This Wild Ride

Times challenge: can you crack 17th-century code?

2009-04-11T08:08:00.000-07:00

Fun brain food... http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/games_and_puzzles/article6073494.ece

He's in...

2009-03-14T13:40:00.001-07:00

what a wonderful prayer...

2009-03-10T19:31:00.000-07:00

the quranic inscription on the board says, "we fed them in hunger, and made them safe from fear"

Mikindani old town madrassa , Tanzania.
The kids in a mixed classroom learn to write on some wooden boards, as it more economic than by using paper. Once they have finished the lesson, they wash the board. Those tool can be seen in antiques shops at high prices!
© Eric Lafforgue
Contact
www.ericlafforgue.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mytripsmypics/3343478487/

tango 48 says:

we used to have such tablets in our days at school, this is called a "takhti" in urdu and other languages in pakistan, it is a wooden slate, and a clay (gachni) is used to cover it, the student uses a "qalam" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qalam) dipped in black india ink kept in a spill proof ink pot (dawa'at), to write on the takhti, once finished, the takhti is washed in the nearest water channel, and the clay is re-applied and left to dry for the next round of writing!

the quranic inscription on the board says, "we fed them in hunger, and made them safe from fear"

Thank you, Eric. Your art is truly beautiful.

Looking through old photos...

2009-03-07T17:18:00.001-08:00

...and here we go.....1958, Blane and I...Gary's still in mom's tum...He'll arrive 1/29/59.
(as you can see, I'm ready for anything)

....1975, Hawaii Nei...

...1978...Blane and I all grown up...

I don't know how many others are out there now in their 50's but for me these pics are so strange to see. It's hard to believe it's me but at the same time, in my mind's eye, this is how I picture myself. In my prime, I guess. I'm really tired of being out of my prime. ; )

...more boxes of pics to go so we'll be seeing more...

International Women’s Day

2009-03-07T08:08:00.000-08:00

by Kathryn Hadley

This Sunday, March 8th, International Women’s Day will be celebrated in countries across the world. Here is a brief history of the day and of the fight for women’s rights.

The British MP John Stuart Mill was the first Member of Parliament to call for women’s right to vote, in 1869.

On September 19th 1893, New Zealand was the first country in the world to grant women the right to vote.

In 1910, at the second International Conference of Working Women held in Copenhagen, a woman called Clara Zetkin, the leader of the ‘Women’s Office’ for the Social Democratic Party in Germany suggested, for the first time, the idea of an International Women’s Day. The conference was attended by over 100 women, from 17 different countries, representing unions, socialist parties, working women’s clubs, and the first three women elected to the Finnish parliament. The proposal was approved almost unanimously.

The following year, on March 19th, 1911, the very first International Women’s Day was celebrated in Denmark, Germany, Switzerland and Austria.

The date of March 19th is believed to have been originally chosen because on March 19th, 1848, in the context of the 1848 revolution, the Prussian king recognised for the first time the threat of the proletariat uprising and issued a series of promises, including the promise to introduce the vote for women (which he incidentally did not keep). The success of the first International Women’s Day, marked by over a million people, exceeded expectations with numerous meetings organised in small towns and villages across the four countries.

In 1913, International Women’s Day was transferred to March 8th.
International Women’s Day was granted official recognition by the United Nations in 1975 and was taken up by many governments.

March 8th is now a national holiday in Russia, China, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.

A series of events are being organised in the UK throughout March to celebrate International Women’s Day and the economic, political and social achievements’ of women. Here is a small selection…

- Women in the Second World War
March 8th
Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms
Clive StepsKing Charles Street London SW1A 2AQ
Telephone: 020 7930 6961
www.iwm.org.uk
A series of talks and film screenings examining the contribution of women during the Second World War.

- 100 Women 100 Visions
March 9th – March 13th
Imperial College London (College main entrance)
South Kensington Campus
London SW7 2AZ
Telephone: 020 7589 5111
www.imperial.ac.uk
A series of 100 portraits celebrating women scientists, engineers and medics from all academic levels at Imperial College London.

- Birds Eye View Film Festival
March 5th – 13th
www.birds-eye-view.co.uk
A nine-day festival celebrating women filmmakers from around the globe with 70 events at the BFI Southbank, the Institute of Contemporary Arts, The Gate (Notting Hill), and Picturehouse Cinemas across the UK. The festival includes a retrospective entitled ‘Screen Seductresses: Vamps, Vixens & Femmes Fatales’ dedicated to transgressive women in film with a series of silent films starring women such as Louise Brooks, Theda Bara, Greta Garbo and Alla Nazimova, as well as a month-long ‘Femmes Fatales’ season at the BFI Southbank, showing 18 classic Hollywood Femmes Fatales films from 1941-1995.

For more information on the events organised for International Women’s Day, visit the website http://www.internationalwomensday.com/

Update on ancient rabbit's head statue...

2009-03-06T15:47:00.000-08:00

China denies art auction bid role

The Chinese government has denied any involvement in bidding at an auction in Paris for two bronze artworks which it says were looted from Beijing in 1860.

A Chinese collector bought the heads of a rabbit and a rat for 15m euros ($19m; £13m) each, when fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent's collection was sold.

The buyer, Cai Mingchao, has refused to pay, as an "act of patriotism".

The official Xinhua news agency quoted an official as saying what Mr Cai had done was entirely a personal action.

"The State Administration of Cultural Heritage had nothing to do with it," said the head of the cultural bureau, Shan Jixiang.

He said his bureau did not know the identity of the bidder until Cai Mingchao, an adviser to China's National Treasures Fund that seeks to retrieve looted treasures, revealed himself.

Chinese bidder explains why he is not paying

The two bronzes were auctioned by Christie's in Paris last week as part of the estate of the late French fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent and his partner.

They were originally taken by British and French troops from the imperial Summer Palace in October 1860, towards the end of the Second Opium War.

China had tried to stop the sale, and later threatened the business of Christie's in China for having gone ahead.

But Christie's said the sale was legal, a position backed by a French court.

Mr Cai said his actions were to "stress that this money should not be paid".

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7927672.stm

We make the world tolerable...

2009-03-03T07:39:00.000-08:00

It is the history of our kindness that alone makes the world tolerable. If it were not for that, for the effect of kind words, kind looks, kind letters...I should be inclined to think our life a practical jest in the worst possible spirit.

~Robert Louis Stevenson

Hahahahaaaahahaaaaa!!!

2009-03-02T14:53:00.000-08:00

The GOP logo - remixed for the 21st Century...

for even more, go here...
http://politicalirony.com/2009/03/02/the-gop-logo-remixed/

My birthday gift to myself...

2009-02-26T08:35:00.000-08:00

Happy 55th to me! : )

Nature Tarot

The Nature Tarot is a deck of 78 full-colour cards. Designed in the ancient Tarot tradition, The Nature Tarot deck is a modern cross-culture deck using images from nature and from human society.

The first two editions of the Nature Tarot deck appeared in 2002 and 2004.

They are in Dutch. The English version is now almost finished (February 2009).

The Nature Tarot has not been published yet. So far each deck has been made by hand.

The deck appears in a little box, along with a booklet describing the deck and each card separately, and also a Tarot guide for beginners. The price of the deck is € 75.

For contact, please send an e-mail

China has managed to track down five of the other statues...

2009-02-26T08:20:00.000-08:00

China has condemned what it calls the illegal auction in Paris of two bronze artefacts taken from a Chinese palace 150 years ago.

The strong statement said China did not recognise the 31m euro (£28m, $39m) sale of the bronze rat and rabbit.

It also ordered tighter checks on artefacts that Christie's auction house takes into or out of China.

The bronzes were sold as part of the estate of late French fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent.

China says the animal heads were part of a collection of 12 looted from the Old Summer Palace in Beijing in 1860 when it was sacked and burnt by French and British armies during the Second Opium War.

The animals represent the Chinese zodiac, and adorned a fountain built for the Emperor Qianlong.

China has managed to track down five of the other statues, which are now displayed in a Beijing museum. It had earlier called on Christie's to stop the bronzes' sale.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7911691.stm

The Qianlong Emperor (Chinese: 乾隆帝, pinyin: Qiánlóngdì, Wade-Giles: Ch'ien-lung Ti, Mongolian: Tengeriin Tetgesen Khaan, born Hongli (弘曆), September 25, 1711 – February 7, 1799) was the fifth emperor of the Manchu-led Qing Dynasty, and the fourth Qing emperor to rule over China.^[1] The fourth son of the Yongzheng Emperor, he reigned officially from October 11, 1736 to February 7, 1795.^[2] On February 8 (the first day of that lunar year), he abdicated in favor of his son, the Jiaqing Emperor - a filial act in order not to reign longer than his grandfather, the illustrious Kangxi Emperor.^[3] Despite his retirement, however, he retained ultimate power until his death in 1799. Although his early years saw the continuity of an era of prosperity in China, he was of unrelentingly conservative and sinocentric attitude. As a result, the Qing Dynasty's comparative decline began later in his reign.^[citation^needed]

^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Qianlong}

We fell in love with a word: peace

2009-02-21T12:31:00.000-08:00

World March for Peace and Nonviolence

http://www.theworldmarch.org

it's time...

Event Info

Host:	http://www.theworldmarch.org/
Type:	Other - Festival
Network:	Global

Time and Place

Start Time:	Friday, October 2, 2009 at 12:05pm
End Time:	Saturday, January 2, 2010 at 12:05pm
Location:	worldwide -- check map

Links

great video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMMV6txlo5o

usa: http://www.worldmarchusa.net/

Join: http://www.meetup.com/World-March-for-Peace-and-Nonviolence-Meetup/

More Earthly Delights...

2009-02-17T19:54:00.001-08:00

Antarctica

for more photos

If you ever have the chance...

2009-02-16T18:36:00.000-08:00

see these...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terracotta_army

Old Reality from our Right Wing...

2009-02-13T12:10:00.000-08:00

Having ruled the nation utterly for many years, the Republican Party now finds itself cast into the role of the minority. In this position it has taken on a gracious new slogan that sums up their feelings about the nation.

Dysthymia & Depression

2009-02-07T17:25:00.000-08:00

This is the first time I've ever seen dysthymia explained so well. Link to whole article below.

For much of my childhood and young adulthood, I suffered from depression. Although I did have some periods of major depression, the bulk of the time my depression was a type called dysthymia.
Photo: Storm Cloud Over Moscow

Dysthymia is a low-grade form of depression that lasts at least two years, with symptom free periods lasting no longer than two months...
...Although dysthymia is not as disabling and the symptoms are not as severe as, major depression, it can still destroy a life, by making the person a shadow of what they could be. The best way I can think of to compare major depression with dysthymia is that major depression is like a thunderstorm in your brain or psyche.

Photo: Rainy Day

Devastating, but of a short duration. Dysthymia is like a steady rain under a perpetually gray sky. While the thunderstorm may be more devastating, imagine living with a gray, rainy day in your brain all day, every day...

by Deborah Gray
Monday, January 05, 2009

No one knows what it's like unless they've lived it. Looking back on my life is squinting at the past and not being able to see anything... I said for years that I didn't remember any of my childhood. This is why. I hope that people who say Don't Live In The Past find a way not to judge what they cannot know.

8 years of republican economics coming home to roost...

2009-02-07T13:11:00.000-08:00

http://swampland.blogs.time.com/2009/02/06/how-bad-is-it/

Hilarious ad at the Hindu News Update Service...

2009-02-03T07:14:00.000-08:00

Is this really their ad slogan??? Jeesh.

Yes, this works for me...

2009-01-30T23:08:00.001-08:00

I hate these things...

2009-01-30T20:28:00.000-08:00

I give in.

25 Random Things About Moi...

Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

1. I love Thai spicy mint noodles.

2. I have no clue how to do Facebook stuff so you're lucky you're getting this through email. ; )

3. I love email; I hate the phone.

4. It was really hard not to put something about rabbits as #1.

5. I have 5 house buns and 15 buns I love at the shelter. (whew, that feels better)

6. This is my blog: www.thiswildride.blogspot.com

7. I love sweeping panoramic views. No trees please.

8. I got dreadlocks about a month ago and love them.

9. I love my Roomba robot vacuum cleaner. I hate to vacuum.

10. I like to sweep.

11. I don't like bread pudding or flan.

12. I'm a bleeding heart liberal...progressive...lefty.

..pinko. ; )

13. We Are One.

14. My comfort foods are macaroni & cheese, grilled cheese sandwiches and cookies & milk.

15. I'm hooked on the history of the Silk Road and/or history in general.

16. I'm taking a Spanish class. Hola, Paco. De donde eres?

17. I love my two nephews and wish I could live nearer to them.

18. I don't have a TV so I read A LOT. And get bored with that too.

19. I'd live outdoors if I could. I love breezes.

20. I love rain too. And thunderstorms.

21. I'm down to 3 toe rings.

22. My hubby wakes me up in the morning with a kiss. : )

23. Volunteering at something I love is amazingly fulfilling.

24. I used to clean with a toothbrush. Now I ignore it all.

25. Bunnies are people too. ; )

400 richest Americans’ incomes doubled under Bush

2009-01-30T20:18:00.000-08:00

Bloomberg reports that, according to recently released IRS data, “the average tax rate paid by the richest 400 Americans fell by a third to 17.2 percent through the first six years of the Bush administration and their average income doubled to $263.3 million.” Much of their income came from capital gains resulting from the Bush tax cuts.

dontcha just love the guy...

Earthly delights...

2009-01-30T18:40:00.000-08:00

Zabriskie Point, Death Valley, California

country western song machine...

2009-01-28T21:25:00.000-08:00

Automated country song writer. A Crack Up.

I met her in a treehouse ridin' shotgun;
I can still recall the neon sign she wore;
She was weighted down with Twinkies with Miss Piggy,
and I knew they'd hate her guts in Baltimore;
I shrieked in pain I'd punch her out forever;
She said to me man wasn't meant to fly;
But who'd have thought she'd freak out at her health club;
She sealed me in the vault and smirked goodbye.

http://www.outofservice.com/country/

Mensa Invitational

2009-01-28T20:09:00.001-08:00

Here is the Washington Post's Mensa Invitational which once again asked readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and supply a new definition.

 
Here are the winners:

Cashtration (n.): The act of buying a house,  which renders the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period of  time.

Ignoranus : A person who's both stupid and an  asshole.

Intaxicaton : Euphoria at getting a tax refund,  which lasts until you realize it was your money to start with.

Reintarnation : Coming back to life as a  hillbilly.

Bozone ( n.): The substance surrounding stupid  people that stops bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer,  unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near  future.

Foreploy : Any misrepresentation about yourself  for the purpose of getting laid.

Giraffiti : Vandalism spray-painted very, very  high

Sarchasm : The gulf between the author of  sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it.

Inoculatte : To take coffee intravenously when  you are running late.

Osteopornosis : A degenerate disease. (This one  got extra credit.)

Karmageddon : It's like, when everybody is  sending off all these really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth  explodes and it's like, a serious bummer.

Decafalon (n.): The gruelling event of getting  through the day consuming only things that are good for you.

Glibido : All talk and no action.

Dopeler Effect: The tendency of stupid ideas to  seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.

Arachnoleptic Fit (n.): The frantic dance  performed just after you've accidentally walked through a spider  web.

Beelzebug (n.) : Satan in the form of a  mosquito, that gets into your bedroom at three in the morning and cannot be cast  out.

Caterpallor ( n.): The color you turn after  finding half a worm in the fruit you're eating.

Nixon's Lawyer: Are We Civilized Enough To Prosecute For Torture?

2009-01-28T08:03:00.000-08:00

By Cernig Tuesday Jan 27, 2009 4:00pm

Top international lawyer Philippe Sands QC speaks before the House Judiciary Constitution, Civil Rights & Civil Liberties Subcmte. in May last year, states without reservation that war crimes were committed by the most senior members of the Bush administration.

See the video here.

Via AlterNet comes a remarkable piece from John W. Dean, fomer White House counsel to Nixon, who writes that Obama must prosecute bush administration officials and that, if he doesn't, other nations are very likely too. Read the whole thing, but he concludes:

My question is how can the Obama Administration not investigate, and, if appropriate, prosecute given the world is watching, because if they do not, other may do so? How could there be "change we can believe in" if the new administration harbors war criminals – which is the way that Philippe Sands and the rest of the world, familiar with the facts which have surfaced even without an investigation, view those who facilitated or engaged in torture?

One would think that people like Cheney, Rumsfeld, Addington, Gonzales, Yoo, Haynes and others, who claim to have done nothing wrong, would call for investigations to clear themselves if they really believed that to be the case. Only they, however, seem to believe in their innocence – the entire gutless and cowardly group of them, who have shamed themselves and the nation by committing crimes against humanity in the name of the United States.

We must all hope that the Obama Administration does the right thing, rather than forcing another country to clean up the mess and seek to erase the dangerous precedent these people have created for our country.

Great stuff.

http://crooksandliars.com/cernig/nixons-lawyer-are-we-civilized-enough-prose

This Earth itself is heaven...

2009-01-26T08:05:00.001-08:00

Zuid, Algeria
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sahara-art-venture/2315317700/in/pool-16138707@N00