Ben Heine Art and Music Blog: May 2009

Spirit of the Earth

The Earth is Yellow

A poem by Peter S. Quinn

The earth is yellow,
Under the winter's aglow;
Spring will come and grow,
A seed from under the snow.
Sleepy old forest,
With branches so barren;
Now you must adjust,
For the new and the foreign.

The earth is quite old,
Where shadows shall dissolve;
For winter can not hold,
What must revive and evolve.
The mountains become blue,
From distance faraway;
And everything come through,
With midnight sun and day.

The earth is my mother,
And with here I shall be;
Like each my sister - brother,
For all the rest of eternity.
Catch as catch you can,
The gold of green and new;
Now returns summer's van,
For youthful thoughts and hue.

My Soul's Journey

© 2009 - Ben Heine
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One of my pics from Kenya...
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Goodbye Troubles

A poem by Peter S. Quinn

Love let new spring be you
Fresh in its new beginning
Heart always young and true
From growth now singing
Let me know of your laughter
Every footstep new and bold
Beautiful day’s morning after
Growth in earth from the old

Love look to my path afresh
Let me see the forest growing
So I'll know how to enmesh
With the tide's timeless going
Give my heart spring once more
Pull the way for gracious love
I need your feelings to be sure
What this throbbing is all of

Doubtful old days into the past
Those wonderful sights ahead
Rainy clouds I have by-passed
Goodbye troubles get joy instead
Pull up your friendliest smile
All the outside’s now looking in
Let aspiring hope be here awhile
Where has the laughter been?

The Bird

A Bird Came Down

By Emily Dickinson

A bird came down the walk:
He did not know I saw;
He bit an angle-worm in halves
And ate the fellow, raw.

And then he drank a dew
From a convenient grass,
And then hopped sidewise to the wall
To let a beetle pass.

He glanced with rapid eyes
That hurried all abroad,--
They looked like frightened beads, I thought;
He stirred his velvet head

Like one in danger; cautious,
I offered him a crumb,
And he unrolled his feathers
And rowed him softer home

Than oars divide the ocean,
Too silver for a seam,
Or butterflies, off banks of noon,
Leap, splashless, as they swim.

(The poem appeared on reelyredd.com)

Barack Obama's
Toughest Opponent
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© 2009 - Ben Heine
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Watercolor on paper...
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Obama Works to Repair America's Image in the
World. Smiles and handshakes are a start, but
Obama's real challenge will be to show results

By Thomas Omestad

The few "Yankee Go Home" signs that greet him abroad seem almost an afterthought, and when he enters a room of world leaders, he is the most sought-after man for a photo op and a handshake. Such is the star power that has swirled around Barack Obama on his initial foreign travels as the U.S. president.

This comes as little surprise, yet it will present a challenge of sorts for the president. Obama's relative youth and vigor, his calls for reaching out to adversaries and friends overseas, his breaks from past policy, and his triumphant personal story as the nation's first African-American president all seem to make the 47-year-old leader the best single antidote to anti-Americanism in years, maybe decades. White House officials say Obama's appeal extends beyond just the leaders of the world. "What has happened is that anti-Americanism isn't cool anymore," says top Obama adviser David Axelrod.

But this initial repositioning of the American leadership brand onto more popular terrain internationally will be the easier part of Obama's task. For all the sense of fresh starts and of goodwill, the seeds of perhaps inevitable disappointments are present as well. Visiting the Czech Republic in April, Obama got a friendly warning from Vaclav Havel, the once dissident playwright and former president who led his country's Velvet Revolution. Havel cautioned that the accumulation of exaggerated expectations could turn against the new American leader. "People may end up thinking that he has betrayed them, that he has raised their hopes too far," Havel said. A smiling Obama is said to have replied that he is aware of the danger.

Still, Obama has deftly gone about trying to reset the global image of America. The guiding impulse seems to be to start reviving U.S. standing in the world quickly in the hope that policy gains will accrue later. He has ordered the future closure of the U.S. prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, barred torture of terrorist suspects, and made public the Bush administration's internal memos authorizing harsh interrogation methods.

>>> Read the full article
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Men's Brain

Searching for
Thoughts

A poem by Peter S. Quinn

Searching for thoughts goes on from start to end,
Quickened with passion that gives each calling;
Like a blank page where fingers move and bend,
Passion and pain from the footsteps falling.
Again now and now the movements go on,
Deeper within darkness enter a step;
Ignite corners in blaze millimicron,
Starting to grow and becoming more help.
All from the searching from within the brain,
Play with what you know in bitter and sweet;
Narrow each law by reshaping the rein,
Each of its way becomes clear in its beat.
Across clearings a mind searches all through,
Symbols of play know how to continue.

Obama's Popularity

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© 2009 - Ben Heine
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Old work (small caricature)...
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Obama Popular
Despite Challenges

By David Zussman

The United States is a great sporting nation and, as a result, Americans like keeping score and handicapping most public events. The performance of their presidents is no exception and, since the early days of the Roosevelt presidency, the media have marked the first 100 days by providing a report card based on their performance.

It is generally acknowledged that no other U.S. president has arrived in office with higher expectations than Barack Obama, and more difficult problems. It is, therefore, not surprising that he has been subjected to a steeper learning curve than his predecessors.

By the time Obama was sworn in on Jan. 20, the U.S. financial system was in freefall, the credit markets were becoming unglued, house prices were tumbling, and a half-dozen foreign hotspots required presidential attention. It is difficult to imagine how it could have been more challenging.

Since the 100-day mark is an artificial marker, the White House staff was reluctant to join in on the rating game but their efforts proved futile.

Once they realized that it was going to be impossible to blunt the media's interest in rating the administration's performance, some senior staff tried, albeit unsuccessfully, to lower the public's expectations regarding Obama's early accomplishments by assigning themselves a B-plus. And finally, the White House embraced the 100-day anniversary, with the president appearing at last month's 100-day town hall celebration in St. Louis.

At this point, given all of the challenges and difficulties encountered by Obama, he remains a very popular political leader. In fact, according to the Pew Foundation, his personal popularity is higher than the ratings for his individual programs.

>>> Read the full article

Ingrid Betancourt

Ingrid Betancourt (born 25 December 1961) is a Colombian-French politician, former senator, anti-corruption activist and Nobel Peace Prize nominee.

Betancourt was kidnapped by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) on 23 February 2002 and was rescued by Colombian security forces six and a half years later on 2 July 2008. The rescue operation, dubbed Operation Jaque, rescued Betancourt along with 14 other hostages (three Americans and 11 Colombian policemen and soldiers). In all, she was held captive for 2,321 days after being taken while campaigning for the Colombian presidency as a Green. She had decided to campaign in rebel controlled areas despite warnings from the government, police and military not to do so. Her kidnapping received worldwide coverage, particularly in France, because of her dual French citizenship. She has received multiple international awards, such as the Légion d'honneur. In 2008 she received the Concord Prince of Asturias Award.

Betancourt was born in Bogotá, Colombia. Her mother, Yolanda Pulecio, is a former beauty queen who later served in Congress representing poor southern neighborhoods of Bogotá. Her father, Gabriel Betancourt, was minister for the General Gustavo Rojas Pinilla dictatorship (1953–1957), the assistant director of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, then ambassador of Colombia to UNESCO in Paris, and head of the education commission of the Alliance for Progress in Washington, D.C. under John F. Kennedy. The Betancourt family is one of Colombia's oldest oligarchic families, descended from French Norman immigrants who arrived from Grainville-la-Teinturière three centuries before.

>>> Read the full biography
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Click on the image to enlarge it
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Culture Festival
in Ravenna

From the 30th of May
till the 7th of June
in Ravenna, Italy

Visit the official blog reporting
this important event

Before/After

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Some older works:
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See all my final conceptual
photos on my Flickr page

"Art Brussels"
Contemporary Art Fair
Photo Report

"Artbrussels" is a contemporary art fair happening every year in Belgium. I was there for the 27th edition and made this little photo report. Considering the huge amount of artworks that were exhibited, this represents only a little insight of what I saw. For more information on the exhibitors and artists, please visit Artbrussels' official site: www.artbrussels.be

Every year in April, Artbrussels opens its doors and welcomes more than 30 000 professionals, collectors and art lovers from all over the world. Artbrussels is the European platform for upcoming talents in the field of contemporary art and focuses as well on strong established galleries representing a selection of their highest-quality paintings, sculptures, photography, video and installations.

Artbrussels attracts art enthusiasts, including a considerable number of art collectors, critics, journalists, curators and other decision makers; one in five visitors comes from outside Belgium. A VIP Privilege programme welcomes over 300 collectors from throughout the world, treating them to free overnight accommodation and a stimulating off-programme.

Artbrussels offers a strong selection of 172 galleries, nominated in accordance with a rigorous quality-based selection procedure. The international selection committee places particular emphasis on the work of young creatives in contemporary art. The fair has a most international profile, with 80% of its participants coming from over 20 countries.

The major part of the fair is dedicated to numerous established art galleries with both international profiles and programmes.

A song of me and you

A moving poem sent
to me by Sana Iftikhar
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A song of me and you
With riddles that are no secrets to us
But make other weary
A song of me and you
With love and hope and joy for life
Senses elate with joy of making love
Hope of making it last a life time
A song of me and you
With celestial sounds that’s sweeter than honey
Introspection or just mere impulsiveness
The need grows as our song comes to life
A song of me and you
Like a tale of an ancient warrior
A Greek god maybe
With riddles that are no secret to us
But makes other weary
A song of me and you
With lyrics lingering on our skin
Tracing their way to each others soul
Embedded like stars in a deep blue sky
A song of me and you
Like a poem that tells a story
Of love lost and found
Of faith embraced and revered
Of hearts mingling with ecstasy
Of souls coming to rest
Let that be ... a song of me and you.
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Save Our Planet

Obama Gives Biofuels a
Presidential Jumpstart

By "Environment News Service"

To spur biofuels research and commercialization, President Barack Obama signed last Tuesday a Presidential Directive establishing a Biofuels Interagency Working Group. He announced his administration's notice of a proposed rulemaking on a national Renewable Fuels Standard and announced $786.5 million in additional Recovery Act funds for renewable fuel projects.

"We must invest in a clean energy economy that will lead to new jobs, new businesses and reduce our dependence on foreign oil," said President Obama. "The steps I am announcing today help bring us closer to that goal. If we are to be a leader in the 21st century global economy, then we must lead the world in clean energy technology. Through American ingenuity and determination, we can and will succeed."

The Biofuels Interagency Working Group will be co-chaired by the secretaries of agriculture and energy and the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and will operate in cooperation with the National Science and Technology Council's Biomass Research and Development Board.

The Working Group is tasked with developing the nation's first comprehensive biofuel market development program. It will use existing authorities and identify new policies to support the development of next-generation biofuels, increase flexible fuel vehicle use, and assist in retail marketing efforts.

>>> Read the full article
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Africa Africa!
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Africa, My Africa

By Ola Joseph Kolawole

Back in the years of the b.c.
When I was but a spirit in the heavenlies
Spying over the happenings on this miraculous planet,
I majored on the study of continents…

I had special interest in this spectacular one
Traced back to Cush, a man of colour
Blessed by Eledua – the Creator of creation
Obviously vast, leading her equals

Her land expanded by the hours –
They called it Ethiopia and the Egyptian empire
She was first in making wonderful inventions
And not lagging behind in linguistics and education

Her map became a riddle for the WISE:

Looking at the map from the west,
I see a gun.
Firing out intellects and academics
Imparting the whole wide world with wisdom.

Looking from the east,
I see a big foot,
Walking around the world
Preaching her precious cultural heritages

>>> read the full poem
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DJ Richie Hawtin
aka Plastikman

Richie Hawtin (born June 4, 1970) is an English-Canadian electronic musician and internationally-touring DJ who was an influential part of Detroit techno's second wave of artists in the early 1990s. Hawtin is best known for his abstract, minimal works under the alias Plastikman, a moniker he continued to use into the mid 2000s.

Hawtin is known for DJing minimal techno sets making use of laptop computers and digital mixing equipment.

In May 1990, Hawtin fellow second-waver John Acquaviva founded the Plus 8 record label, which they named after their turntable's pitch adjust function. In 1998, Hawtin launched Minus, primarily for his own projects.

Hawtin was born in Banbury, Oxfordshire in England, but moved when he was aged 9 to LaSalle, Ontario, a suburb of Windsor, and just across the river from Detroit, the birthplace of techno. His father worked as a robotics technician at General Motors, and was a fan of electronic music, introducing his son to Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream at an early age.

>>> Read the full biography
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A Message for Barack Obama

Africa’s Expectations from Obama

By Hany Besada (*)

WITH the US administration marking its 100 days in office, Barack Obama has raised sky-scraping expectations for his term as president, not only at home in the US, but also abroad in Africa. The 44th American President is the first with an African lineage and, not surprisingly, his rise to power has triggered a wave of hope amongst Africans as they look towards the West in anticipation of new beginnings in US foreign policy and diplomatic relations.

Examples of African reverence for Obama abound. Kenya has declared 5 November a national holiday in recognition of Obama’s election. Parallels were drawn world-wide between Obama’s inauguration ceremony in Washington earlier this year, as being eerily reminiscent in scale and scope of Nelson Mandela’s inauguration as South Africa’s first black president in 1994.

Will President Barack Obama be able to deliver in accordance with the super-hero status that Africans are bestowing on him?

In the coming months, Obama will be expected to address Africa’s most pressing crises: Sudan’s six-year conflict in Darfur continues unabated with UN forces being woefully understaffed and underfunded, despite former President Bush labeling it as “genocide”; Somalia has now been without a central government for 18 years and has lost more than one million people to civil conflict and famine; and the Democratic Republic of the Congo is struggling to end a five-year conflict with a death toll deemed the world’s highest since World War II. And, of course, there are the longstanding issues across the continent of food security, corruption, access to clean water and basic health care, and the looming threat of climate change.
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>>> Read the full article
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