these categories (anymore). Thankfully we didn't have to wait long at the vet. Fynn hated that they shaved his belly but the rest of the procedure wasn't too stressful for him. The good news is that they didn't find anything really bad (like a tumor). His lymph nodes look normal and the mucosa is only slightly swollen. The bad news is that his intestines are almost completely empty although he eats which means that his digestion doesn't work at all and we still don't know why. As his diarrhea seemed to get worse under the medication which he received because of his coccidia problem, it's possible that it's some sort of intolerance. For the moment he doesn't have to take these pills anymore and instead receives some other medicine which is supposed to regulate the bowel function. For the moment we can only wait if things will get better within the next few days. In the meantime Cleo and Fynn are comparing their naked bellies.
Support this project on LEGO Ideas: ideas.lego.com/projects/8320b852-59f7-4edb-9baa-54f01b3bc7c1
BK-900 "Burgermeister Rex" -- clearly this creation is the byproduct of what happens when I'm brainstorming what to build next, and I suddenly get really hungry.
In all truthfulness, on one weekend afternoon I sat and pondered what sort of whimsical thing to build, when I realized I hadn't eaten all day. I then came up with the idea of the iconic Burger King "King" piloting a bipedal mechwarrior Whopper!
The construction was rather streamlined and straightforward, with many of the design aspects borrowed from last year's Mecha Mouse. The only real challenge was in the brainstorming phase when I was considering building a rival McDonald's mech unit, but alas didn't want to spend $20 on a custom-printed Ronald McDonald minifigure from eBay. Maybe I'll just build a Colonel Sanders one next instead.
Fact: during construction, I actually took a break and went to my nearest Burger King for lunch and inspiration. I ate four regular burgers, a large order of fries, and 20 chicken nuggets.
Fact: I have a severe food intolerance for mayonnaise, which means I'm unable to eat a Whopper anyway. This is why I only eat plain hamburgers with nothing but ketchup.
STAND4LOVE is an awareness project set to launch this summer 2012 to promote the visibility and rights of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Straight couples. Two adults should have the right to love without discrimination and intolerance. Marriage should be available to any loving couple. Let's end hatred and discrimination now.
Support STAND4LOVE!
For More Information: stand4love.wordpress.com/
♥ Thanks to my dear SL friend Rico for brining awareness to all of us♥
You can see this peculiar shadow on the ruins at Ephesus, a city which was known in Biblical times as a hub for sorcery, idol worship, superstitions and witchcraft. Paul the apostle's account in the Book of Acts describes a riot in the amphitheatre when the crowd chanted “Great is Diana of the Ephesians” when faced with the new religion of Christianity. Acts tells us that their main concern was financial, in that the silversmiths made a good living from fashioning the idols though Paul was put into prison later and faced death. Acts later describes how a number of citizens of Ephesus, who had been practicing sorcery, brought their incantation books and burned them at a public bonfire, the value of which was a day's wages for them. In 380 Christianity became the state religion.
Today, although Turkey is classed as secular, it is 99 per cent Muslim with a dubious history of intolerance of Christianity as witnessed through the atrocities of the Armenian massacre.
I do celebrate on Halloween but not the dark arts, I celebrate because it's my birthday!
I've several photos where this strange shadow is visible.
More Essex Churches
These are more examples of Essex Church images that show the Architecture, the Interiors, the Exteriors and especially the Stained Glass Windows that I have taken over the last two to three years. Hope you enjoy them as much as I did visiting them.
Billericay is a large town of Essex of approx 35,000 people and close to the now City of Chelmsford (8.9 miles) with close ties to rail and motorway (M25).
The United Reformed Church had it’s original building in Billericay High Street, this building still stands and is a remarkable survivor of religious intolerance. This early building was believed to have been owned by Christopher Martin who later became the Governor of the ship ‘The Mayflower’, he unfortunately was not able to fllow his dream of Non-Conformism and died shortly after his arrival in America. However 4 or 5 others from Billericay did.
The Church itself is now in Chapel Street and in 1725 a lease was obtained and by the 1750’s the freehold was purchased. This now was taken down (now called the Old Burial Ground) and a new building was erected further up Chapel Street at the cost of £1,455, Architect was James Fenton, who had a blue plaque unveiled in 2012 in Chelmsford and was buried in the Non-Conformist Graveyard in London Road, Chelmsford.
Unfortuately I haven’t been inside the building so I have managed to find out more about this historical place.
The center courtyard of the complex includes themes taken from the sets of the Iraq/Babylon scenes from the DW Griffith movie "Intolerance".
In 2021, the faux Mesopotamian elements and elephants were removed in an effort to distance the complex from the racial views of DW Griffith.
Hollywood/Los Angeles; June 2018
* www.latimes.com/business/story/2021-07-31/hollywood-highl...
In-phone Panorama Stitched (Samsung Note 8)
Support this project on LEGO Ideas: ideas.lego.com/projects/8320b852-59f7-4edb-9baa-54f01b3bc7c1
BK-900 "Burgermeister Rex" -- clearly this creation is the byproduct of what happens when I'm brainstorming what to build next, and I suddenly get really hungry.
In all truthfulness, on one weekend afternoon I sat and pondered what sort of whimsical thing to build, when I realized I hadn't eaten all day. I then came up with the idea of the iconic Burger King "King" piloting a bipedal mechwarrior Whopper!
The construction was rather streamlined and straightforward, with many of the design aspects borrowed from last year's Mecha Mouse. The only real challenge was in the brainstorming phase when I was considering building a rival McDonald's mech unit, but alas didn't want to spend $20 on a custom-printed Ronald McDonald minifigure from eBay. Maybe I'll just build a Colonel Sanders one next instead.
Fact: during construction, I actually took a break and went to my nearest Burger King for lunch and inspiration. I ate four regular burgers, a large order of fries, and 20 chicken nuggets.
Fact: I have a severe food intolerance for mayonnaise, which means I'm unable to eat a Whopper anyway. This is why I only eat plain hamburgers with nothing but ketchup.
When I was a kid, I was a great fan of all the biblical stories. I thought they were perfect illustrations of how Humanity should live: tolerance, love, hard work, solidarity. These values really meant something for me, and I was convinced that spreading the word was the best thing to do to make the world a better place.
Then, as the years passed, I realized that these nice parables were mostly for children. Adults would literally fight each other to *force* anyone not thinking the same way to do so. Despite those values, anyone not willing to follow the very same ideas would be considered as an enemy, and treated as such.
Don't get me wrong, I am not talking about one religion particularly: if one takes a look at History books, it is easy to see how all of them have been used as reasons to conquer, divide, exterminate. They still are: turn your TV set on any news channel, and you are going to see many outrageous examples, from many sides.
While there are lots of good things to be learned from religious books, I really cannot understand how something supposed to raise the spirit have led to intolerance, segregation, violence, wars, and deaths by millions. It really is a great, great shame, and definitely contributed to turn me away from religion. Maybe it is time, in this 21st century, to really forget about religion being used as a political tool. Mixing governments and spirituality sounds so anachronistic to me.
A few words about the creation of this image: I photographed and edited everything, no stock have been used. I first sketched the scenery, to identify the various positions I was going to need, then wore that armor in my home studio and photographed the various crusaders. My wife also posed for the victims. The rest has been shot around my hometown: clouds, ground, fire. Thanks for watching, much appreciated!
built in 1158, this became a powerful centre for the Catholic Church which made it an obvious target for the reformation in the 1500's.
Here it stands as a testament to the quality builders/masons of the time and, perhaps, a symbol of intolerance.
Resistance - Art For Freedom - New Icon and Award for the Group by Daniel Arrhakis (2019) :
Resistance - Art For Freedom
www.flickr.com/groups/resistartistsforfreeedom/
The Need To Resist!
More than ever, Democracy and Values such as Equality, Freedom, Tolerance, Environmental Defense, which we considered as Universals are now in Danger in many regions of the World.
Once again ascend Dictatorial regimes or of Populist character and even Fascist that try to divide and oppress the people through Intolerance, Fear, Racism, Sexual, Religious or Gender Discrimination.
Many Artists are people who feel more than anyone because of their sensitivity to the changes of the reality and times, and have always had a role of denunciation but also of fighting the forces of the shadows that try to dominate the Peoples.
This Group is for those Resistants !!
With the music : Fearless Motivation - A New Dawn | A New Beginning - Song Mix (Epic Music)
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Sculpture on background of the bust of the Portuguese Republic made by the sculptor Francisco dos Santos.
In right the The Torch of the Statue of Liberty, New York, Unite States; Modified for this work (stock images.
Model from stock images modified for this work.
The colors of the French Flag and elements /symbols of the France Libre Resistance.
of anger, hatred, intolerance and miseducation!
"Anger and intolerance are the enemies of correct understanding." - Mahatma Gandhi
Watch La Haine
Mr. Brown Pelican's true goal is to convert lush forests into arid deserts. That's why Mr. Pelican spends his leisure time devising ever more dysfunctional ways to exercise control through indirect coercion or through psychological pressure or manipulation. That's why he's trying so hard to prevent whistle blowers from reporting that wherever you look, you'll see him enforcing intolerance in the name of tolerance. You'll see him suppressing freedom in the name of freedom. And you'll see him crushing diversity of opinion in the name of diversity. Does anybody else feel the way I do, or am I alone in my disgust with Mr. Brown Pelican?
The shop windows along State Street celebrate the Holiday Season, and the good reverend has set up shop in front of a window pane with the words "give warmth."
Unfortunately his message is one of intolerance and hatred. He's been spewing his venom at unsuspecting passersby for decades, and will undoubtedly continue to do so until the day he croaks.
Mahatma Gandhi October 2nd, 1869 - January 30th, 1948.
"My life is my message"
"Where there is love there is life"
"An eye for an eye only leaves the whole world blind"
"Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever"
"The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others."
"Anger and intolerance are the enemies of correct understanding"
"You must be the change you wish to see in the world"
"The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong"
"It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver"
This wonderful statue of Mahatma Gandhi is in the bay area of San Francisco. Above are some of my favorite quotes from this amazing man. This Albert Einstein quote best describes the man.
"Generations to come, it may be, will scarce believe that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth"
Excactly one year ago on 20th november 2020, on TDoR, I got my court order to be legal Awena, a woman. This was the best gift in my life. I never will forget this day.
We still must fight together against intolerance, non-acceptance, discrimination, refusal of our right of self-determination, violation of our human rights, murderung transgender for being themselves, for being trans.
We are humans, we love and live our life.
Have a nice weekend and week, stay safe and healthy.
Awena 💋💋