ARTS AND STYLE

Best Tv Series

2011-07-29T22:55:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/user/SuperStevo2468?feature=mhee#p/a/u/0/DIoSmQNKKIYGame Of Thrones

The Movie is basically all about the struggle for ruler-ship of kingdoms. Winter can last a life time. And the struggle for the Iron throne has begun. Its a new original series based on George R.R. Martin's best-selling " A song of Ice and Fire "Series, Winter Is Coming Soon to HBO.

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Bones

From executive producers Barry Josephson and Hart Hanson comes the darkly amusing drama Bones, inspired by real-life forensic anthropologist and novelist Kathy Reichs. Forensic anthropologist Dr. Temperance Brennan, who works at the Jeffersonian Institution and writes novels as a sideline, has an uncanny ability to read clues left behind in a victim's bones. Consequently, law enforcement calls her in to assist with murder investigations when the remains are so badly decomposed, burned, or destroyed that the standard identification methods are useless. Brennan has been teamed with Special Agent Seeley Booth, a former Army sniper who mistrusts science and scientists when it comes to solving crimes. Brennan and Booth clash both professionally and personally, but the chemistry between them has grown since they first met and has made them a strong and trusting team. Brennan's equally brilliant colleagues (or "squints" as they're often called) at the Jeffersonian's Medico-Legal Lab include earthy and bawdy Angela Montenegro, who's created a unique way to render an original crime scene in a three-dimensional computer image; Dr. Jack Hodgins, who's an expert on insects, spores and minerals, but conspiracy is his hobby; and Brennan's boss Dr. Camille "Cam" Saroyan, who replaced Dr. Daniel Goodman after the first season. Zack Addy, a young prodigy whose genius IQ sometimes distances him from reality, was Brennan's former assistant, but at the end of season three he left the Jeffersonian.

Torchwood

Torchwood is a Darker and Edgier, and Hotter and Sexier, and Bloodier and Gorier Spin-Off of the British science fiction institution Doctor Who and set, naturally, in the Whoniverse. It follows a men in black -esque group of government agents who collect the Applied Phlebotinum left over from alien incursions and time-travel weirdness, and use it to defend Great Britain. They are not answerable to the elected government, or any other body (except, technically, the Queen herself).

The series is set in Cardiff, site of a spatio-temporal rift, first seen in Doctor Who, through which aliens regularly stumble. They have an Elaborate Underground Base, complete with apterodactyl.

The 21st century is when everything changes, and Torchwood is ready.

—Captain Jack Harkness

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Great Artists

2011-07-29T07:09:00.000-07:00

Pablo Picasso

EARLY LIFE

Pablo Ruiz y Picasso was born in Málaga, Spain, in 1881. He was highly gifted and could draw beautifully by the time he was 14. He went to Paris in 1900 and began his career painting scenes in sidewalk cafés. He also painted landscapes, still lifes (everyday objects), and portraits of friends and performers. Living on the edge of poverty in Paris, he met Fernande Olivier. She was the first of several women who shared his life and provided inspiration for his art.

THE BLUE PERIOD, CUBISM, AND AFTER

For two years, from 1901 to 1903, Picasso painted only in shades of blue. Many of the people in his blue paintings look sad. A rose period followed the blue period. During the rose period, he painted people from the circus in shades of red and pink. Then he became interested in African art and simplified the shapes in his paintings.

In 1907, Picasso shocked the world with Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (The Ladies of Avignon). In this painting, he broke up the women’s figures into ovals, almonds, and other shapes. He carried the distortion of objects even further with cubism. Lines, angles, and planes collided in his cubist paintings. During his cubist period, Picasso invented collage by pasting newspaper, pieces of cloth, and other materials onto his paintings.

Cubism influenced many 20th-century artists, but Picasso didn’t stop here. He was restless, always experimenting. Yet he returned to certain subjects over and over—the bullfight, the painter and his model, portraits, and landscapes. In the 1930s, he reacted to political events. The painting Guernica was Picasso's response to the bombing of a Spanish town during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939).

Picasso continued to create paintings, sculptures, ceramics, and prints after Guernica. But many people consider this painting to be his masterpiece. He died in 1973.

PICASSO’S INFLUENCE

Artists everywhere, of all types, give Picasso credit for anticipating just about everything the 20th century had to say in art. He freed painting from reproducing objects as they look. He freed sculpture from using only traditional materials, such as wood and metal. Picasso made sculptures from many materials, much as he made collages.

You can see Picasso’s art in museums all over the world. A Picasso sculpture that stands outdoors in downtown Chicago has become a city landmark.

Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci excelled as a painter, sculptor, architect, engineer, and scientist. He had endless curiosity. Leonardo wanted to understand how things worked. He wanted to put down on paper what he saw. He left thousands of pages of drawings and notes that recorded his thoughts.

GOOD AT EVERYTHING

Leonardo was born in 1452 in the small town of Vinci, near Florence, Italy. He had little schooling and was largely self-taught.

Leonardo seemed to be good at everything he tried. He was handsome, a good speaker, and a fine musician. He trained as a painter with Andrea del Verrocchio, a leading artist in Florence. Leonardo later worked for dukes and kings.

HIS MOST FAMOUS PAINTINGS

Leonardo produced a relatively small number of paintings, and he left some of them unfinished. But he had original ideas that influenced Italian artists long after his death. Leonardo believed painting was a science. He applied scientific thinking in his art so that his paintings looked more like the real world. One of his most important painting techniques was sfumato, a blending of one area of color into another so there are no sharp outlines.

Leonardo used sfumato in one of his most famous paintings, the Mona Lisa. When you look at this portrait, notice how colors shade into each other on her face and hands. See how Leonardo has blurred the edges of her mouth to give her the hint of a smile. This mysterious smile has fascinated people for centuries. It looks as if Mona Lisa’s expression might change at any moment because of the way Leonardo has softened the edges of the mouth, eyes, and cheeks. She seems almost alive.

Many people consider a mural by Leonardo known as The Last Supper to be his masterpiece. Christ, seated in the middle of The Last Supper, has just announced that one of his 12 apostles will betray him. Leonardo places the figures in this painting in a way that increases the drama of the announcement. Christ is the calm center. His body, which is set slightly apart from the others, forms a stable triangle. The apostles are arranged in four groups, some leaning toward Christ and some leaning away. Their gestures and the expressions on their faces reveal their reactions to Christ’s words.

HIS DRAWINGS AND NOTEBOOKS

Drawing was Leonardo’s favorite tool. He said that drawing was a better way of communicating ideas than words were. He drew catapults and war machines. He drew the muscles and skeletons of human beings and other animals. He drew clouds, swirling water, and storms. He designed churches that were never built.

Leonardo’s drawings and theories are contained in numerous notebooks. His ideas were far in advance of what other people were thinking at the time. But the notebooks were not published during his lifetime. Had his notebooks been published, they might have revolutionized scientific thinking in the 1500s. Leonardo’s deep love of research was the key to both his artistic and scientific endeavors. Leonardo died in 1519.

Michelangelo

Michelangelo was an artist of extraordinary ability. He is known primarily as an outstanding painter and sculptor, but he was also an accomplished architect and poet. He had a forceful personality as well.

HE LOVED A CHALLENGE

Michelangelo Buonarroti was born in Caprese, a village in Italy, in 1475. He grew up in Florence, the artistic center of Europe during the 1400s. At 13, he began to train as a painter.

Michelangelo believed that the nude (naked) male figure was the most important subject in art, and he loved a challenge. He preferred to create art that required hard work. For example, he carved blocks of marble that other sculptors had rejected, and he created enormous paintings on very high ceilings. In painting, he chose to put his figures in poses that were especially difficult to draw. In carving, he cut away the stone in a way that seemed to release a human figure trapped inside.

HIS BEST WORK

Michelangelo’s early sculptures made him famous. His Pietà shows the dead Christ lying in his mother’s lap. Michelangelo emphasizes Christ’s suffering through the limp, frail body that is cradled by the Virgin Mary. Michelangelo carved a huge statue of the biblical hero David. It shows the strong, young David calmly holding the slingshot he is about to use to slay the giant warrior Goliath. The city of Florence displayed the statue of David as a symbol of its political strength.

Michelangelo’s greatest challenge was to paint the gigantic ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome. To paint the Sistine Ceiling, he had to lie on his back on a wooden platform high in the air. It took him nearly four years, but Michelangelo created some of the most memorable images of all time. The Sistine Ceiling tells the biblical story of the Book of Genesis. It begins with the creation of the world and finishes with the story of Noah. It contains almost 350 painted human figures, all of them larger than life-size.

Later, Michelangelo painted the Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel, on a wall above the altar. This mural is filled with swirling nude bodies. Some rise from the grave to heaven. Others descend in agony to hell. Michelangelo’s greatest architectural work was a design for the dome of Saint Peter’s Cathedral in Rome.

Michelangelo died in 1564. He had an enormous influence on European artists of his time and on those who came after him. After Michelangelo, artists competed with each other in painting the human body in difficult poses.

Vincent van Gogh

Was there ever a more tortured genius than the Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh? He lived in poverty, sold only one painting during his life, and cut off his ear. He created masterpieces of art, yet his life was miserable.

SUPPORTED BY HIS BROTHER

Vincent van Gogh was born in Groot-Zundert, The Netherlands, in 1853. He thought he might become a minister like his father. For a time, he preached to poor miners, and then he began to draw them. He was mostly self-taught as an artist.

Van Gogh’s brother Théo was an art dealer in Paris, France. Théo gave Vincent an allowance and was Vincent’s only source of support. In 1886, Vincent went to live with Théo in Paris. In Paris, Vincent saw the bright colors of paintings by the impressionist artists, and he began to paint with bright colors, too.

PAINTING WHAT HE FELT

Van Gogh created self-portraits and paintings of flowers and scenery. His colors became even more brilliant after he moved to southern France in 1888. He portrayed his own room in Bedroom at Arles in bright yellow, blue, and red. However, no one liked his paintings.

No other artist had painted quite like van Gogh. He used vivid color and thick strokes of paint to express his feelings about what he was painting. He didn’t try to copy his subjects accurately. Often his work seems brooding and threatening. His landscapes are full of twisted shapes.

Always moody and restless, van Gogh began showing signs of mental illness in the late 1880s. After an argument with his friend, painter Paul Gauguin, van Gogh cut off part of his own ear. But he never stopped painting. Some of his most beautiful work was done while he was hospitalized for depression. Examples are Starry Night and Crows in a Wheatfield.

SUCCESS AT LAST

Van Gogh died in 1890, after shooting himself. He left behind 750 paintings and 1,600 drawings. Théo van Gogh made sure they stayed safe, and gradually people began to appreciate these works. They became extremely valuable. In 1990, a van Gogh painting sold for $82.5 million. This was the highest price anyone had ever paid for a painting at an art auction. But in 2004, a painting by Pablo Picasso set a new record of $104 million.

Photo Tour

2011-07-29T06:17:00.000-07:00

This Is A Complete Display of my Graphic Edited Photos

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Photo manipulation

2011-07-28T19:37:00.000-07:00

Photo manipulation is the application of image techniques to photographs in order to create an illusion or deception (in contrast to mere enhancement or correction), through analog or digital means.

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There are various software that can be used in Photo editing, one of the example of a good Software is "Photoshop" its a tool that can be used in Photo manipulation. However, the process of manipulating photos is known as "Editing".

History

2011-07-28T18:52:00.000-07:00

Cleopatra

Cleopatra was queen of Egypt about 2,000 years ago. She was intelligent, proud, strong-willed, and she was determined to keep her country free from invaders. When Egypt’s army was defeated by the Romans, Cleopatra decided she would rather die than be taken captive. According to legend, she held a poisonous snake to her body. The snake bit her, and she died.

Cleopatra

A CLEVER QUEEN IN TROUBLED TIMES

Cleopatra was the daughter of the pharaoh (ruler) of Egypt. In 51 BC, when Cleopatra was 17 or 18, her father died. Cleopatra and her 12-year-old brother became the rulers of Egypt. Three years later, her brother declared that he should be the only ruler. He forced Cleopatra to leave Egypt.

Cleopatra started putting together an army to fight her brother. But before war began, Roman general Julius Caesar arrived in Egypt. Cleopatra decided to ask Caesar for help. But how was she going to get back into Egypt, past her brother’s guards? She came up with a clever plan. Her servants rolled her into a carpet, and delivered it as a gift to Caesar. When the carpet was unrolled, out stepped Cleopatra.

Cleopatra’s plan succeeded. Caesar helped Cleopatra defeat her brother. She was again Egypt’s queen.

Caesar fell in love with Cleopatra. When Caesar returned to Rome, Cleopatra visited him there. Caesar promised that the Roman army would not invade Egypt. Then in 44 bc, Caesar was murdered, and Cleopatra returned to Egypt.

ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA

After her return, Cleopatra ruled Egypt without interference for several years. In 41 bc, however, Roman general Mark Antony demanded that Cleopatra meet with him.

Cleopatra was in a difficult situation. She knew that the powerful Roman army could invade Egypt at any time. Cleopatra agreed to meet with Antony, but surprised him by arriving on a magnificent ship, seated on her royal throne. Antony, too, fell in love with the proud queen.

In 35 bc, Antony married Cleopatra and they lived in Egypt. The next year, they announced that they were the rulers of the eastern part of the Roman Empire. This included Egypt and most of the Middle East.

The Roman rulers were angered by this. Roman general Octavian declared war on Antony and Cleopatra. In 31 bc, Octavian won the war and took over Egypt. Both Antony and Cleopatra killed themselves.

Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus tried to take a shortcut, and ended up somewhere he never intended to go. He discovered two continents that people in Europe didn’t even know existed. By crossing the Atlantic Ocean in 1492, Columbus opened contacts between lands and peoples that were unknown to each other.

Columbus’s voyage to the Americas opened an exciting period in history. Animals, plants, and new ideas were exchanged between continents. But it also caused terrible tragedy. Millions of Native Americans died as Europeans rushed to take land and riches for themselves.

MASTER SAILOR

Christopher Columbus was born in 1451 in Genoa, Italy. He became a sailor at the age of 14. In 1476, he was shipwrecked off the coast of Portugal. Portugal was Europe’s top seafaring nation at that time. Columbus settled there.

Columbus studied geography and navigation, the science of figuring out where things are on Earth’s surface. He became a master sailor. He met explorers who had sailed along the coast of Africa seeking an eastward sea route to the rich lands of Asia. Europeans called these lands “the Indies.” Europeans wanted to bring gold and other treasures from the Indies back to Europe.

DARING DREAM

Columbus began to think about a wonderful adventure, which he called the “Enterprise of the Indies.” He dreamed of reaching the Indies by sailing west! This was not a new idea, but no one had ever managed to make the voyage. Columbus thought the trip to the Indies west across the ocean would be much shorter than sailing around Africa.

Columbus had high hopes, but no money. Who would pay for his expedition? He asked the king of Portugal, but the king refused. Columbus didn’t give up. He went to the rulers of Portugal’s neighbor, Spain. At first they also refused. Eventually, however, the Spanish king and queen agreed to provide three small ships—the Pinta, the Niña, and the Santa María. They also paid for crews and supplies for the voyage.

HISTORIC VOYAGE

Columbus sailed from Palos, Spain, on August 3, 1492. He stopped at the Canary Islands southwest of Spain, then headed west into unknown seas. He had no idea what lay ahead, but he had faith in his sailing skills and his bold idea. A swift current carried his ships along, and on October 12, the crew sighted the islands of the Bahamas. Columbus thought he had reached Asia. He called the islands the Indies.

Columbus was greeted by the Arawak people who lived on the islands. They offered food, but had only a little gold. Columbus was disappointed not to find Asian treasures, but still felt sure he had reached Japan in Asia. He spent two months exploring, then headed home. One of his ships sank in a storm, but back in Spain he was hailed as a hero. The king and queen offered rich rewards and made him “Admiral of the Ocean Seas.”

THREE FAILURES

Columbus made three more voyages to America. None went well. He was a skillful sailor, but his greed and stubbornness made him a bad leader and created enemies.

During his second voyage (1493-1496), Columbus claimed land for Spanish settlements. He fought against Caribbean peoples who lived on the land he claimed and forced them to work as slaves.

On the third voyage (1498-1500), Columbus quarreled with Spanish settlers so violently that he was sent back to Europe as a prisoner in chains.

On his fourth and final voyage (1502-1504), Columbus was marooned on an island for more than a year. He had to be rescued. He was very ill by the time he returned home to Spain.

AN EXTRAORDINARY EXPLORER

Columbus died in 1506. He quarreled with the king and queen right up until his death. He wanted authority over Spanish colonies and a larger share of the riches that were brought back from America. It was a sad end to an extraordinary career that still shapes our lives today. When Columbus crossed the Atlantic, he changed the world forever.

Julius Caesar

Was Julius Caesar mostly interested in serving the people whom he ruled? Or was he only interested in grabbing power? People who met the Roman statesman could not agree. Caesar was a brilliant soldier and a clever, capable ruler. But he was also extremely ambitious.

A FAMOUS FAMILY

Caesar was born in 100 bc, to one of Rome’s most famous families. But his family had many enemies, and Caesar thought it best to leave Rome. He trained as a soldier and went to study in Greece. But he hoped for a political career.

Caesar returned to Rome in 73 bc and made plans to run for office. He worked on the election campaigns of army general Pompey and Crassus, a very rich noble. The men were running for consul, which was then the highest office in Rome. To win support for the candidates, Caesar invited citizens to attend free gladiator shows in which men fought each other with swords. In 59 bc, Caesar was voted consul. The next year, he became governor of Gaul (a large Roman province in Western Europe).

WAR HERO

In Gaul, Caesar won famous victories against German and Celtic tribes. Then he invaded Britain and defeated the Britons. To celebrate—and boast—he wrote a book about his military successes in Gaul.

Caesar’s success made Pompey jealous, and he tried to get Caesar removed as commander in Gaul. Furious with his former friend, Caesar declared war. Pompey ran away to Greece and then Egypt, but Caesar followed him. Pompey was murdered in Egypt before Caesar arrived.

Caesar spent some time in Egypt. He helped put queen Cleopatra back on the throne as Egypt’s ruler. Cleopatra’s brother had removed her from power. Next, Caesar marched east, to crush a rebellion in what is now Turkey.

TOO MUCH POWER?

In 45 bc, Caesar was back in Rome. He was named dictator for life and given total political power. He reformed the law, reorganized taxes, and introduced a new calendar. We still use a calendar based on the Julian calendar. He named the month of July after himself.

Caesar also commanded the Roman army, and was chief priest of the Roman religion. Many Romans admired him, but others felt uneasy that he had so much power. Some senators felt the Roman Senate should have more power. These senators stabbed Caesar to death on March 15 in 44 bc. March 15 was known as the Ides of March in the Roman calendar. When people say, “Beware the Ides of March,” they are referring to the plot to kill Caesar and the possibility of unknown danger lurking nearby.

WHY DID COMMUNISM LOSE STRENGTH?

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Many noncommunist countries fought to keep communism from spreading. They feared that communism would keep expanding and threaten noncommunist countries.The United States led the fight against communism, while the Soviet Union supported communist movements around the world. This struggle is known as the Cold War. It lasted for more than 40 years.

By the 1980s, communism was failing. Under communism, the Soviet Union could not produce enough goods for its people. It grew poor. Eastern European countries began to break away from the Soviet Union. In 1991, the Soviet Union itself broke apart into 15 separate countries. None of these countries have communist governments today.

In China, the Communist Party still holds power. But China is allowing privately owned businesses to grow again. Other communist countries today include Cuba, Vietnam, Laos, and North Korea. As a world movement, communism appears to be losing its appeal.

THE SPREAD OF COMMUNISM

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The ideas of Marx and Engels spread through Europe. In Russia, a man named Vladimir Lenin said workers needed a small, organized group to lead a revolution on their behalf. To do this, he formed the Bolshevik Party (later called the Communist Party).

In 1917, a revolution overthrew the emperor of Russia. In the fighting that followed, Lenin’s party took over. Soon, his communist government owned all the land, factories, stores, and businesses in Russia.

The communists in Russia conquered some neighboring countries, too. They called their new empire the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), or Soviet Union for short.

After Lenin died, Joseph Stalin took power in the USSR. He used brutal force to make the Soviet Union into a communist country. Stalin killed, imprisoned, and tortured millions of people. He built a country in which everyone worked for the government. The government made almost all decisions for the people.

HOW DID COMMUNISM SPREAD?

In World War II, the Soviet Union fought on the side that won. When the war ended in 1945, the Soviet Union gained control over most of the countries in Eastern Europe.

In China, meanwhile, a communist leader named Mao Zedong was rising in power. He seized control of his country in 1949. China, with its huge population, became the biggest communist country of all.

The Origin Of Communism

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The ideas of communism became popular in the early 1800s. At that time, the first big factories were forming. Most workers in these factories earned low wages. Meanwhile, the factory owners were getting rich. This made many workers angry.

Two Germans, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, turned this anger into a political movement. They announced the goals of this movement in their 1848 book, The Communist Manifesto.

Marx and Engels said that all through history, different classes (groups of people) had been at war. They said the warring classes of their time were the owners of businesses and the people who worked for them.

Marx and Engels called for a world in which the workers themselves owned all businesses. They said that if workers were in charge, everybody would get what they needed to live good lives.