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.