My livejournal is mostly friends only. I do make a few public posts though to transfer to my Facebook.

Comment if you wanna be added.

Post anything that you want, and post it anonymously. Anything. A story, a secret, a confession, a fear, a love -- anything. Be sure to post anonymously and honestly. Post twice if you'd like. Then, put this in your LJ to see what your friends (and perhaps others who you don't even realize read your LJ) have to say...

DO THIS (you feckin mofo)

thank you.

I just completed my third Thanjavur Painting, a Saraswati. I've done two Ganesh's and a Hanuman previously.

Thanjavur painting is this stylized genre of paintings of various gods and goddesses in Hindu mythology. They're figures are very chubby, almost 3D, and they are decorated with golden ornaments and colorful jewels.

I wouldn't say that this is really authentic. Real Thanjavur artists use gold foil and glue, but since its hard to find real gold foil here, I've substituted gold acrylic and fabric paint. It has the same effect, but its significantly cheaper.

And I've taken pictures of the entire process and made a sort of tutorial.


( Read more... )



These are some of the ones I did before.

News: I can bend spoons now! I have finally accomplished something that I've always wanted to do in my life. No, I haven't eaten Sylar's brain for his telekinetic abilities (I <3 Heroes). It was exciting when it first happened this morning, but by now, it has pretty much worn out and all I have are several pieces of unusable cutlery.

Regardless, it's kinda cool. Let me clear up some misconceptions first. I don't claim to bend them with my mind (like that kid from The Matrix). I think it is possible for very well trained and experienced people to do that, but I certainly can't. What I do, and what most people do, is bend them with very little effort using fingers. There are different methods from what I've seen for going about this. Fork-You.com encourages PK-parties. I first read about this a few years ago and it involves gather people and focusing energies. After discharging the energies by shouting "BEND" thrice, the people must be distracted enough for the energy to release through something called "focused inattention." I hosted a party like this with all my friends, and none of us got ours to bend. Except for one girl, but I didn't see it happen. I refused to believe that such a thing could happen, and if it could, it certainly wouldn't happen to me because I'm so not the meditating type.

This morning I was quite bored with myself so I decided to youtube it and see if anyone put up actual videos. I found this toutorial video by zensightprocess and it's what has got me started.

I watched it first. Then I fetched a few forks and spoons and actually tried it. It didn't work the first time because I was too focused on the actual result, which doesn't work. The second time around I just let whatever happen, happen. I imagined this unlimited orange energy fill my head and travel down my throat. It spilled down my shoulders and arms, into my hands and fingers until it went into the fork. The feeling you get when you touch the space between your eyebrows tingled all over me and into the fork. I imagined it being filled with all this energy and then turning into putty. Finally I got the distraction from the video and I bent it. I twisted the handle easily almost around two times. I then played around with the tines of the fork. After a few seconds, the fork became rigid again and I couldn't bend it anymore.

The result:





( I bent several more afterward. )

All of the cutlery used is stainless steel and is genuine. Hell, if I could do it, I think anyone can. And if you don't believe me, try it out for yourself.


I'm making this post public because I think it's amazing what the human mind is capable of. I can't explain why or how this happens. I'm a believer in human 'energies' and 'auras' and I think this definitly confirms it. I think with more work, it could be possible to do it without touching the metal, just only through the forces of gravity or whatnot. Doing this makes me feel almost powerful in a way. A certain desire to achieve something that is not widely accomplished is fulfilled (though this is changing at the very moment, tons of people are able to do this). I think this 'mind over matter' thinking can do wonders for the world. It makes what seems impossible, possible. Suddenly things don't seem as daunting as they were before, and our hope is reaffirmed.

I think I might make a video later, once I get a better camera that takes videos longer than fifty seconds. So stay tooned.

I think this will be my next favorite movie since Marie Antoinette. I've been waiting anxiously for a movie like this for a long time. I haven't seen it, and I probably won't, seeing how it doesn't appeal to the masses who prefer Bollywood crappola.


"Set in rural South India, a place where social barriers are built stronger than fort walls, VANAJA explores the chasm that divides classes as a young girl struggles to come of age.

Vanaja (Mamatha Bhukya) is the 14 year-old daughter of a poor, low caste fisherman, struggling with dwindling catches and mounting debt. When a sooth-sayer predicts that she will be a great dancer one day, she goes to work in the house of the local landlady, Rama Devi (Urmila Dammannagari), in hopes of learning Kuchipudi dance while earning a keep.

She is hired as a farmhand, and her vivacious ways and spunk soon catch the landlady’s eye: when she is entrusted with tending the chicken, she’s caught, instead, chasing them into a general pandemonium, and lying unabashedly to conceal her pranks. To keep her out of trouble, Rama Devi promotes her to a kitchen underhand, where she comes up against the old, crusty and extremely loyal Radhamma (Krishnamma Gundimalla) – Rama Devi’s cook.

It isn’t long before Vanaja gets herself invited to play a game of ashta chamma against Rama Devi. Seeing that losing isn’t the mistress’s forte, Vanaja deliberately gives up her game – a fact that doesn’t go unnoticed - and which eventually secures her the landlady’s mentorship – first in music, and then in dance. Vanaja excels at the art, and seems to be on a steadily ascending path when Shekhar (Karan Singh), Rama Devi’s 23 year old son – handsome, muscular and rather insecure, returns from the US to run for local political elections.

Sexual chemistry is ignited between Shekhar and Vanaja (still a minor at 15), as flirtation and innuendo bloom. But, the situation suddenly turns ugly when Vanaja’s superior intellect pits her against Shekhar in a public incident which ultimately humiliates him in front of his mother. Matters escalate, spiraling downwards and she is pitched into a tale of class, family and animus from which there is only one escape."


<http://www.vanajathefilm.com/synopsis.html>.

I think the movie would break so many barriers concerning the social and artistic boundaries which still remain in India. It's frowned upon if a lower caste person practices Indian Classical dance which is pretty much dominated by the Brahmin (upper castes) for a long time. Which is ironic since Classical Dance used to belong to the Devadasis (non-Brahmins) up until the early 1900s when Brahmins decided to popularize in a more chaste form. The movie has a very strong female personality, which is uncommon, especially in rural India. To fall in love with a man who is significantly older (compared to modern/western standards) and to try to seek revenge after he rapes her.

What is most apparent behind the political/social commentary is the passion for Indian Classical Arts. Three art forms are glorified in this film, Carnatic music, Kuchipudi dance, and the Burra Katha folk narrative form.


















Haha. The only thing I would change would be this to be in Tamil and about Bharatanatyam, only because I'm so biased. But I'm can't wait to see this movie, even though I'm not quite fond of Kuchipudi.

I've recently become fascinated with the work of Zhang Xiaogang. Particularly his "Bloodline Series: Comrade No. 120" which apparently sold in March of last year for a whopping $979,200 in a NY auction.




I couldn't find a larger image of this particular painting, but I love the details. The heart of the painting lies in the eyes. The clarity of the eyes contrasting the soft edges in the rest of the painting is especially astounding. And the little patch of color on the face is really marvelous. A break in the photo, the mask, the obvious spurt of personality beneath a bland exterior, that of a worker bee.
It really holds the viewer, (obviously) reminding me of Frida Kahlo's numerous portraits.



'Regarding the portrait-like format of the works, he notes, "Posing for a photograph, people already display a certain formality. It is already something artificial. What I do is increase this artificiality and this sense of formalism." Zhang accomplishes this by increasing the "perfection" of the faces, as though by retouching - in the process giving them a disturbing, mask-like quality. This can be related to the groupthink tendency in Chinese culture, which places great pressure on individuals to subsume themselves in group norms.'

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhang_Xiaogang

Awesome movie. I went to see it with Amy, Urna, and Nika and let me tell you, Guillermo del Toro is the man. He does a beautiful job blending two genres, fantasy and horror, together.

The story is set during the Spanish civil war (between the Nationalists and Communists). A young girl and her pregnant mother move in with her new husband, a Captain of a Nationalist army. The girl, Ofelia, is obsessed with fairy tales and sometimes the line between reality and fantasy is blurred.

Basically, she discovers that she is supposed to be Princess of the Underworld but in reincarnated form, and must recover her powers and title by achieving three tasks.

The film is pretty gory and graphic at times, but it was necessary to show certain character qualities (I'm talking about the Capitan... arrrrgh). So if you're the faint of heart, this might not be so wonderful.

One of the tasks is to retrieve an object from this child-eating monster. And here is the scene:



It doesn't spoil anything in the movie, so don't worry. But it is totally worth it.

The saga continues...



( Picture Intensive. )

Ok. That's it for now (yes there is more...). I think I will make one more post to finish everything up.

( Picture intensive. )

That's it for now folks. Stay tooned for more.

1. Your Middle Name:
2. Age:
3. Single or Taken:
4. Favorite Movie:
5. Favorite Song:
6. Favorite Band/Artist:
7. Dirty or Clean:
8. Tattoos and/or Piercings:

HERE COMES THE FUN ...
1. Do we know each other outside of Live Journal?
2. Whats your philosophy on life?
3. Would you have my back in a fight?
4. Would you keep a secret from me if you thought it was in my best interest?
5. What is your favorite memory of us?
6. Would you give me a kidney?
7. Tell me one odd/intresting fact about you:
8. Would you take care of me when I'm sick?
9. Can we get together and make a cake?
10. Have you heard any rumors of me lately?
11. Do you/have you talk(ed) crap about me?
12. Do you think I'm a good person?
13. Would you drive across country with me?
14. Do you think I'm attractive?
15. If you could change anything about me, would you?
16. What do you wear to sleep?
17. Would you come over for no reason just to hang out?
18. Would you go on a date with me if i asked you?
19. If I only had one day to live, what would we do together?
20. Will you post this so I can fill it out for you?