FACEBOOK "LIKES"

What I "LIKE" on Facebook....Shadows, obscurity, abstract photos and paintings, absurdities of life, close-ups of miraculous flowers and landscapes, friends getting together to eat of perform to the camera, students who still have hope and made-it through to graduation, photo art of political and social reality, young animals and kids, non-clichéd paintings and drawings, visionary architecture, simple hard true realizations for the heart and spirit, friendship and love, revolution without murder, dark and dry humor, brilliant unique performers, good and bad singers and musicians who touch my soul, tiny details of life that are beautiful but no one notices,

ART

WHAT IS POSSIBLE . . .

Leosvel and Diosmani...gymnastics and strength on a French TV show. Watch until the end. Incredible. http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?feature=player_embedded&v=J2brlhHMJw0

TOUCHING

RUBBER & REAL DUCKS GO VIRAL IN CHINA

COMMUNISTS AND OLIGARCHS HAVE NO SENSE OF HUMOR.....

LAUGHING AT MY NIGHTMARE.COM

There are a so many things to do on Facebook, YouTube, 

and even in real life....

Some are worth spending a few minutes of your time.  

This is one of them.

http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/shane-burcaw-laughing-at-my-nightmare-documentary?c=home

GIVING UP THINGS WE LOVE

STANLEY FISH May 27, 2013, 9:00 pm 414 Comments

Moving On

By STANLEY FISH

Stanley Fish on education, law and society.

I have sold my books. Not all of them, but most of them. I held on to the books I might need while putting the finishing touches on a manuscript that is now with my publisher. I also kept the books I will likely need when I begin my next project in the fall. But the books that sustained my professional life for 50 years — books by and about Milton, Spenser, Shakespeare, Skelton, Sidney, Herbert, Marvell, Herrick, Donne, Jonson, Burton, Browne, Bacon, Dryden, Hobbes — are gone (I watched them being literally wheeled out the door), and now I look around and see acres of empty white bookshelves.

JOSS WEDON, DIRECTOR

GRADUATES:  Action is more important than words....but words are more important than nothing.  Here are 13 minutes of funny, serious, true words than can help you, if you occasionally think of them.

The two professor-administrators at the front, who probably invited him, get his dark entertaining humor and agree. The professor in the back is probably bored and thinks he's a jerk.  You can make your own decision.  (The English is clear and non-academic.)

The problem is that at graduation ceremonies, students are thinking about partying, their dates, supportive and non-supportive families, no job, the terrifyng future, being hot or cold, holding on to their caps in the wind, eating, texting, boredom, and having a good night's sleep, hopefully with someone.

Still, the Graduation Speech Ritual is one of civilization's more useful inventions, too often unused.

http://www.upworthy.com/behold-the-bluntest-funniest-and-deadliest-graduation-speech-in-the-history-of-the-known-universe?g=2&c=upw1

CULTURAL DIFFERENCE

Pakistan is America's ally.

http://www.upworthy.com/watch-a-brave-little-girl-take-on-her-rapists-her-village-and-her-culture-2?g=2&c=upw1

ALTERNATIVE SCHOOL / ALTERNATIVE LIFE

The diverse human struggle to live a happier, more meaningful life radiates hope.....

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/05/26/magazine/26look-lagos.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20130526&_r=0

ASPIRIN WON'T FIX OUR HEADACHE

Three young women who were kidnapped in their teens, then imprisoned inside a house and raped for 10 years by three brothers (then in their 20's), were freed.

Many people want to castrate them.  But castration might be a big relief. 

Besides understandably reacting Biblically with hatred and vengeance, society must painfully delve into its own deepest twisted secret pits of hell....These 3 men had parents. They went to school. They worked. They had friends. They had neighbors..... 

What failed in our system? Unless we have the courage to confront that, and change, such traumatic events will repeat over and over. As they do now.

SEMINOLE

ACTIONS LEFT UNDONE

There are two specific, practical, moral things our nation can do within this year: relieve poverty and bring Americans into a sane, relatively fair economic balance. We all know it will not be done. But it is possible to do in reality. Therefore, the responsibility and blame is on the politicians of both parties, the citizens who accept and vote for them, as well as our own personal lack of compassion and courage....Writing this, I don't feel superior. I feel equal in human hypocrisy, weakness, guilt, fear, awareness, and lack of redemptive positive action.

SADNESS

LOVE

PERFECTLY BRILLIANT FACEBOOK SITES

THESE ARE THE GREATEST SITES

I've discovered on Facebook so far..

They are so powerful, creative, sublime,

often sad, absurd, moving, and visionary.

Nearly every post is stunning.

Your life can be inspired and changed:

Hamza Nesrate

Chung-Ting Huang

台灣行道樹 (Community)

StreetArt in Germany

Creativity & Life

TwistedShifter

Al Jazeera English

The Guardian

NOT YOUR USUAL POLE DANCING

SHAOLIN TEMPLE "pole dancing" (male) acrobats. Fantastic!.......Who can match China? On the other hand, who wants to give up their parents, childhoods, school, friends, and freedom, in order to be the super-human best in the world, for nationalistic goals. They can't all be given jobs as coaches when they age, but what else have they ever known?....So why doesn't China win every event they enter? Maybe the human spirit can be as vital as regimented glory.  [Thanks to Jack Chien for the site. Comments by Ron.]

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=QZXYOo_qk2E

DARKENED SCREEN

ROGER EBERT...the passionate, sensitive writer who inspired an army of young film directors to care about cinema as art, and have the courage to make their own personal creative films, has died of cancer. He leaves a gigantic unfillable hole in non-academic serious film criticism, cinema history, and critical awareness....Roger did not inspire me to direct films - Kurosawa, Bergman, and Fellini did - and I didn't always agree with his critical opinions (who cares), but Roger was the eyes and perception that kept me making films, despite the socializing politics and cold greed of Hollywood. Every director I ever talked with, from English-speaking countries, all cited Roger as their "guiding light". He was especially caring of film students and first-time directors who had talent but had no network of support. Now we all must continue to struggle forward, without a kind mentor, but with his powerful spirit by our side.

"LIKE"

Sometimes I "LIKE" a photo but not the words, sometimes the sentiments but not the illustration, sometimes the larger ideas but not the actual post. Sometimes I like the person who posted it, or want to offer my morale support to someone I don't know. Sometimes my finger slips.....There is no way to know what "LIKE" means on Facebook, so it is only a quickie massage of the ego, not a fulfilling meal. Facebook promises communication, but only offers the thinnest surface image of communication, and actually prevents real communication....Facebook is a potentially great concept and invention to soothe loneliness, but it's still in its most primitive stage, leaving the human spirit feel even lonelier.

[Painting by 黃安祖Andrew詩畫家, on Facebook]

FACEBOOK

The Facebook that I see has a flood of streaming photos with cute girls and boys of all ages and persuasions, stunning CUs of flowers and nature, thousands of smiling classmates posing with V-fingers or horror movie faces, a few soft-core effective body photos, political pro-human/anti-evil protests, serious truthful international news from the Colonialist BBC and Muslim TV station, pro-Obama public relations that I want to believe (with the instinctive hateful anti-Obama comments), lots of YouTube videos interesting and not, really funny sites with all levels of humor and social satire, delicious food food food, photos of patterns and of nothing that are real art, graffiti and official museum art, insightful film reviews, a few ads for things I don't use or don't like or can't afford, endless good-feeling sayings and advice that no one who is human can ever follow.

This is my Facebook....hundreds of friends I never meet, and cannot touch with my hands, brain, heart, or spirit. This is Communication in the 21st Century. I prefer the 20th Century, or 18th, or 15th..... except I probably would have died of plague, starvation, war, or torture by now, and wouldn't have been an artist or teacher creating in relative freedom and security.

I'm naively and deeply disappointed in the Facebook God, but not in the Facebook users.

[Painting by artist Andrew, on Facebook]