Stadium Pow Wow from A Tribe Called Red.
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Art, Fun, & Nonsense.
Stadium Pow Wow from A Tribe Called Red.
Song Peilun is a hermit, an artist, a former professor, and now can be called the father of Yelang Valley.
After spending almost 20 years trying to build a wonderland-like place, Song’s vision has finally materialized.
It all started in 1996 when he quit his teaching position and spent his lifelong investment to buy a 200,000 square meters’ of land in an isolated mountainous forest area in Huaxi, southwest China’s Guizhou Province, and decided to stay there – just to pursue his quest of building a utopia-like community that resembles characteristics from the Middle Ages, or Winterfell from the hit TV series Game of Thrones.
But Yelang Valley’s civilization is believed to be older than the Middle Ages, before the area was part of modern-day China. Here, experts say, multiple ancient cultures were rooted, which have prospered for tens of thousands of years.
Song, now 76, has been studying the colorful minority cultures that have existed in the Guizhou region for years. After visiting the United States, he was particularly touched by the parallels between the ethnic minorities in Guizhou and the Native Americans – he was deeply saddened to see cultural infiltration had contributed to the loss of age-old traditions and heritage.
But the retired professor and cultural enthusiast wanted to restore that heritage in Huaxi, if not entirely then at least a part of it. He was inspired by the Crazy Horse, a mountain monument dedicated to a Native American warrior, in the US state of South Dakota. Song wanted to create something similar in the mountains of Guizhou.
Before he arrived, some of the villagers living in the area were working as masons, mining in the mountain and selling the stones to make a living.
“It is not fun selling them,” Song remembers suggesting them.
“Let’s build blocks,” he told them.
And the villagers agreed. They later became the architects of the valley that Song was visualized.
Through the years, Song trained them to become landscape architects – he had previously tried building an artist community in another area aiming to bring economic benefits to protect their culture but had failed. In Yelang Valley, he was continuing his pursuit. During the years, many locals aged, some died too, but their collective dream only thrived. And when Song ran out of money, the villagers even volunteered to contribute.
After all, Yelang Valley would become their spiritual home.
After two decades, Song says they have attracted visitors. Many locals, including him, now live in wooden houses perched in trees and the place looks like a settled community, but it is still an ongoing project, the creator adds.
However, along these years, Song’s wish of creating, and then retaining a village far from the hustle and bustles of city life has been hit hard by signs of modernization that are slowly seeping into the community.
But Song says he is not worried – if destroyed, he says, he will spend another 20 years to build another community in the other end of the valley.
This is so wonderful. I’d live in such a place, and happily so. We could use communities like this everywhere. Via CCTV News, Alfalfa Studio, and Great Big Story.
The snow has weighed down much of my Juniper tree. Click for full size.
© C. Ford.
Sparrows. Click for full size.
© C. Ford
Levi Jeans has decided they don’t want customers with guns in their stores. Seems reasonable to me. I don’t want to be around people with loaded guns while looking for a pair of jeans. Naturally, the gun fondlers are more than a tad upset. As far as they are concerned, this means all Levi stores will be rushed by eager robbers, as I guess the only thing that keeps them out are armed customers. Who knew?
Gun rights advocates erupted in predictable outrage Wednesday after the famed denim brand Levi Strauss & Co asked customers not to carry firearms in its stores.
“Providing a safe environment to work and shop is a top priority for us at Levi Strauss & Co,” CEO Chip Bergh wrote Wednesday in a LinkedIn post. “That imperative is quickly challenged, however, when a weapon is carried into one of our stores. Recently, we had an incident in one of our stores where a gun inadvertently went off, injuring the customer who was carrying it.”
Bergh noted that as an international brand, the company felt impacted by the attacks in Paris, Nice and Orlando, adding “the presence of firearms in our stores creates an unsettling environment for many of our employees and customers.”
The Levi’s CEO said the company’s policy “boils down to this: You shouldn’t have to be concerned about your safety while shopping for clothes or trying on a pair of jeans.”
2nd Amendment activists took to Twitter calling for a boycott of the brand.
There’s a selection of said tweets at Raw Story, many calling for a boycott of the “Jew Jeans”.
Colorado Doctor Michelle Herren (Denver Channel, screenshot).
An anesthesiologist with Denver Health is facing backlash over her racist Facebook remarks about First Lady Michelle Obama, the Denver Post reports.
Dr. Michelle Herren responded to a post about Obama’e eloquence, which also noted that the first lady was a graduate of Princeton University and then Harvard Law.
Herren wrote, “Doesn’t seem to be speaking too eloquently here, thank god we can’t hear her!” She added, “Harvard??? That’s a place for ‘entitled’ folks said all the liberals!”
JoAnn Nieto, a friend of the original poster told the Denver Post that she was outraged by the comments, and especially after learning where Herren worked. “It really outraged me to see that she works at Denver Health, which serves a huge minority population,” Nieto said.
Herren’s comments got progressively worse. In a following comment, she wrote, “Monkey face and poor ebonic English!!! There! I feel better and am still not racist!!! Just calling it like it is!” But she is “still not racist.”
Okay, you aren’t a racist. An evil, thoughtless, idiotic bigot. Better now?
Full story here.
As for the last story, I’ll just leave this here, you can find details here and here:
The American Family Association and Liberty Counsel, bastions of Christian bigotry, have both released their Naughty or Nice lists of retailers, which is basically about whether or not chances are you might hear “Happy Christmas” rather than the oh so evil and awful “Happy Holidays”. Personally, I don’t care, and if I do get a “Merry Christmas” from someone, I happily respond with “A Merry Giftmas to you!”, which always receives an appreciate laugh and smile.
This self-righteous bullshit on the part of some Christians is beyond idiocy. Christians who actually live according to the bible don’t celebrate the blasphemous Winter celebration, as the bible says it’s right bad, that whole tree and decoration business, and it doesn’t have jack shit to do with Christ or Christianity. It really doesn’t take much effort to learn about the Church’s dubious history with the various Winter holidays, and their attempt to stomp out all those nasty festivals and rituals. It’s also very hypocritical, because the majority of Christians celebrate the same Xmas as everyone else, all wrapped up in the commercialism and crassness, but neither the AFA or Liberty Counsel is in the slightest abashed about putting out their list of retail stores, where people can go and toss out astonishing amounts of money on goods which have nothing to do with poor ol’ baby Jesus. It’s like Zoidberg Jesus in a group of Santa Clauses.
As Right Wing Watch notes, they can’t even agree on the naughty or nice list. Oh, the confusion!
For the second year in a row, the American Family Association and Liberty Counsel have released dueling “Naughty or Nice” lists designed to, as Liberty Counsel puts it, let Religious Right consumers know “which stores are censoring Christmas and which are openly celebrating it.”
Such efforts are vital, the AFA explained, because “there are secular forces in our country that hate Christmas because the word itself is a reminder of Jesus Christ. They want to eradicate anything that reminds Americans of Christianity. That is why it is important to remind governments and companies to keep the word Christmas alive.”
Right. So how many people are suddenly illuminated with thoughts of Jesus Christ when they hear the word Christmas? Or are the associations more likely to be trees, lights, gifts, decorations, family? Or perhaps frustration, debt, loss, loneliness, sadness, or despair? If you’re a Christian, be honest with yourself here. This is Christian puffery and hate at its finest – the mere idea of inclusion being so repugnant to so-called Christians. You’ll know them by their disdain and hate, not their love.
Unfortunately, AFA and Liberty Counsel can’t seem to agree upon which companies are “naughty” and which ones are “nice,” as several stores that are listed in one category by one group are listed in the other by the other group.
For instance, while Liberty Counsel declares that Barnes & Noble, Best Buy and Staples are all “nice,” the AFA declares that those same stores are all “naughty”:
Similarly, while AFA places Dick’s Sporting Goods and TJ Maxx on its “nice” list, Liberty Counsel has designated them as “naughty”:
Hopefully, next year AFA and Liberty Counsel can iron out this discrepancy so that conservative Christian consumers can know whether they stores they are patronizing are good, God-fearing businesses or evil misanthropes intent on subjecting Americans to the unimaginable horror of being wished a happy holiday.
Oh yes, the awful! Oh all the gods, the thought of being nice to all people! The horror! Christians, the very best reason to eschew Christmas. I’ll take Saturnalia instead.
Via RRW.
Connor Hakes (Facebook).
Connor Hakes, 23, asked to perform at St. Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church after learning of his grandmother’s death on Nov. 21.
Hakes says he and his family have been longtime members of the parish, so he was saddened when Father Bob J. Lengerich denied his request in a lengthy letter that has since been made public. [Can be viewed at the linked article.]
In the letter, Lengerich said he was concerned that Hakes was living a same-sex lifestyle and openly advocating for LGBT rights.
“Anytime someone sins and then acts in the name of God, it causes scandal,” said Lengerich. “This is the main reason why you cannot (at this time) offer your gifts in service at St. Mary’s.”
The letter goes on to say that any person who serves in the church or as a representative of the church must uphold the church’s values.
The church suggested Hakes should perform his tribute outside of the church, saying “you are more than welcome to honor your Grandmother with a special tribute in song as long as it is outside of the Mass and outside of the Church, perhaps at the Funeral Home or Parish Hall during the viewing, at the cemetery after the committal and/or even at the luncheon.”
Hakes, who studied singing at Indiana University, says he’s performed at the church for several years, but he wasn’t surprised by Lengerich’s response.
“It was very clear that he had judged me and formed and opinion about me,” said Hakes. “There was no reason to believe I would be changing his mind.”
Hakes says the church’s decision was partly based on a photo that was posted on Facebook last year, which shows him attending a gay pride rally with friends.
Hakes says he believes his grandparents would be “disgusted” by the church’s decision.
“Their compassion and empathy was abundant, no matter who you were,” said Hakes. “They saw beyond race, religion, sexuality, and social class. They loved everyone. That is what it means to be a Christian. That is what it means to be Catholic.”
The church has responded with their usual mealy mouthed nothingness. It would be a bit more on point if they whacked their parish priest over the head with the need for actual morals. Oh wait…yeah, that won’t happen.
Full story here.
Potato Stain Glass. In the comments, the chef clarifies that the vegetable slicer is a Japanese vegetable sheeter called: Chiba Peel S Turning Slicer.
Click for full size.
© C. Ford.
A female Dark-eyed Junco. Click for full size.
© C. Ford.
On Tuesday, Canada’s Liberal government approved two major oil pipelines that, if constructed, would send one million more barrels of oil a day from Alberta’s tar sands — known in Canada as oil sands — to markets overseas. The move brought a chorus of criticism from environmentalists and indigenous communities, which have fought hard against the pipeline projects.
The move could be a major setback for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who came into power on a progressive platform that included strong climate action. He has spoken out in favor of the Paris climate agreement, and, under his leadership, Canada has announced plans to enact a nationwide carbon tax. But approving two pipeline projects — even while rejecting the Northern Gateway pipeline — will certainly damage his credibility with environmentalists who had hoped Trudeau’s leadership would signal a clean break from the policies of his predecessor, climate-denier Stephen Harper.
During the announcement, Trudeau acknowledged that the decision was bound to upset many across Canada, but argued that the projects were in the best interest of the country and the economy.
[…]
“Today’s announcement may as well have said that Canada is pulling out of the Paris climate agreement,” Aurore Fauret, Tar Sands Campaign Coordinator with 350.org, said in a statement. “By approving the Kinder Morgan and Line 3 pipelines, there is no way Canada can meet those commitments. Justin Trudeau has broken his promises for real climate leadership, and broken his promise to respect the rights of Indigenous peoples.”
[…]
Vancouver residents — as well as residents of Washington state, which shares waters with the Port of Vancouver — worry that increased oil traffic will raise the risk of a major spill off the Vancouver coast. The product from Alberta’s tar sands is a particularly heavy type of oil known as bitumen, which sinks when released in water, instead of rising to the surface like other oils. That makes cleaning up bitumen spills incredibly difficult and costly — instead of skimming oil off the top of the water, cleaning up bitumen usually requires dredging, which can have serious detrimental effects on ecosystems. Indigenous communities along the Vancouver coast are worried that such a spill could devastate important species like salmon and orcas.
“This issue is as black and white as the killer whales they endanger,” Charlene Aleck, a spokeswoman for the Tsleil-Waututh Nation, said in a statement. “This is about our survival and the protection of our home, this inlet and the planet. They are making a big mistake, we will not allow this pipeline to be built.”
[…]
Local environmental activist groups, however, voiced their disapproval of Trudeau’s decision.
“As thousands of water protectors continue to make camp in winter conditions at Standing Rock, more crude oil pipelines are the last thing the Midwest needs,” Andy Pearson, Midwest tar sands coordinator with MN350, said in a statement. “The Canadian approval of Line 3 is a slap in the face to the landowners and indigenous community members of North Dakota, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, who will work harder than ever to make sure this dirty tar sands pipeline does not cross into the United States.”
[…]
On Tuesday, hours before Trudeau’s decision to approve the two pipeline expansion projects, news broke that Kellyanne Conway, President-elect Trump’s campaign manager and senior transition adviser, would be traveling to Canada before the inauguration to tour Alberta’s tar sands.
The move has lead to speculation that the incoming Trump administration might renew the Keystone XL project, something that Trump promised during his campaign. Following Trump’s Electoral College win on November 8, TransCanada — the company behind Keystone — released a statement saying it was eager to work with a Trump administration.
“TransCanada remains fully committed to building Keystone XL,” company spokesman Mark Cooper said.
We can all thank Prime Minister Trudeau for jumping on the oil wagon, and guaranteeing that Indigenous peoples in Canada and uStates will be endangered and royally screwed over. Thanks ever.
Full story here.
A new survey reveals that a quarter of Europeans think that rape is justifiable in some cases, notably in situations where a person is drunk or drugged, or agrees to go with someone. There are several sources available, and you can read the full 102 page report here.
And snow. More snow. Wore my knee high boots out today. Snow is up to my knees.
© C. Ford.