Good wants to be more, like in the footsteps of Ghandi whose magnificent example was to “be the change you wish to see in the world.” Easier said than done. But somehow the inspiration on these pages helps alot.
This is thanks to the curated posts and photos on today’s issues of Alison*s Art Online Magazines. They appear under the blogs link. From them, one draws inspiration to create original material accompanied by the feeling that good can be more. Organizations like GOOD also help remind us that there are many people with minds and hearts like ours.
Give A Damn and Act Accordingly Image Credit: Josh McManus
GOOD: Give A Damn and Act Accordingly
One of my favorite publications is GOOD. It is all about doing good. Good that wants to be more. It is so refreshing, an inspiration for me, especially when I wonder what it’s all about.
And check out these images of Scheldt, a 700 year old deserted town in Belgium. How can these buildings be torn down now that they are works of art? Once again, good wants to be more. The source of these photos is oddstuffmagazine.com.
Abandoned houses
Abandoned houses
Abandoned houses
See how many things you can think of that are good and want to be more. Your comments, suggestions and questions are always welcome.
Words of wisdom, information about weight loss and nutrition are the major topics of Alison*s Art Blog today. All are essential to feed the body and the soul.
Words of Wisdom from Deepak Chopra:
Information about the Raw Food Diet and Weight Loss Surgery:
Raw Food. Photo Credit: http://www.huliq.com/13314/
Some of the content of this blog post so far may come as a surprise to those of us who lean more towards what is holistic and away from what is considered medically invasive. A good rule of thumb is to take the least invasive action first, in chronic situations. That is a balanced practice.
Annemarie Colbin, My Food and Healing Mentor:
I learned this over two dozen years ago from my ‘food and healing’ mentor, Annemarie Colbin the founder of what started out as the Natural Gourmet Cookery School. It is now The Natural Gourmet Institute and is celebrating 35 years as the innovator in the field. I had studied with her at the Omega Institute for Holistic Studies in Rhinebeck, NY around 1988 and later lectured on nutrition at her school in NYC.
Our Mission:
My mother’s words of wisdom were, “Everything in moderation”. This is also a good rule of thumb for non-acute circumstance. But sometimes situations do call for extreme measures. When they do, it is very important to become as informed and educated as possible. This means knowing about options, holistic and mainstream medical ones. This is a major piece of the mission of Alison*s Blog: to inform and educate as well as to awe and inspire.
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Read more issues and stories related to our mission about ART | FOOD | HEALING on Alison*s Art Online Magazine published by RebelMouse and paper.li. Both are a feature of Alison*s Blog and appear in the right hand column.
It’s fair to say that from the name of today’s blog, Some Thoughts from the Aspen Idea Festival 2013, that there will be some positive notes to share on Alison*s Blog post. There are quite a few features that confirm this.
Although the Aspen Ideas Festival 2013 is over, the swag bag designed by Tory Burch, is the biggest status symbol of the event. It is also the envy and curiosity for those who did not get one to wonder what was in it, according to the article written by LinkedIn Editor, Chip Cutter. My favorite item is Steve Case’s Message in Chocolate Form. Steve Case’s Message in Chocolate Form. Photo credit: LinkedIn
“Entrepreneurs, Steve and Jean Case emphasized Thursday that Americans need to take more risks — in both business and philanthropy. Hence, their gift of a ‘Fearless’ chocolate bar to attendees. This one, produced by a Berkeley-based chocolatier, combines organic dark chocolate with ginger and hibiscus flowers to create what the company describes as ‘playful proclamations upon your palate.'”
Then there’s the amazing curated story story about how a man lost over 100 lbs in a laboratory experiment. “The researchers, who were microbiologists, had simply put the man’s gut microbes on a diet”.
The Flower Essence, Mimosa. Photo credit: http://www.flower-essence.co.uk/ If that is not enough positive notes, there’s the flower essence Mimosa, introduced by Channel Island Flower Essences. The company reports that it “carries the vibrational energy of empowerment. It resonates with the solar plexus chakra. It supports a feeling of personal power and belief in one’s own ability. It enables a very rounded approach to all life issues and promotes warmth of personality and persona.”
There are still some positive points to explore. But you get to browse them on you own. In the right hand column are today’s Alison*s Art Online Magazines published by RebelMouse and a feature of Alison*s Blog.
Let’s take a virtual tour and look at some art for Saturday, pleasant, uplifting, creative things. Pretend we are taking a gallery tour. We can travel all over the world since we are on the Internet.
Our first stop is London and the studio of a very talented young lady. I found her lovely artwork thanks to another paper.li publisher, Angel Ceballos’ Art & Design.
Through his online magazine, I was introduced to her work. She is creating some magnificent art work that has morphed into tapestry design. It’s very exciting to see the artistic process at work.
Her name is Hannah Waldron. She was interviewed by designboom.com. Her creations are impressive. They are also light-hearted, colorful and usable.
furoshiki design for link collective japan. Photo credit: Martin Holtkamp
NYC furoshiki. Photo credit: Martin Holtkamp
Venice furoshiki. Photo credit: Martin Holtkamp
Tapestry from print work. Photo credit: Martin Holtkamp
Now let’s head back to the US to take a look at two of my other favorite styles of art on our some art for Saturday tour. These styles are graffiti inspired illustration and tattoo art.
My two favorite artists who started out doing graffiti/comic book style illustration are located on opposite coasts of the US. L’amour Supreme is from NY. He is pictured (the image is from his website, www.lamoursupreme.com) with some of his creations as the featured image at the beginning of our tour. Man One is from LA. Below are some of my favorite examples of his work. One is a mural of Rita Hayworth who is one of my favorite film gems. Here’s some Rita trivia. She was born in Brooklyn and started out as a dancer. She was married to Orson Wells, foreign royalty, a popular singer and two other men.
Man One LA
Man One LA
Man One LA
Man One LA
Both L’amour Supreme and Man One have produced prolific amounts of work. So I am going to suggest that you return and visit their virtual studios on your own. That way you can take as much time as you like to explore their very creative careers and stories. Do let them know I suggested you stopped by.
As the last stop on our some art for Saturday tour is one of my favorite local places to visit, Empire State Studios, a tattoo art gallery on Long Island. There are those who might not consider this a form of art. But keep an open mind before drawing any conclusions. Take a look at the work of these artists. Then tell me what you think. In fact, if you are in the area, they have art shows that change every two months. The banner from the ESS website, www.empirestatestudios.com
I hope you have enjoyed our relaxing, virtual trans-Atlantic and back tour of some art for Saturday. Let me know if you would like to take another one some time soon. I certainly would.
Indigenous cultures are rare, precious, fragile, and quickly becoming extinct. Is this progress or a form of genocide? Is this the price we pay for planetary technological advancements? What happens when there are no civilizations left who dance to the rhythms of the earth and thrive on a daily, intimate relationship with nature?
A story in the current issue of the Global Oneness Project Magazine, photographed and told by Jane Baldwin (the above and other photos), is about an indigenous culture, the Kara Women of Ethiopia. Her photographs and the interview of her encourage readers to ponder these questions. Ms. Baldwin’s story is about her eight year developing relationship with the Kara women. Map of the Omo River with dam projects highlighted in redThey are inhabitants of Ethiopia’s Omo River Valley and the Omo River-Lake Turkana watershed. The areas that they and other groups have inhabited for hundreds of years are threatened by the continuing dam building of the Omo River dam project. This one is Gibe III.
The residents of the river valley have had no say in these projects. The projects clearly do not benefit these agro-pastorialists, the indigenous people who have lived in harmony with their river. They are its victims and will be the casualties again, of this half finished project, Gibe III. The dam will benefit those whose priorities differ drastically from theirs. Their flowing relationship with the Omo River will stop. The lives of about a half a million people will be impacted and their traditional way of life will be affected. The consequences will be a disaster.
These people do not read or write. Marriages have traditionally been arranged although that is changing. The women’s lives are based primarily on child bearing and telling their stories through oral tradition. This is current life of the Kara Women. They are subservient in every way to the patriarchy they live in except for one essential responsibility. They are the keepers of their culture’s stories.
They make up songs that they sing to their children from the time they are babies. This is part of how they pass on their stories. What will become of their lives in the river valley when they crash, head on with Gibe III? They will still have their stories. But they will be bloody nightmares not happy memories.
At right, discover more about the Kara Women and other stories about ART | FOOD | HEALING in today’s issues of Alison*s Art Online Magazine, a feature of Alison*s Blog and published by RebelMouse and paper.li.
Developing food growing and selling trends are resulting in some fascinating, untraditional farming and distribution activities. These movements are making food more available and more affordable.
GROWING Eat the City: The Art of Urban Farming reintroduces farming into the city is a truly unique way. The ‘truck farm bed’ feature photo is a creative example of this idea. Urban farming, other types of local farming and local farmers markets have created a new class of eaters, locavores. Deciding between organic or locally grown food. Photo Credit: Flickr Corey TempletonThey believe that eating locally grown food is the best way to go for several reasons. This food tastes the bests. Food can be freshest when eaten. There is a huge savings in transportion and distribution costs. It has even been said that locally grown food can be just as beneficial as organic food. In a variety of situations, each has advantages.
SELLING
A novel idea in a weekend only, makeshift outlet supermarket in the Netherlands has caught on like wild fire. Nearly ‘expired’ packaged foods are sold at a huge discount. One often sees this on certain perishable items in US supermarkets. But in the case of this ‘past its prime’ concept, the entire store is filled with these items.Willem Jan Stamm, the owner of Outlet Stam in Schagen,The Netherlands. Photo credit: Christopher F. Schuetze
A recently discovered facebook page shines a light on a new way of selling and distributing food. It is reminiscent of the food co-op. It is called WholeShare. According to their facebook page, “Wholeshare is a website that helps you get access to good quality, affordable local food by organizing group purchases. www.wholeshare.com”.Wholeshare, the facebook page Another fascinating concept is something called, Pay It Forward. It is practiced by a restaurant called Karma Kitchen. The staff are volunteers. The customers pay whatever they want. In other words, they pay the bill for the next group of people who come to eat. They ‘Pay It Forward’.
Karma Kitchen practices, ‘Pay It Forward’. Photo credit: www.goprojectfilms.com
CONCLUSION
Due to personal choice, as a political statement about food waste, or out of necessity, some people have taken to off the beaten path to obtain food. These include food foraging, dumpster diving, food banks, food kitchens and food stamps and bread lines. However one acquires one’s food, it is important to be conscious of the the choices we can make. Some people in this country do go hungry. The options discussed here are intended to help everyone find resources to have enough to eat.
Continue to read other posts about ART | FOOD | HEALING on Alison*s Art Online Magazines from RebelMouse and paper.li, a feature of Alison*s Blog.
Gatsby Graphics Glitz and Gold take hold ever since the remake of the movie, The Great Gatsby. The creators of the movie admit that they did not attempt certain detailed, exact period reproduction. For example, the music was changed from 1920’s jazz to rap to give a present day audience the feel of that time as modern. They went more for the feel of the time, the opulence, the glamour, the glitz and the gold.
Art Deco Seamless Pattern.
Photo credit: colourlovers.com
Art Deco backgrounds and frames. Photo credit: colourlovers.com
Art Deco Badges. Photo credit: colourlovers.com
Art Deco EPIC Bundle. Photo credit: colourlovers.com
Art Deco wedding invitation, Anita & Clifford. Photo credit: colourlovers.com
Art Deco Invitation, Genevieve & Riley. Photo credit: colourlovers.com
Art Deco wedding invitation, Denise & Trevor. Photo credit: colourlovers.com
Like the movie itself, the graphics are not meant to be exact reproductions. They are representational, designed to conjure up a feeling. It is a feeling the we can relate to today. We relate to it in the same way people felt when they originally experienced the story. The movie and everything about it is redesigned and refreshed. This gives it an up to date feeling that we can be part of. Perhaps it is also so that we can dream of having a life like that ourselves.
To a greater or lesser extent, the couples who chose to use these great Gatsby wedding invitations aspire to that lifestyle as well. One would want only to be a fly on the wall to see how much more than the Gatsby style invitation they realized in their nuptial celebrations.
Enjoy more reading material about ART | FOOD | HEALING at right on Alison*s Art Online Magazines, a feature of Alison*s Blog and published by RebelMouse and paper.li.
Bless Bhutan, a tiny nation in the the mountainous amphitheatre of the Himalayas. Bhutan Prime Minister, Jigmi Thinley has declared that Bhutan is to become the first 100% organic agricultural producing nation on the planet. This is a blessing, an outstanding example and hopefully a motivation for the rest of the globe to follow suit.
Bhutan Prime Minister Photo Jigmi Thinley. Photo credit: thesolutionsjournal.anu.edu.au
To quote an article from Banoosh.com, “Last month the Prime Minister, Jigmi Thinley told his government he is developing a National Organic Policy because the country’s farmers are increasingly convinced that ‘by working in harmony with nature, they can help sustain the flow of nature’s bounties.’”
Bhutan is a producer of rice, corn, beans, potatoes and oranges. It’s red beans are distributes to Whole Foods, one of the largest US health food retailers. The term, made in Bhutan, may soon become synonymous with 100% organic. In frightening contrast to this uplifting news, is what is going on in the US with the increasing number of ‘frankenfoods’. This is a nickname for the nightmare of GMO foods that have been shown to cause cancer in rats. It is only a matter of time before the detrimental human effects will be able to be proven.
GMO Soybeans Image Credit: Ryan McVay/Digital Vision/Thinkstock
The increasing death rate in the bee population is of grave concern to environmentalists. This is an indicator of an imbalance in nature that threatens the process of pollination, natures way of producing its bounty. Nature’s ability to reproduce is being threatened by the take over of GMO food and pesticides. GMO food is at war with nature. The goal of this war is two-fold: to make natural, healthy production of food extinct and for corporations to control food production and food characteristics.
Bhutan Prime Minister Thinley being received by other world leaders. Photo credit: philosophicalanthropology.net
Who knows how long it will take for Prime Minister Thinley’s plan to become a reality. How much benefit can the food stuffs from a nation of 700,000 have on a planet of 7.093 billion people who need to be fed? The primary considerations are, will other nations follow suit? If they do, will we be able to stop the growing Global (food producing) Monster Organizations? Only time will tell.
Read more about this topic along with other food, art and health issues at right on Alison*s Art Online Magazines, a feature of Alison*s Blog and published on RebelMouse and paper.li.
The blackout scene of the final Sopranos episode left everyone debating the fate of Tony Soprano and family. But when life imitated art, his ultimate demise became a forgone conclusion.
One wants to shout, ‘No, that’s just the story. He’s not really supposed to die’. But the untimely passing of HBO’s ‘iconic New Jersey mobster’ played by James Gandolfini is like a bad dream within a bad dream. One thinks it is over and that it did not happen only to awaken to realize that it did. A combination of grief, shock, frustration, sadness, loss and even nausea regarding the incredulity of the coincidence take over. One wonders, in this case, had life imitated art too much? Is that even possible? Did the Tony Soprano character take over James Gandolfini’s life to the extent that the fate of one became the demise of the other? That is a very unsettling concept.
One commentor, @Jigsjigz wrote on YouTube,”Well hes just passed away so hes dead in the story too.”
But James Gandolfini’s persona as well as his diverse body of work survive his nemesis, Tony Soprano. Here are some examples of the man and the actor in other roles he played. They show his range beyond the ‘conflicted yet iconic New Jersey mobster’ and ‘the shlubby but imposing work stiff’ (both descriptions from Variety).
A man with a huge heart who has been described in his industry as a ‘unique embodiment of creativity, humanity and humility’ has left us. May this post and Alison*s Art Online Magazine from RebelMouse, at right, be a small tribute to a very big man.
Great Ads Are Art: Atomic and Otherwise. Why? Because they can make us smile, make us cry and move us in ways that few other things can or usually do.
This is clearly illustrated by THE AD WORLD’S BEST IDEAS: 12 CAMPAIGNS THAT WILL WIN AT CANNES by Teressa Iezzi. Some of the entries shown do just what is described above. They clearly make a case for great ads are art and include the role that technology has come to play in the creative process.
This year, the use of technology at the International Festival of Creativity (aka the International Festival of Advertising, aka the Cannes Lions), has risen to such heights that a new category has been named for them. The festival kicks off on Sunday, June 16th.
Quoted from, ‘THE AD WORLD’S BEST IDEAS: 12 CAMPAIGNS THAT WILL WIN AT CANNES’, “While Cannes has certainly honored ‘apps, tools, and programmes’ before (several years ago, the festival launched the ‘Titanium Lion’, designed to recognize the new forms of work that refused to be bound by traditional ad categories), the new ‘Innovation Lion’ seems to be designed to give more recognition to the ideas that aren’t communications and to the tech platforms that underlie the communications initiatives that Cannes has traditionally cited.”
One community service project video, Metro Trains’s, ‘Dumb Ways To Die’ gained such popularity that other creatives crafted take-offs and spoofs of it. The original and its progeny are shown below.
IBM captured a million views in just one day for a demonstration of the future of atomic memory. Here’s how they achieved that and why it matters.
SOLVING HUGE PROBLEMS, ONE ATOM AT A TIME: THE PURPOSE AND POWER OF IBM’S “WORLD’S SMALLEST MOVIE”
BY: JOHN KENNEDY, IBM, AND STEVE SIMPSON, OGILVY & MATHER.
A Boy And His Atom: The World’s Smallest Movie
‘The Bridge of Life’ by Samsung Life Insurance
This project turns potential tragedy into a joyful work of art.
‘Coca-Cola Small World Machines – Bringing India & Pakistan Together’
Who would have thought that Coca-Cola could be used for political unity?
You Can Still Dunk In The Dark
The best was saved until last. The Oreo, 100 year birthday video, ‘Oreo Daily Twist’. We all know what happened to that one when the lights went out on last year’s Super Bowl.
Are you all choked up yet? See what I mean about ‘Great Ads Are Art’? Which ever ads win at Cannes, there is no doubt that they will all be works of art.
