R.I.P. Adam "MCA" Yauch

While the music world still mourns the loss of Adam Yauch, aka Beastie Boys'MCA, his bandmate of more than three decades and lifelong friend Adam 'Ad-Rock' Horovitz took to the group's Tumblr on Sunday to address their fans. 

Writes Horovitz: "as you can imagine, shit is just fkd up right now. but i wanna say thank you to all our friends and family (which are kinda one in the same) for all the love and support. i’m glad to know that all the love that Yauch has put out into the world is coming right back at him. thank you." The post was accompanied by a photo of a hand with "PWR2MCA" written in marker along with "I love you.

 

STORY: Adam Yauch: Entertainment Industry Mourns Death of Beastie Boys' MCA

Countless contemporaries and admirers of the rapper and activist have expressed their appreciation for Yauch's life's work in recent days. Bands such as Coldplay and Red Hot Chili Peppers covered Beastie Boys classics at their concerts over the weekend, while Yauch's image was projected in memoriam at Madison Square Garden on the jumbo-tron on May 6 during the Knicks-Miami Heat game (Yauch was a passionate basketball fan who had directed 2008's acclaimed documentary Gunnin' for That No. 1 Spot, which followed eight of the top high school basketball players in the U.S.)

Yauch died on Friday, May 4 after a years-long battle with cancer. He was 47. 

Quileute folktales and traditional stories

http://www.native-languages.org/quileute_culture.htm
http://www.quileutes.com/


Q'wati (also spelled K'wati, Kweheti, Kwatee, Q'waeti, K'wa'iti, Qati, Kwati, Qwati, and several other ways.) Q'wati is the benevolent culture hero of Quileute legends, frequently referred to in English as the Transformer. His name is pronounced similar to kwatt-ee, only the "k" is pronounced further back in the throat than English "k" and with a catch in the throat after it. The same character is called Dukwibal or Dokibatt in the Puget Sound Salish tribes, Xelas or Haylas in the Coast Salish tribes, and Misp' or Musp in the Quinault tribe. Q'wati is usually credited with creating the Quileute tribe and their neighbors, teaching them right behavior and cultural skills, and protecting them by changing the environment and getting rid of monsters.

~ It happened long ago that Q'waeti' journeyed all over the land setting the people aright and instructing the people that would come in the future how they should act. Q'waeti' instructed the people how to build houses. 

One day Q'waeti' came upon Beaver. Beaver was sharpening his stone knife, and Beaver was very stingy. Q'waeti' asked what was Beaver doing. Whereupon Beaver said: "I am sharpening my knife in order to kill Q'waeti'," said Beaver. Then Q'waeti' took what Beaver was sharpening and stuck it on Beaver's tail. Then he said: "You shall always have this stuck to your tail, and live in the water. You will just slap the water with your tail and dive when the people come." 

Then one day he came upon Deer. Deer was sharpening his shell knife. Thereupon Q'waeti' asked Deer what was he sharpening it for. Whereupon Deer said: "I am going to kill Q'waeti'," said Deer. Then Q'waeti' seized the shell that Deer was sharpening. Then he stuck it on Deer's ears. He said "When you see people you shall run frightened and stop, and look back." Then Q'waeti' went on his way. 

Not long afterward he reached Q'wayi't'soxk'a River. But he did not find any people. Then Q'waeti' spit on his hands and rubbed them. Doing this he rubbed off the human dead skin into the water. Thereupon many people appeared. Then Q'waeti' said to the people whom he had made: "You shall dwell here," said Q'waeti'. "Your name shall be Q'wayi't'sox (Queets.)" 

Then Q'waeti' reached the Hoh people. He saw that these people walked on their hands carrying their smelt nets between their legs. At that time all the Hoh people walked on their hands. They were called the Up-side-down people. Since that time the Up-side-down people were known as the first people who had existed. Then Q'waeti' turned right side up the ones who walked on their hands. "You shall use your feet to walk," said Q'waeti' to the former Up-side-down people. "Go and fish smelt. You shall catch much fish when you fish smelt." Ever since then there is much smelt at Hoh. 

Then Q'waeti' went on and reached the Quileute land. He saw two wolves. There were no people here. Then Q'waeti' transformed the wolved into people. Then he instructed the people saying: "The common man will have only one wife. Only a chief may have four or eight wives. For this reason you Quileute shall be brave, because you come from wolves," said Q'waeti'. "In every manner you shall be strong." 

Then Q'waeti' reached the Ozette people (Makah.) There he saw two dogs. Then he transformed the dogs into people. Then Q'waeti' gave instructions to the people how to search around the rocks for devil-fish, and to get all kinds of sea food. Then Q'waeti' went on. 

Then he came to the Neah people. He saw many people. The people did not know how to fish. So, the Neah people were hungry, about to perish. Then Q'waeti' instructed one person how they should fish. Q'waeti' instructed them how to troll when trying to fish. Ever since then there is much fish in Neah Bay. When Q'waeti' finished he said that there would be much fish at Neah Bay. 

Then Q'waeti' went on setting aright and creating people, going around the land, and instructing them in what they should do in order to subsist.


Raven (Bayaq or Bayak, in the Quileute language.) Raven is the trickster figure of Quileute legends. His name is pronounced similar to bah-yuck in Quileute. Raven is a clever and generally benign figure who sometimes helps humankind, but he also has many character traits that are viewed negatively in Quileute culture (greed, laziness, arrogance, deceitfulness, and rudeness) and many Quileute legends have to do with Raven misbehaving and getting into trouble because of it. 





Thunderbird (T'ist'ilal or Tistilal, in the Quileute language.) The Thunderbird is an important figure throughout Northwest Coast mythology. In Quileute, its name is pronounced similar to tiss-tih-lall. The Thunderbird is described by the Quileutes as a bird large enough to carry a whale in its claws, whose beating wings make thunder. 




Dask'iya (also spelled Dassk'iya, Daskiya, and other ways.) Dask'iya is a cannibal ogress in Quileute stories, sometimes known as a "basket ogress" or "basket woman." She is said to capture children in her basket and carry them home to eat them. Legends about Dask'iya are told to frighten Quileute children and warn them away from bad behavior. Her name is pronounced similar to dusk-ee-yuh.

Are the "Cold Ones" from Twilight a real Quileute legend?

No. There are no Quileute legends about "Cold Ones" or other vampires. Stephenie Meyer, the author of the "Twilight" books, has stated that she made this fictional vampire legend up herself and only had her Quileute character tell it for the purposes of her plot. However, she did base other parts of her books on real Quileute mythology. For example, it is true that according to legend the Quileute tribe is descended from wolves who were changed into men. Even the tribal name "Quileute" comes from their word for wolf, Kwoli.


From: Gunther, Erna, 1925, "Klallam Folk Tales", University of Washington Publications in Anthropology, Vol. 1, No. 4, pp. 113-170 Informants cited: Told by Joe Samson of Elwah, interpreted by Vera Ulmer
THE FLOOD

There was a man who told his people to make some canoes and to make them large and strong so they could endure storms. There was a flood coming. The people said the mountains were high and they could just go up the mountains when the flood came. He warned them again. Soon it began to rain and rained for many days. And the rivers became salt. The people said they would go up the mountains. When the flood came they took their children by the hand and packed the small ones on their backs. It became so cold that the children died. They had no way of getting to the mountains for the valleys were full of water and the rivers overflowed their banks.The people that walked all died. Those that had canoes and water and food lived. Some who were in a canoe tied themselves to a treetop when their canoe hit the tree and split. Many died. Some tied themselves to mountains and the highest ones were saved. The flood uprooted all the trees. That is why there are no really large ones left today. All the trees of today grew after the flood.

From: Ella E. Clark, 1953, Indian Legends of the Pacific Northwest, University of California Press, Berkeley CA. 225 pp.
p. 45Sam Ulmer, a Klallam who lives near the Strait of Juan de Fuca, learned in childhood a similar story of canoes tied to a mountain during the great flood. The mountaintop broke off, he said, leaving the two points now visible at the ends of a saddle-like ridge in the Olympics. "The canoes floated away and came down, after the flood, to the place where Seattle is now. The people in the canoes became the ancestors of the Indians who used to live around there." From: Myron Eells, 1985, The Indians of Puget Sound; The Notebooks of Myron Eells, edited by George Pierre Castile, University of Washington Press, Seattle, 470 pp.
p. 266
The Clallams, whose country adjoins that of the Twanas, also have a tradition of the flood, but some of them believe that it is not very long ago, perhaps not more than three or four generations since. One old man says that his grandfather saw the man who was saved from the flood, and that he was a Clallam.

For sale: $50M Lake Tahoe compound with vanishing garage

http://money.cnn.com/video/pf/2012/05/03/pf-lake-tahoe-compound-garage.cnnmoney/

NEW YORK -- When Internet millionaire Tom Gonzales was putting together his elaborate family compound on the shores of Lake Tahoe, he had one big concern: Where to put some of the most valuable cars in his 400-car collection.

The solution was to build a 12,000-square foot subterranean parking garage big enough to hold 30 cars, plus dozens of motorcycles.

How those cars get below ground is another matter. Gonzalez, who was co-founder of the once high-flying e-commerce company Commerce One, commissioned a massive 12-foot- by 60-foot custom-built aircraft elevator, the type used to lift planes up onto the flight decks of aircraft carriers. When the elevator isn't moving cars, it's camouflaged with rocks, plants and trees -- both real and artificial.

Above ground is a three-bedroom, 2,100-square-foot home that Gonzales calls the Carriage House. The property is being sold as part of Gonzales' $50 million compound, which includes three other homes, or as a separate parcel for $8.9 million.

Called the Sierra Star, the estate near Incline Village, Nev., includes the Carriage House, a main 10,000-square foot home and two other houses. The properties have expansive views of gorgeous Lake Tahoe, one of the most scenic landscapes in the nation.

"In summertime it's heaven," said Gonzales. "In winter too, if you're a skier."

Inside the $50 million Lake Tahoe estate

After all, this is snow country, sometimes receiving 40 feet or more of the white stuff in a season. World-class ski resorts, like Heavenly, occupy many of the peaks around the lake.

The estate is a high-country dream. Ponderosa pines and cedars grace its four-plus acres, along with a man-made waterfall. In addition, the property has more than 330 feet of lake frontage, two piers with boat lifts, and a sandy beach with a bungalow.

Originally intended to be a gathering place for Gonzales' family, the property is now too big for him. His son Tom, the other founder of Commerce One, died of cancer almost 10 years ago.

"I've enjoyed the property over the years, but now it's just me," he said.

He spends most of his time in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. now, where he enjoys the climate and the boating.

Selling America's bunkers

No longer in the software business -- Commerce One filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2004 -- Gonzales is now in the land development business, according to Susan Rindley of Sotheby's International Realty, who represents him in his real estate dealings.

"He's the kind of guy who, if he gets tired of something, he sells it," she said.

Like the Carriage House, the other properties can also be sold separately. Gonzales is asking for $14.9 million for the seven-bedroom Main House; $9.3 million for the five-bedroom Lakeview house; and $6.3 million for four-bedroom Parkview house.

There's also a lot with 100 feet of lake shore for $9.9 million. It's ready for a house to be built on it -- with or without an underground garage.

By Les Christie @CNNMoney May 4, 2012: 8:25 AM ET

‘The Scream’ Sells for Record $120 Million at Sotheby’s

Sotheby’s (BID) managed a record price and sale tally at last night’s auction in New York, even as 15 lots went unsold.

The star was one of Edvard Munch’s four versions of “The Scream,” which set a record for a work of art at auction when it sold for $119.9 million.

Although 15 of the 76 lots didn’t sell -- many toward the end of the two-hour sale -- the $330.6 million auction was Sotheby’s top tally for an Impressionist and modern art auction.

“The Scream” smashed the previous record of $106.5 million, established in May 2010 by Pablo Picasso’s “Nude, Green Leaves and Bust.” The price for the Munch, which includes Sotheby’s $12.9 million commission, exceeds Christie’s entire Impressionist and modern art sale the night before.

“Trophies fly to the moon,” said Frances Beatty, vice president of Richard L. Feigen & Co., a New York gallery.

A 1941 Picasso owned by financier Ted Forstmann, which according to a lawsuit by his insurer was damaged by a New York gallery, sold for $29.2 million. It was the sale’s second-most- expensive work and just shy of its high estimate of $30 million.

A 1936 Surrealist painting by Salvador Dali titled “Printemps Necrophilique” went for $16.3 million, surpassing the $12 million high estimate. It was the evening’s third- highest price.

Sotheby’s offered five other paintings by Munch, four of which sold.

Last in Private Hands

Munch made four versions of “The Scream,” two in oil and two in pastel. Three of them are in museum collections in Norway. Sotheby’s version was the last in private hands.

The 1895 pastel-on-board ‘Scream’ sold last night was the most-talked-about lot of the current New York auctions, which run through May 11 and may tally $1.5 billion.

Auctioneer Tobias Meyer presided over the 12 minutes of bidding for the work, almost exclusively from the phones. Collectors and dealers in the packed salesroom applauded and whistled when Meyer crossed $100 million.

The victor was a client of Charles Moffett, Sotheby’s vice chairman for Impressionist and modern art, who deals primarily with the U.S. clients, including casino magnate Stephen A. Wynn. Sotheby’s didn’t name the buyer, and auction houses protect clients’ identity.

‘Obvious Candidate’

“Qatar is the obvious candidate for the buyer,” said London-based dealer Richard Nagy, who was at the sale. “Purchasing ‘The Scream’ would have made good business sense for them. They want people to come to their museum, and this is a destination picture. It only would have cost a couple of hours of pumping oil.”

Architect Jean Nouvel is redesigning the National Museum of Qatar, scheduled to open in December 2014. The Museum of Islamic Art, designed by I.M. Pei, opened in 2008.

In February, Vanity Fair magazine reported that the royal family of Qatar paid more than $250 million for one of Paul Cezanne’s five “Card Players,” a version owned by the late Greek shipping magnate George Embiricos. The four other versions are in museum collections.

The Munch work, featuring a hairless androgynous creature with mouth agape and hands covering the ears, comes from the collection of Norwegian businessman Petter Olsen, whose father, Thomas, was a friend, neighbor and patron of the artist.

In a statement he read after the sale, Olsen said, “‘The Scream’ is about anxiety about approaching and anticipating death and today serves as a warning about climate change.”

‘Impact on Nature’

Olsen added: “‘The Scream’ for me shows the horrifying moment when man realizes his impact on nature and the irreversible changes that he has initiated, making the planet increasingly uninhabitable.”

Proceeds will go in part to establish a new gallery in Hvitsten, Norway, where Munch and Thomas Olsen lived, for Petter Olsen’s private collection. He said he’s also restoring Munch’s house and studios.

“I just hope it goes to a museum, where a lot of people can enjoy it,” said Renee Belfer, a collector and trustee emeritus of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

“The Scream” has appeared on T-shirts and mugs, and has inspired scenes on “The Simpsons” television series and in the 1990 movie “Home Alone.”

Sotheby’s charges buyers 25 percent of the hammer price up to $50,000, plus 20 percent from $50,000 to $1 million, and 12 percent above $1 million. Presale estimates don’t include the buyer’s premium.

Labor Dispute

Outside Sotheby’s, art handlers from Local 814 of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters picketed. They’ve been locked out of their jobs for nine months because of a labor dispute.

“Anyone who buys it is lucky to have it,” Jason Ide, the union’s 30-year-old president, said of “The Scream” before the sale. “We don’t like Sotheby’s labor practices but we love art.”

First Beach Web Cam

http://www.forkswa.com/first-beach-webcam

Russia Threatens Pre-Emptive Strike On NATO Missile Defense Shields

MOSCOW -- Russia's top military officer has threatened to carry out a pre-emptive strike on U.S.-led NATO missile defense facilities in Eastern Europe if Washington goes ahead with its controversial plan to build a missile shield.

President Dmitry Medvedev said last year that Russia will retaliate militarily if it does not reach an agreement with the United States and NATO on the missile defense system.

Chief of General Staff Nikolai Makarov went even further Thursday. "A decision to use destructive force pre-emptively will be taken if the situation worsens," he said at an international conference attended by senior U.S. and NATO officials.

Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov also warned on Thursday that talks between Moscow and Washington on the topic are "close to a dead end."

U.S. missile defense plans in Europe have been one of the touchiest subjects in U.S.-Russian relations for years.

Moscow rejects Washington's claim that the missile defense plan is solely to deal with any Iranian missile threat and has voiced fears it will eventually become powerful enough to undermine Russia's nuclear deterrent. Moscow has proposed running the missile shield jointly with NATO, but the alliance has rejected that proposal.

Makarov's statement on Thursday doesn't seem to imply an immediate threat, but aims to put extra pressure on Washington to agree to Russia's demands.

The two-day conference in Moscow is the last major Russia-U.S. meeting about military issues before a NATO summit in Chicago later this month. Russia has not yet said whether it will send top officials.

In a candid, lively exchange during a conference side session, officials talked about the high level of distrust remaining between the two sides.

"We can't just reject the distrust that has been around for decades and become totally different people," Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov said in addressing U.S. and NATO officials. "Why are they calling on me, on my Russian colleagues, to reject distrust? Better look at yourselves in the mirror."

U.S. State Department special envoy Ellen Tauscher responded that neither country can afford another arms race.

"Your 10-foot fence cannot cause me to build an 11-foot ladder," Tauscher said. "It's going to have to take a political leap of faith and it's going to take some trust that we have to borrow, perhaps, from each other and for each other, but why don't we do it for the next generation?".

At a later news conference, Tauscher played down Makarov's comments on pre-emptive measures

"We've heard it before," she said. "We think that's off on the horizon. We think they were showing us what could happen. I think we're far from there, but we're aware of what they're saying."

The Obama administration tried to ease tensions with Russia in 2009 by saying it would revamp an earlier Bush-era plan to emphasize shorter-range interceptors. Russia initially welcomed that move, but has more recently suggested the new interceptors could threaten its missiles as the U.S. interceptors are upgraded.

The U.S.-NATO missile defense plans use Aegis radars and interceptors on ships and a more powerful radar based in Turkey in the first phase, followed by radar and interceptor facilities in Romania and Poland.

Russia would not plan any retaliation unless the United States goes through with its plans and takes the third and final step and deploys defense elements in Poland, Antonov said Wednesday. That is estimated to happen no earlier than in 2018.

Russia has just commissioned a radar in Kaliningrad, its western outpost near the Polish border, capable of monitoring missile launches from Europe and the North Atlantic.

On Thursday, at the start of the conference attended by representatives from about 50 countries, Russia's Security Council secretary reiterated Moscow's offer to run the missile shield together with NATO. Nikolai Patrushev said such a jointly run European missile defense system "could strengthen the security of every single country of the continent" and "would be adequate for possible threats and will not deter strategic security."

NATO's deputy secretary general, Alexander Vershbow, told the conference that the U.S.-led missile shield is "not and will not be directed against Russia" and that Russia's intercontinental ballistic missiles are "too fast and too sophisticated" for the planned system to intercept.

Meanwhile, U.S. Senator John McCain, on a visit to Lithuania, lashed out at Russia's plans in Kaliningrad.

McCain said using missile defense as an "excuse to have a military buildup in this part of the world, which is at peace, is really an egregious example of what might be even viewed as paranoia on the part of Vladimir Putin."

___

Jim Heintz in Moscow and Liudas Dapkus in Vilnius, Lithuania, contributed to this report.

Bionic eye gives sight to the blind

Remember the Six Million Dollar Man? Well, I am quite sure if inflation was to be taken into account, Steve Austin would be worth far more than that today with his cybernetic enhancements, but this is another can of worms altogether. What we are interested in today is a new ‘bionic eye’ microchip which has been implanted in the eyes of two blind British men, and the interesting thing is, these implants actually ended up with them receiving some form of vision for the first time in decades. The microchip itself measures 3mm in size, and were implanted behind the eyes of these men, being connected with electrodes. It takes weeks for the effect to kick in though, as they have both regained ‘useful vision’ after some time, being able to recognize faces and potentially see once again.

According to James (one of the two blind men), “Since switching on the device I am able to detect light and distinguish the outlines of certain objects which is an encouraging sign. I have even dreamt in very vivid colour for the first time in 25 years so a part of my brain which had gone to sleep has woken up! I feel this is incredibly promising for future research and I’m happy to be contributing to this legacy.”

Bear in mind that this is not the ultimate fix, since there is no possibility at this moment with such technology to help them regain color vision, although the implanted chip boasts of 1,500 pixels that will pick up light and transmit it to the brain, delivering a ”field of vision which is limited to a window the size of a CD case that is held at arm’s length. Still, that is better than nothing, right? There are also other projects out there, including one from MIT.