martes, agosto 05, 2008
lunes, agosto 04, 2008
AGARRATE QUE VIENEN CURVAS
PUSHED TOO FAR
sábado, agosto 02, 2008
MALE QUETZAL
Resplendent Quetzal (Pharomachrus mocinno). This male quetzal is just growing out his long "tail feathers" that will be their maximum length in May or so. He and his mate have been busy making a nest in a tree where they are hollowing out a new nest. Taken at San Gerardo de Dota, Costa Rica at the Quetzal Education Research Station operated by the Biology Department of Southern Nazarene University, Bethany Oklahoma. They are frugiverous swallowing the fruit whole and later regurgitating the large seed.
The Resplendent Quetzal, Pharomachrus mocinno, is a spectacular bird of the trogon family. It is found from southern Mexico to western Panama (unlike the other quetzals, which are found in South America and eastern Panama). There are two subspecies, P. m. mocinno and P. m. costaricensis, the Costa Rican Resplendent Quetzal. This quetzal plays an important role in Mesoamerican myth.
This species is 36 cm (14 in) long, plus up to 64 cm (25 in) of tail streamer for the male, and weighs about 210 g (7 oz). This is the largest representative of the trogon order.[citation needed]
Resplendent Quetzals have a green body (showing iridescence from green-gold to blue-violet) and red breast. Their green upper tail coverts hide their tails and in breeding males are particularly splendid, being longer than the rest of the body. The primary wing coverts are also unusually long and give a fringed appearance. The male has a helmet-like crest. The mature male's beak is yellow and the female's is black.
| Resplendent Quetzal | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Breeding male | ||||||||||||||
| Conservation status | ||||||||||||||
| Scientific classification | ||||||||||||||
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| Binomial name | ||||||||||||||
| Pharomachrus mocinno De la Llave, 1832 Ref: ITIS 553589 |
The skin of the quetzal is very thin and easily torn, so it has evolved thick plumage to protect its skin.[citation needed] Like other members of the trogon family, it has large eyes that adapt easily to the dim light of its forest home.[citation needed]
The "song" is a treble syllable described as kyow or like "a whimpering pup", often in pairs, which may be repeated monotonously. Resplendent Quetzals have other unmusical calls as well.
Resplendent Quetzals are considered specialized fruit-eaters, although they mix their diet with insects (notably wasps, ants, and larvae) and frogs. Particularly important are wild avocados and other fruit of the laurel family, which the birds swallow whole before regurgitating the pits, which helps to disperse these trees.
Their habitat is montane cloud forests of Central America (from Southern Mexico to Panama). Resplendent Quetzals usually live alone when not breeding. When breeding, females lay two pale blue eggs in a nest placed in a hole which they carve in a rotten tree. A tree in the required stage of decomposition is susceptible to weather damage, and the availability of suitable trees may limit the Resplendent Quetzal population.
Both parents take turns at incubating, with their long tail-covert feathers folded forwards over the back and out of the hole, where they tend to look like a bunch of fern growing out of the hole. The incubation period lasts about 18 days, during which the male generally incubates the eggs during the day while the female incubates them at night. When the eggs hatch, both parents take care of the young, feeding them fruit, berries, insects, lizards, and small frogs. However, the female often neglects and even abandons the young near the end of the rearing period, leaving it up to the male to continue caring for the offspring until they are ready to survive on their own.
Resplendent Quetzals are weak fliers. Their common predators include the Ornate Hawk Eagle, owls, emerald toucanet, squirrels, and the Kinkajou (Pribor 1999).
The Resplendent Quetzal was considered divine, associated with the "snake god", Quetzalcoatl by Pre-Columbian Central American civilizations. Their iridescent green tail feathers, symbols for spring plant growth, were venerated by the ancient Mayas and Aztecs, who viewed the quetzal as the "god of the air" and as a symbol of goodness and light. Mesoamerican rulers and some nobility of other ranks wore headdresses made from quetzal feathers, symbolically connecting them to Quetzalcoatl. Since it was a crime to kill a quetzal, the bird was simply captured, its long tail feathers plucked, and was set free. Quetzalcoatl was the creator god and god of wind, often depicted with grey hair. In several Mesoamerican languages, the term for quetzal can also mean precious, sacred, or erected.
Until recently, it was thought that the Resplendent Quetzal could not be bred or held for any long time in captivity, and indeed it was noted for usually killing itself soon after being captured or caged. For this reason it is a traditional symbol of liberty. However, a zoo in Mexico has kept this species since 1992, and in 2004 breeding in captivity was announced (Orellana, 2004).
Guatemalan ½ Quetzal
The Resplendent Quetzal is Guatemala's national bird, and an image of it is on the flag and the Coat of arms of Guatemala. It is also the name of the local currency (abbreviation GTQ).
The bird is of great relevance to Guatemalan culture, being a character in the widely popular legend of the local hero Tecún Umán, a prince and warrior of the Quiché Maya during the latter stages of the Spanish conquest of the region. This quetzal was his nahual (spirit guide).
The Quiché repelled several attacks from the Spanish army, even though outmatched in weaponry (guns, armor and cavalry against spears and arrows).
Legend has it that on the day the conquistador Pedro de Alvarado fought against Tecún Umán, there was a quetzal flying overhead. On the first strike Tecún Umán, on foot, managed to disable Pedro de Alvarado's horse. Alvarado was then given another horse and on the second strike ran through Tecún Umán's chest with a spear.
The quetzal flew down and landed on Tecún Umán, dipping its chest in the warrior prince's blood. It is there that the bird acquired its distinctive red chest feathers.
It is debatable whether these events happened, but the Maya fought fiercely for their land and freedom during the conquest.
One Guatemalan legend claims that the quetzal used to sing beautifully before the Spanish conquest, but has been silent ever since — but will sing once again when the land is truly free.
Stuffed specimens are displayed in the homes of the Guatemalan wealthy and museums, contributing to the birds' rarity.
TROPICAL FRUIT
viernes, agosto 01, 2008
DALÍ - A SURREAL JOURNEY
A Surreal Journey, originalmente cargada por Pensiero.
Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, 1st Marquis of Púbol (May 11, 1904 – January 23, 1989), was a Spanish Catalan surrealist painter born in Figueres, Catalonia, Spain. Dalí was a skilled draftsman, best known for the striking and bizarre images in his surrealist work. His painterly skills are often attributed to the influence of Renaissance masters. His best known work, The Persistence of Memory, was completed in 1931. Salvador Dalí's artistic repertoire also included film, sculpture, and photography. He collaborated with Walt Disney on the unfinished Academy Award-nominated short cartoon Destino, which was completed and released posthumously in 2003. He also collaborated with Alfred Hitchcock on the dream sequence from his 1945 film Spellbound.
Dalí insisted on his "Arab lineage", claiming that his ancestors were descended from the Moors who occupied Southern Spain for nearly 800 years (711-1492), and attributed to these origins, "my love of everything that is gilded and excessive, my passion for luxury and my love of oriental clothes."
Widely considered to be greatly imaginative, Dalí had an affinity for doing unusual things to draw attention to himself. This sometimes irked those who loved his art as much as it annoyed his critics, since his eccentric manner sometimes drew more public attention than his artwork. The purposefully-sought notoriety led to broad public recognition and many purchases of his works by people from all walks of life.
| Salvador Dalí, Marquis de Púbol | |
 Salvador Dalí Photo by Carl Van Vechten taken 29 November 1939 | |
| Birth name | Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech |
| Born | May 11, 1904 Figueres, Catalonia, Spain |
| Died | January 23, 1989 (aged 84) Figueres, Catalonia, Spain |
| Nationality | Spanish |
| Field | Painting, Drawing, Photography, Sculpture, Writing |
| Training | San Fernando School of Fine Arts, Madrid |
| Movement | Cubism, Dada, Surrealism |
| Works | The Persistence of Memory (1931) Face of Mae West Which May Be Used as an Apartment, (1935) Soft Construction with Boiled Beans (Premonition of Civil War) (1936) Swans Reflecting Elephants (1937) Ballerina in a Death's Head (1939) The Temptation of St. Anthony (1946) Galatea of the Spheres (1952) Young Virgin Auto-Sodomized by the Horns of Her Own Chastity (1954) |
Dalí employed extensive symbolism in his work. For instance, the hallmark soft watches that first appear in The Persistence of Memory suggest Einstein's theory that time is relative and not fixed. The idea for clocks functioning symbolically in this way came to Dalí when he was staring at a runny piece of Camembert cheese during a hot day in August.
The elephant is also a recurring image in Dalí's works. It first appeared in his 1944 work Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee around a Pomegranate a Second Before Awakening. The elephants, inspired by Gian Lorenzo Bernini's sculpture base in Rome of an elephant carrying an ancient obelisk, are portrayed "with long, multi-jointed, almost invisible legs of desire" along with obelisks on their backs. Coupled with the image of their brittle legs, these encumbrances, noted for their phallic overtones, create a sense of phantom reality. "The elephant is a distortion in space", one analysis explains, "its spindly legs contrasting the idea of weightlessness with structure." … I am painting pictures which make me die for joy, I am creating with an absolute naturalness, without the slightest aesthetic concern, I am making things that inspire me with a profound emotion and I am trying to paint them honestly. —Salvador Dalí, in Dawn Ades, Dalí and Surrealism.
The egg is another common Dalíesque image. He connects the egg to the prenatal and intrauterine, thus using it to symbolize hope and love; it appears in The Great Masturbator and The Metamorphosis of Narcissus. Various animals appear throughout his work as well: ants point to death, decay, and immense sexual desire; the snail is connected to the human head (he saw a snail on a bicycle outside Freud's house when he first met Sigmund Freud); and locusts are a symbol of waste and fear.
Dalí was a versatile artist, not limiting himself only to painting in his artistic endeavors. Some of his more popular artistic works are sculptures and other objects, and he is also noted for his contributions to theatre, fashion, and photography, among other areas.
Two of the most popular objects of the surrealist movement were the Lobster Telephone and the Mae West Lips Sofa, completed by Dalí in 1936 and 1937, respectively. The Surrealist artist and patron Edward James commissioned both of these pieces from Dalí; James inherited a large English estate in West Dean, West Sussex when he was five and was one of the foremost supporters of the surrealists in the 1930s. "Lobsters and telephones had strong sexual connotations for [Dalí]" according to the display caption for the Lobster Telephone at the Tate Gallery, "and he drew a close analogy between food and sex." The telephone was functional, and James purchased four of them from Dalí to replace the phones in his retreat home. One now appears at the Tate Gallery; the second can be found at the German Telephone Museum in Frankfurt; the third belongs to the Edward James Foundation; and the fourth is at the National Gallery of Australia.
Dalí produced over 1,500 paintings in his career, in addition to producing illustrations for books, lithographs, designs for theater sets and costumes, a great number of drawings, dozens of sculptures, and various other projects, including an animated cartoon for Disney. He also collaborated with director Jack Bond in 1965, creating a movie titled "Dali in New York." Below is a chronological sample of important and representative work, as well as some notes on what Dalí did in particular years:
In Carlos Lozano's biography, Sex, Surrealism, Dalí, and Me, produced by the collaboration of Clifford Thurlow, Lozano makes it clear that Dalí never stopped being a surrealist. As Dalí said of himself: "the only difference between me and the surrealists is that I am a surrealist."
In his youth, Dalí embraced for a time both anarchism and communism. His writings account various anecdotes of making radical political statements more to shock listeners than from any deep conviction, which was in keeping with Dalí's allegiance to the Dada movement. As he grew older his political allegiances changed, especially as the Surrealist movement went through transformations under the leadership of the Trotskyist André Breton who is said to have called Dalí in for questioning on his politics. In his 1970 book Dalí by Dalí, Dalí was declaring himself an anarchist and monarchist giving rise to speculations of Anarcho-Monarchism.
In his youth, Dalí embraced for a time both anarchism and communism. His writings account various anecdotes of making radical political statements more to shock listeners than from any deep conviction, which was in keeping with Dalí's allegiance to the Dada movement. As he grew older his political allegiances changed, especially as the Surrealist movement went through transformations under the leadership of the Trotskyist André Breton who is said to have called Dalí in for questioning on his politics. In his 1970 book Dalí by Dalí, Dalí was declaring himself an anarchist and monarchist giving rise to speculations of Anarcho-Monarchism.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvador_Dal%C3%AD
TEATRE MUSEU DALÍ: THE MAE WEST ROOM
FIGUERES, MUSEU DALÍ - THE CAR - NAVAL
The central patio of the Museu Dalí.
According to the web site, this installation is titled The car-naval, 1978.
There is a Cadillac, a tire column, a reproduction of the slave by Michelangelo, and Gala's boat, together with the Esther Queen by Ernst Fuchs and a reproduction of a marble bust by François Girardon.
I guess tourists are a peculiar part of the installation itself.There is a Cadillac, a tire column, a reproduction of the slave by Michelangelo, and Gala's boat, together with the Esther Queen by Ernst Fuchs and a reproduction of a marble bust by François Girardon.
Il cortile centrale del Museu Dalí.
Secondo il sito web, questa installazione è intitolata The car-naval, 1978.
C'è una Cadillac, una colonna di pneumatici, una riproduzione dello schiavo di Michelangelo, la barca di Gala, insieme con la Regina Esther di Ernst Fuchs e una riproduzione di un busto di marmo di François Girardon.
Credo che i turisti siano una parte peculiare dell'installazione stessa.
TEATRE MUSEU DALÍ - FIGUERES - CATALUNYA
Teatre Museu Dalí - Figueres - Catalunya, originalmente cargada por cpqs.
The Dalí Theatre and Museum (Teatre-Museu Dalí in Catalan language), is a museum of the artist Salvador Dalí in his home town of Figueres, in Catalonia.
The heart of the museum was the building that housed the town's theatre when Dalí was a child, and where one of the first public exhibitions of young Dalí's art was shown. The old theater was bombed in the Spanish Civil War and remained in a state of ruin for decades until Dalí and the mayor of Figueres decided to rebuild it as a museum dedicated to the town's most famous son in 1960. The museum also occupies buildings and courtyards adjacent to the old theater building.
The museum opened in 1974, with continuing expansions through the mid-1980s. It houses the single largest and most diverse collection of works by Salvador Dalí, the heart of which was from the artist's own collection. In addition to Dalí paintings from all decades of his career, there are Dalí sculptures, 3-dimensional collages, mechanical devices, a living-room with custom furniture that looks like the face of Mae West when viewed from a certain spot, and other curiosities from Dalí's imagination.
The museum also houses a small selection of works by other artists collected by Dalí, ranging from El Greco to Marcel Duchamp, and a gallery devoted to the work of Dalí's friend and fellow Catalan artist Antoni Pitxot, who became director of the museum after Dalí's death.
Dalí is buried in a crypt in the Teatre-Museum basement.
jueves, julio 31, 2008
MINNEAPOLIS INSTITUTE OF ARTS
The Minneapolis Institute of Arts (MIA) is an encyclopedic fine art museum located in the Whittier neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota on a campus that covers nearly 8 acres (32,000 m²) which was formerly Morrison Park. It does not charge an entrance fee (although it does charge for some special exhibitions), and allows photography of its permanent collection for personal use only. The museum receives support from the park board museum fund, levied by the Hennepin County commissioners.
History
Rembrandt's Lucretia in Minneapolis and the Washington D.C. version(also by Rembrandt) were shown together in 1991–1992.
Growing out of a perceived lack of fine arts in the Minneapolis area, the first meeting of what became the Minneapolis Society of Fine Arts took place in 1883. This group, made up of business and professional leaders of the time, organized art exhibits throughout the decade. In 1889, the Society, now known as the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, moved into its first permanent space inside the newly built Minneapolis Public Library.
A new museum building, designed by the firm of McKim, Mead and White, opened its doors in 1915. Built on land donated by the Morrison family formerly occupied by their Villa Rosa mansion, the museum came to be recognized as one of the finest examples of the Beaux-Arts style of architecture in Minnesota. Art historian Bevis Hillier organized an exhibition called Art Deco at the MIA that took place from July to September 1971, which caused a great resurgence of interest in this style of art. The building was originally meant to be the first of several sections but only this front piece was ultimately built; several additions have subsequently been built according to other plans, including a 1974 addition by Kenzo Tange. An expansion designed by Michael Graves was completed in June of 2006.
The building is located within the Washburn-Fair Oaks Mansion District, a neighborhood of mansions built by wealthy Minneapolis business leaders between 1880 and 1920. The district is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
Growing out of a perceived lack of fine arts in the Minneapolis area, the first meeting of what became the Minneapolis Society of Fine Arts took place in 1883. This group, made up of business and professional leaders of the time, organized art exhibits throughout the decade. In 1889, the Society, now known as the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, moved into its first permanent space inside the newly built Minneapolis Public Library.
A new museum building, designed by the firm of McKim, Mead and White, opened its doors in 1915. Built on land donated by the Morrison family formerly occupied by their Villa Rosa mansion, the museum came to be recognized as one of the finest examples of the Beaux-Arts style of architecture in Minnesota. Art historian Bevis Hillier organized an exhibition called Art Deco at the MIA that took place from July to September 1971, which caused a great resurgence of interest in this style of art. The building was originally meant to be the first of several sections but only this front piece was ultimately built; several additions have subsequently been built according to other plans, including a 1974 addition by Kenzo Tange. An expansion designed by Michael Graves was completed in June of 2006.
The building is located within the Washburn-Fair Oaks Mansion District, a neighborhood of mansions built by wealthy Minneapolis business leaders between 1880 and 1920. The district is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
Collections
An exhibit inside one of the many galleries at the MIA
The MIA features an encyclopedic collection of approximately 80,000 objects spanning 5,000 years of world history. Its collection includes paintings, photographs, prints & drawings, textiles, architecture, and decorative arts. Thee are collections of African art and art from Oceania and the Americas, and an especially strong collection of Asian art, called "one of the finest and most comprehensive Asian art collections in the country". The Asian collection includes Chinese architecture, jades, bronzes, and ceramics.
The largest item in the collection is the Purcell-Cutts House, one of the most significant examples of Prairie School architecture. The MIA restored the house at its original address and opened it to the public in 1990.
The MIA features an encyclopedic collection of approximately 80,000 objects spanning 5,000 years of world history. Its collection includes paintings, photographs, prints & drawings, textiles, architecture, and decorative arts. Thee are collections of African art and art from Oceania and the Americas, and an especially strong collection of Asian art, called "one of the finest and most comprehensive Asian art collections in the country". The Asian collection includes Chinese architecture, jades, bronzes, and ceramics.
The largest item in the collection is the Purcell-Cutts House, one of the most significant examples of Prairie School architecture. The MIA restored the house at its original address and opened it to the public in 1990.
Services
In order to encourage private collecting and assist in the acquisition of important works of art, the museum has created “Curatorial Councils” aligned with the seven curatorial areas of the museum. The councils schedule lectures, symposia, and travel for members.
The MIA features a regular series of exhibitions that bring in traveling collections from other museums for display. Local business partners fund many of these exhibitions and some feature the artists themselves leading public tours through the exhibition.
The MIA also houses the Minnesota Artists Exhibition Program (MAEP). The MAEP is an artist-controlled program devoted to the exhibition of works by artists who live in Minnesota
GOKU
gokuu !!, originalmente cargada por Corazon.de.tiza!.
Son Goku (孫 悟空 Son Gokū?, addressed only as Goku in most English adaptations) is a fictional character from the Dragon Ball universe created by Akira Toriyama as the main protagonist for the media franchise, which consists of a series of manga, anime, soundtracks, movies, television specials, a trading card game, video games, and other collectibles. Goku is introduced as an odd, monkey-tailed boy who practices martial arts and possesses superhuman strength. In Dragon Ball Z, he is actually revealed to be from a fictional race of extraterrestrials called Saiyans, said to be the strongest warriors within the fictional universe. Goku also starred in Dragon Ball GT and made a cameo in Toriyama's self-parody series Neko Majin Z.
| Son Goku | |
|---|---|
| Dragon Ball character | |
 Son Goku by Akira Toriyama | |
| First appearance | Dragon Ball chapter 1 Dragon Ball episode 1 |
| Last appearance | Dragon Ball chapter 519 Dragon Ball GT episode 64 |
| Created by | Akira Toriyama |
Creation and conception
Toriyama's Goku finds his origins in one of Toriyama's earlier characters named Tanton, a fictional protagonist who appears in a one-shot series called Dragon Boy. In this story, Tanton's odd physical characteristic was bat wings. When Toriyama decided to create Dragon Ball, he used author Wu Cheng'en's Journey to the West as inspiration for his own series. Toriyama's main character had the same name of the monkey king, Sun Wukong, a central character in Journey to the West; the only alteration being that it was changed to the Japanese variant of the name, "Son Goku".
To be creative with the character, Toriyama stated that he designed Goku not as a monkey like the character Sun Wukong, but as a human-looking boy with a monkey tail. Toriyama later developed the story to where Goku is an extraterrestrial called Saiyan from a fictional planet named "Vegeta".
Plot overview
Originally named Kakarotto (カカロット Kakarotto?, addressed as Kakarrot in English adaptations), Goku is born a member of a fictional race of extraterrestrials called Saiyans, born with a lowly power level of 2. Shortly following his birth, Goku is sent from his home, a fictional planet named Vegeta, to prepare Earth for sale on the intergalactic market by destroying all its life. Due to an injury to his head that caused him severe amnesia, Goku forgets his purpose, and instead focuses on becoming stronger for little more than the pleasure of it. Goku meets a highly intelligent 16-year-old teenage girl named Bulma, the desert bandit Yamcha, and two shapeshifters named Oolong and Pu-erh. As the series continues, most of the characters introduced are basic parodies of characters found in Journey to the West. He also encounters one his closest friends, Krillin, and others during his training. Participating in several Tenkaichi Budokai, Goku also battles foes-turned-allies such as Tenshinhan and Chaozu, as well as Piccolo Daimao's offspring of the same name.
During his early adulthood, Goku meets his older brother, Raditz, an encounter that results in his death. Following the wish for his revival from the Dragon Balls, Goku continues to face other enemies thereafter linked to his heritage, such as Vegeta and even Frieza, who's actions force him to transform into a Super Saiyan. As the series continues, the focus on Goku's past is shifted away from as new enemies are introduced simply as threats to the fictional universe. After his encounter with Frieza, Goku trains his first son, Son Gohan, to be his successor. When the androids appear, Goku comes down with the heart virus that Future Trunks warned him about. Later on Goku sacrifices himself during the battle against the evil android Cell, leaving Gohan to succeed him. Goku returns to Earth seven years later from the afterlife and meets his second son, Son Goten. Shortly after he participates in the 25th Tenkaichi Budokai, however he is drawn into a battle for the universe against an extraterrestrial named Majin Buu. Goku also battles Vegeta after he is taken under control by Babidi, and the match ends in a draw. Goku then later on kills Buu with his Genki Dama after a long hard struggle. During the Tenkaichi Budokai ten years after Buu's defeat, Goku meets Buu's human reincarnation, Uub, and takes off with him in the end of the story, intending to train him as a successor (until Dragon Ball GT) after realizing that his previous successor, Gohan, had prioritized his education over his fighting. In Dragon Ball GT, Goku is transformed back into a child with a wish made by Emperor Pilaf using the Black Star Dragon Balls. Shortly after he, Trunks, and Pan all take a trip around the universe to locate the Black Star balls and return them to Earth. Goku later battles the evil Baby and destroys him using a Super Saiyan 4 transformation. Shortly after the battle with Baby, Goku defeats Super Android 17 and the evil shadow dragons. His final challenge is against Omega Shenron, who he eventually kills using the Genki Dama.
Appearance
Goku is usually recognized by his uniquely styled hair, which never changes its length throughout the series except when in his Super Saiyan forms, in which his hair stands upright and turns blond. This is explained by Vegeta to be a common characteristic of full-blooded Saiyans. Due to his devotion to Earth, Goku prefers dressing in a gi uniform, and has refused offers to adorn the Saiyan battle armor, being that he considers himself an Earthling. In Dragon Ball, Goku is first seen wearing a blue uniform with a white belt, red wristbands, and black shoes. In Dragon Ball Z his most common outfit consists of an orange uniform with a blue short-sleeved undershirt, a blue belt, blue wristbands, and striped boots. Goku is often seen to adorn the kanji of his training masters; the first kanji being Muten Roshi's, "kame" (亀 ?, meaning "turtle"), the second kanji being North Kaio's, "kaio" (界王 ?, lit. "world king") and the third being his own kanji "Go" (悟 ?, meaning "wisdom" or "enlightenment"). Eventually he stops wearing a kanji. In Dragon Ball GT his uniform changes to a blue sleeveless shirt and yellow pants.
Abilities
Through constant training, Goku has achieved many abilities; aside from his great strength, he also possesses super speed, reflexes, and the power to fly using chi, a fictional energy force in the series. Goku's signature technique is a chi energy blast called the Kamehameha, which he learned from Muten Roshi. Another signature technique of his is an attack that multiplies the user's chi for an instant, called the Kaiô-ken, taught to him by North Kaio. Goku's most powerful attack is the Genki Dama (renamed the Spirit Bomb in most English adaptations), a sphere created by gathering chi energy, which he also learned from North Kaio. Goku also learns a teleportation skill called Shunkan Idô (renamed Instant Transmission in most English adaptions), which he learned from the inhabitants of a fictional planet called Yardrat.
Goku is also the only Saiyan in the series to achieve all the Saiyan transformations seen in the manga. In Dragon Ball, he is able to shapeshift into a gigantic ape called an Oozaru, albeit after his Saiyan tail is removed by Kami, he no longer achieved this form.
During the events of Dragon Ball Z, Goku is the first Saiyan to achieve the fabled Super Saiyan state in over a millennium. He ascended to Super Saiyan after being overcome with rage by the murder of Krillin by the hand of Freeza. After several years of training with his Super Saiyan form, Goku completely overcomes the negative characteristics of the transformation in order to combat Cell. After his death against Cell, Goku continues his training in the Otherworld for seven years, and achieves both Super Saiyan 2 and Super Saiyan 3 levels. In Dragon Ball GT he achieves the last shown Saiyan transformation, Super Saiyan 4.
Goku is also able to perform a fusion technique with Vegeta in two ways: one by earrings called potara, creating Vegetto. The other by fusion dance, creating Gogeta.
lunes, julio 28, 2008
BEIJING NATIONAL STADIUM
The Year of the Rat, is a stadium finished for the Olympic Green in Beijing, China that was completed on March 2008.The stadium will host the main track and field competitions for the 2008 Summer Olympics, as well as the opening and closing ceremonies. It is located east of the Beijing National Aquatics Centre.
In 2002, Government officials engaged architects worldwide in a design competition. Pritzker Prize-winning architects Herzog & de Meuron collaborated with ArupSport and China Architecture Design & Research Group to win the competition. Contemporary Chinese artist, Ai Weiwei, is the Artistic Consultant for design. The ground was broken on Christmas Eve December 2003, and construction started in March 2004, but was halted by the high construction cost in August 2004 and continued again. In January 2008, concerns about construction working conditions arose when it was revealed that 2 workers had died during the stadium's construction.
The stadium can seat as many as 91,000 spectators during the Olympics. The capacity will then be reduced to 80,000 after the Games. It has replaced the original intended venue of the Guangdong Olympic Stadium. The stadium is 330 metres, (1,082 feet) long by 220 metres, (721 feet) wide, and is 69.2 metres,(227 feet) tall. The stadium uses 258,000 square metres (2,777,112 square feet) of space and has a usable area of 204,000 square metres (2,195,856 square feet). It was built with 36 km of unwrapped steel, with a combined weight of 45,000 tonnes. The stadium will cost up to 3.5 billion yuan (≈423 million USD).
viernes, julio 25, 2008
ASGARD
In Norse mythology, Asgard (Old Norse: Ásgarðr; meaning "Enclosure of the Æsir") is the country or capital city of the Æsir surrounded by an incomplete wall attributed to a Hrimthurs riding the stallion Svadilfari, according to Gylfaginning. Valhalla is located within Asgard.
The primary sources regarding Asgard come from the Prose Edda, written in the 13th century by icelandic Snorri Sturluson, and the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from a basis of much older Skaldic poetry.
Poetic Edda
Völuspá, the first poem of the work, mentions many of the features and characters of Asgard portrayed by Snorri, such as Yggdrasil and Iðavöllr.
Prose EddaThe primary sources regarding Asgard come from the Prose Edda, written in the 13th century by icelandic Snorri Sturluson, and the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from a basis of much older Skaldic poetry.
Poetic Edda
Völuspá, the first poem of the work, mentions many of the features and characters of Asgard portrayed by Snorri, such as Yggdrasil and Iðavöllr.
The Prose Edda presents two views regarding Asgard.
Prologue
In the Prologue Snorri offers an euhemerized and Christian-influenced interpretation of the myths and tales of his forefathers. As-gard, he conjectures, is the home of the Æsir (singular Ás) in As-ia, making a folk etymological connection between the three "As-"; that is, the Æsir were "men of Asia", not gods, who moved from Asia to the north and some of which intermarried with the peoples already there. Snorri's interpretation of the 13th century foreshadows 20th century views of Indo-European migration from the east.
Snorri further writes that Asgard is a land more fertile than any other, blessed also with a great abundance of gold and jewels. Correspondingly, the Æsir excelled beyond all other people in strength, beauty and talent.
Snorri proposes the location of Asgard as Troy, the center of the earth. About it were 12 kingdoms and 12 chiefs. One of them, Múnón, married Priam's daughter, Tróán, and had by her a son, Trór, to be pronounced Thor in Old Norse. The latter was raised in Thrace. At age 12 he was whiter than ivory, had hair lighter than gold, and could lift 10 bear skins at once. He explored far and wide. His son, Odin, led a migration to the northern lands, where they took wives and had many children, populating the entire north with Aesir. One of the sons of Odin was Yngvi, founder of the Ynglingar, an early royal family of Sweden.
In Gylfaginning, Snorri presents the mythological version taken no doubt from his sources. Icelanders were still being converted at that time. He could not present the myths as part of any current belief. Instead he resorts to a debunking device: Gylfi, king of Sweden before the Æsir, travels to Asgard and finds there a large hall (Valhalla) in Section 2.
Within are three officials, whom Gylfi in the guise of Gangleri is allowed to question about the Asgard and the Æsir. A revelation of the ancient myths follows, but at the end the palace and the people disappear in a clap of thunder and Gylfi finds himself alone on the plain, having been deluded (Section 59).
In Gylfi's delusion, ancient Asgard was ruled by the senior god, the all-father, who had twelve names. He was the ruler of everything and the creator of heaven and earth (Section 3). During a complex creation myth in which the cosmic cow licked Buri free from the ice, the sons of Buri's son, Bor, who were Odin, Vili and Vé, constructed the universe and put Midgard in it as a residence for the first human couple, Ask and Embla, whom they created from driftwood trees in Section 9.
Consistency is not to be expected from the myth. The sons of Bor then constructed Asgard (to be identified with Troy, Snorri insists in section 9) as a home for the Æsir, who were divinities. Odin is identified as the all-father. Asgard is conceived as being on the earth. A rainbow bridge, Bifröst, connects it to heaven (Section 13). In Asgard also is a temple for the 12 gods, Gladsheim, and another for the 12 goddesses, Vingólf. The plain of Idavoll is the centre of Asgard (Section 14).
The gods hold court there every day at the Well of Urd, beneath an ash tree, Yggdrasil, debating the fates of men and gods. The more immediate destinies of men are assigned by the Norns (Section 15).
Long descriptions of the gods follow. Among the more memorable details are the Valkyries, the battle maidens whom Odin sends to allot death or victory to soldiers. Section 37 names 13 Valkyries and states that the source as the Poetic Edda poem Grímnismál. Odin's residence is Valhalla, to which he takes those slain in battle, the Einherjar (Section 20). Snorri quips: "There is a huge crowd there, and there will be many more still ...." (Section 39). They amuse themselves every day by fighting each other and then going to drink in the big hall.
Toward the end of the chapter Snorri becomes prophetic, describing Ragnarök, the twilight of the gods. Much of it sounds like the Apocalypse, by which Snorri, a Christian, can hardly fail to have been influenced. It will begin with three winters of snow, with no summers in between. Wars will follow, then earthquakes and tidal waves. The sky will split open and out will ride the sons of Muspell intent on universal destruction. They will try to enter heaven but Bifröst will break (Section 55). Heimdall will blow his mighty horn Gjöll and the Æsir and Einherjar will ride out to battle. Most of the Æsir will die and Asgard be destroyed. Snorri quotes his own source saying: "The sun will go black, earth sink in the sea, heaven be stripped of its bright stars;...." (Section 56).
Afterwards, the earth rises again from the sea, is fairer than before, and where Asgard used to be a remnant of the Æsir gather, some coming up from Hel, and talk and play chess all day with the golden chessmen of the ancient Æsir, which they find in the grass (Section 58).
Skáldskaparmál
The 10th century Skald Þorbjörn dísarskáld is quoted in Skáldskaparmál as stating:
"Thor has defended Asgard and Ygg's [Odin's] people [the gods] with strength."
Heimskringla
Ynglinga Saga
By the time of the Ynglinga Saga, Snorri had developed his concept of Asgard further, although the differences might be accounted for by his sources. In the initial stanzas of the poem Asagarth is the capital of Asaland, a section of Asia to the east of the Tana-kvísl or Vana-Kvísl river (kvísl is "fork"), which Snorri explains is the Tanais, or Don River, flowing into the Black Sea. The river divides "Sweden the Great", a concession to the Viking point of view. It is never called that prior to the Vikings (Section 1).
The river lands are occupied by the Vanir and are called Vanaland or Vanaheim. It is unclear what people Snorri thinks the Vanes are, whether the proto-Slavic Venedi or the east Germanic Vandals, who had been in that region at that time for well over 1000 years. He does not say; however, the Germanic names of the characters, such as Njord, Frey and Vanlandi, indicate he had the Vandals in mind.
Odin is the chief of Asagarth. From there he conducts and dispatches military expeditions to all parts of the world. He has the virtue of never losing a battle (Section 2). When he is away, his two brothers, Vili and Vé, rule Asaland from Asagarth.
On the border of Sweden is a mountain range running from northeast to southwest. South of it are the lands of the Turks, where Odin had possessions; thus, the mountains must be the Caucasus Mountains. On the north are the unihabitable fells, which must be the tundra/taiga country. Apparently the Vikings did not encounter the Urals or the Uralics of the region. Snorri evidences no knowledge of them.
There also is no mention of Troy, which was not far from Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine empire and militarily beyond the reach of the Vikings. Troy cannot have been Asagarth, Snorri realizes, the reason being that the Æsir in Asaland were unsettled by the military activities of the Romans; that is, of the Byzantine Empire.
As a result, Odin led a section of the Æsir to the north looking for new lands in which to settle. They used the Viking route up the Don and the Volga through Garðaríki, Viking Russia. From there they went to Saxland (Germany) and to the lands of Gylfi in Scandinavia (Section 5). The historical view, of course, is mainly fantastical. The Germanics were in Germany and Scandinavia during earliest mention of them in Roman literature, long before the Romans had even conquered Italy. To what extent Snorri's presentation is poetic creation only remains unclear.
Demoted from his position as all-father, or king of the gods, Odin becomes a great sorcerer in the Ynglinga Saga. He can shape-shift, speaks only in verse, and lies so well that everything he says seems true. He strikes enemies blind and deaf but when his own men fight they go berserk and cannot be harmed. He has a ship that can be rolled up like a tablecloth when not used, he relies on two talking ravens to gather intelligence, and he consults the talking head of a dwarf for prophecy (he carries it around long since detached from its body) (Section 7).
As a man, however, Odin is faced with the necessity to die. He is cremated and his possessions are burned with him so that he can ascend to - where? If Asgard is an earthly place, not there. Snorri says at first it is Valhalla and then adds: "The Swedes now believed that he had gone to the old Asagarth and would live there forever" (Section 9). Finally Snorri resorts to Heaven, even though nothing in Christianity advocates cremation and certainly the burning of possessions avails the Christian nothing.
In the Prologue Snorri offers an euhemerized and Christian-influenced interpretation of the myths and tales of his forefathers. As-gard, he conjectures, is the home of the Æsir (singular Ás) in As-ia, making a folk etymological connection between the three "As-"; that is, the Æsir were "men of Asia", not gods, who moved from Asia to the north and some of which intermarried with the peoples already there. Snorri's interpretation of the 13th century foreshadows 20th century views of Indo-European migration from the east.
Snorri further writes that Asgard is a land more fertile than any other, blessed also with a great abundance of gold and jewels. Correspondingly, the Æsir excelled beyond all other people in strength, beauty and talent.
Snorri proposes the location of Asgard as Troy, the center of the earth. About it were 12 kingdoms and 12 chiefs. One of them, Múnón, married Priam's daughter, Tróán, and had by her a son, Trór, to be pronounced Thor in Old Norse. The latter was raised in Thrace. At age 12 he was whiter than ivory, had hair lighter than gold, and could lift 10 bear skins at once. He explored far and wide. His son, Odin, led a migration to the northern lands, where they took wives and had many children, populating the entire north with Aesir. One of the sons of Odin was Yngvi, founder of the Ynglingar, an early royal family of Sweden.
In Gylfaginning, Snorri presents the mythological version taken no doubt from his sources. Icelanders were still being converted at that time. He could not present the myths as part of any current belief. Instead he resorts to a debunking device: Gylfi, king of Sweden before the Æsir, travels to Asgard and finds there a large hall (Valhalla) in Section 2.
Within are three officials, whom Gylfi in the guise of Gangleri is allowed to question about the Asgard and the Æsir. A revelation of the ancient myths follows, but at the end the palace and the people disappear in a clap of thunder and Gylfi finds himself alone on the plain, having been deluded (Section 59).
In Gylfi's delusion, ancient Asgard was ruled by the senior god, the all-father, who had twelve names. He was the ruler of everything and the creator of heaven and earth (Section 3). During a complex creation myth in which the cosmic cow licked Buri free from the ice, the sons of Buri's son, Bor, who were Odin, Vili and Vé, constructed the universe and put Midgard in it as a residence for the first human couple, Ask and Embla, whom they created from driftwood trees in Section 9.
Consistency is not to be expected from the myth. The sons of Bor then constructed Asgard (to be identified with Troy, Snorri insists in section 9) as a home for the Æsir, who were divinities. Odin is identified as the all-father. Asgard is conceived as being on the earth. A rainbow bridge, Bifröst, connects it to heaven (Section 13). In Asgard also is a temple for the 12 gods, Gladsheim, and another for the 12 goddesses, Vingólf. The plain of Idavoll is the centre of Asgard (Section 14).
The gods hold court there every day at the Well of Urd, beneath an ash tree, Yggdrasil, debating the fates of men and gods. The more immediate destinies of men are assigned by the Norns (Section 15).
Long descriptions of the gods follow. Among the more memorable details are the Valkyries, the battle maidens whom Odin sends to allot death or victory to soldiers. Section 37 names 13 Valkyries and states that the source as the Poetic Edda poem Grímnismál. Odin's residence is Valhalla, to which he takes those slain in battle, the Einherjar (Section 20). Snorri quips: "There is a huge crowd there, and there will be many more still ...." (Section 39). They amuse themselves every day by fighting each other and then going to drink in the big hall.
Toward the end of the chapter Snorri becomes prophetic, describing Ragnarök, the twilight of the gods. Much of it sounds like the Apocalypse, by which Snorri, a Christian, can hardly fail to have been influenced. It will begin with three winters of snow, with no summers in between. Wars will follow, then earthquakes and tidal waves. The sky will split open and out will ride the sons of Muspell intent on universal destruction. They will try to enter heaven but Bifröst will break (Section 55). Heimdall will blow his mighty horn Gjöll and the Æsir and Einherjar will ride out to battle. Most of the Æsir will die and Asgard be destroyed. Snorri quotes his own source saying: "The sun will go black, earth sink in the sea, heaven be stripped of its bright stars;...." (Section 56).
Afterwards, the earth rises again from the sea, is fairer than before, and where Asgard used to be a remnant of the Æsir gather, some coming up from Hel, and talk and play chess all day with the golden chessmen of the ancient Æsir, which they find in the grass (Section 58).
Skáldskaparmál
The 10th century Skald Þorbjörn dísarskáld is quoted in Skáldskaparmál as stating:
"Thor has defended Asgard and Ygg's [Odin's] people [the gods] with strength."
Heimskringla
Ynglinga Saga
By the time of the Ynglinga Saga, Snorri had developed his concept of Asgard further, although the differences might be accounted for by his sources. In the initial stanzas of the poem Asagarth is the capital of Asaland, a section of Asia to the east of the Tana-kvísl or Vana-Kvísl river (kvísl is "fork"), which Snorri explains is the Tanais, or Don River, flowing into the Black Sea. The river divides "Sweden the Great", a concession to the Viking point of view. It is never called that prior to the Vikings (Section 1).
The river lands are occupied by the Vanir and are called Vanaland or Vanaheim. It is unclear what people Snorri thinks the Vanes are, whether the proto-Slavic Venedi or the east Germanic Vandals, who had been in that region at that time for well over 1000 years. He does not say; however, the Germanic names of the characters, such as Njord, Frey and Vanlandi, indicate he had the Vandals in mind.
Odin is the chief of Asagarth. From there he conducts and dispatches military expeditions to all parts of the world. He has the virtue of never losing a battle (Section 2). When he is away, his two brothers, Vili and Vé, rule Asaland from Asagarth.
On the border of Sweden is a mountain range running from northeast to southwest. South of it are the lands of the Turks, where Odin had possessions; thus, the mountains must be the Caucasus Mountains. On the north are the unihabitable fells, which must be the tundra/taiga country. Apparently the Vikings did not encounter the Urals or the Uralics of the region. Snorri evidences no knowledge of them.
There also is no mention of Troy, which was not far from Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine empire and militarily beyond the reach of the Vikings. Troy cannot have been Asagarth, Snorri realizes, the reason being that the Æsir in Asaland were unsettled by the military activities of the Romans; that is, of the Byzantine Empire.
As a result, Odin led a section of the Æsir to the north looking for new lands in which to settle. They used the Viking route up the Don and the Volga through Garðaríki, Viking Russia. From there they went to Saxland (Germany) and to the lands of Gylfi in Scandinavia (Section 5). The historical view, of course, is mainly fantastical. The Germanics were in Germany and Scandinavia during earliest mention of them in Roman literature, long before the Romans had even conquered Italy. To what extent Snorri's presentation is poetic creation only remains unclear.
Demoted from his position as all-father, or king of the gods, Odin becomes a great sorcerer in the Ynglinga Saga. He can shape-shift, speaks only in verse, and lies so well that everything he says seems true. He strikes enemies blind and deaf but when his own men fight they go berserk and cannot be harmed. He has a ship that can be rolled up like a tablecloth when not used, he relies on two talking ravens to gather intelligence, and he consults the talking head of a dwarf for prophecy (he carries it around long since detached from its body) (Section 7).
As a man, however, Odin is faced with the necessity to die. He is cremated and his possessions are burned with him so that he can ascend to - where? If Asgard is an earthly place, not there. Snorri says at first it is Valhalla and then adds: "The Swedes now believed that he had gone to the old Asagarth and would live there forever" (Section 9). Finally Snorri resorts to Heaven, even though nothing in Christianity advocates cremation and certainly the burning of possessions avails the Christian nothing.
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