Emily Davidow
First Day of Spring: Iris Reticulata Harmony and Tibet
Posted on 03.20.08 by Emily

photo by Emily Davidow, Iris Reticulata, March 20, 2008
Iris Reticulata “Harmony” is the first bloom in the garden this year, blossoming on this first day of Spring, 2008 (with wind gusting to 36mph). Photo by Emily Davidow

In Greek mythology, Iris is a goddess who unites sky and sea as a rainbow and unites heaven and earth as a messenger of the Olympian gods. In Tibet, Iris Reticulata is the most glorious flower growing wild on the plateau. At over 14,000 ft above sea level, Iris wastes no energy shooting up stems. Instead, it spreads out its violet and gold treasures as soon as it emerges through the ground.

But Tibet has not seen much “Harmony” in almost sixty years of Chinese occupation. In the words of The Dalai Lama, “genuine harmony must come from the heart, it cannot come from the barrel of a gun.” With six million Tibetans and 1.3 billion Chinese, it’s easy to feel hopeless about the Tibetan plight. But the Tibetan right to automony is a winning cause, and with the whole world watching, Tibet and friends outnumber China 5 to 1.

If you’d like to count with Tibet and the whole world, sign the petition to Chinese President Hu Jintao, requesting restraint and respect for human rights and to open meaningful dialogue with the Dalai Lama. In the words of Mohandas Gandhi, another wise leader through nonviolence,”Whatever you do may seem insignificant to you, but it is most important that you do it.” Or in other words… better to be an Iris than a Cassandra.

Filed under: activism and better world and gardening and interconnected and mythology


The Art of Mayumi Oda
Posted on 05.12.07 by Emily

Mayumi Oda by Joan HalifaxStrawberry Fields ForeverJoan Halifax’s Flickr stream served up this lovely image of Mayumi Oda that sent me googling to find out the stories behind that smile. Mayumi Oda’s exquisite prints marry Japanese ukiyo-e style with goddesses, sea turtles, and garden scenes. She creates gorgeous thangkas on raw canvas using sumi ink and acrylic paint. She teaches courses in the essence of Hula, permaculture and holistic living in Hawaii. What an amazing woman! I’m looking forward to exploring her books: “I Opened the Gate, Laughing: An Inner Journey,” and “Embrace the Sacred.”
Mayumi Oda's Manjusri and the Sea Turtle

Filed under: animals and art and culture and design and emily approved and flowers and love and mythology and people and travel


movie night with terry gilliam: toto le heros
Posted on 10.05.06 by Emily

terry gilliamtoto le heros


Terry Gilliam screened a strangely wonderful movie called Toto le Heros (”Toto the Hero”), by Jaco van Dormael at IFC Center last night. Waltzing up the stage behind a Tideland poster/begging sign he carried earlier in the day before Jon Stewart fans in the Daily Show ticket line, he introduced the movie saying he first saw it in London with Richard LaGravenese right after they finished The Fisher King in 1991. They both fell in love with it and said they would die to make a movie like this.

We enter the film through an apparent crime scene into the world of on old man looking back on his life with regret and a desire for revenge. Thomas (Toto) believes he was switched in a nursery fire with Alfred, the boy next door. As a result, he sees Alfred as living the life he was meant to have, and we get to see both his reality and the fantasy life he imagines was his birthright.

His biography unfolds as we travel back and forth between different periods of his life, played by 3 different actors. Thomas’s jealousy and sense of being a victim shape choices that create cascades of loss and keep him from enjoying his life and the love that surrounds him. Even though his trajectory seems semitragic, van Dormael takes us on a joyful and humorous ride through imagination, memory and absurdity to a surprisingly happy ending (that includes a plastic bag scene much more beautiful than the one it must have inspired in American Beauty).

After the film, Terry came back out for questions and answers. When asked if he ever wanted to be someone else. “No,” he replied, “I guess I’m rather content being miserable being me.”

He said his visual style had been most influenced by “watching the radio” as he grew up. He was left to his own imagination to flesh out the stories until TV arrived home at age 12.

He also joked he was threatening legal action against George Bush and Dick Cheney for the unauthorized remake of Brazil — we’re living it!

assorted related:

Ikiru makes an interesting contrast and complement to Toto Le Heros on the “get busy living” theme.

The new Bob Thurman Podcast from his talk in Thimphu, Bhutan on “Buddhism, Gross National Happiness and the Current Global Crisis,” (Don’t you just love the scope?) resonates with themes that emerge in Toto le Heros and Terry’s talk like “what is the nature of reality,” “how to be happy” and “time, eh… not so linear,” and offers a useful realization.

Not so into the inevitability of your current body aging and dying? Aubrey de Grey explains how he’s approaching the issue as an “engineering problem” in the latest TedTalks. Alas, solving that “problem” creates a whole host of new issues that portend a rather dystopian universe, but then we are granted more time to figure that all out.

Terry Gilliam obtains the rights to Neil Gaiman’s Good Omens for a groat. (Yay! Looking forward to this movie…)

Filed under: ask emily and culture and emily approved and interconnected and love and movies and mythology and nyc and people and video


amazing annotated earth and sky
Posted on 06.13.06 by Emily

New Google Earth beta has been released (free download) with wild textured 3D building features and ability for people to create and share geographic information. Learned all sorts of interesting facts about my own neighborhood. What a fabulous planet we live on! Alas, according to Stephen Hawking, we need to find homes in another star system soon if we’re to survive as a species. So many galaxies… how to choose?

celestron skyscoutLuckily, we have a new tool for scouting interstellar real estate opportunities: the Celestron SkyScout Personal Planetarium. This is the gadget I fantasized about while lying on the beach, looking up at the sky and wishing I had paid more attention during astronomy class. Well, actually, I imagined Terminator vision where the data just showed up in my retina, but this is so much better since it doesn’t require any cyborg implants. You can look at anything in the sky through this handheld device and it tells you what you’re looking at and offers related history and mythology. You can also tell it what celestial object you want to look at, and it will direct you to where in the sky you’ll find it. It also gives constellation tours and a list of the night’s greatest hits based on where you are and what time of year it is. Simply wondrous!

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Filed under: consumerism and emily approved and mythology and technology


for the eyes are the scouts of the heart…
Posted on 03.22.06 by Emily

…and the heart is the organ of opening up to someone else.
from Joseph Campbell on love in mythology, art and life (from the Power of Myth w/ Bill Moyers):

Filed under: love and mythology and passions and video



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