Random knowledge

In these lonely regions I have been powerful

in the same way as a cheerful tool

or like untrammeled grass which lets loose its seed

or like a dog rolling around in the dew.

Matilde, time will pass wearing out and burning

another skin, other fingernails, other eyes, and then

the algae that lashed our wild rocks,

the waves that unceasingly construct their own whiteness,

all will be firm without us,

all will be ready for the new days,

which will not know our destiny.

What do we leave here but the lost cry

of the seabird, in the sand of winter, in the gusts of wind

that cut our faces and kept us

erect in the light of purity,

as in the heart of an illustrious star?

What do we leave, living like a nest

of surly birds, alive, among the thickets

or static, perched on the frigid cliffs?

So then, if living was nothing more than anticipating

the earth, this soil and its harshness,

deliver me, my love, from not doing my duty, and help me

return to my place beneath the hungry earth.

We asked the ocean for its rose,

its open star, its bitter contact,

and to the overburdened, to the fellow human being, to the wounded

we gave the freedom gathered in the wind.

It’s late now. Perhaps

it was only a long day the color of honey and blue,

perhaps only a night, like the eyelid

of a grave look that encompassed

the measure of the sea that surrounded us,

and in this territory we found only a kiss,

only ungraspable love that will remain here

wandering among the sea foam and roots.

From The House in the Sand by Pablo Neruda. Copyright © 1966, 2004 by Fundacion Pablo Neruda. Translation copyright © 1990, 2004 by Dennis Maloney and Clark Zlotchew.

Cryptozoology (from Greek: κρυπτός, kryptós, “hidden”; ζῷον, zôon, “animal”; and λόγος, logos, “knowledge” or “study” – c.f. zoology) is the search for animals hypothesized to exist, but for which conclusive proof is missing. The field also includes the search for known animals believed to be extinct.

RK sez: is this really science or just a strange hobby ?

The Ouroboros is a greek word, and means “tail swallower”. The ouroboros is usually depicted in the form of a snake swallowing its tail, and is usually circular, although it is sometimes depicted in a lemniscate shape. It originated in Egypt as a symbol of the sun, and represented the travels of the sun disk. In Gnosticism, it was related to the solar God Abraxas, and signified eternity and the soul of the world.

Lucas Jennis’ engraving published on an alchemical emblem-book entitled De Lapide Philisophico (1625):

On this day in 1925, actor Arnold Stang was born. The voice of Top Cat, Herman the Mouse and more is 82 years old today.

Via Toonopedia

Obituary in the Times for the celebrated French mime artist whose clowning dramas eloquently expressed the wonder and terror of existence

Capturing a digital photograph is just one step in a multi-step process called the digital workflow. Every photographer personalizes their workflow to some extent, but all include the post-capture steps of transferring pictures from the camera; reviewing, organizing, and ranking them; then adjusting, publishing and archiving them.

Many of the steps in this workflow have traditionally been performed using a variety of applications including those that do image management, RAW image conversion, and photo-editing. However, the first generation of truly innovative applications in the form of Apple’s Aperture and Adobe’s Lightroom are reshaping the playing field. These programs are integrating into a single application almost all of the steps in the digital workflow so post capture digital photography is easier, faster, and more efficient. These programs also make working with RAW files as easy as working with JPEGs.

A short online course book…

I have changed the design of my blog somewhat. Not being a specialist at all, on the contrary, I am not unsatisfied. It has a simple and clean look. I will however study CSS a bit more in detail with some books I recently bought and aim for a more professional design.

I would like to be a fulltime dad and travel the world to show my kid how wonderful this place is !

“If you could read my mind,love, what a tale my thoughts could tell”… Written by Gordon Lightfoot in 1969.

It was a serious contribution to the electronic lexicon. Twenty-five years ago, Carnegie Mellon University professor Scott E. Fahlman says, he was the first to use three keystrokes - a colon followed by a hyphen and a parenthesis - as a horizontal “smiley face” in a computer message. Article at Wired News.

All art is autobiographical;
the pearl is the oyster’s autobiography.

— Federico Fellini

The Royal Academy of Arts will be holding a major retrospective of the distinguished German artist, Georg Baselitz, 22 September – 9 December 2007. Featuring over 60 paintings together with a significant number of his drawings, prints and sculptures, the exhibition will be a comprehensive survey of Baselitz’s work that will document a career of his most important works.

(the upside-down figure is typical of his work)

If I get to London, I definitely will go to this exhibition. If you cannot go as well, than I suggest this book.

Tomorrow I’m visiting the Basilica Palladiana in Vicenza (Italy). It was designed by Palladio. Pity I forgot my camera, but you can see some pictures here (Google image search). And now a latte macchiato (recipe).

Matchbox is not only a toy, but also a 12-bar blues by Blind Lemon Jefferson, a British rock and roll band formed in 1971 (the homepage of Matchbox, the Rockabilly rebels), and an independent record label based in England (Matchbox Recordings UK).
Matchbox is also an open source window manager (Mathbox Project site)for the X Window System (NOT Windows). It’s e.g. used on the One Laptop per Child (OLPC).

Matchbox is a die cast toy brand currently owned by Mattel, Inc. Matchbox toys were so named because the original models were packed in boxes similar in size and style to boxes of matches. The series became so popular that the Matchbox name was once widely used by the public as a genericized trademark for all die cast toy cars measuring approximately 2.5 inches (6.5 cm) in length, regardless of brand. In the 1970s, Matchbox switched to the more conventional, plastic and cardboard “blister packs” used for other die cast cars such as Hot Wheels, although the box style packaging was re-introduced for the collector market in recent years, particularly successfully with the release of the “35th Anniversary of Superfast” series in 2004.

Matchbox labels Flickr photoset from around the world but the majority are Eastern European from the 1950s and 60s by Mariad. Several collector sites: here, here and here. A community and some books, like Matchbox Toys 1947 to 2003: Identification & Value Guide, or the Encyclopedia of Matchbox Toys.

Tonight I’m going to watch Casablanca, an Oscar-winning 1942 film set in the Vichy-controlled Moroccan city of Casablanca. Probably one of the best movies ever.

Humphrey Bogart and Madeleine LeBeau:

Yvonne: Where were you last night?
Rick: That’s so long ago, I don’t remember.
Yvonne: Will I see you tonight?
Rick: I never make plans that far ahead.

Humphrey Bogart and Claude Rains:

Captain Renault: What in heaven’s name brought you to Casablanca?
Rick: My health. I came to Casablanca for the waters.
Captain Renault: The waters? What waters? We’re in the desert.
Rick: I was misinformed.

And Captain Renault after Rick shot the German major Strasser, to the police…

round up the usual suspects

… saving Rick’s life.

Yep, I promised my sun we would go to the movies tonight and it’s going to be The Bourne Ultimatum. I have read the books of Ludlum at least a decade ago. I wonder if the movie is any good. But first he has to finish his homework and I want to buy some books and I need to buy T-shirts for him (damn, he’s growing fast).

Update: action movie that my sun seem to have enjoyed. It was indeed entertaining but the film has absolutely nothing to do with the book. Also I do not like the shoddy camera work that is used throughout the movie.

Over at the Museum of Hoaxes a list of the 20 bizarre experiments. Have also put his book Elephants on Acid on my wish list.

Maria Callas died in Paris, nearly 30 years ago, on September 16 1977. She was 53, a virtual recluse, dependent, at the end of an unhappy life, on cocktails of uppers and downers to give her some sense of emotional wellbeing. She was also regarded as the greatest soprano of the 20th century, though paradoxically - and much about Callas is genuinely paradoxical - some have wondered, and continue to wonder, whether the personal price she had to pay for success was too high.

More at the Guardian

Further references: Divina, Callas’s official website and the Wikpedia entry on Maria Callas. A diva like we seldom experience.

Maria Callas sings ‘Una voce poco fa’ from Il Barbiere di Siviglia by Rossini. Paris 1958. Enjoy.

The Asian variation of the classic smiley face ( )