Architect

Recently, I have found some article about this man. His name is Frank Lloyd Wright. He is one of interesting, perhaps the most interesting architects of his own days. There is one sim in Second Life related with him, where I have found many interesting things.

Who is Frank Lloyd Wright? The surname Wright suggests Wright brothers and their flight. Lloyd’s, it is famous insurance company, which mainly insures the ships. Or Andrew Lloyd Weber, its music author of the most famous musical West Side Story. And Frank, it associates me one madman from TV series M*A*S*H, Frank Burnse.

However, F.L. Wright was American architect, interior designer, writer and educator. During his life, he designed more than 1000 projects, which were realized more than 500. Between years 1900 and 1917 he designed so-called “Prairie Houses”, mainly in Chicago surroundings. For example, Darwin D. Martin House in Buffalo, New York or Hillside Home School, 1902 in Taliesin, Spring Green, Wisconsin. But Frederick Robie House in Chicago and the Avery and Queene Coonley House in Riverside, Illinois are the masterpieces of this period.

The private residence – Fallingwater – built for Mrs. And Mr. Edgar J. Kaufmann Sr. in Bear Run, Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh is one of his well-known and the most famous one. I cannot miss out also his other masterpiece, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City. He built it for 16 years from year 1943 to 1959.

The sim, on which The Virtual Frank Lloyd Wright Museum stands, bears characteristic name Usonia. After landing on island, you are right confronted with the majestic museum building. In the middle under an arc, there is an information desk and the museum rooms are at the both sides. There you can find the pictures of Wright’s houses. After visiting of the exhibition, I recommend to continue to the fountain and then on patheway round the houses, which are the replicas them form the real world. You can also use the teleport pads that are placed at each house on the ground. But form this walk was interesting; one can relish surrounding beautiful scenery.

What is also important, the owner of the virtual museum has the official license directly from the Frank Lloyd Foundation, which was founded by the architect himself in year 1940. I will not say, what you find there, but the pictures can suggest you.

SLurl: Usonia

(Sources: New World Notes, Wikipedia)

Remarks

Today it will be short, only several remarks from real world, how I remembered them.

Three stars, which are chased by a manzatita, these are three hunters.

The souls of old chieftains come back on earth in form of the orcas.

The trees cry!

(from the open ceremony of the Winter Olympic Games 2010 in Vancouver, Canada)

The Buddhism does not say to drink any wine and spirits. The Buddhism says, how to behave if you have a drink.

(superior of monastery Byodoin, near Kyoto, Japan)

Tango Argentino

Dance is part of life such as this and Second life is not any exception. Dance is one of the socially accepted activities, when the pair is close to each other as never. There are a lot of dance clubs, small or big dance halls in Second Life. They do not miss on any sim and daily many people amuse themselves there.

For instance, a social ball is a unique possibility to dance in wonderful suits. I took advantage of it every time, if I have an occasion. Tango is my favorite dance, even if I do not it well in RL. But I love tango music and Astor Piazzolla is my best. He was big tango composer. However, his “nuevo tango” is bit different from classical tango, mainly jazz elements use.

Tango, it is tension and passion, fire and water, joy and sorrow. Piazzola himself plays on the first two movies. The last one is a composition called Oblivion from the album “Hommage à Piazzolla” in presentation of violinist Gidon Kremer.

(Source: YouTube)

Party in BlueBerry Hill

Yesterday’s evening; I have popped in Second Life for a while, only to look what is happening, how things are going. After long time, I have flown to London to one club in Kingsbridge. I was welcomed kindly by long-time friends. So, we have talked like every time about everything. I have told about my spend weekend and than I have received another notice to other club. So, I said goodbye.

It was written in the notice that somebody another is seeking to dance at a dance pole. It has interested me, because sometime I danced at the pole in former club on Slovakia. But this one was another. There were ten poles there! However, the people have danced only for an amusement and every body could dance at these poles. We have listened super music, so I had a good time. Well, Andie Rau and Rg Papp can do it!

How it has looked there, it shows the pictures below. The lighting is original like it was set in the club.

(SLurls: BlueBerry Hill, London Kingsbridge)

Herbert Tobias (*1928 – †1982)

Actually, I do not know how I should begin. I am on the trip to Prague again (Sunday 24, 2010). This time I am going by train through the white snow cowered plains of my country. In spite of that, my journey could be different, to Vienna shopping. However, it was canceled and I traveled how I initially planned.

Today’s morning I have woke up very fast and left my home in deep darkness and bitter cold outside. There is some supermarket shopping car in front of our house?! Tobacco shop is closed and so I do not buy some newspaper. Some slightly drunk gambler is coming out from a gambling club and we are passing each other.

Finally, I am sitting in Eurocity train Carl Maria von Weber. Surprisingly, I am alone in the first class coach. Is that due to the global crisis? No, I think, it is not. Only red sun shining at sunrise on the horizon is driving me to the reality.

We are passing the train stop called Bezpráví (Injustice) and a lonely man there and some kilometers another stop (Uhersko). So we arrived to the city of the gingerbreads – Pardubice.

We have stopped unexpected in some field again, lost between a civilization and nobody. There are only light, shadows in space and reflections on snow that evoke some atmosphere that I had first time if I had seen the pictures of Herbert Tobias on his website. And now, I am going to visit his exhibition.

However, reality has overcome all my expectations. The retrospective exhibition of his 150 pictures from his the best era (50’s and 60’ of 20th century) is to see in Prague in Gallery Rudolfinum till March 28. It is hard to describe it. Each picture is another story that presses you to think about it, not only to run through the exhibition without any think. Those are the pictures of Andreas Baader, young Klaus Kinski, Amanda Lear, playing children in Berlin 50’s or fashionable pictures in Berlin ruins right to male portraits.

It is not possible to name all, it just must be seen. I fully recommend this!

(Sources: Gallery Rudolfinum, Herbert Tobias)

Reincarnation

The term reincarnation means word for word translated “repeated embodying”. It is an idea that life or an existence of something repeats more times. In Buddhism, it does not mean the embodying of something form one body into the second one. They use term “repeated rebirth”. It is a flow of repeated birth and death of mind. In Hinduism, our personal “I” transfers to new born body. What with we become, it depends on our karma, so on our last deeds. In spite of that, Hindus try to break out this passing of occurrences. According to the tradition, there are three paths leading to the liberation (moksha):

Path of Knowledge – Jnana Marga or Jnana Yoga
Path of Deed – Karma Marga or Karma Yoga
Path of Devotion – Bhakti Marga or Bhatki Yoga

Someone adds the fourth path:

Royal Path – Radha Yoga

I do not know if I have experienced my own reincarnation. However, I have unexpectedly reincarnated myself in Second Life at the last weekend. I was with my friends on one sim, where we talked and watched a new building. I wanted to ask for something, but at the same time I explored setting Advanced in SL client. I clicked something and then it happened.

I changed fully myself – shape, hairs, eyes, and my whole body. Further, I was in public and naked! Even my clothes were away. Nobody around me noticed anything. In arisen panic, I automatically pushed ctrl + h and teleported home. My Home is a place close to New Square in city Bohemia. OMG, it is another crowd of people! Somehow I chose randomly some LM, but I finished totally elsewhere. I was never there before yet.

Lagomorph is curious name for sim. It is nomenclature for big rodent of Lagomorpha order that has two pair upper gnawing teeth. For example, rabbits or hares belong to here. There were none of them around me, only many trees and grass. I was cold. I was there alone. So, I lay up into the roots of one tree.

My mind wandered and sought answers unexpressed question. How did it happen? Where am I? Whose face is it? I search in my memory this face. Memory cells are not as memory places in some computer. You cannot only set Search and it offers you all possibilities. Meditation helped me to explore the deepest places and then I recalled. This is me, but me in earlier times as a newbie.

So, I had to return. However, it sufficed only one magic click fort in my inventory. I do not know how many reincarnations happen daily in SL, but I like this embody and I would hate to change it. Somewhere the reincarnation, even if not wanted one, good for something. It is new knowledge, new feeling or new interesting place like Lagomorph.

SLurl: Lagomorph

Urbanica

So, I am bit sad about it. Again one project finished and Urbanica city disappeared from the Second Life surface. Shiny Iceberg always makes some surprising. OK, it is his decision. For us only these shots remain.