I have no idea who the artist is, and believe me I looked around for a bit, but he/she was no where to be found. Nevertheless, I was left enamoured by these cute art on canvas'. Check them out...
- Click images to see bigger versions -
Must-watch of 2009!
Coco Avant Chanel
Coco Before Chanel is the story of Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel, who began her life as headstrong orphan, and through an extraordinary journey became the legendary couturier who embodied the modern woman and became a timeless symbol of success, freedom and style. The film portrays the formative years of Chanel's life, the years of Chanel spent discovering and inventing herself.
Amelia
Visionary. Lover. Dreamer. Fighter. Legend. Icon. AMELIA.
An extraordinary life of adventure, celebrity and continuing mystery comes to light in AMELIA, a vast, thrilling account of legendary aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart.
After becoming the first woman to fly across the Atlantic, Amelia was thrust into a new role as America's sweetheart - the legendary "goddess of light," known for her bold, larger-than-life charisma. Yet, even with her global fame solidified, her belief in flirting with danger and standing up as her own, outspoken woman never changed. She was an inspiration to people everywhere, from First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt to the men closest to her heart: her husband, promoter and publishing magnate George P. Putnam, and her long time friend and lover, pilot Gene Vidal.
Shattered Somalia
Photograph by Pascal Maitre
Yet amid the exoskeletons of banks and cathedrals and luxury hotels overlooking a glimmering coastline that once buzzed with pleasure boats, an awful truth dawns. Mogadishu was never like other African cities. Mogadishu was a spectacular city. Even in its disfigurement, the beauty is still there—above all, in ghostly Hamarweyne, where photographer Pascal Maitre and I stand in the empty boulevard and squint out at the sea until a call to prayer from a nearby mosque reminds us it is almost five in the afternoon, after which all outside activity ceases. Anyone on the streets of Mogadishu by evening is inviting misadventure.
Just before leaving, we go to the lighthouse, where we meet Mohammed. He sees us, two gaalo, or infidels, and our guards, and at first we hear his footsteps as he retreats somewhere into the shadows. Later he emerges and grows talkative. "We don't want to flee our own country," he tells me. "I don't want to be a refugee. We're ready to die here."
Shattered Somalia
An insightful article written by Robert Draper. Draper is a contributing writer for National Geographic.
9th wonder?!
The Tree of Life (Shajarat-ul-Hayat) in Bahrain is one of the mysteries of world. It is a four century old mesquite tree which survives in the midst of desert. The mystery of the survival of the tree has made it a legend since it stands in a place completely free of water. It has continued growing-despite the extremities of the climate. What a survivor!
We should all learn a little something from the wisdom of this tree.
Be flexible.
“Let go of your attachment to being right, and suddenly your mind is more open. You're able to benefit from the unique viewpoints of others, without being crippled by your own judgement”
- Ralph Marston
Africa's Year!
Is it me or is Africa's glory finally getting recognized?! And not for the usual ''disease-ridden, poverty striken, strife confested'' reasons but for it's unshakable pride, enchanting beauty and diverse yet vastly connected culture.
For years, It felt like we were forced if not programmed to hate Africa or just to pity it like our lives depended on it. What you see is not what you get in this case. Corruption of our basic thought by images of continuous struggle and malnutritioned children left us to percieve what we thought we knew but...
“We should not pretend to understand the world only by the intellect. The judgement of the intellect is only part of the truth.”
There's always two sides to the story!
For years, It felt like we were forced if not programmed to hate Africa or just to pity it like our lives depended on it. What you see is not what you get in this case. Corruption of our basic thought by images of continuous struggle and malnutritioned children left us to percieve what we thought we knew but...
“We should not pretend to understand the world only by the intellect. The judgement of the intellect is only part of the truth.”
There's always two sides to the story!
Wisdom
''I want to do good. I want the world to be better because I was here." - Will Smith
Words to live by!
Modern day slavery
"I'm tired of people being ugly to each other. I'm tired of all the pain I feel and hear in the world ...every day. There's too much of it. "
- John Coffey (The Green Mile)
NOT TO MISS!
The Science Museum hosts its latest exhibition, 1001 Inventions: Discover the Muslim Heritage in Our World, which traces the forgotten story of a thousand years of science from the Muslim world, from the 7th century onwards. The free exhibition, which runs from the 21 January to 25 April 2010, looks at the social, scientific and technical achievements that are credited to the Muslim world, whilst celebrating the shared scientific heritage of other cultures.
Exhibits include numerous electronic interactives, a reproduction of a 9th century flying device and a five-metre high replica of the “Elephant Clock”.
Oscar-winning actor and screen legend Sir Ben Kingsley has taken the starring role in a short feature film about the scientific heritage of Muslim civilisation.
Information:
Location: The Science Museum, Exhibition Rd, South Kensington, London, SW7 2DD
Opening dates: Thu 21 Jan 2010 - Sun 25 Apr 2010
Duration : 45 mins
Cost: Free
Same Difference.
"Women are supposed to be very calm generally: but women feel just as men feel; they need exercise for their faculties, and a field for their efforts as much as their brothers do; they suffer from too rigid a restraint, too absolute a stagnation, precisely as men would suffer; and it is narrow-minded in their more privileged fellow-creatures to say that they ought to confine themselves to making puddings and knitting stockings, to playing on the piano and embroidering bags"
- Jane Eyre
Super Seven
Stan Lee, co-creator of some of the world's most famous superheroes, is creating a new comic book series -- and writing a leading role for himself.
Lee, 87, who helped create Spider-Man, Iron Man, and The Incredible Hulk, is working on a multimedia series called "Super Seven" for print, online broadcast and retail in late 2010, Lee and his business partners said on Wednesday.
The series is about seven aliens who find themselves stranded on Earth after their spaceship crashes and are befriended by Lee himself.
Looking forward to this!
Ibrahim El Salahi (Sudan)
The Inevitable by Ibrahim El Salahi 1984-1985
This painting is a celebration and recognition of the determination of all those who suffered within the years under the horrendous tyrannical rule of General Nimieri who gained ultimate power through a military coup.
Never has there been a better time to show the world, "The Inevitable" by Ibrahim El Salahi. These nine panels of artwork are Africa’s, "Guernica", a testimony of war and revolution, which raises the global consciousness about the imminent threat of dictatorship and civil unrest. From it’s creation, "The Inevitable", has been housed in its temporary home at the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art in Ithaca, NY, though it makes frequent trips abroad the one place it never goes is the Sudan. Ibrahim has always maintained that the Sudanese people should own the 9-panelled Masterpiece, yet he refuses to allow the painting to travel to the Sudan until the country enjoys, public liberties and democratic institutions.
Speculations as to the exact meaning of the anguished images are as numerous and diverse as the people who have viewed the panels. "The Inevitable", challenges the notion of warfare and depicts the chaotic, exposing the brutal acts of destruction and genocide. It is a testimony of Ibrahim’s art that the symbols chosen hold many, often paradoxical meanings yet the meticulous significance of the imagery remains ambiguous.
Never before has an African artist made such a social statement, which has echoed the sentiments of an entire Nation and is as relevant today as it was in 1984/85. The panels are extremely powerful with determined lines. The western distinction between painting and drawing is irrelevant and as Ibrahim says: "There is no painting without drawing and no form without lines... in effect all pictures can be reduced to lines."
Source
More about the phenomenal man, the artist, Ibrahim El Salahi.
VIVA L'AFRIQUE
The idea behind the song: "... a white boy is trying to write a song on Africa, but since he's never been there, he can only tell what he's seen on TV or remembers in the past (much like WE can relate to)." - Jeff (Toto)
"At the beginning of the 80's I watched a late night documentary on TV about all the terrible death and suffering of the people in Africa. It both moved and appalled me and the pictures just wouldn't leave my head. I tried to imagine how I'd feel about if I was there and what I'd do" - David Paich
Amadou & Miriam create a masterpiece. This is the one because it's the right idea at the right time: a bundle of joy for a hurting planet. It's so all-inclusive --- "an original East Coast-West Coast collaboration", Shouts rapper friend K'naan --- A song about Africa and it's beauty ravished, untamed...Just listen.
World Cup 2010!
Pabulum
Adversity is like a strong wind. It tears away from us all but the things that cannot be torn, so that we see ourselves as we really are.
~ Memoirs of a Geisha
Deep
...is a word unshallow
Like the dark spots of my mind
where my thoughts flow
back and forth, in a rhythmic throw
of simultaneous unsurity and certainty
Am I right or is this wrong?
Question's only life can make you conjur
and leave you hangin' when it's time to answer.
Am I right or is this wrong?
Certainty becomes a tangible comodity
just as confusion rears it's ugly head
unsurity taking place instead.
Yet deep is all I ever really wanna be!
Like the dark spots of my mind
where my thoughts flow
back and forth, in a rhythmic throw
of simultaneous unsurity and certainty
Am I right or is this wrong?
Question's only life can make you conjur
and leave you hangin' when it's time to answer.
Am I right or is this wrong?
Certainty becomes a tangible comodity
just as confusion rears it's ugly head
unsurity taking place instead.
Yet deep is all I ever really wanna be!
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