The Worlds lagest dam...Created by beavers

he beaver...I have always thought to be a truly remarkable creature. One that truely does capture the pride of Canadians everywhere. And just recently the beavers in Northern Alberta has done something to really spark this pride all over again. Spark that patriotic pride to those that have...well...sort of felt lost in their own country.

The northern Alberta beaver families in Wood Buffalo national park has successfully built a beaver visible from space. I know for years people have been saying that the beaver is the engineers of mothers nature. But to build a dam seen from space, being compared to the Hoover dam is truly an amazing accomplishment.

This truly amazing acheivement just helps show, just how intelligent animals really truly are. Really fueling the debate in favour of intelligent design in the universe. For in order humans to build a structure like this would take years with hundred and thousands of people. This dam was build with only two beaver families (could they be pioneer beavers, just trying to live the best life they can in harsh surroundings...perhaps.

The contemplative, eccentric monk in awe of the artristry and intelligents of nature and the beavers. Wow!

The Worlds Largest Vending Machine

This is one amazing novelty. A vending machine this big, I can't help but think it is in fact a robot. Which in turn brings up images from good ol' Issac Asimov and his foundation trilogy. But, then I would be letting my over active imagination take over. Anywho, it is a really neat vending machine in Japan. Pretty cool, as far as vending machines go that is. But don't take my word for it, click the above link and see for yourself.

The straight dirt road...a third option
This blog based on a myspace blog I have recently discovered.

The comparison of two roads. The two roads of life one can say, led me to think if there is a third road description. I mention this because in the "myspace" blog, the author wrote about the easy road and the rough road. How the easy road is paved with many bus stops, where everyone has a GPS device, and not afraid of a little white lie to get to where one is going. And yet the rough road has no bus stops at all, a very narrow windy dirt path, with the traveller longing for at least one bus stop.

These two descriptions makes life seem rather pointless, a misery. A life where it is wrong to get from point A to point B, or at least a life dreading the hardships to achieve the final goal. This creating a duality between the haves and have nots. Implying that only the haves can achieve and enjoy an easier way of life. Leaving everyone else (the have nots) to some how travel in hardship, with no guidance at all.

What if the road for a happy life is a straight and narrow dirt road, filled with no or very little distractions. A road where we as humans can only see one or two steps ahead of us. A road that makes it impossible to get lost as it only goes in one direction. And if we do get a little scared as to were we're heading, it is not because of an unexpected turn or twist rather it is because in our own finite understanding of our current life, we are not able to see our next step. In other wards the lantern we're carrying has gone out. When this happens the path is still set for us to keep following. But we think the path has branched out for the simple reason we can not see our next step ahead of us, our vision has gone dark...we are staring into the darkness of the future instead of focusing on the here and now. So what are we to do? Were to have faith, that each step we take is being guided by Jesus Christ himself. That even if we can not see were our feet are going we can have confidence in knowing that Jesus has our steps not only planned but well grounded on the right path (if we decided to follow in faith). That Jesus is the light unto our feet. And to try navigating the path on just our own independent nature, we are lost on a straight path because we are second guessing the validity of each step we take.

Life is a straight and narrow road filled with hills, mountains, plains and valley's. The uncertainty we experience is how we really never know what lies in the future, as we need to focus on today in order to reach the end, successfully and happy. And this is a rather interesting third road description, a third road for one to choose. A road I am sure I will spend more time exploring as the day progress.

Staring...Into nothingness,
pondering...On change.
considering...Protecting the old.
Thoughts of an eccentric artistic monk.
startled by noise...Soothed by noise.
encompassing the experiment...For understanding
have fun...Just being weird.
Too work harder then others...Weird to the lazy
Too be strong and courageous...Joshua 1:9
Fundamentals too achieving greatness...Among the weak and scared.
Experimentation...Attached to fundamental truths
Result...Successful masterpieces of new things too come.
Dancing too a sitar...Rejoicing to a harp.
The positive power...Of ancient music
Thoughts...Considerations
Provoking...And mundane
An experiment...Or observations
Life, God...And me
experimental art...Eccentric monks

The Singing bowl Choir

The Tibetan singing bowls, a curious musical instrument with an even more fascinating meaning behind them. The beauty that's produced from such simple well engineered instrument truly an inspiration. After saying that, I understand how the Tibetan monks can interpret and use the singing bowl to create an atmosphere of self awareness to aid in their meditation practice.

Do I agree, that a singing bowl can aid in meditation...no. Meditation is a very active mental activity, requiring deep concentration on questions, concepts, God and anything that requires much contemplation.

If singing bowls do not create true meditation. Then how do we explain the ascetic created? Well it is one of relaxation, a relaxation of the mind. A form of practice too block out every distraction to achieve a crystal clear thought. That's why some call it meditation for it's used in achieving pure thinking and clear thought. From my acting days, I learnt deep relaxation can aid in deep concentration, which's is what hypnosis is based on...deep relaxation (you are getting sleepy). As you work to get someone so deeply relaxed that they're putty in your hands, able and willing to do anything you ask with no conscience thought, as they're no longer aware of world around them. A very dangerous state to subject one's self too.

Singing bowls used in spiritual meditations to reach a state of relaxation, a form of peaceful bliss. A peace with one's self, produced by the soothing lullaby of bowls that sing. A peace with one's self by blocking out the world, and in effect being no good to anyone, as it's a voluntary escape of reality, similar to drug use.

Bowls that sing is still a very respectable experimental form of art. One I respect, understand, and find fascinating as a musical instrument. So let the eccentric monks get down and boogie in a duet with the singing bowls from Tibet. So let's rock!

The Pillar

A pillar, a piece of white rock once a building necessity, has moved to a more decorative feature in the homes that can afford it. But even more mystifying is the power that ruined pillars seem to hold. For as they stand tall and proud watching mankind go to and fro, seeing all the evil and good that is accomplished among them. And as the pillar stands vigilant, it ends up playing tag with the sun until the next day. Then alone the pillar stands once again with only the moon and stars to engage in any enlightenment thought.

As the pillar seems ignored today, there was a time; ruined pillars sparked the imagination of those wanting to serve God. For the eccentric monastic monks as an effort to show how much they loved God, would live on top of a pillar, to punish their flesh for all the sinful acts they were guilty of. Pillars then turned into the perfect pedestal to punish the evil inside us all.

Today there is nobody living on a pillar to punish the flesh for evil sins, partly because we realize what Christ did for us on the cross. Seeing how no one has been captivated by the mysterious imagination of the ruin pillars that stand so tall with on going enlightenment and religious acts. It was still a very noble act what those old monks did...eccentric yes but still noble.

And in the same way today's experimental, explorative artists are like those old monks. To a world that relies on Hollywood to tell them how to think and feel...they view the one's that do think as the eccentric and weird one's. The ones that they call the artist...in a derogatory term, the one's they can not understand. And in that context we artiste's are just like the old monks living on a pillar, not afraid to express who we are and what we believe, in order to live a more full life, and get one step closer to Nirvana...if you will.

So as the monk’s live on the pillar so too, do we artistes, a more abstract pillar, that is not visibly clear to the naked eye, but there it does exist.