When John Dillon abandons an unfulfilling job on Wall Street, the Peace Corps sends him to a muddy mountain village in Panama where flesh-eating disease, homegrown dope, and a balding dog become his closest companions ... [READ MORE HERE]
Your loving eyes
Their gentle gleam
I wish that this
Were merely a dream
My one true love
Now lies under the ground
You do not speak
You make not a sound
So I sit here
Lost and alone
I wonder my love
Why God took you home
So I’ll leave you now
With one lonely “Good-bye”
I Know I will miss you my dear
Until the day I die
Stone Garden
Your loving eyes
Their gentle gleam
I wish that this
Were merely a dream
My one true love
Now lies under the ground
You do not speak
You make not a sound
So I sit here
Lost and alone
I wonder my love
Why God took you home
So I’ll leave you now
With one lonely “Good-bye”
I Know I will miss you my dear
Until the day I die
Synopsis
Her whole life had been based on a lie. Lilly had grown up in a loveless home with a father who she had barely ever seen and a mother who was… well, not very motherly.
After they mysteriously disappear without a trace, Lilly is sent to Canada where she finds a whole new way of life. One filled with love and people who care for her. But that’s not all she discovers, Lilly also finds out that she isn’t who, or what, she thinks she is.
Lilly has a very special ability and it’s just a matter of time before her true self starts to shine. And when it does, her life will never be the same again. [READ MORE HERE]
About Coming About:
Life can take many twists before you arrive at your destination.
Rachel Robinson is drifting along in a comfortable life, completely unaware that her entire world is about to be turned upside down. Rachel was not prepared for the pain as her only daughter goes off to college. Her suffering is only compounded when her husband asks for a divorce.
With no place else to go, Rachel turns to her new friend Sadie. Secrets begin to surface that will change both of their lives forever. [READ MORE HERE]
Bio:
Hello, my name is Dan Bunea, I am 31 years old, and I live in the city of Timisoara, in Romania.
I think that my painting is full of life, full of vibrant colors, and I think it really makes an impact on its watcher.
I am collaborating with several online galleries, mostly from USA, to sell my paintings. I will list them soon on the website. [SEE MORE HERE]
Recently a crew of “construction workers” had an assignment at a railroad bridge in Encinitas, California. The bridge was perfectly intact, as was the support for it on which they worked. Their job was to erect the work of art pictured above. With high-strength glue they attached the image of a deranged cat with a gold tooth apparently in love to the public structure. According to the North County Times, officials are fed up with trying to crack down on what they refer to as “graffiti”, and have no intention of actually hunting down the artists responsible. They will consider their work done when the mosaic is removed.
On the one side: unauthorized art is property defamation and a crime. [READ MORE HERE]
On his visit to Buckingham Palace this week, President Obama had the privilege of viewing some very impressive artifacts. Notes written by George Washington and King George III, original copies of the first edition of Uncle Tom’s Cabin and an $11 million book about birds by John James Audubon (heard of the Audubon Society?) are just a few of the precious items on display there.
In addition to writings by historical figures, the Queen’s collection also features an assortment of paintings, sculpture, drawings and antique furniture to name a few genres. [READ MORE HERE]
Bio:
If there is somewhere you want me to come play, even at YOUR house party, let me know.
My music blends sounds from rock, r&b, soul, blues, funk, hip hop, jazz, pop, punk, indie, acoustic, electric, dance, reggae, and anything else I can get my hands on. I play a variety of instruments, and I don’t limit myself to any genre. I always come out sounding like myself, so I guess that’s jazz right? er fusion? I don’t know or worry so much about that. I just like good music. What you hear is my best interpretation of what I hear in my head. I hope you enjoy. Have a nice day. =D [READ AND HEAR MORE HERE]
Oakland Cemetery is home to six Georgia governors, 27 mayors, Civil War soldiers, leaders of industry in the region and Civil Rights pioneers. Besides being huge – the cemetery is the final resting place for over 70,000 – the grounds reflect the “rural garden” cemetery movement from the 19th century that insisted upon beauty for the sake of the living. Visitors are treated to winding paths, lush horticulture and lovely vistas.
This weekend both the grave and soulful of Atlanta’s music scene will grace Oakland with their talents. [READ MORE HERE]
The Huffington Post reported this week that a new study performed by University College London’s Semir Zeki, professor of neuroesthetics shows that the chemical process triggered in the brain when a person is falling in love is the same as when a person views a beautiful work of art. In both cases our brains produce dopamine, giving us a case of the feel-goods.
We’ve always suspected there was a connection between art and love; it’s just that now science is backing up that assumption. Given this understanding, the popularity of the works of artists like Tracey Emin makes sense. [READ MORE HERE]
Three thousand years ago in modern-day southern Sweden people were etching images of boats on rocks. We know this because rock-art surveyors are currently trolling the area to uncover artifacts made by Bronze age human beings. Some of the etchings are done on quartzite, a type of stone whose colors change over time along its fractured surface, preserving the images for millenia. These pre-Swedes really knew how to make their marks last.
Excitement over art created long before we even kept history as we know it is captured in a new film by Werner Herzog called Cave of Forgotten Dreams ... [READ MORE HERE]
Excerpt from The Shark Slayer:
The seas grew treacherous, the waves measured anywhere from 20 to 30 feet. Lightning struck all around as the winds blew at 80 knots. The falling rain created almost zero visibility. Yet as all this happened, the captain of the Neslo (ness-low) stayed silent and still as he stood there at the bow of his ship. The rain fell hard, filling his three-point hat with water. His dark brown eyes didn’t even flinch as lightning struck less than two feet from the side of his vessel. He was calm and collected. His dark skin bared the scars of almost a lifetime of pirating. His skin was so covered with scars, one could barely tell where one ended and the next began. This hardened, battle-scarred man went by the name Samuwell (pronounced sam-you-well). [READ MORE HERE]
The average visual art enthusiast doesn’t have the time nor the money to peruse selections from a commercial gallery and actually make a purchase there. Even if he or she did, it isn’t exactly easy to know what to look for. Without a degree in art history or an occupation that puts you actively in the arts world, how do you know what is worth paying attention to? Maybe you would make a purchase based on simply seeing something that you like. But perhaps you are looking at a cheap knockoff of a better artist’s work. Then again, you may be looking at something absolutely brilliant but because it is so unique and separate from what you see as your style you don’t believe it will quite fit in your collection. Besides, what is your style, anyway? Without much exposure to art you might have no idea.
In swoops Artfinder to the rescue. [READ MORE HERE]
It’s called Literature Night, which at first might not sound too terribly appealing. The name evokes images of half-asleep people in cardigans listening to someone read from a classical novel, an excerpt followed by awkward silence in which no one knows just what to say and then one person – the man or woman who is always the first to say something – finds relevence by drawing out the same theme he or she draws from absolutely everything. Eyes furtively roll. There might be a cat curled up in somebody’s lap.
This is different. [READ MORE HERE]
John Maus, better known as John Walker of the Walker Brothers, died over the weekend of liver cancer. This week he is remembered as not only a hit-maker, but as a man who saw success making a name for himself due in large part to his determination, the tenacity with which he pursued the musical lifestyle.
Maus started playing music early, learning saxophone, clarinet and guitar as a child. [READ MORE HERE]
Bio:
My name is FIMAN PRAYUDI UTAMA, born in Bandung, 13 May 1989. Currently I am still registered as a student majoring in marketing management. I have loved the art world since I was 5 years old. I do not take a formal art education. I learned art from the world, from all those things around me. I will never stop learning more about art, because art is my life. [SEE MORE HERE]
On February 15th a human rights attorney was arrested in Libya, sparking revolution in just two days. Fathi Terbil is an outspoken critic of the government and represented families of the victims of the Abu Salimprison massacre in 1996. He was part of the movement protesting a government that had obscured the truth and denied its people justice for fifteen years when officials seized him. Though Terbil was released soon thereafter, the act was a symbolic breaking point. The result is that Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi has lost control of his country. It is now largely in the hands of rebels who seek to erect a new government that protects the basic rights of its people.
In response, young artists in Libya are unleashing their rebellious art in honor of the revolution. [READ MORE HERE]
It is a cliché that writers are a bunch of self-absorbed, introverted snobs who think their golden ideas are unappreciated and whose sole function in life is to get people to realize the importance of what they have to say. With such a burden on their shoulders, real success in their eyes is next to impossible and failure ultimately leads to heavy drinking and rapid mental and emotional decline. It is said that Ernest Hemmingway just flew too close to the flame and that all great writers are in danger of meeting a similar end.
What a bunch of baloney. [READ MORE HERE]
Artistic photography is no simple matter. Photographers have a great deal to learn about angles, perspectives, lighting, color, framing and a host of other factors just to take the kinds of pictures they hope to capture. Then the process of selection, cropping and editing further complicates the journey toward the perfect image. The digital age has in many ways made the process more efficient; however, a great photographer still really has to know what he or she is doing.
A scene worthy of capturing for posterity cannot always be planned. [READ MORE HERE]
Bio:
We are called Reborn. Two people are in the group, Lil 3D and Tyran.
We are a group that comes from different perspectives. Tyran is the type of person that likes doing songs about love, relationships and heartbreak, while Lil 3D has the life story, keep-your-head-up rap flow. [READ AND HEAR MORE HERE]
Description: Carbunckle’s Flight follows a dysfunctional family’s struggle to cope with father Charlie’s obsession with pigeon racing.
Excerpt:
When the bell rings Seamus Carbunckle rushes to the bike racks. He looks around for his best friend; through the crowd of hoodie-wearing, gum-chewing teens, he sees Lloyd in his usual hand-me-downs.
“Dude,” Seamus calls out. “You gotta tell your folks those pants are slowing you down.”
“I can tell them every day,” he says hitching up his over-sized trousers. “But it’s not going to change anything.”
Draping his lock across his chest, Seamus nudges his bicycle toward the street. “Today’s the day.”
“You’ve been saying that all week.”
Seamus pushes off the curb and looks right, left, and right again. There is a familiar lull in the traffic – when the lights a block north and a block south are both amber – that allows the boys to dart across the five lanes of rush-hour traffic. He hops the curb on the other side, swerving to avoid a tranny in training heels.
“Get off the sidewalk, you shit!” she shrieks. [READ MORE HERE]
For many, Easter is a holiday for children, a time for entertaining them with bunnies, eggs and candy. For millions around the world it is far more meaningful, as they celebrate the belief that Jesus Christ died in the place of all humanity to satisfy the penalty of our sin and came back to life, thereby conquering all death and offering eternal life in its place as He sits at the right hand of God. A central tenet of the Christian faith is that mankind must believe in Jesus and accept the gift of eternal life if we are to be with God, and that the alternative is to be separated from Him forever in a place or state of being called Hell.
Rob Bell has written a book called Love Wins, in which he says the Bible supports the view that all of mankind will eventually choose to pledge their allegiance to Jesus ... [READ MORE HERE]
We’re all writers to some degree. Everybody who has gone through public school or earned the equivalent of a high school diploma has been required to learn the fundamentals of putting words together to communicate a message for others to read. Some of us, however, take to the written word like an anvil to the floor and find we could not remove it from our lives even if we wanted to. And we don’t.
Canada holds an annual National Capital Writing Contest with a different theme each year. [READ MORE HERE]
Indie rock for kids – “kindie rock” – is keeping parents from losing their minds. Bands like They Might Be Giants, The Barenaked Ladies and now even The Verve Pipe are out on a mission to entertain children, moms and dads all at the same time. With catchy tunes and mature instrumentation, these musicians are saving parents from the sensation of wanting to tear their own ears off that was common during the Barney and Friends dominated era of children’s music.
Dan Zanes is one of many mainstream artists jumping on thekindie rock gravy train. [READ MORE HERE]
Art is so often about seeing beauty where others see ugliness, potential where others see scrap. A canvas, after all, is just a piece of cloth that is ill-suited for clothing, too porous to cover a picnic table and it would make a horrible carpet to boot. Its purpose can really only be seen by the artist who will apply paint or ink to it with a view to present a graphic message. Such is the role of the visual artist with so many different media.
The Miami ReUse Center is a non-profit program that teaches kids this lesson using the most unlikely of materials. [READ MORE HERE]
Got the inside scoop? Are you or have you ever been privy to information that the world would be interested in reading about? If so, then you could make millions with your next “tell-all” book.
Frank Bailey, former aide to Sarah Palin, is soon to release one of his own called Blind Allegience to Sarah Palin, in which he shares his experiences working with the Alaska governor and McCain running mate. [READ MORE HERE]
“Imagine if Kings of Leon learned to play guitar from Led Zeppelin while growing up with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers reading stories to them,” (MTSU Sidelines) and there you would have one of Nashville’s newest and most promising rock groups, Modoc.
In 2007, Modoc left the cornfields of Indiana and set out to find a new place to call home. Nashville seemed like a natural fit for the band and so far they have been extremely well received by the local music industry and fans alike. Just one year after Modoc’s arrival in Music City, The Nashville Scene spoke to a handful of bloggers, writers, promoters and radio personalities about their favorite discovery of the year. Todd Sherwood, owner of The 5 Spot, said “[Modoc] put on a great rock ‘n’ roll show,” and that Modoc WAS his favorite discovery of the year. [READ MORE HERE]
Visual art often paves the road to fame. Wherever people gather to look at something and in doing so create a buzz, an artist is poised to become the Next Big Thing. Sometimes this is well deserved and sometimes it is not. Art is at its best when it shares something of the world that resonates with our understanding of Truth, and it is at its worst when it exists only to titillate.
Judge for yourself “In Praise of Doubt”, a contemporary art exhibition at the Punta della Dogana gallery in Venice, Italy. [READ MORE HERE]
For the third year running, Ventura, CA will hold a tribute to the Man in Black this June. Ross Emery’sRoadshow Revival presents a tribute to Johnny Cash, described by spokeswoman Tara Finestone as “all things Johnny”, featuring cover bands that will play his cross-genre country, rockabilly and gospel music. A pin-up contest is a central event, in which women dress up like models from the 1950s and strut their stuff for a shot at becoming queen of the pageant. There’s a good chance that a few classic cars will make an appearance as they have in years past. This year the roadshow is June 18th.
But that’s not all Cash fans have to look forward to this summer. [READ MORE HERE]
When the atheist Bolsheviks took power in Russia in the 1920s they approved a new art form with the intention of getting away from old-world relgious imagery. The art form,Palekh, is named after the 700-year-old village whose artists continue to produce it today. But these days it is becoming far less popular.
These papier-mache boxes painted with images from mythology or folklore, painstakingly gilded with real gold and varnished, once commonly sold for thousands of dollars. [READ MORE HERE]
If you’ve never made music before and you’re interested in giving it a try, you might consider heading to a music store during National Music Store Weekend, May 6th-8th. There’s a good chance you’ll find a killer deal on a new guitar or drum set during this time of year that could easily become the musical instrument market’s Black Friday.
The National Association of Music Merchants has been working to pique the interest they believe we all have hidden within us to make music for more than a century. [READ MORE HERE]
The Dispatcher – synopsis
My book focused on the characters of Tian and Asra, who are from completely different worlds but their fates become intertwined within this book. The land of Senon (the fantasy world where my book is based) is in the midst of a bloody feud that has been raging for centuries between the ruthless Masters and the rebel group The Guildan. One young Dispatcher (a type of assassin) Tian, is a tortured soul, who has given his whole life to the service of the Guildan in the desperate hope that one day he will be able to exact a terrible revenge on the Masters, who ruined his life in the past by destroying his family. Tian is given a daring mission meant to help the Guildan win the war against the Masters. He is to enter the Palace of Daganarth, in the Centre of the sprawling city of Minara, under the cover of darkness to kidnap the daughter of the Grandmaster, Asra. [READ MORE HERE]
The Feminist Art Project is an international collaboration seeking to highlight the relevance of female contributions to the arts. It provides various resources for feminist education and Internet references and links women all over the world together in its common goal. According to its website, the Project “is a strategic intervention against the ongoing erasure of women from the cultural record”, claiming its leadership role in the feminist art movement. Themovement dates back to at least the 1970s, when 15 female students and their instructor Judy Chicago developed the first key strategies to highlight artistic successes of women using “female technologies” such as costume, performance and media critique.
Such a movement has come about over the last few decades for the purpose of putting a magnifying glass over the gender politics of our country and others throughout the world. But serious as the question of gender equality in the arts may be, sometimes the most powerful rhetoric comes in the form of a really good joke. [READ MORE HERE]
The Kass/Meridian Gallery of Chicago is a 25-year-old establishment run by Alan and Grace Kass. According to their website, the Kasses have been extremely active, running a public gallery as well as dealing art privately, publishing art and participating in art fairs around the world. Such contributions to the art world ought to be celebrated. The news of Alan Kass’ indictment for art fraud yesterday, however, will have to put any praise on hold.
Along with Sawyer K. Cade (who goes by 2 other aliases) and John Panos, Kass is charged with 13 counts of mail and wire fraud. [READ MORE HERE]
MTV is about to have a brand new awards ceremony on April 28th called the O Awards. Unlike the VMAs, which clearly stands for Video Music Awards, the “O” in O Awards stands for … well, nothing at all. “O” is “open” for interpretation. “O” is “one” of a kind. “O” may just be the word people are supposed to say when they hear about this ultra-modern award ceremony.
The O Awards intend to “honor the migration of music to the digital space”, which leaves them purposelyill-defined. [READ MORE HERE]
