all posts in the 'thoughts' category


shepard tone

A Shepard tone, named after Roger Shepard, is a sound consisting of a superposition of sine waves separated by octaves. When played with the base pitch of the tone moving upwards or downwards, it is referred to as the Shepard scale. This creates the auditory illusion of a tone that continually ascends or descends in [...]

atheism: a discussion on faith

4 sceptics, Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens gathered together for a unmoderated 2-hour discussion on religion, belief, and scepticism. ..

my heron

I have to admit: I’m superstitious … every time I see a heron flying over it gives me some courage. A Heron is an old Egyptian symbol of hope: when people saw one flying over there in that dry and warm country, the Egyptians knew the Nile was rising and would bring them [...]

face to face …

yesterday, I picked up a beggar  from the street and let him coock a meal in my kitchen ….

how many changes did you spot?

Curious psychologic game…

surplus: Terrorized Into Being Consumers

On the surface of things, this is a very radical film, both in style and content. It seems to draw a scathing portrait of Western consumerist and corporate culture by brilliantly editing together politician’s sound bites, found footage and interviews to an techno-soundtrack, resulting in what can best be described as the cinematic equivalent of [...]

retouch

The media world is becoming increasingly fixated on appearances. And the number of tricks used to achieve the increasingly exaggerated ideals is growing. Many models have plastic surgery and even more are retouched so they appear to have bigger breasts, smaller stomachs or fuller lips. (more)

time lapse

Well, it’s weekend again, and sometimes I feel like livng in a timelapse movie: before you know it you’re old…

the meeting of east and west

and if man should taste of both fruits he would become, we have been told, as god himself (genesis)

how far can one go?

Remember Salman Rushdie’s satanic verses and the ban that followed? Or the Danish cartoons f the Prohet Mohammed? Tasteless VW add featuring suicide bomber in the “Tough new Polo”. Funny? You decide. Volkswagon denied all knowledge of the advert, again - you decide!!…

nieuwsbrief uit Nepal

Nieuwsbrief vanop het dak van de wereld…

the seven sermons to the dead

The bird struggles out of the egg. The egg is the world. Whoever wants to be born, must first destroy a world. The bird flies to God. That God’s name is Abraxas. (Herman Hesse, Demian)

Plastic Surgery Procedures Animations

Dear carnivores, don’t look at those animations: you could get hungry….

collective perspection

Fantastic collection of interesting pictures and quotes. Good for hours of surfing.

the real hustle

The Real Hustle is a BBC television series made by Objective Productions demonstrating confidence and magic tricks, distraction scams and proposition bets …

iRack, iRan, …

Michael McDonald plays Apple founder Steve Jobs and introduces Apple’s latest product the “iRack.”…

Shakespeare in China 梁實秋 朱生豪

Strange idea, to translate Shakespeare into chinese …

What Bush promised ….

Back in January 2001 The Onion satirically told us Bush’s plan to end the US’s “Long National Nightmare Of Peace And Prosperity”. It’s scary how accurate they were.
Bush :”Our Long National Nightmare Of Peace And Prosperity Is Finally Over. After a long, dark night of peace and stability, the sun is finally rising again [...]

why are we here ?

Richard Dawkins takes a stab at why we’re here, using science and reason to back up his answer. It’s an interesting and inspiring perspective on an old question.

dear treehugger …

once in a while you should hug a tree …

don’t judge too quickly …

be open minded …

the four agreements: toltec wisdom

“Say only what you mean. The word is the most powerful tool we have as humans.”

birth

proud father
It’s doctor’s birthday today, and guess what…
My first child will be born today!

waste-art

An artistic approach to the American waste-problem! Nice photoshopping!

now and then

Todays sorrows are not what they were in 11th century China.
a poem:

Me!!Me!Me.Me,Me…

What a nice philosophical issue….

jezus freaks (guess where….)

America, of course!!! “I betcha Jesus can, like, ya know, he’s the baddest b-boy in the world, ya know what I’m saying—he can do the windmill while doing the robot and the electric boogaloo at the same time, ya know.”

Soviet animated propaganda

From 1924 to perestroika the USSR produced more than 4 dozen animated propaganda films. They weren’t for export. Their target was the new nation and their goal was to win over the hearts and minds of the Soviet people. Anti-American, Anti-British, Anti-German, Anti-Capitalist, Anti-Fascist, some of these films are as artistically beautiful as the [...]

the last whale….

Think before you close this banner….

dire straits…

Dire straits: being in bad financial conditions…. seen that, been there…. and then al that fuzz about global warming…?

D.P. Tammet: incredible brain

A remarkable young man, exhibiting stunning mental abilities. Daniel Paul Tammet born 31 Jan 1979 claims to see colours and sparks, which he can somehow relate to words and numbers. Scientists consider him a gold mine to [...]

cyberface: translating a face…

Image metrics is specialized in high fidelity performance-driven facial animation, digital characters, real-time engines and content analysis. Their solutions power many of the world’s best-known videogames and feature films. Also musicians, like Peter Gabriel, like to use that technic for their video’s. See how it works on the docu’s…

Gods must be crazy…

To create a human species… How must it feel, to be a God, and to be able to create, for insance, your own partner…

the great global warming swindle ?!?

Are you green? How many flights have you taken in the last year? Feeling guilty about all those unnecessary car journeys? Well, maybe … all » there’s no need to feel bad. According to a group of scientists brought together by documentary-maker Martin Durkin, if the planet is heating up, it isn’t your fault [...]

illusions…

even for Freud, a cigar must have sometimes been just a cigar… (illusions by Agnes Kunz Vigil.)

cinoir: Snjezana Josipovic

How photo’s can move you…. When I saw Snjezana’s Myspace I got immediately weak by nostalgia… Her photos brought back to my memory the many summer afternoons I spent with my girlfriend along the closed railway track, in the midst of nowhere, amongst tall grasses. Silent. A lark, high in the sky. Only a [...]

lunar eclipse 4 march 2007

This is an animation of the eclipse click on the moon to view it. (It’s 1.7 MB so it may take a little time to load…)
On Sunday we had an opportunity to see the moon completed blotted out by Earth’s shadow in one of those rare events known as a Lunar eclipse. Thanks to [...]

The Rape of the Sabine Women

The rape of the Sabine Women inspired a lot of artists. It refers to an event supposed to have occurred in the early history of Rome, shortly after its foundation by Romulus and a group of mostly male followers. Seeking wives in order to found families, the Romans negotiated with the pre-existing population of [...]

big brother is watching you….

Do not trust you kids or your employees: track them …. What’s next?  A chip in every newborn?

God bless america…

Let’s hope he/she does….

Nietzsche: a moustache man

“God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers? What was holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet owned has bled to death under our knives: who will wipe this blood off us? What water is there for us to [...]

cool hunting

A 50′ movie on how Market Researchers spot trends. The Merchants of Cool: They spend their days sifting through reams of market research data. They conduct endless surveys and focus groups. They comb the streets, the schools, and the malls, hot on the trail of the “next big thing” that will snare the attention [...]

miss aniela: self portraits…

How much can one adore him/herself? Narcissus, Dorian Grey, …. Miss Aniela. She made hundreds of very beautiful self portraits and spreads them around on the net…

tentacles of desire….

photos & link
Where do some people find an proxemics link with octopuses? The ability to escape through a 1-inch hole, perhaps….?

historic smut…

link
Sodom’s Palace of Pleasure (Anonymous XVII.Cenury): Thus in the zenith of my lust I reign, I eat to swive and swive to eat again. Let other monarchs, show their scepters bear To keep their subjects less in love than fear; Be slaves to crowns, my nation shall be free; My pintle only shall my [...]

serge barbeau advertising photographer

photos
Although it moves me in a way, I never understood the use or the meaning of lingerie. I mean, it was always dark in my bedroom… But I admit, when seeing photos like those of Serge… they sort of illustrate the longing for tenderness and proxemics some woman surely must have… The lingerie [...]

our daily bread….

smakelijk, bon appetit, sabroso, good appetite…
Yes, I’ve seen Al Gores film! And afterwards I had the discussion whether he likes himself more than he cares for our mother earth… Nikolaus Geyrhalter made a film that really makes you think about what we achieved on the blue globe…

A pair of human skeletons…

5000 years of love…
A pair of human skeletons lie in embrace at an Neolithic archaelogical
dig site near Mantova. Remember Tim Burton’s ‘Corpse Bride’ ? …

david lynch

David Lynch Art
David Lynch has a fascinating personality.  I like his movies a lot.  There’s a new one upcoming… so stay alert!  Here you find some paintings he made….

vintage ads

vintage ads
A nice collection of very old ads…. (via)
I like this one !

a kiss …

1000 kisses …
… beijo, beso, bisou, bacio, kiss, kuß, poljub, kys,s kisu, polibek, …

groucho marx: a moustache man

Groucho Marx
Famous for his oneliners….

scarification

scarification
Scarification, as a cultural activity, is widely performed across Africa. In essence, it is the practice of incising the skin with a sharp instrument….

one red paperclip

websitelink
“My name is Kyle MacDonald and I traded one red paperclip for a house.”

adolf hitler: another moustache man

Adolf Hitler
“I can hardly understand it myself. There must be some basic evil in me…”

Salvador Dalí: another moustache man.

dali
‘Salvador Felipe y Jacinto Dalí y Domenech’:what a name!! And what a moustache….
my favorite quote: “Picasso is a painter, so am I; Picasso is Spanish, so am I; Picasso is a communist, neither am I.”

antler art ?!?…

antler futniture
Let’s say you feel the urge to create something. Doesn’t matter what. Just the urge…. But no inspiration no Muse… You’re drunk. You’re walking in the forest and you forgot your rifle… But! Lucky you, you find some antlers. The artist in you wakes up… Lets make [...]

Albert Einstein: a man, a moustache

photos and thoughts…

“I want to know God’s thoughts; the rest are details.”

György Konrád: some quotes

György Konrád: A feast in the garden (1989)
“If you think about the fact how long it’s been since my father died, then it’s a little bit strange he was here a few moments ago.” Passage from Kerti mulatság.
I bought the book in 1989, read it then, and I’m reading it again now. I [...]

abandoned cities, lost dreams…

 lost cities

clear sky black cloud

Cai Guo-Qiang made a project for the Metropolitan museum of art in New York. For 6 months he let shot black smoke shells into the air above the museum at exactly 12PM. In his view this was a new kind of clock for New York.
Interesting isn’t it? Telling time by explosions…
Artist website
Metropolitan website
View the movie:

Psilocybin Mushrooms

one on mushrooms…
For the birthday of my two daughters I gave them a cook-for-rent: a whole day they are preparing a dinner for their friends and family. I asked the cook, my friend Duque, for some inspiration to write a post and he suggested to write one on mushrooms….

the mening of your given name…

the meaning of given names
I have often wondered how parents choose names for their children: do they know allready which character the child will have, or is it just a case of hoping that…

hungry planet

some photos from the book by Peter Menzel
“Arresting, beautiful, enlightening and infinitely human, this is a collection of full-page photos of families around the world surrounded by what they eat in a single week — from Bhutan to San Antonio. Read the illuminating statistics and the essays. This is a book for the [...]

breasts display proxemics nature…

the form of a female breast
The unusual science sternomancy, the art of telling fortunes by the form of a female breast, appeared in Spain in the 18th century. Since that time, the science has considerably advanced, and today men can learn about women judging by the form of their breasts…

propaganda extravaganza

How to persuade people. This is a question that many marketeers take to bed each night. But also politicians and ideologist have wet dreams about “the following herds”. I found this site on extreme propaganda against communism and fascism in comic books and advertisements. The illustations are quiet funny, and sad at the same time…

tales from absurdistan (dutch)

je zult mijn gsm maar zijn….
“Kan het nog banaler?? zul je je, beste lezer, nu afvragen. Wat voor boeiends kan er zijn aan een verhaal over gsm’s? Tenzij misschien gsm’s onder de kerstboom? De vraag is maar of een gsm wel veilig zou liggen onder onze kerstboom…

multiply by means of drawing

multiply
never thought it could be so easy….

show us the beauty…

“None but a noble man treats women in an honorable manner. And none but an ignoble treats women disgracefully“.
Prophet Mohammed

grandma’s revenge

reversable kitchen
As I was looking for new ‘kitchen’ ideas for our (Groep Arthur) next event, look what site I stumbled into…
Grandma’s revenge is a new interpretation of a good old kitchen dresser. And so it’s like the grandma herself: a real multifunctional talent…

mila!

Mila is born! The first child of B. and K. is a healthy child of 47cm and 3,19kg!
Fantastic! Congratulations of the whole Oskar Lewis-team!

we all love animals, don’t we?

a lot of animals

where giant buddhas once stood

photos, video & text on the lost of the Bamiyan statues
In 2001 the hughe Buddhas statues in the Bamiyan valley were destroyed by the Taliban. The smaller of the two statues (37 meter!!)was built in the year 507 CE. The larger one (55 meter!) was constructed in 554. The statues are believed to [...]

young - old

photo’s
Some photo’s by Dimitar Dimitrov make me wander if you coud find the same beauty in a old granny as in a young girl… and what if the girl and the granny where the same person?

shock the monkey to life

sad eyes…
reading the newspaper, on a sunday morning, about vivisection labs, man abusing animals…. Goooooood mooooorning nature!

as i was drinking my coffee…

hot coffee
This morning, as I was  drinking my daily coffee: look what I read on mother Internet.. …Coffee rules the bedroom…

sex dolls

Let’s rape some dolls….
The sex doll is a military invention ….????

couture alba d’urbano

Alba D’Urbano
Garments that cover the body with photographic images of itself belie the initial function of clothing. Through play with illusionism, flatness and dimensionality, the opposite states of being naked and clothed, are confounded and conflated

16 weeks old, 14,7 cm…

Bobette is comming…

ウサギ: Year of the bunny (Rabbit)

chinese zodiac
The Bunny (Rabbit) ( ? ) is one of the 12-year cycle of animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac related to the Chinese calendar and Chinese New Year. The Rabbit is said to be quiet, reserved, retrospective and thoughtful.

bunny recipes

  recipes…

banksy

Banksy actions

faces…

no comment

via apia

map
Appia longarum teritur regina viarum “the Appan way is commonly said to be the queen of the long roads” The via Appia was the paradigm of all subsequent Roman roads. It was the very symbol of the republic, which brought order to the terrain and peace and freedom to the peoples of Italy. They [...]

cinoir: gabrielle

Mind filled with progressive Masochism.
Language is Chaos and Disorder.
I live for Poetry, music and AnythingArtistic
Gg says hello

muscles

muscles by Brian Moss
He opened the Better Bodies gym, New York City, picked up a camera and made this unguarded, honest and voyeuristic images of worlds top bodybuilders; man and women. They show an intimacy that’s never been seen before….

youtubers

a short film about the youtube community in a sauce of a sentimentel musicscore…

photoshop beauty

Doctor’s post about the Actroid (robot-woman) made me wonder how ‘real’ our perception of beauty still is. In a couple of years these robotic perfect women will be our standard.
The Dove is an organisation that is acting against the distortion of our perception of beauty. They’ve got really nice stop motion-advetisements to proove their point.
movie:

Tim Barnard

Tim Barnard makes nice illustrations. Some remind me of tattoo-art, some of comic-books. There was one that got my attention: in one of his potraits he illustrates god as kind of a fat batman-like superhero. It’s quite a funny thought!
But who would be Robin then?

imperial history

5000 years of history in 90 seconds

Who has controlled the Middle East over the course of history? Pretty much everyone. Egyptians, Turks, Jews, Romans, Arabs, Greeks, Persians, Europeans…the list goes on. Who will control the Middle East today? That is a much bigger question.

psychedelica

Experiments with the visualization of gesture. (via AK)

but the best of all : jimi hendrix  

Hindi

Hindi poem
I posted a new song on the ‘native tongue‘ page: an old Hindi song. Estimates range as high as 800 million Hindi speakers worldwide, making it the second-most spoken language on Earth. Even conservative estimates place the number of total speakers at over 500 million. Hindi is part of the Indo-Aryan branch [...]

skin color

exercise results

+ + photo
Michael Jackson website
skin color @ anthro.palomar.edu @ nationalgeographic @ wiki

armageddon

A japanese movie about the match earth-meteor.
via flabber
(read more: movie)

wall art

Street art is often an expression of social commitment. On walls you can find critical observations of the social-economical situation of a country. I posted on this subject once by refering to Banksy, an artist who publicly criticises the policy of capitalist and right-winged countries.
Here I found a collection of anonym grafitti artists that are [...]

Raphaëla le Gouvello

Raphaëla le Gouvello, 45 years old, discovered windsurfing with her family in 1976 and has been an adept ever since. She is a woman with a passion: 3 extreme adventures, the Atlantic in 2000, the Mediterranean in 2002 and the Pacific in 2003: 3 previously unaccompanied, authentic exploits. Now she crossed the Indian Ocean…. surfing!!!!
her [...]

kahlil gibran

aged 13
A site dedicated to Khalil Gibran, writer of The Prohet, a best selling book, beaten only by The Bible.
-facts- -quotes- -artwork- -thus spoke Zarathustra-

i feel you

This doesn’t happen a lot. The photo and the text on this page got to me. I really got the feeling.
Respect for the author.
(Can anyone send me the song this is from? Thanks!)

guernica

In 1935, German General Erich Ludendorgg published Die Totale Krieg in which he presented the view that in war, no one is innocent; everyone is a combatant and everyone a target, soldier and civilian alike…
Guernica: testimony of war
Picasso’s artistic process
via treasures of the world

Fairly freaky animals

Sam, winner of many ugly dog contests, died at 14 years of age.
These animals can come into existance as a freak of nature, from physical accidents or by intervention of humans…
Phil Molyneux is a collector of ‘amazing animals’, so if you have pictures, send them to him.

?賴喇嘛 the dalai lama

Some quotes from a spiritual leader in exile…
++Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.
++If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.

fenugreek and the others…

Sometimes I wonder how people (in general) discovered what they should eat and what not. Did they just try every plant and animal? Did hundreds of poor victims (or should I say hungry stupids) die because of these ‘food-experiments’? And how did they figure out what to mix and what not…
Today we have the internet [...]

india’s marathon boy

He runs seven hours at a stretch, sometimes as much as 48km (30 miles). On a daily basis. Then he was only 3,5 years old!!(read more: BBC News, september 13 2005) But now, after a year of being ‘a freak’ in a ‘circus show’ the change in the media’s tone could not have been more [...]

flickeur

“Flickeur randomly retrieves images from Flickr.com and creates an infinite film with a style that can vary between stream-of-consciousness, documentary or video clip. All the blends, motions, zooms or timeleaps are completely random.” Can a random blended content be art?

hangover

Some may remember Francis Bacon’s words: “I have never found any panacea for a hangover. I don’t think one exists apart from suicide.?

hangover cures

W.C. Fields
A martini made of 1 part vermouth, 4 parts gin and one olive
To be taken round the clock.

brian mung

Brian Mung is a flash-cartoon-artist who makes sarcastical, typically Britain and critical short flash animations. I love his dark view and clear artwork. Here you can hours of distraction!
I just learned that he made some animations for mtv.  It’s been ages since the last time I watched mtv, but this chanel must have changed! The [...]

real-unreal

What is real? I found this painter, Ralph Goings, that makes photo-realistic paintings. My first reaction after seeing the (great) work was: ‘wow you can’t see this isn’t real’. But this made me think… what is really real? Why do we consider a picture to be real and a painting to be unreal?
Answers are welcome [...]

suspension of disbelief

I like movies about things that can’t happen in everyday life. I like storytellers and fairytales, I like scifi and adventure movies. I like stories.
One of the key elements in the succes of fantastic stories is the suspension of disbelief.

Get smarter in a week

Can you Get Smarter In a Week? Our friends at the BBC think you can!
That’s the challenge you’re about to take on. During the following week they’ll ask you to practice brain exercises, increase your physical exercise and improve your diet, all to encourage a growth in concentration and brain power. The alternative is [...]

Ashes and Snow

The moment I knew animals do live and feel, I stopped eating them. The pictures of Gregory Colbert are amazing. See here how he has captured extraordinary, unscripted interactions between humans and animals.
“In exploring the shared language and poetic sensibilities of all animals, I am working towards rediscovering the common ground that [...]

Future me

Ever wonder about yourself in the future? Will you have the same problems, the same friends, the same interests?
Here you can send an e-mail to yourself in the future. I send myself one in two years. I wonder if I will consider it as spam…

Female soldiers

Take a look at the beautiful pictures of female soldiers in Israel.
Don’t mistake me for a right-winged war-lover, if you take a good look you can see the uncertainty on the faces of the young women. In Israel all woman have to do a mandatory time in the army. I don’t believe this is good [...]

Size and finders keepers

This is real philosophy!
watch the movie.
via

Karma

I stumbled upon this nice flash animation about Karma.
The end really got me thinking. Believe it or not: it happened to me today! I’m not dead or injured, but this afternoon, when I was driving a friends van, the break failed. I had to do an emergency break and just missed another car…
Was this because [...]

Sometimes I wander…

?

weblog first post

Thi