http://www.endofworld.net/

Please pray for those on board the MV Rachel Corrie, carrying humanitarian supplies to Gaza today.

It’s been a while since I’ve posted here…I’ve been busy with work and my other blog, Art Matters. But i caught this documentary on SOPTV (local PBS affiliate) and it rocked my world, so I wanted to share it with anyone who might visit My Blue Room. If you have the opportunity, don’t miss it, it’s a love story unlike any other!

The Film

How far would you travel to heal someone you love? An intensely personal yet epic spiritual journey, THE HORSE BOY follows one Texas couple and their autistic son as they trek on horseback through Outer Mongolia, in a desperate attempt to treat his condition with shamanic healing.

A complex condition that can dramatically affect social interaction and communication skills, autism is the fastest-growing developmental disability today. After two-year-old Rowan Isaacson was diagnosed with autism, he ceased speaking, retreated into himself for hours at a time, and often screamed inconsolably for no apparent reason. Rupert Isaacson, a writer and former horse trainer, and his wife Kristin Neff, a psychology professor, sought the best possible medical care for their son. But traditional therapies had little effect.

Then they discovered that Rowan has a profound affinity for animals, particularly horses. When Rupert began to ride with Rowan every day, Rowan began to talk again and engage with the outside world. Was there a place on the planet that combined horses and healing? There was — Mongolia, the country where the horse was first domesticated, and where shamanism is the state religion. What if we were to take Rowan there, thought Rupert, and ride on horseback from shaman to shaman? What would happen?

THE HORSE BOY is a magical expedition from the wild open steppe to the sacred Lake Sharga. As the family sets off on a quest for a possible cure, Rupert and Kristin find their son is accepted — even treasured — for his differences. By telling one family’s extraordinary story, the film gives a voice to the thousands of families who are living with autism every day. As Rupert and Kristin struggle to make sense of their child’s autism, and find healing for him and themselves in this unlikeliest of places, Rowan makes dramatic leaps forward, astonishing both his parents and himself.

Celebrate EARTH Day….

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ep9MFiWXR8M&feature=player_embedded&fs=1″ type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” allowfullscreen=”true” allowScriptAccess=”always” width=”640″ height=”385″>

Chile is on a hotspot of sorts for earthquake activity, according to a Live Science report. And so the 8.8-magnitude temblor that shook the region overnight was not a surprise, historically speaking. Nor was it outside the realm of normal, scientists say, even though it comes on the heels of other major earthquakes.

One scientist, however, says that relative to the time period from the mid-1970s to the mid-1990s, Earth has been more active over the past 15 years or so. 

The Chilean earthquake, and the tsunami it spawned, originated on a hot spot known as a subduction zone, where one plate of Earth’s crust dives under another. It’s part of the active “Ring of Fire,” a zone of major crustal plate clashes that surround the Pacific Ocean.

“This particular subduction zone has produced very damaging earthquakes throughout is history,” said Randy Baldwin, a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey.

The largest quake ever recorded, magnitude 9.5, occurred along the same fault zone in May 1960.

Even so, magnitude-8 earthquakes occur globally, on average, just once a year. Since magnitudes are given on a logarithmic scale, an 8.8-magnitude is much more intense than a magnitude 8, and so this event would be even rarer, said J. Ramón Arrowsmith, a geologist at Arizona State University.

“Relative to the 20-year period from the mid-1970s to the mid 1990s, the Earth has been more active over the past 15 or so years,” said Stephen S. Gao, a geophysicist at Missouri University of Science and Technology. “We still do not know the reason for this yet. Could simply be the natural temporal variation of the stress field in the earth’s lithosphere.” (The lithosphere is the outer solid part of the Earth.)

Technorati Tags: earthquake, earth changes

Just a lovely internet find to share…

via Throat singing – RT Top Rate Videos.

Finally, I got the first blog posted at the Southern Oregon Artists Resource. This one is the Editor’s Journal, just an introduction to and commentary on the Southern Oregon arts community. Rather long-winded, but I hope you’ll bear with me while I get organized…
Editor’s Journal

Little by little, it’s growing. I’ve got a few art events on SOAR’s calendar now, with more coming shortly, as well as a couple of new listings for the Directory to add tonight. It’s all happening.

Don’t be shy, send me your suggestions! I’d love to know what will make SOAR work for you, whether you’re part of the arts community, and local art lover, or someone planning to visit southern Oregon who would like to include some SO art & culture into your stay with us!

Enjoy.

SOAR: Business Services for Artists