Sodium Iodide + Hydrogen Peroxide

Hospitālis

In Latvia's capital, Riga, there exists trendy little themed restaurant appropriately called Hospitālis. Aided by various Latvian hospitals and the museum of Medicine History, Hospitālis is a restaurant set in the style of a Soviet-era hospital. Guests can have their meal in one of three rooms: the operating room, the gynecology division, and and dentists' office. Furthermore there is a special basement with a "kingdom of mirrors", designed to treat mental patients. The meals, as well, are medically-themed, with intimidating dishes like "DEBILITAS DEMENTIO HYSTERICA UNIVERSALIS GRAVIS", nothing more than a cheese and truffle soup. See for yourself.

Concert History Tour - Part 12

Michael Jackson - "Dangerous World Tour"

Yesterday my 18-year-old son asked me, "Dad, who from my generation, will be able to fill the enormous void left by the death of Michael Jackson and all the other great musical talents that have recently left us?" When I thought about it, there was no immediate answer that came to mind? There's a big possibility that the huge void left by Michael's passing, will probably never be filled (certainly not in our lifetimes). And then my son and I talked about how the arts have suffered severely in our crumbling education system here in America. Many of us Americans (and even those in other countries around the world), don't yet understand or begin to appreciate the fact that we may never see the kind of ultra-super, raw multi-talent that Michael had, ...ever again. Super entertainers and historic concerts are becoming a lost art and a thing of the past. Like education in general, music and the arts have been and are being, "dumbed down" in our society by low or no educational budgets and by modern technology that is quickly replacing raw talent (and the need to have to learn how to do or know anything).

In Hollywood today, it's all about "bells and whistles", "blood and guts", "bombs, guns and crashes". For our entertainment, we have been taught to accept hi-tech sensationalism and instant gratification as a substitute and replacement for pure talent (loud, louder and loudest!) Technology has now made things bigger than life and it's almost impossible for any human entertainer to ever rise to that level. Even music has been reduced way down into a small digital file and Tower Records and Virgin are gone (where can you buy actual CD's?) The music industry is undergoing its strangest transformation ever. What ever happened to the good old days, when you had to be able to sing, play an instrument, dance and act? That's what the "real" stars were always able to convincingly do. The days of discovering multi-talented "doo-wop" groups singing about love on street corners (or in Gary, Indiana), are over. Today, it's all done with "mirrors" as we now manufacture our "stars" and heroes, as needed, and it barely has anything to do with raw talent. For the sake of our society, let's hope that we can somehow begin to turn this alarming trend around. It is said that, "If you really want to know what a society was all about at any time in its history, just listen to their music." Our music tells us what kind of people we are and whether we are progressing or regressing (as a society). Why are we continually asking ourselves, "What ever happened to the good old days?"

Pictured below: Michael's welcome to Bangkok, and his incredible concert stage.
(All photos by Rising Stardom's Blue Johnson)

Hail, Stanford, Hail

Yes, we do these sorts of things.

Art Too Bad to Be Ignored

For the Massachusetts-based Museum of Bad Art, some art is truly bad, no matter what kind of subjective spin you put on it:

The Museum Of Bad Art (MOBA) is a community-based, private institution dedicated to the collection, preservation, exhibition and celebration of bad art in all its forms and in all its glory. As the only museum dedicated to bringing the worst of art to the widest of audiences we felt morally compelled to explore new, more creative ways of bringing this priceless collection of quality bad art to a global audience. Another Boston-area cultural institution, Dedham Community Theatre, generously allowed MOBA the use of their basement. Our first permanent gallery is now conveniently located just outside the men’s room in a 1927 movie theatre. The ambience created such a convivial atmosphere, that when we went looking for a second location, the only place that was up to our quality standards was another theatre basement. The Somerville Theater in Davis Square, Somerville MA is now our second gallery.

The collection features many unknown and anonymous canvases, a lot of them with a decidedly fauvist flair. The museum is certainly building on its cult following and is a major attraction in New England now. Details: Gallery one - 580 High Street in Dedham Square, Dedham, Massachusetts 02026-1845, Gallery two - Somerville Theatre 55 Davis Square, Somerville MA 02144. www.museumofbadart.org

Today's Person of Interest - Martial Arts

Master Toshio Kuramoto (sensei) 1948-2007

Shorinji Kempo 7th dan master, Rev. Toshio Kuramoto is our "person of interest" for today. Kuramoto-sensei spent the majority of his lifetime teaching and promoting, through numerous magazine and newspaper articles, the martial art of Shorinji Kempo. His dedication gave Shorinji Kempo an abundance of much-needed publicity here in the United States and Canada. The Black Belt Magazine (2002) featuring Kuramoto-sensei on the cover marked the very first time that Shorinji Kempo had ever been featured on the magazine's cover and only the second time a major Shorinji Kempo feature article had ever been published in Black Belt. The other article appeared 30 years ago in the June 1979 issue (it also featured Kuramoto-sensei). He appeared in two major feature articles in Martial Art Magazine (2002 & 2003) and was seen on the covers of Classical Fighting Arts (2005) and Dragon Times (2005). In 2005 he was promoted to 7th Dan Black Belt and also received a Commendation Award for his outstanding community service for the benefit of all citizens of Los Angeles County. In 2006 Kuramoto-sensei was elected to the position of representative of the World Shorinji Kempo Organization for the United States. In the same year, he was also appointed to the Los Angeles Police Dept. as an Arrest and Control Advisory Member and a member of the Citizen Martial Arts Panel. He was the very first Japanese citizen ever offered this position. In 2006 he was awarded a Special Appreciation Award from the City of Los Angeles 4th Dictrict Council members, for his valuable contributions and continuous expertise in the development of the Los Angeles Police Dept.'s Defensive Tactics and Arrest and Control program.

A man of extraordinary determination, Kuramoto-sensei practiced and taught Shorinji Kempo for 38 years. He was also an ordained Zen Buddhist priest Gonchudoshi, of the Kong-Zen Sohonzan Shorinji Temple in Shikoku, Japan. He was a very respected and well-known Zen Acu-Therapist and had several celebrity clients. Sensei founded two Shorinji Kempo dojos in the Los Angeles area (Hollywood Dojo and Industry Sheriff's Dojo) and also taught many students privately at his home dojo. He dedicated his life to the teaching of Shorinji Kempo for the betterment of our youth and society.

Master Kuramoto was born in Saitama Ken, Japan on June 15th, 1948. On Oct. 5th, 1969 at the age of 21, he joined Shorinji Kempo at Koshigaya Doin, Saitama Ken, Japan. Two years later he studied in Kagawa Ken, Japan under the Shorinji Kempo founder, Doshin So. In 1972 he came to the United States and over the many years worked his way up to become one of the most important figures and highest ranking Dan holder in Shorinji Kempo, on the North American continent. In many ways, Kuramoto-sensei single-handedly did more to promote Shorinji Kempo in America than anyone else to date. He was featured and seen in demonstrations, commercials, videos, DVD's, film and numerous print media articles. This collectively gave Shorinj Kempo more exposure in the US & Canada, than any other single factors. Today we honor the memory of our teacher ("sensei"), as a great man and a great person of interest. For more about Rev. Kuramoto, please visit the following link:

http://www.masterkuramoto.net