dune pyla 2013

Mt Whitney Main Trail and Mountaineers Route T/R with Photos

Calicokat and Patrick posted this on our Mt San Jacinto Forum

http://mtsanjacinto.info/viewtopic.php?t=4121

http://calicokat.smugmug.com/Hiking/Sierra-Nevada/Mt-Whitney-Mt-Muir-Keeler/29141953_RV9zBt#!i=2487945662&k=Qnh7nRJ

http://mtsanjacinto.info/viewtopic.php?t=4121

Please visit my website
http://www.hiking4health.com

Loveliness.

Time for another round of lovely inspiration for you...

Our friend Anna of the blog Olive Green Anna opened this darling vintage Pop Up Shop in Heidelberg Germany. It looks absolutely amazing, and I can guarantee that if we lived closer we would definitely be hanging out there! If any of you live in the area you should definitely check it out so at least we can live vicariously through you. 

We are total suckers for cute packaging and these bottles of champagne cider take the cake.

Check out these adorable classic book necklaces! We are totally in love. The best part? You can custom order your own with whatever book you want. What a great gift idea! Take a closer look here.

Gahhh, I am totally in love with the open shelving full of colorful glasses and bowls in this dreamy kitchen.

How cute is this retro colorful cardigan?

I must try these: Grape salsa on a goat cheese crostini via Sprouted Kitchen. 

It looks like the weather is going to warm up this weekend! Yay! Fingers crossed...

XO

Wizards (1977)

          The weirdest thing about Wizards is that the movie isn’t particularly weird. After all, the animated adventure was the first full-on fantasy film from maverick animator Ralph Bakshi, who made his mark with the X-rated cartoon feature Fritz the Cat (1972). Yet for this project, which is a hybrid of Tolkein-esque medieval/magic tropes and ecologically themed sci-fi, Bakshi mostly dialed back on the provocation and concentrated on spinning a yarn. Unfortunately, the yarn isn’t very good.

          In the distant future, after man has turned Earth into a wasteland, two sibling wizards—good Avatar (voiced by Bob Holt) and evil Blackwolf (voiced by Steve Gravers)—battle for control. Avatar’s all about nature, since he’s a mellow little dude who lives in a castle with a sexy faerie, whereas Blackwolf is a demonic-looking creature ruling an army of hell-spawned monsters, homicidal robots, and killer mutants. The bulk of the story depicts Avatar’s difficult trek from his castle to Blackwolf’s lair for a final standoff, and a major subplot involves Avatar’s conversion of one of Blackwolf’s assassins—a robot whom Avatar captures and renames “Peace” (voiced by David Proval)—into a soldier for good.

          This is all exactly as heavy-handed as it sounds, though the hipster prism through which Bakshi tells his tale makes the movie a bit more palatable than it might have otherwise. For instance, Avatar is prone to saying things like “this has been the biggest bummer trip I’ve ever been on.” He’s an appealing character, even though his attitude and lingo now seem dated.

          Bakshi employs the crude but innovative animation techniques that were his ’70s signature, occasionally sprucing up traditional cel-animation shots with trippy backgrounds that are generated by optical effects. He also spotlights herky-jerky images created by filming real actors and then tracing their basic shapes onto film frames to provide an effect akin to moving silhouettes. (During the picture’s climax, Bakshi takes the experiment further by integrating live-action footage, cutting to real shots of airplanes and tanks while Avatar’s army tangles with Blackwolf’s forces.) The oddest—and least effective—of Bakshi’s gimmicks involves cutting to montages of still drawings for transitional moments. As an uncredited Susan Tyrell soberly intones expositional voiceover, renderings by comic-book/magazine artist Mike Ploog depict scenes that Bakshi didn’t bother to animate. In addition to slowing down the action, these transitional moments make the rest of the movie look crappy by comparison, since Ploog’s drawings are beautifully detailed.

          Another significant problem with Wizards is that Bakshi, who also wrote and produced the film, can’t decide on a consistent tone—the movie lurches back and forth between action and slapstick and social commentary. In short, it’s a mess. Still, every so often Bakshi’s mad-scientist approach results in something exciting or funny or touching, and the one thing the movie can’t be said to lack is imagination.

Wizards: FUNKY

New Open Access Journal: Middle East – Topics & Arguments

Middle East – Topics & Arguments

Middle East – Topics & Arguments is a unique platform for innovative research on the Middle East combining disciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches. Articles critically reevaluate established scholarly traditions and think beyond entrenched disciplinary boundaries. By bringing together well-known academics and young scholars with international backgrounds, a broad range of perspectives will ensure lively debates.

Middle East – Topics and Arguments wants to encourage interdisciplinary discussion on two levels: Firstly, between social sciences and humanities in the field of Middle Eastern studies, and secondly, between Middle Eastern studies and the systematic disciplines. We thereby aim at integrating regional academic discourse into a global setting. We hope to ensure trans-regional comparability, thus leaving behind the notion of cultural and religious exceptionalism which has for a long been connected with Middle Eastern studies.

Each issue of Middle East – Topics & Arguments focuses on one main topic. This allows for perspectives from different disciplines, such as:

cultural studies
literary studies
linguistics
history
political science
sociology
anthropology
economics
ancient studies

Vol 1 (2013): The Intellectual

Table of Contents

Complete Journal

Yvonne Albers, Maike Neufend, Jens Heibach, Stefan Schulte, Karolin Sengebusch	1-68
The Intellectual (Complete Journal)	PDF

Editorial

Yvonne Albers, Maike Neufend	4-11
Dawn of the Declared Dead? On the Intellectual and Other Reasons for Launching a New Journal on the Middle East	PDF

Meta

Gil Eyal	13-24
Plugging into the Body of the Leviathan: Proposal for a New Sociology of Public Interventions	PDF

Focus

Jan-Peter Hartung	35-45
What Makes a “Muslim Intellectual”? On the Pros and Cons of a Category	PDF

Elizabeth Suzanne Kassab	26-34
The Arab Quest for Freedom and Dignity: Have Arab Thinkers Been Part of It?	PDF

Julie S. Leube	46-52
Nurturing Intellectuals in the Islamic Republic: The National Elites Foundation	PDF

Leslie Tramontini	53-61
“Speaking Truth to Power?” Intellectuals in Iraqi Baathist Cultural Production	PDF

Close Up

Ursula Günther	63-67
Mohammed Arkoun: An Intellectual in Revolt	PDF

Alphabetical List of Open Access Journals in Middle Eastern Studies

Unbelievable Wingsuit Cave Flight! Batman Cave, Alexander Polli

C'è riuscito.

STORE LOCATOR: VMC ORIGINAL - ZURICH

The shop was opened in 1986 by Markus Cadruvi and after a few years Roger Hatt, who owns together with his wife the shop today, joined the team. Roger began his career as a mechanic, but it was in the world of denim he found his passion. Back then, VMC used to have a small second hand area with vintage Big E’s and, as the first Japanese denim brand in the shop, Roger (who’s featured on the cover of the latest edition of The Heritage Post) introduced Evisu to the Zurichers 15 years ago. Today 40% of denim sales in the shop are based on Japanese jeans from brands like Iron Heart, Flat Head and Warehouse. VMC is divided into three sections, the latest being a women’s department. From cash register and the men’s shoe department you enter the sportswear department. The basement is dedicated to denim with an entire wall of indigo with all kinds of shades, washes, shapes and sizes. The basement is also where you find the extensive boot selection. Everthing is piled up and neatly folded. The shop the packed with vintage props like orignal Buddy Lee dolls. (for more pics and full story check Denimhunters) Whenever you are in Zurich check VMC @ Rindermarkt 8