our stumbled links #10

Today I'm going to post a few links on Buddhism. The Buddhist teachings are very important to me as they are good reminders as to what is real and what isn't real in our little worlds.


1. Kill the Buddha - by Zen Master Dae Kwang

" Lin Chi Zen Master said, "If you meet the Buddha, kill the Buddha. If you meet a Patriarch, kill the Patriarch." Zen Master Seung Sahn says that in this life we must all kill three things: First we must kill our parents. Second, we must kill the Buddha. And lastly, we must kill him! This kind of speech is sometimes perplexing to people raised in the Judaeo-Christian tradition since we would never say this about Jesus or one of the Prophets. But the meaning here is very interesting and goes far beyond the martial language of the metaphor. Buddhism is quite unique in that its founder never said, "Believe what I say." Buddhism means find out for yourself.. i.e., kill the Buddha..." read more...


2. The Teachings of the Buddha

"The Buddha taught the middle path. In the first sermon known as the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta, or the Turning of the Wheel of the Dhamma, the Buddha taught that seekers of truth must avoid two extremes—that of the path of sensual pleasure, and that of extreme penance or austerity. This middle path he explained by means of the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path.

The Four Noble Truths

1. There is suffering.
2. Suffering has a cause: craving.
3. If craving ceases, suffering ceases.
4. There is a path leading to the cessation of suffering.

... read more...


3. Daili Lama - Precious Life

"Every day, think as you wake up,
Today I am fortunate to have woken up,
I am alive, I am a precious human life,
I am not going to waste it
I am going to use it..."

read more ....

our stumbled links #9

Today is all about the country I was born in, Canada.

1. Weird Canadian Restaurants - on canpages.ca

How did I miss the Salt Tasting Room when I was in Vancouver?

2. Canadian Quotes - including a few quotes by celebrities and comedians.

My favorite so far is:
"When they said Canada, I thought it was up in the mountains somewhere."
- Marilyn Monroe

3. Large Roadside Attractions - compiled by roadsideattractions.ca

Can't say the website is professionally design...but who knew there were so many roadside attractions across Canada?! And how do you pick what your town or city is going to put at the side of their road? How do you narrow down and finally decide on a giant rooster?

our stumbled links #8

I'm feeling a little childish today, as I do most days, and thought I'd share a few links I've found recently that will, no doubt, make you feel 5 years old again. It's such a good sensation.

Paper Toys from the Toymaker! On this site you can download (free) several cool paper toys, which you assemble yourself. You can make all sorts of wonderful toys from a race car to marble mice. Below, I have the Patrin's Frog, which will be an ornament on my Christmas tree in a few hours.


Storynory - free audio stories for kids. - I'm listening to The Golden Goose by The Brothers Grimm at this very moment. Natasha, the story teller, has captured me and won't let go. Now that I think about it, the voice sounds a lot like Lila from Dexter season 2...ohhhh boy...CRAZY LADY.

Dallas Clayton, a talented storyteller and illustrator, has a website of his beautiful stories. He's very interested in making people, including his 5 year old son, happy and he'll do all he can, at the best of his abilities, to make that happen.

our stumbled links #7

BoKlok - IKEA is producing prefabricated housing? Bizarre.


"Developed in the UK by IKEA and Live Smart @ Home, BoKlok is a radical and innovative concept in housing.

We build to satisfy our customers' real needs and desires - a great and safe environment, roominess and access to green space.

Created through a fruitful collaboration between skilled architects who know how to create stylish, modern and comfortable homes, and IKEA designers who understand how people want to live.

Utilising modern methods of construction, our homes meet or exceed all Building Regulation Standards and are designed to be very energy efficient and environmentally sustainable."

http://www.boklok.com/UK/

photo from bloklok

The Eyeballing Game - I actually enjoyed this. I know it's a bit lame but I like to think I have good eyeballing skills. I did a few perfectly but MAN oh MAN was I way off on the triangle center...

http://woodgears.ca/eyeball/


The Napbook - a pillow laptop case. Dana should put this on her Christmas wish list.

"The Napbook is a laptopcase which also happens to be a comfortable cushion. It is designed for students and commercial people of 105 Reykjavík. Whether it be a class at LHÍ, a lengthy business meeting in Borgartún or just the odd journey home the Napbook should come in handy for the restless. It is sewn by a 105 Reykjavík local sewing room and it should be available at the Apple store around the corner."

http://hafsteinnjuliusson.com/index.php?/projects/contact/

photo from the napbook people

our stumbled links #6

1. 50 Amazing Gig Posters Sure to Inspire
And all 50 ARE amazing!


2. Twelve Canoes
A beautiful layout of short stories about the Yolngu people of Ramingining in Australia. Beautiful photography, paintings and amazing audio shorts of their lives and history.


3. The Big Picture
The Boston Global includes a section on their website called The Big Picture which tells news via amazing photography. It's like the BBC's Most Striking Photos of the week.

(taken from boston.com) A horse grazes beside a house, surrounded by floodwater, near Winnie, Texas after Hurricane Ike, Sunday, Sept. 14, 2008. Ike was the first major storm to directly hit a major U.S. metro area since Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in 2005. (AP Photo/Pool, Smiley N. Pool)

A chuckle on a lazy saturday afternoon

I read a page of the "worst analogies ever written in a high school essay" and found a few of them to be particularly humorous. They're not real, which is unfortunate, as I would have liked to have met the teens who think like this...

1. The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a bowling ball wouldn’t.

2. McBride fell 12 stories, hitting the pavement like a Hefty Bag filled with vegetable soup.

3. Her vocabulary was as bad as, like, whatever.

4. He was as tall as a six-foot-three-inch tree.

5. John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds who had also never met.

The full list.

our stumbled links #5

I took a few minutes out, while drinking my morning coffee, to do a bit of stumbling. It's been so long! I heard a debate on the radio the other day about whether the internet is killing our ability to retain information or dive further, as we are mostly just skimming the surface of topics we look up online or just getting the basic information...but I don't know...I thought to myself, isn't that was newspaper articles do most of the time? Are we dumber just by reading the newspaper? I don't think I'm getting dumber because of the internet. I think I'm only getting smarter and smarter. One day my head won't get out the door and I'll be forced into a life of surfing basic information.

Here are some interesting links I came upon:

1. The Good Ol' Hot Pants Days

2. I'll Never Eat Here

3. History of Burning Man Art - which is going on right now! This years art theme is "American Dream"

4. What does your card say about you? - for Albertine. She loves this shit, but I must say it was kind of interesting.

our stumbled links #4

Today we recommend a few links for the child in you. Bring it out!

1. Calvin and Hobbes
Calvin and Hobbes still manages to make me laugh. It is my all time favorite comic strip and now I have a little website to go to for my fix.

2. Lite-Brite
It's time to draw a picture on this digital lite-brite! It's pretty fun, I have to admit, because it takes me back to my childhood...minus the pre-designed sailboat templates and sore fingers from trying to get the pegs in or out of tight spots. Time to practice using your immmmaaaaa ginationnnn! This is the drawing I did this morning. Happy!


3. Get The Glass
This online board game is visually one of the coolest online games I've seen. It's also really fun to play. Can you get to the glass of milk?

Jill Bolte Taylor - My Stroke Of Insight

This morning I decided to stay in bed for a while and click my stumble! button like it was a remote control for a TV. I do miss those moments when I sit on the couch and just push channel up..up..up..up..up. SO maybe it's best I don't have cable.

While the world wide web can show you a lot of useless stuff, it can also surprise you with something that warms your heart and even inspires you to change your thoughts and your life.

These moments of inspiration don't happen every day. It may be the places we look for entertainment or maybe just timing in our lives, but this morning I watched this video of Jill Bolte Taylor and I felt that the next thing I need to do is sign into our blog and tell you about it.

I do believe that just watching the video and hearing her talk about her moment of enlightenment won't make the same happen for you or me, but it's something to possibly crack through a layer of our own thoughts...and the crack might grow and grow due to our own experiences (both good and bad) in our own lives.



From the website:

About this talk

Jill Bolte Taylor got a research opportunity few brain scientists would wish for: She had a massive stroke, and watched as her brain functions -- motion, speech, self-awareness –- shut down one by one. An astonishing story.

About Jill Bolte Taylor brain researcher

Jill Bolte Taylor studied her own stroke as it happened -- and has become a powerful voice for brain recovery.

Watch the video.

our stumbled links #3

It took me 9 months to put StumbleUpon back on my laptop after the minor glitch. What a waste of time!! If you are unfamiliar with StumbleUpon, it is just an easy way to browse the internet, thanks to the millions of people out there suggesting cool sites. You can limit the websites you browse by changing your preferences. Very cool.

Here are some pages I have stumbled on lately and want to share:

1. Japanese IQ Test
Robo and I did this together. It took a while, but we figured it out as a team. Go ahead! Try it!

2. Street Performance Video
"This is a really cool street performance filmed in Berlin at the Reichstag."
It's true. It's pretty cool! It made me smile.

3. 360 degree panorama of The Great Wall
Because I haven't been too far off of North America, I thought this was really cool...not that I now feel like I have been there...I still would love to go some day and see it personally.

our stumbled links #2

OK it's been a while since I did the first one, so here's #2. I haven't been the stumble master since arriving in Fernie, but I have still managed to find a few sites worth mentioning.

here is a list of 3 artistic sites/pages and my personal reasons for enjoying them.

1. marcel duchamp - nude descending a stairecase, no. 2, 1912
This painting was one of my favorite pieces in college, and probably still is. Years later I was visiting my parents in Philadelphia and we took a trip to the Museum of Art, the Rocky museum (yes I ran up the stairs and cheered), and this painting was there! I was so happy to see the original. And then the other day I stumbled on a link to the painting! weird!

2. photography series - la vida de vagabundos americanos (42 fotos)
Not sure who took these photos but I think they're very interesting. I had to do a triple take on one of the photos because it looks insanely like my friend Louvens. I'll have to ask him about that.

3. Gustav Klimt
Obviously a fantastic painter, but I was initially attracted to this website because of the song playing in the background. I used to play this when I was a weeeee child pianist.

our stumbled links #1

Every once in a while we'll post some links that we find very interesting. We're all over the map here, which is nice, spices and life being all variety like is good... or so they say. So in some kind of order:

1. blog.creativekismet.com
It's a crafty blog tutorial. Lots of fun ideas, if you want a little inspiration. I may have to make one of those handy bibs for myself. When my man makes us a little manwich, things get messy!

2. a modern day DaVinci genius?
HOLY! Theo Jansen's wind powered creatures are amazing. A video that completely amazed my mind to the edge of blown away. In other words, It's pretty alright.

3. dinosaur comics
You may or may not have heard of this comic strip. Ryan North takes the same 6 panels and only changes the dialogue, which doesn't seem that funny, but after reading a few they become more and more hilarious. He's from Toronto, and I like Toronto...so there you have it. This particular comic is wedding related. I thought that was fitting.