From Toy Story to Bolt, animation has brought us an array of wonderful characters to cherish and enjoy. This roundup highlights a selection of simply awe inspiring 3D characters.

Stunning 3D Characters

Captain Jack Sparrow

Created using 3DSmax, Zbrush and Photoshop, the attention to detail and expression are fantastic.

Bobby, The Little Octopus

Textured using ZBrush and decorated with Blender, taking 5 days of work. Bobby is a unique and fascinating piece of work.

Harlequin

Hauntingly realistic, Harlequin is truly a spectacular piece of art. At first glance, one might think this was a well lit photo.

Science Doc

Modeled in maya and rendered in Mental Ray, Science is an excellent character, with matching production values.

Goblin Mechanic

Inspired by Max Cant’s soldiers when modeling the furnace on his back he is full of expression and crammed with an array of wonderful details.

Will Smith Caricature

Hilarious and superbly created using Cinema 4D, ZBrush and Photoshop. It has a warmth and charm that make it stand out.

Jelly Spider Friend

Realistic and a little creepy, this is beautifully crafted with amazing colors and textures. The lighting adds to the freakish feel of the piece.

Cloud Tribute

A tribute to the popular Final Fantasy character Cloud, the emotion behind the eyes is extremely powerful.

Beautiful Vanadisa

Created in Daz Studio with a rendering time of over 22 hours, this is a simply breathtaking 3D portrait.

Isabelle

Modeled using a combination of Poser, Vue, Cinema 4D and Photoshop CS, she has a real sense of mystery and magic.

Art Ventura

A wonderful caricature, Art Ventura solves mysterious CG cases. The behind the scenes of its creation is worth viewing.

Ogryn Stare

The artists first project using ZBrush with the entire piece taking over two days. It makes great use of textures.

Rose

A beautiful pose and composition, great use of light and a thoroughly captivating expression make Rose a compelling piece.

Emocionado

A funny and charming piece with great attention to detail on the cloth patterns and the stubble on the chin.

Aztec Priest

Inspired by Mel Gibson’s movie “Apocalypto”, this Aztec Priest is detailed, imaginative and original.

Cyber Goth

Created using a combination of Poser and Photoshop, the design on her scalp and the eye markings really draw the eye.

Samurai Troll

The texture work in the armor plates and skin are amazing given that the artist views this as a work in progress.

Smoking Creature

I don’t what’s more frightening, the hideous character or the amazing amount of realism he possesses.

Kai

This is Kai, Nariko’s dedicated friend (from Heavenly Sword). Created using Poser, Vue and Photoshop.

Shadow Conscious

Absolutely incredible detail, the artist really captured the emptiness in her eyes and created a character deep in thought.

Female Vampire

Inspired by the vampire film 30 Days of Nights, this female vampire looks really realistic and deliciously evil.

Arwen

Created using Cinema 4D, Poser, Vue and Photoshop with an obscene render time, Arwen is a pearlescent beauty.

Fries With That

Fantastic modelling, texturing and shading make this utterly realistic, you will think it’s a photograph. An amazing achievement in 3D realism.

Suspicious Minds

An incredibly striking, beautiful, realistic and moving portrait with an interesting story behind it.

The Worlds Enemy

A superb model of Sephiroth from Final Fantasy with the rendering taking 3 hours and the post production taking 6 hours.

Chris In 3D

An absolutely stunning combination of Poser and Photoshop work. Do yourself a favor and check out this render’s immaculate details.

Cyborg Head 01

The level of detail is nothing short of amazing, enhanced by the textures and lightning that give this 3D render superb qualities.

Ethereal

Artwork based on the W40k universe, it’s an Ethereal from the TAU empire, taking 2 days to complete using Cinema 4D, ZBrush, VRay and Photoshop.

Knight of the Temple

A lone knight of the Temple, standing guard. The chainmail and stone are particularly brilliant in detail and texture.

Grandma

Just awesome detail, amazing textures, superb blending and the befuddling expression on the woman’s face make this a wonderful piece of work.

Primeiro, apenas esclarecendo que as informações tiradas daqui foram obtidas através dos posts de Alberto Frederico, autor do livro ‘A profecia Maia’ na comunidade do Orkut ‘ A profecia Maia – 2012 ‘

Segundo, faço este post apenas porque estou cansada de ver várias pessoas, principalmente jovens que , ao verem ligada a palavra profecia ao ano de 2012 logo pensam em fim do mundo , sem ao menos ler sobre o assunto. Um fato que ajuda muito são os filmes, como o que leva o nome do ano das profecias 2012 que estréia este ano.Muito provavelmente eu não esclareça tudo aqui, mas aos poucos vou adicionando conteúdo até conseguir um conjunto mais completo e esclarecedor.Agora, vamos ao conteúdo.

( Retirado de posts de Alberto Frederico )

A PROFECIA MAIA

A profecia maia é um ciclo de 3113 a.C. até 2012.Este ciclo tem exatos 5.125 anos,com correções dos calendários.O que sucederá em 23 de dezembro de 2012? A astronomia dá a resposta. Faço parte da cidade,que é parte de um estado,que é parte do país,que é parte do continente.Continentes são placas tectônicas que flutuam sobre o magma da Terra.Estou me movendo no continente.A Terra faz sua rotação sobre si mesma,em 24 horas ou um dia.Estou no continente que girando com a rotação da Terra. A Terra gira em torno do Sol e é afetada pela força de gravidade da Lua. Ao se mover em torno do Sol,a Terra tem grande variação de posição.A cada instante há variação no espaço,no qual vou junto.Isso gera um “rastro” que afeta o planeta e o Universo.O Sol não está parado.Nosso sistema solar se acha num dos braços da Via Láctea,que também tem enorme movimento de rotação.Estou preso ao movimento galáctico.Sou passageiro sem escolha desse movimento do qual sofro total influência.Se o movimento da Terra,ao longo do Sol,é Ano,o movimento de rotação da Via Láctea é o Ano Galáctico: dura 25.920 anos da Terra.O novo ano galáctico será em 23 de dezembro de 2012. Os Maias ensinam: Ano Galáctico é um grande acontecimento cósmico. Haverá mudanças do eixo da Terra,afluxos de energias,vibrações e influências que não sabemos.Os Maias anunciaram que tal energia, vinda do Sol do centro da Galáxia, –Hunabku- deus é um só, afetará a tudo e a todos na Terra: será o sincronismo cósmico impossível de evitar-se. A energia,dizem os Maias,será capaz de abrir as mentes a verdades e criar uma consciência cósmica.Evolução para o que aceitar a consciência cósmica ou involução para o que a desafiar. Uma mente mais liberta da luxúria tende a elevar-se,e evoluir. A escolha será nossa: ou evoluir, ser um Ser melhor em comunhão com o Universo; ou o fim da civilização como a conhecemos.Na metade do ciclo:cerca de 12.960 anos,em 10.960 a.C.deu-se a destruição da Atlântida,que sucumbiu sob as águas,mas também deu-se o crescimento do Egito.

Os Maias acreditavam que a energia que vem do Sol da galáxia Via Láctea é responsável pelas mudanças aqui na Terra,inclusive a forma de uma flor recebe esta energia,através do Sol,para ganhar forma. Esta energia ganhou da ciência o nome de energia de densidade (astrofísica). Para os Maias, essa energia mudava até a psicologia das pessoas.Vcs repararam que o comunismo acabou sem que houvesse uma revolta na Rússia?Que o muro de Berlim caiu sem um tiro?São tais fatos que comprovam a teoria dos Maias.A profecia está em curso,os tsunamis e outras desgraças já estão acontecendo.Estamos nos últimos 13 anos da profecia,número sagrado para os maias.

A DATA

O mais correto é 21 de dezembro

Há dúvida entre os especialistas, se 21 ou 23 de dezembro, mas não existe uma hora marcada para o fim da Conta Longa dos maias. Descobri [ Alberto ]em minhas pesquisas que o 3113 a.C. , o início da Conta Longa, foi o dia do nascimento de Vênus para os maias.
Há muitas dúvidas na comunidade do motivo dessa data. Descobri que os maias marcavam esta data como o nascimento de Vênus. Como o calendário maia é cícilico, isto é não pára, fica sempre difícil acoplar o calendário gregoriano com o maia. A correlação mais aceita – GMT1- ainda hoje usada pelos maias quichés- dá como fim da conta larga no dia 21 de dezembro de 2012.

A dificuldade de se prever a Conta Longa

É preciso saber que houve duas civilizações maias: a clássica que foi a maior de todas, de 300 a 900 d.C.; e a do Yucatan, do século X até o século XV, que foi formada pelos maias-toltecas, depois do grande êxodo da elite dos maias clássicos. Por isso, não se pode generalizar a civilização maia como uma coisa só. O mistério deu-se na clássica, quando as cidades foram abandonadas sem um motivo aparente. A civilização maia-tolteca do Yucatan do filme Apocalypto terminou devido às guerras entre as cidades de Mayapan, Uxmal e Chichén-Itza pela tomada do governo central. Na clássica cada cidade era independente; no Yucatan as cidades formaram a Liga de Mayapan e passaram a ter uma capital: Mayapan, em sistema de rodízio. Chichén-Itza quis o poder e lutou com Mayapan, mas perdeu a guerra, e esta civilização começou a ruir.

Por enquanto é só, volto a postar mais conteúdo depois (:

Tomorrow Emmerich’s ultimate disaster movie has worldwide premiere. Most reviews have already given it thumbs down and based on what I have seen of the movie so far I am not likely to give it a positive remark. For those not acquainted with what the 2012circus is about here follows a short summary of the main issues that I have covered on this blog so far.

For a small but still growing group of people December 21, 2012 will be a fateful day. Several made up prophecies will not fulfill. Some of these people will probably say “never mind” and search for a new doomsday in some ancient text. Hopefully most people will feel betrayed and fooled. The market for books, websites, blogs and forums concerning 2012 authored by self proclaimed prophets and experts, along with good old Nostradamus, have increased tremendously, especially in the US. Most of these prophets make a living out of people’s search for the meaning of life or the wish for a better world. Ancient societies are ascribed several noble qualities and knowledge we are supposed to learn from. However, most of the prophets focus on people’s fear and emphasize the end of the world and appear in classy magazines like Playboy. But it is a Christian apocalypse these people visualize.

The 2012 circus is a mish mash of pseudoscience, new age, creationism and conspiracy theory. No homogenous frame exist and the field is full of false dichotomies, like when it is argued that we have to choose between a perverted creationism or a cold and dead science. With this logic it is sometimes argued that aliens and/or Atlantis are relevant alternatives.

What is 2012?

This modern phenomenon has only a superficial connection to the ancient Maya ”culture” (I use exclamation marks since I dislike the culture concept as such but that is beyond the topic of this post). It is mainly the date that the Maya has contributed with. The prophets link this date with other myths and cosmologies from other parts of the world and argue that there is an ancient global reason why all these calendars and cosmological systems end on the same date (which simply is not true). A problem that these prophets avoid is that not even professional Mayanists agree upon the correlation between the Gregorian/Julian calendars and the Maya calendar(s). A competing correlation sets the date two days later (December 23, 2012).

Whatever correlation we use, why is this date so special? First one need to understand how the so-called Maya Long Count (LC) calendar works. It usually has five levels or periods: k’in (1 day), winal (20 days), tun (18 winals or 360 days), k’atun (20 tuns), and baktun/pik (20 k’atuns). Wherever we find the LC mentioned it is always followed by two other calendars: tzolk’in (260 days) and haab (365 days) that both together form a cycle that takes 52 years to repeat, the so called Calendar Round (CR). The LC, CR plus some additional calendars form the Initial Series which begin many dated monuments. We leave these other calendars for now since the LC works in another way but it should be pointed out that the CR also is known in other parts of Mesoamerica, such as among the Aztecs.

If we take tomorrow’s date in the LC it is transcribed like this: 12.19.16.15.4. This means that it has gone 12 baktuns/piks, 19 k’atuns, 16 tuns, 15 winals and 4 days since the beginning of the calendar (0.0.0.0.0). This occurred in 3114 BC, but this date coincides with the end of a preceding “cycle” of 13 baktuns. 0.0.0.0.0 is therefore the same as 13.0.0.0.0. Since a preceding “cycle” ended on 13 baktun it is believed that the current “cycle” also should end on 13 baktun.

Only Monument 6 at Tortuguero in Mexico mentions the future 13.0.0.0.0 (4 Ajaw 3 K’ank’in in tzolk’in and haab). The monument says that “The Thirteenth “Bak’tun” will be finished, (on) Four Ajaw, the Third of Uniiw (K’ank’in), ? will occur, (It will be) the descent(??) of the Nine Support? God(s) [Bolon Yookte’ K’uh] to the ?.” The question marks show where the epigraphers are unsure of the meaning of the glyphs or where the inscription is unreadable. We simply do not know what this inscription means. It is particularly the deity/deities Bolon Yookte’ K’uh that is the target for various interpretations. This deity is related to warfare, conflicts and the Underworld. Such associations fit like the hand in the glove (Swedish expression) for catastrophe theorists. This descending divinity is interpreted as either aliens or Jesus. However, the inscriptions may not even relate to 2012 but rather to the dedication of the monument in AD 669.

It is important to emphasize that no inscription support the idea that the LC would end in 2012 and begin anew. It is the projection of the “creation date” to its end that is the basis for this belief. The five leveled LC began at 13 baktun/pik (3114 BC) and hence it should end on the same date according to not only the prophets but also to for example Anthony Aveni, a well known archaeoastronomer. However, this is just a guess. What often is left out of the picture is the fact that in the Temple of Inscriptions at Palenque in Mexico there is a date mentioning the 80^th CR anniversary of king Janaab Pakal’s death in AD 683. This is AD 4772 and transformed into the LC system this is in fact in the next piktun which is the level above baktun. One piktun equals 20 baktuns. This is a good indication that the Maya never saw something extraordinarily ending or beginning in 2012. Not only did the calendar begin in 3114 BC since inscriptions at Coba sets the date of creation to roughly 2.7 x 10³⁰ years ago.

It is also misleading to say that the Maya had a cyclical view of time. The tzolk’in and haab calendars repeat and together they also form the recurring CR of 52 years. But the LC works differently and its periods are not cyclical but are cumulative. In inscriptions the periods are stacked on top of each other with the longest and “heaviest” periods at the top, literally creating a burden of time.

The 2012prophets

The above data is either distorted or ignored by most 2012 prophets. All agree that the timeframe of 5126 years (3114 BC – AD 2012), is significant on a global level. The beginning of the calendar roughly coincides with the first dynasty in Egypt, early dynasties in Mesopotamia, etc. These are not coincidences according to them. It is usually seen as the result of a cataclysmic event when Plato’s imagined island of Atlantis sank and its survivors spread knowledge to other places. All civilizations have the same origin, what we in archaeological terms call hyperdiffusion, a school of thought abandoned by serious archaeologists more than a century ago. This imagined island is used to explain why there are “pyramids” here and there, such as the imagined pyramids in Bosnia (the proponents neglect that the “pyramids” all have different form, emerged at different times and that they in all cases are preceded by a local development from smaller buildings).

Another version is that alien astronauts from another planet in our solar system (Nibiru), called Annunaki (which the ancient Sumerians called gods according to Zecharia Sitchin), used humans as slaves and instructed them to build monumental buildings. This idea, along with the Atlantis theories, is ethnocentric, reminiscent of the “white man’s burden” ideas during the European colonialism. The Maya, Egyptians, Sumerians, Incas, etc. are simply not believed to have been able to think, plan and construct something pyramids, ziqqurats or any other monumental structure. This is one of the worst tendencies among the 2012ers and symptomatically these proponents tend to have poor knowledge of the specifics of each “culture.” These old age ideas are far from the 2012ers aspirations of thinking outside the box.

In fact, few 2012 prophets have bothered reading up on the Maya. An exception to this is John Major Jenkins, but his version of Maya cosmology, originally influenced by “real Mayanists” such as Linda Schele and David Freidel, is still a distortion of the available data. He argues that the LC is a kind of countdown to the “end date”. His main argument is that at the winter solstice on December 21, 2012, the Earth and sun are aligned with the centre of the Milky Way. The problem is only that this phenomenon has occurred for several years and will continue to do so for the years to come. The Maya had great astronomical/astrological knowledge but what Jenkins says is that the Maya knew about the precession of the equinoxes, a cycle that takes 25,800 years to complete. Today the Earth’s axis points towards the Polar Star but it has not always done this since the Earth’s axis wobbles and the night sky change through time. It is probably not impossible that ancient astronomer’s could have calculated the length of this so-called Platonic year. The main problem is that his “evidence” actually boils down to a multiplication of the LC’s five lowest levels (5126 years) with five. This gives us a period of 25,630 years which roughly correlates with a Platonic year.

Why five? Here we find yet another common fallacy of the 2012ers and that is because this idea actually is based on Aztec mythology. According to the Aztecs they lived in the fifth Sun/creation and that four earlier creations predate the current one. There is no evidence that the Classic and Formative period Maya believed in these four creations (when the LC was in use). It is true that the much later Colonial book of Popol Vuh mentions earlier failed attempts to create human beings but there were never four cataclysmic events associated with this. However, one often sees the so-called Aztec calendar stone representing the Maya LC, the 2012 “end date” and the five creations. However, the Aztecs never used the LC, there is no “end date” of the current Aztec creation (2027 is the next time it may end). This calendar stone is not even a real calendar and its circular shape “supports” the illusion of the cyclical nature of Maya LC prevalent among 2012ers. Robert Bast, the founder of the largest 2012 forum on internet, says that the Aztec calendar stone has a higher aesthetic appeal than the Initial Series of Maya monuments and that this justifies its use in 2012 literature! It would be like having a statue of an Assyrian king to represent an Egyptian pharaoh. Another problem with the Aztec creations is that they all had different durations, being multiples of CRs. However, for Jenkins’ model to work all of his five Maya creations must have the same length (13 baktuns). This is a common pattern among 2012ers: they pick bits from here and there that superficially support their predetermined ideas and they ignore associated pieces that don’t support it. Hence they always come up with neat and perfect models that never are supported by actual evidence.

Terrence McKenna, Sergey Smelyakov and Carl Johan Calleman represent those “2012ers” who argue that the LC has something to say about the evolution of the universe, life and consciousness. McKenna’s novelty theory is used as a tool to predict when something novel will occur. It is a graph based on the Chinese oracle instrument called i-ching (it says ka-ching in McKenna’s cash register) . He used this to show that an event occurring at one time is related to an event occurring at another date. Time is fractal, an idea also championed by Gregg Braden, and these events repeat at a higher intensity and speed the closer we get to the “end time”. At one point only change will occur and this will occur on December 21, 2012. McKenna originally used the Hiroshima atomic bomb as the beginning of the last fractal period of 67.29 years (a periodicity that does not exist in the Maya area). But 67.29 years from the Hiroshima bomb ends up in November 2012. This was not good enough so he corrected his own theory to make it end on December 21, 2012 instead! That is a clear sign of fraud.

Calleman is a similar designer of a personal comsology and argues that the LC reflects evolutionary periods/durations in the development of the universe, life and consciousness. Basically, he says that the ancient Maya knew that the universe is billions of years old since a higher level of the LC roughly fits the length of the current universe. He apparently rationalizes away the extremely long LC at Coba. Another major problem is that the other LC levels not always fit other important “phases” of the emergence of the universe, such as the formation of the Earth, the emergence of life forms, the earliest vertebrae animals, the first terrestrial tetrapods, the first mammals, etc. He is also arguing that the Maya got the “end date” wrong! It should be in October 2011. Recently he has predicted that money will loose its value sometime after November 7 this year (five days ago). Bad news for Emmerich, no one will be able to pay for his spectacle.

Neither Jenkins, McKenna or Calleman belongs to the catastrophic/end of days faction which Emmerich’s movie represents. This faction is the most problematic and harmful if one is to believe the anxiety some people expresses on the 2012 forums. Patrick Geryl is most popular and he argues that the magnetic field of the sun will generate enormous solar eruptions that will affect the magnetic field of the Earth. The magnetic poles will shift at an instant moment and this will cause giant earth quakes, tsunamis and intensive volcanic eruptions. The whole surface of the Earth will change its face and continents will move several hundred km. This has of course already been predicted by Atlantis and the knowledge was handed down to the Maya. Lawrence Joseph argues that a Supervolcano at Yellowstone will erupt and it is possible that terrorists will ignite the whole volcano by detonating a nuclear device. I hope Al Qaida does not read Joseph’s instructions.

Zecharia Sitchin’s fictional planet Nibiru/Marduk is by some believed to return in 2012. Burak Eldem suggests that this planet (or sun?) will cause disasters of unheard of consequences. But this has of course already been predicted by the ancients since the planet already have caused made up disasters earlier in history. This is all related to Atlantis. Atlantis and/or Nibiru are also component parts of the frequent conspiracy theories. These theories argue that the knowledge of the return of Nibiru is known by the leaders of the world and that NASA tries to hide information about the upcoming disaster. Politicians want to let us live in ignorance, not knowing anything about our inevitable death. The mighty have already built bunkers to survive the catastrophes and a new world order will arise after the apocalypse. Bast argues that the pyramids throughout the world actually are bunkers from earlier disasters. There is even a Swedish man who wishes to use the small Swedish mountain Kinnekulle to build bunkers for 144,000 people (this is as many days as there are in a baktun…). This place is to be called swEden. Sect like tendencies like this can be found at many places, particularly in the US.

The sect-like tendencies of the 2012circus doomsday fanatics should not come as a surprise. The whole 2012circus is full of Christians and Creationists. Sweden’s own Saint Bridget (Birgitta) is related to the 2012 apocalypse. This is usually combined with Jewish/Christian numerology and gematria nonsense as well. December 21, 2012 can, according to some, be transformed into 666, the number of the beast (but if you use December 23 or the Orthodox calendar you will get another number…). This is yet another example of the ethnocentrism that permeates the circus. Worst of the bunch is the hardcore creationist David Jay Jordan who calls the Maya a bloodthirsty savage race (I guess he has seen Apocalypto, directed by yet another Christian). He argues that since the winter solstice 2012 occurs on 11:11 PM GMT, this is significant since number 11 is important according to God’s plan. Not only does he not consider the fact that people outside the US and UK writes this time as 23:11 which create another combination of numbers. He, along with other numerologists, ignores the fact that the Maya used a vigesimal number system based on 20 and that they only used three signs to represent numbers (shell for “zero”, a dot for one and a bar for five). One cannot simply transform one numerological system into another. Perhaps I do not even need to comment his emphasis of GMT time in the UK and that the lowest time period the Maya had was one day, they could not possibly calculate a solstice to the minute.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. I have not even discussed ideas developed by Pinchbeck, Arguelles, Tsarion and Wilcock. These people and others will be covered on this blog (as will a more in-depth critique of Jenkins). There are plenty of other topics related to the 2012circus (but not to the Maya) that will be discussed in the future three years.

In conclusion, the 2012 circus has only to do with our present. It has nothing to do with an ancient Maya prophecy since none exist. Extremely few contemporary Maya are involved in this and most of them understand that this has a US-Christian apocalyptic new age origin. However, some Maya elders have been seduced by non-Maya new agers who have found their worldview of interest. But these elders never mention December 21, 2012. Even if the talk about the end of days one should always keep in mind that the Maya area have been under Christian influence for over 450 years. As with many other phenomena, even their view of time has changed to a substantial degree.

The LC ceased to be used in the early 10^th century AD. Although one find LC dates in later codices these codices are Postclassic copies of older manuscripts. On monumental inscriptions we have no date after AD 909. During the Postclassic period the Maya used the Short Count, a 13 k’atun cycle called the may (which some Mayanists argue is the origin for the name Maya). However, 2012 has become important to the contemporary Maya as well. It has become important in the light of the 2012circus. The date is to be “reclaimed” from the 2012hoaxers who exercises a new colonialism of both the ancient and contemporary Maya. The calendar(s) have become important ethnic markers and it is in relation to this politicization that the Maya interest of the LC should be seen. Even Mel Gibson’s movie Apocalypto was more accurate than these prophecies of nonsense.

We know what happened, and we know why.

But we can’t say why, which is why we’re doomed.

The worst terrorist incident since 9/11, and we can’t call it what it is: Islamic jihad. I can’t call it what it is, because in our politically correct climate here in the Kremlin-on-the-Charles, admission of the truth is punished.

We will all end up sitting in the dark, afraid to whisper the name of that which kills us, even as the monster eats us alive.

efsane group WoLtaj dun gece 11 suLarında online olmustur.

Herkezi bekLeiz.

WoLtaj.Org

Not long after CNN posted the El Mirador videos on internet the site was caught up in the 2012circus. Just the fact that it appears to have been completely unheard of before this is just revealing how ignorant the 2012ers are. The site has been known and investigated for decades. Mel Gibson contacted Richard Hansen to consult him for Apocalypto after watching a documentary of his work in the Mirador basin. I think this was broadcasted by Discovery Channel. Thus, the site should have been known to any 2012er with an interest in the actual archaeological record. Since few of them have such an interest, but rather believe anything prophets of nonsense interpret as alien intervention is more accurate, this site remained unknown to them. But now that it is known it has already become infested by the 2012virus.

This also shows the ethnocentrism of the 2012circus. I will use this recent “takeover” of Mirador as an example. On 2012forum.com one of the moderators (“suz”) says that “these were not primitive people and the findings here rewrite the Mayan history.” Later on “Vision-master” wonders “they built these all by hand? Why do we keep looking back at ancient civilizations as primitive?” Suz replies and says “I don’t, and I think this line of thinking is slowly changing by the mainstream.” This may sound fairly innocent. It may be seen as a positive evaluation of past people as more “advanced” than the mainstream opinion may be. This is not so. Through the labeling of people as advanced or primitive the mindset of many 2012ers is revealed. This is based on ethnocentric colonialism of the 19th century (and most of their ideas of cultural diffusion dates back to the 19^th century as well). The interesting thing is that 2012ers attempt to attribute these evaluations to archaeologists and others when it is quite obvious that it is the 2012ers who have them.

No clearer is this when “Thirdeye” says “No suprise to me since the anunaki helped the mayas build their empire.” Suz replies and says “That may very well be close to the truth. Somebody intelligent built them and obviously it wasn’t the kind that Mel Gibson portrayed in his film. There was a technology that was capable of creating these buildings that were meant to last. Also there are massive underground cities in Tikal and other parts of the world such as Egypt under the pyramids far too elaborate for the times.” Apart from ignorant statements of supposedly underground cities at Tikal (tunnels excavated by archaeologists or caves maybe?) and a Mayan empire, these people cannot possibly think that the Maya could build these buildings by themselves. The Annunaki helped them…

The Annunaki are Mesopotamian deities. However, the pseudoscientist Sitchin claims these are humanlike aliens from the planet Nibiru (who will return in 2012…). The Annunaki apparently genetically engineered modern humans by mixing Annunaki genes with those of Homo erectus 450,000 years ago. Humans were designed to become slaves. Civilization was created under the guidance of these Annunaki.

The 2012ers therefore argue that the ancient Maya (or any other “civilization”) were incapable of coming up with these buildings, writing, etc. all by themselves. They needed guidance. This sounds much like the “white man’s burden”, where non-western people were seen as child like. Thus, it was, in the European colonialists view, their obligation to rule over and develop people’s culture so that they could adopt a western way of life. Although many 2012ers are against the current way of living and see 2012 as a change of the current situation, they argue that to be primitive is to have a simple technology and the lack of intelligence to build pyramids (Suz says “somebody intelligent built them”). It is also revealing that Vision-Master doubts that pyramids like this could be built by hand. As clearly shown in the movies the stones were not large like in Egypt and there is an example of a handprint on a piece of mud stuck in-between the rocks. It was quite basic building technology.

But if you write something like that you will be accused of seeing them as primitive. The 2012ers people mix skill and technology. They fall prey for the simple linear view of technological development as well. In such a view, technology should become more complex as time proceeds. “Primitive” people like Inuits should in such a view have simpler technology than farming communities like El Mirador. Not true. Inuit hunting spears are more complex than a planting stick. Also, it takes plenty more skill to hunt seals with spears than to pile rocks into a pyramid.

Now, the 2012ers would not see Mirador as a farming community, but the remains of something far more advanced. Thirdeye says this about the Annunaki: “technology wise they will always be far greater. I wouldnt be at all suprise if they could destroy our planet if they wanted too. Look at the technology they had in egyptian times……If they didnt fear the anunaki then they would be more open and truthfull about our real history but we are continuosly fed with lies. FACT” Thus, whatever the 2012 debunkers say it will always be lies. This is like arguing with a religious fundamentalist….and btw, the creationists are already in this circus. They are the most ethnocentric and even racist regarding the Maya.

Finally “Aquarian Trumpet” says that “the Egyptians did not create the Giza pyramids – they were only the ‘new found’ caretakers  Well – it is my contention that the Mayan’s have also been bestowed with the same honor! Now before you go away – hear me out..;…not all of the Mayan temples were bestowed upon them -just a few – the others are rebuilt remnants and unfinished construction. I believe Chicken Itza is also a sky map, maybe in conjuction with the Giza sky map!!! Also – the new found glyph at el Mirador…it’s not what they think it is – they are reading it wrong…it’s a warning”

Thus, some Maya rebuilt remnants and did not finish their buildings. They were primarily caretakers of buildings already constructed by aliens. You must have complete lack of knowledge of archaeology to claim such ethnocentric nonsense. But this is in line with the last sentence. A new found glyph (I guess he/she refers to the “Popol Vuh” frieze…), is argued to be read in the wrong way. I am sure he or someone else not well attuned with Maya iconography and epigraphy will give us a proper interpretation any time soon. It would not be a surprise if the Annunaki are found in Mirador’s monumental art as well. I end this post with a song by the German metal band Running Wild that summarizes Sitchin’s nonsense ideas of the Annunaki:

On minutes 1:48 and 2:03 of this 2012 five-minute promo video, you see billboards of the Southern California nonprofit organization Heal the Bay crumbling down … sorry guys, I guess environmentalists don’t survive the Apocalypse (or is the Apocalypse being brought on human kind as punishment from God because we haven’t been caring for our environment as we should have been?!)

I’ve started to see the signs of the Apocalypse … no, not on the skies, not on earthquakes, and certainly not on tarot cards, but rather plastered on billboards all over L.A. and on YouTube videos.  As a fan of Mesoamerican history and a holder of a  B.A. degree in Anthropology, I have been keenly aware about the Mayan calendar that supposedly “ends” on the year 2012.  I must say that I was actually suprised that it took this long for Hollywood to make a movie about it.  Conveniently, they did not make a film about the calendar leading up to Y2K but I guess that would’ve defeated the whole purpose somewhat: how could the world end in 2000 if the Mayan calendar went all the way up to the year 2012?  But I guess I shouldn’t be so hard on Hollywood: after all, the film is only the latest incarnation of an ongoing furor of Apocalypse theories (I’m being overly kind: I’m using the word “theory” loosely here) based on the calendar that have been peddled for many years now.  However, the film has blown up the profile of such theories way out of proportion; so much so, that even the descendants of the Mayans are getting fed up with it.  Chile Pixtun, a Guatemalan Mayan elder, was recently quoted by the AP as saying that ”the doomsday theories spring from Western, not Mayan, ideas.”        

Hollywood has a nack for re-inventing and sensationalizing history but I guess that is nothing new.  A perfect example of this was the movie Apocalypto, which told the story of the Mayan conquests just before their civilization runs into the Spanish “conquistadores”.  There was just one small problem with that story line: it never happened.  It was the Aztecs that had a brush with the Spaniards, not the Mayans (the Mayan Mesoamerican civilization and the Aztec civilization existed centuries apart).  In our modern world saturated by myths that are spurred by a modern popular disdain and mocking of academia and rationality, facts are sometimes irrelevant.  Point-in-case is the term “Aztec” (which comes from the Nahuatl word “Aztecatl”, which means “someone that comes from Aztlán“).  Yet, the indigenous people that came to make up what we now call ”the Aztec empire” did not even call themselves that.  The Aztec empire was in fact not a homogenous group of people, but rather made up by three main ethnic groups (also known as “The Triple Alliance“) that were dominant over the others at one point or another: the Mexicas, the Acolhuas, and the Tepanecs.  The homogenizing category ”Aztec” was actually first used by English-speaking westerners and was widely used by American historian William H. Prescott.  In modern times in the U.S., it was later further popularized via the Aztlán mythology that was adopted by many ”Chicano nationalists“.  The problem with such reductionist approach, (as with any type of reductionism), is that it glosses over the rich diversity that actually exists and presents a reality that is overly skewed just so it can fit into a particular theory.  Don’t get me wrong, I happen to like that the word “Aztec”.  Besides, humans, after all, have an inherent need for categories that help us make sense of this world.  That is the way we are wired and for a good reason: it helps us identify important patterns in nature.  I only wished our western modern “patterns” or “categories” or for that matter our industries were more inclusive and respectful of the rich cultural variety of the indigenous ethnic groups that flourished and still exist not just in Mexico but in all of Latin America.

PS So am I going to go see this 2012 film? Depends.  I’m gonna wait for the reviews.  I hate watching movies that are all flashy special effects and terrible acting/dialogue.

The funny thing about enemies is that sometimes they end up becoming our friends later on. Once we trudge past the hurt, forgiveness, awkwardness, new beginning, and a block of time that helps wash away the instant stigma that used to come to mind when we would think of them, we can find ourselves in a situation where we almost think to ourselves, “What did we use to fight about, anyway?”

We as a nation have hated England, Germany, Italy, and Japan in past wars. But now it’s hard to imagine considering any of those countries as enemies, because in my lifetime, they have only been friends of America. Ironically, our country now depends on our relationships with them- not just in military alliances but also in trade.

I feel like I’m the only person in history who actually saw Mel Gibson’s 2006 movie Apocalypto, in which the concept is “there will always be an enemy, whether it’s within one’s self, in his village, in his nation, or outside his nation”. That idea is something I have kept in mind when I find myself brewing against a person who doesn’t see things the way I do, whether the other person is clearly wrong or not. Knowing that on any other day, it just as easily could be me that’s a hazard to myself, because I woke up that morning subconsciously deciding that day would suck because I thought it was Saturday but it was Thursday instead.

Ultimately, the lesson I have learned from dealing with “enemies” is this: It’s always a humbling experience. Being humbled is painful and uncomfortable, like be pushed into a swimming pool in the winter with my clothes on. And to be humbled is to be humiliated, to some degree. Because sometimes the only way to move past the antagonistic part of a relationship with a person is to stop trying to show them that they really are wrong and instead adopt this new branding of “we’ve both been wrong/we’ve let things get out of control/this has just been a big misunderstanding”. That goes against everything inside of me, but has proven the most effective way for me to have one less enemy and gain one more ally.

The Enemies we encounter in life, for the most part, are here to enhance our lives. As we learn to deal with them, we learn to better communicate and react to Bigger Enemies, along with treating our family and close friends better as well. People are the meaning of life, and annoyingly, even our Enemies help that to be true.

Table of Contents:

Part 1 http://wp.me/pxqBU-2h

Part 2 http://wp.me/sxqBU-289

Part 3 http://wp.me/pxqBU-7M

When ‘Apocalypto‘ first came out, I praised it (on my old blog). Was it the movie of the year? Definitely not. But it proved Mel Gibson could make an entertaining, thrilling, exciting film. It proved that ‘Braveheart’ wasn’t a fluke. (Sidenote: ‘Braveheart’ was not the movie of the year, either. It was ‘Toy Story’.)

The one problem I have with ‘Apocalypto’ is the ending. Which will be discussed after the jump

Jaguar Paw and… that other guy… are running through the woods. He trips, stumbles, ends up on the beach. So does his pursuer. They freeze. They see the ships from Europe landing on the coast, ready to conquer the new world. The movie ends.

Is this historically accurate? Sure. But it seems like quite the abrupt ending. I really dislike abrupt endings. I hated it in ‘The Wrestler’. I hated it in ‘The Rules of Attraction’. I hate it here. There is a difference between ambiguity (which many films finish with) and abrupt stoppage. The latter is simply awful. It is like the writers got lazy and thought it would be thought-provoking to end a film in the middle of a scene. No. That’s not true. You leave us at the end of a scene, not before another one. You resolve at least a couple plot points, not try to bring up new complications. If you’re going to bring up new complications, you should be planning a new movie, as well.

Cornelius Holtorf has written a book called Archaeology is a Brand! To him, archaeology is usually presented as something positive in media. The archaeologist is seen as an adventurer, a detective, a discoverer of incredible things, and the caretaker of old remains and artifacts. Holtorf argues that archaeologists should use these positive associations that archaeology has. Indiana Jones is not bad and we should utilize him and other popularized views of archaeology when we present archaeology. In this sense archaeology is a brand.

Mayanists are often working along these lines. No one does this better than Richard Hansen (who was Me Gibson’s consultant for Apocalypto). Hansen is definitely an adventurer, detective, discoverer of spectacular things and the caretaker of archaeological remains. At least this is how he is represented in this video from CNN. Here Hansen promotes El Mirador as a brand. The mysterious and massive Late Formative/Preclassic Maya ruins hidden in the jungle is a dominant topic. We are shown a sequence of the Danta pyramid buried in jungle and a text shows up telling us “This is not a mountain” (depends on how you define it since according to the Maya cosmology “pyramids” are mountains). Later another text says that El Mirador is “Larger than downtown Los Angeles”. This gives an impression that the site had as large population density as downtown LA. This is not quite true and I do not know if they mean larger in terms of area or in terms of population or population density.

The journalist promotes the idea that Mirador lies deep in the jungle. She says that the helicopter that brought them there is getting smaller and smaller, leaving her stuck in a vast jungle and does did not know what she will see. This is a typical mystifying of an exotic adventure. Hansen let her know that Mirador is a saga of humanity that was not known before (Mirador is hereby transformed into a heritage of mankind). Mirador or the Mirador basin is promoted as the “cradle” of Maya civilization. That depends on how you define it. There are sites with older occupation elsewhere, such as in Belize, but they are much smaller. Nearby Nakbe (where Hansen has worked before) is also a massive site but as far as I know it is older (but older structures may be found below the later Mirador pyramids). Another similar comment in this context is delivered when they reach the top of the Danta pyramid: they are now on top of the Maya world.

We are told that the Danta pyramid may be the largest pyramid/ancient structure in the world. In the helicopter Hansen first says that Mirador’s pyramids are the largest in volume, then he hesitates for a moment and says that they are ranked among the largest in the world. The reporter makes a comparison with the pyramids of Egypt (Khufu’s pyramid I assume). Danta may be 2.8 million cubic m large whereas Khufu’s “only” is 2.6. Now, this is believed to be the case if the builders at Mirador actually built the bottom platform as well. This may be part of a hill. In any case, this is not the largest “pyramid”. This is still the one at Cholula (4.4 million cubic m).

El Tigre

However, I am highly skeptical to the calculated volume of the Danta pyramid (and the Cholula pyramid as well). I do not have the exact dimensions of the Danta structure, but if we take the nearby El Tigre pyramid (as shown in another video clip) at the same site as an example (which has slightly smaller basal dimensions), its dimensions are 150 x 145 x 53 m. Now, these two pyramids have a very massive substructure but these only reach halfway up the height. The top three structures have much smaller volumes. Let’s say, for the argument’s sake, that the El Tigre pyramid formed a cube, we would get the volume of 1.1 million cubic m. I would suspect that the Tigre real volume probably is 0.6-0.7 million cubic m. The Danta pyramid cannot have been much larger, certainly not four times larger which is needed to surpass the Khufu pyramid. Even here, the pyramids at Izamal may be as large as the Mirador structures. However, the largest structures in the Maya area are not “pyramids” but causeways and the Coba-Yaxuna causeway has an estimated volume of 0.75 million cubic m. Anyhow, Mirador also had massive causeways connecting the site with many other sites.

However, this exercise in volume calculating is pointless apart from the fact that it indicates a tremendous labour investment. Comparing it with other “pyramids” in the world only fuels the idea that Mesoamerican pyramids are like the Egyptian ones (and all that may imply). The journalist Brooke Baldwin mentions that the archaeologist still tries to find out if the supporting platform is a platform or a hill. One gets the impression that the only thing archaeologists are interested in is how big their structures were. This reminds me of a 4^th of July party tour I took a couple of years ago when all information we got from the tour were the dimensions of buildings.

El Mirador is not a “new” site. It was discovered in 1926 but it lies in a remote location. However, it has been a tourist destination for quite some time (hiking tours for a couple of days). It is not as isolated anymore as the journalist is saying. The whole Mirador basin will become a tourist destination in the next decade. The basin contains several huge sites (El Mirador, Nakbe, Tintal, Wakna, etc.) and it is one of the most interesting archaeological areas in the world. Hansen is automatically the protector of these ancient sites that are threatened by loggers, looters, drug smugglers and cattle rangers. Indeed, El Mirador is brand (although slightly exaggerated) that is in need of protection.

Updates: since I wrote the post I realized that there were three more video clips. I really found the handprint inside one of the Tigre structures to be most fascinating. I have mentioned the Popol Vuh frieze in an earlier post. Not included in these videos are the exciting finds of a possible battle on top of the Tigre pyramid when Teotihuacanos attacked the site. I have other related posts on El Mirador as well. Hansen is doing a remarkable job and it is easy to create this kind of brand when you are working with the most spectacular of Maya ruins. I am sure posthumanocentric archaeology will never become a brand.

I admit that when I first saw Mel Gibson’s “Apocalypto” in theaters, I thought it was visually stunning (see screen shot above) and incredibly entertaining.  A few days later, I remember pondering about why Mel Gibson wanted to tell a story about Mayan civilization, especially after making a deeply religious film, “The Passion of the Christ.”  Was Gibson simply looking for a fast-paced action/adventure story to tell (with typical Mel Gibson-style gore) or was he embedding a strong colonial and Eurocentric message (also with typical Mel Gibson-style gore)?

Perhaps he was looking to do both.

It would be wrong to accuse a devoutly religious person of any faith that their work will always contain either an implicit or explicit message that promotes the superiority of one group of people over another.  It would also be wrong to assume that just because Gibson is a traditionalist Catholic, he must then fit the stereotype of pro-war neoconservatives.  On the contrary, Gibson revealed in Time Magazine that the “fear-mongering we depict in this film reminds me a little of President Bush and his guys.”  However, given Gibson’s drunken anti-Semetic rant in 2006 and his inconsistent remarks about whether or not non-Catholics and non-Christians are worthy of salvation, I argue that there is more to “Apocalypto” than an edge-of-your-seat thriller.

The film opens with a quote by American historian Will Durant:  “A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself from within.”  By the end of the film, if you keep this quote in mind, the implication seems to be that the Mayas were a brutal civilization that destroyed itself before the Spanish conquistadors invaded and “saved” the people.   These sentiments are echoed by anthropologist Traci Ardren, who writes that the Spanish invaders were Christian missionaries and that the film contains a “blatantly colonial message that the Mayas needed saving because they were ‘rotten at the core.’”  She adds:

[The film] replays, in glorious big-budget technicolor, an offensive and racist notion that Maya people were brutal to one another long before the arrival of Europeans and thus they deserved, in fact they needed, rescue. This same idea was used for 500 years to justify the subjugation of Maya people.

Since the subject of human sacrifice is sensationalized incredibly in high school (and even college) discourse about Mayan and Aztec cultures, it shouldn’t surprise viewers that the film highlights upon the brutal ritual.  Indeed, human sacrifice was practiced, but many scholars argue against the notion that 250,000 people would be sacrificed annually.  Scholars and historians alike argue that the Aztecs would inflate the number for propaganda purposes and to intimidate their enemies.  Julia Guernsey, an assistant professor in the Department of Art and Art History at the University of Texas, writes:

We have accounts from the Aztecs of such things; it shows up in their mythology. And we have some images from the Maya that suggest that that kind of sacrifice did take place and that they probably did roll the bodies down (the pyramid). Now, the guys in the movie at the bottom catching the bodies with nets? That is crazy. We have no evidence for that. Another thing that was so funny was all that crazy, wild dancing with women’s breasts flapping. I was just reading hours before I saw the movie with you a 400-page textbook dedicated to Maya dance, and it talked about how women played no major public role in these ceremonies but much more subtle roles.

It’s no doubt that the world in which the Mayan characters inhabit looks like a very scary place.  Mel Gibson intended it to be that way and he is very good at disturbing the audience with demonic representations of the Maya.  We don’t see anything appreciative about Mayan civilization, but rather see a very primitive and barbaric society that simply enjoys hunting, beating, and killing other human beings.  In actuality, aside from technology, the Mayan civilization was more advanced than their European counterparts.  They excelled in mathematics, astronomy, art, architecture, and science.  According to the Encyclopedia Britannica:

Brilliant Mayan artistic and scientific achievements in ceramics, sculpture, weaving, and painting, some of which were more advanced than European accomplishments of the same era, all showed remarkable artistic sensitivity. They developed an accurate calendar and complex systems of agricultural and water management.

Rather than enlightening us about these aspects of Mayan civilization, Gibson seems quite persistent in capturing the cruelty, horror, and “backwardness” in ancient civilization.  In fact, Gerardo Aldana argues in his brilliant piece, “Where Was the Maya Civilization in Mel Gibson’s Apocalypto?” that much of the brutality depicted in the film was actually “borrowed” from the West.  He elaborates:

[T]he slave market depicted in the city constitutes a mirror image of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade in the pre-Civil War United States. In that case, the “sellers” of African slaves were Europeans or European-Americans, dehumanizing other peoples by treating them as commodities. While slavery is documented for Maya cultures (and Greek and Roman, etc.), there is nothing that attests to their having been bought and/or sold in public market contexts.

Furthermore, Aldana adds that the raiding of villages for human sacrifice, as depicted in the film, is undocumented in Maya cultures and that the practice of placing decapitated heads on stakes came from “Cortes’s entra in Central Mexico, committed by Spanish conquistadors against their indigenous ‘enemies.’”

Hernan Cortes, as Aldana references, was a Spanish conquistador who brought an end to the Aztec Empire.  It’s interesting to note that the Aztec Emperor, Moctezuma II, feared that Cortes and his conquistadors were sent by the awaited feathered-serpent god, Quetzalcotal (who is thought to be Jesus, peace be upon him, by some Mormon scholars).  It’s disputed among historians whether or not Cortes learned about this prophecy and then claimed himself to be Quetzalcotal in order to take advantage of the Aztecs, but what’s not disputed is that Quetzalcotal was prophesied to be fair-skinned and bearded.  The European invaders were, in fact, lighter-skinned and many of them were bearded, and with their advanced technology, such as large ships and cannons, it worked in the imagination of many that the conquistadors were otherworldly, if not sent by Quetzalcotal himself.

As I keep this in mind, I reflect on the ending of “Apocalypto” when fair-skinned and bearded Spaniards arrive with ships and a wooden cross.  They are portrayed in an innocent and unapologetic light, as if they are, indeed, arriving to save the Mayans.  This bothers and disturbs me for a number of reasons; the main reason being that those who may not be familiar with ancient history of what is now Latin America may watch this film and conclude that the Spaniards simply came and everything was happy and wonderful.  In other words, it perpetuates the romanticization of Christopher Columbus, the “discovery” of the “new world,” and how the Europeans “coexisted peacefully” with the indigenous population.

Audiences aren’t concerned about the achievements and contributions of Mayan civilization when they watch “Apocalypto.”  There is nothing in the film that draws our attention to anything remotely appreciative about their culture or civilization.  Instead, the audience gets a fast-paced action/adventure movie that is set in a “scary” ancient world and we should be thankful for the European invasion.

To put it bluntly:  Mel Gibson’s “Apocalypto” is an exploitation of Mayan civilization and it offers no apology for the Spanish conquest, which, in reality, imposed Catholicism, colonized Mexico for three centuries, and nearly wiped out the entire indigenous population.  Gibson’s film, with all of its sensationalism, suspense, and violence, ignored the opportunity to enlighten the world about an ancient civilization and, instead, opted to entertain and rake in money at the box office with a cheap colonialist message.

I’ve watched 3 movies in the last 24hrs; yes that is how busy I have been. One was picked by someone else and the other two by me. None of them however were movies I was itching to see, more a case of I’ll stick this on and see what it’s like.

First up (and the one not chosen by me) was How to Lose Friends and Alienate people. I’m not sure why I had avoided this one as its main star is one of my favorite current British actors, Simon Pegg.

I don’t think that it’s his performances alone that make him stand out so much as the material and roles that he normally picks. From Big Train, to Star Trek and Spaced to Shaun of the Dead he has made me laugh in each. I didn’t laugh at his role in Dr Who, but then I don’t think I was supposed to.

In this tale Pegg is the story’s main character and is plucked from running a small English magazine by a powerful American magazine owner and asked to go work in New York amongst the glitz glamour and high society that he normally writes so scornfully about. I’m not sure how much of a parody of Megan Fox’s life her character was, or if she realized that she was in essence taking the piss out of her current situation, but the requirement to smile, act dumb and pretty was dutifully met. Though not stretched Kirsten Dunst played her part of aspiring writer stuck in a world of gloss and glam well also.

Overall worth a watch and had some laugh out loud moments. I may be giving it more praise than it deserves purely as I thought it would be dire. 2nd place amongst the 3.

Secondly I watched Echelon conspiracy. I’ll keep this as short as possible otherwise you’ll read a lot of negativity.

Utter piss. From bad acting, to stupid story continuity gaps, being badly cast, badly scored, possibly the most pointless sex scene ever in a movie and just all-round garbage. If you want to watch a movie about the danger of computer intelligence watch Eagle eye as a better alternative released at a similar time or stick terminator on again.

Out of the 3 movies it comes in 4th as not watching a movie takes 3rd place.

Lastly I watched Apocalypto. Again I had no real desire to watch this movie and again I’m not sure why. I suppose that there is a part of me that thinks Mel Gibson, although great as an actor in 80s-90s action flicks has a habit of being too liberal with the truth and facts surrounding the stories he directs.

So let me be clear, I know very little about pre Columbus South America. Hell I know very little about it now in the modern world. My only personal experience is that I spent a few days in Tijuana and that’s a less authentic a taste of South American Culture than an Old El Paso dinner kit.

I think though that is why I could enjoy the movie; I don’t know if it was in any way shape or form an accurate portrayal of life in South America for that time period, it might as well have been set on Mars, so I didn’t judge I just enjoyed. I’m guessing that with Mel Gibson at the helm that it’s not very consistent with the facts and figures but, what it is and what he has achieved is a movie which took me on a journey for a snap shot look at a of someone’s life totally different to anything I have watched before.

So to this I give first place, based on originality of content and despite me being very tired as well as the movie being over 2hrs long I was kept awake and engaged throughout.

Cartaz de Apocalypto

Depois de anos sendo o cara esquisito das rodas de amigos, resolvi adotar hobbies menos exóticos: fui a uma locadora perto de casa e abri uma conta. Para estrear minha vida cinéfila, escolhi Apocalypto. Estava querendo ver o filme há um bom tempo – e minhas especitativas foram satisfeitas.

Apocalypto é um filme visual. As paisagens conseguiam transmitir todas as sensações: medo, coragem, destruição, manipulação. As cenas eram não só expressivas, mas também belíssimas e bem feitas. Algumas decisões polêmicas – como misturar aspectos culturais de diversas épocas da cultura maia – foram tomadas para deixar o filme mais exuberante; o objetivo foi alcançado.

O enredo não deve nada ao visual. A história do caçador perseguido pelos soldados do império é fascinante. O filme consegue prender a atenção. Felizmente, faz isso sem exageros: há muito drama e muita ação, mas não mais do que deveria haver. Quem tivesse assistido o ótimo The Passion of the Christ poderia esperar um filme muito carregado, mas não encontrará isso: o pesado drama foi uma ótima escolha em  The Passion of the Christ, mas Apocalypto é outra categoria de filme. Ademais, uma história sobre pré-colombianos dificilmente encontraria backgroud suficiente nos espectadores para emocioná-los tanto quanto a Paixão de Cristo poderia fazer. Se houvesse tanto drama, o filme seria apenas meloso, como são, por exemplo, os filmes de Spielberg.

Os personagens não deixam nada a desejar. Suas motivações, atos, opiniões são convincentes. O espectador sente empatia por eles. Como o filme não possui europeus, eles já não poderiam ser vilões esquemáticos (como temia-se). Os maias são antagonistas, mas definitivamente não são personagens superficiais: seus dramas, atos e opiniões também geram empatia.

Como em The Passion of the Christ, o aspecto mais ousado do filme é o idioma. Apocalypto é falado no dialeto iucateque de maia. A escolha foi muito boa: embora não se possa entender as falas, o idioma cria clima também. Não tive esta sensação (leia todo). Talvez porque tenha sido um filme feito por anglófonos: os atores pareciam falar maia com uma entonação inglesa. É verdade que a legenda distraía o espectador, que via menos dos cenários. Afora isso, porém, foi uma escolha interessante e ousada, e achei que deu certo.

Acredito, porém, que erraram um pouco a mão ao falar da religião maia. O filme deixa claro que a religião maia é um instrumento de controle do povo – especialmente dados os problemas que os maias estavam encarando e viriam a enfrentar. A tese em si, não me incomodou; pelo contrário, foi uma ideia boa. Entretanto, ficou explícito demais. Acredito que, se tivessem apresentado com sutileza, ficaria mais elegante.

O filme teve também suas polêmicas. Por exemplo, alguns historiadores afirmam que os maias não eram tão afeitos a sacrifícios humanos: este seria um aspecto da cultura asteca. Richard Hansen, o especialista que prestou consultoria à produção, responde que, durante o período, houve uma grande influência da cultura asteca sobre os maias. De qualquer forma, segundo alguns pesquisadores, os imolados eram geralmente membros da elite, não escravos – que, por sua vez, talvez não fossem tão comuns.

Houve quem visse no filme uma defesa da colonização espanhola. Segundo estes, o filme transmitiria a idéia de que os maias eram tão selvagens que precisavam do socorro europeu. Sinceramente, isto não faz sentido: em nenhum momento os europeus eram apresentados como salvadores. Pelo contrário: durante todo o filme, vê-se sinais claros de que uma maldição se aproximaria – e esta maldição eram os conquistadores.

Sumarizando, o filme é muito bom. Lamentavelmente, não o vi no cinema: um filme visualmente espetacular, como esse, merece ser visto na telona. Recomendo, porém, que ainda assim o assista: é um dos melhores filmes que já vi.

It has been three years since the Apocalypto movie (2006) was released in theaters, produced and directed by Mel Gibson. Although the film did not please our Mesoamerican fans, there was a recognition to the director for producing a story in complete Maya Yucatec language.

At that time, interesting enough Lord Pakal Ahau prophecized that our stones would speak the Maya language to the world based on the sequence of glyphs carved on King Pakal’s stone lid. That glyph corresponds to the period 2006-2009 and it was an amazing visionary prophecy from our Lord. For more details, you can read his article, The Mayan Interpretation of Apocalypto, in Pakal’s Trilogy website.

Recently, we made our original Maya typeface, Uxmal™, and to commemorate the end of the 19th glyph in the sequence toward 2012 we designed the Apocalypto theme t-shirt as an special edition print. Lord Pakal Ahau does not talk about the final 20th glyph, which corresponds to the period 2009-2012. The only fact we know is that he has called it the 2012 Fatidic Glyph that describes the fearful Maya kingdom of Xibalba and one of the Six Houses of Death.

Our design can be ordered in our Maya collection. Click the red link to visit this particular section and collect this treasure.

If you access one of our pages in the blog, click the icon to go to main page.

"Apocolypto"

The plot involves a tribal warrior named Tiger Paw, whose village is ravaged by a violent invading force, bent on capturing humans for their sacrificial ceremonies.  Their journey is harsh, as they are bound together while they cross cliff side roads, raging rivers and fierce jungles.  His pregnant wife and child are left behind, forced to fend for themselves.  Once Tiger Paw and his tribe reach the city, some have their hearts ripped out and their heads cut off.  Apparently this is how the gods are pleased in ancient Mayan times. 

Soon Tiger Paw escapes, and finds himself pursued by his captors, on a long, yet breathtaking chase through the jungle.  Now I found this to be the movie’s only flaw.  This chase goes on a little too long.  But there are some amazing sites along the way, including a water fall jump and a panther mauling a guy like you have never seen before. 

Now a lot of people are trying to draw political comparisons to today’s world, among other things.  What I took from the movie was its unblinking look in to an ancient society.  Mel Gibson is a master at re-creating kingdoms from long ago. He proved that already in “Braveheart” and “The Passion”.

Imagen de la película apocalypto

Buenos días, hoy 3 de septiembre de 2009 estreno mi blog a las 9 de la mañana obligada por mi profesor del curso y no se me ocurre nada.

Del dormir todos los días hasta las 10 de la mañana he pasado a dormir hasta las 7 por lo que tengo un considerable sueño.

No mucho que contar salvo que ayer me traumatice viendo una película llamada apocalypto, muy recomendable si os gusta el gore, así que ya sabéis, si queréis disfrutar, alquilarla.

Os dejo el trailer,

Salu2 y hasta la próxima.

Peter Jackson — unstoppable, brilliant, visionary Peter Jackson — has struck again, this time with District 9, a science fiction picture for the rest of us.

District 9 belongs in that rarest of hyperreal categories, combining an unknown cast (read: Kids and Apocalypto), and a straight-faced fictional documentary style (think Black and White, or anything by Christopher Guest, just without all the yuks), for that knockout filmed-right-down-the-street-from-here punch with which only Cloverfield and The Blair Witch Project can compete. But the key difference is that those previous two films employed a single gimmick and for the most part a single creature (the production team implied that The Blair Witch Project was actual footage, and Cloverfield relied heavily on the confused and horrifying first moments of the attack). Once the audience pushed past those gimmicks, the impact of the films was greatly diminished.

Yet reviewing District 9 is similarly difficult because to reveal even the first few ingredients is to spoil the broth. Yes, you know that a massive explorer craft hangs like the sword of Damocles above Johannesburg, South Africa. Yes, you know that a population of two-meter tall aliens is kept in a filthy detainee camp.  Yes, you know that tensions between the aliens and the locals are starting to build.  This really is all you need to know, that and the fact that Johannesburg is the consummate choice for the setting, although I will keep the explanation to myself for now. Again, no spoilers.

Science fiction cinema hit possibly an all-time low with Batman Forever, an exploded carnival of a film that took a plausible, intricate, and cerebral arch-nemesis and reworked him into a ridiculous side-stage caricature. The graphic novel had already turned gritty and realistic; film only needed to catch up. That was the fiction half of science fiction. It is fitting, then that the art form at last regained its footing in another Batman film, Batman Begins. It was eight years late, but it was warmly received nevertheless. All this is to say that District 9 far outpaces Batman Begins. This is the science half of science fiction. And I absolutely love it.

From November 2009 we will be able to see the 2012 movie on the big screen. It is directed by Roland Emmerich, who also is responsible for several blockbusters: 10,000 BC, The Day After Tomorrow, The Patriot, Godzilla, Independence Day and Stargate. Thus, Emmerich has a tendency for promoting pure fiction, distortion of scientific knowledge, and plenty of visual effects rather than an interesting story. Like his other productions this movie is all about the visual and showing the muscles.

My discussion of this movie will come in at least two parts. The first one is given here and is solely based on the trailers that are available. The second will be given once I have seen the movie. That review will be more coherent, comprehensive and hopefully I have filled the blog with more information on the catastrophic scenarios the movie is all about. What we see is the blowing up of the Yellowstone volcano, huge tsunamis flooding a Tibetan monastery in Himalaya, earthquakes, etc. We are told that “science has confirmed it” (and by it is meant the end of the world as we know it). I do not know if Emmerich feeds the conspiracy theorists who says that the government and scientists let us live in ignorance of the impending disaster. Yes, scientists know what will happen, they will just not tell us. If they say that nothing will happen, they are lying (a classic conspiracy argument you cannot argue against).

There are plenty of trailers available and they usually begin with some reference to the Maya calendar and a proposed end of time. This seems mainly to be an excuse for filling the rest of the trailers with Biblical references: such as the building of ships for the survival of mankind and other animals. We are told that “the Mayans knew it, the Bible knew it…” Of course, everything must be referred to that book of fairytales. The overall impression is that Emmerich grounds his “knowledge” of the 2012 date on pseudoscience and new age literature. I do not believe he has looked up any serious research. In this case, Mel Gibson did at least a better job since he recruited Richard Hansen as a consultant for Apocalypto.

Anyway, in the trailer below we learn that “Mankind’s earliest civilization warned us this day would come”. Anyone familiar with this blog or my articles will know that I am all against the concept of civilization and Maya culture. Even so, if one follows the old culture-historical school of archaeology, the Maya civilization is not by far the earliest civilization. Maybe Emmerich refers to a preceding Atlantean civilization (that probably disappeared when the calendar began in 3114 BC)? I do not know yet but it would not surprise me.

A reporter reports on a mass suicide at Tikal which somehow is related to the end of time according to the “Mayan calendar.” It seems to be impossible for the 2012 people to understand that there is no end of time at this date. All that happens is that the calendar goes from one baktun (a 394 years long period) to another baktun. Since there are recorded dates in the next Piktun at Palenque, we know for sure that the calendar runs at least to AD 4772. There is no recorded end date whatsoever. It is not likely that the ancient Maya thought time itself would end. In a future post I will discuss why the way Maya represented time on their monuments (stacking increasingly larger time periods on top of each others) contradicts the way the Maya’s concept of time is represented in contemporary literature. In this literature, time is cyclical, but that is not the whole story. However, as mentioned in an earlier post, the 2012 hoaxers tend to make use of the round Aztec calendar stone in representing the Maya long count. As you can see in the beginning of the trailer below, this is exactly what is being done (although the trailer does not even show a correct Aztec calendar stone).

At the end of the first trailer we hear that we should find out the truth. Just wait and see is my suggestion. Nothing of this will happen. Perhaps a mass suicide will take place somewhere in the world by people believing one of these prophets of nonsense. But it will have nothing to do with what the ancient Maya believed.

Tracklist

1. From The Forest . . .   
2. Tapir Hunt  
3. The Storyteller’s Dream  
4. Holcane Attack
5. Captives
6. Entering The City With A Future Foretold
7. Sacrificial Procession
8. Words Through The Sky – The Eclipse
9. The Games and Escape
10. An Illusive Quarry
11. Frog Darts 
12. No Longer The Hunted 
13. Civilisations Brought By Sea   
14. To The Forest . . .

ภาพยนตร์ดิบเถื่อนจากผู้กำกับ Mel Gibson บอกเล่าเรื่องราวที่เกิดในอารยธรรมของชาวมายัน เมื่อความเป็นอยู่แบบสงบสุขเรียบง่ายของ Jaguar Paw และชนเผ่าของเขาได้ถูกทำลายอย่างเหี้ยมโหดจากกลุ่มชาวมายันและผู้คนบางส่วนก็ถูกจับไปบูชายันต์ แต่แล้วโชคชะตาทำให้ Jaguar รอดพ้นจากการบูชายันต์และมีชีวิตรอดจากเกมมรณะ ทำให้เขาถูกพวกมายันตามล่า ระหว่างการหลบหนี Jaguar ต้องดิ้นรนต่อสู้ให้มีชีวิตรอดเพื่อที่จะกลับไปหาครอบครัวของเขาให้ได้
ในส่วนของดนตรีประกอบได้คอมโพเซอร์ James Horner มาสร้างสรรค์ดนตรีแนวพงไพรซึ่ง Horner ยังคงใช้ดนตรีออเคสตร้าแต่จะเน้นไปที่พวกเพอคัสชั่นและเครื่องเป่าลมไม้เป็นหลัก รวมถึงการหันมาพึ่งพาซินธิไซเซอร์ ทั้งนี้ยังได้นักร้องชาวปากีสถาน Rahan Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan มาร้องนำช่วยสร้างสรรค์เสียงมนุษย์แบบโบราณสุดขลัง
From The Forest . . . ขอต้อนรับทุกท่านเข้าสู่ป่าอันอุดมสมบูรณ์ด้วยเสียงนกร้องตามธรรมชาติ คลอเสียงร้องเบาๆบวกกับเสียงเครื่องสายซึ่งเป็๋นการแนะนำธีมหลักของอัลบั้มไปด้วย The Storyteller’s Dream เพลงที่โดดเด่นด้วยเสียงฟลุ้ตชวนเพ้อฝันแต่แฝงไปด้วยความไม่ชอบมาพากล
มาถึงเพลงเด่นตัวแรกของอัลบั้ม Holcane Attack ซึ่งเป็นดนตรีประกอบฉากพวกมายันบุกหมู่บ้านตัวเอกของเรานั่นเอง แม้ Horner จะเลือกใช้ดนตรีทำนองช้า แต่ก็ยังสามารถสื่อถึงความน่ากลัว ความวุ่นวาย และความสูญเสียจากการรุกรานนี้ได้อย่างถึงอารมณ์
Entering The City With A Future Foretold เพลงที่มีดีกรีความหลอนสูงสุดในอัลบั้ม กับดนตรีจังหวะลอยๆชวนขนลุกที่มาพร้อมซินธิไซเซอร์และเสียงเพอคัสชั่นมากระแทกหูเป็นระยะ ก่อนที่จะถึงจุดสูงสุดในช่วงท้ายด้วยเสียงร้องและเครื่องเป่าสุดหลอน
Sacrificial Procession ชื่อเพลงก็บอกอยู่แล้วว่าเกี่ยวกับขั้นตอนการบูชายันต์ ซึ่งเสียงเครื่องเป่า เพอคัสชั่น และเสียงร้องคลอจะทำให้คุณซึมซับความน่ากลัวของพิธีนี้ได้อย่างดี Words Through The Sky – The Eclipse อีกหนึ่งดนตรีจังหวะลอยๆโดยมีเสียงฟลุ้ตประกอบ เพลงนี้โดดเด่นด้วยเสียงร้องที่เหมือนคำสวดในช่วงท้ายของเพลง สื่อถึงคำทำนายหายนะของพวกมายันที่กำลังจะเป็นจริง
เพลงจังหวะเร็วที่โดดเด่นที่สุดในอัลบั้ม The Games and Escape เป็นการปลดแอกความอึดอัดในครึ่งแรกของอัลบั้ม ด้วยเพลงหนีตายสุดชีวิตที่มาพร้อมเสียงเพอคัสชั่นและซินธิไซเซอร์สุดมันส์ Frog Darts เป็นดนตรีประกอบฉากที่ตัวเอกเริ่มต่อสู้กลับซึ่งเพลงนี้มาพร้อมความระทึกแบบคนป่าขนานแท้
การหลบหนีใกล้จบลงในเพลงระทึกชวนลุ้นสุดมันส์ No Longer The Hunted ที่นำมาสู่ตอนจบใน Civilisations Brought By Sea ซึ่งเป็นเพลงเดียวที่ดนตรีออเคสตร้าเข้ามามีบทบาทสูงสุด โดยเราจะได้ยินเสียงเครื่องสายบรรเลงกันแบบยิ่งใหญ่เต็มตัวในท่อนกลางๆของเพลง
To The Forest . . . เพลง End Credit ชวนผ่อนคลาย ที่นำดนตรีจาก From The Forest . . .  มาต่อยอดเป็นเพลงที่ยาวขึ้นและฟังดูเป็นชิ้นเป็นอันกว่า นี่คืออีกหนึ่งเพลงที่โดดเด่นที่สุดซึ่งส่งท้ายอารมณ์ในช่วงของการปิดอัลบั้มนี้ได้อย่างสมบูรณ์
สุดยอดงานดนตรีแหวกแนวที่เล่นน้อยชิ้นแต่ได้ผลลัพธ์ที่ดีเกินคาดจาก James Horner ที่คุณควรได้ลองสัมผัสดูครับ

Up2U

(Mp3 / 192 kbps)

Titulo Original: Apocalypto

 Genero: Action | Adventure | Drama

Año: 2006

Duración: 136 min.

Reparto: Gerardo Taracena, Raoul Trujillo, Dalia Hernandez, Rudy Youngblood

Puntuación IMDB: 7.1

Sinopsis: Historia ambientada en tiempos remotos del imperio maya. Cuando la idílica existencia de unos miembros de la civilización maya es brutalmente interrumpida por el ataque de una fuerza invasora, un hombre emprende un arriesgado viaje a un mundo regido por el miedo y la opresión en el que le espera un incierto final. Debido a un giro del destino y espoleado por el amor a su esposa y su familia, emprenderá el regreso a su hogar en un desesperado esfuerzo por preservar su forma de vida…

Trailer:

I am Jaguar Paw, son of Flint Sky. My Father hunted this forest before me. My name is Jaguar Paw. I am a hunter. This is my forest. And my sons will hunt it with their sons after I am gone.

– Jaguar Paw

Apocalypto was a movie that flew under my radar, because I refused to see Mel Gibson’s first film — post homeless batshit crazy — The Passion of the Christ. I decided to bite the bullet and watch this film. This movie was very engaging for being spoken entirely in an ancient Mayan dialect.

Jaguar Paw (Rudy Youngblood) is a young Mayan villager trying to make his way in the tribe. His father Flint Sky (Morris Birdyellowhead) tries to make him a future fearless. When the men encounter a neighboring tribe traveling through their land, they know that the end is coming.

An rival Mayan tribe called the Holcane invade the village. They kill some of the men, pillage, rape the women and take the surviviors as slaves. The only people left behind are the children and Jaguar Paw’s pregnant wife, Seven (Dalia Hernández) and his son, Turtles Run (Carlos Emilio Báez) who are trapped in a chultun or a makeshift well.

Most of the movie centers around Jaguar Paw’s struggle to survive.

There are things I have never seen in the film before. There are the Mayan ritual sacrifices for the Sun God, Kukulkan.

There are some intense bloody scenes. It’s not for the squeamish.

Judgment: A solid effort from Mel Gibson.

Rating: ****