Magnetic Somersaults


In the first quarter of 2001, the Sun switched magnetic poles.This occurs every eleven years. Prior to this the Sun's north magnetic pole was at the north rotational pole. Now the Sun's north magnetic pole is at its south pole. Since opposite poles attract, the magnetic poles of the Earth and Sun are now at their most stable.

Just about the time of 2012 Winter Solstice, the Sun's poles will switch back. During this switch there will be a tendency for the Sun's magnetic field to pull the Earth's field with it.

If the Earth's magnetic poles switch, this would put stress on the planet aggravating earthquakes and volcanos, not to mention destruction of the electrical power distribution grid. And, if the switch happens fast enough don't ever expect your computer to work again. But if you have old tube type equipment, keep it. It should survive just fine. It will work if you can find electricity.

An End of Days


An End of Days
and
The Sun is On the Cross
by C. Donald Martin

It is like a large check mark on the calendar, a pointer aimed at 13.0.0.0.0, the "End Date" of the Mayan Long Count Calendar. From the Mayan point of view, this is the "End of Days." It is so significant that the calendar just comes to a stop. It is like having an alarm set when it's time to take your medicine. This date is also December 21, 2012, the day of the Winter Solstice. But what is this check mark trying to tell us. What medicine are we suppose to remember to take?

The Mayan calendar was started in 3113 BC. But, most of the documents that could tell us what this calendar was for were destroyed long ago. In Mesoamerica, South America and on Easter Island, zealot priests destroyed almost all the written documents. Before that the library at Alexandria in Egypt was distorted by fire, several times. Almost all ancient history books in China were destroyed on the order of a dying emperor. Someone does not seem to want us to know where we come from or where we are going.
Yet not all was lost. Writings on stone, lost to the world when the past was being destroyed, have since been found. In Mesopotamia were found thousands of clay tablets. On these tablets is the description of a society in which the government, economy and religion was controlled by one organization. This organization is a family of fallen gods. In Mesoamerica, the writings are on the temples, altars and other stone structures. Even better, in Mesoamerica, there still live the descendants of these ancient people. There are those that still follow the ancient ways.

So here we are. Someone put this big check mark on the calendar. If there was a note telling us what the mark is for, it was destroyed with most of the history of the ancient world. So what is one to do? Look for clues.

Dash Snow Photos






Dash Snow, the controversial New York artist who has died of a drug overdose aged 27, was as famous for his establishment family background as he was infamous for his enfant terrible antics; in Britain his breakthrough came in 2006 when the Saatchi gallery exhibited a typically provocative collage of newspaper clippings depicting police injustices entitled F--- the Police.

Saatchi put Snow up in a Piccadilly hotel along with his friend and fellow New York artist Dan Colen. The pair decided to make a "hamster nest" within their hotel room – shredding phone books, blankets and curtains for "bedding" in which to curl up and take a cocktail of drugs. The experiment ended with them evacuating the hotel room in the middle of the night to escape arrest. Typical of Snow's infusion of his excess into his art, he then set up the NEST installation with Colen at Deitch Projects in New York, where two thousand phone books were destroyed over five nights.

Despite his rebellious behaviour, Snow was far from an art-world outsider. His grandmother is the philanthropist and art collector Christophe de Menil, whose mother Dominique de Menil was heiress to the Schlumberger oil fortune and a major art collector. His mother, Taya Thurman, is Hollywood actress Uma Thurman's half sister. She recently gained attention for charging the highest rent on record at the Hamptons: $750,000 for a single summer season.
Yet instead of capitalising on the standing of the De Menil dynasty, Snow used his estrangement from it to provide the catalyst for a consciously confrontational artistic style.

Dashiell A. Snow was born in New York on July 27, 1981. He was a rebellious child and at 13 was sent to reform school in Georgia by his parents. He never returned to the family home, preferring to move to Lower East Side in Downtown Manhattan.
Snow's artistic career began when he stole a camera as a young teenager. He liked, he said, to take pictures of the places he visited while drunk so he could remember them once he had sobered up the following day.
At 15 he started the Irak graffiti crew, which specialised in tagging and theft (to 'rack' is graffiti slang meaning to steal), daubing his tag "Sace", over and over on the walls of New York.
After meeting the artists Ryan Mcginley and Colen, Snow was encouraged to exhibit his photographs. These explicit portrayals of the sexual and drug-taking excesses of his circle created a popular stir, but divided critical opinion. His first solo show was in New York's Lower East Side in 2005 and his work was included in the 2006 Whitney Biennial.

Snow's bedraggled rock-star image quickly led to near-mythic status in the downtown art scene. His detractors thought of him as just another rich kid with a Polaroid and a drug habit. Yet his fans – of which there are many – believe that he was one of the most talented artists working in his city, following in the great New York documentary tradition of artists such as Nan Goldin. Among his collectors is the hedge-fund manager Adam Sender, who owns an untitled work made up of 20 portraits of Saddam Hussein, covered in glitter.

"There was so much more to come," noted Francesca Gavin, visual arts editor for the magazine Dazed&Confused. "He only had three years of making real artwork out there in the world. He was the most talented in his group."
Snow recently had video work shown at Peres Projects, the gallery in Berlin. The films shown depicted him playing with his new partner, Jade Berreau, and one-year-old daughter, Secret, and hinted at a new period of greater maturity.
Despite reports that Snow, a heroin user, had beaten his addiction, he was found at Lafayette House in New York after a drug overdose on Monday. "He went to a detox centre in March and then everything was fine for about two months," his grandmother said in a statement. "As a human, Dash lived on the edge."

Dash Snow, who died on July 13, married the Corsican artist Agathe Aparru in 1999. The marriage ended in divorce. He is survived by his partner and daughter.

Rest n Paradise Dude




Dash Snow, New York Artist, Dies at 27

Dash Snow, a promising young New York artist, died Monday night at Lafayette House, a hotel in Lower Manhattan. He was 27 and lived in Manhattan. His death was confirmed by his grandmother, the art collector and philanthropist Christophe de Menil, who said that Mr. Snow had died of a drug overdose.

Mr. Snow gained prominence after being featured in an article titled “Warhol’s Children” that appeared in New York magazine in 2007. He worked in video and photography and also developed a distinctive collage style that fused and contrasted found images in fresh and suggestive ways. He exhibited in galleries and museums in New York, Los Angeles and Europe.

Ms. de Menil said that he had been in rehabilitation in March and had been off drugs until very recently.

Corporate Killers



A few years back I had a chance to kick it & do some art for Jeff Clark around his shop in Half Moon Bay..
I think it was the 05-06 Mavericks Contest that I first ended up in HMB, whatever year Tash won it..
Jeff has a powerfull presense and these wizard eyes, the guy is very passionate about his wave & does not cave into the pressures of Corprate America to run a "succesful" event, the man is filled with integrity..

(Below is stolen from his Blog..)

The Mavericks Surf Contest
Over the past several years, it has been obvious that my vision and priorities are not in line with those of Mavericks Surf Ventures. I have had in the past, and continue to have, strong differences of opinion with the present CEO and Board about the direction, image and priorities of the company and the contest.

The press release issued by Mavericks Surf Ventures this week stating that I ‘stepped down’ and I am ‘passing the torch to the next generation’ is wrong. The reality is that I was ousted as Contest Director by the current CEO.

I must also note that, while the company’s news release states that this year’s contest will be held to celebrate ‘the 35th anniversary of Jeff Clark’s first session at the now world-famous break,’ the 35th anniversary is actually next season, in 2010-11. I will not allow the company to use my accomplishment as a marketing tactic.

Effective today, I have resigned from the Board of Directors of Mavericks Surf Ventures.

My vision for the Mavericks Surf Contest has been unwavering: it is about the family of big wave surfers, the spirit of the ocean, and this amazing wave. I never wanted that to be compromised for the sake of money or marketing opportunities. I think that focus is obvious to anyone who knows me or who has seen my priorities over the years.

Mavericks has been an integral part of my personal and professional life for more than 30 years, and I hope that it continues to be a part of both in the future.

I wake up looking at Mavericks, and I have watched and surfed those waves most of my life. I started the contest 10 years ago, and I can say one thing for sure: Mavericks is Mavericks. The waves will come – or not – when they will.

The one thing I would truly regret would be to see a committee deciding, based on sponsorship money and media opportunities, when the best day to run the contest would be, and have it turn into just another 10 foot swell with a lot of hype and not a lot of substance. Any true Mavericks surfer wants and deserves a real test of ability.

I wish everyone well, knowing that Mavericks will always take care of itself.

I wish I could say more at this time, but I have had limited time to absorb these changes and will have more to say about this situation as things become clearer.”