Category Archives: Art

The Idea of Freedom is definitely not new

I always equated Charlie Chaplin with comedy, but when I look back, the most memorable scene I remember, is a bitter-sweet scene from City Lights. In fact, beside some shorter clips on TV I did not actually see much of his work.

But after seeing his speech in The Great Dictator I have to change that. I was surprised that this movie is actually not available on Netflix.

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Violins and hot chicks

I reported about the violinist Vanessa Mae in the past and just have to revisit the subject now that another Youtube sensation has crossed my 32 inch monitor (yes, I am using a HD TV as my day to day monitor instead of investing in some reading glasses).

If you haven’t clicked through to the other link yet, here is what I mean when I say Vanessa Mae…

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And then we have the bubbly Lindsey Stirling who combines violin play with a very unique type of dancing. I am just blown away how you can hop around so wildly and then play the violin without missing a beat…

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She seems to be a real member of the new youtuber crowd, offering something really worth spending your time on and maintaining a light and fluffy communication with the fans. I like it when an artist understands that this friendly contact is way better than being aloof.

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Amazing Photography

For your enjoyment, another slideshow of most amazing photography…

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Living Under Water

A very early exposure to the idea of living under water came through a German science fiction series “Space Patrol” in the 60s, just a tad before the original StarTrek. Mankind had settled on the floor of the ocean and space ships took off from underwater bases through water funnels.

And after an adventure in space the crew met in the Starlight Casino for a drink and a round of futuristic dancing. Commander McLane’s apartment was obviously also located at the underwater city.

Something a bit more tangible was then envisioned in 2006 with the Hydropolis Underwater Hotel and Resort, but at this time it seems as if this project is at least on ice if not completely scrapped.

In other words, currently we still have to live with just the imagination of living under water. These imaginations are made a bit easeer through the pictures of Elena Kalis.

(from her Google+ Album)

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Magnificent Photos

And another collection of magnificent photos came my way – thank you, Beverly!

Now that I figured out how to use this excellent slide show viewer and on top of that figured out how to get images and sound out of a PowerPoint presentation (*), it is now much easier and faster to get these types of photo collections out of the email and onto this blog (**).

See…

(*) The best way to do this is to open the ppt in PowerPoint and export it as a web page (not a single one). This will create, beside the main html, a directory filled with all the images you might need, as well as sound files (if there is a sound track in the ppt.) With the last two PowerPoint presentations I had the hardest time to even find where the sound files were imported in the presentation, far from finding a way to actually export them. That, and all the image exporting, is now easy after I found the ‘export as web page.’

(**) The slide show I use – Slideshow Pro – includes some scripts for Photoshop that automate the creation of the right sized images, including thumbnails. Then it’s just editing a bit the xml file that lists all the parameters for the slideshow, uploading the directory tree – e voila!

 

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Happy American Fool’s Day

Today is the day again where America celebrates it’s freedom.

I don’t have much to say, but I let Chris say something that might be appropriate. I met Chris at a recent home schooling event. He writes the wildest poetry you could imagine. When I tried to read the first poem he forwarded to me I told him that it reminded me of the famous Vogon poetry.

Today I want to present a piece from his moderate era.

Land of the Free…REE-LEE

Do taxpayers pun while paying frivolous fines?

Do marlins still tug against tightening lines?

When pinched by no squirm-room, left choice-less, bereft,

then clap-trap verboseness is all that we’re left. (Seemingly)

The noose of Big Brother hangs ever about

the necks of the masses – We, the People, who pout..

..As waiting in lines with our checkbooks in hand,

we ponder the path of this once wondrous land..

..of Washington, Lincoln and ‘W’ too,

while stonily missing the freedoms we knew,

when God was the giver of all of our rights..

..before lawyer-armies marched in in the night

and put up their fences now seen at the dawn..

We knew it would happen, we knew all along.

We’re cleared to chase evil the ends of the earth,

but we can’t stand against in the Land of Our Birth(?)

The lawyers’ america (sic):One City Hall..

Can’t fight’em, or join’em, go shop at the Mall.

It’s time to hold fast and rise up to the fight..

And pull off the darkness, the long winter’s night.

Recall when as children, they taught us to sing..

My Country ’tis of Thee, Let Freedom Ring?

Remember the soldiers, parades on Main Street?

And picnics and fireworks..Man, it was sweet!

America’s stirring, her proud heart can’t stand

the tyrannies festering all through the land..

We call on The Blood that was shed for all men..

In songs that commit all our voices as One!

Patriots, everyone, Sleepers awake!

Lift up your voices, for Heaven’s sake.

Remember your blessings and answer The Call!

In Christ, Hallelujah! Freedom for all!

Hand on your heart, now sing:

My country ’tis of Thee, sweet land of liberty, of Thee I sing.

Land where my fathers dies, land of the pilgrims’ pride,

form every mountainside, let Freedom ring.

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War of the World with the StarTrek Crew

Found this in the deep crevices of my hard drive and I thought I better bring it into the open instead of it being hidden in cobwebs.

This is probably copy-righted material so I might get a cease and desist message, then it will be gone, but until that happens, take an hour and enjoy.

I actually grew up with radio shows, where your power of imagination was trained instead of dulled as with the later arrival of the TV.

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Water in All It’s Forms and Shapes

Slide show has a cool audio track – mouse over the images to find out how to turn it on.

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Photos You Don’t See Every Day

For a long time I have these photos sitting in some hidden folder on my hard drive.

Finally I figured out how to use SlideshowPro to create a slideshow of these images so everybody can enjoy…

Slide show has a cool audio track – mouse over the images to find out how to turn it on.

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Big Hawaiian Waves Photographed by Clark Little

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