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LION CUB AND MASTIFF PUPPY FRIENDSHIP BLOOMS

admin1 — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 23:17:33 +0000

An African lion and an Italian mastiff have paired up at the San Diego Zoo Wild Animal Park. The extraordinary duo can now be seen at the Animal Care Center daily

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Environmentally friendly vehicle

admin1 — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 18:42:04 +0000

Environmentally friendly vehicle From China

(Alaskan huskies) were born to pull. The smaller body means a faster recovery time after a run.

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The Many Faces of Yue Minjun

admin1 — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 18:23:49 +0000

ue Minjun should be smiling. He has moved up into the top ranks of the Chinese contemporary art world and his colorful self-portraits of exaggerated, wide-toothed laughter now sell for over $100,000 a piece.

“The spirit of this series is concerned with searching, seeking something; people are looking for something,” he says.”I chose terrorism because right now the whole world is looking for terrorists. And terrorism is a global topic that everyone can identify with.”

The departure may simply be a way of injecting something different into his prolific repertoire of self-portraits, even though they remain popular on the international circuit.

But any Yue Minjun work is sure to be colorful, ironic, and deceptive, just like Yue Minjun – the man who seems to always wear a mask of quiet seriousness. And it’s that seriousness of purpose – that stubborn single-mindedness – that has brought Yue Minjun out of the shadows in recent years.

Oil on canvas

Image Sources: 1 2 3

1962  Born in Daqing, Heilongjiang province
1968  Moved to Beijing
1979  Worked as an electrician, Ocean Oil Company, Tianjin
1983  Graduated form Hebei Normal University, oil painting department
1996  Designed “Redstar” watch for the Spring 1996 Collection of
Swatch Artists’ Collection Watches

Currently living and working in Beijing, China

Solo Exhibitions
2007
Yue Minjun and the Symbolic Smile, Queens Museum of Art, New York, USA
Looking for Art, Beijing Commune, Beijing

2006
The Reproduction of Idols: Yue Minjun, 2004-2006, Hexiang Ning Art Museum, Shenzhen, China
Looking for Terrorists, Beijing Commune, Beijing

2005
Post Auratic Self Portrayal of Yue Minjun, CP Foundation, Jakarta, Indonesia

2004
Yue Minjun: Sculptures & Paintings, Schoeni Art Gallery, Hong Kong
Yue Minjun: Beijing Ironicals, PrŸss & Ochs Gallery, Berlin, Germany

2003
Beijing Ironicals, Alexander Ochs Galleries, Berlin
Yue Minjun, Meile Gallery, Switzerland

2000
Red Ocean, Chinese Contemporary, London

1997
Klaus Littmann Gallery, Basel

Mont Saint-Michel

admin1 — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 17:11:24 +0000

Mont Saint-Michel’s Early History

The Abby dates to c.709, when legend has the Archangel Michael appearing before, and directing bishop Aubert of Avranches to build a shrine on an islet called ‘Mount Tombe’. This islet lies at the southern most point off the Normandy coastline, just before Brittany to the west. This is the base of a Bay of Mont Saint-Michel that opens into La Manche [channel waterway between England and Northern France]. The islet consists of a nearly 80 meters high rock with a circumference of about .8 km. It is connected to the mainland by a very narrow and long causeway.
Bishop Aubert had an oratory constructed on the top of the rock. A monastery was started in 1017, with stones hauled at low tide from the mainland in Brittany. Blanche of Castile, regent of France, ordered the gothic cloister in 1211 added to the earlier Carolingian abbey. A town developed at the base. Both the abby and the town had fortified defenses. The Mont is half surrounded by water, except twice a day it is besieged by swift moving tides that leave only the causeway route for access. Defenders of this fortress abbey have the advantage of its Saint Aubert’s spring. Nearby is a smaller islet, called ‘Tombelaine Island’, which is very baren and was used to discpline individuals.
In 966, monks of the Benedictine order under abbot Maynard replaced the previous monks. They encouraged the cult of Saint Michael and received pilgrams. By the time of William the Conqueror, the abbey benefited from many noble protectors. The abbot Robert de Thorigny administered the abbey at its peak of fortune. The shrine has seen is number of miracles and fostered many legends. Site of early medieval religious feasts and ceremonies.
Mont Saint-Michel was besieged and taken as part of Philippe Auguste’s conquest of Normandy from the Plantangenets in 1214. The site continued to have an increased role in medieval European pilgrimages. Sometimes it was the destination, and at others it was only a stop for those traveling to sites further south. Lower class pilgrims were quartered in the town, but nobles were received by the abbot in the grand abbey.

The Story of Mont Saint-Michel in the Hundred Years’ War

Traditional Cormorant Fishing

admin1 — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 16:38:54 +0000

Cormorant fishing has been practiced in China for more than a thousand years (Hoh 2000). Although cormorants are also used to fish in Japan.

The birds are trained to search for fish at their master’s signals, typically a sharp whistle, shout, or stamping of feet. Once a cormorant catches its prey, the fish is lodged in the bird’s elastic esophagus. Usually, a cord is tied around the bird’s neck to prevent it from swallowing the fish. When the cormorant’s neck is full it returns to the boat and delivers the prey to its master. To maintain the cormorants’ motivation to fish, they are kept on a reduced diet and are rewarded with food after each catch.

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Mysterious Dancing Forest

admin1 — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 18:28:55 +0000

Located on the thin Curonian Spit that splits the Curonian Lagoon from the Baltic Sea, lies one of the strangest natural phenomena on Earth.

Known as the Dancing Forest by caretakers of Curonian Spit National Park and as the Drunken Forest, by locals, this unusual pine forest is made of trees of various shapes, most of them twisted in circles and spirals, along the ground.

According to tourists, the Dancing Forest looks more like a site near Chernobyl, with 20-year-old pines tied into natural knots and loops, like lumpy contortionists. A few years ago, the park manager invited students from local universities to conduct studies, and get to the bottom of the mystery.

Since then, several theories emerged, including one suggested by a psychic who said the forest is located on a spot where massive amounts of positive and negative energies collide. Others say the causes are geological, that it must have something to do with the unstable sandy soil. But the most widely accepted theory is that the Dancing Forest was manipulated by the powerful winds blowing in the area.

[Photo Credits]

Mysterious Sculptures of William Ricketts Sanctuary

admin1 — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 21:43:50 +0000

Hidden deep in an Australian rainforest, the clay sculptures of William Ricketts express the Aborigines’ deep connection with Mother Nature.

Born in 1898, William Ricketts was an Australian sculptor and potter who developed a spiritual bond with the Aboriginal people of Central Australia. The time he spent with them, between 1949 and 1960 inspired his works in Potter’s Sanctuary (now known as William Ricketts Sanctuary).

The 92 intricate ceramic sculptures placed along the passageways seem as they are merging with the surrounding plant-life, thus expressing the strong bond Aborigines have always had with nature. Designed as a place where man’s spirit becomes one with nature, William Ricketts Sanctuary inspires us all to protect Mother Nature instead of constantly exploiting her.

William Ricketts spent most of his life in this sanctuary, located on Mount Dandenong, near Olinda, and died here, in 1993, at the age of 94.

[Photo Credits]

Jedi Car at Anime LA

admin1 — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 20:56:54 +0000

Last Saturday at Anime L.A., we spotted this Star Wars car out between the driveaway and patio of the Los Angeles Airport Marriott. It’s X-Wing Fighter car modification that is known as an H-Wing (as in Honda). We love the details like Yoda’s name on the bumper and Obi-Wan on the dashboard.

Clockwork Love by Dutch Designer Tjep

admin1 — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 00:02:15 +0000

Clockwork Love by Tjep.Dutch designers Tjep. are demonstrating a collection of jewellery comprising overlapping symbols at art Gallery Ra in Amsterdam.

Named Clockwork Love, the range includes 6 designs each representing a different emotion, and the symbols are layered to create what look like mechanisms frozen in time.

Stunnin pictures of a Rainbow at Elam Bend

admin1 — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 23:47:41 +0000

The name “Elam Bend” is a descriptive place name that describes a sharp bend in the Grand River that occurs here. The river has changed its course in this area several times including a major shift as a result of the flooding in 1993. This area is also listed in the book Geologic Wonders and Curiosities of Missouri as a “shut-in” where the river valley narrows considerably with bluffs very near the river.

Note: No pot of gold was found at this event.