Archive for July 11th, 2011
How A Parisian Artist Created This Stunning Optical Illusion
How A Parisian Artist Created This Stunning Optical IllusionAn eye-popping optical illusion created by Parisian artist François Abelanet is on display outside Paris City Hall. This work of art looks like a giant grass sphere, but it’s actually flat.
This land art is an anamorphosis which is a distorted projection that comes to life when viewed at the proper angle. Stand to the side and you will see angular grass and dirt. Stand at the correct angle and the 3D image jumps out at you.
via How A Parisian Artist Created This Stunning Optical Illusion.
Mayan Warrior Sculptures Discovered In Mexico (PHOTOS)
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican archaeologists have found two 1,300-year-old limestone sculptures of captured Mayan warriors that they say could shed light on the alliances and wars among Mayan cities during the civilization’s twilight.
The life-size, elaborate sculptures of two warriors sitting cross-legged with hands tied behind their backs were found in May in the archaeological site of Tonina in southern Chiapas state along with two stone ballgame scoreboards.
The 5-foot (1.5-meter) tall sculptures have hieroglyphic inscriptions on their loincloths and chest that say the warriors belonged to the city of Copan, archaeologist Juan Yadeun said in a news release Wednesday.
Yadeun said the discovery proves warriors from Copan helped those in Palenque during the city’s’ 26-year war against Tonina for control of the Usumacinta river.
82nd Airborne Paratroopers Unhappy With Iraq, Afghanistan Troop Withdrawals
FORT BRAGG, N.C. — Among the paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne’s 1st Brigade Combat Team, there’s a sinking feeling the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will fade away. Instead of an exciting and challenging combat tour, they’ll be relegated to the dread “garrison life” here at Fort Bragg.
For those who enlisted after 9/11, combat deployments have been an expected part of the deal. The constant cycle of deployments of the past decade has no doubt been tough on families, and the strain is exacting a cost on the physical and mental fitness of those in uniform; certainly there are some who are sick of it.
But others are eager get in at least one last deployment before the fighting ends, dreading a life confined their home base, with its 9-to-5 routine and endless training for a war that never comes. They signed up to go to war. They are good at it, especially the counterinsurgency campaign in Afghanistan which demands courage, physical stamina, ingenuity and individual initiative.
“I’m afraid I’m not going to get the chance to go again,” said Spec. Brenton Parish, a 21-year-old paratrooper from Fond du Lac, Wis. “I like doing my job, and I can only do that when I’m deployed,” he told The Huffington Post.
In few other endeavors is a 21-year-old given responsibility for the lives of a dozen of his or her colleagues, or charged with negotiating a peace deal with village elders and tribesmen.
Increasingly over the past decade, Americans in uniform have come to think of themselves as professionals, and war is their profession.
via 82nd Airborne Paratroopers Unhappy With Iraq, Afghanistan Troop Withdrawals.
The Author of ‘Fear of Flying’ Detects a Backlash Against Sex. – NYTimes.com
WHAT could be more eternal than sexuality? The fog of longing, the obsession with the loved one’s voice, smell, touch. Sex is discombobulating and distracting, it makes you immune to money, politics and family. And sometimes I think the younger generation wants to give it up.
People always ask me what happened to sex since “Fear of Flying.” While editing an anthology of women’s sexual writing called “Sugar in My Bowl” last year, I was fascinated to see, among younger women, a nostalgia for ’50s-era attitudes toward sexuality. The older writers in my anthology are raunchier than the younger writers. The younger writers are obsessed with motherhood and monogamy.
It makes sense. Daughters always want to be different from their mothers. If their mothers discovered free sex, then they want to rediscover monogamy. My daughter, Molly Jong-Fast, who is in her mid-30s, wrote an essay called “They Had Sex So I Didn’t Have To.” Her friend Julie Klam wrote “Let’s Not Talk About Sex.” The novelist Elisa Albert said: “Sex is overexposed. It needs to take a vacation, turn off its phone, get off the grid.” Meg Wolitzer, author of “The Uncoupling,” a fictional retelling of “Lysistrata,” described “a kind of background chatter about women losing interest in sex.” Min Jin Lee, a contributor to the anthology, suggested that “for cosmopolitan singles, sex with intimacy appears to be neither the norm nor the objective.”
via The Author of ‘Fear of Flying’ Detects a Backlash Against Sex. – NYTimes.com.
Herman Brood – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hermanus “Herman” Brood (pronounced “Hairmon Broat” /bro:t/; November 5, 1946 – July 11, 2001) was a Dutch musician, painter and media personality. Initially a musician who achieved artistic and commercial success in the 1970s and 1980s, and called “the Netherlands’ greatest and only rock ‘n’ roll star,”[1] later in life he became a well-known painter.
Known for his hedonistic lifestyle of “sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll,” Brood was an enfant terrible and a cultural figure whose suicide apparently caused by a failure to kick his drug and alcohol habit,[2] only strengthened his controversial status. His suicide, according to a poll organized to celebrate fifty years of Dutch popular music, was the most significant event in its history.[3]
Girl ends life to give eyes to dad and kidney to her brother but is cremated before wish is known | Mail Online
A 12-year-old girl killed herself so she could become an organ donor to her father and brother.
But Mumpy Sarkar from Jhorpara village, West Bengal died in vain, because it was not until the day after her traditional cremation that her father found a note on her bed.
Addressed to her mother, the girl requested that her eyes and kidneys be used for the treatment of her father and brother.
Google Plus Is a Possible Channel for Online Sellers
Facebook, Twitter, Web site, LinkedIn, blog,…running an online store has become far more time-consuming than simply listing merchandise in a sales catalog. Now there’s another potential social network on which to develop a presence and connect to “followers” and potential customers: Google Plus.
Google Plus (actually referred to as Google+) is Google’s answer to Facebook: a place to connect with groups of friends, family, and acquaintances and keep up with what they’re doing. Google+ is, at least officially, not ready for prime time yet. It’s out in a trial version, and after some initial feedback and (presumably) tweaking, it will be released to the public in the near future. Two of the questions you might be asking about Google+ are:
1) Is Google+ another place where you need to create a business presence?
2) Will you be able to sell directly on Google Plus, the way you can on some Facebook apps like ArtFire’s Facebook Kiosk?
The answer to the second question is easy: we don’t know yet. “We don’t have any future plans to share. It’s important to keep in mind this is an ongoing project and this is just the beginning. We plan to add a lot of features and functionality to Google+ over time,” said a Google spokesperson.
When you start using Google+, you can access it quickly from Gmail or any Google service, including the search page. You can either go to Plus.Google.com or click your own name from the newly redesigned control bar near the top of the browser window, which has been renamed the Sandbar.
10 Must-Follow Fictional Twitter Accounts [PICS]
If you enjoyed our list of must-follow fake Twitter celebs, then we wager you’ll love this offering of the best fictional accounts.
Whether you want to be amused by your favorite caped crusader, keep up with some cartoon characters or see tweets from film baddies, you’ll find it all in this fun list
Take a look through the gallery and, because there are so many more great accounts that we didn’t have room include, share in the comments your favorites that didn’t make the list.
Vegan Chocolate Brownies http://ow.ly/5B
Vegan Chocolate Brownies http://ow.ly/5BB3Z
