Football - opera of the people - or climate hazard?

" Football is the opera of the people"- Stafford Heginbotham

So 2010 FIFA World Cup is creeping up fast, and this year to be hosted in the gorgeous and dynamic continent of Africa! To many this has become an almost life-changing event to look forward to - the hype, excitement & socio-economic zoom in on games continue to avalanche in South Africa, and other parts of the African continent. But what will it really mean - beyond the thrill of the game and apprehension of who will win e.g. will the cup stay in Africa? A famous football manager Bill Shankly once stated that football is more important than life and death! Now that is "profound".

Back to 'what does this mean'? Throwing a spanner into the works...one angle is the influence that football events have on climate change.

Yep climate change (also another topical area gripping the globe in recent years). Here are some points to ponder on effect of football events (and other sports events that gather multitudes within the space at the same time):

- Recycling: how many players and watching fans worry about recycling during the games and events, how many 'going green' companies come on board to raise awareness on environmentally friendly disposal of bottles, cans, plastic food wrappers etc as consumerism escalates, do organisers think of the after effect on the environment when planning to host events of such magnitude?

- Energy sources: with all the travel, maintaining training grounds and stadiums, what strategies are in place to counter the large amounts of CO2 emitted each season e.g. use of wind turbines or car-pooling or solar panels or grass roofs?

A 'team green' approach to football (and other games) is surely worth exploration at a large scale. Where it has been employed, it has been shown to be effective and cost-effective e.g. the eco-friendly soccer stadium in Brazil.

So -happy games and winnings - and safety always - during the 2010 FIFA World Cup games :)

A puff less....here's to May 31st

So I am not against smokers - but I am FOR all campaigns or efforts that encourage people to either desist from starting to smoke or give-up smoking for good!

The adverse effects of smoking range from the obvious effects on the respiratory system, the skin, the heart, through to altering one's moods and cognitive function, reducing libido, increasing risk of several types of cancer.....and medical science has even shown that divorce is linked to smoking!

Tobacco remains the 2nd major cause of death globally! And amongst them are thousands who have died from illnesses related to breathing in second-hands smoke. For me this is the most alarming and disturbing matter relating to smoking. It speaks beyond just being responsible for our own health - but potentially violating the health rights of others.

So here's to World No Tobacco Day - commemorated on May 31st, and introduced by the World Health Organisation (WHO). Why not use this day to encourage someone/yourself to take a puff less.

Memories or moments?

Do we remember days? Or do we remember moments?

Do we savour events? Or do we savour emotions?

Today I remember precious ones, the ones so far away physically, yet so close spiritually - it hurts not being able to reach out - hold - talk - laugh - give - and share love across the visual bridge !

And on a lighter candid note: "Memory is what tells a man that his wife's birthday was yesterday" ~Mario Rocco

:)

The status of True Lovers....

Replicating prison conditions of 7 Baha'is - worldwide solidarity through art!

The webpage and video are self-explanatory and I shall not draw attention away from the content with my own words.

And I wonder...

It's raining confetti like butterfly kisses, teasing my face

And I wonder...

How do we ever win this heart-throbbing race

I'd rather see the yearning and emptiness, than be blind

And I wonder...

Do I ever cross your mind?

- Rouzeh, 2010

Giving 2nd impressions a chance !

"Tick, tick, tick, hhmmm cross": the rapid mental checklist as one builds the almost instantaneous 1st impression.

While I am a strong believer in instinct and the first sense and feeling one gets almost within 2-3 seconds of being exposed to a voice, photograph, physical acquaintance, or other scenario - I have become equally a supporter of 2nd impressions! Learning how to give a chance to a relationship, business deal or similar bond by investing in a 2nd impression and its sequel, is not always easy to do though. However I have realised that 2nd impressions can be opportunities to 'make' what may have been 'broken' at 1st impression - and in my experience - each time it has been so worth it :)

As I have given a second thought or chance to what initially came across as a right-off, it was as if now I could see the sun-rays reflect off a clean mirror, a mirror that 1st time around someone forgot to/could not dust.

For a moment...

In your arms….

Fleeting sanity and all glimmerings of reality

Melting in your smoldering charms….

I yearn – if only for a heartbeat – that you cradle my soul with the deepest charity

Drown me….

Suffer me to the quintessence of your affections

Only with you I am and I be….

I beg – if only for an instant – that your sultry magic engulf me

Nicety, subtlety, and nuance….

Diminish, as my being gels with yours

Delicately enchant my atoms, thus perchance….

I plead – if only for a flash – that your fervor penetrate my very pores

Free, liberated through our perfect fit….

I will carry your pain with ecstatic glee

Give me the torment riddling your pure spirit….

Be your eternal solace and balm, please let me be

With the gaze of your eyes, Paradise stands as a diminutive illusion….

My being is granted existence

I crave – if only for a moment, for a moment, a moment, moment – an electrifying fusion…..

With your essence.

- Rouzeh, 2010

Funky approach to ecosystem & A spiritual resolve

Though it has been around for a few years now, I find this initiative highly imaginative & seriously innovative!

The Funky Forest digital interactive ecosystem employs a hands-on approach where children create trees with their body and resultantly divert the water flowing from a waterfall to the trees to keep them alive. we know that the well-being of our trees (forests on a larger scale) contributes to the health forest life, including animals that live in it. This interactive model was created by design experts Emily Gobeille and Theodore Watson. When a tree is deprived of water, it withers, and standing against a wall and pressing your body into the forest creates new trees based on your shape and character. The purpose of this approach endevours to raise awareness amongst children about our eco-system, how everything is interrelated, and our actions have an influence on our environment and eventual well-being of human beings.

The Bahá'í viewpoint on environmental conservation pivots 3 main points:

1) Since the universe (in its natural state) is a reflection of the majestic qualities and attributes of the Supreme Being, it must be accorded the utmost respect;

2) The world of creation is intricately interconnected; and

3) The unity of humankind is the essential truth and compelling force in this age, and thus influencer of maintenance of a healthy ecosystem

Humanity can survive the serious environmental and developmental challenges facing it, as long as humanity honors its responsibilities and commitments to make necessary sacrifices and changes that will transform the world, and preserve its beauty.

"In such a world society... the economic resources of the world will be organized, its sources of raw materials will be tapped and fully utilized, its markets will be coordinated and developed, and the distribution of its products will be equitably regulated ...The enormous energy dissipated and wasted on war, whether economic or political, will be consecrated to such ends as will extend the range of human inventions and technical development, to the increase of the productivity of mankind, to the extermination of disease, to the extension of scientific research, to the raising of the standard of physical health, to the sharpening and refinement of the human brain, to the exploitation of the unused and unsuspected resources of the planet, to the prolongation of human life and to the furtherance of any other agency that can stimulate the intellectual, the moral and spiritual life of the entire human race" - Shoghi Effendi

Out of this world...

I am tripping...I'm falling

This so needs a calling

All up high..

Oooopppsss

I tumble down nigh !

Blending East & West in melody.....

I stumbled across this gorgeous blend of Eastern (Persian) and Western (American) melody and smooth voices!

And of-course it reminded me of the quotation below...

"A world federal system, ruling the whole earth and exercising unchallengeable authority over its unimaginably vast resources, blending and embodying the ideals of both the East and the West, liberated from the curse of war and its miseries, and bent on the exploitation of all the available sources of energy on the surface of the planet, a system in which Force is made the servant of Justice, whose life is sustained by its universal recognition of one God and by its allegiance to one common Revelation - such is the goal towards which humanity, impelled by the unifying forces of life, is moving." - (Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 203-204)

To know...

"To know that we know what we know, and to know that we do not know what we do not know, that is true knowledge."

- Nicolaus Copernicus

Art in Math...reciprocated !

Funky stuff...! Stumbled across this totally intriguing site Math Art http://math-art.net/ , a gallery of shots featuring artwork formed by mathematical imagery (and imagination) and conversely mathematical imagery illustrated via art! Its liberating & fun :)

Samples above: Lorenz Attractor - 3 D and The Klein Bottle

Sooooooon

I must must must find the time again! Will play the keyboard soon enough on here...... for now one of my macro-shots and some loveeee :)

A Tomorrow...our tomorrow

Burning white
The void melts
Seeds blooming fragrant
Can love be this right?

Take me with you
Seal me in your soul
Wrapped and bound in all entirety
What else is there to do?

Let me bring you a tomorrow
Reversing all yesterdays
Surpassing all bliss you knew
Will you feed this intention to grow?

You are my Knight, brandishing your sword in suave conquer of my being, sweep me on your stallion - we gallop to win our tomorrow

- Rouzeh