Archive for December, 2006

Rising Sea Levels Claim Populated Island

From our green blog:

Rising seas, caused by global warming, have for the first time washed an inhabited island off the face of the Earth. The obliteration of Lohachara island, in India’s part of the Sundarbans where the Ganges and the Brahmaputra rivers empty into the Bay of Bengal, marks the moment when one of the most apocalyptic predictions of environmentalists and climate scientists has started coming true.

Eight years ago, as exclusively reported in The Independent on Sunday, the first uninhabited islands - in the Pacific atoll nation of Kiribati - vanished beneath the waves. The people of low-lying islands in Vanuatu, also in the Pacific, have been evacuated as a precaution, but the land still juts above the sea. The disappearance of Lohachara, once home to 10,000 people, is unprecedented.

It has been officially recorded in a six-year study of the Sunderbans by researchers at Calcutta’s Jadavpur University. So remote is the island that the researchers first learned of its submergence, and that of an uninhabited neighbouring island, Suparibhanga, when they saw they had vanished from satellite pictures.

Story via The Independent (UK)

ART! - the New Year is Coming

The presentation ceremony for the First Annual Ninjie Awards has been postponed until the new year to give final entrants a chance to still make it big in ’06.AA There’s a lot to say about the year behind us, as always, so stick around for that.

Because of technical difficulties we haven’t had a proper ART DAY! in a while, and so today I’m pleased to present you with many art entries.AA I could waste your time talking about them here or you could just scroll down.

In keeping with our artspan tradition, we bring you paintings by Nancy Calcutt.AA Born in Southbridge MA and currently residing in Kentucky, with a long list of professional accomplishments, Calcutt is making some ill ish. Nancy has an artspan page that has some really sick pieces that you should most definitely check out.AA I’m just gonna drop a few pieces on you, but really this doesn’t do her justice.AA She has many styles and experiments with different materials.AA Go check out her wide range.

from the artist

Within each of us is a world.AAAA By drawing and painting people and animals, I explore their world, dig deeper and delve into what is behind and beyond the surface.AAAA My work is a lot about connection and empowerment.AAAA I paint the relationships that people have with animals by combining the human and animal in one composition.AAAA I also merge animals and humans, oftentimes creating what appear to be new creatures, imbued with a renewed life force and strength that result from their unity…the power of two as opposed to one.

I have difficulty with any type of falseness.AAAA Animals don’t pretend to be anything other than what they are.AAAA They communicate with us in nonverbal ways, which can be much truer than words and a lot more fun.AAAA Animals are comfortable in their own skin and keep us connected to the earth and the sensual world.AAAA We could all learn a few lessons from them.AAAA Animals have no opinions about art or how one should do their portraits, freeing artists to depict them any way they see fit.

Friday’s ART DAY! at myninjaplease is brought to you by viewer support.

HP

making of hands video at hp

Sofa Car

gallery at necromanc.blogspot

Diarama

at rebelscum

Armchair Cruise

The future of lazy (and free) transportation

more at gearfuse

Luxology

William Lambeth modeled this model in modo and produced the super clean geometry that you see to the right. Then, he tapped the power of the mental ray renderer in Softimage XSI to create the visually stunning and emotive image of the Samburu warrior seen to the right. Model was used to test fascinating new facial animation technology from Image Metrics.

at luxology

Buff Monster

info at formatmag

buffmonster

Nouveau Western

gallery of western photo art by D.J. Cope

The end of the west as we know it? at iht