Where: Zionsville, IN
When: October 5th 2008
Who: Elise LeBlanc - Indianapolis, IN + Ann LeBlanc (grandmother) - Abbeville, LA 
Guest Starring: An Irish Wolfhound named Finnegan
Key Place: Main Street
Highlight: Not getting thrown out of the toy store.
Lowlight: Following piss-poor MapQuest directions that resulted in our being lost somewhere 20 miles north of our destination.
True Story: Irish Wolfhounds are horses cloaked in dog fur.

"It's no good!" I yelled, leaping up from the table. "My mind won't work in this din!"

The boy behind the bar clapped a Stetson on his head and ambled across to see us.

"Say, look-y here," he drawled, "is anything the matter, sho-nuff?"

"Yes!" I screached. "It's that blasted Tammy Wynette! I've got a problem to solve and she isn't helping at all!"

Becky rose and took my arm very gently.

"It's alright," she said to the cowboy. "Thanks very much for the coffee. Everything's fine, but I think that we'll go. Goodbye."

She steered me out through the doorway and led me down Wote Street till we got to the statue. She took a seat on the plinth and pulled me down beside her. The night was quiet, starless and cold.

"Matt," she said.

"Yes?"

"Don't worry, we'll find a solution."

"We ...?"

She cleared her throat a little awkwardly.

"I shall help you, of course."

"Why?"

"Because it's what you need - and I somehow feel responsible. Now, start at the beginning and describe the situation to me as you see it."

I gave a deep sigh. It pained me merely to think of these things.

"Trevor McBride's given me a job to do and he wants it done by Friday. I've had several goes at it, but, so far, I've got nowhere. Worse still, I've managed to alienate all the people who might have helped me."

"And exactly what is this job you have to do for Trevor?"

I gritted my teeth and shivered.
"He doesn't want me to tell you. I don't mean you personally, Becky - he doesn't anyone to know."

The moon emerged from behind a cloud and illuminated Becky's face. She looked both beautiful and sad at the same time.

"How can I help, Matt, if you won't share what you're doing?"

I sniffed.

"I'm not saying it's easy, but just do your best."

She tugged at my arm sharpy.

"Please, Matt, you have to be reasonable!"

"Do I ...? Do I really? Why's that then, when we evidently don't live in a reasonable world? And, I can tell you personally, I don't feel the least little bit like being reasonable."

She grabbed hold of my shoulders and shook me violently.

"Then don't go by your feelings! Use your brain!"

buddha of north toronto, originally uploaded by earthpages.

Some Rights Reserved: Creative Commons, Attribution, Non-Commercial, No Derivatives

October 5, 2008

COVINA -- Thieves have taken a life-sized bronze statue worth about $35,000 from in front of a real estate firm, authorities said Sunday.

http://www.ktla.com/content_landing_page/?Thieves-Haul-Off-35000-Bronze-Statue=1&blockID=82849&feedID=171

[caption id="attachment_297" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Retired Gurkhas salute and hold a picture of Queen Elizabeth II outside the High Court, in London on September 16, 2008. Former Gurkha soldiers from Nepal demonstrated outside the High Court in London on Tuesday before the latest round of their legal bid to win the right to retire in Britain."][/caption]

A statue of a Queen's Gurkha Engineer has been unveiled in a garrison town to mark the 60th anniversary of the unit's formation.

Residents in Maidstone, Kent took just three months to raise £15,000 for the bronze figure, and hundreds gathered at a moving ceremony to watch it be blessed by a Pandit, a Gurkha religious teacher.

Two field squadrons of the Queen's Gurkha Engineers are based in the town under the 36 Engineer Regiment of the Royal Engineers.

The engineers are trained divers and are responsible for underwater reconnaissance, clearing and laying mines and demolition.

In the past week, a High Court judge declared that all Gurkhas should be allowed to settle in the UK in recognition of their loyal service to the Union.

A previous Government policy denied Gurkhas discharged before 1997 the right to live in this country - excluding as many as 42,000 loyal fighters.

The Nepalese troops have served side by side with British service personnel in virtually every conflict since 1815 and are recognised for their bravery, courage and loyalty. Around 50,000 have died in action and more than 2,700 have been decorated for their endeavours.

Sculptor Mary Cox, from Sussex, created the statue, which features a stiff-backed Gurkha engineer in service dress uniform holding his rifle.

It stands mounted on a granite plinth in the courtyard of the museum.

Maidstone Councillor Dan Daley, who launched the project said: "The Gurkha soldiers in Maidstone should know that they and their families are welcomed here and that this tribute is a genuine token of our friendship."

Video : Gurkhas fight on for equal rights - BBC interview

You can see more of his work on his website here, but here's a slideshow of some of the photos I took there:

!!!

Compare:

Greek statue

Actual cocky guy

Click HERE to visit the British Museum's Aztec Highlights.

As a bonus, I located an excellent photograph of a jade mask of Xiuhtecuhtli, God of Time and Fire, which is a part of the British Museum's collection but is not on their website. Thank you Z-m-k for putting your fine photography skills to work on this worthy subject material and for your kindness in sharing it under the Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike 2.5 License.

]]> http://pertedetemps.wordpress.com/?p=137 Fri, 03 Oct 2008 15:49:01 +0000 maryparfait http://pertedetemps.wordpress.com/2008/10/03/move/

Voilà, comme ça c'est dit. Et ça vaut pour moi aussi...

The gold statue of Kate Moss created by the sculpture Mark Quinn has been unveiled. The sculpture worth 1.5million is part of the exhibition Statuephilia. The exhibition is taking place at the British Meuseum.

As previously noted the statue is entitiled Siren and weighs 50kg.

And on the theme of being gone... my friend Sheasy jumped at the chance to nab a fantastic job, even though it is several states away.  She made it safe and sound last night and by all accounts is off to a great start.  (The pic above is from our cowboy-themed potluck on her last day at work.)  I cropped out most of  the black-eyed peas because as delicious as they were, I can only bear to show a tiny sliver of shiny, fluorescent-lit beans.  There is a fine line before it turns from a "funny, slightly ironic" picture to a "gross internet food" picture.

Noseletter 49 - Was passiert, wenn man meditiert?

In der Meditation wird man nackt, ohne die Kleider, die das Denken webt. Man lässt alle Hüllen fallen, alles, was unnatürlich ist, wird abgestreift - bis nur noch Frieden und Ruhe da ist, bis man in seiner wahren Natur ruhen kann.

Man wird total natürlich

Ich komme gerade aus der Dusche, habe alle Hüllen fallen lassen, zumindest die äußeren, und damit experimentiert, nackt zu sein. Bewusst nackt unter dem Wasser zu stehen und das Sein zu fühlen, die Qualität des "Nackt-Unter-Der-Dusche-Stehens".

Dazu angeregt hat mich ein Videoclip des tibetischen Sogyal Rinpoche, der darin sinngemäß sagt:
In der Meditation werden die ganzen Hüllen und Hindernisse fallen gelassen und langsam unsere wahre Natur offen gelegt. Der Verstand ist ständig abgelenkt, Ablenkung ist die Wurzel aller unserer Probleme. In der Meditation schälen wir alle Hindernisse ab und klären die Blockierungen. Wir sind wirklich wahr, authentisch. Alles wird abgestreift, was unnatürlich ist.
What Meditation really is

Ich stehe nackt unter der Dusche in meiner ganzen Natürlichkeit. Ohne Scham und in Frieden mit mir. Wie soll ich das nackte Sein beschreiben? Ist das Meditation? Wahre Natur? So-Sein?
Im Folgenden der Versuch, natürliche Nacktheit, die wahre Natur eines Menschen, in Bildern festzuhalten. In dem Videoclip sieht man die Gesichter von Tibetern in ihrer wahren Natur (Samadhi). Ihre Gesichter sind nackt. Die Menschen schauen aus einem Zustand völliger Einfachheit, Selbstverständlichkeit, ohne Zerissenheit und genau aus diesem einen Moment.
Gesichter der Meditation

Mich berührt am meisten die ausgeprägte Einzigartigkeit der Menschen, die sich in völliger Nacktheit befinden. Die stille Einzigartigkeit ist selbst bei in Stein gehauenen Gesichtern wahrzunehmen. Jede einzelne Statue trägt die Präsenz von Natürlichkeit an sich.
500 Gesichter von Buddha

In völliger, echter, ungeschützter Nacktheit zu sein, das ist Meditation. Es ist schon komisch, wir fürchten uns vor dem Nackt-Sein, dabei strahlt ungeteilte Natürlichkeit Erhabenheit und Schönheit aus. Vielleicht sind im Osten die Buddha Statuen deshalb von so überragender Größe gebaut worden.
Daibutsu - der große Buddha von Kamakura

Viel Spaß beim Meditieren und nackt sein
wünscht

Samarpan

PS: Horoskopanalyse für den Wahrheitssucher - Den natürlichen Weg finden

PPS: Die ganze Natur ruft die Wahrheit

Stille, heitere Artikel im Zen Shop

Apsara carved on a wall of Angor Wat, Cambodia.

The first one is a plant basket with cut flower accents

The second piece was for the funeral ceremony and was a cut flower arrangement

HANOI, September 26 (Compass Direct News) – Authorities in Hanoi have responded to months of Catholic prayer vigils and demonstrations over disputed land by destroying the one-time residence of the papal nuncio in central Hanoi.

In suddenly bulldozing the land that once served as the Vatican embassy and residence near St. Joseph’s Cathedral last Friday (Sept. 19), the government broke its promise to Catholic leaders in February to negotiate a settlement concerning the property.

The destruction of the building held sacred by Catholics is the latest blow to Christians’ long struggle to get the government to return confiscated church properties. Catholic, Protestant and other religious leaders deemed the government response to peaceful Catholic pressure a serious setback for religious freedom.

Authorities cite Vietnamese law stipulating that lands subject to “land management and socialist land reform policies in place before 1991” cannot be considered.

On Monday (Sept. 22) the Vietnam News Agency reported that the Catholic Church ceded the Nha Chung Vatican Embassy property to the state in 1961 and that it would be turned into a library and park.

“Bookworms will soon be able to enjoy the facilities offered by a brand-new library, located at 42 Nha Chung Street, in Hoan Kiem District,” the state reported. “In addition to all of the services usually offered by a library, situated on the premises of an existing three-story, French-designed building surrounded by greenery and including a childrens’ playground, the renovation, which began last Friday, aims to better meet Hanoians’ demands for relaxation.”

Sources said Vietnam’s frequent pronouncements of new openness to religion, and the formation of a joint Catholic/government working committee regarding relationships with the Vatican and other outstanding matters, may have led Catholics to test the waters. Late last year Catholics began to hold prayer vigils outside the fence of the long-vacant Vatican Embassy seized by the government in the mid-1950s.

The historic building property on Nha Chung Street is adjacent to the Hanoi archbishop and cardinal’s residence and only a half block away from St. Joseph’s Cathedral in Hanoi’s Old Quarter.

The daily morning and evening prayer vigils began to draw large crowds, especially on Saturdays and Sundays, when thousands came to Masses at the cathedral. Authorities in a country where demonstrations are not allowed became seriously worried when warnings to stop went unheeded.

In discussion with Catholic leaders in late February, the government agreed to negotiate a settlement in good faith on the condition that Catholic leaders would call a halt to the prayer vigils. Archbishop of Hanoi Ngo Quang Kiet told Compass in April that after agreeing to a joint working committee, the government showed no sincerity in building relationships or in settling grievances.

In late August an aide to the archbishop told Compass in Hanoi that the twice daily prayer vigils had resumed. At that time about 100 people participated each time, but the number and intensity was growing. Catholic leaders made no secret of their appeal to prayer and assembled people as their only tools in their struggle with the government for redress on confiscated properties.

In recent weeks the Redemptorists at Thai Ha, also in Hanoi, also began prayer vigils to recover some of their large property. Over the years their part of an original plot of 60,000 square meters had been reduced by government confiscation to less than 2,000 square meters.

According to observers, the Catholics conducted themselves during their vigils with decorum and order as they reverently marched, prayed and sang. The government’s response however, quickly escalated from accusing the Catholics of interfering with traffic to accusing them of all night public disturbances – and then accusing Catholic leaders of inciting riots and breaking religion laws.

Catholic Leaders Warned

Authorities this week delivered a written warning to Archbishop Kiet warning him of “extreme action” if he did not stop the daily prayer vigils. They also issued a warning to four priests at a Hanoi church locked in the land dispute. The archbishop and priests are accused of “stirring the population” and encouraging illegal religious activity.

State and Hanoi city media releases and radio and TV coverage during September painted the Catholics in the worst possible light; sources said the media fabricated stories and paid people to speak against the Catholics. With no opportunity to make their side of the story known through Vietnam’s state-controlled media, Catholics are reporting events through VietCatholic News, Zenit and other overseas news sites.

Catholic calls for media to retract specific, demonstrably false stories and appeals to press laws have gone entirely unheeded. Rather, sources said, improbable accusations and vicious slander against Catholics sharply escalated.

Vietnam Cardinal Jean Baptiste Pham Minh Man, archbishop of Saigon, wrote a letter to all priests, religious and faithful on Monday (Sept. 22) denouncing the state’s media lies. Unrest is spreading throughout Vietnam’s Catholic community, believed to number more than 7 million, as the letter by the cardinal and others by bishops are read in the churches.

Thugs Bussed In

Demonstrations escalated this week with estimates of 7,000 to 10,000 people, including students gathered at Thai Ha on Wednesday night (Sept. 24). It was said to be the largest public demonstration since the Communist unification of Vietnam 33 years ago.

Wednesday afternoon (Sept. 24), hundreds of police and plainclothes officers tried to control an upset crowd of Catholics as a statue of the Virgin Mary was removed from the Vatican Embassy area under police protection and taken to an unknown location. The next day, sources said, authorities recruited gangs that included uniformed Communist youth league members and others and bussed them to the site, where they attacked Catholic protestors outside the archbishop’s residence.

Similar gangs destroyed property, including sacred items at Thai Ha, the same day.

The state media also announced that the 17,000-square meter Thai Ha Redemptorist property in Hanoi is also to be turned into a public park.

The reversion to old-style, default Communist repression involving violence cloaked in lies is also worrying to Vietnam’s Protestants, some of whom have joined Catholics in the prayer vigils.

Protestant leaders contacted by Compass were united in their disappointment in and condemnation of the government’s belligerent response to peaceful prayer vigils.

“Sadly, the government has again shown its true attitude toward religions,” said one Protestant leader. “We have doubted the sincerity of recent improvements, and now they have clearly shown everyone what is still in their hearts.”

Some Vietnam observers fear the government’s belligerence may be evidence of hard-liners’ ascendance in an ongoing struggle with more moderate reformers. The timing of this property destruction, some Vietnamese church leaders said, is calculated to take advantage of uncertainty in the United States, especially as elections draw near.  

Report from Compass Direct News