Category Archives: Miscellaneous

Story from ZYDO.Com
By Kyle Chayka
Published: August 23, 2011

Meet Lei Yixin, the Chinese Artist Behind D.C.’s New Martin Luther King Monument

Even before its grand public opening on the National Mall, the new Martin Luther King Jr. monument in Washington, D.C., has attracted controversy not only for its imagery, but also for its creator: a Chinese master sculptor named Lei Yixin, who worked with a team of craftsman in Hunan province to carve the 30-foot-tall work. Some critics have said that, given his nationality, Lei is an unorthodox choice for a monument memorializing an African-American hero.

Inspired by a line from King’s iconic “I Have a Dream” speech, the “Stone of Hope” sculpture depicts the civil rights leader emerging from a block of white granite. Standing stiffly to attention with arms crossed and a serious expression on his face, King is depicted as stern and authoritative. The statue oddly seems to evoke Social Realist monuments — an impression heightened by its monolithic composition, with King standing as part of the rock face. Photographs show the memorial already easing into its place on the Mall alongside such company as the Washington Monument (both of which sites were closed due to today’s brief earthquake).

Attending an art university directly after the ravages of the Cultural Revolution, Lei Yixin graduated in 1982 and went on to work as a draftsman, and was later encouraged by a government official to move into designing public sculpture. Lei has created over 150 monuments, including statues of Mao Zedong. But it was the artist’s 2006 “Contemplation” sculpture that caught the eye of Ed Jackson, the executive architect of the Martin Luther King Foundation, who named Lei the head sculptor for the “Stone of Hope” monument in 2007.

Jackson’s choice was immediately controversial. African-American sculptor Ed Dwight was quoted by the Washington Post at the time as arguing that because Lei is not black, “he doesn’t know how black people walk, how they stand, how their shoulders slope.” In May 2008, the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts called the artist’s design “too confrontational,” and recommended that the monument be rethought. more from XYDO.Com

This is a virtual tour of the monument, from BuildTheDream’s YouTube Channel
We were a bit surprised that the music behind this video is mainstream white-bread. Say what, NO GANGSTA RAP. No one wants to defile MLKs Virtual Memorial?

The MLK statue reminded me of one of my favorite sculptures, from Loveland, Colorado’s Bobby Carlyle. Click on the photo for more information.

WIKI page on Lei Yixin
Aforementioned sculptor, Denver’s Ed Dwight’s Official Website
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Entertainment, Miscellaneous, Movies

“How do you write women so well?

August 23, 2011 William Carbone

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Miscellaneous

The Essence of Bad Boys by Susannah

August 20, 2011 William Carbone Leave a comment

This story was first posted 8/16/2011.

Marlon Brando from The Wild One — Marlon Brando in *The Wild One-from Sher-Dog.Net

You’ve heard of “Bad Boys”, right? You’ve probably even met some. Ah, you’ve dated one? Then you’ve got some scars in your heart to remember him by, don’t you. You say you were his girlfriend? No, sweetie, bad boys don’t have girlfriends; they have women, lots of women. Because women, all women, can spot a bad boy a mile away, and whatever hormone fragrance she puts out when she sees one is picked up by him immediately, and bam – she’s a target.

There he is – the bad boy – standing on the other side of the room. He may be wearing a black leather jacket or not. Even if he’s not, and say you’re a beautiful, smart and enchanting female who can have her pick of any guy in the room, you want him. And only him. And suddenly you’re not thinking about relationships or marriage or kids or contentment or happiness. In fact, you’re not thinking at all; you’re operating from something other than your human mind or human heart. You are operating from what psychologists call the Reptilian Brain, that lower part of our brain where our basic instincts dwell.

It is your basic instinct that is telling you that you want him and that you have to have him, and damned be the consequences. So why does your Reptilian Brian tell you to go get him? Because he has what you, a woman, wants and needs – intense masculine energy and great masculine genes. In order to keep the species going, it takes good masculine and good feminine genes. You’re saying, “Oh, OMG, this whole attraction thing is evolutionary?” Yep. In the animal world, the males have to compete with each other for the females. And bad boys, while they’re completely inept at being emotionally mature and responsible, definitely step up to this plate. Bad boy’s good masculine genes trigger your good feminine genes, and we all know where this going…

But, you say, what about those psychologists who tell us that being abused when we were children is the reason that bad boys are bad and that some girls are attracted to them? In terms of bad boys who are actually abusive and women who are drawn to being abused, yes, there is more than something to that. However, I’m talking about the essence of “Bad Boy” here; not psychopathic nor criminal behavior. I am talking about the energy and the essence of bad boys, including the energy and essence of all the bad boys out there who are not criminals nor have ever physically or verbally abused a woman.

This energy and essence is in his genes and he’s hooked into it. He’s got it. You may not consciously know what it is, but you know that he has it. It comes across in the way he dresses, the way he moves, the way he talks, the way he looks at you. He’s confident, he’s independent, and he lives by his own rules. Most of all, he manifests that intense masculine energy, and it doesn’t show up simply in how he presents himself to the world; it is seeping out of his pores. And, in order to keep the species going, your Reptilian Brain tells you that you absolutely must mate with this alpha gorilla.

So, you do. And then what happens? Do your human mind and heart finally kick in, telling you that you’re so totally in love with him and that you can’t live without him that you need to embark on the project of changing him into a loving and caring husband and father? Some projects in life can be completed. This one can’t be. You can’t change him. You can’t turn him from an alpha stud preying on women into the Prince Charming you’ve always dreamed about. Prince Charming he most definitely is not.

Sounds trite, but it’s true – only he can change himself. But won’t your love change him into a caring, emotionally open guy who will pledge his undying love to you and take great care of your mutual children? Nope. Because your love ain’t getting through to him, sweetie. He’s walled in, and his emotions are not coming out to play.

Can he change? Sure. But he’s the one who has to feel the need to change, and do all the work to change, and it’s probably going to come, with time and age, from the pain he feels from being emotionally isolated.

So, what do you do? Well, you can stay and get your heart broken, or – here comes the hard part – you leave. He’s going to dump you anyway, and doesn’t it give you some power over him to end it by your own initiative? Go home and cry, rant and rave to your girlfriends, get some therapy, start a charity, write a book, write ten songs about Bad Boys, watch all the James Dean and Marlon Brando movies you want. Just get him out of your system, chalk it all up to evolutionary influences, be happy that you’ve got feminine genes that can get triggered, and then remember your dream that you’ve had since you were a little girl about finding your perfect guy. He’s out there and he’s waiting for you. – Susannah

*The Wild One

This is an opening scene from The Wild One – from “tristansladyhawk.”

A Stanley Kramer Company Production/Columbia Pictures

Post/videos assembled by LasVegasBuffetClub.Com
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Miscellaneous

The Moon will be full August 13, 2011

August 10, 2011 William Carbone

Lone Ranger & Tonto Cartoon, DrAbruzzi.com

Well, this is what we should do: We all should step outside our front doors at the second hour past the time that darkness has settled – on the night of the full Moon – at the top of the hour, and celebrate the full Moon together. Sort of a global, Full Moon Kirtan. Don’t worry you won’t get lost, just let the wind guide you.
HAVE YOU HUGGED YOUR MOON TODAY?

The Moon will be 100% Full: Saturday * August 13, 2011 * 10:57 A.M. Las Vegas time.

From Western Washington University
“American Indians gave names to each of the full moons to keep track of the passing year. The names are associated with the entire month until the next full moon occurs. Since a lunar month averages 29 days, the dates of the moons change from year to year. Here are titles most closely associated with calendar months.”

Two Native tribes are mentioned here – click the WWU link to access more information.

BACK EAST
Algonquin
Northeast to Great Lakes

According to Western Washington University the Algonquin term for August’s moon is: “micheenee kesos” or “when indian corn is edible.”

OUT WEST
Navajo
Southwest, New Mexico

I couldn’t find a Navajo word for this moon. According to Western Washington University the Comanche (Southern Plains) name for August’s Moon is: “tahma mua” or “summer moon.”

From The Old Farmer’s Almanac
“Historically, the Native Americans who lived in the area that is now the northern and eastern United States kept track of the seasons by giving distinctive names to the recurring full Moons.”

“Each full Moon name was applied to the entire month in which it occurred. These names, and some variations, were used by the Algonquin tribes from New England to Lake Superior.”

According to The Old Farmer’s Almanac, August’s Moon is called: The Full Sturgeon Moon. “Some Native American tribes knew that the sturgeon of the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain were most readily caught during this full Moon. Others called it the “Green Corn Moon ” or the “Grain Moon.”

FullMoon.Info – More about the Full Moon
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_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Writing about Native Americans prompted me to include the following links to a truly great Link, LINK WRAY, that is – The FATHER OF EDGY, ELECTRIC, EAR-SCRATCHING ROCK & ROLL.
Fred Lincoln “Link” Wray Jr (May 2, 1929 – November 5, 2005)

Minimalist electric-guitar strummer, Link Wray was an All-American, Native-American, innovative, Rock & Roll founder of rough-tough, scratchy, glaring, guitar-technique – featuring THE POWER CHORD – and it was as powerful as the sound of a chain-saw cutting through a Hollywood night. His breakthrough, ground-breaking monster hit from 1958 (with His Ray Men) RUMBLE is perhaps the genesis of Rock & Roll power-guitar on steroids. Link Wray defines R&R cool…

“Part Shawnee Indian, Wray frequently spoke of his ancestry in performances and interviews. Three of the songs he performed bear the names of American Indian tribes: “Shawnee”, “Apache”, and “Comanche.” “Apache” was an instrumental composed by Jerry Lordan, which became a hit in the UK for The Shadows in 1960. Wray recorded a cover of the song 30 years later, which by then was also associated with everyone from The Ventures to the Incredible Bongo Band” more from WIKI

LVBC note: The WIKI page downplays the fact that a guy by the name of Jørgen Ingmann [a musician from Copenhagen, Denmark] recorded Apache in 1961, which climbed to #2 on the US charts, the only charts that really matter, according to some. Apache was among the first records to use sophisticated electronic recording techniques, if not the first. An afterthought reminds me that Santo and Johnny’s SLEEPWALK preceded APACHE by a few years (1959.) Sleepwalk is probably my favorite all-time guitar instrumental.

Also from WIKI
“Wray served a hitch in the US Army and was a veteran of the Korean War, where he contracted tuberculosis that ultimately cost him a lung. His doctors told him that he would never sing again, so Link concentrated on his heavy guitar work. Despite this, on his rare vocal numbers he displays a strong voice and a range equivalent to that of Clarence “Frogman” Henry’s.”

Here’s the complete song from the 45 (45 RPM record) with minimal video:

This is a clip of an older Wray in concert:

Link Wray was never given proper accolades for this simple, yet staggeringly powerful tune. – BC
Every guitarist could play it because of it’s simplicity, however Link Wray was the innovator.
The song was part of the soundtrack of the film, PULP FICTION.
The electronics-heavy APACHE was also part of this genres foundation. Both songs used cutting-edge electronics such as “tremelo” and echo.

Update August 13, 2011 at 8:00 PM
May as well keep going: Listen to the use of electronics in this early innovation from 1962. Booker T’s guitarist switches on the reverb and everything else in this great foundational mega-hit. When I was up In Northern California, Booker T had a working studio in Sausalito. GREEN ONIONS

Miscellaneous

The Navy SEAL Foundation

August 9, 2011 William Carbone

This article is from The Navy Seals Foundation’s Official Website.

The Navy SEAL Foundation is proud to serve the Naval Special Warfare community including the U.S. Navy SEALs, SWCC, NSW Support Personnel, and their families.

The loss of the U.S. Navy SEALs in Afghanistan is the kind of news the Navy SEAL Foundation fears—but prepares for in our mission to provide immediate and ongoing support and assistance to the Naval Special Warfare community and their families. When a member of the community falls, the Foundation helps the families with memorial services and defrays the financial costs of travel for immediate family members who live far away. These warriors were at the tip of the spear in the global war on terror, exhibiting extraordinary skill, courage, and commitment. It’s paramount for the Foundation to support their families here at home. When a warrior falls, the Foundation is prepared to take the burden of cost away from the families and help them with planning. The families will have enough to concern themselves with during this time. Our deepest sympathy is extended to the families of those who lost loved ones in this devastating tragedy. Please know we hold you close in our thoughts—and are here to help you in the challenging times ahead.
-Vice Adm. Albert “Bert” Calland, III, USN, Chairman, Navy SEAL Foundation

Text to Donate!
Here’s a way to quickly donate to the Navy SEAL foundation using your cell phone! Text “SEAL” to 90999 to give $10 to help support the Navy SEAL foundation! It’s quick, easy and your donation goes a long way to help us with our mission!

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Miscellaneous

Food Ark

July 25, 2011 William Carbone

FROM NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC
July 2011

“A crisis is looming: To feed our growing population, we’ll need to double food production. Yet crop yields aren’t increasing fast enough, and climate change and new diseases threaten the limited varieties we’ve come to depend on for food. Luckily we still have the seeds and breeds to ensure our future food supply—but we must take steps to save them.”

Food Arcs Conservationist Cary Fowler - Photo Jim Richardson — Food Arc's Conservationist Cary Fowler - Photo Jim Richardson

Conservationist Cary Fowler holds two vials of peas. The sleek structure behind him holds the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, which he founded in Norway to help stop the mass extinction of crops that threatens our future food supply.
www.jimrichardsonphotography.com

MORE FROM NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC
By Charles Siebert
Photograph by Jim Richardson

“Six miles outside the town of Decorah, Iowa, an 890-acre stretch of rolling fields and woods called Heritage Farm is letting its crops go to seed. It seems counterintuitive, but then everything about this farm stands in stark contrast to the surrounding acres of neatly rowed corn and soybean fields that typify modern agriculture. Heritage Farm is devoted to collecting rather than growing seeds. It is home to the Seed Savers Exchange, one of the largest nongovernment-owned seed banks in the United States.”

“In 1975 Diane Ott Whealy was bequeathed the seedlings of two heirloom plant varieties that her great grandfather had brought to America from Bavaria in 1870: Grandpa Ott’s morning glory and his German Pink tomato. Wanting to preserve such unique varieties, Diane and her husband, Kent, decided to establish a place where people could store and trade the seeds of their own past. The exchange now has more than 13,000 members and keeps in its walk-in coolers, freezers, and root cellars the seeds of many thousands of heirloom varieties. The farm grows a glorious profusion of select vegetables, herbs, and flowers around an old red barn that is covered in Grandpa Ott’s stunningly deep purple morning glory blossoms.”

“Each year our members list their seeds in this,” Diane Ott Whealy says, handing over a copy of the Seed Savers Exchange 2010 Yearbook. It is as thick as a big-city telephone directory, with page after page of exotic beans, garlic, potatoes, peppers, apples, pears, and plums—each with its own name, personal history, and distinct essence. There’s an apple known as Beautiful Arcade, a “yellow fruit splashed with red”; one named Prairie Spy, described as “precocious”; another dubbed Sops of Wine that dates back to the Middle Ages. There’s an Estonian Yellow Cherry tomato obtained from “an elderly Russian lady” in Tallinn, a bean found by archaeologists searching for pygmy elephant fossils in New Mexico, a Persian Star garlic from “a bazaar in Samarkand.”
More from National Geographic

From the comments forum of Hines.Blogspot.Com:
THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2011 10:17:00 AM CDT
Paul Heald said…
“except for the fact that the RAFI study Siebert relies upon has been discredited and recent studies show an increase in crop diversity in the twentieth century and his apple data is completely incorrect . . . to see the raw numbers that he misses check out: “Crop Diversity Report Card for the Twentieth Century: Diversity Bust or Diversity Boom?” at http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1462917 and “Apple Diversity Report Card” at http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1543336.”

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Miscellaneous

27 year old hipster musician Amy Winehouse found dead in London flat

July 23, 2011 William Carbone

Amy Winehouse - Photo WitchesBrewOnLine.com

It was no surprise to hear this blurb on the radio this morning, July 23, 2011 at 11:00 AM. Amy Winehouse joins that long list of rock musicians who leave way too soon. – LVBC

FROM WIKIPEDIA
“The 27 Club, also occasionally known as the Forever 27 Club or Club 27, is a name for a group of influential rock music artists who died at the age of 27. The 27s: The Greatest Myth of Rock & Roll details the history of the phenomenon.”

Musicians usually included in the 27 Club

The impetus for the club’s creation were the deaths of Jones, Hendrix, Joplin and Morrison.[1] Cobain, who died in 1994, was later added by some. With the exception of Joplin, there is controversy surrounding their deaths. According to the book Heavier Than Heaven, when Cobain died, his sister claimed that as a kid he would talk about how he wanted to join the 27 Club.[2] On the fifteenth anniversary of Kurt Cobain’s death, National Public Radio’s Robert Smith said, “The deaths of these rock stars at the age of 27 really changed the way we look at rock music.”[3] The 27s: The Greatest Myth of Rock & Roll details the history of the phenomenon more from WIKI

FROM CBSNEWS.COM
July 23, 2011 12:42 PM
Amy Winehouse found dead

(CBS News) Last Updated 1:11 p.m. ET
Singer Amy Winehouse has been found dead in her North London home, police have confirmed.

BBC News reports that ambulance crews were sent to her apartment, but the 27-year-old was pronounced dead.

Her death is being treated as unexplained, according to police.

Winehouse has struggled with drug and alcohol abuse. In May it was reported that she checked into a treatment facility after her father, Mitch, encouraged her to seek help. But she left rehab after a week, and resumed a European tour – which she ended prematurely More from CBSNews.Com

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Las Vegas Information, Miscellaneous

The Moon will be 100% Full: July 14, 2011 at 11:39 PM Las Vegas time

July 13, 2011 William Carbone

The Moon will be 100% Full: Thursday – July, 14 at 11:39 P.M. Las Vegas time.

BACK EAST
Mohawk, Eastern Woodlands

“The Mohawk Indians are part of the Iroquois Indian confederation. They referred to themselves as the Kaniengehaga, which means the people of the flint. The Mohawk Indians are one of the indigenous tribes that inhabited what is now the Mohawk Valley of upstate New York. The Tribes spread throughout New York State and even up into Canada. The word Canada is actually a Mohawk name in itself. Many people are familiar with the famous Mohawk Indian hairstyle, but not many people realize that the Mohawk Indians shaved their heads like this during times of war, in order to look fierce to their enemies” More from Native-Net.Org

Modern Mohawk Hairstyle — Classic Mohawk Hairstyle

According to Western Washington University the Mohawk word for July’s moon is: “ohiarihko” or “time of much ripening.”

OUT WEST
Zuni – Southwest, New Mexico

“The Zuni Pueblo is nestled in a scenic valley, surrounded by the enchanting mesas, located about 150 miles west of Albuquerque. The main reservation, is located in the McKinley and Cibola counties in the western part of New Mexico. The estimated number of acres encompasses about 450,000 acres. The tribe has land holdings in Catron County, New Mexico and Apache County, Arizona, which are not adjoining to the main reservation.” More from Ashiwi.Org

According to Western Washington University the Zuni name for July’s Moon is: “dayamcho yachunne” or “when limbs of trees are broken by fruit.”

This ring is very similar to a ring I purchased with Nickel Jackpot winnings at The Railroad Pass Hotel/Casino in in Henderson Nevada – in the mid-80s. The world-renown artist is Effie Calazava from Zuni Pueblo.

More Effie rings

“Each full Moon name was applied to the entire month in which it occurred. These names, and some variations, were used by the Algonquin tribes from New England to Lake Superior.”

According to The Old Farmer’s Almanac July’s Moon is: The Full Buck Moon. “Bucks begin to grow new antlers at this time. This full Moon was also known as the Thunder Moon, because thunderstorms are so frequent during this month.”

From FullMoon.Info

Why corals adore the full moon
“Although, one could easily presume that full moon influences the reproduction of many creatures, this has really only been proven for some species. One assumes this is the case with wolves, specific insects or crabs and also many humans vow not being able to do anything other than to look for the closeness of the other (or the same) sex at full moon. But absolutely certain are scientist only about one animal species that may not even be considered an animal by many: the corals. Here it has been established that reproduction is dependent on water temperature and moon light” read more from FullMoon.Info

FullMoon.Inf
Western Washington University
The Old Farmer’s Almanac
NativeLanguages.Org
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Miscellaneous

July 4, 2011 – Celebrating The Country

July 4, 2011 William Carbone

Fourth of July is Independence Day

“Independence Day honors the birthday of the United States of America and the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. It’s a day of picnics and patriotic parades, a night of concerts and fireworks, and a reason to fly the American flag.” more from USADotGov…

“Drafted by Thomas Jefferson between June 11 and June 28, 1776, the Declaration of Independence is at once the nation’s most cherished symbol of liberty and Jefferson’s most enduring monument. Here, in exalted and unforgettable phrases, Jefferson expressed the convictions in the minds and hearts of the American people. The political philosophy of the Declaration was not new; its ideals of individual liberty had already been expressed by John Locke and the Continental philosophers. What Jefferson did was to summarize this philosophy in “self-evident truths” and set forth a list of grievances against the King in order to justify before the world the breaking of ties between the colonies and the mother country. We invite you to read a transcription of the complete text of the Declaration.” more from USADotGov

FUN FACTS
“On this day in 1776, the Declaration of Independence was approved by the Continental Congress, setting the 13 colonies on the road to freedom as a sovereign nation. As always, this most American of holidays will be marked by parades, fireworks and backyard barbecues across the country.” Fun facts from The US Census Bureau…

USA Dot.Gov – Official Website
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Miscellaneous

Dog survives gunshot near Michael Jackson’s Las Vegas home

June 26, 2011 William Carbone

Fox 5 News – Las Vegas, Nevada
Posted: Jun 25, 2011 5:02 PM MDT
Updated: Jun 25, 2011 10:44 PM MDT
Posted By Ashley Kringen, Assignment Editor

LAS VEGAS, NV (KVVU)
A celebration of Michael Jackson’s life turned chaotic after a Metro officer was forced to shoot a pit-bull that chased after him, according to Officer Weiskopf.

Metro was called to 2710 Palomino Lane to regulate anxious patrons trying to bypass property gates to go inside Michael Jackson’s Las Vegas home.

After Metro made contact with some patrons, a group of individuals left on foot down Shetland road, a street that intersects with the 2700 block of Palomino Lane.

The officer that made contact with the individuals noticed that one of the patrons might have a warrant and started to follow the group down Shetland Road.

As the officer pursued the group, a black pit bull in a nearby yard started running towards the officer.

A gate separated the dog from the officer but somehow the dog forced itself through the gate and started after the officer.

The officer tried to retreat but the dog continued to gain speed, which forced the officer to release fire, hitting the dog.

Owners of the dog rushed their pet to the veterinarian to receive care.

Real Estate listing page for 2710 Palomino Lane

The Official Michael Jackson Website
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Category Archives: Miscellaneous

Controversial New Martin Luther King, Jr. National Monument Opens to the Public

“How do you write women so well?

The Essence of Bad Boys by Susannah

The Moon will be full August 13, 2011

The Navy SEAL Foundation

Food Ark

27 year old hipster musician Amy Winehouse found dead in London flat

The Moon will be 100% Full: July 14, 2011 at 11:39 PM Las Vegas time

July 4, 2011 – Celebrating The Country

Dog survives gunshot near Michael Jackson’s Las Vegas home

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