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Ugly Buddhist Woman
The Dalai Lama said, "Well, yes, a woman Could be the next Dalai Lama, but she'd have to be good looking." ugly.buddhist.woman@gmail.com
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Monday, July 25, 2011

The Longest, Costliest, Endless War

Two Years Ago:
Some Question the Purpose of War in Afghanistan
By Anna Mulrine
Posted: October 23, 2009

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates took to the talk shows to explain just why he thinks Afghanistan isn't destined to be the graveyard of all empires. The Soviet Union's dismal failure in the country doesn't compare with America's current circumstances, he said. "They conducted a war of terror against the Afghans," killing 1 million people and creating 5 million refugees. The Soviets also tried "to impose an alien social and cultural change on the country. So the situations are completely different," Gates concluded.

... as President Obama convenes his war council again this month to discuss U.S. strategy, including whether to fulfill Gen. Stanley McChrystal's request for more troops, U.S. officials have made no secret of the fact that they are growing more concerned with endemic Afghan corruption. This is particularly true in the wake of the widespread allegations of fraud in August's presidential elections.

(corruption, allegations of fraud in US presidential elections? what have we to teach them? is greg mortenson out of hiding yet?)

that was then, this is now:
Afghanistan: America’s Longest War – A talk by Anand Gopal
July 3, 2011

2.What is the purpose of this war? Originally the reasons given were to make Americans feel safe and to defeat Al Qaeda. Journalist Anand Gopal said that he was in Afghanistan when bin Laden was killed and he got lots of calls from international media on how local Afghanis were responding. He said they were going about their lives in normal fashion because not only do Afghanis not care about bin Laden, they see the real enemy as the foreign occupier. Unfortunately since the US has invested so much in a victory, they are going to stay until they can determine there is a victory. This will mean permanent bases, putting in power a client state and maybe remove all troops by 2014.

(But wait a minute.. wasn't this longest, most expensive war about getting Bin Laden? Can't they come home yet?)
Saturday, July 23, 2011

Is Anybody Listening?

We've been through this before.  Now a lot gets written... but is anybody listening?  Try the BBC One Session recording.  She was an effing genius, and there will never be another like her.

Russell Brand has written someting rather good on his blog,

and Tony Bennett:

"Amy Winehouse was an artist of immense proportions. I am deeply saddened to learn of her tragic passing."
"She was an extraordinary musician with a rare intuition as a vocalist and I am truly devastated that her exceptional talent and has come to such an early end," 
"She was a lovely and intelligent person and when we recorded together she gave a soulful and extraordinary performance."
"I was honored to have the opportunity to sing with her,"
"It had been my sincere hope that she would be able to overcome the issues she was battling and I send my deepest sympathy to her father Mitchell, her entire family and all of those who loved her."

the white line is annoying but this recording is gorgeous:



"Back To Black"

He left no time to regret
Kept his dick wet
With his same old safe bet
Me and my head high
And my tears dry
Get on without my guy
You went back to what you knew
So far removed from all that we went through
And I tread a troubled track
My odds are stacked
I'll go back to black

We only said good-bye with words
I died a hundred times
You go back to her
And I go back to.....

I go back to us

I love you much
It's not enough
You love blow and I love puff
And life is like a pipe
And I'm a tiny penny rolling up the walls inside

We only said goodbye with words
I died a hundred times
You go back to her
And I go back to

Black, black, black, black, black, black, black,
I go back to
I go back to

We only said good-bye with words
I died a hundred times
You go back to her
And I go back to

We only said good-bye with words
I died a hundred times
You go back to her
And I go back to black

Ronson/Winehouse
Saturday, July 16, 2011

I love the smell of turps in the morning

Nothing like a cup of strong Italian roast and a robust protest letter to set me up for the day:
Thursday, July 14, 2011

Anthem Blue Cross Criminals


Anthem Blue Cross Evil Greedy Bloodsucking Bastards


 

Anthem Blue Cross settles lawsuit, agrees to limit rate hikes

Under the settlement, 122,000 policyholders of California's largest for-profit health insurer whose plans were closed to new customers will see rate increases no more than the average for all closed plans. Affected policyholders can also choose new plans without further medical scrutiny.

June 21, 2011|By Duke Helfand, Los Angeles Times
Settling a class-action lawsuit, California health insurer Anthem Blue Cross has agreed to limit rate increases for 122,000 policyholders whose plans have been closed to new customers.

Affected policyholders for the first time would also be able to switch plans without having their medical histories reviewed.

Consumer groups had accused the state's largest for-profit health insurer of closing some insurance plans to new members and then forcing existing customers into a financial "death spiral" by dramatically raising rates without offering comparable options as required by state law.

After sucking my blood for several years Anthem Blue Cross offered me a 30% increase.  I said to the woman on the phone, "You must be mad!"  And so I quit them and went uninsured for a blissful healthy two years.  Today I got a letter from them offering me "Affordable health coverage... Anthem Blue Cross may cost less than you might think."  Are they mad?  How much did it cost them to settle that class action suit???  Anthem Blue Cross you are Evil with greed!!  Go phuque yourself!!
Saturday, July 9, 2011

The Colours' Debate


The Colour's Debate
July 2011
Friday, July 8, 2011

Mystery Solved: The "Simon" da Vinci

Newswire:   "A photograph of the painting taken before 1912 records its compromised appearance at that time.  This photograph has recently been circulated in the media, as has another photo [with Christ in a red tunic], incorrectly identified as the (recently rediscovered) work."
 
The media has been circulating photos of the de Ganay da Vinci... not the recently UnCovered "Simon" da Vinci.





































Is it the real thing?  Adjusting for brightness and contrast reveals:




































This view gave me such a shock my heart stopped.  With the scholars who agreed within a day of examination... I can say this painting is the real Leonardo.

Supporting Documents:  The Windsor Studies for Salvator Mundi by da Vinci:
























Isn't Leonardo's working method interesting?  He laid out the tunic on a flat surface to study the folds, while the sleeve details are from a model.





































The Hollar Engraving from the original Leonardo:





































This is as close as we will get to the details of the original in situ.

One last test:  Is the 1912 photo of the badly damaged, overpainted all but destroyed da Vinci the Simon authentic or the de Ganay (fake)?

The Simon da Vinci with 1912 photo overlay:





































The de Ganay "da Vinci" with 1912 photo overlay:




































Don't you find this comparison Very Curious?  If you ask me (and why not@!) the 1912 photo is of the de Ganay "da Vinci" and not the recently authenticated Simon da Vinci.  This would support my theory that the nuns wrecked the de Ganay da Vinci with overpainting and that Marquis de Ganay had it restored between 1912 and 1999. 
Also... regarding the 1912 photo the time is always ripe for faking da Vinci's.

Fie on Thee Christopher W. Taylor!

Christopher W. Taylor
The Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute
2318 Fillmore Street
San Francisco, CA 94115

Dear Mr. Taylor,

Now that an authentic da Vinci has been unveiled, all references to the "Salvator Mundi" are under scrutiny.  Regrettably your paper "How did Leonardo Perceive Himself?  Metric Iconography of da Vinci's Self-Portraits" contains a glaring inaccuracy.  Vasari was describing not the Salvator Mundi but the Mona Lisa in the passage he wrote beginning:  "In his head, whoever wished to see how closely art......"  Unfortunately your misattribution has been repeated hundreds of times.

Yours sincerely,

Bhikshuni Vinaya
Ugly Buddhist Woman
Oy Vey Gevalt Blog
 
Wednesday, July 6, 2011

The "Found" da Vinci was not lost































Provenance:
Once owned by Marquis de Ganay "Salvator Mundi" was auctioned by Sotheby's May 1999 in its "Important Old Masters Paintings" auction.  It sold for $332,500.
According to The City Review:

The highlight of the early works was Lot 20, "Christ as Salvator Mundi," by Circle of Leonardi da Vinci (1452-1519), a 27 by 19 1/4 inch oil on panel that was in less than pristine condition and which is not in the widely recognized style of the great master. "The most compelling document for a Leonardo painting of this subject...is the existence of a print by Wenceslaus Hollar, the great Bohemian engraver, which is clearly captioned "Leonardus da Vinci pinxit...," the catalogue wrote. There are about 12 paintings that are related to the print, "of various levels of quality," it continued, adding that the present work, "cloistered away in the Béhague/de Ganay collection and thus unknown to most scholars until the early 1970's, is perhaps the most accomplished of the varous examples." The lot was estimated at 80,000 to $120,000 and sold for $332,500. If it were an autograph work, of course, it would be worth an extra two digits.  "Important Old Master Paintings; Sotheby's; May 1999"
de Ganay believed the painting to be an original da Vinci.  He had in his collection, at one time, three authentic da Vinci studies of drapery, two of which sold in 1989 for $10.8 million.

(see also: SNOW-SMITH, Joanne, The "Salvator Mundi" of Leonardo da Vinci, exhibition catalogue. Henry Art Gallery (Seattle: University of Washington, 1982). Guerrini 5489
Building upon the pioneering essay by Ludwig Heydenreich ("Leonardo's Salvator Mundi," Raccolta Vinciana 20 [1964], pp. 83-109), the author provides a detailed study of the version in the collection of the Marquis de Ganay, which she attributes to Leonardo. The catalogue includes a discussion of the many other versions of this composition and the iconographic tradition to which it belongs.)


Who purchased the painting for $325,500 in 1999 and how many owners has it had since then?

The crucial question is: When was it restored?
Before the 1999 auction it can be seen in its present state: here and here.

This is the picture the media have been circulating as the recently discovered da Vinci.  But this painting was never lost, and is not the "Simon" da Vinci.

The "Simon" da Vinci in a 1912 photo.

Note the strange cropping left and right.  Da Vinci would Not have chopped off the thumb and part of the globe on the right, nor the knuckles and sleeve on the left.  So we are not getting the complete picture here.

"In 1958, the piece was sold for £45 at an auction in Sotheby's of London by trustees of the Cook collection, who mistakenly attributed it to Boltraffio, an Italian Renaissance painter considered da Vinci's best student."

(Who fucked it up with overpainting?  Read on, I blame the nuns!)
Here is where the history of the two paintings becomes confused:

"The Salvator Mundi (saviour of the World) was commissioned by Louis XII of France in 1506 and Leonardo had finished the work by 1513. The image of Christ giving his blessing to the world was a popular subject in French and Flemish art and the half- length pose is typical of the era.    On the death of his wife  the painting was donated, by Louis, to a religious order who had connections with his wife, in Nantes. A century later  Henrietta Maria, Queen of England, saw the painting in 1650 (the year after her husband Charles Ist was executed) she asked the artist Wenceslaus Hollar to make an etching of the work to add to her collection.

"In the 19th century the convent that possessed the painting was dissolved and the Salvator Mundi was sold to Baron de Lareinty of Paris. After subsequent sales the work came into the possession of the (then) present owner the Marquis de Ganay."  Salvator Mundi. Leonardo's Lost Painting??


Here is the de Ganay Salvator Mundi with pre-restoration "Simon" overlay..



































Here is the de Ganay Salvator Mundi with pre-restoration "Simon" overlay.

Clearly this painting was never lost, just beat up and mis-attributed, and recently circulated by the media as the "Simon" da Vinci.

____________________________________________________________

apropos of da Vinci, here is my student's work:
Friday, July 1, 2011

ʎɐp ɐıpǝɯ |ɐıɔos ʎddɐɥ

facebook has been down or service disrupted for two days during launch of google+ its new rival.  my issue is not w social media which i do not use.. second life was enuf virtual connection for a lifetime..  as sartre observed "l'enfer c'est les autres." 
my issue is w google's black navigation bar and all the happy hype about it.

there is a method to google's madness.  they're calling it Elasticity:

  • Elasticity: In the early days, there was pretty much just one way to use Google: on a desktop computer with an average-sized monitor. Over a decade later, all it takes is a look around one’s home or office at the various mobile devices, tablets, high-resolution monitors and TVs to see a plethora of ways to access the web. The new design will soon allow you to seamlessly transition from one device to another and have a consistent visual experience. We aim to bring you this flexibility without sacrificing style or usefulness.

  • so the purpose to make the illegible black navigation bar at the top of google news, search et al is to make one's pc look more like a mobile device