The Cosmonautics Memorial Museum in Moscow November 15, 2009

My father is  the “sky” person who has always been dreaming about flying as high as possible… Since he could not become a pilot for health reasons,  he became a paratrooper officer and made 2000 jumps with parashute. The space exploration has been fascinating him for ages. I obviously inherited some fo this fascination, since I love airplanes and everything that can take me higher .

This time when I was visiting my parents in Moscow my father was delighted to show me and my mom the new Space museum. As you can imagine, Russia has something to show in that area…

This museum, the only one of its kind, situated inside an enormous monument to the explorers of the cosmos, is well worth the visit, not least for the nostalgia it should inspire in anyone who grew up in the heady days of the space race. The displays trace the history of space exploration, including the first interplanetary satellite flights, the first dogs in space and man’s journeys to the cosmos.

Let me show you some shots I made inside the museum.

My parents – by the way, they now live just next to the  Zvezdnyi Gorodok ”Startown” by Moscow, where all cosmonauts are being trained:

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We saw an interesting documentary about the history of Space exploration. Juri Gagarin, the first ever human in space:

 his smile is unforgettable!

The typical space costume live:

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The clothes cosmonauts wear inside a spaceship:

There’s plenty of fun gadgetry, plus an excellently conceived display explaining how astronauts survive a space flight, all of which should be interesting for children. The food in the space freezer:

My photo-impressions from Moscow in November November 12, 2009

I am back from a short Moscow trip with some images which I took for you.

The quality of images is not that good, but I think you will get an impression of how it is like in Moscow in November – cold, pretty nasty and windy, but still enjoyable .

It was getting dark rather early, and I was mostly outside during late afternoon, therefore most of the images look like taken at night. In fact it was a daytime (from 3 till 6 p.m.).

LOVE; axinia

An anti-religious joke animation October 29, 2009

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LOVE,axinia

The magic of numbers on my watch October 25, 2009

 

Since today is the day when we change from summer time to winter time here in Europe, I take it as a good opportunity to make a note on the recent funny behaviour of my watch. By watch here I mean any digital display showing time. Since a couple of months I am witnessing the following phenomenon:

any time I have a look at the numbers, they are of this nature:

5:55

10:10

22:22

14:14

etc…………………………..

I mean may be not always, but surely 99% of cases!!! It has become even a kind of game for me – I suddenly glance at the watch (on my PC or mobile) and here we are – a “funny time” again and again.

Any explanations/theories/same experiences?

Thanks,

axinia

Imagination as such does not exist October 20, 2009

When someone starts picturing something unusual we say ”oh, what an imagination”. Imagination is what is commonly known as creation of images or ideas that have not existed before. 

In my personal opinion there is no such a thing as imagination: I belive that everything already exists somehow somewhere…I can back up this idea either with Socrates’s Allegory of The Cave  or with the modern string theory -no matter what I take, it is obvious to me that there is noting in the world that has not been existing somewhere yet.

Let’s take horror films,  all these dreadful images are nothing else than already existing beings. They definitely exist in our collective subconscious (the prove is that in many different cultures these images are similar), and the collective subconscious is a reality. This reality hunts us in our dreams or drunkard/under drugs state. And this is not imagination, this is pretty real. A good example – Hieronymus Bosch. or just any horror film

The futuristic images are also real – they pop up from our collective supraconsious, which is another interesting realm.

The way an open heart operates October 7, 2009

What do we know about being open hearted? We may certainly understand what the media portrays as love; it is two people finding each other attractive, falling in love and marrying in one episode (after a small yet entertaining bust up, of course). For many people, this simplistic chain of events is their ultimate dream, and of course they are often disappointed when things don’t turn out exactly as they had hoped, and the dream fades aways under an onslaught of bickering or misunderstanding.

The heart is the seat of our love and home to our compassion. However all too often we are afraid ot open up and allow these wonderful qualities to flow as they should. We hide behind our fears, doubts and ambitions, displaying a false mask to the world to avoid being hurt. The result is the society based on illusion, hidden behind ego and posturing, never truly communicating as human being to human being. Small wonder then that the divorce rate is so high in the modern world, and that relationships come and go as the wind blows.

My vision of the 21st century Arts October 4, 2009

Declaimer:this is my personal opinion/dream/hope/ of what the Arts will be like in the 21st century. And although the century has already started, due to the global transformation of collective consciousness which is currently taking place, in some years or decades the world may change tremendously and the new world with the new values will appear in its magnificent beauty…

 

Since ages the main task of any kind of art – music, literature, painting, theater, film etc. has been to make people think, to develop their introspection abilities, to cultivate their emotions.For the humanity has been only able of percepting the world through 5 senses.

Even though Love has been the most popular theme, the conflicts within a piece of art has been built upon the main human weaknesses like jealousy, lust, greed, anger and revenge.

 

This is what we have had so far. However that will not last that long, since many people are obtaining the 6th sense and start percepting the word differently, their values change, as well as the ability to enjoy all kinds of Arts.

Plastic Planet -”after seeing this film you will never drink from a plastic bottle”. September 26, 2009

I usually visit cinema once in several months, and only for some really good films. My recent discovery is a brand new film “Plastic Planet”, the poster to which claims: “after seeing this film you will never drink from a plastic bottle”.

Generally we all know plastic is bad. But HOW bad? WHAT is actually so bad about it? The film comes up as an eye-opener.

 An invistigavie documentary in Michael Moore style by an Austrian film director Werner Boote presents an up-close and personal view of the controversial and fascinating material that has found its way into every facet of our daily lives: plastic. He takes us on a journey around the globe, following plastic through its 100 years of “glorious triumph” and showing us what an unexpected impact plastic has on our world.

It’s hard to be God! (video) August 4, 2009

A MUST SEE VIDEO:

or this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I17_5nrrKik

Brilliant, isn’t it?

LOVE; axinia

A must read for everyone interested in spirituality July 5, 2009

This book is familiar to many Western seekers of Truth, for it is a bestseller of spiritual literature. I first read it with 20, just in the middle of my spiritual seeking and was stunned by its power and deepness. I could identify myself with the main character to 1000%, by now it is the most accurate description of my life journey… Recently I came across the film based on this book and was stunned again – after the long spiritual way over these years I could find myself in the main character even more intensely…

I am sure most of my readers not only know the book/film but also can identify themselves with it as much as I do. For the book is truly a brilliant of spiritual literature: Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach. It is a fable in novella form about a seagull learning about life and flight, and a homily about self-perfection. First published in 1970 it soon became a bestseller.

The idea is not new, it exemplifies the four commonalities of a stoic and/or ascetic spiritual path- the themes repeat and are in sequence: The outcast-the journey- the mentor-and the return to teach others:

The book tells the story of Jonathan Livingston Seagull, a seagull who is bored with the daily squabbles over food. Seized by a passion for flight, he pushes himself, learning everything he can about flying, until finally his unwillingness to conform results in his expulsion from his flock. An outcast, he continues to learn, becoming increasingly pleased with his abilities as he leads an idyllic life.