Dude..Richmond?

Check it out…It’s great!

Mashup: Indiana Jones vs. Star Wars

This guy did a decent job considering it was done in 2001 before LEGO Indiana Jones.

From YouTube…

Seattle er…….Richmond weather.

Seven of the past eight days have been overcast and rainy.  The prospect for sunshine won’t occur until Thursday.  Maybe we forgot to pay the light bill and that explains the absence of sunlight.  Either way, I’m grown weary of dreary weather.  Not to mention it has dampened my plans for outdoor work around the house.

I think in Alaska people there are sometimes prescribed those light glasses that help them get over the problems that occur during the six months of darkness.  We need those here.  Yeah we do.

That is all.

Mashup: A-Team vs. Star Trek TOS

Found this thanks to Trekmovie.com…

…two great shows have come together.

Palms in London

street scene in London, UK. 

Peckham, an innercity neighborhood in London has planted palms and yuccas in the streets.  Outstanding!  These palms would do just fine here in Richmond as well.  Makes you think….

 well, it makes me think.

check out the article:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=447463&in_page_id=1770

Raiders of the Lost Ark?

I caught the program last night about the guy who went out searching for the Ark of the Covenant.  No, not Indiana Jones…it was Dr. Tudor Parfitt’s journey in search of the elusive Ark which has not been seen since sometime around the take over of Judah by the Babylonians in the Old Testament.  No word of the Ark’s fate exists.

For centuries people have wondered what’s become of the ark.  Where is it? Who took it? Is it still intact? Is it still powerful?  As seen in Raiders of the Lost Ark the Nazis opened the Ark and were destroyed.  Those who know about the Christianity know that if the Ark was around today, it probably would not have the same powers because the Holy Spirit resides in followers of Christ.

Dr. Parfitt’s journey took him to Jerusalem and then his journey went to Egypt, Yemen and into the wilds of Africa.

He claims to have found the latest incarnation of the Ark in a Musuem in Zimbabwe, made of wood and used by a tribe on the South African/Zimbabwe border for hundreds of years.

Dr. Parfitt’s quest for the Ark amount to me leaving home telling you that I’m going to go buy a new car…and then returning with only a ham sandwich.  One has nothing to do with the other.

What is interesting is the retracing of the steps of some of the Jews as they fled Judah as Nebuchadnezzar was about to break the walls in Jerusalem.  These Jews, mentioned in the Bible as the ones who fled to Egypt, worked their way south into deep Egypt and eventually deeper into Africa.  Another group arrived in Africa via Yemen. 

Centuries later, reports came out of an African Tribe that somehow practiced the Jewish traditions…though Israel was some 3000 miles away.  This tribe ate kosher, followed the laws of the Jews and even carried around their own “Ark” like object into tribal war.  What’s really interesting is that DNA test show that they are in fact kin to Jews in Israel…so there is validity to the fact that the Jews who fled Nebuchadnezzar somehow ended up in modern day South Africa.

As for the Ark…if it does exist, it is lost somewhere or hidden somewhere very well.  Some say Israel has it hidden somewhere, others say the Muslims have it hidden somewhere, some say it’s in Ethiopia under heavy guard.  It would be astounding to find it, but maybe God does not wish for us to find it as we may be tempted to worship that and not Him. 

But we all know that really the Ark of the Covenant is locked away at Area 51 after being found by Dr. Henry Jones.

Harry Landis; 1899-2008

Mr. Harry Landis of Tampa, FL died at the age of 108.  Mr. Landis is one of the last known American Veterans of World War I.  A Mr. Frank Buckles of Charles Town, West Virginia is now the only surviving veteran of World War I.

Mr. Landis enlisted in 1918 and trained to go to Europe, but never got the chance to head overseas.  The war ended before his unit shipped out.

The Associated Press (via the Richmond Times-Dispatch) has an article about Mr. Landis.

Mr. Landis was born in 1899.  His life spanned three different centuries.  When he was born, William McKinley was President of the United States, and the Spanish-American War had just concluded the previous year.

In his life the world transformed from the industrial revolution to what we have today.  Amazing.

It’s always weird when you think about how close we are to distant times.  Mr. Landis was born in 1899.  Let’s say there was someone of the age that Mr. Landis was in 2008, 108.  That person would have been born in 1791.  And if we continue that equation…a person who by chance was 108 in 1791 would have been born in 1683.

So three people could have spanned the time period of 325 years.  Astounding!

We can put it into more personal contex…I know a gentleman at church who’s grandfather was alive and present at the Battle of Cold Harbor in 1864.  He remembered riding out the day after the battle and being told to keep his head down and not look out, but he could see through the boards of the buggy the bodies strewn along the ground.  So there is only one person between me and the Battle of Cold Harbor.

It’s weird when you think of it like that, because these things seem so long ago.

Ramblings

Library of Congress’ flickr site

It’s amazing and true, the Library of Congress, the official repository of the written word, photographs, motion pictures, etc. of the United States of America has a flickr site.

I came across it by doing a Google News Search for the word “flickr”.

Go check out the site, there are over 3000 photos on there so far.

She was alright when she left here…

An interesting Time Magazine article about design plans to revitalize the old Harland & Wolff Shipyard in Belfast, Northern Ireland into a residential and commercial center.  The largest waterfront redevelopment in Europe if approved.

Check it out!

Mr. Abrams & Company talk Trek at Trekmovie.com

How awesome is it when you can share your passion for something with others?  To have them see what drives you and what is a catalyst for your creativity and imagination is something truly special.

As I have never been a film maker, I cannot say that is the primary driving force of making pictures, but for those who make really well done films, I bet it is an important part of it.  I do know from writing that when a piece is written that gaines praise, it’ll be a piece that I wrote that I have genuine interest, passion and excitement for.  That also is beginning to present itself in photography for me.  I love photographing things that I have an interest in and am passionate about.

So it goes with all forms of creativity.  You present what you’re passionate about, what you’re interested in and hope that people take notice and enjoy the work you’ve done. 

This is what has happened over at trekmovie.com - a site that I’ve known about for nearly two years now that has brought info on the many aspects of Star Trek.  From the remastered TOS episodes to the first hints of the new film all the way to today…

Today, J.J. Abrams and crew, the ones who are currently filming Star Trek, took time to answer questions posed by visitors to trekmovie.com.  How awesome is that?  First that shows that the crew who now are at the helm of Trek are committed to the franchise and the fanbase.  Second, the realize the publicity it generates and the attention it draws to the film.  Third, it must really be cool for Anthony Pascale, creator and administrator of trekmovie.com. 

I applaude the work of Mr. Pascale, his dedication to bringing news and views on Star Trek has been tremendous.  Trekmovie.com is one of the sites I check every morning after waking up.  He has allowed fans of trek to communicate with each other via the comments section on each post, and has gained the attention of those who are involved with Trek to speak to the Trek community through his site. 

Two posts this week really impressed me, those were of the interview with James Cawley, Executive Producer of Star Trek: New Voyages, and also the Q&A with Mr. Abrams & Company.

Whatever your motives Mr. Pascale, you have really made a fine site and provided Trek fans a sounding board and internet gathering that other sites just could not do.  I mean honestly, how cool is it that they chose to do this at trekmovie.com rather than some Paramout corporate site that would have come off as completely staged and vague.

If you get a chance, go over to http://www.trekmovie.comto read the Q&A session…it’ll prove interesting and you never know what you’ll find out.  Keep going to trekmovie.com for updates, even when the official site begins providing information, trekmovie.com will still be the starting point for me.