The Uncanny Valley: What is 'human'?

Not all humans today are of earthling origin, which is to say, there are many hybrid ETs

• North 02: What is the uncanny valley?

How to make a cool 3D printed mask

Thingiverse.com/thing:4245665 (imgur); Crystal Quintero, CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Need masks, anyone -- no? Yes? B.S. CDC.

I came up with a mask that can be 3D printed in minutes and uses cloth as a filter. I took a lot of flack for it being told, "Nobody needs a mask."

I was told I was doing more harm than good for making cheap masks available to everyone because people would go out more. That's like saying, "Don't make birth control available because people are going to want to have sex."

Oh no, it's Corona! Stay back!

People are going to go out. Some of us even have to go out in public because we're deemed "essential." So it makes sense to be protected from aerosol exposure.

Terrycloth is now supposed to be the best filter material. Print frame from this link: thingiverse.com/thing:4245665

Horror: "Faces of Death" (video)

Dr. Francis B. Gross (Gorgon Video) via Tizzle TV; Editors, Wisdom Quarterly

Skull with third eye open and mudra hands (DesignCahat/deviantart.com)

WARNING: This film contains graphic content and explicit scenes!

The original "Faces of Death" (1978)

I'm not vain. I just have a skull I hide with skin.

Everybody dies. It's the fate we all face from the moment we're reborn. There is no escape from death. In this film we get a firsthand glimpse of many modern ways of dying, from accidents to executions and much more. Age-restricted video (requested by uploader).

After numerous VHS releases around the world, Australian distributor Umbrella Entertainment released this film on DVD in 2007. It and its sequels were at times banned. The first film is currently available, but the sequels remain banned in Australia. Gorgon Video released the movie in Blu-ray Disc format in October of 2008. 

RECEPTION

Many bodies go missing, killed and discarded.

Rotten Tomatoes reports that Faces of Death received very poor reviews, accounting for 18% of 11 surveyed critics; the average rating was 2.6 out of 10.

Joshua Siebalt of Dread Central HAS said, "As a curiosity piece, Faces of Death is well worth a look, especially if you've not seen it in a very long time. As for its place in horror cinema history, well, that remains to be seen. As I said it's not a film that holds up very well at all, but considering how groundbreaking it was for its time, I doubt anyone will ever forget it.

Sacred Christian and Buddhist faces (exhibit)

Amber Larson, Pfc. Sandoval, Wisdom Quarterly; Andy Romanoff (fccla.org)

Religious iconography can be sacred, thoughtful, and lead to contemplative feelings.

Kwan Yin bodhisattva of Compassion, Goddess of Mercy, Virg Yin Mary (zenfolio.com)

 

SACRED FACES OPENING RECEPTION

Kwan Yin, Chinatown, LA

This exhibit is in collaboration with First Congregational Church of L.A.'s 9:00 am First Worship -- a joyful, reflective, Christian worship experience centered on art, music, and community. The service will run for seven weeks, Feb. 22-Easter Sunday, April 5.

Shatto Chapel will be bathed in candlelight for this Eucharistic service and worshippers will be surrounded by global religious iconography, including beautiful Buddhist art, creating a multi-sensory experience.

To view Andy Romanoff’s Website, which contains all "Sacred Faces" images, see andyromanoff.ZENfolio.com.
 

Buddhist deva ("shining one"), Christian angel or Buddhist gandharva, Nordic alien, Pleiadian Semjase, humanoid shapeshifter, at Sakka/St. Michael's Church, NY (Zenfolio)

(All First Worship dates 9:00 am in Shatto Chapel, runs until April 5 (fccla.org).

• First Congregational Church of Los Angeles
• Photography of L.A. artist Andy Romanoff
• Opening Reception Saturday, Feb. 21st, 5:00-7:00 pm
• 540 S. Commonwealth Ave. L.A., CA 90020

All have a choice of worship time and worship style -- whether it’s First Worship in Shatto Chapel or the current Cathedral Service at 11:00 am in the Sanctuary.

Sakka, King of the Devas as Christianity's St. Michael, St. Michael's Church, NY (zenfolio.com)

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A Note from the Artist

Photographer Andy Romanoff (andyromanoff.zenfolio.com)

Andy Romanoff (fccla.org)

Over the years, I have been struck by the nature of Buddha [and bodhisattva] figures -- their calm, their serenity, and their evident wisdom.

Tantra (Rubin Museum)

I photographed them often. Not long ago, I realized that Buddhas are not alone in these qualities. There are figures and symbols from many religions that are intended to cause reflection, to inspire feelings of being present, and to express deeper spiritual ideas.

• PHOTOS: 15,000 Buddhas

Buddha (Rubin Museum)

It seems to me that when seen together, the images resonate with one another and their juxtaposition may create new understanding. Sacred Faces then is an aspect of my project to photograph thousands of religious icons, capturing the feelings they generate.

The images I am making are not just pictures. They are portraits, and each one attempts to see the intention of the artist who created the icon as well as the qualities the icon represents.

Christian devotion (St. Michael's Church)

The icons come from many religions. By project’s end, I hope to have images that are representative of every religion. When finished, it will be a mosaic of pictures, a wealth of images intended to generate thoughtful and contemplative feelings. It should be rich enough to invite repeated viewings and repay those viewings with a fresh experience every time.

It is extraordinary to me that the first place these pictures will be seen is here at First Church, a place where connection with the sacred is the goal and art is offered a place to be part of that. There was a time when artists were an essential part of the sacred conversation -- and I believe art and the sacred continue to have much to say to each other. I’m looking forward to seeing my work in this setting of beauty and awe. I hope I’ll meet you during the show. More

Tarot card deck, Union Square, New York, ancient Egyptian/Pagan divination (Zenfolio)

Another World With Two Suns (video)

Wisdom Quarterly (COMMENTARY)

Maitreya watches from a world in space called Tusita. NASA claims to have discovered a double-solar system. But Earth itself is experiencing this anomaly in the sky. Explained away by disingenuous defenders of science. We are not "rational" beings, as we claim, but rationalizing beings.

We will not believe our own eyes when what they see does not suit our preconceptions. We will struggle against artifacts that do not fit our limited view of the world -- leading to denial, thought policing, and the rise of Defenders of the Faith within scientific fields.

We worship at the altar of Science and revere cryptic men in white lab coats and dare not question the strange things they tell us if two or more of them agree (peer reviewed consensus-reality constructing).

Yet, this is what "scientific" circles are reduced to, chasing grants that support a status quo only corporate entities could love. Michael Cremo exposes the phenomenon in his book Forbidden Archeology. But who pays attention?

There cannot be two suns in our sky. There is no Comet Elenin (until we say there is). No new planetary body is being photographed in our solar system. There are no massive crafts approaching from space. Eat chips, drink Kool-Aid, and tune out by tuning to TV. The Fall Season shows are about to start, and the CW racy this year.

Chemtrails and disinformation obscure phenomenon

• VIDEO: Two Suns finally appear at Minute 7:00
  
• 35 years ago: NASA unveils first Space Shuttle, "Enterprise"
• Two Suns? Twin stars could be visible from Earth in 2012
  
• Forget temple, new science center celebrated
• Pangolin: Naga (reptilian) hybrid, the scaly anteater of Asia
• Rediscovering remote post-Incan world in Argentina

Chinese national news report

Nefertiti: Hidden Face Beneath

Bust of Egypt's legendary beauty Queen Nefertiti in Berlin's Old Museum. German researchers have uncovered her second, hidden face (AFP/DDP/File/Oliver Lang).

Was Buddha's beauty constructed?

Marks of a Great Man in Buddhism

Famous Buddhist Beauty

BERLIN – Researchers in Germany have used a modern medical procedure to uncover a secret within one of ancient Egypt's most treasured artworks — the bust of Nefertiti has two faces. A team led by Dr. Alexander Huppertz, director of the Imaging Science Institute at Berlin's Charite hospital and medical school, discovered a detailed stone carving that differs from the external stucco face when they performed a computed tomography, or CT, scan on the bust. More>>

Undated photo composite released 3/31/09 by the Radiological Society of North America. Researchers in Germany have used a CT scan to uncover a secret inside one of ancient Egypt's most treasured artworks — the bust of Nefertiti has two faces.

The differences between the faces, though slight — creases at the corners of the mouth, a bump on the nose of the stone version underneath — suggest to Dr. Alexander Huppertz a makeover. Huppertz, director of the Imaging Science Institute at Berlin's Charite hospital and medical school, believes someone expressly ordered the adjustments (the makeover) between stone and stucco. This would have been done when royal sculptors immortalized the wife of Pharaoh Akhenaten 3,300 years ago (AP/Radiological Society of North America).