Tuesday, May 19, 2009

PICTURES TO WORDS # 21 -- CREATIVE WRITING

Welcome to

Pictures To Words

 a fun site where we play with words

 Each week a different picture is used as a prompt to encourage original creative writing. Anyone can join in. Post your work on your site and then come back and leave a link here so we can find you.

Remember to leave a link to PTW on your site, so others may join in too *You have all week to post*

MORE INFORMATION at: http://picturestowords.multiply.com/journal/item/116

Have fun with it....

 

Painting

Picture by Deborah

*****

Funny, how things stick in your mind. They say this was the best work I have done so far. Far beyond my earlier paintings. The gallery titled this one, as I had no title, and never intended there to be one. Dancer in Moonlight is what they called it. I can understand how they saw that in the painting, but as I said, I had no intention of naming it.

I often thought they gave the painting such praise as it is of my wife, death can bring much sympathy to a mourning husband, but when I gaze on the painting I know it is a damn good painting, a great painting. Lose one muse, gain another. Most of the great painters, poets, writers created from a place of pain, loneliness, from a place deep in the soul, if we have souls.

Just over a year ago, we took a lovers walk on the Cliff Trail, overlooking the Pacific, a beautiful place to walk, the moods of the great ocean always changing. Our studio was not far, so we took advantage of the trail whenever we could. It is such a special place.

Our favorite times was during a full moon, It bathed everything in that soft silver light, bright enough to see, but dark enough to be private. Much like a candle in a dark room, enough light to see skin respond to touch, able to look into your lover’s eyes, and talk that silent talk to one another, in a glance, in an expression.

A year of mourning is enough. Some say the painting is my coming out from under the gloom of loss, others that I am finally letting her go. All I know is a year should be enough time for everyone.

As I said, funny how some things stick in your mind. I thought it might have been her strange intake of breathe, the gasp when she first realized her feet were slipping off the trail, or her scream as she fell.

But it was her form, her perfect form, just like she had when performing free dance, that brazed itself into my memory. An embodiment of the Swan in Swam Lake, and all it took, was a slight push, in the small of her back.

(I am going to have a long talk with my muse,this is not where I thought this story was going!!--JohnOh)

Sunday, May 17, 2009

IMAGES & WORDS -- ANYTHING GOES -- WEEK TWO

IMAGES & WORDS,  a new group that promises to be quite entertaining, and thought provoking.  (Please note: You will have to supply your own aspirin if your thoughts have been provoked.)  

You can look here for more information or for joining in the fun:

IMAGES & WORDS - ANYTHING GOES (Week 2)

 

I have always loved quotes from the old philosophers.  So much wisdom can be gained from them.  As for my beautiful model that so kindly posed for me; some of you have met her before, LadyBug III.  Usually such a busy Beagle, she just finished Tolstoy's War and Peace, and for some light reading, she just started: Quantum Foam Or Quantum Flux; Beyond The Concept of Time And Space.  And she still has time to look soooo gorgeous!!

ladybug copyright

Picture was taken today, camera used was a Sony EasyShare Z612 on the auto setting 

Saturday, May 16, 2009

NANCY PELOSI OR THE CIA?? YOU DECIDE

Wow, the newspapers may be changing the tone of their coverage.  Is there a change in the wind to come?  Sometimes it is just better than a comedy show, to watch the way Politicians of both types try to tell us what they meant to say, or better yet, to try and convince us what we heard is not what they said.  Right along with that other government rule, Do as We Say, Not as We Do.  That has to be carved in the halls of congress somewhere. . .

Political Cartoons by Jerry Holbert

Political Cartoons by Eric Allie

Political Cartoons by Nate Beeler

Political Cartoons by Lisa Benson

Political Cartoons by Glenn McCoy

Political Cartoons by Henry Payne

Political Cartoons by Henry Payne

 

Political Cartoons by Michael Ramirez

 

Political Cartoons by Gary Varvel

 

 

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

TEACHING PROSTITUTES TO DRINK RESPONSIBLY

Our tax dollars at work!!  or;  The inmates really are in charge of the Insave Asylum!!  And we are not even teaching our own prostitutes with our money!!   I had no idea this is what they meant by stimulating the economy and creating jobs.  They are stimulating something and giving someone a job!!  You just cannot make some of this stuff up!!!  (Italics added by me)

U.S. WILL PAY $2.6 MILLION TO TRAIN CHINESE PROSTITUTES TO DRINK RESPONSIBLY ON THE JOB

CNSNews.com, story by Edwin Mora

The National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAA), a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), will pay $2.6 million in U.S. tax dollars to train Chinese prostitutes to drink responsibly on the job.

Dr. Xiaoming Li, the researcher conducting the program, is director of the Prevention Research Center at Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit.
 
The grant, made last November, refers to prostitutes as "female sex workers"--or FSW (Newspeak if I ever heard it!) --and their handlers as "gatekeepers" 
(more Newspeak, pimps are now gatekeepers??)

 

 

"Previous studies in Asia and Africa and our own data from FSWs [female sex workers] in China suggest that the social norms and institutional policy within commercial sex venues (aka Bordellos, Cat Houses, etc etc.) as well as agents (aka Pimps!!!)  overseeing the FSWs (i.e., the 'gatekeepers', defined as persons who manage the establishments and/or sex workers) are potentially of great importance in influencing alcohol use and sexual behavior among establishment-based FSWs," says the NIH grant abstract submitted by Dr. Li.

"Therefore, in this application, we propose to develop, implement, and evaluate a venue-based alcohol use and HIV risk reduction intervention focusing on both environmental and individual factors among venue-based FSWs in China," says the abstract.

The research will take place in the southern Chinese province of Guangxi.

Guangxi is ranked third in HIV rate among Chna's provinces--and is a place where the sex business is pervasive, Li said.

 

“The purpose of the project is to try and develop an intervention program targeting HIV risk and alcohol use,” Li told CNSNews.com. “So basically, it’s an alcohol and HIV risk reduction intervention project."

The researcher outlined three components of the intervention program in the abstract for the project:

“(1) gatekeeper training with a focus on changing or enhancing the protective social norms and policy/practice at the establishment level;

(2) FSW (female sex workers) training with a focus on the acquisition of communication skills (negotiating, limit setting) and behavioral skills (e.g., condom use skills, consistent condom use); and

(3) semi-annual boosters to reinforce both social norms within establishments and individual skills,” wrote Li.

The doctor said the heart of the study involves “a community-based cluster randomized controlled trial among 100 commercial sex venues in Beihai, a costal tourist city in Guangxi.”

"We anticipate that the venue-based intervention program will be culturally appropriate, feasible, effective and sustainable in alcohol use and sexual risk reduction among FSWs," says the NIH grant abstract.

Li said his study is being done in China rather than the U.S. because prostitution occurs with alcohol use in the United States like it does in China, Americans will be able to benefit from the project’s findings. 

“We want to get some understanding of the fundamental role of alcohol use and HIV risk,” he said. “We use the population in China as our targeted population to look at the basic issues. I think (He thinks??!!! I have to ask, why not keep the money here, study our culture, and our prostitutes, and then we can be sure any findings will benefit some of the American people in some way!) the findings will benefit the American people, too.”

Li said minimal research has been conducted on the link between alcohol use and prostitution as it relates to HIV.

“Alcohol has been a part of the commerce of sex for many, many years. Unfortunately, both global-wise (and) in the United States, very few researchers are looking at the complex issue of the inter play between alcohol and the commerce of sex,” he told CNSNews.com.

The grant is one of several “international initiatives” sponsored by the National Institutes of Health.

Ralph Hingson, director of epidemiology and prevention research at NIAA, told CNSNews.com, “There are many Americans who travel to China each year and they should be made aware of the HIV problem.”

Hingson said that Americans will be able to apply the studies findings to the American situation because 1.2 million Americans are currently living with HIV.

Li’s research includes exploration, development, implementation and evaluation. Currently, the project stands at the exploration stage, which the doctor expects to last 18 months.

“The first phase is kind of an exploratory study just trying to get a good understanding of the phenomena in the population of female sex workers in China. The second phase is the program development,” (Why do I get the feeling, that in Newspeak, "Program Development might mean we will be hearing about the PROFESSOR LI's SEX EMPORIUM AND LEISURE RESORT.) the professor told CNSNews.com.

Phase two will be based on the first year of the study and on “field observations,” he added. The third phase will be the implementation and evaluation of the program.

“Prostitution is illegal in China but it exists in China," Li told CNSNews.com, “but the Chinese government and the society’s attitude towards prostitution is complicated.”

According to Li, there may be as many as 10 million female prostitutes in China with the majority raging from teenagers to those in their 20s.

“We see a lot of governmental initiatives in China, like 100 percent condom distribution promotion programs, so they deliver condoms in those (prostitution) venues," he added.

“The global literature indicates an important role of alcohol use in facilitating HIV/AIDS transmission risk in commercial sex venues where elevated alcohol use/abuse and sexual risk behaviors frequently co-occur,” Li wrote when introducing the project last November.

"We expect that the intervention will improve protective normative beliefs and institutional support regarding alcohol use and HIV protection,” he added.

The NIH proposal hypothesizes that the program will decrease "problem drinking and alcohol-related sexual risk" among prostitutes that participate.
 
"We hypothesize that the venue-based intervention will change and enhance the protective social norms and institutional policies at the establishment level and such enhancement, accompanied by individual skill training among FSWs, will demonstrate a sustainable effect within commercial sex establishments in decreasing problem drinking and alcohol-related sexual risk, increasing consistent and correct condom use, and reducing rates of HIV/STD infection among FSWs," says the NIH abstract.

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

WINE LOVERS OF THE WORLD UNITE --- WINOS TOO

 I am asking for help on this one.  I am not a wine drinker, not since Ripple seared my taste buds years and years ago.  You know the brand, "Every Wine Sold Before Its' Time"!!!  I found this fascinating story, about a connection between Wine and the Moon.  Yes we all know too much wine can make one moon, but this is a study about Wine and the Moon.

It sounds a lot like the story of the physiological wards acting up during a full moon, which most science says is nonsense, but if you talk to nurses who have practical, first person, hands on experience they will tell you there IS a connection.  So I am asking all of you with experienced wine palates, have you ever noticed any times that you imbibed with wine anything that would support this Wine/Moon theory?

BAD WINE DAY!!??  IT IS THE MOON!!

by: David Leask,  from: NEWS.Scotsman.com, Published Date: 19 April 2009

FANCY some wine today? Don't bother. A growing number of experts – including those working for some of Britain's biggest supermarkets – reckon this is the worst possible day for a glass of the old vino.
 
They have come to the remarkable conclusion that wine changes its taste with the lunar cycle. And most of yesterday and today is a Root period, when the moon casts an unpleasant flavour.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Tesco and Marks & Spencer, it emerged yesterday, now only invites their critics to taste their ranges when the moon-related biodynamic calendar dictates that wines will be at their best.

Both firms, who between them account for a third of all the bottles sold in Britain, are paying increasing attention to a moon calendar published for nearly half a century by a German great-grandmother called Maria Thun. She has divided the days of the year into 'fruit', 'flower', 'leaf' and 'root' – the first two are best for drinking wine, the second two worst
 
 
 
Pierpaolo Petrassi, Tesco's senior product development manager, admitted his firm held its tastings in line with the calendar. "Our first choice is a fruit day. We seek to avoid root and leaf days.

 
 
 
"It may be a little step beyond what consumers can comprehend. We have so many other things to educate consumers about."

Tesco has been scheduling its wine tastings in line with the calendar for two years, but is only now admitting it.

M&S winemaker Jo Ahearne is another convert. "Before the tasting, I was really unconvinced, but the difference between the days was so obvious I was blown away," he said.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
David Motion, a London wine merchant, said: "I live in the city and don't think much about nature, but it is clear it has an influence."

Some other retailers, including Waitrose, are less certain. So are most scientists, who point out that the ultimate inspiration for Thun's calendar is Rudolf Steiner, who came up with the notion after reportedly consulting with spirits, although not of the liquid variety.

 
 
 
Steiner, a well known educational reformer, also believed that the moods of humans could cause earthquakes. (Maybe, but it IS known that drinking too much wine can make one think there is an earthquake!--Dr.Oh) That hasn't stopped vinegrowers in some parts of the world, including France and the US, using assorted biodynamic fertilisers, of no known scientific value, on their crops.

For those still in the mood for a tipple, the best time to imbibe this week will be between 8pm on Wednesday and 11am on Thursday. Next weekend looks good too.

It will be a fruit period between 6pm on Friday and throughout Saturday. And anyone who really must have a drink tonight should wait until after 10pm. The wine will taste better: Granny Thun said so.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
For those wishing more information on this, a link:  http://www.gardeningbythemoon.com/lunarfacts.html
It deals more with planting experiments based on Granny Thun's ideas, but very interesting.--JohnOh