When the right one walks out of the door

Possibly it was a lesson every child had to learn, or possibly a lesson every teacher had to teach. In either case it came to this.
As we all stood up the teacher entered with a bunch of wooden sticks and put them on her desk. She went on to hand over a stick to each bench. None of my benchmates seemed to know what to do with it. I looked around, everyone seemed to be turning their sticks around, passing them back and forth. Evidently none of us did.
After she was done handing the sticks the teacher walked up to the front and with a satisfied smile on her face said,"Try to break the stick children."
Snaps were heard all around.
"Good", she said as she proceeded to bind the rest of the sticks into a bundle. "Now try to break this", said she as she passed it to the first bench.They couldn't. Then she smiled and passed it on the second bench. Of course they couldn't either. After everyone in the class had failed to break the bundle she asked,"What do you learn from this, children?"
We all looked at each other not sure what to say. The promptness with which she answered her own question however saved us from more queasy moments, "In unity lies strength!!! children, In Unity".
I forget his name, but he was a usually silent boy. He raised his hand and said,"How about "It is only the weak who seek strength in numbers", madam?"

Nepalese Art in Foreign Museums(II)- Philadelphia Museum of Art

Face of Bhairava

Made in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal

Malla Period (1200-1769), c. 16th century

Artist/maker unknown, Nepal, Kathmandu Valley, Newar culture

Mercury-gilded copper alloy repoussé with rock crystal, paint, foil, and glass
29 x 25 x 18 inches (73.7 x 63.5 x 45.7 cm)

1998-77-1

Purchased with the Stella Kramrisch Fund, 1998
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Philadelphia Museum of Art maintains a decent online inventory of their assets. To view Nepalese art housed at the Philadelphia Museum of Art go to:
http://www.philamuseum.org/collections/search.html
and search for "Nepal".

Nepalese Art in Foreign Museums(I)- Dallas Museum of Art

Pair of Guardian Lions
Nepal 1815
Bronze
Gift of David T. Owsley through the Alwin and Lucy Owsley Foundation
1997.139.1-2D
Dallas Museum of Art
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Manjushree,
Tibet or Nepal.
Gilt bronze and semiprecious stones
Bequest of Mrs. E.R. Brown,
1955.19
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Stele of Laxmi-Narayan
Nepal, 10th-11th Century
Gray Stone
Intended gift of David T Owsley
142.1990.3
Dallas Museum of Art
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Mask of Bhairawa
Nepal, Late 15th-16th Century
Parcel Gilt Copper and gemstones
Gift of David T. Owsley via the Alwin and Lucy Owsley Foundation
2000.322
Dallas Museum of Art
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ghost???

Each person has their own idea of what the right thing is and each person thinks that their view is the point of equilibrium of all things. This idea of multiple middle paths so to speak is presented in the sculpture as the numerous balancing points it has. While each person's idea of the middle path is not entirely delusional, it definitely is far from the truth which is but one and which in that sculpture is represented by the point where all of the petals balance out. Further when a person who is comfortable in his own idea of the right thing sees another point further on in the sculpture and starts walking towards it, everything falls out of balance, the point where he had his nest starts to tip lower while the new point now seems harder to get at. The easier option for such a person will be to go back to his past and stay there while the one that takes him to another balancing point closer to the truth is a whole lot tougher.

http://www.philamuseum.org/collections/permanent/60736.html?mulR=18085

Normals and Outliers

Endlessly we oscillate between ropes and gossamers, where lies the truth? In the highways paved for bumpkins or trails untrodden for pioneers? Ignorance floats plenty in the one who toes the spoor and likewise in the one who bushwhacks through cacti. But tell me you wouldn't walk a little deeper to get that shell, tell me you wouldn't jump through those roofs to get that kite, tell me you would trade the endless sea for the anchor. But why does one still long for home? Gravity? the weakest force with the last word. Water? the shapeless splash that levels all knolls. A friend told me once- round and round in circles we go, the truth lies in the center and knows. Elegant, poignant, but nothing more than another gossamer. Where is that center, in madness or triumph? In neither but in both is a genuine possibility? Love is all you need!! Will is all you need!!! Float around these kitsches like snowflakes on a December evening. May be the route to truth is not to straighten the frayed edges, not to walk along a line, not to idealize, not to rationalize, but simply to be, to stand content between contradictions, to be at the center of that circle. More gossamer. Enjoy your summer afternoons.

Fountain

The idea for this Warholian piece struck me when I was lying next to the fountain in Dallas Museum of Art.Things are as simple as the rise and fall of a fountain and just as enthralling.

Sixteen Queens Puzzle

The sixteen queens puzzle is a variation of the eight queens puzzle. Here is a brief description of what the eight queens puzzle is: You are to arrange eight queens in a chessboard such that none is able to capture another using a single queen's move. To try it out for yourself you might want to use the pawns as queens. For a detailed information on the puzzle see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eight_queens_puzzle

Now lets come back to the sixteen queens puzzle. What you need to do for this puzzle is pretty simple; you have to find two solutions of the eight queens puzzle in a single chess board. Bear in mind that it is not to say that none of the sixteen queens will be able to capture any other, that is impossible. Instead there are two sets of eight queens (white and black in the image) and any one queen of one set will not be able to capture another queen of the same set. Also bear in mind that if there is a queen of another set between two queens of the same set, the two queens are said to be able to capture each other, ie to say a different set is transparent to the set one is concerned with. Thus the only purpose of an addition set is to constrict the number of spaces availabe.

I did find one solution to this problem (see image) and am wondering if two is the maximum number of eight queens puzzle solution one can have in a single board? Further how many solutions are there for the sixteen queens puzzle?