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Back to the Future: Science fiction turns science fact

06 martedì 2015 visualizzazioni:

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One of the technological innovations presented in this film was a huge 3D display. As far as this invention is concerned, Hollywood was almost right.

I had gone but a short distance further when what seemed to be an excellent trail opened up around the face of a high cliff. The trail was level and quite broad and led upward and in the general direction I wished to go. The cliff arose for several hundred feet on my right, and on my left was an equal and nearly perpendicular drop to the bottom of a rocky ravine.

Dismounting, I laid Powell upon the ground, but the most painstaking examination failed to reveal the faintest spark of life. I forced water from my canteen between his dead lips, bathed his face and rubbed his hands, working over him continuously for the better part of an hour in the face of the fact that I knew him to be dead.

I was very fond of ~~Powell; he was thoroughly a man in every respect~~; a polished southern gentleman; a staunch and true friend; and it was with a feeling of the deepest grief that I finally gave up my crude endeavors at resuscitation.

Leaving Powell’s body where it lay on the ledge I crept into the cave to reconnoiter. I found a large chamber, possibly a hundred feet in diameter and thirty or forty feet in height; a smooth and well-worn floor, and many other evidences that the cave had, at some remote period, been inhabited. The back of the cave was so lost in dense shadow that I could not distinguish whether there were openings into other apartments or not.

It is the custom of the Mahars to liberate those who remain alive within the arena after the beasts depart or are killed. Thus it has happened that several mighty warriors from far distant lands, whom we have captured on our slave raids, have battled the brutes turned in upon them and slain them, thereby winning their freedom. In the instance which you witnessed the beasts killed each other, but the result was the same—the man and woman were liberated, furnished with weapons, and started on their homeward journey. The chances are that ere long you will know much more about it than I,” and he grinned as he spoke. The Sagoths have a well-developed sense of humor. “And suppose it is the arena,” I continued; “what then?” “You saw the two who met the tarag and the thag the time that you escaped?” he said. “Yes.” “Your end in the arena would be similar to what was intended for them,” he explained, “though of course the same kinds of animals might not be employed.” “It is sure death in either event?” I asked.

The Queen smiled and passed on. ‘Who ARE you talking to?’ said the King, going up to Alice, and looking at the Cat’s head with great curiosity. ‘It’s a friend of mine—a Cheshire Cat,’ said Alice: ‘allow me to introduce it.’ ‘I don’t like the look of it at all,’ said the King: ‘however, it may kiss my hand if it likes.’ ‘I’d rather not,’ the Cat remarked.

As soon as Steelkilt leaves me, I swear to beach this boat on yonder island.

‘Don’t be impertinent,’ said the King, ‘and don’t look at me like that!’ He got behind Alice as he spoke. ‘A cat may look at a king,’ said Alice. ‘I’ve read that in some book, but I don’t remember where.‘ ‘Well, it must be removed,’ said the King very decidedly, and he called the Queen, who was passing at the moment, ‘My dear! I wish you would have this cat removed!’ The Queen had only one way of settling all difficulties, great or small. ‘Off with his head!’ she said, without even looking round. ‘I’ll fetch the executioner myself,’ said the King eagerly, and he hurried off. Alice thought she might as well go back, and see how the game was going on, as she heard the Queen’s voice in the distance, screaming with passion.

She had already heard her sentence three of the players to be executed for having missed their turns, and she did not like the look of things at all, as the game was in such confusion that she never knew whether it was her turn or not. So she went in search of her hedgehog. The hedgehog was engaged in a fight with another hedgehog, which seemed to Alice an excellent opportunity for croqueting one of them with the other: the only difficulty was, that her flamingo was gone across to the other side of the garden, where Alice could see it trying in a helpless sort of way to fly up into a tree.

Queen’s voice in the distance, screaming with passion

So she tucked it away under her arm, that it might not escape again, and went back for a little more conversation with her friend. When she got back to the Cheshire Cat, she was surprised to find quite a large crowd collected round it: there was a dispute going on between the executioner, the King, and the Queen, who were all talking at once, while all the rest were quite silent, and looked very uncomfortable. The moment Alice appeared, she was appealed to by all three to settle the question, and they repeated their arguments to her, though, as they all spoke at once, she found it very hard indeed to make out exactly what they said.

Nell’autolavaggio di Moschino

06 martedì 2015 visualizzazioni:

Interviews

Moschino – Primavera/Estate 2016

Nella moda tutto diventa “cool”: e quindi ecco che un cantiere stradale, con tanto di linea gialla tratteggiata nel mezzo, diventa una passerella super glam, in cui le modelle sfoggiano delle inedite “cartello stradale-bag”, dei cappellini a forma di birillo delimitatore e abiti scenografici in cui i materiali provengono dalle spazzole dell’autolavaggio. Jeremy Scott si è superato anche questa volta, ispirandosi al “brutto” delle nostre metropoli, sempre più cantieri a cielo aperto, con strade dissestate e interruzioni di marcia, in qualcosa di bellissimo, divertente, vincente.

I colori sono i classici “fluo da strada”, quelli che generalmente sfoggiano gli spazzini, i “men at work” e i postini, l’arancio si incontra con il giallo e insieme si accendono con le bande catarifrangenti che corrono sui giacchini e sui pantaloni, fino a diventare fiocchi luminosi.

Tailleur dai tagli classici e dall’aria bon ton, resi insoliti dai materiali di recupero, come le reti arancioni dei cantieri, i nastri bianchi e rossi che circondano le aree di lavoro e i cappellini che solitamente utilizzano gli operai.

Una città resa magicamente femminile, pop e sbarazzina, un tripudio di contemporaneità, con la straordinaria capacità di captare ogni dettaglio, nell’era in cui tutto è possibile, in cui il brutto diventa bello e la nobiltà dei mestieri diventa moda. Benvenuti nella citta incantata, benvenuti a Jeremy’s City…

di Ludovica Bonini

Photo Credits: Flavio Germani

6/10/2015

Il trono di Saturno di Alessandro Maria Scavia

06 martedì 2015 visualizzazioni:

Interviews

Quest’anno la Vogue Fashion Night Out è stata, come ogni anno, uno degli appuntamenti più importanti non solo per chi lavora con la moda ma anche per tutti coloro che amano e seguono l’eccellenza italiana nel mondo. Oltre alle nuove collezioni, alle feste e ai cocktail party l’edizione 2015 si è distinta per l’interazione tra diverse forme d’arte. Tra queste, Bella.it ha acceso i riflettori su un giovanissimo e talentuoso designer, Alessandro Maria Scavia, che ha proposto un’opera di grande impatto visivo ed emotivo, unica nel suo genere. Si tratta del “Trono di Saturno”, lavoro d’esordio del giovane designer, ch esprime un trionfale tributo a Madre Natura, attenta a nutrire l’umanità con i frutti della terra, ma al tempo stesso esprime lo sforzo e la dignità del lavoro dell’uomo fin dalle sue forme più antiche come l’agricoltura e l’artigianato, importanti espressioni del sapere tradizionale attraverso le quali gli innumerevoli talenti italiani di oggi e di ieri hanno realizzato creazioni che hanno reso il nostro paese famoso nel mondo.

In questa ottica dunque, e perfettamente inserito nel contesto dell’italica eccellenza, ecco allora un trono imponente, con al centro una muscolosa gamba umana posta a sostegno centrale che simboleggia la fatica quotidiana espressa attraverso il lavoro, mentre le due cornucopie laterali esprimono l’abbondanza, la fertilità e la prosperità che consentono la fioritura di spighe di grano e succosi frutti in argento ed oro lavorati a mano, smaltati ed impreziositi da dettagli in diamanti, rubini, granati, agate, diaspri, ametiste, corniole e giade.

Il Trono di Saturno nasce dalla collaborazione tra due eccellenze dell’artigianato italiano, Medea Arredamenti e Scavia Gioielli, entrambe realtà di tradizione centenaria, che in perfetta sinergia hanno fuso le rispettive esperienze per portare alla luce un oggetto davvero esclusivo, che non lascia indifferenti nemmeno i meno sensibili al richiamo dell’arte.

Tutti i dettagli d’oreficeria infatti, come pure la struttura in legno di tiglio francese laccato in oro anticato e la seduta in velluto rosso, sono stati realizzati interamente a mano dai maestri artigiani di Scavia e Medea. Da ultimo va segnalato il prezioso omaggio realizzato da questa seduta-scultura al nucleo centrale di EXPO 2015, dove il tema del cibo diviene rappresentazione al tempo stesso realistica e simbolica. Lunga vita ai talenti del bel paese dunque, che, come si augura lo stesso autore, speriamo si possano esprimere senza dover più fuggire.

Guarda nella gallery i dettagli di questa splendida Opera d’Arte….

di redazione

6/10/2015

“Cacasotto sentimentali”

06 martedì 2015 visualizzazioni:

Interviews

“…Lui è carino, simpatico. Mi fa molto ridere. Pensa che mi ha regalato anche delle rose, non ne ricevevo da un sacco di tempo”.

“E Quindi? Vi rivedete?”

“Non lo so, cioè, insomma, non so se è quello giusto. Siamo diversi”.

“Ma tipo?”

“Si cioè, in tante cose. Ad esempio forse ha carie su un dente. Poi dorme con la tapparella chiusa mentre io se non c’è almeno un po’ di luce ho impressione di soffocare. Il dentifricio. Ma come fa a spremerlo dal mezzo e non dal fondo? Troppo diversi, dai siamo troppo diversi. E poi ho il mio lavoro che mi impegna troppo…..”

_____________________________________

“Si, lei è fantastica. E’ brillante, è una donna molto determinata, ha il senso dell’umorismo. Siamo stati proprio bene”

“E allora? Quando la richiami?”

“Beh..non lo so se la richiamo”

“Perché?”

“Eh, non sono sicuro che sia quella giusta. Siamo troppo diversi.”

“Ma tipo?”

“Ma si dai, in tante cose. Pensa che ha il secondo dito del piede più lungo del primo. Pensa che in casa cammina senza ciabatte. E una volta l’ho vista sbadigliare senza mettere la mano davanti alla bocca. Troppo diversi dai, troppo diversi”.

I nostri nonni sono rimasti insieme per cinquant’anni. I nostri padri sono insieme da quasi altrettanti. E forse, con un po’ di fortuna, lo saranno anche i nostri figli. E noi? Ma dobbiamo proprio essere ricordati nella storia dell’umanità come la generazione dei cacasotto sentimentali? La verità è che lasciarci andare fa paura, la verità è che amare fa paura, che l’idea di appartenere a qualcuno ci terrorizza. La verità è che la felicità fa talmente paura da nasconderci dietro qualsiasi pretesto, anche quelli più inverosimili, per non mettersi, o rimettersi, in gioco. Abbiamo preso delle batoste, abbiamo affrontato dei fallimenti, e abbiamo sofferto. Si, è vero, nessuno lo nega. E allora? Quante volte abbiamo fatto un colloquio e ci hanno risposto “le faremo sapere”. Quante volte ci siamo ammalati e abbiamo trovato la forza di curarci. Quante volte abbiamo cambiato casa, città, amici. Le cose non vengono da sole. Checché ne dicano, le cose nella vita non vengono quasi mai da sole. Bisogna alzare le chiappe, mettersi in gioco, una due, tre, mille volte, provare e riprovare, e portarci dietro le cicatrici, che servono non come stupido pretesto ma solo per capire chi siamo e cosa vogliamo. Perciò prendiamo il coraggio a quattro mani e lasciamoci andare, lasciamoci prendere; perché la felicità c’è, è là fuori; ha un volto e un nome che forse non conosciamo ancora, o forse si, ma c’è, e c’è per tutti.

E allora smettiamo di fare i cacasotto che si nascondono dietro a frasi che dall’esterno a volte suonano davvero ridicole, patetiche, e amiamo, e soprattutto, lasciamoci amare. Si può vivere al piano terra o al ventesimo piano. Nel primo caso, se si cade, non ci faremo nulla; nel secondo molto ma molto male. Ma l’orizzonte che ci sarà consentito vedere dal ventesimo piano non sarà mai paragonabile all’altro.

Buona settimana.

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6/10/2015

Longtime Joe Gibbs Racing pit crew member Nick Odell has joined Hendrick Motorsports to serve as the front-tire changer

06 martedì 2015 visualizzazioni:

Interviews

Odell, who was recently released from JGR, will replace Scott Brzozowski on the No. 24 team for the final eight races of the 2015 Chase.

Prior to last weekend’s race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, JGR announced Josh Leslie was replacing Odell on the No. 18 pit crew. Mayo has served as Earnhardt Jr.’s front-tire changer for much of the 2015 season, but was replaced by Kevin Novak.

But now the sounds inside had ceased, and a thin circle of bright metal showed between the top and the body of the cylinder. Air was either entering or escaping at the rim with a thin, sizzling sound. They listened, rapped on the scaly burnt metal with a stick, and, meeting with no response, they both concluded the man or men inside must be insensible or dead. Of course the two were quite unable to do anything.

Henderson went into the railway station at once, in order to telegraph the news to London. The newspaper articles had prepared men’s minds for the reception of the idea. I found a little crowd of perhaps twenty people surrounding the huge hole in which the cylinder lay.

Gregg the butcher and his little boy

I think they perceived that nothing was to be done for the present, and had gone away to breakfast at Henderson’s house. There were four or five boys sitting on the edge of the Pit, with their feet dangling, and amusing themselves–until I stopped them–by throwing stones at the giant mass. After I had spoken to them about it, they began playing at “touch” in and out of the group of bystanders. Among these were a couple of cyclists, a jobbing gardener I employed sometimes, a girl carrying a baby, Gregg the butcher and his little boy, and two or three loafers and golf caddies who were accustomed to hang about the railway station. There was very little talking. Few of the common people in England had anything but the vaguest astronomical ideas in those days. Most of them were staring quietly at the big table like end of the cylinder, which was still as Ogilvy and Henderson had left it.

I fancy the popular expectation of a heap of charred corpses was disappointed at this inanimate bulk. Some went away while I was there, and other people came. I clambered into the pit and fancied I heard a faint movement under my feet.

[blockquote author=”DALAI LAMA” pull=”normal”]Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can’t help them, at least don’t hurt them.[/blockquote]

It was only when I got thus close to it that the strangeness of this object was at all evident to me. At the first glance it was really no more exciting than an overturned carriage or a tree blown across the road. Not so much so, indeed. It looked like a rusty gas float. It required a certain amount of scientific education to perceive that the grey scale of the Thing was no common oxide, that the yellowish-white metal that gleamed in the crack between the lid and the cylinder had an unfamiliar hue.

Seen From Space: Hurricane Joaquin Churns Towards Bahamas

06 martedì 2015 visualizzazioni:

Interviews

Hurricane Joaquin battered the Bahamas early Friday and from his perch on the International Space Station astronaut Scott Kelly was witness to the magnitude of the huge storm.

Kelly captured this early morning image before the storm hit the Atlantic archipelago with maximum sustained winds of around 140 miles per hour. There was, in her cupboard, a Golden Cap, with a circle of diamonds and rubies running round it. This Golden Cap had a charm. Whoever owned it could call three times upon the Winged Monkeys, who would obey any order they were given. But no person could command these strange creatures more than three times. Twice already the Wicked Witch had used the charm of the Cap. Once was when she had made the Winkies her slaves, and set herself to rule over their country. The Winged Monkeys had helped her do this. The second time was when she had fought against the Great Oz himself, and driven him out of the land of the West. The Winged Monkeys had also helped her in doing this. Only once more could she use this Golden Cap, for which reason she did not like to do so until all her other powers were exhausted. But now that her fierce wolves and her wild crows and her stinging bees were gone, and her slaves had been scared away by the Cowardly Lion, she saw there was only one way left to destroy Dorothy and her friends.

Hurricane Joaquin churns toward the Bahamas in the early morning shot captured on Oct. 2 by NASA astronaut Scott Kelly aboard the International Space Station.

Next she stood upon her right foot and said: “Hil-lo, hol-lo, hel-lo!” After this she stood upon both feet and cried in a loud voice: “Ziz-zy, zuz-zy, zik!” Now the charm began to work. The sky was darkened, and a low rumbling sound was heard in the air. There was a rushing of many wings, a great chattering and laughing, and the sun came out of the dark sky to show the Wicked Witch surrounded by a crowd of monkeys, each with a pair of immense and powerful wings on his shoulders. One, much bigger than the others, seemed to be their leader. He flew close to the Witch and said, “You have called us for the third and last time. What do you command?”

“Go to the strangers who are within my land and destroy them all except the Lion,” said the Wicked Witch. “Bring that beast to me, for I have a mind to harness him like a horse, and make him work.” “Your commands shall be obeyed,” said the leader. Then, with a great deal of chattering and noise, the Winged Monkeys flew away to the place where Dorothy and her friends were walking.

Wicked Witch took the Golden Cap from her cupboard

Great Oz himself, and driven him out of the land of the West. The Winged Monkeys had also helped her in doing this. Only once more could she use this Golden Cap, for which reason she did not like to do so until all her other powers were exhausted. But now that her fierce wolves and her wild crows and her stinging bees were gone, and her slaves had been scared away by the Cowardly Lion, she saw there was only one way left to destroy Dorothy and her friends. So the Wicked Witch took the Golden Cap from her cupboard and placed it upon her head. Then she stood upon her left foot and said slowly: “Ep-pe, pep-pe, kak-ke!” Next she stood upon her right foot and said.

The Winkies were not a brave people

Then the Lion gave a great roar and sprang towards them, and the poor Winkies were so frightened that they ran back as fast as they could. When they returned to the castle the Wicked Witch beat them well with a strap, and sent them back to their work, after which she sat down to think what she should do next. She could not understand how all her plans to destroy these strangers had failed; but she was a powerful Witch, as well as a wicked one, and she soon made up her mind how to act. There was, in her cupboard, a Golden Cap, with a circle of diamonds and rubies running round it. This Golden Cap had a charm. Whoever owned it could call three times upon the Winged Monkeys, who would obey any order they were given. But no person could command these strange creatures more than three times.