Rummy Knows

"Oh my goodness gracious, what you can buy off the Internet in terms of overhead photography. A trained ape can know an awful lot of what is going on in this world, just by punching on his mouse, for a relatively modest cost." 
-- Donald Rumsfeld

Making Love to a Vampire with a Monkey on my Knee - Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band

Hanuman Statue to be Largest on African Continent

Temple officials decided to erect the mammoth statue - expected to cost about R1.2-million - three months ago during a meeting to discuss plans to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the arrival of Indians in the country.

In Hinduism, Hanuman is revered as the brave monkey deity and disciple of Lord Rama who fought against the demon king Ravana. He is also an incarnation of Shiva.

Project co-ordinator LC Maharaj said the statue, which is 13m high, including the umbrella over the head of the deity, was "in praise of the Almighty, without which the survival and success of Indians in South Africa would never have been possible".

He said the statue, which still requires plastering and painting, would be officially unveiled at the beginning of December. According to his research, there are no larger Hanuman statues in Africa.

"The Hanuman murthi is not only for Hindus in Chatsworth, but for all religious people - Christians, Muslims and Hindus around the world to feel vibrations from this amazing structure.

"We are working late into the night to ensure the figure will be completed by November 16 to coincide with the anniversary of the arrival of Indians. But there are so many different celebrations happening that date that we will have our unveiling in the first or second week of December."

Maharaj said they initially considered commissioning two contractors from India to oversee the project, but opted to use a local contractor instead.

"The atmosphere at our temple has been unbelievable. Devotees have volunteered their services to our worthwhile cause, and despite the great progress made so far, we still require some funding."

He appealed to community members to contribute to the completion of the project.
Contractor Umash Harripershad, who is working on the statue, said: "We have used 12 truckloads of ready-mixed concrete in this project, 53 tons of which went into the foundation alone. The temple provided the design."

He said despite working with a staff of only six to eight untrained devotees and a couple of casual workers, the project, which should have taken 12 months, would be completed in a quarter of that time.

Harripershad had been on a strict fast and had been sleeping on the floor for the past three months as a sacrifice for the work he considered "honourable".


SOURCE

Axelrod Blames Fall of Presidential Seal on Witchcraft

Iconoclasm is Best Left to Intelligent People

Or, "A Monkey could have done a Better Job"

A Montana woman accused of taking a crowbar to an art museum display that has spurred protests and been denounced as obscene was arrested Wednesday on a charge of criminal mischief.

No, Kathleen, you are not "tougher than nails,"
(and today you drove a few more into your so-called Savior).
Get a real religion!  Try Mumtazzah!

Kathleen Folden, 56, of Kalispell, Mont., was accused of damaging a print that critics say protrays Jesus Christ engaged in a sex act.

Witnesses said the woman entered the Loveland Museum Gallery, used a crowbar to break glass over the art and ripped the print, according to the Loveland Reporter-Herald.

Mark Michaels, an area art dealer who was at the museum, told Denver's KUSA-TV that he saw the woman break the glass and grab the print, and that he tried to stop her.
He said that as the woman broke the case, she screamed [apparently unconscious of the irony]: "How can you desecrate my Lord?"

Police spokesman Andy Hiller said the work by Stanford University professor Enrique Chagoya has a tear in the panel with the depiction of Christ. The work, titled "The Misadventures of the Romantic Cannibals," is a 12-panel lithograph that that includes comic book characters, Mexican pornography, Mayan symbols and ethnic stereotypes.

It is part of an 82-print exhibit by 10 artists that opened in mid-September.

Chagoya told The Associated Press that he was shocked and saddened that his work was attacked.

"My intention has never been to offend anybody," he said. [Bullshit]

Police said the incident was the first disturbance since protesters began gathering this week outside the city-owned museum about 50 miles north of Denver. About 100 people packed the Loveland City Council meeting Tuesday night to support and oppose removing Chagoya's work.

The council decided to leave the art in place.

Chagoya said his work, a collage using religious and pop culture symbols, is a critique of religious institutions, not beliefs.

"I critique the institutions and my disagreements with the way the church corrupts the spiritual," he said. "People might disagree with my views, my art, but I'm not trying to offend anybody."

Source: AP News | Raw Story

Fall of the Great Seal

Tides