This is a French anti smoking prevention campaign by the "Rights of Non Smokers" (Les Droits des Non-Fumeurs).
The photographies are by Thomas Geffrier and the text "Fumer c’est etre l’esclave du tabac" translated in English means “Smoking is like being tobacco’s slave”.
I wonder where the rights of adolescents and even women's rights campaigners are.
It is quite shocking that such images are being used to indoctrinate people about the harms of smoking.
I also would like to have the scientific evidences of all the diseases they claim that smoking and passive smoking are responsible.
I received an e-mail from Herrad with these pictures. She sends amazing pictures by e-mail and I thought this collection deservesAskani to be seen.
These are photographies by Tanja Askani who takes pictures depicting tenderness among animals. You can see more photographs by her here.
Thank you Herrad!
Have a great and tender weekend!
This was the painting I was looking for when I came across with the work of the post below. I have a tiny copy at my desk among other tiny copies that are part of my... private collection!
Sleepers by Gustave Courbet is one of the themes that artists depicted that is stitl causing scandal nowadays.
I was searching for another of his paintings and came across with Kristine Milde's "Sleepers after Courbet" at this site dedicated to Barbie in many way. I also found at this site Courbet's painting with Christ's tags covering breasts and pubic parts.
I am a little bit astonished that someone can do such a thing with a painting especially using as tag using a medieval painting of the Christ.
It is quite ironic.
The "Two Friends" was part of the 19 century's iconography as you can see in the Klimt's and Lautrec's painting.
I think that it has to do with the eyes of the beholder.
I think it is very interesting recreating Courbet's work with Barbies.
You can download the .pdf file of Matisse's "Notes of a Painter", 1908 here. I think that at this paragraph, the last one, he approaches some important issues that are still being discussed nowadays:
"Rules have no existence outside of individuals: otherwise a good professor would be as great a genius as Racine. Any one of us is capable of repeating fine maxims, but few can also penetrate their meaning. I am ready to admit that from a study of the works of Raphael or Titian a more complete set of rules can be drawn than from the works of Manet or Renoir, but the rules followed by Manet and Renoir were those which suited their temperaments and I prefer the most minor of the their paintings to all the work of those who are content to imitate the Venus of Urbino or the Madonna of the Goldfinch. These latter are of no value to anyone, for whether we want to or not, we belong to our time and we share in its opinions, its feelings, even its delusions. All artists bear the imprint of their time, but the great artists are those in whom this is most profoundly marked. Our epoch for instance is better represented by Courbet than by Flandrin, by Rodin better than by Frémiet. Whether we like it or not, however insistently we call ourselves exiles, between our period and ourselves an indissoluble bond is established, and M. Péladan himself cannot escape it. The aestheticians of the future may perhaps use his books as evidence if they get it in their heads to prove that no one of our time understood anything about the art of Leonardo da Vinci."
Unfortunately I can't find a translation for this Italian song that is simple and beautiful. It is a popular song and a little old and maybe not very interesting for Italians but it's very cute for those who know little of the Italian language. I will dedicate this post to an Italian blogger that I like Tommaso Evagelista at Emgrammi.
His blog has numerous amazing post about art. Hope he likes this song.
C'e' una casetta piccola cosi'
con tante finestrelle colorate
E una donnina piccola cosi'
Con due occhi grandi per guardare
E c'e' un omino piccolo cosi'
che torna sempre tardi da lavorare
E ha un cappello piccolo cosi'
con dentro un sogno da realizzare
E piu' ci pensa, piu' non sa aspettare
Amore mio non devi stare in pena
questa vita e' una catena
qualche volta fa un po' male
Guarda come son tranquilla io
anche se attraverso il bosco
con l'aiuto del buon Dio
stando sempre attenta al lupo,
attenti al lupo attenti al lupo...
living together living together...
Laggiu' c'e' un prato piccolo cosi'
con un gran rumore di cicale
e un profumo dolce e piccolo cosi'
Amore mio e' arrivata l'estate Amore mio e' arrivata l'estate
E noi due qui distesi a far l'amore
in mezzo a questo mare di cicale
questo amore piccolo cosi' ma tanto grande che mi sembra di volare
E piu' ci penso piu' non so aspettare
Amore mio non devi stare in pena
questa vita e' una catena
qualche volta fa un po' male
Guarda come son tranquilla io
anche se attraverso il bosco
con l'aiuto del buon Dio
stando sempre attenta al lupo
Attenti al lupo attenti al lupo
Living together... Living together...
Update:
A very nice person left a comment with a translation into English. Thank you very much!
The Luncheon on the Grass (left) is one of the most Manet's painting. When first exhibited it was a scandal just like Olympia.
Although it has references to old masters:
"The Lunch on the Grass is a painting with several overlaid themes:
- the reference to the old masters, Manet having taken his inspiration from Titian's Concert champêtre in the Musée du Louvre, and from The Judgement of Paris, an engraving by Marcantonio Raimondi, after Raphael.
- the issue of the nude, "It seems I'll have to paint a nude. Very well then, I'll paint a nude for them", Manet had declared to Antonin Proust.
- the question of the subject, the reason for all the uproar surrounding it. "We cannot regard as chaste a work in which a woman, seated in the woods, surrounded by students in berets and coats, is clothed only in the shadows of the leaves" (Ernest Chesneau, quoted by Françoise Cachin in Manet, RMN, 1983).
- finally, the issue of the outdoor setting: the real open air, according to Emile Zola,
"In this painting, what one must see […] is the entire landscape, full of atmosphere, this corner of nature rendered with a simplicity so accurate…". "In this painting, what one must see […] is the entire landscape, full of atmosphere, this corner of nature rendered with a simplicity so accurate...""
The sight of these contemporary people, especially a naked woman, being exhibited next to nudes that was mythological thus very far from touch was outrageous.
Picasso repeated the scandal with his versions of Manet's painting. I truly believe that one of thousands art's functions is to change the way we see things and it is funny to see that these paintings today are considered part of cultural heritage and we can even think that Manet's nude woman is a little bit overweighted.
V–J day in Times Square, a photograph by Alfred Eisenstaedt, was published in Life in 1945 with the caption, In New York's Times Square a white-clad girl clutches her purse and skirt as an uninhibited sailor plants his lips squarely on hers.
Unconditional Surrender by J. Seward Johnson often compared to the photograph V–J day in Times Square by Alfred Eisenstaedt.
I have already published the love scene of the ballet of The American in Paris movie.
These are some scenes for those who also like the movie or for those who have not seen it.
Have a great February!!!
I am learning to play guitar from the first lesson. The tip of the left fingers aches and you have to exercise to create callus and it is strange to start losing sensibility and the muscles of the left hand have to adjust itself to make the chords.
It is a little bit boring at the beginning since you have to learn to change from one chord to another quickly and do it as faster as possible.
But if you keep thinking in the future when this phase is over and you will finally be able to have the music in your mind and the positions of your hands at the guitar together you keep going.
I was thinking about putting some paintings of guitar players showing different kinds of feeling portrayed by the artist that makes me think about the different emotions music can trigger but came across with this photograph by James O'Donnell and though that it was a great combination of three arts.
I remembered of what Picasso used to say about the geniality and inspiration myth:
"Inspiration does exist, but it must find you working."
"There are painters who transform the sun to a yellow spot, but there are others who with the help of their art and their intelligence, transform a yellow spot into the sun."
And the famous Thomas Edison quotation:
“Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.”
I will go back to practice. Maybe next year I will be able to play something easy of one of many musicians I like. An amazing fact about people who play an instrument is that it is the last memory a person who suffers Alzheimer lose. They forget their parents but for a long period can play. This is something special about the musical language.
Music unites people. This is a great achievement.
I don't like to mix my other blog with this one but this subject is too important and I have to share it. The images will probably be changed but please take a moment to read it because it is about your health or the health of people next to you since antidepressants SSRIs are being prescribed not only for those who are diagnosed with major depression but also for headache or even to quit smoking:
This is Traci Johnson a 19 years-old healthy volunteer for Cymbalta clinical trial for urinary incontinence in 2003. She hanged herself at Eli-Lylli's clinic in Indianapolis in February, 7, 2004. According to Wikipedia:
"A suicide of 19-year-old Traci Johnson, a healthy volunteer in a duloxetine clinical pharmacology study, was highly publicized. For about a month she had been given high doses of duloxetine, and then she was switched to placebo. Four days after the switch, she hanged herself with her scarf from a shower rod in the bathroom of Lilly Laboratory for Clinical Research.[65][66] The New York Times article mentioned a withdrawal syndrome as a possible reason for this suicide."
I always thought about changing the avatar but whenever I looked at this bright smile it gave me courage to keep going for it is not easy to deal with this subject and most of the friends I met because of this blog that are dealing with psych-drugs harms feel the same. I wish I did not know about it all but I cannot stop trying to raise awareness because these drugs are destroying lives.
Last year I did a post in February in Tracy Johnson's memory and I have already scheduled this year post but today morning I thought that it was not enough. So I though about dedicating this day to all those people who have their lives changed because of SSRI harm. I wrote an e-mail to some of my friends and this is the outcome of my idea with their inputs: February 7 - International Day in Memory of SSRI Fatalities SSRI fatalities are those who have died violently due to homicide of suicide induced by SSRIs and now there are newborns that suffer heart malformations or any other teratogenic disturbance.
I would also like to remember people that have their quality of life changed because of the use of SSRI as a teenager. Those who are not aware of these facts may be asking themselves why is it happening or even if it is true that a drug that has killed during clinical trial can be at the market. You just got your answer: "market".
We are talking about money and corruption is causing too much harm. I will change my picture next 7th February and leave Tracy Johnson in peace. I want to thank her for all these months she was here by my side. R.I.P. Tracy Johnson I want to thank my blog friends that helped me and encouraged me to keep going: Bob Fiddaman at Seroxat Sufferers Mark p.s. 2 at Psychiatric Survivor Matthew at It's quite an experience Susan at If you're going through hell keep goingNeedles to say that without them I would not be able to do it.
This is the Awareness Ribbon for the International Day in Memory of SSRI Fatalities created by Aloisio Congrejo, an italian Second Life artist that was kind enough to do it when I asked him. You can see some of his works at Flickr. Thank you very much Aloisio! Update: I just did an event at Bloggers Unite and I am waiting if they will accept it.
Yes! Another award from Herrad. This is a very special award and I want to share it with all of those I know because of this blog and also my other blog.
I will copy from both bloglists. If you are at them you can already pick yours. I will copy it later.
"*Tony Cragg made this work during a visit to Britain in 1981, when he felt that thenation was beset by social and economic difficulties. The figure to the left is a portrait of the artist. Cragg lives in Germany, so although Britain is his native country he was viewing it through the eyes of an outsider.
Typically for Cragg, the work consists of many individual objects, arranged to forma larger image. This has prompted his work to be described as a 'relationship of the part to the whole', an idea derivedfrom particle physics.
Leftt: "Bar at the Folie Bergère", 1881, by Édouard Manet.
Right: Detail
This is a very famous of Manet's painting.
At the back of the girl there is a mirror showing the scene in front of her and she doesn't seem to pay attention to any particular person or event.
Take a look at her image at the mirror at the right side of the painting. The mirror shows what is parallel to the girl but her back is painted in another angle as if it was another mirror. The man looking at her should also be depicted as if he was facing us.
Manet's solution is far more interesting and accurate than if he had painted it following the mirror's rules. This is far more warm and, why not, realistic? I believe that if we were in front of the girl our heads would turn to see the man.
As I said at yesterday's post this biblical theme was painted by many artists.
It depicts a scene that happened in seconds and it seems that Jesus is going away just after saying "Noli Me Tangere" to meet his father.
Click at the images to enlarge the thumbnails and put your mouse at each image to know the name of the artist and the year.
Have a great weekend!
"Design classic that it is, our beloved Tube map has been twisted and distorted into all kinds of ulterior uses over the decades. We're no strangers to such manipulations ourselves. But how's this for the ultimate in schematic ambition?
Samuel Arbesman, a computational sociology fellow at Harvard University and a man who sits on ducks, has come to the aid of intragalactic commuters with this handy Tube map of the Milky Way (bigger image). Each stop on the network represents about 1000 light years, allowing hilarious jokes to be constructed about comparative journey times with the Northern Line.
Pretty cool, though, eh? Unfortunately, the Eurostar to the Andromeda Galaxy is not shown, having got stuck in a black hole.
This is at Londonist and I have already written about the London underground map here and here. When I saw Mr. Samuel Arbesman's map I didn't even realized what it was about because I first saw Harry Beck's design of the original map.
I rather go to London for the moment.
Right: detail
Left: Noli Me Tangere, 1835, by Alexander Ivanov.
Noli me tangere "Do not touch me" is what Christ said to Mary Magdalene when she sees him and recognizes him after the resurrection:
"John 20:17 - Jesus saith unto her, TOUCH ME NOT; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God (all quotes from the KJV)."
The theme was painted by many artists specially during renascence. At the next post I will publish the most famous.
Back in 1979/80 I did yoga and it was a great experience I wish I had never stopped. This is my teacher and his site is in English if you want to visit it.
This is his biography:
"Orlando Cani was born on November 1935 in the city of Rodeio in the north of Santa Catarina where he lived until the age of 13, when he came to live in Rio de Janeiro. At 16 he got to know Yoga through the professor and master Jean-Pierre Bastiou, with whom he practiced corrective gymnastics. At 18, he entered the army’s school of parachuting. At 20, he graduated in Physical Education, and soon after began competing both on a national and international level at various sporting events. He was Rio de Janeiro’s champion of Olympic gymnastics and swimming, as well as acting as a coach in both events. He participated in various world championships of the Military Pentathlon (competition that involves five events, running, swimming, shooting, obstacle course and throwing with precision and distance), making him two time world champion, receiving personally from the from the country’s president, at the time, Castelo Branco, the highest award in sports the “Sport Medal of Honor” (Cruz do Mérito Desportivo).
In 1973, he went to India for a specialized course in Yoga at the Yoga Institute of Bombay, and there met his guru of Hatha Yoga, sri Yogendra. In Richikech (Ashram de Sivananda), he met his spiritual guru, Swame Chidananda.Orlando Cani has been a professor of physical education since 1956 and a professor of Yoga since 1961. He trains and has trained athletes in various events, like Rickson Gracie in Martial Arts; the Olympic female and male volleyball teams (an invitation from the coach Bernardinho); the double teams of beach volleyball, like Guilherme and Pará and Shelda and Adriana; the bi-champion of the triathlon Dolabella; surfers like Ricardo Bocão and Mudinho among others. He participated as a trainer in body expression in theater and dance and as a lecturer in national and international conventions on physical activities since 1979.
On a more personal level, he belongs to a beautiful family, made up of his wife lara Cani, his daughters Roberta and Patricia and his grandchildren Bruno and Rodrigo, as well and his numerous friends and long time students. This family gives him incredible affectionate and emotional support."
Sometimes I do it at home and it is as if I go back in time and I am there at that room, he still teaches there now with his daughters, and I will try to go back this year. I stopped because I didn't had money and he was kind enough not to charge me. But I started feeling ashamed. I'm sure I would not be having back problems if I didn't stop. But I'm getting better and better so I believe that soon I will be back at that room and I am very happy thinking about it because I feel that even though I stopped I still carry what I learned and it is part of who I am.
It will be great to go to a class where you only think about what you are doing and stop thinking about quotidian and foolish things especially at the end of the class during relaxation. You really stop thinking without effort. What else can someone aspire?
Have a great weekend.
