Sunday, 20 November 2011

Interesting yet Essential.

 YES. I used three words, ok? The initiative continues for the purpose of this post! :) It was hard to just.use.one.single.word.


TODAY is Universal Children's Day. I have decided to dedicate my blog entry to this oh-so-important theme today.... after all, the children are the future!








What is this you may ask? I asked myself the same exact question when I first came across this on an RSS feed.

Well, according to Flavorwire, Where Children Sleep, "documents the personal spaces of kids around the world, from the middle-class and prospersous to the strikingly impoverished..."

Each photo is done by James Mollison, as he captured over one-hundred images of children and had support from independent  organization Save the Children!

When looking at some of these photos I thought about my own childhood, and the room I had, as well as other children I knew. Not very much of a perspective for a suburban Canadian girl, however seeing these photos added somewhat of a nostalgic element  of life that I clearly have not been in touch with for some time.

Regardless of where these children slept, the common denominator was the fact that they were children... Once again making me think about the photo's purpose: raising awareness on Children's Rights, and social issues affecting children.  I can recall taking Children's Rights in my final year of undergrad and thinking about the various issues that still continue to plague a developing demographic within society, and it is why I am an advocate for organizations such as Save the Children. This was a great way to artistically convey a message of multiculturalism via an initiative that gets people thinking about their childhood,social issues, and the fact that we were once all children on an international scale.

What do you think? Is this artistic form capable of garnering attention towards Childrens issues?

Saturday, 5 November 2011

Oh Boy! Oh Moai!

CAPTIVATING
- 1. capturing interest as if by a spell...

It seems as if there is much more to the Stone Heads on Easter Island! Check out this awesome project taking place at this ancient site by clicking this link: http://www.eisp.org/3879/

Ever since I was little, I  was constantly fascinated with anything and everything ancient. The site of an ancient civilization on Rapa Nui, was no exception!

Here are some interesting facts on Rapa Nui... (Courtesy of the EISP)
- Easter Island is the easternmost Polynesian Island
- Situated on the Nazca Plate at a volcanic and tectonic “hot spot,” it is 3703 km west of South America and 1819 km east of Pitcairn island. The total land area is 163.6 sq km or 63.2 sq mi.
- The island lacks a reef, but there are six known species of coral present. Coral was used to fashion eyeballs for the Moai! .
- The climate is subtropical to temperate, with an average annual temperature of 22 C and average rainfall between 1250 and 1500 mm per year.
- Easter Island's Spanish name is Isla de Pascua
- Tourism and the production of wool for export are the main industries on the island.
- The Great Debate:
Some believe that the island was settled about A.D. 400, by American Indians, and others believe they were Polynesians.  (I find this fact amusing, seeing as I can't agree with either theory, yet am equally convinced by both thanks to my 'great uncle, and aunt' [Hi Fatima!] who happen to live in Chile!)

Some Facts on the Moai...

Photo by: David C. Ochnser. copyright Jo Anne Van Tilburg/EISP.


- Today, more than 600 statues are scattered on the island.
- Most are from 3.5 to 6 metres tall.
- Some rise as high as 12 metres and weigh as much as 82 metric tons.
- The statues were hewn by stone hand picks from the rock of an extinct volcano.
- They were set up on raised temple platforms called ahu.
- Large red stone cylinders were balanced on the heads of some of the statues, like hats.
- Even today, erecting such large statues on the platforms and balancing the cylinders on top of them would be a difficult feat to accomplish.
- Today, about 15 moai have been restored to their original positions...


As for myself, it is my goal to visit this ancient ground one day in life, preferably when young. I truly appreciate this ancient expression of salutation to the ancestors, as I have often expressed to my own in my life through kind actions and contemplations of memorial for those who have crossed over. As strange as it sounds, I cannot help but be intrigued by the tale of the great Moai, the people who resurrected them, and who ultimately disappeared from the island. This is why, for this initiative post the Moai of Easter Island remain CAPTIVATING.

Tuesday, 1 November 2011

TAKE THIS LOLLIPOP: CREEPY.

Boo!

What did you do on Halloween?For the kids-at-heart... Did you get a chance to celebrate the arrival of the Great Pumpkin! Just kidding--anyone a Peanuts fan? Please say yes... :)

Ok, I will get serious now. I was browsing around the interwebz on   with the help of my RSS feed and casually scrolled across this gem of an app called Take This Lollipop. Being the curious person that I am, I clicked and followed the prompts, and the creepiness of it all began to appear in-front of my eyes in the form of a short yet terrifying film. This is all I am saying. While the app is safe for work, it nonetheless acts as a gentle reminder that one is infact, not anonymous online and can fall victim to a variety of mishaps offline, due to their online activities... (Hello  Big Brother!)

Kudos to whomever came up with this! Visit Take This Lollipop, for a nice trick, then grab a treat for the Spooky season that is Halloween! It's not over just because it's November 1st! ;P

Exploring descriptive world... one word at a time.

Hello Blogger, its nice to finally meet you.



You may be wondering what exactly is the I.A. initiative.  I.A. is actually short form for two words: 'insert' and 'adjective'. After a long phase of procrastination and writers block, I figured I would come up with  this blog to help me creatively describe the world and its happenings around me with one word, one adjectivive. As silly  or odd as it sounds, I take it as a challenge to find just the right descriptive character--that may make me smile, laugh, cry, or cringe, whilst ultimately contemplating on the topic discussed and word(s) used to describe said topic. Thus the initiative is born via creative measures, with the exploration of descriptive words (adjectives), their meanings and the way we use them to qualify nouns and phrases.


Please join me on my linguistic journey, one word-- or description rather at a time. The possibilities are endless with description!