Raintree County Corner

 
“The Human Project”
by Mark Sean Orr & Contributors
A collaboration of 30 great photographers and poets make this book of family and the human interaction a must have for photography lovers around the world. Wonderful photographs of human nature and inspirational quotes and poetry!
Softcover $47.49
Hardcover $56.69
Imagewrap $60.14
Available as an eBook too! Read “The Human Project” on your iPad or iPhone!
Available at: Blurb.Com

The Band Perry wins Artist, Song and Single of the Year Awards for 2011.

As it stands now the number one song of 2011 is “Grenade” by Bruno Mars having spent 5 weeks in the #1 position.
Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” may overtake Mar’s hit, but it has yet to happen.

The top 5 social networing sites are not much of a surprise this year…here they are according to Social Media Optimization.Com:
1. Facebook with 640 million users.
2. Twitter with 200 milion plus users.
3. Bebo with 117 million users.
4. My Space is hanging in there with 100 milion plus users.
5. LinkedIn with 100 million plus users

Drum roll please! The end of the year is fast approaching and YouTube has just announced the top 10 videos of 2011.
“In total, there were more than 1,000,000,000,000 (one trillion) playbacks on YouTube this year (yep, count ‘em, 12 zeroes). That’s about 140 views for every person on earth.”
And here are your winng videos:
#10: Cat mom huge baby kitten
#9: The Force: Volkswagen Commercial
#8: Maria Aragon – Born This Way (Cover) by Lady Gaga
#7: The Creep (feat. Nicki Minaj & John Waters)
#6: Look At Me Now – Chris Brown ft. Lil Wayne, Busta Rhymes(Cover by @KarminMusic)
#5: Nyan Cat [original]
#4: Talking Twin Babies – PART 2 – OFFICIAL VIDEO
#3: Jack Sparrow (feat. Michael Bolton)
#2: Ultimate Dog Tease
And the #1 Viral Video of 2011 is………………………….

#1: Rebecca Black – Friday – Official Music Video

Last week, the New York Times named its 100 finalists for best books of the year, and now that they’ve whittled their picks down to the 10 best, there are a few surprises. Stephen King’s commercial time-travel novel, 11/22/63, made the list, and Jeffrey Eugenides’ much-anticipated, generally well received yet somewhat polarizing novel The Marriage Plot was edged out.
Here is the list!
FICTION
The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach
11/22/63 by Stephen King
Swamplandia! by Karen Russell
Ten Thousand Saints by Eleanor Henderson
The Tiger’s Wife by Téa Obreht

NONFICTION
Arguably by Christopher Hitchens
The Boy in the Moon by Ian Brown
Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention by Manning Marable
Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
A World on Fire by Amanda Foreman

Wichita, KS (PRWEB) December 20, 2011

The popular online art gallery, overstockArt.com, revealed today its annual top 10 oil paintings rankings for 2011. Topping the list is Vincent van Gogh’s masterpiece, “Starry Night.” Other artists named on the 2011 list include Salvador Dali, Wassily Kandinsky, Gustav Klimt, Claude Monet and Pablo Picasso.

Van Gogh had a spectacular year with his art taking the top three spots in overstockArt.com’s annual list of the top best-selling oil paintings of the year. “Starry Night” is back to reign supreme as the most popular oil painting of 2011 after a short relinquishment of the title to another of the artist’s masterpieces, “Branches of an Almond Tree in Blossom” in 2010.

The top 10 oil paintings sold online in 2011 according to overstockArt.com’s statistics are:
1. “Starry Night” – Vincent van Gogh
2. “Café Terrace at Night” – Vincent van Gogh
3. “Branches of an Almond Tree in Blossom” – Vincent van Gogh
4. “The Kiss” – Gustav Klimt
5. “Garden Path at Giverny” – Claude Monet
6. “Poppy Field at Argenteuil” – Claude Monet
7. “The Dream” – Pablo Picasso
8. “Farbstudie Quadrate” – Wassily Kandinsky
9. “Persistence of Memory” – Salvador Dali
10. “The Old Guitarist” – Pablo Picasso

Shelby Lee Adams first encountered the communities of the Appalachian mountains as a child, while accompanying his doctor uncle on his rounds. In the mid-1970s he started to photograph in the region, using a 4 x 5 camera, gaining and building a special trust among its often impoverished people, who have tended to not always welcome would-be documentarians. Adams not only records their lives and hardships with great empathy, but also depicts the grace and humanity of his subjects, photographing with an ease evident in the results. Salt and Truth is Adams’ fourth monograph, and presents 80 new photographs taken mostly over the past eight years.
*See my article with Shelby “Shelby Lee Adams; Appalachia’s Picture Man” at the following link:
http://www.collectorsworldonline.com/shelby-adams.html

The exact origins of the Turin Shroud remain a great mystery, but scientists are now disputing the long-held belief that the religious artifact is a medieval forgery.
Italian researchers at the National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development say they believe the image was created by an ultraviolet “flash of light.” However, if that theory is true, it remains a mystery as to exactly how that technology could have been implemented at the time of the Shroud’s creation. While the technology is readily available in present day, it was far beyond the means of anyone around pre-20th Century.
The Turin Shroud is said to be the burial cloth of Jesus, but has long been believed to be a fake, created during medieval times. It is currently kept in a climate-controlled case in Turin cathedral.

When Occupy Wall Street began on September 17, the
protest consisted of a few hundred people speaking out
about corporate greed and inequality. They practiced tai chi
in a park near Wall Street, painted homemade signs and
discussed what their demands should be.

Now, almost three weeks later, the once-haphazard
movement is growing larger and more coordinated.
Hundreds of people have been arrested. Large labor
unions, including the AFL-CIO and SEIU, have joined in.
When new arrivals turn out, volunteers swiftly equip them
with donated sleeping bags and food. Dozens of cities
nationwide have launched their own “occupy” protests in
solidarity.

Check out images from the OccupyIndy event held October 8, 2011 in Indianapolis, Indiana.
http://www.collectorsworldonline.com/occupy-wall-street.html

Bravo’s Work of Art: The Next Great Artist is a creative competition series that seeks to discover new talent and shed light on the artistic process the typically occurs behind closed doors. Assembled in New York City under the watchful eye of art world elites, 14 up-and-coming artists are ready to make their mark on the industry and battle it out for a solo show at the Brooklyn Museum and a cash prize of $100,000.

Each week in the competition, the contestants are tasked to create an original artwork in the medium of their choice, including, but not limited to, painting, sculpture, photography, collage, industrial design, and performance art.

Joining the expert panel each week are professional artists known for challenging the mold in the constantly evolving art world. Guest judges this season include Adam McEwen, Jeanne Greenberg Rohatyn, KAWS, and Mary Ellen Mark

The cast of new hopefuls has been assembled and the first episode is scheduled to air Wednesday October 12 at 9/8c on Bravo.

I watched Season 1 and it was a little contrived but still interesting and entertaining. I’m looking forward to the episode with photographer Mary Ellen Mark as guest judge. I interviewed Mary Ellen in April of this year and she is an intriquing character.

For more info:
http://video.bravotv.com/work-of-art

To read my interview with Mary Ellen Mark:
http://www.collectorsworldonline.com/interview-mary-ellen-mark.html

Have a good one!

Mark Orr
September 12, 2011

The Lookout – Thu, Aug 25, 2011
Jon Tumilson, a Navy SEAL, was one of 30 Americans killed in Afghanistan on Aug. 6 when a rocket-propelled grenade took out a U.S. Chinook helicopter. He was mourned at a service in Rockford, Iowa, attended by 1,500 family members, friends–and Hawkeye, Tumilson’s dog.
The Labrador retriever was such an important part of Tumilson’s life that the friends and family of the San Diego resident called the dog “his son”.
More: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/man-best-friend-mourns-death-175219915.html