Non è un caso che “Would You Believe?”, il nuovo album degli “Even More Vast”, sia stato presentato in anteprima il 17 ottobre scorso al Castello dei Doria di Dolceacqua nell’ambito della “Haunted Fest” del festival “Autunnonero”. “Haunted” (cioè spiritato, ma, anche, angosciato) è, infatti, anche il dark/wave degli undici brani del Cd frutto della maturazione artistica della coppia formata da Luca Martello e Antonietta Scilipoti che del gruppo aostano sono da dieci anni l’anima. «Mi interessa esplorare la parte più oscura della gente- spiega Antonietta- quella che, in genere, evitiamo per paura di vedere quello che non vorremmo. Ma è solo conoscendola che si prende coscienza dei propri limiti e delle proprie paure e, di conseguenza, della capacità di superarli o, almeno, di accettarli.» Per superare questo blocco nevrotico della nostro lato narcisistico che si rifiuta di cambiare non resta che affidarsi alla parte più autentica. Non è, quindi, un caso che nel Cd sia inclusa “Pure(Pura)” che con “Loony(Pazzo)” e “Inly(Intimo)” affronta nel testo la possibilità di liberare sentimenti e potenzialità spezzando legami e dissipando illusioni. Un bisogno di chiarezza che si riflette anche nella musica composta dal trio- che, oltre a Luca e Antonietta, comprende il bassista Vincenzo Di Leo- che per la registrazione del Cd si sono avvalsi del batterista Enzo Scarfò e degli ospiti Gianfranco Degani (violino) e Filippo Rocca (chitarra). «Il suono si è alleggerito,- spiega Luca- la chitarra non è più distorta ma ha suoni più puliti e caldi che, contrappuntando la ricerca melodica del canto, evocano nell’ascoltatore emozioni oscure.» Una musica di respiro internazionale (il mastering di alcuni brani è stato fatto a New York da Greg Calbi, già sodale di Bjork e Public Enemy) che all’estero ha molti estimatori. Il trio si è, infatti, esibito a Londra, Utrecht, Palma di Majorca, Innsbruck e Zurigo (il prossimo 30 dicembre suoneranno a Marsiglia), e “Would You Believe?” è distribuito nelle Americhe dalla statunitense “Renaissance” e in Europa dalla tedesca “Pandaimonium”. «Il boss tedesco ci pubblicizza come un “gruppo che suona”, perché quello che si sente nel Cd è quello che abbiamo suonato noi e che si sente ai nostri concerti. Anche in questo senso siamo dei puri, perché ci serviamo del computer per la registrazione ma non per la composizione e l’esecuzione.» In Italia (distribuito da “Audioglobe“)  e sul web “Would you believe?” uscirà il 14 gennaio 2010 con in più la versione remix di “Inly”, riarrangiata dai dj Antonello Buonanno e Vincenzo Pacilio.  Alcuni brani del Cd  si possono ascoltare nel sito www.myspace.com/evenvast.

In the time of the Renaissance painters had to learn about perspective. In the beginning people in the distance were conceived not in perspective view but just as being small. For some reason also children where painted as grown-up people. A nice example can be found in the work of the Italian painter Giotto as shown here below in his Madonna and child, enthroned among angels and saints (14th century).

Also in Italy, but seven centuries later, I found out that also contemporary graphic designers have problems depicting children but now because of laziness and lack of skills.
Both children in this warning symbol near an elevator, are simply digitally ’squeezed’ vertically from the adult originals. To fill the gap after the reduction, the girl is squeezed again but now horizontally. So basically this symbol tells us ‘Small fat women and small men with oval heads must be accompanied by an adult man and an adult woman’.

Image: © Giotto. I Classici dell’Arte. (2004, Rizzoli)

I went down to Colorado Springs for the bi-annual CSGA Game Day. I got to play in a great Renaissance battle, by Dick Fickes using modified Napoleon’s Battles, rules in the morning, and a nice Pulp game in the evening. I wanted to play more, but the weather was getting quite nasty. Here are a few pics from the Renaissance game (Polish vs. Russians, I played the Poles, and we routed the Russians).

No es mentirse, dijo K, es mentalizarse para lograr el estado en que deseamos estar. ¡Fantástico! dice Camilo Cruz que hay que contestar cuando te saludan y te preguntan cómo estás. Tiene la misma idea de autoprogramación, PNL, actitud mental positiva o como quiera llamarse. Y resulta! A mí me funciona fantástico! jajaja… Hace un año fue lo único que me ayudó a salir del hoyo y hoy es lo que me sirve para superar mis batallas diarias con los bajones de porotos. De pronto un mantra, un CD de meditación, correr. También, y muy importante, rodearse de personas positivas, de situaciones positivas, alegres, de niños, de flores, de música. Insisto que los hombres somos buenos en esencia, por lo tanto, somos positivos. Seguramente nos hemos dejado influenciar con nubes negras, chaparrones, tormentas y demases, pero no podemos permitirnos dejar de ver el vaso medio lleno! Tener fe. Entender que cada día que despertamos es porque nos espera algo bueno, algo nuevo, destinado a hacernos crecer. Que cada día es un regalo que nos hacen para ser más felices, para escuchar más frases célebres de mi gran J, para jugar, disfrutar, dormir y regalonear con el Teo y la Francis, para reírme con Demente, para amar a mi artista cuadrado, para ver florecer los sueños en que tanto hemos trabajado, para crecer con mis compañeras de sueños, -conocernos, entendernos, sostenernos, querernos y seguir luchando-, para no perder la ilusión de que todo va a salir bien…cómo? ni idea! pero va a salir bien!

Synonym für reparatur – Synonyme – Bedeutung | Antonyme (Gegenteile) – Fremdwörter von reparatur.: Fehlerhafte Schreibweisen und Suchanfragen
reeparatur, repaaraatur, reparatuur, rreparraturr, reparattur, repparatur, eparatur, reparatu

How To Achieve True Greatness (2006) – Baldesar Castiglione

Penguin (Penguin Great Ideas)

Finished: 29 November 2009

L’éthique

L’éthique stoïcienne est en accord avec cette physique.

Nous connaissons plusieurs divisions de l’éthique stoïcienne :

« [Ils] divisent la partie éthique de la philosophie en plusieurs lieux : de l’impulsion, des biens et des maux, des passions, de la vertu, de la fin, de la valeur première et des actions, des fonctions propres, de ce qu’il faut conseiller et ce qu’il faut déconseiller. » (Diogène Laërce, VII, 84).

Diogène indique que cette division n’appartient pas au stoïcisme le plus ancien (Zénon de Kition et Cléanthe qui en ont traité, selon lui, de manière plus simple), mais à Chrysippe, Apollodore, Posidonios, etc. Sénèque (Lettres, 89, 14) nous apprend une tripartition de l’éthique stoïcienne :

« [...] vient en premier la valeur que tu attribues à chaque chose, en second l’impulsion, ordonnée et mesurée, que tu as vers les choses, en troisième la réalisation d’une convenance entre ton impulsion et ton acte, de façon qu’en toutes ces occasions tu sois en accord avec toi-même. »

Épictète indique trois sujets de l’éthique (Entretiens, III, 2), mais qui se rapportent aux exercices que l’on doit suivre pour devenir homme de bien :

• les désirs et les aversions : ne pas manquer ce que l’on désire, ne pas tomber sur l’objet de l’aversion ;
• les impulsions et les répulsions, i.e. ce qui concerne la fonction propre (agir avec ordre, raisonnablement et sans négligence) ;
• éviter l’erreur et la précipitation, i.e. ce qui concerne l’assentiment.

Les fonctions propres

L’expression fonction propre traduit le grec kathèkon, qui signifie « convenable », « devoir » (officium en latin). Ce mot a été utilisé pour la première fois en ce sens par Zénon, vraisemblablement dans un ouvrage nommé De la fonction propre (Diogène Laërce, VII 107). Selon Diogène, ce terme est dérivé de kata tinas hêkein, « convenir à certains » ; il définit la fonction propre comme une activité qui est appropriée aux constitutions conformes à la nature (Ibid.). Cette notion est le fondement de l’éthique stoïcienne ; en effet :

« Archédème disait que la fin consiste à vivre en amenant les fonctions propres à leur perfection. » (Diogène Laërce, VII, 88).

Stobée (II, 85, 13 – 86) donne cette définition de la fonction propre :

« La conséquentialité dans la vie, quelque chose qui, une fois qu’il a été accompli, a une justification raisonnable. »

Les fonctions propres s’appliquent aux plantes, aux animaux comme aux hommes. Les Stoïciens distinguent deux types de fonctions propres, celles qui sont parfaites, et celles qui sont intermédiaires.

Cicéron, dans Des termes extrêmes des biens et des maux (III), nous livre une analyse détaillée de cette notion par la bouche de Caton. Nous aimons les premiers objets qui sont appropriés par nature ; ainsi préférons-nous que les parties de notre corps soient bien disposées et entières plutôt qu’affaiblies et déformées. Nous savons donc de manière spontanée distinguer ce qui est conforme à la nature de ce qui lui est contraire : le premier penchant de l’homme le porte vers les choses qui sont conformes à la nature. De là, cette distinction : ce qui a de la valeur est en accord avec la nature et, pour cette raison, est digne d’être sélectionné. Le contraire est dépourvu de valeur et doit être rejeté.

La première des fonctions propres est de nous conserver nous-mêmes. Ainsi notre corps se développe-t-il en appropriant ses propres facultés.

Le bien

Les premiers biens sont la santé, le bien-être et tout ce qui peut nous être utile. Mais ce ne sont pas des biens au sens absolu. Le bien absolu se suffit à lui-même, il est le suprêmement utile. Il est découvert rationnellement par notre assentiment spontané à nos inclinations. Et c’est en considérant la nature universelle, en saisissant la volonté de la nature totale à se conserver que l’on comprend le bien comme raison universelle.

La vertu

Pour les Stoïciens, vertu et bien sont identiques. La vertu est désirable pour elle-même et est parfaite : elle est donc atteinte d’un coup, d’une manière complète, i. e. avec toutes ses parties. Ses parties sont, selon Zénon de Citium, des aspects d’une vertu fondamentale, la prudence. Qui a une vertu, les a toutes.

Les passions

Mais les inclinations naturelles se pervertissent, sous l’influence du milieu social, et troublent l’âme : ce sont les passions. Pourtant, si l’âme est rationnelle, toute inclination n’est possible que si elle reçoit l’assentiment de la raison. Comment expliquer les passions ? La passion est une raison irrationnelle, un jugement qui nous dépossède de notre maîtrise : l’habitude et l’éducation nous persuadent par exemple que toute douleur est un mal. Mais ressentir la douleur physique et en éprouver de la peine (mal moral) sont deux choses différentes. Ainsi le stoïcisme montre que les passions sont de mauvaises raisons de croire. L’opposition radicale entre raison et passions qu’on lui attribue n’est donc pas exacte : si les passions sont mauvaises, ce n’est pas en tant qu’elles sont différentes par nature de la raison, mais parce qu’elles sont plutôt des raisons égarées ; à l’inverse, la raison peut-être vue comme une passion droite.

Finalité de l’éthique

La morale stoïcienne peut donc se résumer ainsi :

• le fondement de la vie morale, c’est la vie des instincts, qui nous font agir suivant l’utile ;
• la fin de cette morale, c’est de vivre par des choix conformes à la raison universelle : vivre en suivant la nature, puisque tout arrive par la raison universelle.

Le sage

Article détaillé : sage.

À partir de là, les Stoïciens définissent un modèle parfait de conduite, incarné par le sage :

• le sage choisit ce qui est conforme à la nature ;
• il accomplit un devoir parfait ; i. e. il accomplit sa fonction propre ;
• le sage est parfait en toute chose ;
• tous les autres hommes sont des insensés (stulti en latin)

Il n’y a pas de nuance entre la perfection du sage et le caractère insensé de la vie de tous les hommes. On peut donc dire que le stoïcisme recherche une transformation de l’homme dans sa totalité : un homme purement rationnel, non pas parce que ses passions seraient éteintes, mais parce qu’elles seraient elles-mêmes raison.

La politique

Marc Aurèle

Dans la section sur les divisions de la philosophie, nous avons vu que Cléanthe faisait de la politique une division à part entière de la philosophie. Nous savons également que Zénon de Kition écrivit un livre sur la République particulièrement célèbre et admiré dans l’Antiquité. Plutarque nous en donne une idée par la description du but visé dans cet ouvrage perdu :

« La République, ouvrage très admiré de Zénon, tend à ce point principal unique, que nous ne devrions pas vivre répartis en cités ni en peuples, chacun défini par ses propres critères de la justice, mais que nous devrions considérer tous les hommes comme des compatriotes et des concitoyens, et qu’il y ait un mode de vie et un monde uniques, comme pour un troupeau nourri ensemble dans le même pâturage sous une loi commune. Zénon a écrit cela comme s’il avait brossé le tableau d’un songe ou d’une image représentant une bonne législation et une république philosophiques. » (De la fortune d’Alexandre, 329 A – B).

Influence du stoïcisme

L’influence du stoïcisme sur les cultures grecque et romaine est considérable, rares furent les penseurs antiques à ne pas critiquer cette doctrine.

Cette influence continua même après la conversion de l’Occident au christianisme, certains monastères ayant ainsi érigé le manuel d’Épictète, quelque peu modifié, en règles intérieures.

Le stoïcisme se perpétua aussi à travers des philosophes français tels Descartes, qui déclara que « il vaut mieux changer ses désirs plutôt que l’ordre du monde »^[15], Pascal et, plus proche de nous, Émile Bréhier.

Principales périodes du stoïcisme

• Ancien stoïcisme (Zénon de Kition, le fondateur, Cléanthe, Chrysippe, …)
• Moyen stoïcisme (Panétius, Posidonius…)
• Stoïcisme impérial (Sénèque, Epictète, Marc Aurèle, …)

G.M.I.C? I get into detail on that a bit later, but first I need to cover a couple of some key points.

Since late last year when the Global financial crisis hits which brings huge shock waves to the world’s financial system.That was just the beginning, as I dig in and gather facts and figures bit by bit further till I reach a point that its going to be bad as how I’ve see its unfolding.

I did mention by a couple of months or weeks ago that the rise in the stock market indexes and real estate price rises are not the leading indicators of economic activity.

These two are more prone to inflation where both government intervention and corporate spending goes like pump drugs into the system which is sick of debt and overload with money from other people’s savings or they print money out of thin air while currencies losing value particularly in the US.

You have already seen the Dubai World debt crisis where that state owned company owns $66 Billion, while all of the major stock markets around the world reacted in a bit of a panic for two reasons.

First, they sold off shares in fear of their share holdings are exposed to the Dubai World debt worries. Second, they are fearing for the possibility of the return the financial crisis back during late 2008. In Max Keiser’s view he thinks this is a second of the financial crisis that will lends the world into a depression.

To me, I think that is real possibility here, where as a lot of business and individuals in the next couple of months or two years will file for bankruptcy due to heavy leveraging such De leveraging is still continuing for a long period of time. These are the  signs that I’m looking out for the depression.

If you ever wondering what do mean by G.M.I.C?

It means Global Monetary Inflationary Crisis. I tell you why:

Globe: The most of the world’s economies will be hit hard the with the deepest depression that they have never seen before since the great depression due to the huge expansion of credit, money supply, bad government and monetary polices that lead us into this mess.

Monetary: The money supply will going to be tight and the value of currencies will face a huge correction, it means the value of currencies will fall or raise against each other depending on how well its economies are performing.

Inflationary: The rise of inflation will more prominent than ever before, due to the large supply of excess money being printed by the polices to support the US dollar from losing value and to stimulate the most of the world’s economies.

Crisis: There will be social problems, political tensions, trade pacts broken, trade protectionism, nationalistic leaders emerging, tighter immigration policies, civil unrest, failed countries and economies collapses.

Moving on from economics to Art!

Art is capturing the human spirit as the trends research forecaster points out that the US needs a rebirth, a Renaissance (a new Renaissance as I like to called it) just like Art brought Europe into the Renaissance from the black plague. Arts and entertainment will thrive on to lift up peoples spirits and let the good times goes on.

If you brave enough to read more about the Trends Research Institute top trends for this year, go to this link:

http://www.trendsresearch.com/journal.html

Thats all from me for this weekend and have a great weekend everybody.

Cheers

Khoa Huynh.

China’s Golden Shield Project has several US corporations such as IBM, General Electric, and Honeywell working closely with the Chinese government to install millions of surveillance cameras throughout the country, along with advanced video analysis and facial recognition software, which will identify and track individuals everywhere they go. They will be connected to a centralised database and monitoring station, which will, upon completion of the project, contain a picture of the face of every person in China – over 1.3 billion people.

Law enforcement and intelligence services in the UK and the US possess technology to remotely activate the microphones in cellphones, by accessing the phone’s diagnostic/maintenance features, in order to listen to conversations that take place nearby the person who holds the phone. Mobile phones are also commonly used to collect location data.

In the US, for instance, under the Communications Assistance For Law Enforcement Act, all phone calls, VoIP and broadband internet traffic (emails, web traffic, instant messaging, etc) are required to be available for unimpeded real-time monitoring by federal law enforcement agencies. Computers are also a surveillance target because of the personal data stored on them. If someone is able to install software (either physically or remotely), such as the FBI’s “Magic Lantern” and Computer and IP verification (CIPAV), on a computer system, they can easily gain unauthorised access to this data. Another form of computer surveillance, known as TEMPEST, involves reading electromagnetic emanations from computing devices in order to extract data from them at distances of hundreds of meters.

Surveillance cameras are often connected to a recording device, IP network, and/or watched by a security guard/law enforcement officer. In the UK, for instance, there are about 4.2 million surveillance cameras — one camera for every 14 people. (via How other countries fare).

The Red Rage

There is a increasing chorus in India that such a ‘surveillance’ regime is needed in India also. A undermanned police managed a low crime society in India till now. The excuse of terrorism is being used to advance the case for a police state in India also – like the UK, USA, China etc.

Lalgarh has proved one thing – purusharth in India is still alive and well. Moksh मोक्ष is the ultimate aim of all humans – and the meaning of moksh is freedom, emancipation, deliverance. Moksh is one of the four objectives (धर्म अर्थ, काम, मोक्ष)in the Indian ethical code of पुरुषार्थ.

Santhals and the British

In Lalgarh, middle aged Santhal women, armed with spears, axes and knives came out to battle a repressive state which sold out to Big Business. For nearly a 100 years, a 100 years ago, the same Santhals had fought the British Raj earlier. When so many women come out in the open, with bows and arrows, one thing is clear.

There are more where they come from.

The excuse for extending power

So, whether it is Red Rage or Green Jihad, the State just needs an excuse to extend its power – and this ‘surveillance’ raj is one part of it.

This is old news and it hasn’t been absolutely confirmed but this painting, which for a long time was believed to be that of a young boy, is believed to be of the infamous Lucrezia Borgia by Italian artist Dosso Dossi. It was sold in London for £8,000 in 1965 and has been hanging ever since in the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, Australia. How incredible it always seems that a painting should end up so far away from where it started.

Read more about it here.

I don’t subscribe to the notion that Lucrezia was some depraved, incestuous poisoner by the way. It always seemed incredibly far fetched and the evidence, such as there is, actually suggests quite the opposite and that she was actually a quiet, biddable girl, married off three times by her family and dutifully emotionally attaching herself to the men chosen for her, as evidenced by her distress when her first marriage was annulled in scandalous circumstances and her second was prematurely ended by the murder of her husband, probably by her brother Cesare.

It is true that Lucrezia had lovers – there are rumours of an illegitimate son, born in 1498, when she was just eighteen years old and later on she would be romantically linked to the poet Pietro Bembo and her own brother in law, Francesco Gonzaga, the Marquis of Mantua and husband of the formidable Isabella d’Este.

The overall impression however is of a devout and affectionate young woman with a strong sense of loyalty to her family that was often at odds with a determination to please everyone. It is sad but true that people like this often find that their efforts are in vain and they end up pleasing no one.

So, she got so close to the end of this poem, but she had to spoil it by slipping into that old cliche involving an axe and copious amounts of blood.

What is the most famous smile in the world?  Only one comes to mind–the Mona Lisa.  I think it’s reasonably fair to assume that most people know what this painting looks like, but no one really knows the story behind it.  Leonardo da Vinci never put a date or name on this painting, so much of what we know about the piece is pure speculation.  In Donna Jo Napoli’s The Smile, speculation goes a step further.  Napoli takes what she knows about the history of Florence, Italy, and interweaves these events into an entirely plausible story about the girl who was the inspiration/model for one of the most renowned paintings the world has ever seen.

Elisabetta is a young girl of noble birth growing up in Florence, Italy.  She knows that she will one day be betrothed to one of the nobles in the city.  Her greatest hope is to marry a young man she truly loves.  One day, a friend of her father’s, local artist and inventor Leonardo da Vinci, introduces Elisabetta to young Giuliano de Medici, a son of the most powerful family in Florence, and she feels that she has at last found the love of her life.  Giuliano calls her Monna Lisa and professes his love for her.  Fate, though, can be cruel, and a series of events take place that seem to conspire to keep these two young people apart.  The Medici family is soon reviled in Florence and is exiled. 

Elisabetta does not know how to cope in this new and terrifying world.  War threatens constantly.  She rarely hears from Giuliano, and she does not where to turn.  Is their love doomed before it even has a chance to begin?  How can she keep her smile, the thing Giuliano first loved about her, when the life she knew seems to be crumbling before her eyes?  Read Donna Jo Napoli’s The Smile to find out what could have happened to the girl behind the world’s most famous smile.

I truly enjoyed this book, especially since I was able to see the da Vinci exhibit at the High Museum in Atlanta just last week.  As I was reading, I was able to say to myself, “I’ve seen those pieces,” when the characters were talking about da Vinci’s sketches of horses or other figures.  Although I’ve never actually seen the Mona Lisa, I would love to someday.   I would also like to visit Florence to really experience the city in which most of this book’s events take place. 

I think The Smile would be an excellent book for any reader interested in art and the possible stories behind the masterpieces.

I’ve been reading lots of good bloggers who write about the tech and marketing  aspects of augmented reality and other virtual experiences. What’s not so well covered is a focus on how these new tools and modes of communication and collaboration will affect our culture and our arts. Here are some of the topics I’d like to cover:

* who are the artists and what are they doing with these new technologies?

* what is particular to the experience of art that you cannot touch?

renaissance artist inside a camera obscura

* how does collaboration with technologists influence the artistic process?

* what are the cultural implications of these changes?

* what technologies are accessible to artists?

* what are the relationships and overlaps between game projects and art projects?

* what independent scenes (non-academic, non-corporate) are happening?

* what do all the po-mos (the art establishment) have to say?

* what academic programs are available?

This is a broad scope so there’ll be lots to explore and I hope this will be a good resource for artists.

The camera obscura is a great historical analogy. The technology of optics changed how artists could represent the world and forever changed the “language of art”.

Looking at the picture I wonder, how did it feel to the artist to be inside the box, tracing a dim image upside-down, instead of being outside looking at the “real world”? These days, like in every age, we question what it even means to be “real”.

If you are in the market for a European tourist destination, you should consider the Marche region of central Italy. Depending on your specific interests, it is an ideal vacation spot. You can get classic Italian food, and wash it down with fine local wine. And the Marche region hasn’t yet been discovered by tourists. There’s a tradeoff; you won’t have to fight the crowds to see what you want to see. On the other hand, you’ll have a hard time finding fancy hotels. And the roads are not always the best, not much of a surprise when you consider the region’s hilly terrain. We’ll start our tour of this region in the north and work our way south.

The little town of Urbino is a UNESCO World Heritage Site that was a great center of learning in the past. The University is home to approximately twenty thousand students, considerably more than Urbino’s resident population of approximately fifteen thousand. You can also visit the Galleria Nazionale delle Marche (National Gallery of The Marche) with Titian’s Resurrection and Last Supper. The city also contains several Renaissance churches that are well worth visiting.

Given that the great Renaissance painter Raphael was an Urbino native, it’s not very surprising that this town is home to the Galleria Nazionale delle Marche (National Gallery of The Marche) located in the Palazzo Ducale (Duke’s Palace). Would you believe that this beautiful Renaissance building doesn’t contain much of his work? On the other hand, you can find Titian’s Resurrection and Last Supper there. The Casa Natale di Raffaello (Birthplace of Raphael) displays a Madonna fresco which is definitely associated with Raphael. But experts have not yet determined if he painted it himself or if his father painted it and Raphael and his mother served as models. The city also contains several Renaissance churches that are well worth visiting.

The port city of Ancona was largely destroyed during World War II. Its attractions include the Twelfth Century Duomo di San Ciriaco (Saint Ciriaco Cathedral) and the Romanesque Santa Maria della Piazza.

Ascoli Piceno is a valley town home to some fifty thousand people. You will want to tour the Piazza del Populo (Square of the People) and the Thirteenth Century Palazzo dei Capitani del Populo (Palace of the People’s Captains) and several other historic churches. You should try to get to Ascoli Piceno on the first Sunday in August to enjoy Renaissance costume parade and jousting tournament.

The Marche boasts many regional specialties, such as brodetto (fish soup) with thirteen kinds of fish and seafood. See our companion article I Love Touring Italy – The Marche Region for a sample menu and more information on Marche wines as well as an in-depth examination of its tourist attractions. The region is home to two red DOCG (the G stands for Guarantita) wines, the Montepulciano-Sangiovese based Rosso Conero Riserva and the Vernaccia di Serrapetrona based on a local grape.

Ahh which talent to choose? My winning charm? My unparalleled sense of humor? My captivating sense of style? My mad juggle stick skills?

Yup. That last one’ll do.

Sometime in my middle school years my family visited the Bristol Renaissance Faire in Illinois. And we liked it, so hush. Giant turkey legs, medieval costumes, the dueling knights–all nice features. But the true highlight was not the Shakespeare impersonators nor the many, many swords. Nay, the best element of the faire was, of course, the acrobats. And their tool of choice that midsummer in Bristol were colorful, bedeviling juggling sticks.

My parents bought me a set, which includes two guide sticks and a larger stick with leather and tassels at each end that you flip around between the guide sticks. I loved those things and spent more time than I should probably admit flinging them around in the backyard. I was decent back then–I mostly stuck to experimenting with variations on the helicopter and the propeller, though I didn’t know then what those tricks were called.

In fact, I never really did learn much about stick tricks, unlike my other middle school passion: yo-yos. I could do breakaways and three-leaf-clovers all afternoon back then. (By the way, walk-the-dog is so overrated.)

The juggling sticks stayed tucked away for most of high school and college. However, I decided to bring them with me post-college, and today I pulled them out from under the bed. I proceeded to terrorize Koda and greatly annoy my downstairs neighbor every time the middle stick, or baton, hit the ground.

I can still do the basics, but my older, more investigative self wanted to know more, so after several minutes of twirling, dropping, and twirling again, I set the sticks next to me and went googling.

Apparently, juggling sticks are also known as devil sticks or flower sticks. (Thanks, Devilsticks.org.) The difference is the weight of the sticks and whether the baton has tassels on it. Mine do have tassels, but they also are somewhat heavy, thereby meeting the same criteria as Devilsticks.org’s products, which go by the name of devil sticks rather than flower sticks. Semantics, semantics.

The history of these things is a bit difficult to find without being willing to pay for the information, but the basic gist is that people have been playing with sticks for more than 3,000 years. Rumor is devil sticks arose first in Africa, and images of them are found on Egyptian tombs. Eventually, they spread to Asia. (Thanks, Wisegeek.) I’m not sure whether devil sticks were part of Medieval European culture, but what I do know is they are a great accessory for modern day jesters.

And me. Off to twirl!

Learning and innovation have a common thread.  In simple terms, their mission is to expand what we know. We begin at familiar places, we move to areas of uncertainty, to explore .. then, with luck and a fair wind, we return a little better informed.

Let’s call this mission one of discovery.

Seeking knowledge is a core human aspiration, a measure of what makes our species unique. Unfortunately its a path from which many have drifted. The more rigorous aspects of critical thinking and complex problem solving are now often left to experts, those among the shrinking ranks of science and corporate R&D. As I’ve written about a knowledge renaissance in other posts, I’ve come to the conclusion that  more people need to be able to engage on harder problems. And we need better ways to frame the gaps.

Take a look at this picture:

In the lower left hand corner we start with ‘what we know’.  As we move out, we launch our journey of discovery. Do we have a direction? That depends on our situation and objectives. Perhaps we launch multiple journeys in succession. Or we explore in parallel. Or maybe we just wander around, afraid to venture far from familiar territory.

In every case, the journey back is when we extract value. We apply what we’ve learned. We adapt, adding to our knowledge base, giving each successive journey a head start.

This model was developed by Mary Nations of Nations Alliance here in Raleigh, with input from Holladay and Cheesebrow at HSDI. I find it particularly fascinating because of its potential for broad application. Think of how we might reframe education reform; paradigms for innovation and complex systems; a reinforced foundation for knowledge management (KM); a fresh look at the learning organization.

At a minimum, I think we’ve established some context .. a canvas on which to chart our journeys of discovery. Look across this landscape and into the future. What do you see?

‘I would never forget what I was doing when they came to tell me that Simonetta, my Simonetta, was dead…‘

Many, oh so many, years ago as a romantic gothically inclined teenager, I wrote a short story about Botticelli and his love, Simonetta Cattaneo de Vespucci. Unusually for me, it was written from the point of view of a man, the sensitive artist, Sandro, burning with unrequited love rather than the beautiful and unattainable object of his desire, the lovely Simonetta.

Everyone knows the face of Simonetta Vespucci. Even my husband, who knows naff all about art recognises Botticelli’s Birth of Venus, even if he didn’t know the name of the woman whose incandescent beauty inspired it.

But who was Simonetta Vespucci? La bella Simonetta, who inspired so many of our best loved art works? She was born in Genoa, the daughter of a local aristocrat, Gaspare Cattaneo in 1454 and from an early age was celebrated for her unusual loveliness.

She was married at the age of fifteen to Marco Vespucci, the cousin of the famous explorer Amerigo Vespucci and was whisked away by him to live in Florence, then at the height of the Renaissance. Simonetta’s looks and gentle, sweet nature soon made her the centre of attention in her new city and she was feted and stared at wherever she went.

In 1475 she attracted the attention of Giuliano Medici, the impetuous younger brother of the celebrated Lorenzo the Magnificent, ruler of Florence. He was to enter the lists holding a banner with her portrait by Botticelli at a jousting tournament that year with the French motto La Sans Pareille ‘The incomparable one’ written underneath.

It is not known for certain if Simonetta and Giuliano became lovers but if they did then it must surely have dated from this tournament when the lovely Simonetta, flushed with shyness was hailed as Queen of Beauty.

Giuliano de Medici was not her only conquest at this time. The artist Sandro Botticelli was also smitten and used her as the inspiration of many of his finest and most lovely works including not just The Birth of Venus but also his Primavera and many of his Madonnas. They may not have been directly modelled upon Simonetta but her swanlike neck, fine features, downcast amber eyes and thick corn coloured hair are distinctive.

Sadly, Simonetta’s triumph in Florence was short lived and she died during the night of 26th and 27th April 1476 at the age of just twenty two. It isn’t known precisely what she died from but it is likely that tuberculosis was the cause. Her death caused widespread mourning throughout the city, with thousands of people following her bier to its final resting place in the Church of Ognissanti.

Botticelli continued to paint her likeness throughout his long career and requested that his remains be buried at her feet when he finally died, which they duly were in 1510, thirty four years after she herself had been laid to rest.

We will probably never know the truth of what happened between Botticelli and Simonetta but never before had an artist’s imagination been so completely seized by his muse. It is no wonder really that the much later Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood admired his works so much and the story of his tragic infatuation with Simonetta Vespucci must surely have inspired the passion of Dante Gabriel Rossetti and his own flame haired love, Elizabeth Siddal.

Assassin’s Creed is one of the year’s most anticipated games. It features Ezi Auditore de Firenze. He is the son of Giovanni Auditore, an assassin. This game takes place a few hundred years after the events of the first Assassin’s Creed.What starts the ball rolling in the story is when Ezio’s father, and two brothers are hung right in front of him. This drives him to thirst for vengeance and from then on you are a killing machine, gaining new weapons and armor as you go. You can even attain the legend, Altair’s sword and armor. It is up to you. Would you buy this game?

From the late 1600’s until well into the nineteenth century, the education of a young Northern European, English or American gentleman and, increasingly, gentlewoman, was completed on the Grand Tour, a prolonged visit to the major cultural sites of southern Europe, especially, Italy.

The tour would begin in Paris, then move on to a number of well-preserved Roman buildings and monuments in Southern France.

The focus of the Grand Tour was Italy, repository of the classical and Renaissance pasts. In Italy the principal points of interest were Venice, Florence, Naples and Rome and the recently excavated sites of Pompeii and Herculaneum.

In the first decades of the seventeenth century these tourists, especially the British, spent their money on “vedoute” (Italian for “views”), city views that they collected, primarily as memoirs of their Grand Tour experience.

Veduta di Belvedere in Vaticano

Veduta dell'Arco di Gallieno

Chiesa de Gesù

Veduta della Fontana d'Acqua Felice a Termini

Piranesi was one of the most famous artists depicting ancient Italian views; the extraordinary archeological finds he  recorded excited great interest in classical art and artifacts.

This furor over the rediscovery of the Classical influenced the styles of architecture, art, decorative arts and furniture which evolved through  the 18th century.  The Classic,  dignified, rational, noble,  was imitated and revived as Neo-Classicism.   Beginning in the 1750’s and known in France as Louis XVI and in England as Georgian,  in Rome a bolder and more independent version of Neo-Classicism began to emerge in the late 1760’s.  As the century advanced this movement was known as Empire in France and late-Georgian and Regency in Great Britain.

Piranesi Antiques’ collection of decorative arts, furniture and prints recall the antiquarian, classical design and ornamentation of the unique treasures purchased by the 18 th century adventurer and scholar on the European Grand Tour.

Not content to begin the week venting dourly on such a dark topic as healthcare, I have decided to release the fifth and newest incarnation of my website, Renaissance Road (styled as RENAISSANCE ROAD.) The release is premature; due to freelance projects that take priority (and lack of motivation) progress up until now has been slow and much of the site is still under construction. However, prior to last week, there hadn’t been a major modification to the site in more than a year, which is, well, frankly ridiculous.

This new version tones down the look to a muted palette of grays with green spot color, letting gallery items take visual center stage. Logical organization remains, with navigation paths being built at the top of each section as you dig deeper into the site (a site map and footer are coming as well.) A projects page lists all of my…projects, while an art page lists a bunch of galleries with different kinds of…art. The music page, strangely, lists music. Like I said, logical.

And unlike the old page, which, while pretty, was all in flash and a bitch to quickly update, I’ve employed templates, scripts, and style sheets that will make updates quick and easy, which means hopefully I’ll be better at actually making them. I’m glad a gust of wind came out of nowhere and motivated me to pull the trigger; there isn’t much up now but stay tuned, as this will be the best re-paving yet. And no sinkholes.

There is something so beautiful about Renaissance portraits isn’t there? This one is of the noblewoman Lucrezia Landriani, a mistress of Galeazzo Sforza, Duke of Milan and typical of the strong, beautiful and accomplished women that the Sforza men loved to surround themselves with.

She bore four children to her Duke, one of whom was a daughter Caterina (early 1463 – 28 May, 1509), who was raised at the splendid Milanese court before being married at the age of ten on 17th January 1473 to Girolamo Riairo, Lord of Imola. Girolamo was the nephew, some said illegitimate son, of Pope Sixtus IV and it was a fabulous match for young Caterina who at the age of fourteen travelled to Rome to live with her young husband.

Caterina’s life was fascinating and although I don’t usually link to Wikipedia, I recommend the article on her life as being unusually good and interesting. As she, herself said: ‘If I were to write the story of my life, I would shock the world” so it is well worth a read!

There is a lot of controversy about this painting at the moment and the truth may never be known but how amazing would it be if this turned out to be a genuine lost painting by Leonardo da Vinci? For many years it was believed to be a German work from the early nineteenth century (it has a very Art Nouveau look about it) and was sold for a mere £12,000 (I say MERE but this is peanuts in comparison to how much a genuine Leonardo da Vinci would sell for), however it now seems that they have discovered Leonardo’s fingerprint in the corner and carbon dating confirms that it could well belong to his working period.

All very exciting, but who does the painting depict? Martin Kemp of Oxford University, who calls the painting La Bella Principessa, has suggested that it could be Bianca Sforza, the illegitimate daughter of Il Moro and one of his mistresses, Bernardina de Corradis.

The unfortunate Bianca was much loved by her father and was married in 1496 at the age of thirteen or fourteen to her father’s army captain, Galeazzo Sanseverino, who was a notable patron of Leonardo’s. Sadly she died only a few months after the wedding, the only remnant probably being the Leonardo da Vinci drawing that was commissioned at the time of her betrothal.

A selection of some of my newer dolls ( and a few old ones)

Takahe and Child is inspired by the Madonna and Child renaissance painting and is part of a sereis of renaissance inspired pieces.

A homage to Elizabeth I, and the two sides of her personality- the unicorn and the Lion.

Snow Lion

Fifi