Brion Vega Cemetery. San Vito d'Altivole Treviso Italy

Carlo Scarpa was a great 20th century architect. He balanced his Zen Buddhism and spirituality in the Brion-Vega cemetery in such a way that he produced a garden to show and present anyone that visited what the passage of life to death could be; calm, collected and well balanced.

Yearning for Zion

Im not sure if many people ever knew about the Yearning for Zion Ranch before last year's raid began.

This polygamist community is located in Texas and yesterday I watched a special on Opera. She was invited into the ranch to show to the public that they were a happy little community.

I cant imagine being in Opera's shoes but just as a viewer, i felt awkward and uneasy about the ranch. The people within the commune reassured Opera that they're happy and that this is the way they want their lives lived out. The women tend to the family and children, help in the gardens, or in the general store and help to manufacture clothes for the community. The ranch is supposively an almost self-sufficient community that rarely uses anything from the 'outside' world.

Opera visited the 2nd grade; as she was there she asked where all the toys were and every single child responded that they dont have toys, that they dont want toys and that working was fun for them. She went on to ask if they knew who Sherk, Mickey Mouse and Cinderella was; only one little girl said she had heard of Cinderella but didnt know what it was.

Moving forward, Opera followed a family of 3 wives and 9 children around for the day; the women all get up early in the morning, dress themselves, wake the children and dress the children and then attend family pray before they can break their fast and then its off to school for the kiddies. From there the three women have different chores to accomplish with the older daughters by their side; either tending to the fields, baking bread ect. As the women were working in the fields Opera asked them how it felt to share a man with three different women, and how it felt to share the house with other women and their children. The women said that it was a learning experience everyday and that each day taught them something new about themselves. Opera opened up the discussion of jealously and space and the women (always with at least one male within ear shot) said that that never happened, they were never jealous of one another because it was a "Christ Like Love" that enabled the community to live harmoniously together.

I'm sorry but this is where i lost it. HONESTLY PEOPLE i understand that you dont know any better and that you're spoon fed everything that the sector/cult/compound whatever you want to call them, your leaders think you need to know. There are always men around, everywhere! not one camera shot panned without a male figure standing, no LURKING in the background spying on the women to make sure they didnt reveal anything incriminating.

I bet most of the people within the community are happy, and quite frankly I would bet that most people within the community are scared of the real world and would prefer to stay within the confinements of the compound but thats because they're brainwashed. they're not taught to think and feel for themselves they're taught the 'WORD OF THE LORD" in the opinion of the male leaders. Its a male based operation that has the male concern in mind. But this relates to Brave New World with the brainwashing and desensitization. The people of to some effect living through the same issues as the robots of Brave New World. BNW leaders try to oppress individuality and try to control people without seeming like they are.... SAME THING over in the YFZ Ranch.

Thank You Velvet Underground

VENUS IN FURS

Velvet Underground. First 'Punk' Rock band and definitely a product of their time.

Their sound is experimental at times and could even be called 'noisy' but now while I'm listening to them i realize that if i were to hear a song like "Venus in Furs" or "Heroin" and NOT know it was Velvet Underground I would honestly think they were a punk band from the 80s, not the late 60s. This band, and mainly the movement that they were part of single handedly shaped the music we all know today. Nothing today would be the same without John Cage, Robert Rauschenberg, Andy Warhol, or The Velvet Underground. (trust me many more people....)

THE CLASH WOULD NOT EXIST! and that would be a very scary world... so Velvet Underground you guys get TWO THUMBS UP in my book.

Gabriel & Dresden are DJs based out of San Francisco who are heavly influenced by EDM (electric dance music)

Sometimes you come across music that just makes you stop and think, reflect on your own life.
We're all trying to track our own treasure down, we're bogged down by different distractions and people on their own treasure hunt. Many of us rely on what others say and do to direct us in the 'right' direction and only later realize you wish they would have just told you the truth instead of making you believe everything was real.

why do you tell me
only things I want to hear
why dont you tell me
this could just dissapear

shepard fairey

last thursday i decided to visit the shepard fairey exhibit at the ICA.  i had decided thursday night because the ICA is free past a certain hour ( i think its 6 or so) anyway the only problem was that half the city of boston decided that thursday night was a splendid time to go as well. there were too many people at the exhibit. i dont believe that i enjoyed it as much due to the large crowd... BUT besides that set back it was still quite interesting. 

first of all i HAVE never seen that many people in a museum... EVER. i dont even think volumetrically speaking, when i've visited the Vatican has there been that many people. its nice to see people taking interest in art. even if it is the 'in thing' that doesnt bother me at all, i like seeing people expose themselves to new things. it also warms my heart to witness dreams coming true. 

shepard fairey started out as a tshirt and skateboard designer and worked his way up saving and slaving away at his art. i like to see people succeed at their dreams, let him make money off his talent, i truly dont find that to be exploitation of any sort of this 'street art' movement. there have been several controversies with people accusing fariey of exploiting street art/graffiti because he's taking certain commissions but let the poor man make a living off what he loves. is it truly exploiting the great renaissance masters if someone were to paint a likeness of the venus and cupid and sell it for a few hundred dollars? really people, do you have ANYTHING better to do than whine that you're not in the star light making some cash with your dream. 

he has an even spark, irony and a perfect drop of seriousness blended together to create what seems like a simple piece of art work that if inspected closer has quite a number of layers that one can, if wanted to, take the time and dissect whatever they want. i call his work 'art work' because he starts this train of thinking when you look at his work. he ignites a spark within your mind and begins this process of analyzation and thought that defines art. art is a piece or series of works that being a process of thoughts; gets you to start thinking of the movement, of the times associated with the time period and/or yourself and/or the artist. this is a mechinism to challenge the brain and humanity. why do you think art from centuries ago is so much easier to 'get' because you cant associate with it fully so you're utterly detached for the most part. art that is happening now or in and around our time is so much harder to get because we're, as a society so far up our own asses that we cannot seem to see the light of day and detach ourselves from everything and get relax, enjoy and let the thoughts progress freely and allow for things to flow naturally and allow for things to seep.... 

quite honestly, i believe shepard fairey has done beautifully. 

I'm not quite sure why people say they hate Boston. Boston has great cuisine and great places for a crazy fun vibe. But not even that its a small, hip city with a challenge; it doesn't give you something to do, you need to find it yourself. 

I'm a curious creature and one night my roommate and I were walking down Newbury with a empty stomach trying to find a different restaurant to try. (since we had probably eaten at every place in and around the area) We walked down this cute staircase and found what seemed to be a hidden jewel called Tapeo.

This little restaurant is a Tapas Bar with actual real Spanish waitstaff that know what they're talking about when it comes to imported beers from Barcelona, homemade Sangria, great European cuisine and just honest, warm Mediterranean hospitality. For sure a much needed warmth with this terrible weather we've been having. 

But the entire purpose of this rant is to say that I really dont understand why people complain Boston... but that's why we all have our own opinions. 

http://www.tapeo.com/

The Birthmark

Diving straight into the story i believe that the scientist, Aylmer could possibly be a direct reflection of Hawthorne himself. Here's why; Hawthorne is known to have been greatly affected by his grandfather's actions towards the twenty some-odd women he condemned to death due to false allocations of "witch craft." There's a feeling of guilt and definite obsession over these actions that his grandfather did; something Hawthorne never had any part of or control for that matter. 

One may argue that Aylmer might have felt that it was his duty as a scientist, perfectionist and Georgiana's husband to rid her of this imperfection. But even more so than just a duty, Aylmer wanted to create, and give Georgiana a 'rebirth' from her mortal, imperfect body to an 'immortal' vessel that would be the most perfect and beautiful thing on Earth. The true, concrete connection between the two are their obsession over the unattainable or even more so the uncontrollable. 

I don't personally know about Hawthorne but nature decides that because Aylmer is trying too hard to create a beautiful thing when nature had already given the world Georgiana's beauty; that nature would also take her beauty and Georgiana away from the world and from her obsessive husband.