DE COMO EL PINTOR ES SEÑOR DE TODA SUERTE DE GENTES Y DE TODAS LAS COSAS _________ si el pintor quiere contemplar bellezas que lo cautiven, es muy dueño de crearlas, y si quiere ver cosas monstruosas y que espanten, o bien bufonescas y risibles o, incluso, conmovedoras, de ellas puede ser señor y dios. LEONARDO DA VINCI, TRATADO DE LA PINTURA, Frag, 19 según el Codex Urbinas. (Amaury-Duval, Nacimiento de Venus, 1862)

Of course if Vasari was right, what was a poor artist to do AFTER those men were dead and gone? He could only imitate them, not equal them or surpass them. He might as well give up and turn to engineering.

And in fact, artists got lost. They floundered around. Some decided to break Vasari’s rules for good art and to experiment on their own. Beauty was nice as an end, they thought, but there were other things you could aim for in a picture. There was expression. Vasari’s top artists had all restrained their figures according to the demands of grace and beauty. They didn’t paint men with their arms flailing or in unstable postures or in a rage, for example, because that ruined the harmony and serenity a beautiful picture required. Rather, they showed men and women in quiet reflection or graceful movement. They tried to make each of the details of their picture as beautiful as they could.

These new, lost, artists thought maybe beauty, or Vasari’s notion of beauty, might be crippling a picture. He said the artist should observe nature but then correct it. Why correct it? Maybe it was wrong to weed out the bad you see in nature. Maybe you should present it just as you see it, the bad along with the good, the crooked along with the straight. The raw facts, the crude facts, of nature contain as much truth as your selected “beautiful” facts.

A few started pulling their figures like taffy, making them long. The idea was to achieve some new expression. Parmigianino and Bronzino stretched them out.

The Virgin and Child by Parmigianino

El Greco pulled them even harder and misshaped them in order to show what spiritual beings they were.

Laocoön by El Greco

Greco downplayed the truth of the physical world. “We are spiritual beings basically,” he might have said. “Our struggles are all inside. Our body and the world itself is just the container where these struggles are going on. I’m not going to waste my time observing what doesn’t last. My paintings are about souls, not bodies.”

Nobody else went as far in distorting his figures as El Greco. Most painters took the middle ground and created half-beautiful paintings, trying to give their works both grace (the old beauty) and raw or even upsetting realism at the same time. An artist named Caravaggio painted dramatic scenes, some of them horrorific, with spooky stage lighting. The figures in his paintings—the prophets, the Virgins, the angels—were obviously copied from real people instead of the designs dressed up as people that the old greats had created. They weren’t beautified: if anything they were uglified for truth or emotion.

..

..

About the Mona Lisa, Wikipedia says....

" Mona Lisa (also known as La Gioconda) is a 16th century portrait painted in oil on a poplar panel by Leonardo Da Vinci during the Italian Renaissance. The work is owned by the French government and hangs in the Musée du Louvre in Paris, France with the title Portrait of Lisa Gherardini, wife of Francesco del Giocondo.

The painting is a half-length portrait and depicts a woman whose expression is often described as enigmatic. The ambiguity of the sitter's expression, the monumentality of the half-figure composition, and the subtle modeling of forms and atmospheric illusionism were novel qualities that have contributed to the painting's continuing fascination.

Mona Lisa was not well known until the mid-19th century when artists of the emerging Symbolist movement began to appreciate it, and associated it with their ideas about feminine mystique.

Leonardo used a pyramid design to place the woman simply and calmly in the space of the painting. Her folded hands form the front corner of the pyramid. Her breast, neck and face glow in the same light that models her hands. The light gives the variety of living surfaces an underlying geometry of spheres and circles.

... the composition of the figure evokes an ambiguous effect: we are attracted to this mysterious woman but have to stay at a distance as if she were a divine creature...

The Mona Lisa painting now hangs in the Musée du Louvre in Paris, France. "

So, what do YOU think of the Mona Lisa painting?

I was browsing through the art sites online and came across many references and many repetitive images of the Mona Lisa. This led me to wonder what is it about this painting that enamours so many? What is it about this work of art that makes it so famous?

http://www.louvre.fr/llv/dossiers/detail_oal.jsp?CONTENT%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673229908&CURRENT_LLV_OAL%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673229908&bmLocale=en was very informative and truly speaking, after going through this site, I too have become a fan of this piece of art! It is just a splendid work with a lot of planning and mathematics is involved to such a length that it could also be called a piece of mathematical magic!!!

The two landscapes being the background of the painting and Mona Lisa being seated on the balcony with the two columns framing the portrait gives us a far-sighted view of the entire setting.. like as though it is a never ending land stretched out behind her to which we can see.. and yet, at the same time, it is the woman in the painting who arrests our attention.. with her come-hither eyes.. which silently but very strongly beckons the viewer to her and the makings of a smile upon her face.. She seems as though she is thinking of something that she likes but to the observer it seems as though she is calling out to us...

The folds on her dresses.. the sleeves.. the ruffles, the lace.. it has all been captured with such precision. The gauzy veil that blows on her head looks ready to fly away at the very next breeze! The woman' complexion has been sketched very aptly.. with the pink areas near the fingertips and the colour differences at other parts.. the light bouncing of her bosom and her curly hair lightly brushing against her shoulders...

When we observe the portrait taking each area into consideration separately, we can surely understand why Leonardo Da Vinci took almost 4 years to complete this painting!!!!

It surely is a splendid piece of art!

That means you arrived at the crisis moment... Sometimes, you never get out of it, you have really spoiled your thing and there is nothing else to do but to start again... Here I am, in a crisis (see the reproduction). But I still have some ideas and I still have hope... For instance, I think I'll paint a lizard, somewhere, on the couch... And, of course, the skin will not keep that greeny color... It`s just a phase... I won`t keep the "moustache" either... It's already been done and I don't want to make a comic Mona Lisa. but I still search for a more mysterious smile...

And the winner is.....   NR 5: Rafeal Nadal (spanish professional tennis player), NR 4: David Archuleta (runner up in American Idol 7), NR 3: Paul McCartney (music artist), NR 2: Angelina Jolie (actress), NR 1: Barack Obama (Democratic Party 2008 presidential nominee). Hhhmm maybe left handed people are more talented...

There are several myths left handed people. That they are more creative and artistic. This can be backed up with the fact that both Michelangelo and Jimi Hendrix were both left handed. But how can we prove or disprove these myths. I think this is a task for Discovery channel´s Mythbusters. 

Some research has found out that left handed people think faster, and make more money. The research also says we adapt quicker to looking under water. Some other research says we live shorter, and are more at risk of allergies, schizophrenia and have a harder time learning different languages. Wouldn´t it be nice if you could just pick the ones you want. 

Writing when left handed is no problem, but it is easier to smear out ink and such. This must be easier for people writing in Arabic, as they read and write from right to left. 

Why is the word right (used as: the right answer or the right thing to do ) written in the exact same way as right, in right handed people. Hhhmm... Is this to tell the left handed people that they write wrong? You tell me. 

Here is a list of other left handed people:

Albert Einstein, Alexander the Great, Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, Bruce Willis, Charlie Chaplin, Colin Powell, Fidel  Castro, Goerge Bush Sr., Jeanne d´Arc, Jim Carry, John F Kennedy, Julia Roberts, Julius Caesar, Keanu Reeves, Kurt Cobain, Leonardo Da Vinci, Mahatma Gandhi, Matt Groening, Ned Flanders, Oprah Winfrey, Phil Collins, Prince Charles, Prince William, Queen Victoria of the UK, Robert DiNero, Thomas Jefferson, Tom Cruise...... the list goes on and on.

Even though these people have put there mark on the world in there very different ways. Everyday life is made for right handed people. Many day to day objects are not as easy to use when your are left handed. This has resulted in several left hand shops. One in ten people are left handed, so there is a market for it. 

I´m left handed, and proud of it.

For you other left handed out there, what do you think is the best/worst thing about being left handed?

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="200" caption="Reconstructed fingerprint of Leonardo da Vinci"][/caption]

Leonardo da Vinci's fingerprints:

Leonardo da Vinci may have had an Arab heritage, according to Italian researchers who have isolated and reconstructed the Renaissance master's fingerprint. The fingerprint represents the only biological trace of the Florentine genius, said Luigi Capasso, an anthropologist at Chieti University. "It is actually the first evidence of Leonardo's corporeality," Capasso told Discovery News.

Indeed, nothing is left of the painter, engineer, mathematician, philosopher and naturalist. The remains of Leonardo, who died in 1519 in Amboise, France, were dispersed in the 16th century during religious wars.

In the case of Leonardo's fingertip, patterns and ridges pointed to the Middle East, the researchers concluded. "The fingerprint features patterns such as the central whorl that are dominant in the Middle East.

About 60 percent of the Middle Eastern population display the same dermatoglyphic structure found in the fingerprint," Capasso said.

FULL ARTICLE:
Theories and speculations about the origins of western palmistry

The research began in 2002, following the discovery of hundreds of fingerprints in the master's notebooks and drawings. "Not all belonged to Leonardo. There was a mixture of traces, with marks also left by his apprentices," said Alessandro Vezzosi, director of the Museo Ideale in the Tuscan town of Vinci, where the artist was born in 1452 and where the fingerprints are collected. Capasso and colleagues at the University of Chieti first worked on isolating and extracting the real Leonardo's fingerprints. Through nondestructive spectrometry, they examined about 200 fingerprints from about 52 papers and found that only in a few cases had Leonardo left a complete fingerprint. In most cases, the partial fingerprints consisted of the radial half of the left thumb, indicating that left-handed Leonardo was just moving and leafing through the papers. "But when we examined the 'Portrait of a Lady with an Ermine', we noticed that the artist used his finger when applying the finishing touches to the necklace's shadow," Capasso said. After scouring manuscripts and notebooks, the researchers found two other fingerprints that matched and completed the Ermine markings. The result was an entire fingertip, possibly belonging to the left forefinger. Fingerprints are unique and don't change over a lifetime. Analysis of the skin's arches, loops and whorls — a science known as dermatoglyphics — has shown that there is a link between fingerprints and populations. In the case of Leonardo's fingertip, patterns and ridges pointed to the Middle East, the researchers concluded. "The fingerprint features patterns such as the central whorl that are dominant in the Middle East. About 60 percent of the Middle Eastern population display the same dermatoglyphic structure found in the fingerprint," Capasso said. The discovery would support Vezzosi's claim that Leonardo's mother was not a local peasant girl as previously thought, but a Middle Eastern slave. According to Vezzosi, records unearthed in Vinci offer substantial evidence that Leonardo's father, a craftsman called Ser Piero Da Vinci, owned a Middle-Eastern female slave named Caterina. Search by Topic HAND NEWS: Palm Therapy | Hand Gestures | Digit Ratio Fingernails | Fingerprints | Hand Analysis

]]> http://mindworksonline.wordpress.com/?p=683 Mon, 11 Aug 2008 02:55:53 +0000 Andrew Cooper http://mindworksonline.wordpress.com/?p=683 What ten quotes would you take with you to a desert island?

Well it's been a difficult choice Kirsty, but here they are in no particular order.

"Always the more beautiful answer who asks the more beautiful question." e e cummings

"Theories should be as simple as possible, but no simpler". Albert Einstein's restatement of Occam's Razor Although he is often quoted as saying this, his actual words weren't quite so elegant: see the quote starting "It can scarcely denied that all theory.." on this page.

"Let's pretend it isn't and see what happens." Rabbit's reply to Winnie the Pooh one morning when Pooh happened along and said "Hello Rabbit, is that you?"

"I think it would be a good idea." Mahatma Ghandhi, when asked what he thought of Western civilization during a visit to the UK.  (There's a wonderful list of Ghandi quotes at wikiquote.)

"For every complex problem, there's a solution that's neat, elegant and wrong." H L Menken (Again, this is an often quoted paraphrase of the original.  But it's still a good quote.)

"The greatest deception men suffer is from their own opinions." Leonardo da Vinci discussing cognitive dissonance 500 years before the term was coined.

"Piece out our imperfections with your thoughts." William Shakespeare, prologue to Henry Vth.  I think that prologue is wonderful - the bard himself (probably, but it doesn't matter if it isn't) inviting us to use our imagination.

"There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one's own safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind. Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn't, but if he was sane he had to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didn't have to; but if he didn't want to he was sane and had to. Yossarian was moved very deeply by the absolute simplicity of this clause of Catch-22 and let out a respectful whistle.
"That's some catch, that catch-22," he observed.
"It's the best there is," Doc Daneeka agreed."

Doc Danneka explaining why Yossarian can't leave the air force on the grounds of claimed insanity in the wonderful strange loop that is Joseph Heller's Catch 22.

"Never give in — never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy."  Winston Churchill, who never read a book about management in his life or hired a single management consultant, demonstrating what leadership is all about in a speech given at Harrow School on 29th October 1941

‘If you want to teach people a new way of thinking, don’t bother to try to teach them. Instead, give them a tool the use of which will lead them to new ways of thinking.’ Buckminster Fuller

And if I could only take one, Kirsty?  Probably the first one.

A luxury?  Would it be possible to have Wordpress together with a supply of laptops and a fast broadband link?  Only if I promised not to use it to communicate with anyone else? Yep, that's absolutely fine.

La vida y los sueños son hojas del mismo libro;
leerlo en orden es vivir,
hojearlo, es soñar.

Arthur Schopenhauer

Creo que más fuerte que la sabiduría, es la imaginación.
Que más potente que la historia, es el mito.
Que la esperanza siempre triunfa sobre la experiencia.
Que la única cura para el dolor, es la risa.
Que más poderosos que la realidad, son los sueños.

Robert L. Fulghum

Vive tratando de realizar muchas de las cosas que siempre has soñado y no te quedará tiempo para sentirte mal.

Richard Bach

Coraje no es la ausencia de temor, es considerar que algo es más importante que ese temor.

Ambrose Redmoon

Los grandes momentos de nuestra vida llegan cuando juntamos el coraje de convertir nuestras debilidades en lo mejor de nosotros mismos.

Friedrich Nietzsche

Hay dos cosas importantes en la vida: la primera, conseguir lo que quieres, y después, disfrutarlo.
Sólo los más capaces pueden alcanzar lo segundo.

Logan Pearsall Smith

Prefiero una locura que me entusiasme a una verdad que me agobie.

Christoph M. Wieland

SI hay algo de lo que me siento verdaderamente dueño, no es de mi vida, sino de mis sueños.

Luis Cané

Soñar todo lo que desees soñar. Esa es la belleza de la mente.
Hacer lo que desees hacer. Esa es la fuerza de la voluntad humana.
Probar tus límites con confianza. Ese es el coraje de alanzar la meta.

Bernard Edmonds

La esperanza es el sueño de un hombre despierto.

Diógenes Laertus

Hay personas que viven en un mundo de ensueños, otras que enfrentan la realidad, y hay otras que convierten lo uno en la otra.

Douglas H. Everett

Lo que nos distingue son nuestros sueños y lo que hacemos para que se realicen.

Joseph Epstein

Los problemas del mundo no pueden ser resueltos por los cínicos ni los escépticos, cuyos horizontes están limitados por las realidades evidentes. Necesitamos gente que pueda soñar cosas que nunca existieron.

John Keats

Quien mira hacia afuera, sueña.
Quien mira hacia adentro, despierta.

Carl Jung

Tuvieron la visión, un sueño fugaz, pero al final, un miedo sordo los detuvo.
Nunca comenzaron.
Algo les impidió liberar esa fuerza que todos llevamos en nuestro interior y que sólo puede salir cuando nos ponemos en movimiento y caminamos en línea recta hacia lo que anhelamos, lo que nos ilusiona.

Ray Dickinson

El ayer no es más que la memoria de hoy, y mañana es el sueño de hoy.

Khalil Gibrán

El impulso no puede detenerse: mientras haya vida, habrá sueños.

Miguel Castaño

Hay personas que guardan sus sueños en una caja pequeña y dicen que tienen ilusiones.
Luego guardan las cajas y, cada tanto, las abren para comprobar que siguen allí.
Son grandes planes pero nunca saldrán de sus cajas.
Hace falta mucho coraje para probar si somos tan buenos como nuestros sueños.

Erma Louise Bombeck

Un buen plan les da forma a las decisiones. Es por eso que un buen plan es esencial para convertir en realidad aquellos sueños que se nos escapan.

Lester Robert Bittel

Mucho más importante es el talento, la fuerza o los conocimientos es la capacidad de reírte de ti mismo y poder gozar mientras vas en pos de tus sueños.

Amy Grant

Cada vez que salgo a enfrentar el mundo me consumo el temor de equivocarme y fracasar. Actúo como si estuviera seguro y de a poco me siento seguro. Esta seguridad me ha ayudado a concretar mis ilusiones.

Arsenio Hall

Todo cambio atemoriza, aun aquellos que soñamos con realizar. No hay garantías, sólo la ilusión de alcanzar lo que deseamos. Todo paso es un salto al vacío pero también la posibilidad de realización.

Difícil. Esa es la palabra de la que a veces nos aferramos para no intentar lo posible.

Anónimo

El hierro se oxida por falta de uso, el agua pierde su pureza y se congela cuando hace frío. Del mismo modo, la falta de acción le quita vigor a la mente.

Leonardo Da Vinci

Pobre no es aquella persona cuyos sueños no se han realizado sino aquella persona que no sueña.

Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach

Si el sueño fuera como dicen, una tregua, ¿por qué, si te despiertan bruscamente, sientes que te han robado una fortuna?

Jorge Luis Borges

Se puede albergar un sueño durante años y años, y convertido en realidad de repente. Sé paciente. Te pasará, tarde o temprano: la vida te abrirá la puerta, y te permitirá entrar y dar una gran fiesta!

Lois Brown

Si no haces realidad tus sueños, la realidad se los llevará.

Eric Pio

Sin un gran vuelo de la imaginación, perdemos la emoción de las posibilidades.
Soñar, después de todo, es una manera de hacer planes.

Gloria Steinem

Sólo los soñadores pueden enseñarnos a volar.

Anne Marie Pierce

La persona realmente creativa está motivada por sus ganas de alcanzar el objetivo y no por sus deseos de derrotar a los demás.

Ayn Rand

Sueña siempre y apunta hacia más allá del punto que sabes puedes alcanzar.
No te preocupes por tus contemporáneos, ni por tus predecesores.
Intenta ser mejor que tú mismo.

William Faulkner

Sólo las personas que se atreven a ir demasiado lejos logran descubrir hasta dónde pueden llegar.

T. S. Eliot

Hay cosas que uno sueña y a veces prefiere no saber si es posible hacerlas realidad para asegurarse de que sigan existiendo como sueños.

Martín Arreghi

El auténtico soñador es el que sueña imposibles.

Elsa Triolet

Sólo tan alto a donde alcanzo puedo crecer,
sólo tan lejos a donde exploro, puedo llegar,
sólo en la profunidad en la que miro puedo ver,
sólo en la medida en la que sueño puedo ser.

Karen Ravn

Cuando detienes el diálogo interno, todo se hace posible, los proyectos más disparatados se hacen alcanzables.

Carlos Castaneda

EL mayor placer de la vida es hacer lo que la gente te dice que no puedes hacer.

Walter Bagehot

La persona más lenta, que no pierde de vista el objetivo, irá siempre más rápidamente que la que va sin rumbo fijo.

Gotthold W. Lessing

Quien cree que puede obrar guiado exclusivamente por la razón, está condenado a obrar muy raramente.

Gustave Le Bon

El hombre es un dios cuando sueña y un mendigo cuando reflexiona.

Johann F. Hölderlin

La sabiduría suprema es tener sueños de tanta grandeza como para no perderlos de vista mientras se persiguen.

William Faulkner

Perder el tiempo soñando con la persona que quisiéramos ser es dejar pasar a la persona que podemos ser.

Henry David Thoreau

El mundo está en manos de aquellos que tienen el coraje de soñar y de correr el riesgo de vivir sus sueños.

Paulo Coelho

Another new thing I'm wanting to try. There's this site called 43 Things. You go there and can list 43 things that you want to do. They can be anything from 'I want to learn how to make an omelet' to 'I want to take a trip to Rome'. I at one time had a list there but I never actually got around to doing it. I think it might have been that I just kept adding to the list and then it got so big that I overwhelmed myself. So I'm trying something new. Listing one thing in my blog that I want to do and then doing it. Once I do that, add another thing. We'll see how it turns out. So the first thing I want to do...

Go to bookstore and buy a book. Any ideas for a good book? I might do 'Pay It Forward' because I've already read half of it but I never got to finish it.

Speaking of Pay It Forward, I was a little pissed off when I was reading that because the movie has Helen Hunt, whats his face, and that kid. Yeah, okay, in the book, the guy with the scarred face is black, and the kid is mixed - white and hispanic. I've never seen the movie but I can plainly see they are all white. I'm not typically a person who pays attention to color but I thought that was a little ridiculous. Are you telling me they couldn't find a single black guy willing to go all scarface for that movie? Seriously?

So, anyway, book at bookstore. I'll try to do that this weekend. Probably not today because I'm going out of town to a bridal shower. It's her personal shower so I got her a Victoria's Secret card. I might have attempted to actually pick her out some lingerie but did they put her sizes on the invitation? No, they did not. Little difficult to buy for her that way. And did I mention that there are three weddings this month? There are. That means six showers. The personal's and the 'we want house stuff' shower. Blah. That's a lot of money at one time, not to mention its really hot this time of year if they hadn't noticed. Wow. I'm complaining alot. I'll stop now.

So you can obviously see I found my pic of the day. I'm no art fiend by any means and I wasn't expecting to pick a work by someone incredibly well known either but I stumbled across this piece and loved it. Sadly the first time I actually saw this was when watching Ever After and at the time I had no idea it was a real painting. I do think it's beautiful though. I don't typically wonder what people in paintings were like but in this and say the Mona Lisa, I do. I guess maybe because they are SO famous and so many people know about them, you wonder what they were really like. Maybe that's the attraction with famous people then. The simple fact that so many people know who they are sparks human curiosity to see what they are really like. See if they are worth all the attention they get.

Aren't I just philisophical today? Bored is probably more accurate. Lately I've been noticing a new phenomenon with me. As I've started to adapt to this writer persona I've taken on, I've noticed that I get envious of people who are funnier than me. (Funnier's not a word is it? Darn.) I'll read something, laugh my ass off, and go 'wow, why couldn't I think of that?'. I have humor envy. Not that I can't be funny at all, but when other people say something super witty, I'm sitting there wishing my brain worked in whatever odd way that person's must to come up with something that bizarrely funny. Weird, I know. An example that made me think of my humor envy issues: Just saw this on a fanfic summary - The Plots of "Continuum" and "Crystal Skull" moved in together, bought matching sets of footie pyjamas, got married and had a baby...and this is it. - See, funny.

So I've just read an article that has declared me an idiot. I don't know why I'm surprised. It's entitled 10 Mispronunciations That Make You Sound Stupid and I commit 3 of the 10 regularly with an additional one on occasion. My idiocy includes 1- Realtor. When I look at it on paper, I say it properly (REAL-tor). But I know that I have also pronounced it real-uh-ter before. 2- Supposedly/supposably ...I say both. I don't honestly know but I'm pretty sure I say supposedly more often than not, but I know I've said supposably as well. 3- Anyway/anyways ...I did know this one was wrong. I say both. It's a habit. And finally 4- Mischievous/mischievious ...until just the other day I thought mischievious was a word actually. Mischievous makes me feel snotty. The article can be found at: http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/10things/?p=392

Later same day....

K. I have gone to the bridal shower and am back again. She got lots of practical stuff which was a little disappointing. She did get some cute lingerie but she got lots of comfy stuff too. Comfy stuff is great and all but she's a newlywed people. This is for her honeymoon. She does not need a sleep pant set. We did play some fun games though. There was this poem game that listed off different things and if you had them you got a varying amount of points and whoever had the most points wins. Sort of like scavenger hunt on your body because they were mainly pointing out different things you could be wearing. Then we played bridal pictionary which was just way too easy but still fun. And then we played another points game with items in our purse. Which suddenly makes me feel very lame that I was actually entertained by this. lol. I could just imagine telling that to a guy and getting the blank stare 'uhhuh' expression. Oh, and I've been to two bridal showers in the last couple of weeks and at both showers, I won candles. Lavender and something Strawberry Pie. They sound lovely and all but for a girl that can't smell, they don't do much for me. At least they are pretty.

If you made it all the way through that paragraphless passage, you'll have noticed that Rabbit wound up in jail again, and promptly escaped.  (He's got a rap sheet as long as your arm, that one.)  You may also have noticed that we nice Italian kids evidently thought that Leonardo da Vinci was French.  The shame!

Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci

I admit it, I really don't like the Queen's Gallery. It's partly the ersatz 'regal' architecture. It's partly the irritation of queueing with dozens of tourists through the painfully slow ticket office, then submitting to a bag search and airport-style security gate. You are never allowed for a moment to forget that these are royal pictures, owned by the royal family, and we are being allowed in to peer at them by gracious permission. Grrr.

However, I wanted to see Amazing Rare Things, the collection of natural history paintings and drawings curated by David Attenborough, so I swallowed my republican tendencies.

Once inside, the pure, exquisite red chalk lines of Leonardo Da Vinci drawings soon soothed my soul. Until I noticed the E:R mark stamped in the corner of each parchment, at least. Horses, cats, seed pods and dragons mixed in abundance, each full of precisely observed life.

The next rooms exploded with colour, with vivid watercolours of rare and exotic species, newly discovered in what was the golden age of discovery. Lemurs, jewel-coloured birds and insects, orchids and lilies dazzled. I was excited by the paintings and the story of Maria Sybilla Merian, a Dutchwoman who travelled to Surinam in South America to study and paint the new natural world. In 1700, and without a man to accompany her. Her speciality was to study the life-cycles of insects and show them, alongside the plants they fed on, at these different stages. She was the first naturalist to do this.

But as I looked closer, some of the paintings revealed a crudeness I hadn't noticed at first glance. They were exciting, vibrant - but no match for the delicacy of Leonardo's drawings. Silly to expect them to stand comparison, I supposed.

Then I moved to the final room. More familiar flowers filled the room. Honeysuckle, forget-me-nots, auriculas (pictured), roses, plainly portrayed against white backgrounds. I think it was the roses that did it. These paintings were so delicate, so beautiful, they almost moved me to tears. I tried several times to tear myself away from the roses - old-fashioned English roses, from the 17th century, so convincing I could almost smell their gentle, old-fashioned scent. This was Alexander Marshall, a 'gentleman gardener' who put together a 'florilegium' of English flowers, consisting of 154 plates of exquisite watercolours. Not for publication, mind, these were to be enjoyed by his circle of friends and fellow horticulturalists. I'll never make jokes about amateur flower painters again.

I have to confess, I wasn't even aware that paintings like this existed in England. I knew the Dutch flower paintings of the 18th century, well-represented in Dulwich by the likes of Van Huysum. But these fresh English paintings were a world away from those overloaded vases of tulips and peonies, piled high without regard to season.

The Queens Gallery may be annoying, but this exhibition is well worth it. And it's only 15 minutes from Dulwich by train. If you want to re-stoke your republican fires before leaving, check out the 'Treasures from the Royal Collection' gallery, laden with tiaras, Faberge eggs and enough bling to sink the Titanic.

Amazing Rare Things is at the Queens Gallery until 28 September.

Photo: Royal Collection 2008, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

I publish this mostly to OBLIGE myself to finish it. Also, because it could be a testimony of the creative phases, a thing I did sometimes (photographing the "brut" variant of a painting, the successive variants...)

And it could be also the ONLY thing that will remain from this project (since I'm a lazy bum)...

Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci (1452 - 1519)

By Bakari Akil II, Ph.D.

Most great artists, writers, comedians, movie producers, etc., when interviewed about how they come up with such great ideas, give many different answers. Ideas come to them while driving; while asleep; watching people while sitting on a park bench and the list goes on. However, what they say next is almost universal.

As soon as they can, they write their ideas down. They keep a pad by their bedside or carry around a small notebook at all times. I like to refer to it as an idea book. The concept is very simple. Great ideas can come at any time. And they can slip back into the ether just as quickly as they arrive.

The refrain from our most celebrated citizens has never changed: Write your ideas down. Keep notes. 'Some of my greatest work has sprung forth from ideas I had in the middle of the night.'

So I have a question for you.

Where do you keep your idea book?

An idea book doesn't have to be just for writers or comedians or celebrities who make their living by being creative. An idea book can be useful to anyone in any field and in any area of life.

We all have thoughts about how to make something better; a revolutionary way to complete a task; or an idea for an outstanding product or service. We may have ideas that are totally unrelated to anything we are currently connected with, but have the potential to change our lives.

Leonardo da Vinci carried around and had many notebooks in which he scribbled down his many different ideas and thoughts. Some of which were too advanced for anyone to grasp in his day and time. But for a mind so brilliant and always busy, we have to wonder how many times this practice helped him to keep track of some important idea or essential task.

(Leonardo) Note to Self: I have an idea for a painting of a lady with an impish smile.

We may not be as artistic or such a creative genius as da Vinci, but our ideas have merit. Every thing we use today comes from an idea someone else had.

If you don't already, get into the habit of keeping a pad or notebook handy to record your great ideas. You never know how it might help you to contribute greatly to your own life, a family member, on the job, to a local business or some institution that serves us all.

Keep a record - Build on it - Reap the benefits

Happy writing....

Reference:

Masters, D. (2002).  Renaissance Man. In  (Ed.), The Renaissance:
    Stories in History (95-106). United States: McDougal Littell.

ngambil dari millist Forum Indonesia Muda

1. Lihat retsleting anda.. YKK bukan? itu singkatan dari Yoshida Kogyo Kabushibibaisha, perusahaan resleting terbesar di dunia.

2. Suara "wek..wek..wek" bebek gak akan menggema baik di gua, lembah, dll.. en sejauh ini belum ada penjelasan dari para ilmuwan.

3. 40% untung McD dari penjualan Happy Meals.

4. Rata-rata 12 bayi yg lahir di dunia tiap hari, diserahkan ke orang tua yg salah (tertukar-tukar) .

5. Coklat asli (dari buah coklat yg baru dijemur/kering) dapat membunuh anjing, menyerang jantung dan sistim sarafnya. Dosis yang diperlukan: 5 ons untuk anjing kecil/poodle.

6. Sebagian besar lipstik dari merek-merek terkenal, bahan bakunya memakai sisik ikan laut.

7. Tahun 1830, kecap dijual sebagai obat.

8. Leonardo Da Vinci bisa menulis sambil tangan yg lain menggambar di saat yg sama.

9. Leonardo Da Vinci penemu gunting.

10. Leonardo Da Vinci menggambar Mona Lisa selama 10 tahun.

11. Di semua casino di Las Vegas gak terdapat jam dinding, jam meja, dll.

12. Adegan berkelahi Bruce Lee terlalu cepat, hingga musti diedit filmnya diperlambat gerakannya agar terlihat normal.

13. Produk pertama yg menggunakan bar code adalah permen karet Wrigley's.

14. Pemilik perusahaan Marlboro yg pertama meninggal gara2 kanker paru2 (nah lo...).

15. Honor Michael Jordan dari Nike lebih banyak dari jumlah gaji seluruh buruh pabrik Nike di Malaysia.

16. Ibu Adolf Hitler tadinya mau aborsi dia.. tp diselametin ama dokter.

17. Nama orang di dunia yg paling banyak adalah Muhammad.

19. Karet gelang akan lebih kuat bila didinginkan di kulkas dulu.

20. Dalam bahasa Inggris, kata "dreamt" adalah satu2nya yg berakhiran "mt".

21. Mustahil seseorang bisa menjilat sikunya sendiri

22. Gak akan mungkin anda bersin sambil melek. Coba aja! --> ini pernah jadi pertanyaan di babak bonus Kuis Siapa Berani di Indosiar loh

23. Kecoak masih bisa bertahan hidup 10 hari tanpa kepala.

24. Otak bekerja lebih aktif ketika tidur dari pada ketika nonton TV (apalagi kalo yang ditonton sinetron ga mutu).

25. 80% penduduk Amerika menyukai warna biru.

26. Lebih banyak jumlah ayam dari pada manusia di dunia.

27. Di Islandia tidak diperbolehkan memelihara anjing.

28. Di Washington DC, lebih banyak jumlah sambungan telepon dari pada jumlah penduduknya.

29. Rata-rata waktu yg dibutuhkan orang dari mulai memejamkan mata hingga tidur adalah 7 menit.

30. Penyajian info seperti ini kerap membuat orang tak memperhatikan nomer urutnya. Sedikit sekali yang sadar bahwa di sini tak ada nomor 18

31. Akhirnya, hampir semua yang baca artikel ini mencoba memastikan bahwa no 18-nya memang bener2 gak ada, he he he......

32. Dan juga... berusaha menjilat sikunya sendiri. Bhahahaha... hayo ngaku!!

]]> http://macroastro.wordpress.com/?p=44 Sat, 19 Jul 2008 00:49:43 +0000 Terry MacKinnell http://macroastro.wordpress.com/?p=44 There is much wisdom to be gained from the astrological ages.  In my research and study of the ages I have taken the novel approach that to understand the ages it is necessary to ‘stand under’ the ages and let the ages teach me how they operate.  The ages do not operate in the way that the urban myths of the ages have spread.  Most astrologers define the ages and what supposedly occurs within ages based on theoretical considerations and wishful thinking, not from evidence.   The ages never indicate that paradise, utopia or a world exclusively based on consciousness, reason and rationality is around the corner – or even a possibility at any time. 

In our modern world we have enough information and knowledge to examine ages in detail all the way back to the deglaciation of the world that commenced around 14,000 year ago.  It is true that highly detailed information is thin on the ground for the first few thousand years, but what information that is available from those ancient times not only support the existence of the astrological ages, but also that each age consists of positive and negative archetypes associated with the astrological sign concerned.

This is not new to astrologers.  All experienced astrologers know that the horoscope for each individual person is a combination of positive and negative elements.  Most people have a relative equal number of positive and negative astrological attributes.  There is no perfect human being and there is no perfect age. 

The perspective of the ancient Chinese philosophers and sages got it right - everything associated with physical reality is composed of a combination on yin and yang, with a little bit of yang in the yin and vice versa.  What happens as each new age arrives is that the positive and negative archetypes associated with the new sign slowly take over from the positive and negative archetypes of the influence from the previous age.  This is what is happening in the world today.  The Pisces momentum from the Pisces age has promoted the positive and negative archetypes of Pisces while the new Aquarian age has commenced pushing its own positive and negative archetypes to the fore.

What are the positive and negative archetypes of Pisces?  On the plus side we have compassion, charities and social security (less so in the USA compared to most other Western nations); great poetry, drama and artworks from the likes of Shakespeare, Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci onwards (including the modernists such as Picasso), an incredible array of movies, fictional novels and abstract concepts; pharmaceutical drugs for a whole range of ailments.

On the negative side of Pisces are alcoholism, poisonous chemicals, prisons, addictive drugs, propaganda (spin) and swindlers, religious delusions; slavery and now sex slaves.  In addition there are a number of areas that can be either positive or negative depending upon your point of view.  These ambivalent Pisces activities include Buddhism, Christianity and Islam; European culture; petroleum, corporations and recreational intoxicants.

These positive and negative aspects of Pisces remain the dominant archetypes in the world but Aquarius has progressively introduced its positive and negative aspects since it arrived in 1443 (or 1442).   For example Aquarius has promoted democracy on the positive side counter-balanced by fascism.  Whenever Aquarius is strong the sea-saw will tend to go towards fascism or democracy as both are strong Aquarian archetypes.  This is keenly demonstrated by the USA that so strongly promotes democracy within its borders yet since the Second World War has supported fascist dictators and governments around the world over democracy whenever it suits the commercial or political interests of the USA.  In fact the USA is an excellent example of democracy and fascism conjoined – but that is another story altogether.

Positive developments associated with Aquarius include flight, electricity, humanitarianism and idealists, inventions, modernization, civic organisations and associations, and free thought.  Negative elements include lack of stability, mental instability and illnesses, emotional detachment (think of the Holocaust).  Other elements that can go either way are rebelliousness and revolutions (some bring democracy and freedom while others bring tyranny); and socialism (which can be extended to communism).

Are all zodiacal signs equal in their positive and negative aspects?   There are two schools of thought on this – the modern school typically indicates that each sign and planet is basically equal in its positive and negative aspects.  Traditionalists believe that some planets and the signs they rule are more orientated towards either positiveness or negativity.

In my observation I believe that the truth lies somewhere in the middle.  No planet or sign is all bad or good – each contains both good and bad, but some planets and signs do tend slightly more to the negative while other tend towards the positive but some sit in the middle.  I believe that Pisces does err mildly on the negative side but Aquarius is either balanced or very slightly biased towards the positive side.  This does not make the Pisces age negative and the Aquarian age positive.

Therefore, though the world is not passing from the ‘dark’ Age of Pisces to the radiant Age of Aquarius, Aquarius does seem to offer some advantages over Pisces.  This can be easily demonstrated.  Whenever the ubiquitous Jehovah Witnesses would arrive at my doorstep they would quickly draw my attention to all the problems and deteriorations in the world.  My standard counter was ‘if the world is so bad today, when in the past was it better?’  This perspective always left them floundering.  Do you think 1978, 1988, 1998 for example were better than 2008?

Even with all the problems of pollution, corruption, inequality, terrorism, war, violence, criminal activity and so on, the world in general today is better for a higher proportion of the world’s population compared to any time in the past.  It reminds me of something I heard not too long ago.  Someone said that if your life is 51% positive and 49% negative then you are experiencing a positive life.  The same situation applies to the world.

The majority of the world does not live the relatively gifted lifestyles of the populations of the First World countries.  The proportion of the world that does get to experience modernity is growing.  Even over the last few decades hundreds of millions of people around the world have been embraced by modernity partially or fully – one way or another, especially in China and India.

This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius.  The arrival of modernity from its seed that was planted over 500 years ago when the Aquarian age first arrived unannounced is steadily embracing a greater proportion of the world.  The modern world is not a perfect world but from my subjective perspective it is superior to the medieval (Pisces) world it is replacing.

This is the wisdom of the ages.  There is no perfect age, and the Age of Aquarius is definitely not perfect.  The quest for the mythical perfect Age of Aquarius is just the hangover from Pisces.  Pisces rules delusions and self-deception.  You have a choice – you can continue to listen to delusions about a fantasized Age of Aquarius that will never arrive - or you can open your eyes and perceive the dawning of the Age of Aquarius – warts and all, that is occurring all around you and has been for over 500 years

There are many warts associated with the Age of Aquarius but in the end it comes down to a simple issue – is the glass half full or half empty?  On a daily basis I give thanks to whatever reality that produced the universe and world we live in.  Is there any other time in history that is superior to today?  For the huge majority of us living in the modern world we should be truly thankful for this unique experience since our evolution from the animal kingdom.

I sincerely hope that the dawning of the Age of Aquarius continues until all the people in the world have the option to live in this modern world.  The wisdom of the ages indicates that this will not occur this century and may not even be completed in the next one thousand years.  This is not based on my personal preferences but on what investigating the ages has taught me.

"Inte för inte är det gåtfulla och frestande leendet hos Leonardo da Vincis alla gestalter ett uttryck för skepticism, avfall från Gud, och självisk envishet hos 'Jag vet'. Det är i själva verket ett leende av förvirring och bortkommenhet: det har förlorat sig självt och detta är särskilt uppenbart hos Mona Lisa. I själva verket är det ett syndens, frestelsens och förförelsens leende -- ett liderligt fördärvat leende som inte uttrycket något positivt, och det är just däri som det gåtfulla ligger."
(Pavel Florenskij, rysk filosof).

"Varför dölja och hyckla: jag såg inte Gudsmodern. Här finns skönhet, blott en underbar mänsklig skönhet, med dess religiösa dubbelhet, men /.../ samtidigt i avsaknad av nåd. Att be inför denna bild? det är alldeles omöjligt. Det är inte en bild av Gudsmodern, den rena, ständiga jungfrun, det är inte hennes ikon. /.../ Detta karakteriserar renässansens hela öde, både inom bildkonsten, skulpturen och arkitekturen. Dess skönhet är inte helighet, men en tvetydig, demonisk princip, som skyler tomheten, och ett leende leker på läpparna hos Leonardos hjältar. Om denna renässansens skönhet kan man inte säga att den kan 'frälsa världen' för den behöver själv bli frälst. I avbildningen av Madonnan känns omärkbart en manlig känsla, en manlig förälskelse och åtrå."
(Sergej Bulgakov, rysk filosof och teolog).

The above painting is by Joseph Wright of Derby (1734 - 1797) and is titled “An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump”. Here, Wright has captured a moment in history where enlightened civilization is beginning to understand how the natural universe works and how we can manipulate it to our own ends. Sir Isaac Newton (and others), who lived during the earlier part of the 18th century heralded in this new age of discovery and scientific research. Man’s relationship with nature was beginning to move away from that which could not be explained to that which will soon be understood and Wright’s painting gives us a glimpse into the birth of this new age.

A hundred years previously the experiment in this painting may have seemed like magic (or worse, devilry) so the artist has tempered this demonstration with two clever juxtapositions. First, and most obvious, is the young girl who is upset that the bird has become the focus of a scientific demonstration. What is interesting is that hers’ is the only face we do not see clearly, she hides her tears with her hands. Is the artist telling us that science outweighs emotional attachments and that they should be hidden away shamefully? Or is Wright demonstrating the devastating loss this poor girl must feel by not showing her face to force us to empathize with her grief and thus lead us to believe we should find science dispassionate and ugly?

Now observe the young boy at the far right of the painting. He is the only figure not part of the circle, your eye must seek him out at the edge of the composition. Notice that outside the window he is standing next to the only natural light source in the painting - the moon. For all of human history man could only see at night by the light of the moon; fear and evil lurked in the darkness of a moonless night. In the enlightened age, man had overcome this obstacle and his evenings could now be spent reading by candlelight or entertaining guests with a scientific demonstration.

The boy is also one of only two figures actually looking at the viewer; the old man carrying out the experiment is the other. The old man holds the fate of the bird in his hands. He is taller than any other figure in the circle and he seems to have an expression similar to that of a professor giving an instruction we must all understand. The young boy, on the other hand, holds the draw string to close the curtain, thus attempting to block the moon (a metaphor for the superstitious past) and is looking at us expectantly as if he is waiting to see if we will take the side of science and progress (the old man), or that of passion (the young girl). A choice must be made by the viewer because the artist has only presented the problem.

At stake in the painting is but a child’s bird and though I too would be as upset as the girl if someone did the same experiment on my dog, science has carried out far more upsetting observations which one could say rivals that of the crusades.

When the scientists at Los Alamos were ready to test the first nuclear device they actually took bets on the chances that the splitting of the atom would set the Earth’s atmosphere on fire. Though we now know that such an event is impossible, at the time there were serious concerns about that very possibility and yet the experiment was carried out anyway. For the sake of winning World War II, the US government was willing to put the fate of every living creature on this planet at grave risk.

From the 1930’s to 1950’s a device known as the shoe-fitting fluoroscope could be found in many shoe stores. Customers could determine their exact shoe size by looking into the device and actually see the bone structure of their feet. The device emitted x-rays directly into people’s feet at rem rates hundreds of times higher than that allowed for nuclear power plant workers for an entire year! At the time there were scientists who had an idea of how harmful radiation could be but when faced with the devastation in Japan and the horrible side effects caused by radiation, scientists were able to study these effects on the mass population.

The initial victims of the nuclear age probably never knew what happened because they were vaporized instantly in a light so bright and hot all that remained of them were their shadows burnt onto walls. Those who survived suffered a much crueler fate. “For no apparent reason” the survivors “health began to fail. They lost appetite. Their hair fell out. Bluish spots appeared on their bodies. And then bleeding began from the ears, nose and mouth”. Doctors “gave their patients Vitamin A injections. The results were horrible. The flesh started rotting from the hole caused by the injection of the needle. And in every case the victim died”.

Other experiments were being carried out during the middle of the 20th century that were just as cruel. In Germany a man named Eduard Pernkopf was working on his “Atlas of Topographical and Applied Human Anatomy“, an atlas detailing human anatomy to a degree not seen since the similar works of Leonardo da Vinci. Though Pernkopf’s work was seen as a landmark for human biology, “speculation and indirect evidence have led to the conclusion that Pernkopf used the murdered bodies of men, women, and children from the Holocaust for his atlas of anatomy.” True, his work provided doctors with an invaluable tool with which to study the human body (and possibly help cure patients in the long run) but at what cost to those who died like lab rats?

There are countless other examples.

So is science, for lack of a better word, better than religion? Do the dispassionate observations of the scientist achieve a morality more acceptable than that of an Islamic suicide bomber? History is filled with rational, scientific minded persons who have lobbied for their discoveries to be utilized in an ethical manner. Einstein was asked to take part in the Manhattan Project and though he refused for moral reasons, he was intrigued by the research because it lay at the heart of his own interests in science. Einstein even believed America should harness the atom because he was afraid Germany might be doing so as well. Leonardo da Vinci made good money designing weapons of war for his own government. That list too goes on and on.

Religion, in theory anyway, attempts to see the universe through the lens of morality. Gods are invented to make sure people are being ethical even when nobody else is looking. Science, on the other hand is interested mainly in observation. The ethical dilemmas that arise because of those observations are dealt with later. Each individual scientist must consider his or her own morality against their ambitions. Ironically, it is often the scientist who is naive and allows people with strong religious tendencies to corrupt their work for war and murder but this is not always the case. The scientists at Los Alamos may have been more interested in discovering the mysteries of the atom then making bombs, but at the end of the day they still knew they were making bombs.

In closing, science is not free of the terrors that have been usually attributed to religion. Science may help us gain a keener insight into the actual workings of the universe, but science has done little to advance the human species enough to know how to use that information responsibly. Personally I do side with rational, scientific thinking but I also understand that knowledge without ethics and morality is dangerous and does not outweigh the possible benefits that may arise from that knowledge. Science is not without blame and scientists should hold science to the same critical standards that religious leaders should point at their own beliefs.