Racist and Ignorant McCain/Palin Supporters in Ohio — I ran across a couple of interesting blog posts in which some enterprising bloggers (Blogger Interrupted and BlueOhioan) got their cameras out and asked people standing in line for a McCain Palin rally in Ohio what they thought about Barack Obama, John McCain and Sarah Palin.  It’s truly scary. I don’t mean like kind of scary like Halloween, I mean really truly terrifying like Nazi Germany.
Racist, Fascist and Lying Their Heads Off — McCain is behind in the polls because he has no real plan for the average citizen and Obama does and anyone that’s paying the least bit of attention knows it.  So how does the McCain campaign react?  Do they get their shit together and come up with a plan other than “the heels are on, the gloves are off?”
Spoonamore Reveals the Plan to Steal the 2008 Presidential Election — It may be crazy — or then again maybe not.  I guess we will see come November 5th when all the “votes” are in.
Why Conservatives are OK with Palin Not Talking to the Media — Found on reddit and written by marko34. I don’t think I could have summed this up more concisely.
The American Republic will endure until… — “The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public’s money.”
Which one is the Elitist? — Talk about fucking ridiculous.  The GOP continues to make Obama out to be an elitist and yet he lives relatively humbly while McCain can’t even remember how many homes he owns at times.
The Blind, the Clueless, and the Mentally Disturbed vote McCain/Palin — I can’t help myself - I have to say it.  Anyone, anyone at all, who votes for McCain/Palin is either blind to the truth, utterly clueless when it comes to their claims or mentally disturbed and living in a universe where supernatural entities exist.
GOP Convention Spin (a.k.a. GOP Bull Elephant Shit) — Here are some nice untruths and outright lies that that GOP is trying to fool people with.
$400 haircuts vs. $520 Italian leather loafers — If I were a right-wing blogger, and I found out that Barack Obama was wearing Ferragamo loafers that cost $520, I would spend about 50% of my waking hours making sure everyone knew this.

23Systems

FLIR for WordPress 0.8.0 — FLIR 0.8.0 release notes
WordPress Developer’s Toolbox — An extremely comprehensive list of sites, tools, tutorials, tips and tricks for WordPress developers
This site looks awful in IE 6, but FLIR works — A brief bit about FLIR bugs in IE6
Lightbox Plus and FLIR, Projects and Frameworks — Various projects and the like that were pecolating
FLIR for WordPress — Announcement for Facelift Image Replacement (FLIR) for WordPress
10 Ways to Save Time While Building a Website — Tips and tricks for expedient web development
14 of the Most Useful Web Design Blogs — Useful links for web designers
End of Life for PHP 4 — PHP4 Has reached the end of support
Theme Bugs — A bit about some bugs with some of my themes

Also at 23Systems:

Lightbox Plus

A WordPress plugin which implements Lightbox JS from Lokesh Dhakar. This plugin automatically enhances image links in WordPress to use Lightbox to display images in an overlay.

Actionable

A WordPress plugin to create a checklist of actionable items for users. Final release not yet available. You can try out the beta. Expected release date is 9/16/08.

Facelift Image Replacement

Facelift Image Replacment is a script that generates image representations of text on your web page in fonts that visitors would not be able to see.

Her "bingo" words (those words that make me light up like a pinball machine): doing the CSA will help her increase her production and have a guaranteed market for that production.

Working in concert with local farmers?  Encouraging increased local production by providing a direct market to consumers?

Oh.

Yeah.

Now, we need to recruit more local growers and producers, and the farmers who are interested in participating need to set a target number for membership and figure out who's going to grow what and when.

I'm thinking about what I'd want to grow--leaning toward greens: the Goddess salad mix, kale, chard, spinach, lettuce--maybe some bok choi and stir-fry greens.  That would limit my contributions more to the spring and fall seasons, and give me a little more leeway to get out of town every once in awhile.  I'm thinking too that the collective will need to be a pick-up rather than a delivery, and that a local business or residence must be identified that can serve as a distribution point.

So many details to work out.  I guess that's what winter's for....

You just have to look at the photos below, there amaaazing!

Also take a look at there site lapp-pro.de where you can see the whole slide show of them all. Ive been staring at these photos  for hours there so captivating.

Each individual photo is also downloadable from the website. Just take a look at these photo's and be sure to follow the links to there website.

I was talking to one of my CSA members at the farmers market this week, and she brought up an idea that I had entertained as well--a collective CSA in which several farmers contribute produce to the weekly shares of the members. This is not an uncommon set-up--I have read about a number of CSAs that pool together produce, meat, eggs, even flowers to fill weekly shares.

In the past four years, I have used some of the CSA members' funds to purchase other local produce to put in the bags--produce I was not growing at all, or produce that I didn't have enough of for all the deliveries (plus me). This week, I'll be delivering produce from two other farms besides my own.

But that strategy has been informal for the most part--I picked up this week's winter squash and red onions at the farmers market and without pre-arrangement. As I come to the realization that it's really too much for me to teach full time and farm full time, I'm looking around at what other farmers grow well, and talking about next year's crops.

I'll be doing some research this winter about how other CSA collectives handle their business.  I've thought of a "savings account" wherein a manager collects the membership money from shareholders at the beginning and then goes out and uses that money to buy produce in bulk from local farmers each week to fill the shares.

There's the possibility, too, of contracting in advance with the farmers and paying for the promised produce ahead of time (in more typical CSA fashion).  That would require the kind of surity that most small farmers might be a bit wary of providing.

This idea sort of flies in the face of my "housecleaning" approach of getting rid of excess projects this fall and winter, but I'd really hate to see Community Supported Agriculture go extinct in Vermillion.  It seems there ought to be a way to make the load on my own shoulders a bit lighter while keeping the farm-consumer connection strong.

One of the best and most visible DIY uprisings in the last few years has been the explosion of cycling in Riverside.  The Cycledelics bike crew helped to kick off the frenzy with costumed parades and epic beach rides, and more recently, The Bicycle Lounge has organized as a super-committed education and advocacy space and repair-collective (Inspired by both The Bicycle Kitchen and The Bike Oven in Los Angeles).

This flier rules so bad.

The groups have joined forces for Saturation at Back To The Grind starting at 11AM on Saturday, October 18.  From 11 to 12, they will be hosting a Mobile Repair Unit and teaching you how to fix and maintain your bike.  At 12, they ride out for a mostly-downtown tour of taco shops on what we call the Taco Sombrero Ride — all are welcome to join, but be aware that you ride at your own risk (and that you should bring your own sombrero and wear fancy duds). After tacos, we will hold a “slow race” and a pinata smacking in the parking lot behind The Grind.

At the event, they will have t-shirts available for purchase, spoke cards, lots of information about the organization and how to get involved, and a bicycle show — where you can check out the various bikes that they ride and learn why they love them so much.

Check out more information about The Bicycle Lounge and a new Cycledelics Video after the jump...

The Bicycle Lounge

We promote socially conscious, healthy, and economical transportation for all members of our community by advocating safe and responsible bicycle use. We educate current and potential cyclists on both how the bicycle works and how to operate it effectively by assisting them in building and repairing their own projects.

We are a committed group of avid cyclists in Riverside, CA, collaborating to develop a self-sustaining repair collective. Currently, we operate out of a residential workshop. For more information, contact Brian Sorrell at 951 533 4566.

The Bicycle Lounge is a co-operative, community driven bicycle building and repair studio. We are not a bike shop. We are not master mechanics. We are experienced cyclists who are willing to share our experience and our knowledge with anyone interested in learning more about building, maintaining and riding bicycles.

This started with a love for bicycles. Our goal is to encourage more people to use bicycles for both transportation and for recreation through a combination of education and advocacy. At The Bicycle Lounge, we pass along knowledge in a friendly, pressure-free environment. In the world, we demonstrate the viability of bicycles as transportation by riding responsibly and as often as possible. We encourage all visitors to The Bicycle Lounge to do the same.

We are funded solely through donations in the forms of spare parts, time, and money. The owners do not profit from The Bicycle Lounge.

We do not charge to use The Bicycle Lounge, but we ask for donations from those who choose to use the facility. Donations go toward building the community toolbox, maintaining the lounge, and stocking basic bicycle necessities.

Additionally, we aim to move The Bicycle Lounge into a commercial space as soon as possible, and to staff the facility at regular hours. Stay tuned.

From the Cycledelics Monthly Dose Ride, October 3:

My continued absorption in matters which occasionally seem trivial is a cause for concern. It's hard to clear the schedule and simply do what's important. I try, but every day I get lost in the minutiæ.

My antennæ keep picking up subsonic signals, the buzz of information about community and collective action. Attuned as I am, I see the signs wherever I look. I know a lot about what needs to be done. Surely others know something too. How can we find each other? ~~~

Such Soft Pillows, originally uploaded by marcus_in_ny.

While looking at pet adoption sites tonight I stumbled upon Empty Cages Collective and thought it was a great blog to feature. They have beautiful photographs of their animals for adoption and some great video, too. Stop by and admire their photography and maybe find a cutie pie of your own! :)

Their Flickr accounts are full of fantastic photos! Yet another artist using their skills to bring joy to the world and peace to many hearts. :D

Squish, originally uploaded by lisacat.

Also featured on HELPINGHANDART.WORDPRESS.COM

I was very interested in physics. Always have been. I found the concept of resonance fascinating, and still do. Not just in its technical aspect but also in its more esoteric forms, and as a metaphor for how I create things and where my ideas come from.

Resonance is a state in which things move in a particular rhythm. The basic thought is that when something is struck with a force that matches its own innate, natural rhythm, it will start to move in sympathy- resonate.

If you play the right note next to a tuning fork, it will vibrate.

This is of course just the basic scientific idea of resonance. But I'm a fan of using half-assed metaphors from scientific thought to explain otehr things in life. When I was younger I had done a lot of reading; notably in this case reading Jung, Tesla, and Sheldrake.

Sheldrake's theory of morphic resonance is pretty interesting, even if not proven. That living things should always follow their predecessors in shape due to a repeated preference in evolution for that particular design is a simple enough thought. But proposing that unrelated creatures would also influence each other is a bit more of a leap. I find it interesting, though, and would love to see some work done to test the idea further.

Tesla's work with resonance is purely done from a physics perspective, but has its implications.

Jung, of course, talks a lot about the collective unconcsious. Now taking into account the other things I just brought up, you can see where I'm heading. If everything has its own natural rhythm, its own note, then why would the human mind be any different?

As the world around us changes, as events occur, the hive mind begins to shiver. Every worker bee shakes its ass to the same beat. (with exceptions- although I've always found some pride in being a rebel)

I always felt like somehow the things I saw with my mind's eye were just reactions to the world around me, reactioins that I didn't control. I have always been a fan of the surrealists. How do you paint a dream? And does what we make, as art, come from some inner vision? How do you represent the impossible, visually? How do we make a picture of the mystery?

Everything I make is a product of the world's rhythm, and the things that strike me in just the right way, with just the right amount of force, and with the proper chord, will resonate. I will move, and what my eye invents will come out through my hands and into the world. Like a note from a tuning fork. I don't act in rhythm with the world- only when it hits me just right, do I resonate. Only the things with which I resonate, do I respond to this way.

I don't think that I can explain much more clearly than that. I actually did think about all this when I picked that name; at the time I thought it would be a short-lived name, but it has stuck for more than fifteen years and I don't think I'll be changing it any time soon.

Especially in tattooing, I work with the zeitgeist. I see trends. I can almsot, if I squint just right in low light, see the future. Art shows us where we are going, where we are, what we've been. Art is the Cassandra of civilization. We see the consequences, and without trying to propagandize even, we express the effects of change in the world through what we make. My hand can draw the future out on a piece of paper, and I can sell a thousand copies. But whether or not people pay attention to art as an indicator of our coming dystopia is another question, one I don't have an answer to, one I haven't finished wrestling with yet.

for more about resonance on this kind of level check out :

Terence McKenna
philip k dick(especially the valis books)
Kurt Vonnegut
the writings of Salvador Dali
the futurists
Jung's theories about collective symbolism
Morphogenesis
collective intelligence
Alex Grey
any revolutionary propaganda art

Read the whole story here

Hysteria surrounds global economic crises, presidential politics, international tension and speculation about the future.

Obama supporters are convinced without their man in the White House, we are headed for hell in a hand basket.

McCain supporters are convinced without their man in the White House, we are headed for hell in a hand basket.

Hell hath no fury like a Leftist scorned.   Some people predict if Obama loses, we will see race riots.  Certainly people will insist evil Republicans stole the election, despite ACORN’s proven attempts to steal elections for 10 years.   When Rightists lose, they don’t get mad, they modify, paving a road to hell with centrist intentions. 

Ultimately, God is in His heaven, and nothing happens beyond His notice, nor will ultimate outcomes escape His will.

As a strong McCain supporter, all this got me thinking about what will likely happen if Obama is elected.

Let’s look on the bright side.  It could be good.

Obama will face the same presidential meat grinder all presidents face.   He will be confronted daily with no-win situations, a series of Catch 22 circumstances, forced to make “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” decisions.  Despite all his good intentions, he will be vilified, first from this sector, then the next.   He will look at the same intelligence Bush reads every day and Obama will soon realize the options are few.   Many days he will ask himself: what was I thinking aspiring to this hellish office?

The real problem is Obama has never made an executive decision.   He has no experience to fall back on.   His advisors will simply drive him crazy with hundreds of divergent suggestions.

This will force him to rely on his political philosophy and his instincts.  His political philosophy is rooted in expediency, moral relativism and radicalism which is inherently anchorless.  Without a set of core values, a person is made to drift with the winds of political fortune, which invariably translates into chaos, and weakness, and serial crises, devoid of legislative consensus,  ala Jimmy Carter.   Animals run on instinct, and exclusive reliance on instinct always means a focus on survival.

At that point the meat grinder will accelerate. 

Sure, with Democrat majorities in the House and Senate, in the near term Obama will be able to railroad higher taxes, massive spending on federal entitlements, defense cuts, radical Left judicial appointments, and education “reform” which forces students into indoctrination centers prepping them for enrollment in Public Allies where they will study “Rules for Radicals” and “The Communist Manifesto” 24/7.   The 250 million people in this country who believe in God will be alarmed to learn they have to keep quiet about it.   Gay marriage will flourish.  Pastors will be jailed for hate crimes simply for preaching from the Bible.

Moral decline, our worst problem, will hasten the generalized train wreck.

Eventually, sooner, not later:

The economy will decline even further.

Terrorism will increase.

Class warfare will escalate.

Everyone will be alienated.

The misery index will increase.

Illegal immigration will skyrocket.

American sovereignty will diminish.

Multiple enemies abroad will take their shots.

We’ll go bankrupt.

Uncle Sam’s checks will bounce.

Obama will be immobilized.

Taking a cue from Thomas Jefferson, the U.S. military will storm the Capitol and take over.

Radical Leftist Anti-American Agitators and Community Organizers will be shipped to Cuba to expand Gitmo, making it their own Collective.

The rest of us can get back to work expanding the American dream according to the Founders' vision: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Take heart Americans. 

It could be a good thing, kind of like a good, cleansing fast, coupled with a mineral water intestinal flush.

Obama: the psycho-socio-political enema!

[Or, it could shake out another way.  Obama will agree to political equivalence with Raoul and Hugo, and together, they will make the entire Western Hemisphere a neo-Soviet empire, while the rest of us high tail it to Australia.   Great Beaches!    Let’s just be sure to spike the canons before we leave!]

We have been dreaming. We want to collect equipment for communal use- drum carders, hand carders, spinning wheels, spindles, a picker, maybe some looms! How cool would that be? Then, people who couldn't afford to buy those things on their own could come and use ours!

And we could make friends with local farmers! Contact people with herds of sheep, alpaca, llama, and see if they would be interested in joining our network and selling their fiber directly to us? How cool would that be?

And then we could organize and teach workshops! That way we could teach skill sets to the people in our network, and share our knowledge!

And we could do outreach! We could work with women's shelters and underprivilaged kids. We could teach them how to make handspun yarn, and how to knit!

And wouldn't it be cool to have a gallery space one day, so that our members and our students could display their beautiful work, and our local community could come to view it and maybe even buy it?

To make the dream even bigger, we want to add a book arts component to the collective! Book arts and fiber arts are so closely related. Fiber is the most significant element in paper making. Most book artists are intimate with fiber in the same way that spinsters or dye artists are, and there is already significant cross-over in our local community.

This is our dream. And our dream is slowly becoming a reality!

So, we're glad you have come to visit our blog! We would love to hear from you. And remember to come back! We plan on posting regularly- at least once a week. We will use this blog to update you on events that we are involved in, mile-markers we reach, contacts we make, and possibly just to be chatty sometimes!

Have a great day!

Van speaks to a shifting paradigm of presence in the world. More and more people are becomming more aware of themselves and their actions. People are becomming aware of how their actions impact those around them and then ripple out to affect those around the world.

Take a look at this video and as yourself, 'what solution am I working for?'

 Despite having authored two autobiographies, Barack Obama has never written about his most important executive experience. From 1995 to 1999, led an education foundation called the Chicago Annenberg Challenge (CAC), and remained on the board until 2001. The group poured more than $100 million into the hands of community organizers and radical educaton activists.

The CAC was the brainchild of Bill Ayers, a founder of the Weather Underground in the 1960s. Among other feats, Mr. Ayers and his cohorts bombed the Pentagon, and he has never expressed regret for his actions. Barack Obama's first run for the Illinois State Senate was launched at a 1995 gathering at Mr. Ayers's home.

The Obama campaign has struggled to downplay that association. Last April, Sen. Obama dismissed Mr. Ayers as just "a guy who lives in my neighborhood," and "not somebody who I exchange ideas with on a regular basis." Yet documents in the CAC archives make clear that Mr. Ayers and Mr. Obama were partners in the CAC. Those archives are housed in the Richard J. Daley Library at the University of Illinois at Chicago and I've recently spent days looking through them.

The Chicago Annenberg Challenge was created ostensibly to improve Chicago's public schools. The funding came from a national education initiative by Ambassador Walter Annenberg. In early 1995, Mr. Obama was appointed the first chairman of the board, which handled fiscal matters. Mr. Ayers co-chaired the foundation's other key body, the "Collaborative," which shaped education policy.

The CAC's basic functioning has long been known, because its annual reports, evaluations and some board minutes were public. But the Daley archive contains additional board minutes, the Collaborative minutes, and documentation on the groups that CAC funded and rejected. The Daley archives show that Mr. Obama and Mr. Ayers worked as a team to advance the CAC agenda.

One unsettled question is how Mr. Obama, a former community organizer fresh out of law school, could vault to the top of a new foundation? In response to my questions, the Obama campaign issued a statement saying that Mr. Ayers had nothing to do with Obama's "recruitment" to the board. The statement says Deborah Leff and Patricia Albjerg Graham (presidents of other foundations) recruited him. Yet the archives show that, along with Ms. Leff and Ms. Graham, Mr. Ayers was one of a working group of five who assembled the initial board in 1994. Mr. Ayers founded CAC and was its guiding spirit. No one would have been appointed the CAC chairman without his approval.

The CAC's agenda flowed from Mr. Ayers's educational philosophy, which called for infusing students and their parents with a radical political commitment, and which downplayed achievement tests in favor of activism. In the mid-1960s, Mr. Ayers taught at a radical alternative school, and served as a community organizer in Cleveland's ghetto.

In works like "City Kids, City Teachers" and "Teaching the Personal and the Political," Mr. Ayers wrote that teachers should be community organizers dedicated to provoking resistance to American racism and oppression. His preferred alternative? "I'm a radical, Leftist, small 'c' communist," Mr. Ayers said in an interview in Ron Chepesiuk's, "Sixties Radicals," at about the same time Mr. Ayers was forming CAC.

CAC translated Mr. Ayers's radicalism into practice. Instead of funding schools directly, it required schools to affiliate with "external partners," which actually got the money. Proposals from groups focused on math/science achievement were turned down. Instead CAC disbursed money through various far-left community organizers, such as the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (or Acorn).

Mr. Obama once conducted "leadership training" seminars with Acorn, and Acorn members also served as volunteers in Mr. Obama's early campaigns. External partners like the South Shore African Village Collaborative and the Dual Language Exchange focused more on political consciousness, Afrocentricity and bilingualism than traditional education. CAC's in-house evaluators comprehensively studied the effects of its grants on the test scores of Chicago public-school students. They found no evidence of educational improvement.

CAC also funded programs designed to promote "leadership" among parents. Ostensibly this was to enable parents to advocate on behalf of their children's education. In practice, it meant funding Mr. Obama's alma mater, the Developing Communities Project, to recruit parents to its overall political agenda. CAC records show that board member Arnold Weber was concerned that parents "organized" by community groups might be viewed by school principals "as a political threat." Mr. Obama arranged meetings with the Collaborative to smooth out Mr. Weber's objections.

The Daley documents show that Mr. Ayers sat as an ex-officio member of the board Mr. Obama chaired through CAC's first year. He also served on the board's governance committee with Mr. Obama, and worked with him to craft CAC bylaws. Mr. Ayers made presentations to board meetings chaired by Mr. Obama. Mr. Ayers spoke for the Collaborative before the board. Likewise, Mr. Obama periodically spoke for the board at meetings of the Collaborative.

The Obama campaign notes that Mr. Ayers attended only six board meetings, and stresses that the Collaborative lost its "operational role" at CAC after the first year. Yet the Collaborative was demoted to a strictly advisory role largely because of ethical concerns, since the projects of Collaborative members were receiving grants. CAC's own evaluators noted that project accountability was hampered by the board's reluctance to break away from grant decisions made in 1995. So even after Mr. Ayers's formal sway declined, the board largely adhered to the grant program he had put in place.

Mr. Ayers's defenders claim that he has redeemed himself with public-spirited education work. That claim is hard to swallow if you understand that he views his education work as an effort to stoke resistance to an oppressive American system. He likes to stress that he learned of his first teaching job while in jail for a draft-board sit-in. For Mr. Ayers, teaching and his 1960s radicalism are two sides of the same coin.

Mr. Ayers is the founder of the "small schools" movement (heavily funded by CAC), in which individual schools built around specific political themes push students to "confront issues of inequity, war, and violence." He believes teacher education programs should serve as "sites of resistance" to an oppressive system. (His teacher-training programs were also CAC funded.) The point, says Mr. Ayers in his "Teaching Toward Freedom," is to "teach against oppression," against America's history of evil and racism, thereby forcing social transformation.

The Obama campaign has cried foul when Bill Ayers comes up, claiming guilt by association. Yet the issue here isn't guilt by association; it's guilt by participation. As CAC chairman, Mr. Obama was lending moral and financial support to Mr. Ayers and his radical circle. That is a story even if Mr. Ayers had never planted a single bomb 40 years ago.

I found 'A picture's worth' on the Learning technology teacher development blog. it's a wonderful collective version of people's stories behind their own photos - even more interesting as a kaleidoscopic collection. Starting as a personal project, 'A picture's worth' has developed into a pictorial record of varied experiences and reflections. Submissions of photos and text between 300 and 1000 words are moderated, and copyright for photos and essay remains with the author.

Some authors will include website links, and a map showing where the photo adds to the authenticity of the story. I like this idea for the classroom. Rather than write the usual story about a personal photo, students can showcase to a peer audience, and the shared stories could trigger ideas. It's always interesting to see what subject matter is chosen and for what reason. Here's an example of someone who loves photographing little forgotten theatres. Some of these stories are more intimate than others. Here's an intimate, emotional one about a family coping with a dying grandmother. Here's a confronting, brave one about abuse called 'Bruised twice'.

The picture inserted in this post is of my church in Brunswick, Melbourne, on Merri Creek, although it could well be in Russia. This church building houses many stories, from its inception which remained a dream for many decades, including the efforts of many people, some of whom never saw the completed project, to the present day. And it will be connected to many different families and individuals in years to come.

The picture below is the inside of the church looking up at the cupol.

Magic is in the air. Magic more to the point is in the water supply.

When Neptune slips into the sign of Pisces in 2012, illusion and beauty will fill the world, there will be such fine emotion, such merging and people will feel that they are one with the Universe and with each other. Water of course is what connects the world, not only are human beings mostly water, but so is the Earth's surface. The Mayas have predicted that the coincidence of Neptune Pisces, of which they knew nothing about with their own Astrological system heralded the End of the Age.

Now in true Neptune fashion, half the population have taken these words to signify the end of the world. But of course logic states that this is not so, our Solar system is stable, and changes slowly. Pisces is often confused, often does not know the difference between logic and imagination. So there will be part of the population that truly believes that the end is nigh. And they will make their contribution to the feeling that will permeate the world... because crisis and confusion often does bring forth moments of clarity and redemption from the impending catastrophe.

There are musicians who have Neptune placed in Pisces, who were in tune with the finer emotions of humanity. They were able to use that talent to affect people through their art, through their creativity, they were able to capture people's hearts. This placement is the most powerful placement for Neptune, Neptune Pisces is spiritually awake, and the most sensitive placements of Neptune.

Neptune Aquarius

What's wrong with being alone? There are many people out there, who are alone, who feel alone, who are in, for whatever reason, emotional islands. The nature of humanity is that we are all born into the world this way, that the human body is separate from all other human bodies.

It is easy to see that people are trying to connect with each other. The real reason for groups and clubs, may not be the knowledge and the actual interest which unites, but, rather the uniting, the being together, that counteracts the lonely and emotionally detached experience of Aquarius.

Neptune is a fine planet, it's the planet which acts on the human sensibilities, emotion which is even more sensitive than the emotion of the Moon. So while Neptune transits the sign of Aquarius, groups of people all around the world will be able to come in contact with finer feelings, with the soul of the Solar System.

Having modern rulership over Venus's exaltation, it is easy to see that Neptune is sentimental and very attached to feelings of love. But these feelings don't just project onto one person or one concept. For Aquarius, it is so important to accept and understand the whole, to bring forth the collective approach. Because Neptune has so much compassion, and Aquarius believes in the Brotherhood of Man, Aquarius Neptune will do all it can to erase the discrimination, to put a stop to other people's suffering. It does this in a methodical way, because it is under the rulership of Saturn and Uranus. There is a need to create both systems which are all-inclusive, but also a need to connect with someone.

Neptune has a lot of emotional needs. in Aquarius it reaches out to other people, to try to make friends, to not be alone. This is a noble placement for Neptune.

Neptune Capricorn

Neptune is in Fall in this sign. How does such a sensitive, feeling planet function while under the hard and materialistic scrutiny of Saturn. Neptune does not represent expansion like its spiritual counterpart Jupiter, it is more associated with sensitive feelings, of refinement in aesthetic appreciation, and in compassion for the people and animals that are suffering.

In Capricorn Neptune will have a hard time thinking about the pain of others, or that someone else might need their compassion. Saturn doesn't really have time for these trivial things, it simply doesn't understand them, because its nature is to focus on its own problems, on its own pressing material circumstances and ambition... which often requires sacrificing the weak.

Feodor Dostoevsky had Neptune placed in Capricorn in the 1st house. Pisces was placed in his natal 3rd house. His writing is still considered to be some of the highest form of art, the biggest cultural achievement for the Western World, such is the nature of Saturn's ambition. But in a completely different sense, that Capricorn Neptune was not sympathetic to the human condition, his writing sees humanity in a rather grim light, Capricorn signifies darkness.

Neptune Sagittarius

Présenté de toutes parts comme le changement le plus important apporté au système d'épargne canadien depuis le lancement du REER, le CELI procure à l'épargnant une souplesse accrue dans la gestion de son épargne tout en lui assurant à plus long terme des meilleures conditions à la retraite. De plus, lorsqu'il est offert dans le cadre d'un régime d'épargne-retraite collective, il représente un outil intéressant pour le promoteur pour aider à recruter et conserver des employés talentueux.

« Les avantages sociaux sont un outil important de la gestion globale des ressources humaines chez nos clients, explique Éric Filion, Directeur principal, Développement et mise en marché, épargne pour les groupes et les entreprises auprès de Desjardins Sécurité financière. Nous sommes très heureux d'être en mesure dès le 1er janvier 2009 de bonifier ce qu'ils offrent déjà à leurs employés en rendant accessible cette nouvelle manière d'épargner pour la retraite »

Voir l'article original sur le site de Desjardins.

Come get down in the Dumbworld Room.  We will be showing King of Funk, Bass Rocs and some other works (not to mention there will be other great artists showing/performing)-- come get your Dumbworld Peace.  Oh- and it is free suckers!!!  More details to follow.

As well as images from the event (and news of upcoming!) we will finally have some introductions of our member artists we intend the blog. Profile pages and contact details will also be added with (most importantly) some images of our work.

As you may know our collective has formed quickly and things have really started with a bang so it may take a little while for us to get things going just the way we want to.

Thanks for your support and interest

Dean

What a totally fab day! 

It felt, without wanting to sound like I'm giving an Oscar Speech, such a privilege to be part of the group exhibiting there. Lovely, lovely people - I had only met a couple of them before - with some fantastic work!

I loved the old house that the exhibition was shown in - such an atmospheric venue to use. The house was the epitome of decaying grandeur! Beautiful stained glass windows - some intact some broken and taped up, light struggling to break through their jewelled panels from behind the ivy that is creeping over the outside. Each of the artists showing were allocated a room or space like the entrance hall or landing to display their work and for two days the house was filled with art and life as people came to look, talk, eat, laugh, and dance! Wonderful!

My favourite room was the one used by my friend Dean. It had an old fireplace, tattered curtains framing the big old window, and great dated floral wallpaper that was peeling away from the walls. It was a brilliant backdrop to his work which looked stunning! Having been following his journey recently it was wonderful to see the reception his art got, hear his room buzzing with people talking about his work and see him coming away having sold four pieces! Go Dean!       

I have come away with so many good feelings and memories from a great experience with some great people. Here's hoping there's more to come!