art monad - アート

drako ojo rosa - monad

2012-01-23T21:17:00.001-08:00

drako ojo rosa - monad, originally uploaded by sanchezdot.

; ) connected - monad - dragon

2012-01-23T10:00:00.001-08:00

; ) connected - monad, originally uploaded by sanchezdot.

; ) connected - monad

Chinese New Year

2012-01-23T09:56:00.001-08:00

Chinese New Year 09 Dragon Head, originally uploaded by Half+Half.

Chinese New Year - Dragon

2012-01-23T09:42:00.001-08:00

Chinese New Year - Dragon, originally uploaded by countrygirlatheart.

Manchester Chinatown for the Chinese New Year

Bellagio Chinese New Year dragon engraving

2012-01-23T09:41:00.001-08:00

Bellagio Chinese New Year dragon engraving, originally uploaded by bizarrojorge.

Bellagio Chinese New Year dragon engraving

Gold dragon beside a junk display in the Bellagio Botanical Gardens.

Chinese New Year dragon, year of the dog, Bangkok, Thailand

2012-01-23T09:38:00.001-08:00

Chinese New Year dragon, year of the dog, Bangkok, Thailand, originally uploaded by David Halbakken.

Serpent/Dragon lantern, Chinese New Year, Christchurch.

2012-01-23T09:36:00.001-08:00

Serpent/Dragon lantern, Chinese New Year, Christchurch., originally uploaded by bkiwik.

Chinese New Year is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. In China, it is known as "Spring Festival," the literal translation of the Chinese name 春節 (Pinyin: Chūnjié), since the spring season in Chinese calendar starts with lichun, the first solar term in a Chinese calendar year. It marks the end of the winter season, analogous to the Western carnival. The festival begins on the first day of the first month (Chinese: 正月; pinyin: Zhēngyuè) in the traditional Chinese calendar and ends with Lantern Festival which is on the 15th day. Chinese New Year's Eve, a day where Chinese families gather for their annual reunion dinner, is known as Chúxī (除夕) or "Eve of the Passing Year." Because the Chinese calendar is lunisolar, the Chinese New Year is often referred to as the "Lunar New Year".

Chinese New Year is the longest and most important festivity in the Chinese calendar. The origin of Chinese New Year is itself centuries old and gains significance because of several myths and traditions. Chinese New Year is celebrated in countries and territories with significant Chinese populations, such as Mainland China, Hong Kong,[2] Indonesia, Macau, Malaysia, Philippines[3][4] , Singapore,[5] Taiwan, Thailand, and also in Chinatowns elsewhere. Chinese New Year is considered a major holiday for the Chinese and has had influence on the lunar new year celebrations of its geographic neighbors. These include Korean (Seollal), Bhutanese (Losar), and Vietnamese cultures.

Within China, regional customs and traditions concerning the celebration of the Chinese new year vary widely. People will pour out their money to buy presents, decoration, material, food, and clothing. It is also the tradition that every family thoroughly cleans the house to sweep away any ill-fortune in hopes to make way for good incoming luck. Windows and doors will be decorated with red colour paper-cuts and couplets with popular themes of "good fortune" or "happiness", "wealth", and "longevity". On the Eve of Chinese New Year, supper is a feast with families. Food will include such items as pigs, ducks, chicken and sweet delicacies. The family will end the night with firecrackers. Early the next morning, children will greet their parents by wishing them a healthy and happy new year, and receive money in red paper envelopes. The Chinese New Year tradition is to reconcile, forget all grudges and sincerely wish peace and happiness for everyone.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_New_Year

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_%28zodiac%29

Cesar Millan - The Dog Whisperer -

2011-05-07T14:32:00.000-07:00

Cesar Millan, (born César Millán Favela; August 27, 1969) is a Mexican-American self-taught, professional dog trainer widely known for his television series The Dog Whisperer, now in its seventh season and broadcast in more than eighty countries worldwide. Prior to The Dog Whisperer series, Millan focused on rehabilitating especially aggressive dogs and founded the Dog Psychology Center in South Los Angeles (2002–2008) — under construction in a new Los Angeles location as of late 2009.

Millan's first three books, including Cesar's Way, all became New York Times best sellers, have cumulatively sold two million copies in the United States and are available in 14 other countries. In 2009, in conjunction with IMG, Millan introduced a monthly magazine also titled Cesar's Way — with the Wall Street Journal reporting at that time that half of American consumers recognized Millan. With Ilusión Millan, he founded the Cesar and Ilusión Millan Foundation — since re-named the Millan Foundation. He is working with Yale University to create a children's curriculum based on his work.

Millan's most important tool in both his success with dogs and business has sometimes been attributed to a personal sense of balance, what The New York Times called "a sort of über-balanced mien."

In 2002, after a profile in the Los Angeles Times, Millan worked with MPH Entertainment, Inc. developing a television pilot for the Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan, a reality television series that follows Millan as he works in the field of dog rehabilitation. The series premiered on September 13, 2004 on the National Geographic Channel. The show would become National Geographic's #1 show during its first season. The show is also known as Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan or The Dog Whisperer, outside the USA, and is now in its seventh season and broadcast in more than eighty countries worldwide.

The program demonstrates Cesar Millan's application of his philosophy that healthy, balanced dogs require strong 'pack leadership' from their owners, specifically in the form of exercise, discipline and affection (in that order), with Millan demonstrating how owners can achieve and maintain a leadership role with their dogs. The program highlights Millan at work rehabilitating dogs, and is not intended as a dog training guide. Each episode contains repeated warnings that viewers should not try some of the behavior modification techniques at home.

Millan's book Cesar's Way debuted with the show's second season, becoming a bestseller. Millan works with a broad spectrum of individuals, including celebrities Oprah Winfrey, Nicolas Cage, Will Smith and Vin Diesel.

http://blog.thedogwhisperertips.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cesar_Millan

http://www.elpais.com/articulo/portada/Mitad/hombre/mitad/perro/elpepusoceps/20110424elpepspor_4/Tes

~ Happy-Happy ~

2011-03-12T22:30:00.001-08:00

~ Happy-Happy ~, originally uploaded by ViaMoi.

~ Happy-Happy ~

Milo, my Flickr Famous Feline.
Milo is far from a charm, but coming along nicely. I'm not a cat fan, but this HellBoy showed up on my old house patio about 5 years ago, and he was only 5-6 weeks old.
The lessons I have learned about unconditional love, have come from the love/rejection I get from this spoiled rotten, teen tyrant feline. Milo, my bundle of joy!

Many thanks to all flickr friends & external visitors that stopped into my 3D Phake Phord image that I posted yesterday, I'm always unsure of posting non camera related images. All comments and invite great appreciated and thank you.

Have a wonderful Sunday and BIG HELLO from Ottawa, Canada to all around the globe.

DSCN5366 Harvey Peeking (archive)

2011-03-12T22:18:00.001-08:00

DSCN5366 Harvey Peeking (archive), originally uploaded by Mike McCaffrey.

Happy New Year

2011-03-12T22:17:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year, originally uploaded by Sue90ca Hit Hard Again: Another Snow Day!.

Biblioteca Central - UNAM Central Library

2010-11-08T21:21:00.001-08:00

Biblioteca Central, originally uploaded by Sergio.Arturo.

Juan O'Gorman (July 6, 1905 – January 17, 1982) was a Mexican painter and architect.

O'Gorman was born in Coyoacán, then a village to the south of Mexico City and now a borough of the Federal District, to an Irish father, Cecil Crawford O'Gorman (a painter himself) and a Mexican mother. In the 1920s he studied architecture at the Academy of San Carlos, the Art and Architecture school at the National Autonomous University. He became a well known architect, worked on the new Bank of Mexico building, and under the influence of Le Corbusier introduced modern functionalist architecture to Mexico City with his 1929 houses at San Angel.

Mural in library Gertrudis Bocanegra, Pátzcuaro, Michoacán

An important early commission was for a house and studio for painters Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo, built in 1931-32, with its symbolic bridge. Rivera, in turn, influenced O'Gorman's painting. In 1932, Narciso Bassols, then Secretary of Education, appointed O'Gorman to the position of Head of Architectural Office of the Ministry of Public Education, where he went on to design and build 26 elementary schools in Mexico City. The schools were built with the philosophy of "eliminating all architectural style and executing constructions technically."

House of Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo

As he matured O'Gorman turned away from strict functionalism and worked to develop an organic architecture, combining the influence of Frank Lloyd Wright with traditional Mexican constructions.

His paintings often treated Mexican history, landscape, and legends. He painted the murals in the Independence Room in Mexico City's Chapultepec Castle, and the huge murals of his own 1952 Central Library of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, designed with Gustavo Saavedra and Juan Martinez de Velasco. See also Mexican Muralism.

In 1959, together with fellow artists, Raúl Anguiano, Jesús Guerrero Galván, and Carlos Orozco Romero, Juan O'Gorman founded the militant Unión de Pintores y Grabadores de México.

He died on January 17, 1982, as a result of suicide. Authorities believe the artist grew despondent after being diagnosed with a heart ailment which curtailed his work. O'Gorman, who was 76 years old, was found dead at his home.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_O%27Gorman

http://www.donquijote.org/culture/spain/architects/gorman.asp

Premio Príncipe de Asturias 2009

2010-11-08T21:14:00.001-08:00

Premio Príncipe de Asturias 2009, originally uploaded by José Lira.

La Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) obtuvo el Premio Príncipe de Asturias 2009, en la categoría de Comunicación y Humanidades. (10 de junio).
¡¡¡¡Goooooyaaaaaa!!!

¡¡¡¡Cachún, cachún, ra-ra!!!!
¡¡¡¡Cachún, cachún, ra-ra!!!!
¡¡¡¡Goooooyaaaaaa!!!
¡¡¡¡Universidadddddddddd!!!!

Felicidades...

En la imagen, la Biblioteca Central de la UNAM
con murales de Juan OGorman.
Las pinturas muestran la cosmovisión del
México prehispánico y el encuentro
con la Conquista Española.
La UNAM forma parte del Patrimonio Cultural
de la Humanidad.

UNAM University

2010-11-08T21:13:00.001-08:00

UNAM University, originally uploaded by lucanicae.

laca de Olinalá Gro.

2010-08-02T09:33:00.005-07:00

laca de Olinalá Gro., originally uploaded by mirepe.

Laca linaloense hecha en madera de linalóe que es una madera aromática propia del lugar donde se elabora esta artesanía que es de la comunidad de Olinalá Gro.

Bird Gourd Olinala

2010-08-02T09:33:00.003-07:00

Bird Gourd Olinala, originally uploaded by Teyacapan.

This gourd bowl that has been covered with lacquer and painted with flowers is typical of the work from the Olinala area of Guerrero Mexico

Olinala Gourd Guerrero Mexico

2010-08-02T09:33:00.001-07:00

Olinala Gourd Guerrero Mexico, originally uploaded by Teyacapan.

Here's a colorful lacquered gourd from Olinala Guerrero to get everyone in the Christmas spirit

Azul

2010-08-02T09:13:00.001-07:00

Azul, originally uploaded by La Lupe.

Ceramics and pottery in Mexico date far back before the Pre-Columbian period for thousands of years, when the ceramic arts and pottery crafts developed with the first advanced civilizations and cultures of Mesoamerica. With one exception, pre-Hispanic wares were not glazed, but rather burnished and painted with colored fine clay slips. The potter’s wheel was unknown as well, with pieces being shaped by molding, coiling and other methods.

After the Spanish Invasion and Conquest, European techniques and designs were introduced, nearly wiping out the native traditions. Indigenous traditions survive in a few pottery items such as comals, and the addition of indigenous design elements into mostly European motifs. Today, ceramics are still produced from traditional items such as dishes, kitchen utensils to new items such as sculptures and folk art. Despite the fame of the prior, the bulk of ceramic items produced in the country are floor and wall tiles along with bathroom fixtures. Mexico has a number of well-known artisan ceramic traditions, most of which are in the center and south of the country. Examples are the Talavera of Puebla, the majolica of Guanajuato, the various wares of the Guadalajara area, and barro negro of Oaxaca. A more recent addition is the production of Mata Ortiz or Pakimé wares in Chihuahua. While the number of artisans has been dropping due to completion from mass produced items, the production of folk art and fine ware still has an important role in the Mexican economy and the production of pottery in general is still important to Mexican culture.

The making of earthenware began to replace stone utensils in Mexico began around the Purrón period (2300-1500 B.C.E.). Many of these first ceramics were gourd or squash shaped, a carry over from when these vegetables were used to carry liquids. This earthenware developed into a pottery tradition which was mostly made in natural clay and thinly coated with a fine clay slip. Most clays in Mexico need temper to regulate water absorption, with one significant exception being the clay used in the Fine Orangeware of the Gulf Coast.

Pre-hispanic vessels were shaped by modeling, coiling or molding. Except for a proto wheel used by the Zapotecs, the potter’s wheel was unknown until the Spanish Conquest. Simple pinch pots or coiled pots were usually made by the family, with larger molded pieces made by craftsmen. The earliest molded pieces were simply clay pressed against a pre-existing bowl, but double molds and slip casting came to be use to make bowls with relief decorations. Famous examples of this type exist in Tlaxcala and Puebla states. Many figurines were also made using molds. Sometimes vessels were made with several molded pieces with the upper part finished by coiling.

With one exception, pre-Hispanic pieces were not glazed, but rather the finish was made with a slip made of extremely fine clay. This slip often had mineral pigments added for color, which could be added before and/or after firing. Firing was done in an open fire or in a pit. Figurines were often done in the family hearth. Pots were fired in a heap covered with wood which was done on the ground or in a pit. The use of this method for firing most often led to incompletely fired pots, with the notable exception of Fine Orangeware.

The only glazed ware from Mesoamerica is called Plumbate. It was glazed with a fine slip mixed with lead and fired by a special technique. It was produced only for a short time and its appearance marks the Early Post Classic period at many archeological sites.

There are over thirty known methods to have been used decorate pre-Hispanic pottery including pressing designs into the clay with textiles, use of rocker stamps, or pressing items such as shells and the use of pointed sticks. Various manners of putting and preserving colors both during and after firing were also employed. Designs generally fall into four categories: geometric, realistic or naturalistic (generally stylized animals and people), symbolic and pictographic. Most designs are related to designs on other crafts and on artistic works such as murals. All of these pottery styles and methods can still be found in modern Mexico.

17th or 18th century plate from Puebla

The Spanish Conquest introduced European traditions of pottery and had severe effects upon native traditions. Some pottery forms survived intact, such as comals, grinders (molcajetes), basic cooking bowls/utensils and censers. This was mostly done in plain orangeware and some were colored red and black. All pre-Hispanic figurines, since they were almost always related to religion, disappeared and replaced by images of the Virgin Mary, angels, friars, soldiers, devils and European farm animals such as dogs, cattle and sheep. The major effect on production was the introduction of the potter’s wheel, the enclosed kiln, lead glazes and new forms such as candlesticks and olive jars. The importation of European and Asian ceramics mostly affected decoration styles of native produced wares. The impact of these was felt earliest and strongest in the central highlands on Mexico, in and around Mexico City. While some traditional pre-Hispanic style ware was still produced in the early colonial, its quality and aesthetics declined dramatically until it nearly disappeared entirely.

European style ware, especially glazed ware, produced by native craftsmen, began early in the colonial period but was poorly done with only two colors, green and amber. Most decorative elements were stamped on with mixed Spanish and indigenous designs. The most common forms were jugs, pitchers and bowls, all for everyday use. Over time, the production of majolica glazed ware, which was expensive to import from Europe, developed and regulated by the mid 17th century. The best was being produced in Puebla, although it was being also produced in Mexico City, Guadalajara, Aguascalientes and other places. These pieces were primarily had a white or cream colored background with designs painted on them in one or more colors. For the rest of the colonial period, indigenous styles continued to deteriorate all over New Spain, while foreign influences from Europe, Asia and the Middle East produced changes in decorations. By the time of the Mexican War of Independence, Mexican majolica was exported throughout the New World and drove the Spanish version from the market. However, this dominance would not last long before cheaper Delftware from England and Asian wares put pressure on the industry in the 19th century. Mexico continued to import and copy styles from France and England through the 20th century; however, there have been native innovations during the past century and a half as well.

Barro negro cantaro jug at the Museo Estatal de Arte Popular de Oaxaca

Most pottery produced in central Mexico is fired at low temperatures (low-fire) and covered with a glaze made with lead and other minerals. This is because lead will fuse and produce a shine at a firing temperature of less than 800C, while alternatives require temperatures twice as high. The use of lead in these wares has produced health warning in both Mexico and the United States, with the risks being known as early as the late 19th century. Lead from the glaze tends to leach into foods after repeated use. Use of this type of ware has been linked to elevated blood levels in children in Mexico City, Oaxaca and other places and severely high levels in children of potters. The lead content is highest in Oaxacan pottery. This lead content has blocked most rurally produced ceramics from the United States market, where they could fetch much higher prices

In the 1990s, FONART, a government entity that promotes handcrafts and several non-governmental organizations worked to produce an alternative lead-free glaze what works with low-fire ceramics. This glaze is based on boron. They have also worked to get artisans to install $40USD fans in their kilns to make combustion more efficient. This has allowed a significant portion of low-fire ceramics to be stamped “lead free” and allows them to be exported.

However, researchers have found lead content in wares stamped “sin plomo” (without lead). Even though the boron glaze costs less than the traditional lead glaze, many potters refused to change tradition. In all, only half of Mexico’s potters have switched. In some places the problem is the lack of information about the glazes and in some places, artisans claim that they need government financial support, especially for options that warrant a gas-fired kiln. Another problem is that many do not trust the government and ignore warnings.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_pottery_and_ceramics

De colores

2010-08-02T09:11:00.001-07:00

De colores, originally uploaded by La Lupe.

Talavera poblana.

Puebla - Talavera Poblana

2010-08-02T09:07:00.003-07:00

Puebla.- Talavera Poblana, originally uploaded by Conyhm.

Fuente de las Tres Teresas

2010-08-02T09:07:00.001-07:00

Fuente de las Tres Teresas, originally uploaded by Alicia Guzmán Moya.

Lazy Caturday

2010-08-02T09:02:00.001-07:00

Lazy Caturday, originally uploaded by fofurasfelinas.

So cozy and comfy!

Cat Sanctuary - Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil
Cat: Gozamyr

Burrageara Stefan Isler

2010-08-02T08:58:00.001-07:00

Burrageara Stefan Isler, originally uploaded by =Anubis=.

LIFE FOR RENT...

2010-08-02T08:48:00.003-07:00

LIFE FOR RENT..., originally uploaded by PRAVEEN VENUGOPAL.

Life Runs on Parellel Prospectives ... I SAY..

Dedicated For My Dido : www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HwXgVFS5rY

..~

2010-08-02T08:48:00.001-07:00

..~, originally uploaded by ˇ Ŀ ơł чтα ▪▪ ✖ :.

Axolotl

2010-06-05T10:29:00.000-07:00

The axolotl (pronounced /ˈæksəlɒtəl/), Ambystoma mexicanum, is the best known of the Mexican neotenic mole salamanders belonging to the Tiger Salamander complex. Larvae of this species fail to undergo metamorphosis, so the adults remain aquatic and gilled. The species originates from the lake underlying Mexico City and is also called ajolote (which is also the common name for the Mexican Mole Lizard). Axolotls are used extensively in scientific research due to their ability to regenerate most body parts, ease of breeding, and large embryos. They are commonly kept as pets in the United States, Great Britain, Australia, Japan (sold under the name wooper looper (ウーパールーパー, Ūpā Rūpā^?)) and other countries.

Axolotls should not be confused with waterdogs, the larval stage of the closely related Tiger Salamanders (Ambystoma tigrinum and Ambystoma mavortium), which are widespread in much of North America and also occasionally become neotenic, nor with mudpuppies (Necturus spp.), fully-aquatic salamanders which are not closely related to the axolotl but bear a superficial resemblance.

As of 2008^[update], wild axolotls are near extinction due to urbanization in Mexico City and polluted waters. Nonnative fish such as African tilapia and Asian carp have also recently been introduced to the waters. These new fish have been eating the axolotls' young, as well as its primary source of food. The axolotl is currently on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's annual Red List of threatened species.

Axolotl

Leucistic specimen
Conservation status
Critically Endangered (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Amphibia
Order:	Caudata
Family:	Ambystomatidae
Genus:	Ambystoma
Species:	A. mexicanum
Binomial name
*Ambystoma mexicanum* (Shaw, 1789)

A sexually mature adult axolotl, at age 18–24 months, ranges in length from 15–45 centimetres (5.9–18 in), although a size close to 23 centimetres (9.1 in) is most common and greater than 30 centimetres (12 in) is rare. Axolotls possess features typical of salamander larvae, including external gills and a caudal fin extending from behind the head to the vent. Their heads are wide, and their eyes are lidless. Their limbs are underdeveloped and possess long, thin digits. Males are identified by their swollen cloacae lined with papillae, while females are noticeable for their wider bodies full of eggs. Three pairs of external gill stalks (rami) originate behind their heads and are used to move oxygenated water. The external gill rami are lined with filaments (fimbriae) to increase surface area for gas exchange. Four gill slits lined with gill rakers are hidden underneath the external gills. Axolotls have barely visible vestigial teeth, which would have developed during metamorphosis. The primary method of feeding is by suction, during which their rakers interlock to close the gill slits. External gills are used for respiration, although buccal pumping (gulping air from the surface) may also be used in order to provide oxygen to their lungs. Axolotls have four different colours, two naturally occurring colours and two mutants. The two naturally occurring colours are wildtype (varying shades of brown usually with spots) and melanoid (black). The two mutant colours are leucistic (pale pink with black eyes) and albino (golden, tan or pale pink with pink eyes).

The axolotl is only native to Lake Xochimilco and Lake Chalco in central Mexico. Unfortunately for the axolotl, Lake Chalco no longer exists as it was drained by humans to avoid periodic flooding, and Lake Xochimilco remains a diminished glimpse of its former self, existing mainly as canals. The water temperature in Xochimilco rarely rises above 20 °C (68 °F), though it may fall to 6 or 7 °C (45 °F) in the winter, and perhaps lower. The wild population has been put under heavy pressure by the growth of Mexico City. Axolotls are also sold as food in Mexican markets and were a staple in the Aztec diet. They are currently listed by CITES as an endangered species and by IUCN as critically endangered in the wild, with a decreasing population.

Axolotls are members of the Ambystoma tigrinum (Tiger salamander) complex, along with all other Mexican species of Ambystoma. Their habitat is like that of most neotenic species—a high altitude body of water surrounded by a risky terrestrial environment. These conditions are thought to favor neoteny. However, a terrestrial population of Mexican Tiger Salamanders occupies and breeds in the axolotl's habitat.

The axolotl is carnivorous, consuming small prey such as worms, insects, and small fish in the wild. Axolotls locate food by smell, and will "snap" at any potential meal, sucking the food into their stomachs with vacuum force.

http://www.axolotl.org/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axolotl

探頭巴西烏龜 (Red-eared Slider)

2010-06-03T08:56:00.001-07:00

探頭巴西烏龜 (Red-eared Slider), inserito originariamente da *KUO CHUAN.

The red-eared slider (Trachemys scripta elegans) is a semi-aquatic turtle belonging to the family Emydidae. It is a subspecies of pond slider. It is a native of the southern United States, but has become common in various areas of the world due to the pet trade. They are popular pets in the United States, Mexico, the Netherlands, Canada, Japan, and the United Kingdom.

Red-eared slider

Plastron of an adult red-eared slider
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 2.3)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Subclass:	Anapsida
Order:	Testudines
Family:	Emydidae
Genus:	Trachemys
Species:	T. scripta
Subspecies:	T. s. elegans
Trinomial name
Trachemys scripta elegans (Wied-Neuwied, 1839)

Red-eared sliders get their name from the distinctive red mark around their ear. The "slider" part of their name comes from their ability to slide off rocks and logs and into the water quickly. This species was previously known as Troost's turtle in honor of an American herpetologist; Trachemys scripta troostii is now the scientific name for another subspecies, the Cumberland turtle.

Red-eared sliders are almost entirely aquatic, but leave the water to bask in the sun and lay eggs. These reptiles are deceptively fast and are also excellent swimmers. They hunt for prey and will attempt to capture it when the opportunity presents itself. They are aware of predators and people and generally shy away from them. The red-eared slider is known to frantically slide off rocks and logs when approached.

Contrary to the popular misconception that red-eared sliders do not have saliva, they, like most aquatic turtles, have fixed tongues. This is the reason they must eat their food in water.

The female red-eared slider grows to be 25–33 cm (10–13 in) in length and males 20–25 cm (8–10 in). The red stripe on each side of the head distinguishes the red-eared slider from all other North American species. The carapace (top shell) is oval and flattened (especially in the male), has a weak keel that is more pronounced in the young, and the rear marginal scutes are notched. The carapace usually consists of a dark green background with light and dark highly variable markings. The plastron (bottom shell) is yellow with dark paired irregular markings in the center of most scutes. The plastron is highly variable in pattern. The head, legs, and tail are green with fine yellow irregular lines. Some dimorphism occurs between males and females. Male turtles are usually smaller than females but their tail is much longer and thicker. Claws are elongated in males which facilitate courtship and mating. Typically, the cloacal opening of the female is at or under the rear edge of the carapace while the male's opening occurs beyond the edge of the carapace. Older males can sometimes have a melanistic coloration being a dark grayish olive green, with markings being very subdued. The red stripe on the sides of the head may be difficult to see or be absent.

Red-eared sliders are omnivores and eat a variety of animal and plant materials in the wild including, but not limited to fish, crayfish, carrion, tadpoles, snails, crickets, wax worms, aquatic insects and numerous aquatic plant species. The captive diet for pet red-eared sliders should be a varied diet consisting of invertebrates such as worms, aquatic and land plants, and other natural foods. They should never be fed commercial dog food or cat food. Commercial turtle foods can be used sparingly and should not be used as the primary food. Calcium (for shell health) can be supplemented by adding pieces of cuttlebone to the diet, or with commercially available vitamin supplements. A nutritious food readily accepted by young turtles is baby clams soaked in krill oil covered with powdered coral calcium. Younger turtles tend to be more carnivorous (eat more animal protein) than adults do. As they grow larger and older, they become increasingly herbivorous. Live foods are particularly enjoyed and add to the quality of life of captive turtles. Providing a wide variety of foods is the key to success with captive red-eared sliders

Reptiles do not hibernate but actually brumate, becoming less active but occasionally rising for food or water. Brumation can occur in varying degrees. Red-eared sliders brumate over the winter at the bottom of ponds or shallow lakes and they become inactive, generally, in October, when temperatures fall below 50 °F (10 °C). Individuals usually brumate underwater. They have also been found under banks and hollow stumps and rocks. In warmer winter climates they can become active and come to the surface for basking. When the temperature begins to drop again, however, they will quickly return to a brumation state. Sliders will generally come up for food in early March to as late as the end of April. Red-eared sliders kept captive indoors should not hibernate. To prevent attempted hibernation/brumation in an aquarium, lights should be on for 12–14 hours per day and the water temperature should be maintained between 76–80 °F (24–27 °C). Water temperatures must be under 55 °F (13 °C) in order for aquatic turtles to brumate properly. Controlling temperature changes to simulate natural seasonal fluctuations encourages mating behavior.

Courtship and mating activities for red-eared sliders usually occur between March and July, and take place underwater. The male swims toward the female and flutters or vibrates the back side of his long claws on and around her face and head. The female swims toward the male and, if she is receptive, sinks to the bottom for mating. If the female is not receptive, she may become aggressive towards the male. The courtship can take up to forty-five minutes, but the mating itself usually takes only ten to fifteen minutes.^{[citation needed]}

Sometimes a male will appear to be courting another male. This is actually a sign of dominance and they may begin to fight. Juveniles may display the courtship dance, but until the turtles are five years of age they are not mature and are unable to mate.^{[citation needed]}

After mating, the female spends extra time basking in order to keep her eggs warm. She may also have a change of diet, eating only certain foods or not eating as much as she normally would. Mating begins in May and egg-laying occurs in May through early July. A female might lay from two to thirty eggs, with larger females having larger clutches. One female can lay up to five clutches in the same year and clutches are usually spaced twelve to thirty-six days apart. Turtle eggs are fertilized as they are being laid and buried in the sand. The time between mating and egg laying can be days or weeks.

The red-eared slider is commonly kept as a pet and is often sold cheaply (and illegally). Red-eared sliders are the most common type of water turtle kept as pets. As with other turtles, tortoises and box turtles, individuals that survive their first year or two can be expected to live almost as long as their owners. Individuals of this species have lived at least 35 years in captivity.

Red-eared sliders can be quite aggressive—especially when food is involved. If being kept as a pet, care must be taken to prevent injury or even death of its smaller tankmates. However, the opposite can occur if shrimps are introduced as food. Smaller red-eared sliders less than a year old have been known to choke on the shells of the shrimps and suffer from lung puncture.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-eared_slider

Rotwangenschildkröte / Red Eared Slider

2010-06-03T08:55:00.003-07:00

Rotwangenschildkröte / Red Eared Slider, inserito originariamente da designladen.com.

red-eared slider [Trachemys scripta elegans]

2010-06-03T08:55:00.001-07:00

red-eared slider [Trachemys scripta elegans], inserito originariamente da abudulla.saheem.

.::FIRE::. @Burning Life

2010-03-29T11:27:00.001-07:00

.::FIRE::. @Burning Life, inserito originariamente da ♥°ஜ♥°Zaraffa°♥ஜ°♥.

Burning Life

2010-03-29T11:08:00.001-07:00

Burning Life, inserito originariamente da Hitomi Mokusei.

This was a digital sculpture by Faith Maxwell that was on display at Burning Life. It is called Beyond Aqua.

Burning Life 2009 - Heart &

2010-03-29T11:01:00.000-07:00

View more Second Life screenshots on WeGame.

Jazz9OmeteotlLonn at Steamboat Tokio stage

View more Second Life screenshots on WeGame.

Fifteen Love

2010-03-29T10:51:00.003-07:00

Fifteen Love, inserito originariamente da Rod Monkey.

One of my favourite places on the planet - the awe-inspiring and enigmatic 15 giant moai standing tall at Ahu Tongariki on Rapa Nui.

The Sun Hasn't Set On This Boy Yet

2010-03-29T10:51:00.001-07:00

The Sun Hasn't Set On This Boy Yet, inserito originariamente da Rod Monkey.

Rapa Nui...you just have to go. It'll blow you away, trust me.

Ajanta Caves

2010-03-29T10:33:00.005-07:00

Ajanta Caves, inserito originariamente da freakyyash.

The distinctive horse shoe shaped Ajanta caves site as viewed some 8 kms away

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Ajanta Caves (Ajaṇṭā; Devanagari: अजंठा लेणी) in Maharashtra, India are 28 - 30 rock-cut cave monuments created during the first century BCE and 5th century AD, containing paintings and sculptures considered to be masterpieces of both Buddhist religious art and universal pictorial art.

The caves are located just outside the village of Ajinṭhā in Aurangabad district in the Indian state of Maharashtra (N. lat. 20 deg. 30' by E. long. 75 deg. 40'). Since 1983, the Ajanta Caves have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The caves are traditionally numbered starting from the one closest to the village.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajanta_caves

Ajanta Caves, Maharashtra, India

2010-03-29T10:33:00.003-07:00

Ajanta Caves, Maharashtra, India, inserito originariamente da markhillary.

Stunning Buddha carving on the wall...

First period

First sanctuaries - chaytia-grihas - in the up to 75 metres deep canyon of Waghora River were created during the Satavahana dynasty in 2nd - 1st century BCE. Several sanctuaries (including sanctuaries No. 9, 10, 19, 26) were made. Murals preserved from this time belong to the oldest monuments of painted art in India.

Second period

Ajanta Caves, map

There exists scientific controversy regarding the length and time of the second period of Ajanta Caves. While earlier it was considered that caves have been shaped over a longer period of time in 4th - 7th centurys, recently long-time researcher of Ajanta Caves Walter M. Spink considers that most activities have taken place in short time period from 460 - to 480 AD during the reign of Vakataka dynasty, emperor Harishena. At this time there took place simultaneous work of creating some 20 cave temples, for most part viharas - monasteries with sanctuary in the rear centre of structures. Each of cave temples seem to be patronised by influential authority, numerous best available artists have been involved in the work with fruitful rivalry between the neighbouring construction sites.

According to Spink, Ajanta Caves seem to be abandoned shortly after the fall of Harishena circa 480 AD. Since then these temples have been abandoned and gradually forgotten. During the next 1300 years the jungle grew back and the caves were hidden, unvisited and undisturbed.

Rediscovery by Europeans

In 28th April 1819 British officer in the Madras army John Smith during the hunt of tiger accidentally discovered entrance in one of the cave temples (No. 9) deep within the tangled undergrowth. Exploring that first cave, long since a home to nothing more than birds and bats and a lair for other, larger, animals, Captain Smith wrote his name in pencil on one of the walls. Still faintly visible, it records his name and the date, April 1819.

Shortly after this discovery Ajanta Caves became well known and renowned due to their exotic setting, impressive architecture, artworks and mysterious, long forgotten history.

Cave One


Painting of Padmapani and Vajrapani from Cave No. 1

Cave 1

It is first approach and has no relation to the chronological sequence of the caves. It is the first cave on the eastern end of the horse-shoe shaped scarp. According to Spink, it is one of the latest caves to have begun on site and brought to near-completion in the Vākāţaka phase. Although there is no epigraphic evidence, it has been proposed that the Vākāţaka king Harisena may have been the benefactor of this better-preserved cave. A dominant reason for this is that Harisena was not involved initially in patronizing Ajanta.

This cave has one of the most elaborate carvings on its facade with relief sculptures on entablature and ridges. There are scenes carved from the life of the Buddha as well as a number of decorative motifs. A two pillared portico, visible in the 19th-century photographs, has since perished. The cave has a front-court with cells fronted by pillared vestibules on either side. These have a high plinth level. The cave has a porch with simple cells on both ends. The absence of pillared vestibules on the ends suggest that the porch was not excavated in the latest phase of Ajanta when pillared vestibules had become a necessity and norm. Most areas of the porch were once covered with murals, of which many fragments remain. There are three doorways: a central doorway and two side doorways. Two square windows were carved between the doorways to brighten the interiors.

Each wall of the hall inside is nearly 40 feet (12 m) long and 20 feet (6.1 m) high. Twelve pillars make a square colonnade inside supporting the ceiling, and creating spacious aisles along the walls. There is a shrine carved on the rear wall to house an impressive seated image of the Buddha, his hands being in the dharmachakrapravartana mudra. There are four cells on each of the left, rear, and the right walls. The walls are covered with paintings in a fair state of preservation. The scenes depicted are mostly didactic, devotional, and ornamental. The themes are from the Jataka stories (the stories of the Buddha's former existences as Boddhisattva), the life of the Gautama Buddha, and those of his veneration.

Cave Two

Painting, Cave No. 2

Painting from the Ajanta caves

Ajanta Caves

Cave 2, adjacent to Cave 1, is known for the paintings that have been preserved on its walls, ceilings, and pillars. It looks pretty much the same as Cave 1 and is in a better state of preservation.

The facade

Cave 2 has a porch quite different from Cave one. Even the facade carvings seem to be different. The cave is supported by robust pillars, ornamented with designs. The size and ground plan have many things in common with the first cave.

The porch

The front porch consists of cells supported by pillared vestibules on both ends. The cells on the previously "wasted areas" were needed to meet the greater housing requirements in later years. Porch-end cells became a trend in all later Vakataka excavations. The simple single cells on porch-ends were converted into CPVs or were planned to provide more room, symmetry, and beauty.

The paintings on the ceilings and walls of this porch have been widely published. They depict the Jataka tales that are stories of the Buddha's life in former existences as Bodhisattva. The porch's rear wall has a doorway in the center, which allows entrance to the hall. On either side of the door is a square-shaped window to brighten the interior.

The hall

The hall has four colonnades supporting the ceiling and surrounding a square in the center of the hall. Each arm or colonnade of the square is parallel to the respective walls of the hall, making an aisle in between. The colonnades have rock-beams above and below them. The capitals are carved and painted with various decorative themes that include ornamental, human, animal, vegetative, and semi-divine forms.

[edit] The paintings

Paintings are all over the cave except for the floor. At various places the art work has become eroded due to decay and human interference. Therefore, many areas of the painted walls, ceilings, and pillars are fragmentary. The painted narratives of the Jataka tales are depicted only on the walls, which demanded the special attention of the devotee. They are didactic in nature, meant to inform the community about the Buddha's teachings and life through successive births. Their placement on the walls required the devotee to walk through the aisles and 'read' the narratives depicted in various episodes. (Alas, to prevent vandalism, entry into the aisles is restricted by site authorities). The narrative episodes are depicted one after another although not in a linear order. Their identification has been a core area of research since the site's rediscovery in 1819 C.E. Dieter Schlingloff's identifications have updated our knowledge on the subject.

For quite some time the art work was erroneously alluded to as "frescoes". We now know that the proper term for this kind of artwork is mural, because the known process and technique of fresco painting isn't found in this kind of artwork. At Ajanta, the technique and process used to produce this kind of artwork is unlike any other artwork found in the art history of other civilizations. These murals have a certain uniqueness about them, even within the history of South Asian art.

The process of painting involved several stages. The first step was to chisel the rock surface, to make it rough enough to hold the plaster. The plaster was made of clay, hay, dung and lime. Differences are found in the ingredients and their proportions from cave to cave. While the plaster was still wet, the drawings were done and the colors applied. The wet plaster had the capacity to soak the color so that the color became a part of the surface and would not peel off or decay easily. The colors were referred to as 'earth colors' or 'vegetable colors.' Various kinds of stones, minerals, and plants were used in combinations to prepare different colors. Sculptures were often covered with stucco to give them a fine finish and lustrous polish. The stucco had the ingredients of lime and powdered seashell or conch. The latter afforded exceptional shine and smoothness. In cave upper six, some of it is extant. The smoothness resembles the surface of glass. The paint brushes used to create the artwork were made from animal hair and twigs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajanta_caves

Ajanta Caves, Maharashtra, India

2010-03-29T10:33:00.001-07:00

Ajanta Caves, Maharashtra, India, inserito originariamente da markhillary.

Ajanta Caves in Maharashtra, India - about 100km from Aurangabad.

Ajanta Caves India

2010-03-29T10:31:00.003-07:00

Ajanta Caves India, inserito originariamente da Gui Stafford.

Cave 26, Ajanta caves

2010-03-29T10:31:00.001-07:00

Cave 26, Ajanta caves, inserito originariamente da Gui Stafford.

Cave 26, Ajanta caves

2010-03-29T10:30:00.001-07:00

Cave 26, Ajanta caves, inserito originariamente da Gui Stafford.

The first Buddhist cave monuments at Ajanta date from the 2nd and 1st centuries B.C. During the Gupta period (5th and 6th centuries A.D.), many more richly decorated caves were added to the original group. The paintings and sculptures of Ajanta, considered masterpieces of Buddhist religious art, have had a considerable artistic influence.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajanta_caves

2010 Year of the Tiger

2010-01-26T09:51:00.003-08:00

2010 El año del Tigre!!!, inserito originariamente da Nubecitainthemoon.

The Sheng xiao (Chinese: 生肖; pinyin: shēngxiào), better known in English as the Chinese Zodiac, is a scheme that relates each year to an animal and its reputed attributes, according to a 12-year cycle. It has wide currency in several East Asian countries besides China and Taiwan.

Identifying this scheme using the term "zodiac" reflects several similarities to the Western zodiac: both have time cycles divided into 12 parts, each labels at least the majority of those parts with names of animals, and each is widely associated with a culture of attributing influence of a person's relationship to the cycle upon their personality and/or events in their life. Nevertheless, there are major differences: the "Chinese" 12-part cycle is divided into years rather than months; contrary to the association with animals implied in the Greek etymology of "zodiac", actually four of the Western "signs" or "houses" are represented by humans (one such sign being the twins "Gemini") and one is the inanimate balance scale "Libra"; the animals of the Chinese zodiac are not associated with constellations, let alone those spanned by the ecliptic plane.

Tiger (Yang, 3rd Trine, Fixed Element Wood): Unpredictable, rebellious, colorful, powerful, passionate, daring, impulsive, vigorous, stimulating, sincere, affectionate, humanitarian, generous. Can be restless, reckless, impatient, quick-tempered, obstinate, selfish, aggressive, unpredictable.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_zodiac

Metal (Chinese: 金; pinyin: jīn), is the decline of the matter, or the matter's decline stage. Metal is the fourth phase of Wu Xing.

Metal is yin in character, its motion is inwards and its energy is contracting. It is associated with the west and autumn, old age, the planet Venus and the color white. The archetypal metals are silver and gold. Its Primal Spirit is represented by a White Tiger.

The qualities associated with metal are unyieldingness, rigidity, persistence, strength and determination. The metal person is controlling, ambitious, forceful and set in their ways as metal is very strong; and they are self-reliant and prefer to handle their problems alone. The metal person is also materialistic, business oriented and good at organization and stability. However the metal person can also appreciate luxury and enjoy the good things in life. Just as metal can conduct electricity, the Metal person has strong impulses and generative powers and can bring about changes and transformations for those who come into contact with them. Metal is believed to govern the lungs, nose and skin. The negative emotion associated with metal is grief, while the positive emotion is courage.

In Chinese astrology metal is included in the 10 heavenly stems (the five elements in their yin and yang forms), which combine with the 12 earthly branches (or Chinese signs of the zodiac), to form the 60 year cycle. Yang metal years end in 0 (eg 1990), while Yin years end in 1 (eg 1991). Metal governs the Chinese zodiac signs Monkey, Rooster, and Dog.

In Chinese astrology the planet Venus is associated with metal, because it is white in color (the Chinese color of death), and rises in the west as the evening star. However, some Western astrologers have stated that the associations of metal are closer to the Western conception of the planet Saturn, and have suggested on that basis recognizing metal in Western astrology as a 'Combined Element' or 'Material' derived from Air and Earth^{[citation needed]}; just as the planet Saturn rules the Air sign Aquarius and the Earth sign Capricorn.

In the control cycle metal is controlled by fire, as only fire can melt it; and in turn metal controls wood, as only the metal ax can cut down trees. In the conductive cycle, metal produces water (or liquid), either by trapping or holding it in a container, or by being melted into a liquid. In turn metal is produced by the earth, as it has to be dug out of the ground.

However, Cycle of Wu Xing also stated that, excessive volume of wood may defeat small metal, as an axe would be broken or dull after intending to chopping a forest.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal_%28Wu_Xing%29

2010-01-26T09:51:00.001-08:00

2010, inserito originariamente da discontinuidadnoevitable.

Alternate realities

2010-01-25T16:05:00.001-08:00

Comfortably Numb

2010-01-25T15:39:00.001-08:00

Comfortably Numb, inserito originariamente da Rodrigo De Anda.

The ferret is a domestic mammal of the type Mustela putorius furo. Ferrets are sexually dimorphic predators with males being substantially larger than females. They typically have brown, black, white, or mixed fur, have an average length of 20 inches (51 cm) including a 5 inch (13 cm) tail, weigh about 1.5–4 pounds (0.7–2 kg), and have a natural lifespan of 7 to 10 years.

Several other small, elongated carnivorous mammals belonging to the family Mustelidae (weasels) also have the word ferret in their common names, including an endangered species, the Black-footed Ferret. The ferret is a very close relative of the polecat, but it is as yet unclear whether it is a domesticated form of the European Polecat, the Steppe Polecat, or some hybrid of the two.

The history of the ferret's domestication is uncertain, like that of most other domestic animals. It is very likely that ferrets have been domesticated for at least 2,500 years. They are still used for hunting rabbits in some parts of the world today, but increasingly they are being kept simply as pets.

Being so closely related to polecats, ferrets are quite easily able to hybridize with them, and this has occasionally resulted in feral colonies of ferret polecat hybrids that have been perceived to have caused damage to native fauna, perhaps most notably in New Zealand. As a result, some parts of the world have imposed restrictions on the keeping of ferrets.

In common with most domestic animals, the original reason for ferrets' domestication by human beings is uncertain but it may have involved hunting. It was most likely domesticated from the European polecat (Mustela putorius), though it is also possible that ferrets are descendants of the Steppe polecat (Mustela eversmannii), or some hybridization thereof. Analysis of mitochondrial DNA suggests that ferrets were domesticated around 2,500 years ago, although what appear to be ferret remains have been dated to 1500 BC. It has been claimed that the ancient Egyptians were the first to domesticate ferrets, but as no mummified remains of a ferret have yet been found, or any hieroglyph of a ferret, and no polecat now occurs wild in the area, that idea seems unlikely.

The Greek word ictis occurs in a play written by Aristophanes, The Acharnians, in 425 BC. Whether this was a reference to ferrets, polecats, or the similar Egyptian Mongoose is uncertain. The name "ferret" is derived from the Latin furittus, meaning "little thief", a likely reference to the common ferret penchant for secreting away small items. Ferrets were probably used by the Romans for hunting.

Colonies of feral ferrets have established themselves in areas where there is no competition from similarly sized predators, such as in the Shetland Islands and in remote regions in New Zealand. Where ferrets coexist with polecats, hybridization is common. It has been claimed that New Zealand has the world's largest feral population of ferret-polecat hybrids. In 1877, farmers in New Zealand demanded that ferrets be introduced into the country to control the rabbit population, which was also introduced by humans. Five ferrets were imported in 1879, and in 1882-1883, 32 shipments of ferrets were made from London, totaling 1,217 animals. Only 678 landed, and 198 were sent from Melbourne, Australia. On the voyage, the ferrets were mated with the European polecat, creating a number of hybrids that were capable of surviving in the wild. In 1884 and 1886, close to 4,000 ferrets and ferret hybrids, 3,099 weasels and 137 stoats were turned loose. Concern was raised that these animals would eventually prey on indigenous wildlife once rabbit populations dropped, and this is exactly what happened to New Zealand bird species which previously had no mammalian predators.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferret

ghost

2010-01-22T17:14:00.001-08:00

ghost, inserito originariamente da sanchezdot.

"The way to find out whether anything exists or not is to depend on the testimony of the ears and eyes of the multitude. If some have heard it or some have seen it then we have to say it exists".

Fractal ART - monad AIWASS - モナド

2010-01-22T17:06:00.001-08:00

Fractal ART - monad AIWASS - モナド, inserito originariamente da sanchezdot.

A fractal is generally "a rough or fragmented geometric shape that can be subdivided into parts, each of which is (at least approximately) a reduced-size copy of the whole," a property called self-similarity. The term was coined by Benoît Mandelbrot in 1975 and was derived from the Latin fractus meaning "broken" or "fractured."

I keep my eye on you, freak!

2010-01-22T16:40:00.001-08:00

I keep my eye on you, freak!, inserito originariamente da 'PixelPlacebo'.

Cool cat!

2010-01-22T16:24:00.001-08:00

Cool cat!, inserito originariamente da Florian Siebeck.

Turquoise-browed motmot

2010-01-22T16:14:00.001-08:00

Turquoise-browed motmot, inserito originariamente da jrbyls.

The Turquoise-browed Motmot (Eumomota superciliosa) also called Torogoz by the inhabitants of El Salvador; is a colourful, medium-sized bird of the motmot family, Momotidae. It inhabits Central America from south-east Mexico (mostly the Yucatán Peninsula), to Costa Rica, where it is common and not considered threatened. It lives in fairly open habitats such as forest edge, gallery forest and scrubland. It is more conspicuous than other motmots, often perching in the open on wires and fences. From these perches it scans for prey, such as insects and small reptiles. White eggs (3-6) are laid in a long tunnel nest in an earth bank or sometimes in a quarry or fresh-water well.

The bird is approximately 34 cm long and weighs about 65 grams. It has a mostly green body with a rufous back and belly. There is a bright blue stripe above the eye and a blue-bordered black patch on the throat. The flight feathers and upperside of the tail are blue. The tips of the tail feathers are shaped like rackets and the bare feather shafts are longer than in other motmots. Although it is often said that motmots pluck the barbs off their tail to create the racketed shape, this is not true; the barbs are weakly attached and fall off due to abrasion with substrates and with routine preening.

Unlike most bird species, where only males express elaborate traits, the Turquoise-browed Motmot expresses the extraordinary racketed tail in both sexes. Research indicates that the tail has evolved to function differently for the sexes. Males apparently use their tail as a sexual signal, as males with longer tails have greater pairing success and reproductive success. In addition to this function, the tail is used by both sexes in a wag-display, whereby the tail is moved back-and-forth in a pendulous fashion. The wag-display is performed in a context unrelated to mating: both sexes perform the wag-display in the presence of a predator, and the display is thought to confer naturally selected benefits by communicating to the predator that it has been seen and that pursuit will not result in capture. This form of interspecific communication is referred to as a pursuit-deterrent signal.

The call is nasal, croaking and far-carrying.

The Turquoise-browed Motmot is a well-known bird in its range and has been chosen as the national bird of both El Salvador and Nicaragua. It has acquired a number of local names including guardabarranco ("ravine-guard") in Nicaragua, torogoz in El Salvador (based on its call) and pájaro reloj ("clock bird") in the Yucatán, based on its habit of wagging its tail like a pendulum. In Costa Rica it is known as Momoto Cejiceleste.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turquoise-browed_Motmot

Astronomy Hall

2010-01-22T16:08:00.001-08:00

Astronomy Hall, inserito originariamente da SdosRemedios.

Hyperbolic projection from a spherical panorama of Astronomy Hall at Chabot Space & Science Center, Oakland, California

2010-01-18T09:23:00.001-08:00

, inserito originariamente da Bernie in Cleveland Ohio...

Flamingo Tongue

2010-01-15T16:30:00.001-08:00

Flamingo Tongue, inserito originariamente da blondecavefish.

The flamingo tongue snail, Latin name Cyphoma gibbosum, is a species of small but brightly colored sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Ovulidae, the cowry allies. Although the live animal is brightly colored, the shell is plain white.

This sea snail is found living on various species of soft corals and sea fans.

The flamingo tongue feeds by browsing on the living tissues of the soft corals on which it lives. Common prey include Briareum spp., Gorgonia spp., Plexaura spp., and Plexaurella spp. Adult female C. gibbosum attach eggs to coral which they have recently fed upon. After roughly a week and a half, the larvae hatch. They are planktonic and eventually settle onto other gorgonian corals. Juveniles tend to remain on the underside of coral branches while adults are far more visible and mobile. Adults scrape the polyps off the coral with their radula, leaving an easily visible feeding scar on the coral. However, the corals can regrow the polyps, and therefore predation by C. gibbosum is generally not lethal.

The shell of this species is white with no markings at all except sometimes a yellow tinge at the margins. The shell is about one inch (25 mm) long, and vaguely resembles the shell of a cowry.

When it is alive, the snail appears bright orange-yellow in color with black markings. However, these colors are not in the shell, but are only due to the thin flaps of live mantle tissue which usually cover the shell. The mantle flaps can be retracted, exposing the shell, but this usually happens only when the animal is attacked.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flamingo_tongue_snail

Through the eyes of a puppy

2010-01-15T16:19:00.001-08:00

Through the eyes of a puppy, inserito originariamente da macropoulos.

Bordeaux Blue Water Lilly

2009-12-21T14:37:00.001-08:00

Bordeaux Blue Water Lilly, inserito originariamente da mistca.

Another gorgeous water lilly in Bordeaux. It was a rare intermission in non-stopping rain....

Oil in Water

2009-12-21T14:35:00.001-08:00

Oil in Water, inserito originariamente da sypix.

Title?

2009-12-21T10:26:00.001-08:00

Title?, inserito originariamente da Chaval Brasil.

What should I title this? :)
Still trying lighter backgrounds for my mother living room...

- - -

Que título devo dar pra isso? :)
Continuo tentando fundos claros para a sala de estar da minha mãe...

Ajudante de Papai Noel

2009-12-21T10:11:00.001-08:00

Ajudante de Papai Noel, inserito originariamente da murilocardoso.

As luzinhas de natal sempre são tão complicadas de se desembaraçar né?

Avatar Movie Trailer [HD]

2009-12-21T09:36:00.001-08:00

Avatar is a 2009 American-British epic 3-D science fiction film written and directed by James Cameron, starring Sam Worthington, Zoë Saldaña, Sigourney Weaver and Stephen Lang. The film was produced by Lightstorm Entertainment and distributed by 20th Century Fox. It premiered in London on December 10, 2009, and was released in the United Kingdom on December 17, 2009, one day prior to its theatrical release in the United States.

The film focuses on an epic conflict on Pandora, an inhabited Earth-sized moon of Polyphemus, one of three fictional gas giants orbiting Alpha Centauri A. On Pandora, human colonists and the sapient humanoid indigenous inhabitants of Pandora, the Na'vi, engage in a war over the planet's resources and the latter's continued existence. The film's title refers to the remotely controlled, genetically engineered human-Na'vi bodies used by the film's human characters to interact with the natives.

Avatar had been in development since 1994 by Cameron, who wrote a 114-page scriptment for the film. Filming was supposed to take place after the completion of Titanic, and the film would have been released in 1999, but according to Cameron, "technology needed to catch up" with his vision of the film. In early 2006, Cameron developed the script, the language, and the culture of Pandora. He has stated that if Avatar is successful, two sequels to the film are planned.

The film was released in traditional 2D and 3D formats, along with an IMAX 3D release in selected theaters. Avatar is officially budgeted at $237 million; some estimates put the cost at $310 – $430 million to produce and an estimated $150 million for marketing, with a further $50 million buffer inserted to cover further costs. The film is being touted as a breakthrough in terms of filmmaking technology, for its development of 3D viewing and stereoscopic filmmaking with cameras that were specially designed for the film's production. Opening to critical acclaim, it earned an estimated $27 million on its opening day and an estimated $73 million domestically after three days. Worldwide, the film earned an estimated $232,180,000 in its opening weekend, the ninth largest opening-weekend gross of all time, and the largest for a non-franchise, non-sequel and original film.

Avatar is centered around the themes of imperialism and biodiversity. Cameron has said that Avatar shares themes with At Play in the Fields of the Lord, and The Emerald Forest, which feature clashes between cultures and civilizations, and acknowledged the film's connection with Dances With Wolves, where a battered soldier finds himself drawn to the tribal culture he was initially fighting against.

At Comic Con 2009, Cameron told attendees that he wanted to make "something that has this spoonful of sugar of all the action and the adventure and all that, which thrills me anyway as a fan, but also wanting to do something that has a conscience, that maybe in the enjoying of it makes you think a little bit about the way you interact with nature and your fellow man." He added that "the Na'vi represent something that is our higher selves, or our aspirational selves, what we would like to think we are," and "the humans in the film, even though there are some good ones salted in, represent what we know to be the parts of ourselves that are trashing our world and maybe condemning ourselves to a grim future."

In a 2007 interview with Time magazine, Cameron addressed the meaning of the film's title, answering the question "What is an avatar, anyway?" with "It's an incarnation of one of the Hindu Gods taking a flesh form. In this film what that means is that the human technology in the future is capable of injecting a human's intelligence into a remotely located body, a biological body. It's not an avatar in the sense of just existing as ones and zeroes in cyberspace. It's actually a physical body."

Pandora, the lush jungle planet with incredible life-forms and non-technological native population, is featuring prominently in several of the famous Russian Sci-Fi authors the Strugatsky brothers works, with one of them, the late 1960-s "Snail on the Slope", specifically featuring a downed human helicopter pilot whose severed head was fastened on a native's body; he becomes integrated into their society – having his conscience in effect implanted into an alien body – and becomes a warrior on their behalf in the end.

"I have an absolute reverence for men who have a sense of duty, courage, but I’m also a child of the ’60s. There’s a part of me who wants to put a daisy in the end of the gun barrel. I believe in peace through superior firepower, but on the other hand I abhor the abuse of power and creeping imperialism disguised as patriotism. Some of these things you can’t raise without being called unpatriotic, but I think it’s very patriotic to question a system that needs to be corralled, or it becomes Rome."

—James Cameron on the film's theme

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avatar_%282009_film%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Cameron

Alice In Wonderland - Official Trailer [HD]

2009-12-21T09:33:00.001-08:00

Alice In Wonderland - Official Trailer [HD]

Alice in Wonderland is an upcoming 2010 fantasy adventure film directed by Tim Burton. It is an extension to the Lewis Carroll novels Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass. The film will use a technique combining live action and motion capture technology. Mia Wasikowska plays the role of Alice, alongside Johnny Depp as The Mad Hatter, Helena Bonham Carter as The Red Queen, Anne Hathaway as The White Queen, and Crispin Glover as The Knave of Hearts.

The film is due for release on March 5, 2010 and the film will be released in Disney Digital 3-D and IMAX 3-D, as well as in regular theaters.

An extension on Lewis Carroll's original stories, Alice Kingsley, now 19, attends a party at a Victorian estate only to find she is about to be proposed to by a rich suitor in front of hundreds of snooty society types. She runs off, following a white rabbit into a hole and ending up in Wonderland, a place she visited many years before, yet she doesn't remember. The White Rabbit claims to have come back for Alice because she is the only one who can slay the Jabberwock, the beast who guards the Red Queen's empire. Alice remains completely unaware of why she is in Wonderland, and is confused about the fact that she had once visited Wonderland years before. She then embarks big and small on an adventure of self discovery and to save Wonderland from the Red Queen's reign of terror with the help of her Wonderland friends.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_in_Wonderland_%282010_film%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Burton

Le vacanze di babbo natale

2009-12-16T14:39:00.001-08:00

Le vacanze di babbo natale, inserito originariamente da danielfuxia.......OGNI TANTO CE LA FA...

Ready to make a Merry Christmas :)

Happy

Hollidays !!!

Alejandro Jodorowsky - Tarot of Marseilles

2009-11-19T09:43:00.001-08:00

Alejandro Jodorowsky talks about his fascination with the Tarot and how he helped recreate what the Tarot of Marseilles looked like 1400 years ago. He also goes into what the different Tarot's mean. This video is an extra from the 2007 restored DVD of The Holy Mountain (1973 film).

Alejandro Jodorowsky

2009-11-18T11:34:00.003-08:00

Alejandro Jodorowsky (Spanish pronunciation: [aleˈxandɾo xoðoˈɾoski]) (born February 7, 1929, in Tocopilla, Chile, of a Jewish Ukrainian immigrant family) is a Chilean scholar in comparative religion, playwright, director, producer, composer, actor, mime, comic book writer, tarot reader, historian and psychotherapist.

Jodorowsky began his artistic activities at a very young age, inspired greatly by film and literature. He began publishing his poetry in Chile when he was 16. At this time, he worked alongside the Chilean poets Nicanor Parra and Enrique Lihn. He developed an interest in puppetry and mime. He published his first book of poetry when he was 16. At 17, he debuted as an actor and a year later he created the pantomime troupe, Teatro Mímico. In 1953, Jodorowsky wrote his first play, El minotauro (The Minotaur). That same year he traveled to Paris to study pantomime with Etienne Decroux, the teacher of Marcel Marceau. The next year he joined Marcel Marceau theatre troupe; the performances realized during this collaboration toured worldwide. In 1955 he attended university in Santiago, Chile. After performing in Mexico in 1960, Jodorowsky decided to continue his stay in order to pursue other theatrical endeavors.

In February 1962, in Paris, Jodorowsky, along with Fernando Arrabal and Roland Topor, initiated the Panic Movement^[1], an artistic movement centered around three basic elements: terror, humor, and simultaneity. These acts combine layers of physical postures inspired by the imagination and integrate artistic elements. Acts of this movement include Cuentos pánicos, Teatro pánico, Fabulas pánicas and Efímeros pánicos.

Alejandro Jodorowsky

Born	February 7, 1929 (1929-02-07) (age 80) Tocopilla, Chile
Spouse(s)	Valerie Jodorowsky

Throughout the 60s and 70s, working in Paris and Mexico, Jodorowsky created over one hundred theatrical productions. He directed works of his own in addition to those written by Leonora Carrington, Samuel Beckett, Eugen Ionesco, August Strindberg and others. El acto efímero (or "ephemeral performances") was acted out in public spaces, drawing attention to the quotidian while promoting critical awareness in both participants and audience. During these ephemeral acts the public is often unaware that an act of drama is being performed. Jodorowsky once stated: "the panic man is not, he is ever becoming" to reference Alfred Korzybski's influence on his thought.

Beginning in 1966, Jodorowsky created comics relating to "El pánico." These comics were made independently and in collaboration with illustrators including Jean "Mœbius" Giraud. In the course of his comic career, Jodorowsky has created approximately 21 series including Fábulas pánicas, Los ojos del gato and El incal. All translated from Spanish into over ten languages.

Jodorowsky's first experience with movies was in 1957 in Paris, where he adapted Thomas Mann’s Las cabezas trocadas as La Cravate. He next created Fando y Lis in Mexico in 1967^[1]. Two years later, Jodorowsky created his most renowned film, El Topo (aka The Mole). In the following years additional films were realized including The Holy Mountain in 1972.

Jodorowsky spent over fifteen years reconstructing the original form of the Tarot de Marseille. From this work he moved in to more therapeutic work in three areas: psychomagic, psychogenealogy and initiatic massage. Psychomagic aims to heal psychological wounds suffered in life. This therapy is based on the belief that the performance of certain acts can directly act upon the unconscious mind, releasing it from a series of traumas, some of which are passed down from generation to generation. Psychogenealogy includes the studying of the patient’s personality and family tree in order to best address their specific sources.

Jodorowsky has several books on his therapeutic methods, including Psicomagia: La trampa sagrada (Psychomagic: The Sacred Trap) and his autobiography La danza de la realidad (The Dance of Reality). To date he has published over 23 novels and philosophical treaties, along with dozens of articles and interviews. His books are widely read in Spanish and French, but are for the most part unknown to English-speaking audiences.

Alejandro Jodorowsky, inserito originariamente da bernacordon.

Throughout his career, Jodorowsky has gained a reputation as a philosopher and scholar who presents the teachings of religion, psychology and spiritual masters, by molding them into pragmatic and imaginative endeavors. All of his enterprises integrate an artistic approach. Currently Jodorowsky dedicates much of his time to lecturing about his work.

For a quarter of a century, Jodorowsky held classes and lectures for free, in cafés and universities all over the city of Paris. Typically, such courses or talks would begin on Wednesday evenings as tarot divination lessons, and would culminate in an hour long conference, also free, where at times hundreds of attendees would be treated to live demonstrations of a psychological "arbre généalogique" ("tree of genealogy") involving volunteers from the audience. In these conferences, Jodorowsky would pave the way to building a strong base of students of his philosophy, which deals with understanding the unconscious as the "over-self" which is comprised of many generations of family relatives, living or deceased, acting on our own psyche, well into our adult lives, and causing our compulsions. It is important to note that of all his work, Jodorowsky considers these activities to be the most important of his life. Though such activities only take place in the insular world of Parisian cafés, he has devoted thousands of hours of his life to teaching and helping people "become more conscious," as he puts it.

Presently, these talks have dwindled to once a month and take place at the "Librairie Les Cent Ciels" in Paris.

http://www.clubcultura.com/clubliteratura/clubescritores/jodorowsky/index.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alejandro_Jodorowsky

Jodorowsky

2009-11-18T11:34:00.001-08:00

At a young age, Jodorowsky began to search for personal enlightenment. He was united with Ejo Takata, who taught him the practice of meditation and introduced him to Zen Buddhism. He then became associated with a group of women, each of whom was a master of her own craft.

Dona Magdalena: taught him initiatic/spiritual massage
La Tigresa: a famous Mexican Actress
Reyna D'Assia: the daughter of G.I. Gurdjieff, a spiritual leader
Maria Sabina: priestess of the sacred mushrooms
Pachita: a mystical healer
Violeta Parra: Chilean Singer

Each of these women, although separate from his studies in Buddhism, greatly influenced Jodorowsky's ability to put into practice the lessons he had learned from Ejo Takata.

He started his film career in Mexico with Fando y Lis (1968). The feature-length film debuted in Acapulco at the Film Festival and is famous for having incited a full scale riot there, requiring that Jodorowsky be smuggled out in a limousine.

El Topo (1970), a mystical Western, was his second film and is now considered a cult classic. John Lennon and Yoko Ono helped to arrange the film's release and distribution in the United States through Beatles manager Allen Klein. It tells the story of El Topo, a Mexican gunslinger, in three main story arcs: (1) his revenge on a gang of bandits for their massacre of a small town's entire population; (2) his love for a woman, the woman's demands that El Topo take on four master gunmen who live in the desert, and El Topo's resulting fall from grace; and (3) El Topo's reawakening several years later in a colony of deformed people, his endeavor to release them from a mountain cave in which they are trapped, and his atonement.

Jodorowsky's third film, The Holy Mountain (La montaña sagrada) (1973), was entirely financed by John Lennon and Yoko Ono through the production office of Beatles producer Allen Klein. It has been suggested that The Holy Mountain may have been inspired by Rene Daumal's surrealist novel Mount Analogue. The Holy Mountain was another complex, multi-part story that featured a man credited as "The Thief" and equated with Jesus Christ, a mystical alchemist played by Jodorowsky, seven powerful business people representing seven of the planets (Venus and the six planets from Mars to Pluto), a religious training regimen of spiritual rebirth, and a quest to the top of a holy mountain for the secret of immortality. During the completion of The Holy Mountain, Jodorowsky received spiritual training from Oscar Ichazo of the Arica School, who encouraged him to take LSD and guided him through the subsequent psychedelic experience. Around the same time (2 November 1973), Jodorowsky participated in an isolation tank experiment conducted by John Lilly.

Shortly thereafter, Allen Klein demanded that Jodorowsky create a film adaptation of The Story of O, an erotic novel heavy on BDSM. Klein had promised this adaptation to various investors. Jodorowsky, who had discovered feminism during the filming of The Holy Mountain, refused to make the film, going so far as to leave the country to escape directing duties. In retaliation, Allen Klein made El Topo and The Holy Mountain, to which he held the rights, completely unavailable to the public for over 30 years. Jodorowsky frequently decried Klein's actions in interviews.

In December 1974, a French consortium led by Jean-Paul Gibon purchased the film rights to Dune from Arthur P. Jacobs. Jodorowsky was set to direct. In 1975, Jodorowsky planned to film the story as a ten hour feature, in collaboration with Salvador Dali, Orson Welles, Gloria Swanson, David Carradine, Geraldine Chaplin, Alain Delon, Hervé Villechaize and Mick Jagger. The music would be composed by Peter Gabriel. Jodorowsky set up a pre-production unit in Paris consisting of Chris Foss, a British artist who designed covers for science fiction periodicals, Jean Giraud (Moebius), a French illustrator who created and also wrote and drew for Metal Hurlant magazine, and H. R. Giger. Moebius began designing creatures and characters for the film, while Foss was brought in to design the film's space ships and hardware. Giger began designing the Harkonnen Castle based on Moebius' storyboards, and Dali was cast as the Emperor with a reported salary of $100,000 an hour. His son Brontis Jodorowsky was to play Paul. Dan O'Bannon was to head the special effects department.

Dali and Jodorowsky began quarreling over money, and just as the storyboards, designs, and script were finished, the financial backing dried up. Frank Herbert travelled to Europe in 1976 to find that $2 million of the $9.5 million budget had already been spent in pre-production, and that Jodorowsky's script would result in a 14-hour movie ("It was the size of a phonebook", Herbert later recalled). Jodorowsky took creative liberties with the source material, but Herbert said that he and Jodorowsky had an amicable relationship.

The rights for filming were sold once more, this time to Dino de Laurentiis. Although Jodorowsky was embittered by the experience, he stated that the Dune project changed his life.

After the collapse of the Dune project, Jodorowsky completely changed course and, in 1980, premiered his children's fable "Tusk", shot in India. Taken from Reginald Campbell's novel "Poo Lorn of the Elephants," the film explores the soul-mate relationship between a young British woman living in India and a highly prized elephant. The film exhibited little of the director's outlandish visual style and was never given wide release. Jodorowsky has since disowned the film.

In 1989, Jodorowsky completed Mexican-Italian production Santa sangre (Holy Blood). The film received limited theatrical distribution, putting Jodorowsky back on the cultural map despite its mixed critical reviews. Santa Sangre was a surrealist film with a plot similar to Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. It featured a protagonist who, as a child, saw his mother lose both her arms, and as an adult let his own arms act as hers, and so was forced to commit murders at her whim. Several of Jodorowsky's sons were recruited as actors.

He followed in 1990 with a very different film, The Rainbow Thief. Though it gave Jodorowsky a chance to work with actual "movie stars" Peter O'Toole and Omar Sharif, the producer effectively curtailed most of Jodorowsky's artistic inclinations, threatening to fire him on the spot if anything in the script was changed.

In the 1990s and early 2000s, Jodorowsky attempted to make a sequel to El Topo, called at different times The Sons of El Topo and Abelcain, but could not find investors for the project.

In 2000, Jodorowsky won the Jack Smith Lifetime Achievement Award from the Chicago Underground Film Festival (CUFF). He attended the festival and his films were shown, including El Topo and The Holy Mountain, which at the time had grey legal status. According to festival director Bryan Wendorf, it was an open question of whether CUFF would be allowed to show both films, or whether the police would show up and shut the festival down.

jodorowsky, inserito originariamente da pompier.

Until 2007, Fando y Lis and Santa sangre were the only Jodorowsky's works available on DVD. Neither El Topo nor The Holy Mountain were available on videocassette or DVD in the United States or the United Kingdom, due to ownership disputes with distributor Allen Klein. After the dispute's settlement in 2004, however, plans to re-release Jodorowsky's films were announced by ABKCO Films. On January 19, 2007, the website announced that on May 1, 2007, Anchor Bay released a box set including El Topo, The Holy Mountain, and Fando y Lis. A limited edition of the set includes both the El Topo and The Holy Mountain soundtracks. And, in early February 2007, Tartan Video announced its May 14, 2007, release date for the UK PAL DVD editions of El Topo, The Holy Mountain and the 6-disc box set which, alongside with the aforementioned feature films, includes the 2 soundtrack CDs, as well as separate DVD editions of Jodorowsky's 1968 debut feature Fando y Lis (with his 1957 short La cravate aka Les têtes interverties, included as an extra) and the 1994 feature-length documentary La constellation Jodorowsky. Notably, Fando y Lis and La cravate were extensively digitally restored and remastered in London during late 2006, thus providing the perfect complement to the quality restoration work undertaken on El Topo and The Holy Mountain in the States by Abkco, and ensuring that the presentation of Fando y Lis is a significant improvement over the 2001 Fantoma DVD edition. Prior to the availability of these legitimate releases, only inferior quality, optically censored bootleg copies of both El Topo and The Holy Mountain have been circulated on the Internet and on DVD.

In an interview with Premiere Magazine, Jodorowsky said his next project will be a gangster film called King Shot. Marilyn Manson will play a 300-year-old pope, he said, and Nick Nolte has also expressed interest in working with the director. Both are also listed as executive producers for the film, which has a projected release date of 2009 . David Lynch is also rumored to be a producer. In the interview, Jodorowsky also said he wanted to make a sequel to El Topo, but couldn't raise the funds. In a recent interview by Viceland, he also indicated that financing for King Shot was proving to be difficult.

In an interview with The Guardian newspaper in November 2009, Jodorowsky revealed that he was unable to find the funds to make King Shot, and would instead be entering preparations on Son of El Topo, for which he claimed to have signed a contract with "some Russian producers".

The book Anarchy and Alchemy: The Films of Alejandro Jodorowsky is the first major English language study on the cinema of Jodorowsky.

Jodorowsky started his comic career in Mexico with the creation of Anibal 5 series in the mid 1966 with illustrations by Manuel Moro, and had his turn in drawing his own comic strip in the weekly series Fabulas pánicas that appeared in the Mexican newspaper El Heraldo de México. He also wrote original stories for at least two or three other comic books in Mexico during those days: Los insoportables Borbolla was one of them. After his fourth film, Tusk, he started The Incal, with Jean Giraud (Mœbius). This graphic novel has its roots deep in the tarot and its symbols, e.g., the protagonist of The Incal, John Difool, is linked to the Fool card. The Incal (which would branch off into a prequel and sequel) forms the first in a sequence of several science fiction comic book series, all set in the same space opera Jodoverse (or "Metabarons Universe") published by Humanoids Publishing.

Comic books set in this milieu are Incal (trilogy: Before the Incal/ Incal/ After the Incal), Metabarons (trilogy: Dayal de Castaka/ The Caste of the Metabarons/ The Dreamshifters) and The Technopriests and also a RPG adaptation, The Metabarons Roleplaying Game. Many ideas and concepts derived from Jodorowsky's planned adaptation of Dune (which he would have only loosely based upon Frank Herbert's original novel) are featured in this universe.

Mœbius and Jodorowsky sued Luc Besson, director of The Fifth Element, claiming that the 1997 film borrowed graphic and story elements from The Incal, but lost their case. The suit was plagued by ambiguity since Mœbius himself had willingly participated in the creation of the film, having been hired by Besson as a contributing artist, but had done so without gaining the approval of Incal co-creator Jodorowsky, whose services Besson did not call upon. For over a decade, Jodorowsky pressured his publisher Les Humanoïdes Associés to sue Luc Besson for the flagrant act of plagiarism, but the said publisher refused, rightfully fearing the inevitability of the final outcome. In a 2002 interview with the Danish comic book magazine Strip!, Jodorowsky actually claimed that he considered it an honour that somebody stole his ideas, which is not surprising, as Jodorowsky believes that authors do not create the stories they tell as much as they make personal interpretations of myths universal to the collective human subconsciousness. Privately, however, Jodorowsky has used harsh words in his retelling of how the plagiarizing of the Incal was supported by the courts, and often deplored the bias typically shown by French courts toward large industrial entities, to the detriment of comic book artists and writers. He has expressed great comfort, however, at the fact that anyone actually familiar with his creation has agreed that the work was obviously plagiarized by Besson.

Other action comics by Jodorowsky outside the genre of science fiction include the historically-based Bouncer illustrated by Francois Boucq, Juan Solo (Son of the Gun) and Le Lama blanc (The White Lama), both illustrated by Georges Bess.

Le Cœur couronné (The Crowned Heart, translated into English as The Madwoman of the Sacred Heart), a racy satire on religion set in contemporary times, won Jodorowsky and his collaborator, Jean Giraud, the 2001 Haxtur Award for Best Long Strip. He is currently working on a new graphic novel for the US market.

Jodorowsky's comic book work also appears in Taboo volume 4 (ed. Stephen Thrower), which features an interview with the director, designs for his version of Frank Herbert's Dune, comic storyboards for El Topo, and a collaboration with Moebius with the illustrated Eyes of the Cat.

He collaborated with Milo Manara in Borgia (2006), a graphic novel about the history of the House of Borgia.

http://www.clubcultura.com/clubliteratura/clubescritores/jodorowsky/index.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alejandro_Jodorowsky

Original

2009-11-06T10:43:00.001-08:00

Original, inserito originariamente da herberouge1 somewhere over the rainbow.

The art of Light on Water- Chinese Lanternes de Chine

2009-11-06T10:30:00.003-08:00

The art of Light on Water- Chinese Lanternes de Chine , inserito originariamente da herberouge1 somewhere over the rainbow.

The art of Light on Water- Chinese Lanternes de Chine

2009-11-06T10:30:00.001-08:00

The art of Light on Water- Chinese Lanternes de Chine , inserito originariamente da herberouge1 somewhere over the rainbow.

Colors of Mexico

2009-11-06T10:13:00.001-08:00

Colors of Mexico, inserito originariamente da egoardo.

Muñecas Chiapanecas

2009-11-06T10:12:00.001-08:00

Muñecas Chiapanecas, inserito originariamente da egoardo.

Sumidero Canyon - Cañón del Sumidero

2009-11-06T09:45:00.000-08:00

Sumidero Canyon (Spanish: Cañón del Sumidero) is a canyon located about 40 km from Tuxtla Gutiérrez, capital of the Mexican state of Chiapas. Its cliffs are 900 meters above sea level and overlook the Grijalva River, which extends across the states of Chiapas and Tabasco and flows into the Gulf of Mexico. In its southern entrance, the canyon begins near the city of Chiapa de Corzo, and flows into the reservoir of the hydroelectric dam–Manuel Moreno Torres, best known as Chicoasén.

This canyon is a result of a geological fault during the Pleistocene. The canyon is regarded as an important tourist attraction in the state of Chiapas. The importance and cultural symbolism of Sumidero Canyon for Chiapans are so great that its silhouette is the base of the Coat of Arms of the state of Chiapas.

The Sumidero Canyon is home to a great variety of wildlife including crocodiles.

El Cañón del Sumidero, es un orificio de gran profundidad situado a 5 km de Tuxtla Gutiérrez, capital del estado de Chiapas, México. Este cañón tiene un acantilado cuya altura va un poco más allá de los 1000 m del nivel del agua y se levanta sobre el cauce del río Grijalva, que tiene una profundidad de más de 300 m.

Río que atraviesa los estados de Chiapas y Tabasco y desemboca en el Golfo de México. En su boca sur, el cañón inicia en Chiapa de Corzo, y desemboca en el embalse artificial de la presa hidroeléctrica Manuel Moreno Torres, mejor conocida popularmente como "Chicoasén".

La relevancia del cañón del sumidero es tal que forma parte del Escudo de Chiapas.

Por su singular belleza y su importancia histórica, el ícono de Chiapas está nominado para una de las "Nuevas 7 Maravillas Naturales" como único representante de México en este concurso internacional.

La manera más habitual de llegar es en automóvil, autobús o pagando un recorrido guiado que puede incluir un recorrido en lancha y al ecoturístico que esta frente a la presa chicoasen. Se toma la carretera de Tuxtla Gutiérrez hasta los miradores del Cañón. También en el Museo de Antropología puede abordar un colectivo que lo lleve al mirador Los Chiapa. Si desea puede visitar el Parque Zoológico Miguel Álvarez del Toro (ZOOMAT), que le queda en el camino.

Otra alternativa es llegar en lancha, puede zarpar desde Cahuaré o Chiapa de Corzo.

Este cañón es producto de una separación de capas terrestres producto de una falla geológica durante el pleistoceno. Por sus dimensiones y vegetación tropical exuberante, este cañón es un importante atractivo turístico del estado de Chiapas.

Durante la conquista española de la región, la etnia Chiapa (o soctona, en su propio idioma) realizó un suicidio masivo al arrojarse desde la cumbre hacia el fondo del cañón para evitar quedar sometidos al conquistador -con ello creían, además, alcanzar la libertad en el inframundo. La importancia y simbolismo cultural de este cañón para los chiapanecos son tan grandes que su silueta es la base del escudo de armas del estado de Chiapas

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuxtla_Guti%C3%A9rrez

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ca%C3%B1%C3%B3n_del_Sumidero

http://www.turismochiapas.gob.mx/canonsumidero.html

http://www.mapasmexico.net/googlemaps-canon-sumidero.html

Clouded Leopard

2009-10-28T09:14:00.000-07:00

The Clouded Leopard (Neofelis nebulosa) is a medium-sized cat found in Southeast Asia. It has a tan or tawny coat, and is distinctively marked with large, irregularly-shaped, dark-edged ellipses which are said to be shaped like clouds. This unique appearance gave the mammal both its common and scientific species name (nebulosus is Latin for "cloudy"). The Clouded Leopard was confusing to scientists for a long time because of its appearance and skeleton. It seemed to be a cross between a big cat and a small cat. The scientific name of the genus, Neofelis, originates from neo, which means "new", and felis, which means "small cat", so it literally means new kind of small cat.

The average Clouded Leopard typically weighs between 15 and 23 kg (33 to 50 lb) and has a shoulder height of 25 to 40 centimeters (10 to 16 inches). This medium sized cat has a large build and, proportionately, the longest canine teeth (2 in, about the same as a tiger's) of any living feline. These characteristics led early researchers to speculate that it preyed on large land-dwelling mammals. However, while remarkably little is known about the natural history and behavioral habits of this species in the wild, it is now thought that its primary prey includes arboreal and terrestrial mammals, particularly gibbons, macaques, and civets supplemented by other small mammals, deer, birds, porcupines, and domestic livestock. Clouded Leopards that are held in captivity also eat eggs and some vegetation.

As might be expected from the fact that some of its prey lives in trees, the Clouded Leopard is an excellent climber. Short, flexible legs, large paws, and sharp claws combine to make it very sure-footed in the canopy. The Clouded Leopard's tail can be as long as its body, further aiding in balance giving it a squirrel-like agility similar to the Margay of South America. Surprisingly, this arboreal creature can climb while hanging upside-down under branches and descend tree trunks head-first. In captivity, the Clouded Leopard routinely hangs by its hind legs using its long tail for balance and runs head-first down tree trunks. Little is known about its behaviour in the wild, but it is assumed from this behavior that a favored hunting tactic is to drop on prey from the trees.

The Clouded Leopard, despite its name, is not closely related to the Leopard. The Clouded Leopard is regarded as having three subspecies:

Neofelis nebulosa macrosceloides: Nepal to Myanmar (Burma)
Neofelis nebulosa nebulosa: Southern China to eastern Myanmar
Neofelis nebulosa brachyura: Taiwan (extinct)

The Bornean Clouded Leopard (Neofelis diardi) is a separate species found on Sumatra, Borneo and the Batu Islands. Because of their distinct skull structure, the two species are considered sufficiently different to be the only members of their genus.

The Clouded Leopard is found only in Southeast Asia and ranges through southern China (at least as far north as Wuyi Shan), the eastern Himalayas, Nepal, northeast India, Bangladesh, and Indochina. It is thought to be extinct in Taiwan. The last confirmed sighting of a Clouded Leopard in Taiwan was in 1989 when the skin from a small leopard was found in the Taroko area. This subspecies was characterized by its relatively much shorter tail.

Preferred habitat is tropical and subtropical forests at altitudes up to about 2,000 meters (6,500 ft); however it is sometimes found in mangrove swamps and grassland. It lives in temperatures from 65 to 120 degrees Fahrenheit.

The behaviour of the Clouded Leopard in the wild is virtually unknown to man because of the animal's reclusive nature. With no evidence for a pack- or pride-society like that of the lion, it is assumed that it is a generally solitary creature.

Females give birth to a litter of 2 to 4 cubs after a gestation period of about 85 to 93 days. Initially, the young are blind and helpless, much like the young of many other cats. Unlike adults, the kittens' spots are "solid"—completely dark rather than dark rings. The young can see within about 10 days of birth, are active within 5 weeks, and probably become independent at about 10 months of age. The Clouded Leopard reaches sexual maturity at two years of age and females are able to bear one litter each year. Adults in captivity have lived as long as 17 years: in the wild, they have an average 11 year lifespan.

Captive breeding programs met with little success in their early stages, largely due to ignorance of courtship activity among these cats in the wild. Experience has taught keepers that introducing pairs of Clouded Leopards at a young age gives opportunities for the pair to bond and breed successfully. Introducing pairs as older adults may cause the animals such stress that the male may kill the female. Normally, the Clouded Leopard is not an aggressive animal.

Modern breeding programs involve carefully regulated introductions between prospective mating pairs and take into account the requirements for enriched enclosures. Providing these animal with adequate space to permit climbing stimulates natural behaviour and minimizes stress. This, combined with a feeding programme that fulfills the proper dietary requirements, has promoted more successful breeding in recent years. Cats born in captivity may one day supplement threatened populations in the wild.

Because the Clouded Leopard's habits make it difficult to study, reliable estimates of its population do not exist. The World Conservation Union estimates that fewer than 10,000 individuals exist, and warns that the population is declining. Habitat loss due to widespread deforestation and hunting for use in Chinese medicinal preparations are thought to be causing populations of the Clouded Leopard to decline. Only six Clouded Leopards have ever been radio collared and their territorial movements monitored and recorded by scientists using radio telemetry. All of these cats were studied within Thailand. Almost all that is known of the Clouded Leopard today comes from studies of the cats in captivity. Apart from anecdotal accounts very little is known of the Clouded Leopard's natural history, ecology and behaviour in the wild throughout its range.

The World Conservation Union, the organization that maintains the global Red List of endangered species, lists the Clouded Leopard as Vulnerable. In addition, CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, lists the Clouded Leopard as an Appendix I species, meaning that international trade in Clouded Leopards is banned. The United States also lists the Clouded Leopard under the Endangered Species Act, further prohibiting trade in the animals or any parts or products made from them in the United States. In the countries of its native range, hunting of the Clouded Leopard is prohibited; however, these bans are poorly enforced.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clouded_Leopard

http://susty.com/clouded-leopard-neofelis-nebulosa-species-spotlight/

Radish Spirit

2009-10-26T10:55:00.001-07:00

Radish Spirit, inserito originariamente da Soy Polly.

Whale - ship - Merkabah

2009-10-23T15:58:00.001-07:00

Whale - ship - Merkabah, inserito originariamente da smile 44.

In theology, light or divine light is a term used to refer to an aspect of divine presence, specifically an unknown and mysterious ability of God, angels, or human beings to express themselves communicatively through spiritual means, rather than through physical capacities. In this concept, "light" can carry the full range of divine or else human-understandable concepts ranging from pure emotion up to the precise concepts and conceptualizations.Hence human beings are said to be recipients of knowledge, "truth," or "illumination," originating from God in a transcendent reality to human beings in the 'known universe,' through spiritual means.Merkaba?The Merkaba is a counter-rotating field of light generated from the spinning of specific geometric forms that simultaneously affects one's spirit and body. It is a vehicle that can aid mind, body and spirit to access and experience other planes of reality or potentials of life. In fact, the Merkaba is even much more than this. Those who have taken the Flower of Life workshop and have learned the merkaba meditation have stated that they have learned more about themselves, connected with their higher selves, and moved to new levels of awareness. The Merkaba is a tool that helps humans reach their full potential.

www.floweroflife.org/tmerkaba.htm

In memoriam, Mercedes Sosa, Managua, 1983

2009-10-05T14:12:00.001-07:00

In memoriam, Mercedes Sosa, Managua, 1983, inserito originariamente da Marcelo Montecino.

Sosa was born on July 9, 1935, in San Miguel de Tucumán, in the northwestern Argentine province of Tucumán, of mestizo, French, andQuechua Amerindian ancestry. In 1950, at age fifteen, she won a singing competition organized by a local radio station and was given a contract to perform for two months. She recorded her first album, La Voz de la Zafra, in 1959. A performance at the National Folklore Festival brought her to the attention of her native countrypeople.

Sosa and her first husband, Manuel Óscar Matus, with whom she had one son, were key players in the mid-60s nueva canción movement (which was called nuevo cancionero in Argentina). Her first record was Canciones con Fundamento, a collection of Argentine folk songs.

In 1967, Sosa toured the United States and Europe with great success. In later years, she performed and recorded extensively, broadening her repertoire to include material from throughout Latin America.

Mercedes Sosa

2009-10-05T14:08:00.001-07:00

Mercedes Sosa, inserito originariamente da Fer dlO.

In the early 1970s, Sosa released two concept albums in collaboration with composer Ariel Ramírez and lyricist Félix Luna: Cantata Sudamericana and Mujeres Argentinas (Argentine Women). She also recorded a tribute to Chilean poet Violeta Parra in 1971, including what was to become one of Sosa's signature songs, Gracias a la Vida.^[4]^[7] She also improved the popularity of songs written by Milton Nascimento of Brazil and Pablo Milanés and Silvio Rodríguez of Cuba.

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes_Sosa

¡ Hasta siempre !

2009-10-05T14:00:00.000-07:00

Haydée Mercedes Sosa, known as La Negra, (July 9, 1935 – October 4, 2009) was an Argentine singer who was and remains immensely popular throughout Latin America and internationally. With her roots in Argentine folk music, Sosa became one of the preeminent exponents ofnueva canción. She gave voice to songs written by both Brazilians and Cubans. She was best known as the "voice of the voiceless ones".

Sosa performed in venues such as the Lincoln Center in New York City, the Théâtre Mogador in Paris and the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City, as well as sell-out shows in New York's Carnegie Hall and the Roman Coliseum during her final decade of life. Her career spanned four decades and she has been the recipient of several Grammy awards and nominations, including three nominations which will be decided posthumously. She served as an ambassador for UNICEF.

Background information
Mercedes Sosa (1973)
Birth name	Haydée Mercedes Sosa
Born	July 9, 1935
Origin	Argentina
Died	October 4, 2009 (aged 74)
Genres	Folk music
Occupations	Singer, Activist
Voice types	Contralto ^[1]
Years active	1950–2009

La voz de la zafra (1959)
Canciones con fundamento (1965)
Yo no canto por cantar (1966)
Hermano (1966)
Para cantarle a mi gente (1967)
Con sabor a Mercedes Sosa (1968)
Mujeres argentinas (1969)
Navidad con Mercedes Sosa (1970)
El grito de la tierra (1970)
Homenaje a Violeta Parra (1971)
Hasta la victoria (1972)
Cantata sudamericana (1972)
Traigo un pueblo en mi voz (1973)
Niño de mañana (1975)
A que florezca mi pueblo (1975)
En dirección del viento (1976)
O cio da terra (1977)
Mercedes Sosa interpreta a Atahualpa Yupanqui (1977)
Si se calla el cantor (1977)
Serenata para la tierra de uno (1979)
A quién doy (1980)
Gravado ao vivo no Brasil (1980)
Mercedes Sosa en Argentina (1982)
Mercedes Sosa (1983)
Como un pájaro libre (1983)
Recital (1983)
¿Será posible el sur? (1984)
Vengo a ofrecer mi corazón (1985)
Corazón americano (1985) (with Milton Nascimento and León Gieco)
Mercedes Sosa ´86 (1986)
Mercedes Sosa ´87 (1987)
Amigos míos (1988)
En vivo en Europa (1990)
De mí (1991)
30 años (1993)
Sino (1993)
Gestos de amor (1994)
Live in Argentina (1994)
Live in Europe (1994)
Sera Posible El Sur (1994)
Vivir (1994)
Oro (1995)
Escondido en mi país (1996)
Gracias a la Vida (1996)
Alta fidelidad (1997) (with Charly García)
Coleccion Mi Historia (1997)
Al despertar (1998)
Misa criolla (1999)
Serie Millennium 21 (1999)
La Negra (2000)
Acústico (2002)
Grandes Exitos, Vols. 1 & 2 (2002)
40 Obras Fundamentales (2003)
Argentina quiere cantar (2003) (with Víctor Heredia and León Gieco)
Voz Y Sentimiento (2003)
Corazón libre (2005)
Éxitos Eternos (2005)
La Historia del Folklore (2007)
Cantora 1 (2009)
Cantora 2 (2009)

Always continued to expand its repertoire, and recording in various styles. It was convened by international artists such as Joan Baez, Andrea Bocelli, David Broza, Chico Buarque, Luz Casal,Gal Costa, Lucio Dalla, Nilda Fernández, Alfredo Kraus, Tania Libertad, Pablo Milanés, Nana Mouskouri, Milton Nascimento, Luciano Pavarotti, Silvio Rodríguez, Ismael Serrano, Shakira,Sting, Cecilia Todd, Caetano Veloso,among others.

He also collaborated on several occasions, with Argentine musicians as Roberto Goyeneche, Alberto Cortez, León Gieco, Víctor Heredia, Luis Alberto Spinetta Charly García, Pedro Aznar, Fito Páez, David Lebón, Los Chalchaleros, Teresa Parodi, Soledad Pastorutti, Piero, Ariel Ramírez, Antonio Tarragó Ros, Rodolfo Mederos, Atahualpa Yupanqui, Julia Zenko, etc.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes_Sosa

http://www.mercedessosa.com.ar/marcosmaster.htm

Malcolm Gladwell "Outliers" on Jimmy Kimmel Live 1-13-09

2009-10-05T12:34:00.001-07:00

art monad - アート

drako ojo rosa - monad

; ) connected - monad - dragon

Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year - Dragon

Bellagio Chinese New Year dragon engraving

Chinese New Year dragon, year of the dog, Bangkok, Thailand

Serpent/Dragon lantern, Chinese New Year, Christchurch.

Cesar Millan - The Dog Whisperer -

~ Happy-Happy ~

DSCN5366 Harvey Peeking (archive)

Happy New Year

Biblioteca Central - UNAM Central Library

Premio Príncipe de Asturias 2009

UNAM University

laca de Olinalá Gro.

Bird Gourd Olinala

Olinala Gourd Guerrero Mexico

Azul

De colores

Puebla - Talavera Poblana

Fuente de las Tres Teresas

Lazy Caturday

Burrageara Stefan Isler

LIFE FOR RENT...

..~

Axolotl

探頭 巴西烏龜 (Red-eared Slider)

Rotwangenschildkröte / Red Eared Slider

red-eared slider [Trachemys scripta elegans]

.::FIRE::. @Burning Life

Burning Life

Burning Life 2009 - Heart &

Fifteen Love

The Sun Hasn't Set On This Boy Yet

Ajanta Caves

Ajanta Caves, Maharashtra, India

First period

Second period

Rediscovery by Europeans

Cave One

Cave Two

The facade

The porch

The hall

[edit] The paintings

Ajanta Caves, Maharashtra, India

Ajanta Caves India

Cave 26, Ajanta caves

Cave 26, Ajanta caves

2010 Year of the Tiger

Alternate realities

Comfortably Numb

ghost

Fractal ART - monad AIWASS - モナド

I keep my eye on you, freak!

Cool cat!

Turquoise-browed motmot

Astronomy Hall

Flamingo Tongue

Through the eyes of a puppy

Bordeaux Blue Water Lilly

Oil in Water

Title?

Ajudante de Papai Noel

Avatar Movie Trailer [HD]

Alice In Wonderland - Official Trailer [HD]

Alice In Wonderland - Official Trailer [HD]

Le vacanze di babbo natale

Ready to make a Merry Christmas :)

Happy

Hollidays !!!

Alejandro Jodorowsky - Tarot of Marseilles

Alejandro Jodorowsky

Jodorowsky

Original

The art of Light on Water- Chinese Lanternes de Chine

The art of Light on Water- Chinese Lanternes de Chine

Colors of Mexico

Muñecas Chiapanecas

探頭巴西烏龜 (Red-eared Slider)