first faithful poster idea
April 19, 2007
faith001
Originally uploaded by imaginedworlds.us.
Profile: Angela
April 12, 2007
Angela did not wish to go.
She did not understand why she needed to leave her home, her brothers and sisters, and everything familiar. Her mother tried to her best to explain and to reassure her precious daughter. But, none of her mother’s reasoned words belayed the fear and suspicion they stirred in Angela, that she was being punished.
Her mother told her little girl that the Sisters of Temple-at-Delphi would care for her, as she could not. They would provide her with the special training only the Daughters of The Goddess could bestow. Only among the Faithful would she win more authority than Angela could ever achieve as a matron with older female siblings.
Little psiSadewa Angela traveled many times to Temple-at-Delphi in her brief four years. She enjoyed the curious games she played with the Sisters. She relished the Sister’s delight every time she best them… and she bested them every time. But, to live there? The thought frightened her. The Temple, with its wide, open spaces, its towering eerie statues and its strange smells, was not a home.
Despite her protests, her mother brought Angela before the Temple Sisters. As she entered the main mosque she had an epiphany. A vision of a place outside of time and space enraptured her awareness. She found herself transported to a plane neither of familiar matter nor of energy, but of pure thought and essence. It was a place where the mathematical splendor of Creation unfolded itself in perfect order and beauty.
There were beings there, Angela perceived.
They were many and at the same time one entity. They nourished on the force of life that permeated their world. The collective consciousness took supreme comfort in the knowledge that all things must conform to a precise inflexible equation. That comfort was a light that warmed Angela and welcomed her with an emotion alien to that plane. The emotion Angela knew to be home.
The vision passed, become something as fleeting as a dream. Angela no longer feared to stay at Temple. As she grew to womanhood she always took comfort in her first vision. She knew if she tried hard enough that, one day, she might visit that perfect place again.
Vote and put a roof on a school in Africa, you’re money not required
April 8, 2007
myFRIENDS
My friend John “apuuli” does community development work in Africa through an organization he started World Community Development Programme.
One of the communities he works with is trying to raise money through a website called givemeaning. This community, Bulaga, has raised thousands of dollars to build a school using local fundraisers, marathons, and selling crafts created by the kids. Bulaga just needs $1600 to complete construction of the roof so the kids can use the school. At present, they are barred from using the school by the government inspectors.
“The way givemeaning.com works is they post a proposed project and then individuals, like you, must review it and vote on it to see if it is worth funding,??? says apuuli. “WE NEED YOUR VOTES!!!???
What you’re “voting” on is whether you feel the proposed project is worthwhile. When you vote, you’re NOT making a financial commitment of any kind; you’re simply indicating that you think it’s a good idea and should go ahead.
Voting takes less than a minute, and it’s easy - so please VOTE NOW, by clicking here:
http://www.givemeaning.com/proposal/littleangelsskul2 to review the project profile (and then just click on the Vote icon to cast your vote).
With enough votes, the Project’s founder can work towards making the idea a reality.
Hollywood and the Graphic Novel
April 8, 2007
iwNEWS
Last month, I attended an excellent panel on Hollywood and the Graphic Novel at Wizard Los Angeles.
Half the panel were filmmakers who had produced comic book properties for film/TV and now were launching their own original graphic ventures. The other half of the panel were graphic novelists/content creators who are venturing into film, TV and other mass media outlets. The panel included Silent Devil/Kompany X/Zenoscope creators John Leekley (“Spawn: The Animated Series???), writer Michael Olmo of Chamber Six, Top Cow’s David Wohl (“Witchblade,??? Executive Assistant), Christian Beranek (comics Dracula vs King Arthur, “Se7en???) and Zenoscope co-founders Joe Brusha and Ralph Tedesco.
It will shortly become common practice that Hollywood directors, writers and cinematographers, in collaboration, will first have to produce graphic novels in order to get their films made. This is why an increasing number of established Hollywood directors/producers are actively working in the comicbook industry like Bryan Singer and Joss Wheldon, as well as visa versa like writer Jeph Loeb (co-creater on Heroes, Lost and writes many of DC’s top titles). This is perhaps not a revelation to those in the know, but for writers and artists looking to break into the creative arts it may not be widely advocated (certainly, not in the nation’s university programs).
The panelists encouraged first-time writers to partner with graphic artists and develop screenplays with companion comics. Studios won’t invest unless they see exactly how stories are conceptualize from beginning to end. Furthermore, I learned that despite an explosion of independent labels, comic book companies are not money makers. It’s increasingly difficult to successfully launch and sustain new titles.Only when you have properties that are carried by Borders or Barners & Noble can you make any money. That goes for Marvel and DC. So, everyone is scramble to great collections that will attract the big book chains.
The discussion had many more shades to it than describe here. But, it was illuminating and offered to me further evidence that we are living in era of enormous transformation for content creators where new rules are being forged everyday. None of the traditional creative assumptions apply.
Asimov’s Three Laws Come Closer to Reality
April 8, 2007
iwNEWS
Asimov had only three laws governing robots, following in the wake of Europe and South Korea, Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry has sixty pages of rules.
Korea plans to adopt the world’s first robot ethics code that bans humans from abusing robots and vice versa.
The charter, which will be adopted near the end of this year, will be applied to both humans and robots.
It will be based on the “Three Laws of Robotics??? put forward by U.S. science fiction author Isaac Asimov in 1942. The laws ban robots from attacking humans, require them to obey human orders and preserve their own existence.
A 12-member panel consisting of lawyers, government officials, scientists, medical doctors, and a psychologist will draft the ethics code.
Lee Jang-han, professor of psychology at Chungang University and a panel member, said the committee will find a way to have robots abide by the ethics of human society.
The Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has drafted guidelines designed to keep future generations of robots on their best behavior, as well.
The document, titled Draft Guidelines to Secure the Safe Performance of Next Generation Robots, calls for the Japanese government to convene a panel of industrialists, academics, ministry officials and lawyers to create stricter measures governing the development of advanced robotic machines, The Times of London reported.
The draft proposal demands that robots be equipped with the means for logging and communicating any injuries they cause to the people they are meant to be helping or protecting. It calls for a central database of all recorded incidents of humans harmed by robots, and demands that it be accessible by all robot-makers.
After a yet more convoluted process of public consultation, the ministry will draft, as early as May, a set of principles to which all robots must conform.
