Lady Omega

Not so long ago i saw the movie - Travellers and Magicians, made by Khyentse Norbu (a.k.a. Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche), who is a buddhist monk and is officially recognized as the reincarnation of a 19th century Tibetan saint. This was his first movie ever made in Bhutan. It’s a beautiful movie, i liked it very much and would recommend it to everyone. Coincidently, same week, there was a first-ever Bhutanese song and dance performance happening at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. So, naturally, we went. I really enjoyed the show, loved the dances and the singer Kencho Wangdi had an amazing voice. Here’s one of the dances they performed, it’s called the dance of the cremation ground:

Bhutan is a small kingdom in the Himalayan mountains, which is the 8th happiest country in the world, the most isolated and the least developed one. The landscapes of Bhutan are amazing. Bhutan is called Land of the Thunder Dragon or the Land of Medicinal Plants. In an effort to preserve its culture and environment, the government has put limits on tourists visiting Bhutan. Tourists have only been allowed into the country since 1974. Bhutan is also one of the last places on Earth where the Vajrayana (Tantric Buddhism) form of Buddhism is practiced. Bhutan’s rich historical past has resulted in cultural traditions which came with unique customs, manners, language, modes of dress, arts, and different types of dances and folk music. Bhutanese masked dances reflect highly complex symbolic understandings of life in a complex universe.
Some day, i hope, i’ll make it to Bhutan

Every time i say “i’m back” on my blog, something happens - so, i am not going to say it again, because it’s become a curse I’ve been sick for quite a while, but that’s not so interesting, so i will just get on to the nice things that happened in the last month.

Smashing Magazine textures contest

I participated in Smashing Textures contest - i didn’t win, but i got featured in 2 galleries of the best textures the Smashing crew selected in the end of the contest, and i’m happy about that. Two of my textures got featured in Sand and Earth gallery and in Stone, Walls, Brick gallery. Here are some textures i submitted + the ones i was considering to submit, but since there was a limit of 5 only, i couldn’t include all of them:

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You can download these textures here, if you like.

Dimmu Borgir and Behemoth show

We went to Dimmu Borgir and Behemoth black metal show at 9:30 club, Washington D.C.

It was a cool show, i enjoyed it - both bands played well and had a great image and stage show. The sound in the club was perfect. It was nice to hang out a bit with Nergal, since Zhyin has toured with him back in the Ancient days - so they had some fun stuff to remember.

Miami

We went to Miami for 1,5 days to check it out , since we’re going to be moving there soon, for a year. I liked it because i love hot weather and hate cold. Can’t say more than that, because it was only a 1-day visit, but it seemed nice. We even managed to find a very nice place to live already, which we didn’t expect. ( the following photo is not the place we found  - it’s just a pretty view from the hotel we stayed at )

We also visited the World Erotic Art museum, which is a collection of approximately 4,000 objects and antiquities dating to as early as 200 B.C. and hailing from lands as distant as Asia, Africa and India. Among the sculptures, the museum has the original phallic prop from Stanley Kubrick’s classic A Clockwork Orange. The collection belongs to Naomi Wilzig. Unfortunately, no photos allowed, only in the shop.

Sanatorium Altrosa

I bought the limited collectors edition of Sanatorium Altrosa - the new creation of Sopor Aeternus. Besides the cd itself, this edition comes with lots of fancy things - a bag, a shirt, a book with photos, etc. Well, i liked the fancy things the most. And sadly, this would be the first time i am saying something like that about Sopor Aeternus.