George the Dog, John the Artist

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George the Dog, John the Artist 

Many of us love our dogs, but not many of us have them to thank for our success.

John Dolan, a 43-year-old artist living in England, struggled with poverty, drug addiction and homelessness for much of his life, Reuters reported. Then, one day, a fellow homeless woman gave Dolan a Staffordshire Bull Terrier puppy who she had traded for the price of a can of beer. The dog's name was George, and he would have a transformative effect on his new owner's life.

Self-Destruction

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Self-Destruction

Early Rome

Rome was one of the largest empires in history, covering an area that stretched from Britain to the Middle East and encompassed the entirety of the Mediterranean. The Roman Empire lasted for over 500 years and to this day it continues to influence us. From art to architecture, political strategy and military tactics, Rome has been an inspiration for much of the world for the past millennium and a half and will continue to do so many centuries to come.

In the 4th ceentury, the Palatine Hill had become the reserve of the upper class (Patricians) and a big new lower class (Plebeian) neighborhood had developed in the Subura. Temples and government buildings were displacing market activity, which moved down toward the Tiber

Divine Augustus

The city, which was not built in a manner suitable to the grandeur of the empire, and was liable to inundation of the Tiber, as well as to fires, was so much improved under his administration, that he boasted, not without reason, that he found it of brick, but left it of marble. He also rendered it secure for the time to come against such disasters, as far as could be effected by human foresight.

 

 

--- The Divine Augustus by Suetonius

I Am Because We Are - UBUNTU

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I Am Because We Are -UBUNTU

The word 'Ubuntu' originates from one of the Bantu dialects of Africa, and is pronounced as uu-Boon-too. It is a traditional African philosophy that offers us an understanding of ourselves in relation with the world. 

It is an idea from the Southern African region which means literally "human-ness," and is often translated as "humanity towards others," but is often used in a more philosophical sense to mean "the belief in a universal bond of sharing that connects all humanity".

Happy Birthday Gustav -- We're Forever In Your Debt!

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Gustav Mahler: Legacy

In 1897, after months of intrigue and negotiation, during which Mahler converted to the Roman Catholic faith, he was installed as the Music Director of the Vienna Opera House. This was arguably the most prestigious job in the music world, at the end of the 19th century.

The Vienna Opera House photographed around 1890 Photo credit  Imagno_Getty

MTT is discovered in a lavish suite at the Bristol Hotel, where Mahler stayed for his first few months in Vienna: this was the HQ, from which he waged an almost military campaign, to lick the somewhat self-satisfied opera company (just across the street) into shape.

mahler_schreibtisch

Critics were divided in their opinions, in this profoundly political city: was Mahler too compulsive in his attention to detail? Too radical in his treatment of the musical repertoire? Too manic on the podium? The caricaturists had a field day, many of the orchestra objected, and several of the staff were summarily fired. 

A Solitary World

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A Solitary World

A Breathtaking Homage to H.G. Wells from a New Genre of Cinematic Poetry

“What is this spirit in man that urges him forever to depart from happiness, to toil and to place himself in danger?”

HG Wells is considered one of the fathers of science fiction. He had "encouraged fantastical thinking about what is possible, on this planet and beyond". Many of the futuristic inventions and scenarios Wells dreamed up in his novels have indeed come true, while others remain the stuff of science fiction.

 
From PBS Digital Studios and filmmaker
James W. Griffiths comes A Solitary World — a breathtaking homage to H.G. Wells, with text adapted from five of his most celebrated works:

The Time Machine (1895), The Island of Dr. Moreau (1896), The First Men in the Moon (1901), In The Days of the Comet (1906), The World Set Free (1914). Read by Terry Burns and featuring an appropriately haunting score from the young British composer Lennert Busch, the film belongs to — pioneers, perhaps — an emerging creative genre: the cinematic poem.

“A horrible feeling of desolation pinched my heart. I listened rigid but heard nothing but the creep of blood in my ears. Great and shadowy and strange was the world and I drifted solitary through its vast mysteries.

A remote faint question, where I might be, drifted and vanished again in my mind. I found myself standing astonished, my emotions penetrated by something I could not understand. 

I felt naked. I felt as perhaps a bird may feel in the clear air knowing the hawk wings above and will swoop. 

I began to feel the need of fellowship. I wanted to question, wanted to speak, wanted to relate my experience. What is this spirit in man that urges him forever to depart from happiness, to toil and to place himself in danger? 

It was this restlessness, this insecurity perhaps that drove me further and further afield in my exploring expedition. As the hush of the evening crept over the world, the sun touched the mountains and became very swiftly a blazing hemisphere of liquid flame, and sank. 

Then, slow and soft and wrapping the world in fold after fold of deepening blue, came the night. And then, the splendor of the sight — in the sky, one bright planet shone kindly and steadily like the face of an old friend. The full temerity of my voyage suddenly came upon me. At last I began to feel the pull of the earth upon my being, drawing me back again to the life that is real, for men.”

Director, Producer, VFX Artist & Colourist:
James W. Griffiths

Director of Photography:
Christopher Moon

Editor:
Marianne Kuopanportti

Sound Design & Mix:
Mauricio D'Orey

Composer:
Lennert Busch

Narrator:
Terry Burns

PBS Digital Studios Original Shorts Series Producer:
Matt Vree

Source:

brainpickings.org