This web is a collection of information on Buddhism picked up through random reading. The focus is on Tibetan Mahayana Buddhism, Gelukpa sect. Some information on Hinduism is also included, with the thought that Hinduism is the background of Buddhism. A couple of other side trips are taken because of personal interest.
Western musicians who hear gamelan are struck both by the complexity of the relationships between the melody lines of the different instruments and, if they are aware of the "rules" of western harmony, by the almost "impressionistic" tone clusters that can be heard if the listener hears the music vertically, or tries to interpret it "harmonically". People without musical training often focus on the melifluousness of the sound and the soothing, meditative quality of some of the music. Others are excited by the multileveled interlockingness of the texture, comparing it to the experience of listening to several, incredibly good jazz solo players improvising together.]]>
Gamelan Nyai Saraswati is an ensemble of the Department of Music, College of Arts and Sciences at the University of North Carolina ? Chapel Hill. Gamelan is a Javanese/Indonesian word for ensemble. The word "gamel" means to hammer something in Javanese and , indeed, "hammering" or hitting is the way in which most of the different instruments in the ensemble are sounded with the exception of the two stringed instruments ? the bowed fiddle (rebab) and the plucked zither (siter) ? and the flute (suling), male chorus (gerong) and female soloists (pasindhen).
Western musicians who hear gamelan are struck both by the complexity of the relationships between the melody lines of the different instruments and, if they are aware of the "rules" of western harmony, by the almost "impressionistic" tone clusters that can be heard if the listener hears the music vertically, or tries to interpret it "harmonically". People without musical training often focus on the melifluousness of the sound and the soothing, meditative quality of some of the music. Others are excited by the multileveled interlockingness of the texture, comparing it to the experience of listening to several, incredibly good jazz solo players improvising together.
Up to 300 architectural students from Miami, Argentina, Chile, Ecuador and Venezuela collaborated in semester-long design studios via the Internet and videoconference technology during Fall, 2001. The initiative is using advanced telecommunication and digital technology to enrich the education and the Pan-American collaboration experience. The program was part of the AMPATH initiative at FIU, which in 2001 obtained a $25 million grant to connect National University Networks in Latin America and the Caribbean to the Internet 2 server at FIU. The BBC, Discovery Channel, Government Video Magazine, and media outlets in Argentina, Chile and Japan have documented the initiative.
The project is envisioned to position the Internet Studio network as a main hub for architectural education, research, and urban design thinking in the Americas. The belief is that the rapid process of urbanization in Latin America, during the next two decades, will spur similar metropolitan conditions across the region. Networking professionals and academic institutions will be essential for understanding the effects of the new speed of urbanization. The goal is to attract top urban issues, students, academics, and professionals of the region to the network.]]>
The 'Internet Studio' (or istudio) Academic Program initiative is directed to create strategic relationships with Latin American Schools of Architecture, institutions and corporations involved in the urban development of the Latin American and Caribbean region by working in collaborative semester-studio projects via the Internet.
Up to 300 architectural students from Miami, Argentina, Chile, Ecuador and Venezuela collaborated in semester-long design studios via the Internet and videoconference technology during Fall, 2001. The initiative is using advanced telecommunication and digital technology to enrich the education and the Pan-American collaboration experience. The program was part of the AMPATH initiative at FIU, which in 2001 obtained a $25 million grant to connect National University Networks in Latin America and the Caribbean to the Internet 2 server at FIU. The BBC, Discovery Channel, Government Video Magazine, and media outlets in Argentina, Chile and Japan have documented the initiative.
The project is envisioned to position the Internet Studio network as a main hub for architectural education, research, and urban design thinking in the Americas. The belief is that the rapid process of urbanization in Latin America, during the next two decades, will spur similar metropolitan conditions across the region. Networking professionals and academic institutions will be essential for understanding the effects of the new speed of urbanization. The goal is to attract top urban issues, students, academics, and professionals of the region to the network.