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.