Ok..Greetings, Fans........Cassandra the Damsel of Doom, here- talking to you from my home away from -well, these two- until now, anyway. Welcome to the Pummeled Pomagranate ..... "the" Underground club for the ultimate hip, cool Goths making the scene. Sit down, relax, have a cup of juice, groove to the beat but don't bogart the vibes. {Whatever the hell that means}....Pluck your lyre,talk about anything you want...feel free to improvise....just one thing though...... if you DO leave....Take me With YOU????!!!!!!
Greece still struggling with the idea of..................
by Tara (no login)
.....a mythological theme park, whose mascot would be a Statue of Liberty sized Aph standing on the shore{but where will they put the information booth????}
By Jean Christou
Tourists want entertainment before culture, Aphrodite mastermind insists
THE BRAINS behind the controversial Aphrodite theme park plan said yesterday that Greece was planning to build a 200-million euro mythological park in time for the Olympics in 2004.
Speaking to the Cyprus Mail from London, architect and designer Xanthos Menelaou, rounded on critics of the giant Aphrodite idea, saying the Greek Development Minister had insisted such a park was necessary for Greece to transform itself into a modern tourism destination.
"Greece is copying us now because it was only recently they decided to create a mythological theme park after our project was announced," Menelaou said.
"This is a very important question for the critics. If Greece has so many ancient monuments and countless museums and archaeological sites why do you think they feel the need to create a mythology park," he said.
They are not spending 200 million euros only for Olympics. It's to revitalise the tourist industry in Greece. They know archaeological places don't attract tourists. Statistics will tell you. London has some of the best museums in the world and they are struggling for visitors, and they are free or subsidised. In Cyprus we have only one industry, so do we want to subsidise that?" He said the most visited place in London was the London Eye, which was also initially reviled by its critics.
Menelaou believes tourists want first to be entertained: culture comes a distant second.
"If you want a financially healthy industry, you have to give the tourists what they want and now even Italy and Greece for the first time are trying to create mythological parks. Would the critics say Greece is insulting Greek culture?"
Although Tourism Minister Nicos Rolandis is one of the biggest supporters of the plan and believes the idea would be a worthwhile venture for Cyprus, artists and environmentalists have branded artists' impressions of the $50 million Aphrodite theme park as "ugly Las Vega kitsch". One artist said it looked like a cake.
Last year, the Chamber of Fine Arts (EKATE) branded the idea of a Statue of Liberty-sized goddess as "base, barbaric, morbid, bizarre, provocative, flashy, grotesque, monstrous, out of proportion, over the top, tacky, cheap, pointless and offensive".
Hitting back at the critics, Menelaou said: "What do they mean by tacky? Is it more tacky than all those things they are building all over Cyprus - this confectionery of architecture? Which building's style do they suggest I follow?
Menelaou said there were too many "great scholars" in Cyprus, "who sit around and scratch their heads but do nothing".
"I decided to do something," he said.
He said that to start with the park would have to be self-sufficient or it wouldn't work, and above all it must entertain and then educate.
One storey will be below sea level to reflect Aphrodite's relationship with the sea. It will contain an aquarium and temple replicas to spark the imagination of visitors and will also have an environmental and marine conservation theme.
"It has to be attractive to the visitors and ignite their imagination," said Menelaou. "Tourists don't just want to see fish. They have to enter a magical environment."
Upstairs, the entrance hall will contain shops and cafeterias and a big water tank, again with an Aphrodite theme, while the next floor up will probably consist of a cinema area. Menelaou said the cinema would be an i- Max with a 3D programme.
"Here, people will be able to live the experience with sound and vision of Aphrodite. This will also be educational as well. I-Max produces fantastic educational films," he said adding that this floor could also be used for other functions such as exhibitions, lectures and conference. Weddings will also be a big thing at the theme park, he said.
"But don't forget the tourist goes there to be entertained primarily, otherwise he will get tired and bored and leave and will not spend his money. They can't take a week of going around museums. People don't want to spend their one or two weeks' holidays walking on an Aphrodite path or visiting an archaeological site in 40-degree temperatures. How many tourists visit the museum? One or two per cent. How many Cypriots visit the museum. I never saw a Cypriot visit the museum."
Menelaou said ideas were still being formed and that even the plans for the statue itself, currently reflecting the Botticelli impression of the Goddess, may change during the architectural competition. "It will be a truly unique building," he said, adding he made no apologies for the fact that was being designed to make money. "Even Shakespeare had to sell his plays by inviting us to pay and watch," Menelaou said.
.........its a real tradgedy that people who have enough money to travel so far are such numbnuts.Id give all 4 wisdom teeth to spend a day just sitting in front of the Parthanon, looking at it.
I did get a kick out of this phrase......
"Last year, the Chamber of Fine Arts (EKATE) branded the idea of a Statue of Liberty-sized goddess as "base, barbaric, morbid, bizarre, provocative, flashy, grotesque, monstrous, out of proportion, over the top, tacky, cheap, pointless and offensive"....
No, really, dont hold back, what didya REALLY think????"
I've gotta admit it...a Mythology Based Theme Park sounds pretty fun! Makes me thing of Hercules and The...Return of Typhon was it? Oh, Zut...I can't remeber...
....a page dedicated to If Herc Fans Ran Disney World, and audio animatronic myth creatures in a zoo were way up there. A ride on the River Styxx,Circe's Cafe, a caberet where Meg sings and Hades does a standup routine{the 10 o clock show gets a little blue}Herc does strengh exibitions,yada yada yada.Walkabout characters.....although that might be awkward as Herc chars a a weird combo of toon and human desighn.....Cass and Herc look human enough....Ick is too tooney. But if you made him a walkabout costume it would strongly resemble Betty Boop, and that would be disturbing.
Busch Gardens has an ancient Roman theme park,an Escape From Pompei Ride,The Roman Papids, games like Hadrians Hurl, and The Pegasus Gift Shop....its well done and very nice to visit.
nothing to do with Herc, I just noticed theres probably people into fantasy and fairires and ALL THAT, AND i ENJOY SURFING THROUGH DOLLHOUSE SITES. tHIS IS EXPENSIVE, BUT VERY PRETTILY MADE.OOps, sorry abou tthose cap locks.
but this casting is perfect....he plays Carson Drew, Nancy Drews father in the new Nancy Drew movie.Mr Wholesome strikes again!!! But Im told he's very good in the part, and I believe it. Hes a good actor, and maybe maturer roles will allow him to get away from the goody two shoes image he labours under.
It's funny...took me FOREVER to figure out who he was playing on Nancy Drew, because for the longest time, imdb.com had him listed...but they didn't say who he was playing. I want to see Nancy Drew now...
Im more of a Pixar fan myself, Ive sortov had it with the Madagasgar style, overly arch humour....but Im always glad to see James in demand for animation roles.
Me mother and I are leaving July 8th and getting there at the asscrack of dawn on the 9th. Why, need something? Still haven't given you my knicknacks from the last trip.
I do love my Germanic countries, waste of trip to europe and all if I don't come back with some schnapps! I don't recall a lot of knickknacky things in Ireland, but I'll keep a lookout for tiny things for you. I'm sure the places we'll be going in Tuscany have stuff like that since they do so love their historical aspects.
......its only really taken shape in the last year.....I finally had the time and the space to start it and I love messing with it, its the only Victorian house Ill ever own. Gardeningmg, messing with the Herc website and creating this house{and website} have taken the place of TV in my life, mostly.I have posted the link in numerous doll sites in hopes of meeting nice fun people who like this stuff too and Ive met plenty of them, but they tend not to be particularly....funny.Turns out most bitter overweight middle aged unmarried women into Barbies have no senses of humour!!!! whod'a guessed it??? go figure. I myself dont care about Barbie, I collect the "character" dolls with real personalities.....Rosie O donnel is another parlour maid and William Shatner makes a handsome groom. This hobby is an outgrowth of my Victorian mania{of which the Grco Roamn obsession is a subset}and probably the result of watching Gone With the Wind, Titanic and Upstairs Downstairs Wayyyyy too many times.Jim and I make up stories for this illustrious family whose roots started in the French Revolution {they were guillitine sharperners} and had them being involved in all aspects of the American story{yes they sold whiskey to the Indians....and maps to the Donner Party}. I will get this hting done one of these days. Lol, I remeber creating the trophy heads for the Gentlemens Billiard Parlour and I went to the Nature Store to buy very well made perfectly to scale Afircan animals whose heads I sawed off at the kitchen table.When the door bell rang I forgot I had an appointment wit hthe Youth Consultation Services to see if was a fit mother to Alex and I greeted them at the door with a hack saw in one hand and a little decapitated zebra in the other. Hows that for a sitcom plot????
......we found him about three years ago in a Big Lots in Parsippany NJ. You will be happy to know he had been knocked down to three dollars.It is a very well made doll, I mean, someone really took the time to hire a premier doll sculpture to do him becase the facial detail is excellent and he even had the most cunning weee little gold rimmed spectacles. I dressed him in a Victorian mans suit{Ok, a Kens wedding tuxedo, close enough} and he looked like the perfect Victorian bastard, so I mad ehim the head of the house. Then I ran across a Winston Churcill doll who made an even More perfect Victorian bastard, so Donald was demoted to butler. While I fussed with him getting him dressed and posed I forgot he talks, and when he came out with these Donald remarks I was so startled I almost wet my pants.
He was in a remainder bin, by the way, with all these Dennis Miller dolls. Defeinately resembles the profligate son who compromises youg parlour maids.
I try. As you said, the more I draw, the easier the style is for me get down. I need to keep drawing so that I can start doing more difficult images and angles of the characters.
Ive been practicing Adobe coloring, and tada!!!! Im getting not.....awful at it, its actually kinda fun, very time consuming, I see, but fun. Im upgrading the various charvcter pics on the site and one pic has Herc looking art Clothos and I need his eyeballs to be in a fiffent direction. When I do it it looks...passable, but sortov amateurish. Will some one make me eyeballs plasee?? Ill show you the pic and you can see what I mean
I would love to help you, but alas...I cannot color on the computer. I have a friend who could probably help me learn, though...maybe I will take her up on it at some point. That is...if my sister lets me even look at her Photoshop program. I have a wonderful ability to mess things up!
Sara drove up on the weekend and Finally gave me a crash course in using the Adobe properly, although Im still real new at it and still learning, Ive already gotten the hang of the various steps though and learned to make layers that allow you to maintain the translucence of an image and not just splotch colors in empty spaces, which is what i always did. Its a lot of fun. No, all I need is a line drawing of eyeballs and pupils in the right direction, heres the pic Im working on{still conceptualizing}
Okay, so I started me a project tring to Design what Herc and Me's kids might look like. Here is my first attempt at their daughter...what do y'all think?
I'd love to see it in color, especially if you decided to make her a redhead XD I also think it'd be easier to tell that she was their daughter and not Meg; to me she looks very similar to her mom, almost to the point where a distinction between the two is hard. But I still love it!
>The distinction between guts and balls......
> >
> >We've all heard about people having guts or balls. But do you really
> know
> >the difference between them? In an effort to keep you informed, the
> >definition for each is listed below...
> >
> >GUTS..... is arriving home late after a night out with the guys,
> being
> met
> >by your wife with a broom, and having the guts to ask:
> >"are you still cleaning, or are you flying somewhere?"
> >
> >BALLS... is coming home late after a night out with the guys,
> smelling
> of
> >perfume and beer, lipstick on your collar, slapping your wife on the
> butt
> >and having the balls to say: "You're next."
> >
> >I hope this clears up any confusion on the definitions . Medically
> >speaking, there is no difference in the outcome since both ultimately
> >result in death.
I once started a Temple To Aphrodite page and I was collecting humourous male/female comarison jokes......the idea was to have a Love Advice Colomn, a Gallery of Ancient Greek Lovers{the true stories humerously written, hopefully, "by" Aphrodite,a comic of Aph and Psyche {Hercules and The Psche Connection} the Aphrodite Secret Store where the females of Herc could strut their stuff{we even had Tempest with a teddy bear tatoo on her butt but dont say you know, ok???}}a real temple where you would "give tribute" by clicking on little hearts or doves or whatever and she would "come to life".....but, the person I was doing this with pooped out on me, and the project fell apart. It was fun to fiddle with, though, someday, who knows???? The guts/balls thing sort of inspired me!!!! this is what we had so far, just riffing.........
Greetings, Mortals!!! {you are mortals, right??? just checking}......
I.... am Aphrodite...The Goddess of Beauty, Passion and Desire.....Winner of the National Trojan Beauty Contest {and official sponser of the yearly Aphrodesia Dance }
"Welcome"....... to my Temple of Love......
We realize you have your choice of Deities to beseech, and we appreciate your patronage.......
........if you're here to sacrifice we do accept offerings of myrtle, roses, seashells and doves...{or, for real results you may consider paying off my Grecian Express bill.}
So what is there to do here in the Temple of Love???...well.....I will answer you. And since people in love have a hard time following directions I'll talk slowly........Here at Aphrodite's Temple you can send a heart message to your beloved,{or someone you just want to confuse}ask romantic advice, read up on the great lovers of Greek mythology, visit my page in the Museum of Real Myths, check out my useful guide to guys and gals, OR just check out the newest spring chiton desighns at Aphrodites Secret { Icarus!!!! paws off the frilly things!!!! } I sincerely hope you find what you are looking for here, and don't forget to sign my guestbook when you leave.
Didja sign it?? Fine.
May the gods be with you..and good luck to you in all your amourous adventures... And remember, boys and girls, that .."The course of true love never does run smooth"........or, in other words, "Love is a lot like plumbing..... messy, complicated and usually best left to professionals."
"OK....... maybe I'm telling tales out of school but here's the scoop...{but like don't tell him ya heard it from me, Ok?} One day, way, way back a long time ago, Apollo fell, like, totally head over heels in love with a mortal called Hyacinthus......and, yeah well, true, Hyacinthus was a guy, but...... guys crushing on guys in ancient Greece was Standard Operating Procedure back then so this surprised no one. Hyacinthus was Apollo's Special Friend And Significant Other. He accompanied him in his sports, carried these big nets when he went fishing, [at least...thats what I Think they were for]......led the dogs when he went to hunt, followed him in his excursions in the mountains, and pretty much hung out with him 24/7. One day, they played a game of quoits together, {quoits being a game involving a discus, which would remind you of a big bronze frisbee}and Apollo hurled the discus with a god's strengh through the air. No one knows if it was an accident, or whether Zephyrus (the West Wind),blew it off course{ he kinda had the hots for Hyacinthus too, and he was jealous....don't look at me like that, I'm not making this up} but the discus hit mortal Hyacinthus in the forehead, and struck him dead. Apollo was heartbroken, and being the god of medicine tried to cure his friend, but, the wound was so great not even Apollo could heal it. He decided to do the Next best thing, which was to celebrate his friend in story and song, and when he saw his friend's blood staining the ground {which is like.......ew......} he had a beautiful purple/blue flower spring up from it and called it the "Hyacinth" in honor of his best pal.The petals are thick and curly, just like his friend's hair, and if you look closely you will see marks of Greek letters on them that look just like "AI"........ the word for sorrow.
Echoe and Narcissus
This is like, super depressing, but it is true, so pay attention.......Echo was, like, a beautiful wood nymph, fond of the forests and hills and the joy of the chase, yada yada yada, and she devoted herself to woodland sports all the time. She was a favorite of Artemis, and attended her in all her activities. She was beautiful, and charming and popular.....but if Echo had one failing, it was that she was a major motor mouth, and whether in casual chats or major arguments, simply had to have the last word. One day Hera was seeking her husband Zeus. She had reason to fear he was getting a tad too cosy with the water nymphs, if you get my drift, and Echo, by her nonstop constant talking, kept the goddess distracted till the nymphs made their escape and Zeus could stand there looking innocent. But Hera was not fooled for long......and when she discovered what had happened, she was Totally ticked, and punished Echo bigtime in the meanest way she could think of.{ I think that's called poetic justice...or is it irony??} She told her ....."You shall forfeit the use of that tongue with which you have cheated me, except for that one purpose you are so fond of - reply. You shall always have the last word, but no power to speak first."...and poor Echoe could only do just that.....speak the last word or so that she was told.
Now sometime later Echoe spied Narcissus, a beautiful, gorgeous youth, {a cross between Johnney Depp and Brad Pitt} as he pursued the chase upon the mountains.{Uh...that means he was hunting} She fell hopelessly in love and followed him in his footsteps. She desparately wanted to start a conversation but it was'nt in her power, so she was too shy to do more than trail him sadly at a distance. { I think they call that stalking, nowadays} and Narcissus, one day being separated from his companions, shouted aloud, "Who's here?" Echo replied, "Here!!!" Narcissus looked around, but seeing no one called out, "Come out to me ".
Echo answered, "Come out to me !!"
As no one came, Narcissus called again, "Why do you shun me?"
Echo, answered the question ...."Shun Me!!!
He got angry."Knock it off!!....you're crazy!!!
and Echoe opened her mouth only to say "You're crazy!!!"
right back at him. Well, this got old pretty fast, and when Echoe finally appeared in person he could only shake his head in fear at the bizarre young nymph with the one note vocabulary. He ran away from her, and in her grief she went to hide her love way up in the hills far from the haunts of man. From that time forth she lived in caves till she withered away from loneliness, and her flesh shrank away, her bones changed into rocks and there was nothing left of her but her sad voice, still ready to reply to any one who called to her, and keeping up her old habit of having the last word.
And Narcissus?? Don't worry, he got his. While leaning over a forest pool to drink one day he wound up actually falling in love with his own gorgeous reflection, and he was so fascinated by himself he forgot to eat or sleep or bathe or poop or do anything else, and literally starved to death gazing at the beauty in the water's surface. Someone{I forgot who, now} turned his dying body into a narcissus flower, and to this day the word narcissist describes a totally conceited jerk who just can't get enough of himself......hmmmm....that reminds me....anyone see Adonis lately???
Pysche and Cupid.....etc.
Pygmalion and Galatea
Links to my Story in the Real Myths Museum Gallery
a crashcourse vocabulary Guide to understanding women.......
> >1. THINGY (thing-ee) n.
>Female......Any part under a car's hood.
>Male..........The strap fastener on a woman's bra.
>
>2. VULNERABLE (vul-ne-ra-bel) adj.
>Female......Fully opening up one's self emotionally to another.
>Male.........Playing football without a cup.
>
>3. COMMUNICATION (ko-myoo-ni-kay-shon) n.
>Female......The open sharing of thoughts and feelings with one's partner.
>Male..........Leaving a note before taking off on a fishing trip with the
>boys.
>
>4. COMMITMENT (ko-mit-ment) n.
>Female.......A desire to get married and raise a family.
>Male...........Trying not to hit on other women while you are out with this one.
>
>5. ENTERTAINMENT (en-ter-tayn-ment) n.
>Female......A good movie, concert, play or book.
>Male..........Anything that can be done while drinking beer.
>
>6. FLATULENCE (flach-u-lens) n.
>Female......An Embarrassing byproduct of indigestion.
>Male..........A source of entertainment, self-expression, male bonding.
>
>7. MAKING LOVE (may-king luv) n.
>Female......The greatest expression of intimacy a couple can achieve.
>Male.........Call it whatever you want just as long as we do it.
>
>8. REMOTE CONTROL (ri-moht kon-trohl) n.
>Female.....A device for changing from one TV channel to another.
>Male..........A device for scanning through all 375 channels every 5 minutes
