Don't Do This To Me!

A recent entry on CBC.ca's This Is That blog tells such a convincing story it had so many people, including myself, wondering if it were true.

Their post "Quebec Lowers Drinking Age" apparently reports that the Canadian province of Quebec is lowering the legal drinking age from 18 to 14.  And if a 12-year-old "child" is accompanied by parent(s), they are also allowed to legally buy and consume alcohol in public.  Even though this article seems outrageous and downright false, seeing it on CBC.ca tricks people into thinking otherwise.  But upon farther research, you will (hopefully) realize that:

a) Quebec's legal drinking age is still 18, because;
b) the slogan for the "This Is That" blog is "We don't just talk about the issues.  We fabricate them."

What boggles my mind is that a trusted source such as CBC has a "spoof" section on their website, leading so many people to believe in and trust their false stories.  I am so easily fooled that even though I highly doubted the "legit-ness" of contents in the article, I was lead to believe it was true just because it was on CBC.ca.  After googling "Quebec lowers drinking age" to find other, legitimate sources announcing this weird decision, I was presented with the reactions of other people believing it were true, and then learning that it was all just a joke.  So I do feel kind of better about falling for it myself.

But still, I hope it doesn't happen again.  Though I highly doubt that too.

A Huge Secret to Keep

A story about a secret has been in the news a lot recently.  But unlike other how most secrets get exposed when it gets too much attention, this secret is still a secret.  For now.

But what is the secret?  Storm's gender.

A couple's decision to not announce the gender of their newborn child was enough to produce an article in the Toronto Star, and then another follow-up article, including reader's comments and reactions to the couple's choice.

I am not saying if I agree or disagree with the parents' decision, but I do acknowledge that for them to have even conceptualized this idea of keeping their child's gender a secret, gender-based sterotypes must have gotten out of hand.

Of course, sterotypes saying such things as only boys liking cars and blue and girls liking dolls and pink are nothing new.  In my (limited) experience, these sterotypes were not enforced like the law, and if a little boy liked playing with dolls, then fine.  Sure, there would be some questions, but it would mostly be accepted.  Gender bias I've seen around me is not too serious.

But I never thought of how other people are affected by this.  I suppose that there are those bullies at school when young people are learning who they are and their sexuality who make those people's lives the worst couple years they will ever experience.  It is a problem when people (or a person) is not accepting of someone else based on how they do or do not confrom to society's norms.  What also seems to others as simple teasing may be taken a whole other way by the person on the recieving end of their "taunts."

Gender-based bias can, at times, be devastating, and it is a big enough problem in society for the parents to keep the sex of their newborn child a secret from most people around them.

Being Lazy

The more popular of singer Bruno Mars' songs have very creative lyrics that are easy to relate to. Take his newest single, "The Lazy Song," for example. This song is about taking a day off, and doing nothing. Laziness is concept relatable to probably the majority of people anywhere in the world.

The music video for this song goes very well with the lyrics, I think.  Its a simple video that looks like whoever came up with the idea was actually kind of lazy at the time.  But that's a good thing.  In order for some message to be effective, people have to be able to relate to something in the way its preseneted.  In this song, it is the lyrics and the visual presentation of Bruno Mars' laziness.  Watching this video, I do believe that all he wants to do that day is to just relax.  It is not too over-the-top, but just the right amount of effort and "who cares?" put into the video.

Embarrassment for the Sake of Romance?

Marriage proposals fall into many different categories: epic fail, mediocre, just right,super sweet and romantic among some of them. But then there are the public proposals -- those are in a league all their own. And in that league, the following proposal could top them all.

It takes a lot of planning to be able to pull something like that off. Possibly even more time and work that to propose at another sort of public event. This enormous amount of effort that is put into a proposal reflects not only how much the couple love each other, but how well they know their future partner.

I could imagine how a person may think this type of proposal too over-the-top or embarrassing. If the couple knew each other well enough, their engagement would most likely not be (as) public. On the other hand, public proposals take expressing love for another to a higher level. Everyone in the world (or atleast in the vicinity, if it is not captured on film / video and put on television / YouTube) will know of the love the two people feel for each other.

There are pros and cons. Benefits and embarrassments. But that's just like everything involving love and life.

The Unfortunate Truth

The graphs on graphjam.com are meant to be funny.  Like this:

Unfortunately, as a student, this is something that happens way more often than necessary.  But I guess the truthfulness of this occurrence, as well as the truthfulness to some of the other graphs on their website, is what makes the graphs so effective.  It is funny and relatable the first time you see the graph, but as you think about it, it is actually quite depressing.  To see the probability of the outcome of your test, or the accuracy of your report in an actual graph makes you realize how annoying and often it occurs compared to possible outcomes.

How sad.

Our Windows to the World

Many of us take our eyes for granted.  We do not think much about our vision until something happens to it, such as when a person starts to wear glasses for the first time, or looses their vision altogether.  We also see the colours that make up the iris (the coloured part of your eye) as beautiful and one of the most interesting part of anyone's eye.

However, not all is as it seems.  Armenian photographer Suren Manvelyan can show you how:




Kind of different, isn't it?  This series of photographs, titled "Your Beautiful Eyes," show that although the makeup of an eye is not exactly what many others would think, it is still beautiful in its own way.  Once I got past the initial shock seeing the texture of an eye, I could appreciate the millions of years evolution took to make our eye what it is today.  But I still feel creeped out that this is a part of my body.

This series of photographs show that there are many types of photography a person can pursue.  Those who enjoy photography but worry that they will not be successful in that artistic field can realize that such types of photography such as still lifes and portraits are not the only way to go.  The scientific field, for example, needs photographers to visually record the breakthroughs and/or trials of their research.  Police and such other investigators need photographers who have a strong stomach to be able to take pictures of a crime scene.  These photos do not need to be as artistic, so they are great for those who are unsure about going after a career is forms of artistic photography.

It also goes to say that photography teaches others about the world, and that photos are just as great a learning tool as books.

Good Luck? Or Pro Skill?

It either takes some amazing skill for someone to be able to pull this off, or amazing luck.  Whichever it is, it makes for a very interesting and very cool video.

Imagine what life would be like if even just one of your friends - most preferably yourself - were able to do that.  Oh, how our lives would change.  The trick I most especially like is when one of the two people in the video throws a ball from his bed and successfully turns off the light.  I personally hate getting out of bed after I am so comfortable to turn off the light to go to sleep.  Or attempting to throw something out into a garbage bin from far away, and then missing.

There are so many talented people out there - we just don't know about them.  YouTube is a great way for these people to get recognized and make their talents known.  We, the viewers, appreciate that as well.

A Different Kind of Conditioner

A recent article on msn.ca left me amazed.  But not in the way one would probably think.

An article titled "9 Bizarre Beauty Treatments from Around the World" does in fact include truly bizarre beauty treatments.  The one I found the weirdest? A Bull - Semen Facial.

Previously offered in London at Hari's Salon, a mixture of bull semen and Katera root would be applied to a client's hair.  It worked as a conditioner, providing much need protein to frizzy hair.

Although it does seem kinda gross, the fact that there are people out there who want to and are able to invent new products that are natural invites a big sigh of relief. So many items (not just hair products) available on the market today consists entirely of man-made chemicals and such other un-natural substances.  It is not only hazardous to human health, but to the environment as well.  To human health, our bodies could get accustomed to the chemicals used in whatever product we use, making the product less effective.  Scientists would then have to create stronger, possibly more dangerous chemicals or substitutes to keep up with the demand of a newer consumer good.  Also, these artificial creations take a toll on an environment that is not used to having something so weird in it, so one never knows the impact a substance can have on nature.

Au naturel is the way to go.  Why make the world a more dangerous place?

Back To The Beginning

Looking through other artists' portfolio always fills me with inspiration and just a little bit of jealousy.  Looking through German photographer Christian Plochacki did just that, but also made me feel an overwhelming sense of nostalgia and peacefulness.

This Weight On My Shoulders
http://www.flickr.com/photos/heist_mine/5271676430/in/photostream

Picture Perfect
http://www.flickr.com/photos/heist_mine/5158258671/in/photostream/

It may be the lighting, colour tones and focus that make the feelings of nostalgia and peacefulness that much stronger for me.  The lighting is muted - neither too bright nor overly dark - and give me a sense of remembrance.  The colours are also muted, the right shade for the audience to recognize the subject, and not too bright as to be so obvious.  Having the background blur and not as emphasized puts more focus on the subject that Christian really wants his audience to acknowledge.

These three things are probably the main reasons for my sense of nostalgia and peace.  When I think about my past, it is not very clear.  There are those blurry events that I would not be able to play back in vivid detail and colour.  However when I do think about the past, I remember happier, simpler times.  These two photos no not have a lot going on, but they are beautiful nonetheless.

So many more of Christian's photos evoke emotion, which is awesome.  I believe the best art and artists make their audience feel something, so I have great respect for this photographer, Christian Plochacki.

The Rescue

Few songs are able to evoke different emotions when heard, depending on what you were feeling at the time.  Besides this, there are so many talented people out of the spotlight that create (usually) even better music than those who are more popular / famous artists.  Tyler Ward is one of them:

When I first watched this video, I focused more on the clips of the people rather than the music - a first for me.  But I think it was a great idea for Tyler to choose this method as a platform this song.  Allowing people to express and share their weaknessess and insecurities helps everyone, including them, come to accept their situation, learn that others are dealing with the same things as them, and hopefully find a solution.

After watching the video's clips, I closed my eyes and concentrated on the music and lyrics.  I thought the clips were already pretty inspirational, but I imagine just listening to the song would probably make me feel a whole lot better if I were in a bad mood.

Inspirational songs are hard to come by.  So many songs now have no emotion, written by others for an artist that may or may not have gone through the same situation, and therefore not have experienced the same emotion as the song requires to make it effective.  Even if the emotion is there, sometimes after watching the video, the song becomes less of an inspiration for me.  It's sad.

However, there are exceptions.  This, for one, rescued me from accepting this sterotype to be fact.

Pea-Sized

There are thousands of different species of animals on this earth.  They are big or small, cute or not-so-cute, creepy and / or crawly, well-known or rare.  But even with our extensive knowledge of our world, every new species we discover reminds us that we don't actually know all that much, and that Mother Nature rules for a reason.
One example of a recently named, now-official species is the Microhyla nepenthicola.  It is a frog where the adults grow to only the size of a pea.  Here it is in comparison to a penny:

Microhyla nepenthicola
http://news.discovery.com/animals/big-pics-tiny-frog.html

Even though their addition as an official species is pretty recent, their discovery was not.  There are 100 year old specimens in museums, according to an article by DiscoveryNews.  The reason for them only now becoming an official species is because up until then, scientists simply thought that these frogs were juveniles of a different species.  They, however, were wrong.

New species are being discovered quite often, but the fact that this species has eluded scientists for over 100 years is mind-boggling.  We humans think that we are so smart, and sometimes assume that whatever we think translates to it being fact.  But we don't know everything, and we for sure are not the greating "being" on the planet.  There are many species out there, whether we've discovered them or not, that have extraordinary traits that make it unique to any other.  The frog pictured above is tiny.  Many other animals have better senses than us, whether that be a hightened sense of smell, vision, hearing, etc.

There are many reasons a person can give to prove that humans are the greatest / smartest species, but you never know.  What's out there may surprise you.

Bouncing Back

Like many, memories of my childhood always remind me of a happy and less complicated time, and brings with it a sense of nostalgia.  It is always interesting to see other people re-living their childhood, and re-creating it for the rest of us.  Nowadays, it is easier for these people to share these creations, especially though video sites as youtube.

I found this video recently.  It is a tune that I doubt anyone wouldn't recognize.

I enjoy this video by youtube-er Jimmy Wong.  When I initially watched this video, I had little expectation as to what his take on this "classic song" would be, but I was not expecting what I saw.  He had lyrics rolling at the bottom of the screen - I didn't even know this song had lyrics.  He also showed how / where each sound (bass, tenor, snare, etc.) came from in an interesting way.

But it is his take on this song what impressed me the most.  I think it's difficult for a musician to take material (especially popular material) and make it their own.  I struggle to find the emotion necessary to properly portray classical piano pieces and make it worthwhile for an audience to listen to.  I envy those with an ear for music, and at the same time am proud that atleast some people can still have a passion for creating orignal and real music in a time when so many music today is so electronic.

Lonley Tree

I always love it when I find beautiful and interesting nature photography.  This photograph by Andrew Deer fits the bill perfectly.  This photo was taken in Lake Wanaka, New Zealand, and won the Wanderlust Travel Photo of the Year 2010. And I agree with its first place position.

Lone Tree
Photo by Andrew Deer
http://www.pbase.com/image/123260059

Aside from such technical aspects as composition, lighting, etc., this photoraph is ironic.  The thought of a grand tree in the middle of a very winter-y looking landscape is not something often concievable, but it is actaully a reality and works well in this photoraph.  It shows the perserverence of nature to survive, even when all odds are against it.

In school, we are taught to analyze everything.  Although I'm sure the artist probably didn't mean for his photoraph to have a hidden meaning, to me, it does.  The will of the one tree to survive in an environment where it is so cold there is very little vegetation, and to grow so tall regardless says that I should never give up - if this tree can do it, then so can I.

It would be amazing to be the only one standing.  To be the beautiful highlight to a desserted space.  To be overcoming Mother Nature's greatest challenge - to survive.

Addicted to Facebook?

Contrary to popular belief, not every single person who has access to the Internet has a Facebook account.  I (and a very small portion of my friends) am part of that group.  Maybe because I've never experienced the "awesomeness" that is Facebook, but I don't understand how people can become so obsessed with not only Facebook, but other social networking sites such as Twitter and MySpace.

I read an article recently, titled "15 Signs It's Time To Quit Facebook," just to see how far some people went with their "addiction" to this site.  The one I found the most ridiculous and a testament to the most addicted user was sign number four:

"You've created a separate account for your baby / cat / favourite plant"

When I read this, I literally laughed out loud.  For me, I thought it would be too much trouble to take care of my own Facebook account, but for others, I guess it isn't enough to just have one.  I mean, what plant needs a Facebook account??

This point reminds me of Mia, the Egyptian cobra who was recently missing from the Bronx Zoo in New York for two weeks, only to be found in the corner of her exhibit.  Her disappearance caused a hype, because "someone pretending to be the snake on Twitter...had imagined a glamorous life for the snake during its week on the lam" (Elusive Snake Goes Back on Display at Bronx Zoo).  This person writing for the snake has over 200,000 followers.

It amazes me how obsessed some people can be with not only telling others every single detail about themselves, but also with needing to know every single detail about others.  The point that creating another account for someone / something that could not use it means it's time to quit Facebook also applies the other way: if you're reading about someone / something that did not write it, it's time to quit.

All I Ever Wanted

The Airborne Toxic Event is a band I recently discovered through a friend, and, I have to say, they are really amazing.

It is these types of bands and songs that remind me why I love music to begin with. Sadly, the majority of the songs on my ipod are of the music that is now playing on the radio. I usually find myself skipping at least ten songs in a row before finding one of the older ones that I could listen to, no matter what mood I was in.

The instrumentals in this particular song, All I Ever Wanted, are what strikes me the most. I knew I've always loved the sound of string instruments, but it is this song that, for the first time, made me realize exactly how much I loved it.  Mikel Jollett, lead singer, has a unique, natural voice that isn't trying too hard like other artists' voices - a refreshing change.  The lyrics actually have meaning to them, and makes your heart swell with emotion when heard sung to the sound of strings in the background.

The Airborne Toxic Event is a lifesaver to the monotonous songs of today. All I ever wanted was a song that was able to remind me of why music has been a passion of mine for so long, in a time when I was starting to doubt and forget.

Crazy Hotel Rooms

Ever stay at a hotel? Ever stay at a hotel as cool as Propeller Island City Lodge in Berlin, Germany?  Each room at this place are expected to be seen in an exhibit in an art gallery, not for people to rent and sleep in for a couple nights.

Symbol Room
Propeller Island City Lodge (2)

Castle Room
Propeller Island City Lodge (3)

Table Room
Propeller Island City Lodge (22)

Although the top two rooms most obviously give the renter a very different experience, the last room, the Table room, also is different than rooms normally found in hotels (or simply in general).

The Symbol Room and Castle Room, along with many of the other themed rooms offered at this hotel, resemble an exhibit you would expect to see in an art gallery.  To me, the bold design and bright colours make it seemingly impossible to be able to get a good night rest in the room, but these rooms were not made just for people to sleep in.  All the rooms in this lodge are art projects by the owner, which he started inorder to make money to be able to make music.

However, not all the rooms are as loud as those two.  The Table Room, for one, resembles a more "normal" room.  But the difference is that the room features a circular bed.  Although it isn't on the same level of out-of-this-world-ness as the other two, the Table Room, and other such rooms, are still far more interesting that a regular hotel room.

Sunsets in Lampedusa



REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi
http://news.ca.msn.com/photogallery.aspx?cp-documentid=28150092&page=3

I did not come across this photo while looking for information regarding the events happening in Lampedusa, but in news.ca.msn.com's Photos Of the Week article for the week of March 27, 2011.

I found this a very interesting and beautiful picture.  Without having known the story behind the picture, it seemed very peaceful - just a few people seeming to set up a camping site along a shore at sunset.  I loved how the light from the setting sun appeared through the sheet, and the shadow of (what I think) is a person on the other side of the sheet, helping the others tame the large piece of cloth.

However, after reading the small report given below this picture, I saw this picture in a different way.  I noticed how thin the sheet was, and the background, while not showing an industial landscape, did not seem like the natural environment people would usually go camping in.

There are many new stories like this, and viewing something in a different way than in actuality would most likely happen again to anyone.  The amazing thing about new photography is that the photographer can show the world what is happening around the world what words cannot do justice to.  We read about natural disasters and protests-turned-violent in the newspapers, but sometimes the impact of what actually happened does not faze those in another part of the world without an actual visual of the event.

As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words.

Can't You See I'm Busy?

With technology becoming more and more advanced, it is becoming harder and harder to stay on track of work with all the distractions that a personal electronic can provide.  This is a bad thing.  Getting caught off track by your boss at work or by a teacher at school can lead to many, sometimes horrible, consequences.

Can't You See I'm Busy! (cantyouseeimbusy.com) offers solutions to those with a habit of goofing off at work.  They created fun, easy-to-play, never-get-old games played on a background similar to screens often seen at work - an open word processor document, and a graph, to name a few.

While from a distance it may look like you are actually on track, these games would not fool the more observative boss / teacher.  For one, the "programs" that the games are based in are the older version (for example, Microsoft Word 1990, rather than the latest version).  For those companies or schools that are up-to-date with the latest versions of everything, it would seem a bit odd that their employees and/or students are using an old version.  Otherwise, the apperance of the game's background is very similar to the other versions.

And while they try their best to make it look like you're still working hard, it's kind of hard to keep from staying quiet when you start to loose the game.

Solid Flow

Theo Altenberg's O.T. Oil on Cardboard 2010, No. 4
http://www.theoaltenberg.com/wp/painting-drawing/

Theo Altenberg is many different kinds of artists, including a painter.  Many of his paintings have a similar look and feel to the one shown above.

To me, many of his more recent paintings (within the past two or three years) seem like he captured the nature of flowing water - delicate and cool at the same time.  It's hard to capture the feel of still-flowing fluid in a still state, but I believe that Altenberg has done it well.  The way the different colours blend into each other remind me of when I would put drops of different food colourings in a glass of water and watching them disperse about the glass.

The above painting in particular reminds me of a flower.  And also of water.  Which makes sense (to me, at least).  Flowers live off the nutrients that water provides.  They are natural and nowadays people are being more and more concerned about the protection of both water and the environment / plants and animals.  Even with all the advancements in technology, nature is something us humans just can't live without.  Literally.

Plants and animals are our energy source.  And even if you're like the many people in the west who like meat and refuse to eat veggies, it is those vegetables that fed the animal you had for dinner.  In school I learned about Bioaccumilation, where toxins build up in animals, and the amount of toxins in the animal is greater the higher up the food chain you go.  With humans being at the top of the food chain, we would have the highest accumulation of toxins than any other animal below us.

Toxins are bad. Period.  Having the most toxins in our bodies than any other is worse.  We have to make a concious effort to take control of our environment to make it a better place to live for not only humans, but for the other animals who share this planet with us.

Musical Flowers

Canada Blooms, Canada's largest flower and garden festival, recently came to an end.  Although I did not go, I saw pictures of some of the showcases in the Toronto Star, and was greatly impressed by what I saw.

http://media.thestar.topscms.com/images/e3/d7/5dba8abe4fdd823b5a01303eafd3.jpeg



http://www.canadablooms.com/images/gallery_full/070307_276.jpg

I saw the above photo first, and I initially thought that it was just a regular piano, except that it was red.  Imagine my surprise when I realized it was actually a sculpture made of flowers!

Flowers and gardening never really interested me, and I never thought that they could be used to form a model of another thing.  It seems really odd, although not in a bad way, that the delicate petals of many flowers went into forming the likeliness of a piano.  Most pianos are made of natural materials - a wood body and ivory keys.  However, these natural materials are hard, and ment to last for years and still look nice.  Flowers, on the other hand, only last a couple of days before wilting and dying (flowers in my care, atleast).

Music played on a piano is ment to express many different emotions, from anger to happiness, and for the musician to express intense emotions such as anger, the piano is more forcefully played.  Although flowers and not a very precious thing to me, I can't imagine trying to play an intense piece of music on a delicate item such as the flower-made piano in this showcase.

Although the "piano" is obviously not ment to be played, it still looks like the real deal.  Though, I wonder how it will last looking a nice red - aka, not wilted - for the week that the festival is on for.