Tuesday, January 24, 2012
2012 - THE YEAR OF THE WATER DRAGON
The last Year of the Dragon, which occurred in 2000, was fraught with fear. There was a lot of hand wringing about the collapse of our technological world, the Y2K bug and other millennial prophecies that turned out to be more hype than bite.
The Year of the Dragon is
again just around the corner and fear and trepidation are once more an
issue. This time it’s the Mayan Calendar and the alleged 2012 Armageddon prophecy. Is the Chinese Year of the Dragon, which comes around every 12 years, truly something to be feared?
Unlike
the wicked, fire-breathing dragons of Western mythology, China’s
celestial dragon symbolizes potent and benevolent power. Dragons are
ancient, majestic, wise, and intelligent, and Dragon years are
considered particularly auspicious for new businesses, marriage and
children. Dragon years also tend to boost individual fortunes and the
world economy.
It’s also true, however, that all five of the Chinese Dragon years — Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water — tend to magnify both success and failure. So while they can mark huge achievement, disasters can be
equally immense.
However, the Year of the Water
Dragon (1992, 1952 and 2012) is noted for its calm, visionary
intelligence, and balance of right brain creativity with left brain
logic.
What influence might the Water Dragon, which rules from
January 23, 2012 to February 9, 2013, have on the powerful energies
already anticipated at that time?
Like all Dragons, the Water
Dragon is an innovative, fearless leader. But the Water Dragon is also
far more sensitive to others’ needs, and is more likely to be
progressive and diplomatic, as well as socially and environmentally
conscious. Because Water bestows a more peaceful disposition, this
Dragon will act wisely and intelligently, and unlike his fellow Dragons,
is willing to set aside his ego for the good of all.
This Dragon
is a successful negotiator, and while he is adept at marketing, he also
knows how to apply force skillfully when necessary. On the down side,
the Water Dragon sometimes forgets to build a solid foundation for his
grand plans, and he can hold on too long to pet ideas and projects, and
thus create a famous Dragon-sized disaster.
If you subscribe to
the dawn-of-a-new-era theory of 2012, then it’s easy to see how the
influence of the Water Dragon will increase the likelihood of success
for progressive movements gaining momentum all across the globe. Energy
conservation and green energy-producing technologies, curtailing Global
Warming, challenges to multinational corporations, attention to world
hunger and the renewed health of the oceans and sea creatures will all
likely fare well.
If your expectations tend more toward disaster,
then you might expect tsunamis, hurricanes, monsoons and other weather
extremes to be in the headlines.
But of all the Dragon years, the 2012 Water Dragon is most likely to bestow the Chinese Five Blessings of harmony, virtue, riches, fulfillment and longevity, adding even more weight to the growing belief that 2012 will be about breakthroughs, not disasters.
ARTIST OF THE DAY: HAYAO MIYAZAKI
Hayao Miyazaki (宮崎 駿 Miyazaki Hayao, born January 5, 1941) in Bunkyō, Tokyo, began his animation career in 1961. Through a career that has spanned nearly fifty years, Miyazaki has
attained international acclaim as a maker of animated feature films and,
along with Isao Takahata, co-founded Studio Ghibli, an animation studio and production company. The success of Miyazaki's films has invited comparisons with American animator Walt Disney, he has been named one of the most influential people by Time magazine. Miyazaki's films often incorporate recurrent themes like humanity's relationship to nature and technology, and the difficulty of maintaining a pacifist ethic. Reflecting Miyazaki's feminism, the protagonists of his films are often strong, independent girls or young women. While two of his films, The Castle of Cagliostro and Castle in the Sky, involve traditional villains, his other films like Nausicaä or Princess Mononoke present morally ambiguous antagonists with redeeming qualities.
His movies are not only artistic masterpieces taking live, but also inspiring stories for eyes and soul. Getting to know better his art is one of the best things things I've done this year, so far. Friday, January 20, 2012
ROBERTO & DANIELE CAVALLI PRESENT: Man Autumn/Winter 2012-2013 feat. Son of Dave
LAST WEEKS IN PICS
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| Jan.10 Tauranga, New Zealand. The MV Rena breaks into two pieces. In the days after it ran aground, the Rena spilled about 400 tons of fuel oil, fouling pristine beaches and killing thousands of birds in what has been called New Zealand's worst maritime environment disaster. |
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| Nani Roma and co-pilot Michel Perin drive their mini monster during the 10th stage of the 4th South American edition of the Dakar Rally 2012 from Iquique to Arica in Cile. Jan 11. |
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| New Hampshire residents vote in the Republican presidential primary just before dawn in the basement of the Immaculate Conception Church in Penacook, N.H., Jan 10. |
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| The waning moon seen behind Zweierspitze Mountain above Untervaz, Switzerland, early Jan 12. Breathtaking. |
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| A wild leopard attacks Pintu Deyan after wandering into a residential neighborhood in Gauhati, India. Jan7. The animal killed one person, almost scalped Deyan and injured 3 other people before was captured and caged. Deyan is recovering in hospital. |
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| A man bids farewell to his girlfriend through a train window at a railway station in Heifei, China, Jan 6. Chinese New Year, or Spring Festival, is the biggest of the two Golden Week holidays, giving migrant workers their chance to return to their home with gifts for their families. More then 200 million people are expected to leave this year's holiday. |
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| A costumer stands in his boxer shorts as he waits patiently for his pants to be altered by a street tailor in New Delhi, India, Jan 19. |
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| The cruise ship Costa Concordia lies on its side off the small Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy, on Jan 18. The enormous luxury ocean liner hit a submerged rock as dinner was being served on Jan 13 and began to founder. Most of the crew and passengers survived despite hours of chaos. The captain of the vessel is accused of manslaughter, causing a shipwreck by sailing too close to shore, and abandoning ship. |
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| Members of the Indian Border Security Force wait with their musical instruments and camels amid winter morning fog the start of Republic Day parade rehersals in New Delhi, Jan 18. |
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| Fish farmer swims around nets containing sea bass near south of France city of Marseille. About 60 tons of fish are raised each year in this aquaculture facility. |
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| A musher and his dogs run through the French village of Bonneval-sur-Arc during the eighth stage of the La Grande Odyssee sled dogs race on Jan 16. |
APPLE IS WORTH MORE THEN GREECE.
The company's market cap slipped below the $400 billion mark by midday as Apple's (AAPL, Fortune 500)
stock fell back from the all-time high of $431.37 it set earlier in the
morning. Shares ended the day slightly down, leaving Apple with a $398
billion market value.
Thanks to: CNNWednesday, January 18, 2012
STOP SOPA & PIPA
PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.
The U.S. Congress is considering a new legislation that will destroy the free and open Internet we know it: SOPA (Stop Internet Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect IP Act).
Today Wikipedia, Wordpress, and more than 7000 other websites are participating in a “black out” to protest these bills.
“Tell Congress not to censor the internet NOW!
PROTECT-IP is a bill that has been introduced in the Senate and the House and is moving quickly through Congress. It gives the government and corporations the ability to censor the net, in the name of protecting “creativity”. The law would let the government or corporations censor entire sites– they just have to convince a judge that the site is “dedicated to copyright infringement.”
According to the Congressional Budget Office, this bill would cost us $47 million tax dollars a year — that’s for a fix that won’t work, disrupts the internet, stifles innovation, shuts out diverse voices, and censors the internet. This bill is bad for creativity and does not protect your rights.”
Special thanks to :BOOOOOOOM.com
SPREAD THE WORD
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Thursday, January 12, 2012
"SHUT UP AND PLAY THE HITS" LCD SOUNDSYSTEM GOODBYE
April 2nd 2011, LCD Soundsystem played its final show at Madison Square Garden. Frontman James Murphy decided to disband one of the most celebrated and influential bands of its generation at the peak of its popularity, ensuring that the band would go out on top with the biggest and most ambitious concert of its career. An instantly sold out, near four-hour extravaganza, moving thousands into tears of joy and grief, TIME magazine lamenting "we may never dance again." SHUT UP AND PLAY THE HITS is both a narrative film documenting this once in a life time performance and an intimate portrait of James Murphy as he navigates the lead-up to the show, the day after, and the personal and professional ramifications of his decision.
Thanks to: YouTube
JOHN LENNON, I LOVE YOU.
Monday, January 9, 2012
Saturday, January 7, 2012
GOODEN GALLERY: MOVING IMAGES COLLECTION!
Construct in the Mind of a Sceptic, 2010 from GOODEN Gallery on Vimeo.
Odd Things Persist for Inexplicable Reasons / Sean Branagan, 2010 from GOODEN Gallery on Vimeo.
Fleshless Lovers, 2010 / Sean Branagan from GOODEN Gallery on Vimeo.
LIGHT FORM: Oh My Black Soul, Now art Thou Summoned from GOODEN Gallery on Vimeo.
"THE CLOUD" PROJECT
Projected to be finished in Seoul, South Korea, in 2016, The Cloud
is a controversial pair of skyscrapers designed by Dutch firm MVRDV.
Named after the “pixilated cloud” connecting the two towers, some
critics say there is a strong resemblance to the Twin Towers on 9/11.
Thoughts?
Thanks to: Juxtapoz Magazine
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
SO, WHAT HAPPENED AGAIN IN 2011?
JANUARY
• Egypt cuts its people off
from the internet as the "Arab Spring" begins. In Syria, Tunisia and
elsewhere citizens use social media to organise street protests
FEBRUARY
• IBM's supercomputer Watson takes on, and beats, two former winners of the US gameshow Jeopardy! Despite a few mistakes it easily wins the $1 million prize
MARCH
• Magnitude 9.0 earthquake rocks Japan, followed by a tsunami that devastates towns and leaves 20,000 dead or missing. Explosions at Fukushima nuclear plant lead to meltdown when the cooling system fails
APRIL
• A software bot called LIDA shows the first hints of consciousness by reacting just like a human when carrying out simple tasks
• Personal details of 77 million users are stolen after Sony's PlayStation Network is hacked - forcing the firm to take it offline
MAY
• Author Kayt Sukel stimulates herself to climax in an fMRI scanner to learn more about the female orgasm, brains and the control of pain
JUNE
• Physicists at CERN manage to bottle atoms of anti-hydrogen for 1000 seconds - about 10,000 times longer than before
• Infamous "hacktivist" group LulzSec announces it is disbanding after "50 days of lulz", during which it attacked a number of corporate targets, including Fox News
JULY
• Space shuttle Atlantis lands at NASA's Kennedy Space Center for the last time, bringing the curtain down on the shuttle era after 135 missions
• Antiretroviral drugs shown to not only help those with HIV stay alive but also greatly reduce transmission of the virus to others
AUGUST
• World's first 3D-printed aircraft makes its maiden flight
in the UK. The parts took just two days to design and five to print
in the UK. The parts took just two days to design and five to printSEPTEMBER
• Shock at claims that neutrinos have travelled faster than the speed of light - apparently breaking the existing laws of physics
OCTOBER
• First analysis
of network of 43,000 companies shows a minority - mainly banks - hold a
disproportionate amount of power over the global economy
NOVEMBER
• Breakthrough in Alzheimer's research as cognitive decline is reduced in two people - by jolting brain tissue with electrical impulses
• Launch of NASA's Martian rover,
Curiosity, as part of the Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft. It is due
to arrive at the Red Planet in August 2012
DECEMBER
• Two teams at the Large Hadron Collider announce they have found hints of a lightweight Higgs boson
• Climate change conference in Durban, South Africa, ends with agreement to accept targets on emissions in 2020
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