Minority Report becomes reality. Is this real?
Haroshi makes his art pieces recycling old used skateboards. The most important style of Haroshi’s three-dimensional art piece is the wooden mosaic. In order to make a sculpture out of a thin skateboard deck, one must stack many layers. But skate decks are already processed products, and not flat like a piece of wood freshly cut out from a tree. Moreover, skateboards may seem like they’re all in the same shape, but actually, their structure varies according to the factory, brand, and popular skaters’ signature models. With his experience and almost crazy knowledge of skateboards, Haroshi is able to differentiate from thousands of used deck stocks, which deck fits with which when stacked. After the decks are chosen and stacked, they are cut, shaven, and polished with his favorite tools. Also, although one is not able to see from outside, there is a certain metal object that is buried inside his three-dimensional statue. The object is a broken skateboard part that was chosen from his collection of parts that became deteriorated and broke off from skateboards, or got damaged from a failed Big Make attempt. To Haroshi, to set this kind of metal part inside his art piece means to “give soul” to the statue. “Unkei,” a Japanese sculptor of Buddhas who was active in the 12th Century, whose works are most popular even today among the Japanese people; used to set a crystal ball called “Shin-Gachi-Rin (Heart Moon Circle)” in the position of the Buddha’s heart. This would become the soul of the statue. So the fact that Haroshi takes the same steps in his creation may be a natural reflection of his spirit and aesthetic as a Japanese.
~ Extracted from Haroshi.com
I find the Gary the dog sculpture is quite meaningful. It is done for Dennis Busenitz and represents two things. First being Gary following after Dennis Busenitz when he skateboards. Second being the high speed of the dog and the skateboarder, using the broken boards. It’s great to see people putting in thoughts and have such passion for their interest.
Have always had great interest in Chinese culture and history. Saw the following program on the Nat Geo channel about this man pursuing his fascination with the Great Wall of China. Although, i am not able go to that extreme because there are still bills to pay and Nat Geo is not sponsoring me, i can still learn more about the Great Wall of China, just from where i am sitting now. It is amazing, taking a step back and thinking about how far technology and computers have come and what we can do with it now.
The name translates more accurately at the Long Wall or to be exact…Ten Thousand Li Long Wall.
The early walls, during the Spring and Autumn Period and the subsequent Warring States Period, are made from gravel and rammed earth. Qin Shi Huang build and connected the early Great Wall during his reign, the Qin Dynasty.
The Han dynasty expanded sections of the Great Wall to fend off invaders from the north
It was not until the Ming Dynasty that The Great Wall was constructed at a grand scale, using bricks and stone, to defend against northern invaders and is the Great Wall we know of today. The wall today stretches from Shanhaiguan (The First Pass under Heaven) in the east to Jiayuguan (The Most Difficult Pass under Heaven) in Gansu Province, towards the west of China
Jiayuguan
Shanhaiguan
The eastern end of fortification is located between the mountain and the sea. The Great Wall meets the sea.
The Qi Great Wall
is the oldest section of the Great Wall. Construction is believed to have started during the Spring and Autumn Period by the State of Qi. The original wall has been destroyed but ruins can be found in eastern Shandong Province in the areas of Jinnan, Tai’an and Zibo/
Beijing area
The Juyongguan section is about 60 kilometers from downtown Beijing in the northwest of Changping District. The Badaling section is probably the most visited section of the Great Wall. It is located in Yanqing County about 70 kilometres from downtown Beijing. The Simatai section in Miyun Country is known for its steepness…
In Melbourne, there are garden waste, recycling which includes all bottles, cans, paper and cardboard, and rubbish but in Japan…
Lots of people are saying lots of things. Lack of empathy. Jingshen kongxu or spiritual vacuum. Etcetera. Etcetera. Everything but the useless parents. This accident was ultimately the parents fault. That is my point of view. Humans breed but fail to consider the fact that they can no longer give birth to a pack of screaming babies and let them grow up just by running around chasing after chickens in the farm at the back of the house, like in their grandfather’s days. Why was the toddler being let to run around in such an unsafe environment? None of this would have happened if the parents kept an eye on the toddler. Busy running the business is not a reason. They could have tied the child to a pole or something. Anything to keep the child safe, away from harm and death. Otherwise, if they were not even capable to keep an eye on their own child, don’t have a child.
I also totally agree with the following reason extracted from CNN. No good Samaritans deserve to get into trouble for their good deeds.
Other observers blame the incident on a breakdown in public trust. A joint survey by three universities in Beijing revealed that the root cause of people’s reluctance to help others in need is a lack of trust among residents. Only about 8% surveyed said they still strongly trust other people.
Should an elderly person in need be helped? Over 60% of the respondents said “yes”, but more than 84% also believed it is too risky; recently in China, there have been several cases of individuals who faked injuries only to sue those who come to their aid.
In 2006, an old woman in the eastern city of Nanjing was injured after rough jostling at a bus stop. Peng Yu, a young man and fellow passenger, offered help and even took her to the hospital. Later, however, the old woman and her family sued him in court, which eventually ruled that Peng Yu should pay 40% of the medical costs.
Similar cases have happened in recent years.
“There must be something wrong when it is considered risky to be a Good Samaritan,” China Daily wrote in an editorial this week. “Apathy and distrust are the last things a harmonious society needs. It is imperative that we find a way to protect Good Samaritans from being wronged.”
Peking University’s Xia Xueluan calls this the “interpersonal trust crisis”. He explains: “This kind of crisis is highly contagious and could deteriorate due to lack of legal support. As a netizen puts it, it’s not that the good people can no longer be found in our society. It’s that nobody can afford to do good deeds—the price can be too high.”
Days after Yueyue’s tragic accident, millions of China’s micro-bloggers are still pouring out their anger and frustration.
“After Peng Yu’s case, if you were the first to find Yueyue after the accident, would you rescue her?” Netizen Yi Jingge wrote.
That is a question many in China are now asking themselves.
Was watching the MotoGP 2011 in Sepang, Malaysia over dinner. Just into lap 2, Marco Simoncelli lost control of his bike and veered into the path of Colin Edwards and Valentino Rossi, who were both coming from behind and there was no room for avoidance of the fatal crash. The first thing i noticed when Colin Edwards fell was a helmet rolling on the ground. Colin still had his helmet on and Rossi managed to gain his balance and rode away, with his helmet. It was Simoncelli’s. It must have been a very strong impact to have the helmet knocked off from the rider. Then there was Marco sprawled on the track, motionless. A red flag was raised and everyone returned to the pit to await the decision to restart the race. About twenty minutes later, the race was cancelled due to inadequate medical staff as all were attending to Marco. Then another wait for Marco’s situation to be announced. It didn’t seem positive waiting this long. Unfortunately, he succumbed to his injuries from the horrific crash.
trapped between Rossi and Colin Edwards.
RIP Marco Simoncelli.
Money may prolong life, but it cannot buy life.
On a side note, people are posting their R.I.Ps all over the place. The thing is…I see RIP Steve Job, R.I.P Steve Jobbs and so on. It makes me wonder if they are posting it just for the sake of posting it. AS if they really care. When you don’t even know the correct surname of the person you are R.I.P.ing. What is the point then, of R.I.P.ing someone?
This is what a technologically advanced country should be like. This is how online grocery shopping should be. get it Australia? Look at what you have to offer. Are you still proud now?
and i was right. Colleagues were saying it was the strong wind that has been blowing Melbourne recently. I could feel it moments before the big tremor. It was a 4.4 and the epicentre is in Gippsland.
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