Budist Sand Mandala Art

The Sand Mandala is a Tibetan Buddhist tradition which symbolises the transitory nature of things. As part of Buddhist canon, all things material are seen as transitory. A sand mandala is an example of this, being that once it has been built and its accompanying ceremonies and viewing are finished, it is systematically destroyed.

Historically, the mandala was not created with natural, dyed sand, but granules of crushed coloured stone. In modern times, plain white stones are ground down and dyed with opaque inks to achieve the same effect. Before laying down the sand, the monks assigned to the project will draw the geometric measurements associated with the mandala. The sand granules are then applied using small tubes, funnels, and scrapers, until the desired pattern over-top is achieved. Sand mandalas traditionally take several weeks to build, due to the large amount of work involved in laying down the sand in such intricate detail. It is common that a team of monks will work together on the project, creating one section of the diagram at a time, usually working from the center outwards.

The destruction of a sand mandala is also highly ceremonial. Even the deity syllables are removed in a specific order, along with the rest of the geometry until at last the mandala has been dismantled. The sand is collected in a jar which is then wrapped in silk and transported to a river (or any place with moving water), where it is released back into nature. For this reason, the materials in a sand mandala are always biodegradable, and, in keeping with the symbolism are never used twice.

Tippi - The Girl Who is Bridging the Gap to Africa

For 10 years Tippi wandered the Namibian bush dressed only in a loincloth befriending the ferocious animals and the Bushmen of the Kalahari. Tippi now lives in Paris. She returns to her childhood. She is a bridge between two cultures. We will show Tippi in her current life situation, as a teenager in Paris, her surrounding, her dreams and visions, her return to Africa and her meeting new and old friends – i.e. the African elephant and the Bushmen.

In 1990, Tippi Degré – daughter of Alain Degré and Sylvie Robert, a couple who chose to relinquish their lives in France for the freedom of nature in Southern Africa – was born in the newly independent Namibia. Her parents worked as freelance wildlife photographers and film makers. At 10 months the toddler was exploring the Namibian bush and desert.
For 10 years, Tippi wandered the bush bare footed, making friends with all sorts of animals: leopards, caracals, mongooses, baboons and snakes.
Her playground was the hills and the harsh desert tribe lands of southern Africa; as the family wandered the bush land, Tippi picked up all kinds of friends – like Abu, a five ton (28-year-old) elephant she calls “her brother”.
She would ride to a water hole on top of Abu and splash with the elephants of the herd, cuddle giant bullfrogs, lion cubs or meerkats; and became a grasshopper hunting specialist with the chameleons she was so fond of.
Tippi also befriended the Himba tribes people and the Bushmen of the Kalahari, who taught her how to survive on roots and berries and hence gave her practical experience of real life in the bush.
Life as a bush baby came to an end after her last year of "freedom" in Madagascar when Tippi moved to the French capital with her mother six years ago. But both in fact and in her heart, she remained an African.
In “Tippi – Bridging the Gap to Africa” we are focusing on Tippi reconnecting with her childhood memories, getting back to her roots, re-discovering Africa – now that she is a 16 year old girl living in Paris.

Some Europian Castles

Castle Muiderslot is in Nederlands. There was little good stone in this country so there isn't a lot of castles in Nederlands. This castle doesn't have huge walls that should provide good deffence because there is river all around the castle. It has usual English shape with round towers on its angles.

Castle Gutenfels and Pfalzgrafenstein, next to the river Rhine, show difference between two epohs. Castle Gutenfels ,which is on the top of the hill, is tipical old castle that doesnt have any walls around. It has just a big tower that gives big view. This view should help when the castle is attacked. This tipe of deffence soon wasn't enough. That's why today we have castle Pfalzgrafenstein. It looks down the river and it is built like a ship.

Castle Eltz is in Germany. It is very interesting because it inside has functions like a little city. It belongs to a period when part of the castle belonged to a different person.

Karlstein is located in Praha. Its role was to show Karl's power. The biggest tower is 37 meters tall! King Karl used to spend days and days all alone in one part of the castle. He kept all his wealth in Karlstein. This castle was attacked only once in religious battle.

Castle Coucy is located in France. Its round tower is 54 meters tall and 31 meters wide. This tower was a deffence of castle. Today we dont have too much that had left of it. Firstly, in year 1652 explosive was used in attention to ruin this castle but it destroyed just a little bit of it. Latter on, in year 1917 German army used 28.000 kilos of explosive and distroyed a principal tower.

Castle Rochester is located in Great Britain. The biggest part of this estat was built in XII century. The main tower was finished in 1139. This castle has three angles and main tower has two parts. In year 1215. castle had been attacked. At one of the angle towers atteckers digged and made a hool. They put big peaces of wood and dead fat pigs. Then the attackers made a fire. Hot pig oil made huge heatness and the wall broke down.

Castel del Monte is in Italy. It has octagon base and every angle has octagon tower. This tipe of construction is strong and safe, but it wasn't built for battles. This castle was a kind of hunting 'lodge'. In arhitecture of this castle we can see that it is a mix of ancient type of building and a modern one of it's time. There were often meetings of artists and poets from all over the world. In XV century it was a prison.

Fossils

Fossils are not only pieces of the prehistoric past sought after by Paleontologists, Museums and Collectors, they also grace the finest homes and establishments as the most intriguing and rarest pieces of Art in a multitude of forms. These rare treasures are considered to be among the soundest of investments and require low maintenance. They also make some of the most valuable and cherished heirlooms.

Polar Bears

Description and Natural History

Physical Description
Polar bear information. The polar bear is the largest member of the bear family and is easily recognized by its white fur. It has a relatively longer neck and smaller head than the other bear species. The body is stocky and lacks the shoulder hump so obvious in the grizzly bear. The nose, lips and skin are black, and the front paws, which are used for paddling, are very large. When swimming, their back legs hang behind.Polar bears are well adapted to life on the sea ice. They have a translucent coat with waterproof protective guard hairs and a dense undercoat, small ears (to minimize heat loss), and pads on the bottom of their feet that help provide traction on the ice.Adult males (boars) measure 2.5 - 3.0 meters (8 - 10 feet) and weigh between 250 - 600 kilograms (550 - 1,320 pounds), although they can weigh as much as 800 kilograms (1,700 pounds). Adult females (sows) are smaller, measuring 1.8 - 2.5 meters (6 - 8 feet) and weighing 100 - 300 kilograms (200 - 660 pounds). Cubs are born weighing about 600 grams (1.3 pounds) and are about 30 centimeters (12 inches) long. Polar bears vary in size depending on geographic location, the largest inhabiting the Chukchi Sea region of Russia.
Natural History
Polar bear information. Polar bears have a discontinuous circumpolar distribution on the annual shoreline pack ice (extensive, free floating areas of annually formed ice) of Greenland, Norway, Russia, Canada and north/northwest Alaska. There are six apparently distinct populations in the main polar basin: Wrangel Island and western Alaska (the Chukchi Sea population); northern Alaska and northwestern Canada (the Beaufort Sea population); the Canadian Arctic archipelago; Greenland; Spitsbergen-Franz Josef Land; and central Siberia.Sub-populations exist within the Canadian Arctic archipelago, and James and Hudson Bays. James Bay, Canada, is the furthest south that polar bears can be found year round, although they may ride ice packs as far south as Newfoundland and into the Bering Sea. The bears then move northward with the receding pack ice in the summer.Polar bears rarely enter areas of heavy ice because there is little food in these regions. In places such as Hudson Bay – where the ice melts completely in late summer – polar bears spend time on land until the return of seals at freeze up. Males tend to remain along the coast while females with young, and sub-adults, go further inland. Polar bears are nomadic and, although they occasionally travel great distances, tagging studies show that they tend to stay in the same general area. While they have large home ranges that overlap with other polar bears, they do not defend territories. Polar bears are solitary except for females with cubs, or adults when mating. A number of animals may gather at a food site or on land during the open-water season in some parts of Canada.Females reach sexual maturity between four and six years of age and give birth every three to four years. Males reach sexual maturity at about three years of age, but probably do not successfully mate until after six years. Mating takes place on the ice between late March and early May and, with delayed implantation of the embryo (the embryo floats freely in the womb for a certain amount of time before it implants in the wall of the uterus) until September or early October, cubs are born between late November and early January in maternity dens made under drifted snow in denning areas.Two cubs are most common born; triplets occur occasionally. Like other bear species, polar bear cubs are born blind and are dependent on their mothers for the first month of life. The cubs emerge from their den in late March or early April weighing upwards of 45 kilograms (99 pounds). Cubs remain dependent on their mothers for 2.5 years. In the wild, they probably live to about 25 years of age.Polar bears are the most carnivorous of the bears and have specialized teeth. They hunt mostly on the ice but willingly enter the water where they can swim for great distances. They eat mostly ringed seals (Pusa hispida) which they catch by waiting at breathing holes or cracks (known as leads) in the ice, or by pouncing on basking animals.Polar bears also prey upon ringed seal pups in their birthing lairs under the snow, and on other seal species including bearded seals (Erignathus barbatus) and spotted seals (Phoca largha). They may also eat hooded seals (Cystophora cristata), young walruses (Odobenus rosmarus) and beluga whales, and will feed on carrion such as whale carcasses. They may also supplement their diet with small mammals, birds, eggs, berries, grass, kelp or other vegetation, but these are not a major components of their diet.The world population of polar bears is estimated at 22,000 - 27,000, although numbers in some areas for polar bear information remain unknown.