Wikipedia Trails: Vincent van Gogh to Edgar Degas

Cafe Terrace at Night (Wikimedia Commons)

Vincent van Gogh
Vincent van Gogh is my favorite artist.  He is considered a post-impressionist artist.  Despite struggling with mental illness most of his life he created 2,100 pieces of art.  Café Terrace at Night is my favorite.  Starry Nights is probably his most famous.

Claude Monet
He is one of the founders of Impressionism.  Most critics did not care for the style at the time.  One of them coined the term as an insult.  However, Monet and other artists like him took the word and made it their own.  Water Lilies and the Japanese Bridge is my favorite.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Another famous impressionists.  He was friends with Monet, and sometimes they would paint together.  They both discovered that shadows are a reflection of color, which is known as diffused reflection.  Luncheon of the Boating Party is my favorite.

Edgar Degas
He was considered a founder of the impressionism.  However, he did not care for the term, and preferred to be called a realist.  Originally he wanted to be a history painter.  I am glad he changed his mind because his art is so beautiful.  After the Bath, Woman Drying Her Nape is my favorite.

Tech Tip: Countdown Widget

I installed a New Years Eve countdown widget on my blog.

EC Reading Notes: Ganesha

Cover Art (Indian Epics: Amar Chitra Katha)

Ganesha: The Remover of All Obstacles
Written By: Kamala Chandrakant
Art Work By: C.M. Vitankar

Exposition
Parvati wanted to be alone, but Shiva (husband) didn't let her.  She molded a boy from saffron paste from her own body, and blessed him with life.  She ordered him to not let anyone into the house.  When Shiva tried to go in the house the boy hit him twice.  Mad Shiva decided that Parvati had gone to far.  He decided the boy had to be killed.

The Battle Royale
The boy fought all the Deva's Ganas (attendants), Indra, Kartikeya (Shiva's son).  Furious that they attacked her son, Paravati summoned Durga and Kali.  Kali stood between the boy and others.  She swallowed of their weapons, and spit them back out at them.  Durga, in the form of lightening, destoryed the weapons.  The two Devi did not allow a single weapon to come near the boy.  The three of them defeated all of them.  Vishnu and and Shiva entered the fight.  Durga and Kali gave the boy all of their strength so that he could fight the two Deva.  The boy broke Shiva's bow with his club.  Vishnu broke the boys club with his discus.  The boy threw what was left at Vishnu, but Garuda (his mount) caught it.  Shiva from behind the boy's back decapitated the boy with his trident.

Appeasing Parvati
She decided that her son died unfairly, and that all Devas and Ganas must die.  She made thousands of Shaktis and they started to eat everyone.  Brahma and Vishnu terrified asked Parvati what she wanted to make her stop.  She said her son reborn and made a Deva.  Vishnu and Brahma killed an elephant with one tusk, and put it's head on the boy's body.  Shiva blessed him, named him Ganesha, and declared that he was his son.  Parvati and Shiva lived happily with each other at their house.

Reading Notes: The Kaurava Empire Vol. 2 Part B

Graphic Novel Logo (Animation Xpress.com)

The Kaurava Empire: Vol. 2: The Vengeance of Ashwatthama

Written by, Jason Quinn 

Illustrated and Colored by, Sachin Nagar

Part B is pages 46-87.

About the book

This is a graphic novel based on the Mahabharata.  It describes the events before, during, and after he war from the perspective of Ashwatthama.  It is all flashbacks that he tells Governor Aiken, who he saved from an attack.  Conversation occurs thousands of years after the great war.  Governor Aiken passes judgment, saying the slaughter of children is unforgivable.  She leaves Ashwatthama stranded on the planet.  It tells how war can twist person, and make them do unforgivable.  It is a cautionary tale of the evil actions war can cause.  

Ashwatthama's Downfall

1. he stays to fight with the with the Kauravas (even though he believes the Pandavas are in the right) for two reasons:
1. he does not want to leave his father
2. he wants to prove he is a better warrior than Arjuna
2. he felt shame in the death of Abhimanyu, like a small piece of him died too
3. Drona was killed thinking his son was dead, but it was a war beast with the same name
4. he swears to avenge Drona's death
5. later Duryodhana dies, tells him that Bhemma struck a low blow
6. he and Kripa (his uncle) and Kritavarma (Yadava warrior) went to the Pandava's camp and started to kill everyone in their sleep
7. he killed all of the Pandava's children 
8. he knows its wrong, but he believes the Pandavas won the war by treachery, and they deserve it
9. the Pandavas fire their Brahmastra at him for revenge
10. he fires his as well to kill them and Daupadi
11. both are powerful enough to destroy the universe
12. a god intervenes to stop it
13. the Pandavas stop theirs 
14. he directs his to Uttaraa's womb, killing Arjuna's unborn grandson
15. the god cursed him
1. removed his jewel
2. he will live forever
3. roam the universe alone
4. friendless
5. in pain
6. a living hell
16. In his own words at the end of part B, "I ask you to remember that I was not always like this." and "Once I was gentle and kind... until the war came... until the war turned me into a butcher... a monster beyond redemption.  Can I ever find forgiveness?"

Reading Notes: The Kaurava Empire Vol. 2 Part A

Cover Art (Indian Epics: Readings and Resources)

The Kaurava Empire: Vol. 2: The Vengeance of Ashwatthama

Written by, Jason Quinn 

Illustrated and Colored by, Sachin Nagar

Part A is pages 88 and 1-45.

About the Book
This is a graphic novel based on the Mahabharata.  It describes the events before, during, and after he war from the perspective of Ashwatthama.  It is all flashbacks that he tells Governor Aiken, who he saved from an attack.  Conversation occurs thousands of years after the great war.  It tells how war can twist a person, and make them do unforgivable things.  It is a cautionary tale of the evil actions war can cause.

About Ashwatthama

1. he is the son of Drona
2. he has a jewel on his forehead which protects him from harm
3. he becomes jealous of Drona's relationship with Arjuna 
4. he tries to keep the peace between the Pandavas and the Kauravas

Events Leading to the War

Drona driven by a need for vengeance asks both Pandavas and Kauravas to attack his frenemy King Drupada.  Duryodhana jealous of the Pandavas and their wife Draupadi, tries to destroy them.  Shakuni's loaded digi-dice make Yudhisthira lose everything.  Duryodhana refuses to grant them any land, just their freedom.  So this leads to the great war.