Saturday, July 16, 2011
Sunday, July 10, 2011
The Story of Zero
Zero from Zealous Creative on Vimeo.
The story of Zero
The Story: Born into a world of numbers, an oppressed zero discovers that through determination, courage, and love, nothing can be truly something.
Zero is a 12'32 stop motion animation written and directed by Christopher Kezelos and produced by Christine Kezelos. The film comes out of Australia and has received a number of awards for animation.
Noelle’s Review of the film:
This is truly one of the best short animation films that I have seen to date. This film has such depth. The filmmaker has created a whole culture within the film and immersed us in it. We follow the story of Zero and see in his marginalization all the ugliness of our various histories. But we are also offered hope and the affirmation that our thoughts, actions and reactions create our world. I won’t say more. Such a beautiful story and so completely well done. Lovely in every way!
Linked to Share the Joy Thursdays: Please Stop by Meri’s Musings for more wonderful posts!
Postcards from Paradise: In That World The Angels Wear Fins (Blog Anniversary Post 1 Year)
In That World, The Angels Wear Fins
In that world, the angels wear fins.
Red hulls pass over like clouds, their shadows
angling down between ropes of sun.
When women who have dived there return,
they do not speak of oysters or pearls.
Shaking their heads they say, "There is nothing."
They say, "We must look somewhere else,"
and twist their black hair in the world of men,
and wade heavily through the grass-scented air.
From this they know loss like salt:
how without it, the tongue grows stubborn and dull,
tastes nothing.
But the wild flavor, the sea, how it moves in them,
hip and thigh--a soundless current, kicking
downward the rest of their lives.
--Jane Hirschfield
(Of Gravity & Angels)
My very First Post with a video added and a new picture.
Today is my Blog's first Birthday! I published this post on 7/10/10 and today is 7/10/11. Thank you to all those who have been following or popping in for a visit!
Selkie Myth
Monday, July 4, 2011
This is My Heart
This is My Heart
This is my heart. It is a good heart.
Bones and a membrane of mist and fire
are the woven cover.
When we make love in the flower world
my heart is close enough to sing
to yours in a language that has no use
for clumsy human words.
My head is a good head, but it is a hard head
and it whirs inside with a swarm of worries.
What is the source of this singing, it asks
and if there is a source why can't I see it
right here, right now
as real as these hands hammering
the world together
with nails and sinew?
This is my soul. It is a good soul.
It tells me, "come here forgetful one."
And we sit together with a lilt of small winds
who rattle the scrub oak.
We cook a little something
to eat: a rabbit, some sofkey
then a sip of something sweet
for memory.
This is my song. It is a good song.
It walked forever the border of fire and water
climbed ribs of desire to my lips to sing to you.
Its new wings quiver with
vulnerability.
Umb(r)ella © 2011 Art Lionse
Come lie next to me, says my heart.
Put your head here.
It is a good thing, says my soul.
~ Joy Harjo ~
(A Map to the Next World)
About the Photographer:
Art Lionse Hails from the South of France. You may find his other work on his homepage at 1xcom and fotoblur.com.
Joy Harjo
Joy Harjo was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1951. Her books of poetry include How We Became Human: New and Selected Poems (W.W. Norton & Co., 2002); A Map to the Next World: Poems (2000); The Woman Who Fell From the Sky (1994), which received the Oklahoma Book Arts Award; In Mad Love and War (1990), which received an American Book Award and the Delmore Schwartz Memorial Award; Secrets from the Center of the World (1989); She Had Some Horses (1983); and What Moon Drove Me to This? (1979). She also performs her poetry and plays saxophone with her band, Poetic Justice. Her many honors include The American Indian Distinguished Achievement in the Arts Award, the Josephine Miles Poetry Award, the Mountains and Plains Booksellers Award, the William Carlos Williams Award, and fellowships from the Arizona Commission on the Arts, the Witter Bynner Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts. She lives in Hawaii.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Share the Joy Thursday: Where Beauty Starts
Fireworks by Art Lionse with kind permission
Not to make loss beautiful,
But to make loss the place
Where beauty starts. Where
the heart understands
For the first time
The nature of its journey.
St John’s Wort by Art Lionse with kind permission
Love, yes. The body
of the beloved as the gift
Bestowed. But only
Temporarily. Given freely,
But now to be earned.
Dandelious By: Art Lionse with kind permission
Given without thought,
And now loss
Has made us thoughtful.
~ Gregory Orr ~
(Concerning The Book That Is the Body Of The Beloved)
For More Share the Joy Posts See Meri’s Musings
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Postcards from Paradise: I See You
”Contemplating You” © Andre du Plessis with kind permission
Photographer’s Note: I photographed Lena where she is sitting on the ground immediately outside the front door of her house. Dalina, her mom, asked me to do some portraits of Lena, as they have none. Here the late afternoon light and gentle breeze assisted me.
Waiting in Line
When you listen you reach
into dark corners and
pull out your wonders.
When you listen your
ideas come in and out
like they were waiting in line.
“It’s All About the Rain” © Andre du Plessis with kind permission
Your ears don’t always listen.
It can be your brain, your
fingers, your toes.
You can listen anywhere.
Your mind might not want to go.
If you can listen you can find
answers to questions you didn’t know.
If you have listened, truly
listened, you don’t find your
self alone.
~ Nick Penna, fifth grade ~
(In Poetic Medicine by John Fox)
About the Photographer:
Andre du Plessis hails originally from central South Africa and currently resides in the U.K. (London) where he works in private practice as a Physician with a unique Anesthesiology Specialty. His great love for photography began when he was a young boy of five, and has remained with him steadily since. The great motivator for his photographic adventures is never knowing where they will lead him. When asked about the spontaneity of his “Street Shoots” with regard to his South African series he responded in this way:
“In general, my subjects are people I do not know; in essence they are strangers to me at first. My objective is that the images I take of these people become something that transcends this void, and perhaps bridges any distance between us.”
~Andre du Plessis (bio)
For More Postcards From Paradise, Please visit recuerda mi corazon. There you will find more beautiful places to visit and enjoy.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Haiku My Heart: Feelings and Consolation
Feelings © Andre du Plessis with kind permission
Offering of Love
In Quiet and Equal Gaze
Consolation © Andre du Plessis with kind permission
Renders Constancy
~Noelle Renee
6.23.11
A Note from the Photographer:
Photography is an elegiac art, a twilight art. Most subjects photographed are, just by virtue of being photographed, touched with pathos. All photographs are 'memento mori'. To take a photograph is to participate in another person's mortality, vulnerability, mutability. Precisely by slicing out this moment and freezing it, all photographs testify to time's relentless melt.
...Susan Sontag: American author, literary theorist, and political activist. 1933 – 2004
~I wish to dedicate this photograph of Lorraine Wildeman to Phyllis Clarke for her constant assistance, encouragement and vision. Thanks Phyllis.
“You bring poetry to poverty and pain, and you bring us closer to South Africa through just a few people…” excerpt from a quoted response to these images by Phyllis Clarke on 1x.com.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Andre du Plessis hails originally from South Africa and now resides in London where he practices as a physician when he is not capturing these phenomenal images.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Linked to Haiku My Heart.
For More Wonderful Haiku Posts, please go to Recuerda mi Corazon. We are an inclusive group of Haiku-ers and would love for you to join us. Happy One Year Anniversary of Haiku My Heart Everyone!
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Some Say You’re Lucky
Rita at the Shebeen © Andre du Plessis with kind permission
Some say you're lucky
If nothing shatters it.
But then you wouldn't
Understand poems or songs.
You'd never know
Beauty comes from loss.
It's deep inside every person:
A tear tinier
Than a pearl or thorn.
It's one of the places
Where the beloved is born.
~ Gregory Orr ~
South African Shebeens~
In South Africa and Zimbabwe, shebeens are most often located in black townships as an alternative to pubs and bars, where under apartheid and the Rhodesian era, black Africans could not enter a pub or bar reserved for whites.
Originally, shebeens were operated illegally, selling homebrewed and home-distilled alcohol and providing patrons with a place to meet and discuss political and social issues. Often, patrons and owners were arrested by the police, though the shebeens were frequently reopened because of their importance in unifying the community and providing a safe place for discussion. During the apartheid era shebeens became a crucial meeting place for activists, some attracting working class activists and community members, while others attracted lawyers, doctors and musicians.
Shebeens also provided music and dancing, allowing patrons to express themselves culturally, which helped give rise and support the musical genre 'kwaito'. Currently, shebeens are legal in South Africa and have become an integral part of South African urban culture, serving commercial beers as well as 'umqombothi', a traditional African beer made from maize and sorghum. Shebeens still form an important part of today's social scene. In contemporary South Africa, they serve a function similar to juke joints for African Americans in the rural south. They represent a sense of community, identity, and belonging.
Today, they appeal to South Africa's youth, and are mostly owned by men. Shebeens are bouncing back as South Africans try to preserve some of their cultural heritage. (Wikipedia)
Linked to Share the Joy Thursday with Meri’s Musings*
About the Photographer:
Andre du Plessis hails originally from central South Africa and currently resides in the U.K. (London) where he works in private practice as a Physician with a unique Anesthesiology Specialty. His great love for photography began when he was a young boy of five, and has remained with him steadily since. The great motivator for his photographic adventures is never knowing where they will lead him. When asked about the spontaneity of his “Street Shoots” with regard to his South African series he responded in this way:
“In general, my subjects are people I do not know; in essence they are strangers to me at first. My objective is that the images I take of these people become something that transcends this void, and perhaps bridges any distance between us. When I look at these photos afterwards, although these people might be strangers, I want the photo to express that I feel a kinship, an understanding, and that respect for one another is tangible. In my South African series, very few of my subjects are wealthy; they do not have the goodies that you or I might have. However, I want the person in front of the lens to be captured in the wholesomeness of who they feel they are. Their environment is captured merely as an addition to complete the canvas.”
~Taken from Andre du Plessis’s Bio. with permission.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Stay With Me
Stay With Me by Val Tilu with kind permission
Matins
II (excerpt)
I arise today
Blessed by all things,
Wings of breath,
Delight of eyes,
Wonder of whisper,
Intimacy of touch,
Eternity of soul,
Urgency of thought,
Miracle of health,
Embrace of God.
May I live this day.
~ John O"Donohue ~
(Eternal Echoes)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(Pour Mes Amis Francais)
Matines
II (extrait)
Je me lève aujourd'hui
Béni par toutes choses,
Ailes de souffle,
Délice des yeux,
Merveille de chuchoter,
L'intimité du toucher,
Eternité de l'âme,
Urgence de la pensée,
Miracle de la santé,
Étreinte de Dieu.
Puis-je vivre cette journée.
~ John O "Donohue ~
About the Photographer:
Val Tilu hails from Aix en Provence, France.
In her own words:
“Cigale photographe, Passionnée par l'image, j'aime la beauté des gens et du monde, la lumière comme l'obscurité, la nostalgie de l'enfance...”
"On a cigada trail, my camera loves to capture images, pictures, life, objects,views. I love the beauty of a face, a silhouette, the light and its textures , the darkness, the shadows, the nostalgia of childhood ..."
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Postcards from Paradise: Velocity
If you live the life you love, you will receive shelter and blessings. Sometimes the great famine of blessings in and around us derives from the fact that we are not living the life we love; rather, we are living the life that is expected of us. We have fallen out of rhythm with the secret signature and light of our own nature.
John O'Donohue
For More Postcards from Paradise, Please visit Rebecca’ s Blog, recuerda mi corazon. You will be so glad you did!
Seasons by Erica Haowei Hu
Seasons is a surreal motion graphics animation based on the changing seasons. Beginning with spring, the richly hued illustrations in this work come alive as they transform in color and rhythmic tempo to reveal the full seasonal spectrum.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Haiku My Heart: Tender Mercies
Petals Shaped Like Tears
Tender Mercies Lit By Love
Sun Sets on One Flower.
~Noelle Renee
6-16-11
Thought of You by Ryan WoodWard
For More Wonderful Haiku My Heart, Please go to Recuerda mi Corazon. We are a good group of welcoming Haiku-ers, always looking for more to join in!
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
A Star Without A Name
Ursula I Abresch "Fireworks” with kind permission
When a baby is taken from the wet nurse,
it easily forgets her
and starts eating solid food.
Seeds feed awhile on ground,
then lift up into the sun.
So you should taste the filtered light
and work your way toward wisdom
with no personal covering.
That's how you came here, like a star
without a name. Move across the night sky
with those anonymous lights.
~ Rumi
(Mathnawi III, 1284-1288)
linked to Share the Joy Thursdays with “Meri’s Musings”. For more Share the Joy stop by Meri’s blog.
Ursula I Abresch is a photographer in the West Kootenays, in beautiful British Columbia, Canada. She was born in Argentina, raised in both Argentina and Chile. She moved to the USA to attend university, and eventually moved permanently to Canada.
Ursula is married. She and her husband have five children. She has a degree in Education with a concentration in Art and History. She now dedicates most of her time to photography.
Out of a Forest
Out of a Forest
Directed by: Tobias Gundorff Boesen
Animation by: Katrine Kiilerich, Frederik Villumsen, Christophe Peladan, Tobias Gundorff Boesen
Light and Photography: Martin Bested, Andreas Berg
2010 The Animation Workshop
My Bachelorfilm from The Animation Workshop. Set to the song "Slow Show" by The National, who were kind enough to allow me to use their music. It is a non-commercial short film, intended for festivals.
It is shot in the forests surrounding Viborg, Denmark. My main inspiration was Victorian literature, and "Boxer" by the national. It was painful to finish, as shooting stop motion in the forest at night for longer periods turned out to offer a lot of problems :) But it was also great fun and adventure.
My Review ~
This is a beautifully done little film . The characters are tender and one becomes involved with this little animal family so that there is a sadness and a feeling of loss. It takes work to achieve that in a short film. The ending is wonderful and surprising. Lovely, magical, inspired. Beautiful scenery and very creative animation work.
Noelle Renee
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Therefore, We Are Saved By Love
 |
| Blue and Gold by Nicolas Evariste with kind permission |
Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in our lifetime;
therefore, we must be saved by hope.Nothing which is true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history;therefore, we must be saved by faith.
Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone;therefore we are saved by love.
~ Reinhold Niebuhr ~
(Excerpt from The Irony of American History,
cited in Leading from Within, ed. by S. M. Intrator and M. Scribner)Sunday, June 12, 2011
Postcards from Paradise: Millennium Blessing
Sound are Forest by Milan Malovrh with kind permission
There is a grace approaching
that we shun as much as death,
it is the completion of our birth.
It does not come in time,
but in timelessness
when the mind sinks into the heart
and we remember.
Circle of Life by Milan Malovrh with kind permission
It is an insistent grace that draws us
to the edge and beckons us surrender
safe territory and enter our enormity.
We know we must pass
beyond knowing
and fear the shedding.
Gallop in by Milan Malovrh with kind permission
But we are pulled upward
none-the-less
through forgotten ghosts
and unexpected angels,
luminous.
Na-pasi-m-bw by Milan Malovrh with kind permission
And there is nothing left to say
but we are That.
And that is what we sing about.
~ Stephen Levine ~
(Breaking the Drought)
About the Photographer: Milan Malovrh hails from Trzic, Slovenia. Photography is his primary hobby for which he has a deep passion. He loves Lippizaner horses! You will find more of his heavenly works and many images of these beautiful White Angels on 1x.com and his homepage
For more Wonderful Postcards from Paradise go to Rebecca’s blog! And Don’t forget that today is the last day to bid on the benefit auction for Oaxaca Streetchildren Grassroots ending at 6 pm!
Click on this button to go to the Gallery of Hope and make a last Bid on a Shrine!
You may also offer a donation to this worthy cause, knowing that you helped in some small way to help raise a roof of love over the lives of hundreds of children in Oaxaca, Mexico, who are served daily by this amazing organization. Please consider donating whatever amount you can HERE.
Friday, June 10, 2011
Haiku My Heart: Reflection
Reflection by Miles Morgan with kind permission
Water Carves Through Stone
Silken Vein of Liquid Light
A World Shaped by Dreams
~Noelle Renee
Poverty and Struggle are Twin siblings with Despair and Lost Hope; these have been with us since time immemorial. They are, in many respects, foundational to cultural relationships in which there exist the “Haves and the Have-nots.
One Group lives with little to nothing so that the Other Group, more fortunate, by birth or by virtue of Political Aggression may live with Entitlement. The dysfunctional nature of the United States ongoing relationship with Mexico may be perceived in this way.
But History is Not graven in Stone and Every
So Often things Change for the Better~
If Water can cut a path through rock, shifting the course of its luminous thread, its one, bright dream~
What other changes will follow?
Can the course of a Life be changed if a pattern of thought is shifted?
whose life is transformed by that thought
ever be the same again?
For now and ever after, each one
is inextricably intertwined with the other
in a dance of compassionate cooperation
and human transformation.
Waiting by Art Lionse with kind permission
I cannot fly or make something appear in my hand,
I cannot make the heavens open or the earth tremble,
I can live with myself, and I am amazed at myself, my love,
my beauty,
I am taken by my failures, astounded by my fears,
I am stubborn and childish,
in the midst of this wreckage of life they incurred,
I practice being myself,
and I have found parts of myself never dreamed of by me,
they were goaded out from under rocks in my heart
when the walls were built higher,
when the water was turned off and the windows painted black.
I followed these signs
like an old tracker and followed the tracks deep into myself,
followed the blood-spotted path,
deeper into dangerous regions, and found so many parts of myself,
who taught me water is not everything,
and gave me new eyes to see through walls,
and when they spoke, sunlight came out of their mouths,
and I was laughing at me with them,
we laughed like children and made pacts to always be loyal,
who understands me when I say this is beautiful?
~Excerpt from Jimmy Baca’s “Who Understands Me But Me”
If you want to go to a place where water carves rock and dreams become reality; where possibility mixed with love and generosity leaps beyond the boundaries and limitations of the “haves and the “have nots'” to create an amazing, cooperative melting pot of artistic expression for the purpose of raising a crumbling roof over the heads of deserving and wonderful children, then go to Rebecca’s blog. There, you will find a Gallery of Hope filled with the handiwork of 27 AMAZING ARTISTS whose work is beyond compare. Each shrine has been created with love, compassion and the intention that each child connected to Oaxaca Streetchildren Grassroots would have the opportunity to go to school, perhaps for the first time.
Won’t you travel over to Rebecca’s blog, register at the Gallery of Hope and Feast your eyes on the beauty that awaits you there? You will be so glad that you did. The button below will also lead you to the post for the Auction benefit. The auction began on Sunday, June 5, 2011 and ends Sunday June 12, 2011 at 6 pm. Thank you.
Que tu corazón sea bendito por su amabilidad!
~Noelle Renee
“Dancing” by Rebecca Brooks taken in Oaxaca, Mexico
Change Your thinking, Change Your Actions, Change a Life.
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