Baloo the bear, Leo the lion and Shere Khan live together … thanx Reens

Posted on March 11, 2013 by Paras Universal

Pics at the bottom

They make an unlikely trio but Baloo the bear, Leo the lion and Shere Khan the tiger have forged an unusually strong bond.
Considering that they would be mortal enemies if they ever were to meet in the wild, it is stunning to see their unique and genuine friendship in these intimate pictures.

Rescued eight years ago during a police drugs raid in Atlanta, Georgia, the three friends were only cubs at the time at barely two months old.

They had been kept as status symbol pets by the drug barons.
Delivered to the Noah’s Ark Animal Rescue Centre in Locust Grove, Georgia, the decision was made to keep the youngsters together, because of their budding rapport.

‘We could have separated them, but since they came as a kind of family, the zoo decided to keep them together,’ said Diane Smith, assistant director of Noah’s Ark. To our knowledge, this is the only place where you’ll find this combination of animals together.’
Living with the zoo’s founders for the past eight years, Shere Khan, Baloo and Leo have now moved to a purpose-built habitat where the US public can now witness first hand their touching relationships.

‘We didn’t have the money to move them at first,’ said Diane.
‘Now their habitat is sorted and they have been moved away from the children’s zoo areas where the public couldn’t really get a good look.
‘It is possible to see Baloo, who is a 1000-lb bear, Shere Khan, a 350-lb tiger and Leo, who is also 350 lbs, messing around like brothers. They are totally oblivious to the fact that in any other circumstance they would not be friends.’

Handled by Charles and Jama Hedgecoth, the zoo’s owners and founders, the three friendly giants appear to have no comprehension of their animal differences.

‘Baloo and Shere Khan are very close,’ says Diane.
‘That is because they rise early, and as Leo is a lion, he likes to spend most of the day sleeping. It is wonderful and magical to see a giant American Black Bear put his arm around a Bengal and then to see the tiger nuzzle up to the bear like a domestic cat.When Leo wakes up the three of them mess around for most of the day before they settle down to some food.’

Surprisingly for three apex predators with the power to kill with a single bite or swipe of their paw, they are very relaxed around each other.

‘They eat, sleep and play together,’ said Jama.
‘As they treat each other as siblings they will lie on top of each other for heat and simply for affection.

At the moment they are getting used to their new habitat.
Shere Khan is being quite reticent about the move, but Baloo, the bear, is very good at leading him on and making him feel comfortable and safe.’

Explaining that the three ‘brothers’ have always seemed to share a unique bond, Charles said: ‘Noah’s Ark is their home and they could not possibly be separated from each other.

‘You just have to remember who you’re dealing with when you are with them, though. It’s when you forget that these fellows are wild animals that you get yourself in trouble.’

The trio’s new habitat had to be constructed carefully, in order to accommodate its occupants.

Jama said: ‘The clubhouse had to be very sturdy for the guys, because they all sleep in it together,’

She added: ‘We had to include a creek, because the tiger and the bear both like to be in water.’

Wars of the British Tree People

Posted on November 28, 2012 by Paras Universal

Wars of the British Tree People

A picturesque and daring tale of British anti-road protest, told from 50m up a majestic pine tree!

We follow the tree-top struggle to stop the building of a new road around the English town of Newbury. Inside a giant treehouse, hammocks, ragged carpets and a stove create an air of cosy domesticity. The CB radio crackles with news of the day’s defeats. Protesters are frantically fortifying the camp and trees with barbed wire… The film gets close to the people behind the protest movement. Their arguments are candid and intelligent, rising above the stereotypical subculture reports. As spring sets in in Britain, the treetop battles get angrier and bloodier. In one attack protesters watch in horror as a tree falls onto one of the police climbers. The forest dwindles until the pine stands alone in a vast field of mud. One rainy morning a battalion of bulldozers appears. Men in fluorescent coats and riot helmets are lifted by roaring cranes to the top branches. Protesters throw paint and urine at them. It takes four cranes to get the protesters out of the pine. Finally the whirring chainsaws are ready to fell the tree.

Orbiting Over Earth (Time-Lapse) … from Sehnaz and Brit Kim

Posted on June 6, 2012 by Paras Universal

Orbiting Over Earth (Time-Lapse) … from Sehnaz and Brit Kim
Vid 1
A time-lapse taken from the front of the International Space Station as it orbits our planet at night. This movie begins over the Pacific Ocean and continues over North and South America before entering daylight near Antarctica. Visible cities, countries and landmarks include (in order) Vancouver Island, Victoria, Vancouver, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles. Phoenix. Multiple cities in Texas, New Mexico and Mexico. Mexico City, the Gulf of Mexico, the Yucatan Peninsula, El Salvador, Lightning in the Pacific Ocean, Guatemala, Panama, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Lake Titicaca, and the Amazon. Also visible is the earths ionosphere (thin yellow line), a satellite (55sec) and the stars of our galaxy.

Vid 2
Time lapse sequences of photographs taken by Ron Garan, Satoshi Furukawa and the crew of expeditions 28 & 29 onboard the International Space Station from August to October, 2011, who to my knowledge shot these pictures at an altitude of around 350 km. All credit goes to them. I intend to upload a FullHD-version presently.

HD, refurbished, smoothed, retimed, denoised, deflickered, cut, etc. All in all I tried to keep the looks of the material as original as possible, avoided adjusting the colors and the like, since in my opinion the original footage itself already has an almost surreal and aestethical visual nature.

Shooting locations in order of appearance:

1. Aurora Borealis Pass over the United States at Night
2. Aurora Borealis and eastern United States at Night
3. Aurora Australis from Madagascar to southwest of Australia
4. Aurora Australis south of Australia
5. Northwest coast of United States to Central South America at Night
6. Aurora Australis from the Southern to the Northern Pacific Ocean
7. Halfway around the World
8. Night Pass over Central Africa and the Middle East
9. Evening Pass over the Sahara Desert and the Middle East
10. Pass over Canada and Central United States at Night
11. Pass over Southern California to Hudson Bay
12. Islands in the Philippine Sea at Night
13. Pass over Eastern Asia to Philippine Sea and Guam
14. Views of the Mideast at Night
15. Night Pass over Mediterranean Sea
16. Aurora Borealis and the United States at Night
17. Aurora Australis over Indian Ocean
18. Eastern Europe to Southeastern Asia at Night

New Rules (Audiobooks) by Bill Maher

Posted on April 3, 2012 by Paras Universal

New Rules: Polite Musings from a Timid Observer by Bill Maher
(Video version at the bottom)

Click to get your copy

This book has been the funniest I’ve come across in a long time. But it’s not only jokes, it really has new rules about life and especially politics. The rules start with a genius pun for headings and go alphabetically through the book. Note: If you get the audiobook you will miss out on the pictures but you get the benefit of listening to Bill saying the rules himself and I think if you just read the book without knowing how he speaks… you’re missing out a lot already.

Click to get your copy

Of of my favourite rules… New Rule: The big oil companies must stop running ads telling us how much they’re doing for the environment. We get it: You rape the Earth, but you cuddle afterward. It’s insulting – like a serial killer dumping a body by the roadside and then adopting a highway. If you folks at Shell really are serious about cleaning something up, start with your restrooms. (video examples at the bottom)

The rules are funny, the pictures are funny but they all make some good points. I just found out there is a DVD too… yay! Big up Navjit for the excellent recommendation.

Update: Just finished reading the sequel The New New Rules: A Funny Look at How Everybody but Me Has Their Head Up Their Ass. Same style, same topics and pretty much same funniness.

Overdose Victims … from Reens

Posted on January 23, 2012 by Paras Universal

I’m sending these graphic pictures of overdose victims not for shock value, but rather in the hope that you will have a frank discussion with friends and family about respecting moderation, understanding limits, and knowing when to just walk away.

3D Optical Illusion Street Art‏ … from Reens

Posted on January 16, 2012 by Paras Universal

Awesome Street Art : 3D Optical illusion by Kurt Wenner

A new book collects the 3D street art of Kurt Wenner, a former NASA employee, who uses his mathematical skill to create three-dimensional illusions on pavements across the world.

When viewed from the correct angle, people standing on top of them look like they are floating in thin air, and solid concrete can look like gaping chasms. Kurt has been perfecting his technique since 1982. Now, using the skills he has perfected over 30 years, he is able to create stereoscopic images, such as the one above enabling people to walk along imaginary webs slung by Spiderman.

street art – spiderman

For 25 years the artist has been using complex calculations from his old job – creating conceptual drawings of extraterrestrial landscapes at NASA – to bring floors and walls to life. Because of the emergence of computer-generated images, he was one of the very last artists to be trained how to mechanically replicate perspectives using pencil and paper and complex equations. But in 1982 he turned his back on space projects and, after selling all his belongings, moved from the USA to Italy where he applied his knowledge to art.

Perfect 3d art

He says: “The pieces look real because they are calculated to be perfectly and mathematically accurate. It’s exactly how they would look if the objects in my paintings were actually there. I use a piece of string to measure fixed points between the viewing location and the painting. This lets me calculate exactly how the perspective should be. It takes me around five to seven days to complete an average sized piece.

Art:Combination of world

This was the first interactive 3D street painting, combining real people with their painted reflections. It was created during a street painting festival for a Swiss-German documentary in 1987 at Grazie Di Curtatone, Italy

Awesome Street painting :3d

A Door to the Caribbean in New York City, April 2011. The pavement in front of the New York Stock Exchange was transformed into a luxury cruise ship, transporting the public to exotic destinations

3d art:cruise ship and luxury door

The three magi bring gifts to the children of Queretaro, Mexico, in December 2010

Street art : Celebration

The Woman Driver in Bahrain, March 2008. This illusion of an F1 racecar had a hole cut out for the public to sit in and pose for pictures.

3d art: Lady Driver

This work was created in Rome in March 2008 to celebrate the 500th anniversary of Leonardo da Vinci’s arrival in Milan

Perfect art : Leonardo da Vinci

Cyclist Bradley Wiggins leaves the Southbank for a ride through the rainforest, on a work called A Forest Path, October 2010

Street art : Forest path

Kurt sits on a work called The Armchair Traveller in Waterloo Station, London, in January 2010

Street art : Expressions

The Moneypit in Waterloo Station, October 2008. This image, showing a bank guard standing over a pit of banknotes, was the first stereoscopic work of pavement art ever created with Colorcode glasses.

Money on street : perfect art

An early 3D anamorphic work in Lucerne, Switzerland, 1985

lovely art.

This is one of three interactive pavement art pieces commissioned for Buick motor company in 2009 in Herald Square in New York

Great interactive art:Herald Square in New York.

A model of the Herald Square work. The pavement art was combined with a vertical panel for extra height, to take advantage of the limited space

Great model art of the Herald Square work.

Luxury way to the world of art.

Amazing art-Great ride.

Aqua Panna at the V Wine Cellars in Napa, California.

Awesome wine art: Acqua panna

Awesome art: Acqua panna

A drawing for a piece of 3D art of a dragon in 2010 in Taiwan.

Best 3D Art: Dragon

A Million Signatures in Brussels, Belgium, in November 2010. The European Commission was presented with a million signatures requesting further study of genetically modified crops.

Awesome art: Crops in city

My Graphics Portfolio and one amazing blog

Tag Archives: Pictures