8/09/2008
Clownfish-Sea Anemone video!
Couldn't resist embedding this charming National Geographic video of Clownfish showing the symbiotic relationship between them and their poisonous Sea anemone partners - just like Nemo and his dad in Finding Nemo!
Otter tangles with inflated fish: video
Water Basketball, anyone? Except that this puffed up 'ball' is poisonous!
Visit National Geographic for more cool videos and cultural news!
7/21/2008
Got Fish Oil? Improvement will follow
As most people are aware, taking fish oil is good support for many health conditions with research studies into its benefits ongoing. Even the topical application of fish oil may be useful for easing such skin conditions as eczema and psoriasis.
Well, here's a link to a website with a list of current research info on a variety of medical conditions which show benefits from the use of fish oil. It's called Oil of Pisces and you can probably guess that it's the site's name that first attracted me like a bass to a worm!
You'll even find there an article concerning the fish oil/mercury issue which gives pause to some, but check out the info when you get a moment...you may be pleasantly surprised.
~:~
image: detail from drawing of a Bengal sergeant by jude cowell (c) 2008; Original drawing available, appr 8" x 10"; contact for ordering-payment details to: judecowell at gmail dot com.
7/11/2008
Early marine biologist Rachel Carson
Her scientific work spurring President John F. Kennedy to create the EPA, pioneer environmentalist and marine biologist Rachel Carson was born May 27, 1907.
Even if you don't speak any astrologese at all, check out my post written in 2007 for the 100th anniversary of Carson's birth - and you'll find a link to radio's Living On Earth 's feature upon her for the anniversary, plus some personality details based on her natal chart's planets, and some links to her still-popular books including ecology's clarion call: Silent Spring.
6/28/2008
Three-spotted rabbitfish
A Three-spotted rabbitfish floated by to say, hello there! and to update his profile for the ladies...Profile: Three-spotted rabbitfish
Nickname: Spots
Age: 5 months
Status: between relationships
School: graduate of Rabbitfish U
Location: Western Australia
Willing to Relocate? Yes
Interests: crab, lobster, shrimp under dappled moonlight
Most Famous for: good listener
Contact: rabbtfsh3 at au dot seahorse dot net
Text? glub...yes.
6/06/2008
Knightfish, the pencil portrait
At last! I've managed to render a fresh new Dreamyfish image and it looks as if he's a Knightfish, Cleidopus gloriamaris De Vis swum over from Houtman Albrohos of Western Australia...and here you spy him ensnared within his favorite, rather colorful, dream.Or, more to the point perhaps you, dear viewer, are merely a figment of a fragment of Sir Knightfish's fondest dream...?
Well, are your socks damp? That'd be your clue.
Actual size of drawing: 11 1/2" X 11 1/2" unmatted, mailed flat; original available $90US; contact Jude for more details at: jude dot cowell at hotmail dot com. Thanks!
~~:~~ and please! respect artist's copyright; and if you'd like to see this image in my Lulu Storefront for your inexpensive Downloading to a spiffy poster as you will, you may wish to navigate your fins over to Lulu for more images of artwork.
In my Lulu Storefront I've tried to include such themes as: Children's, Botanical, Cosmic and Moon Art, Figure Studies, Chiffonery Art (for 17+ers.)
Elsewhere online you may run across Paper Collages perpetrated by yours truly with everything from ancient sculptures to zebras' backends making cameo appearances. And what would a collection of collages be without meerkats showing up?
So you are cordially invited to drop by if and when ya can, and leave a shout-out note there (or here) if you may.
Lulu Storefront note: Breaksea cod is now available as an Art Print as well as for Download. You may find that Breaksea is a handsome fellow so why not check out his snoot shot today!?
5/26/2008
Congress to make Online Artists into orphans
Orphan Works Act of 2008
Watch YouTube video
On April 24, Senators Pat Leahy (D-VT) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Reps Howard Berman (D-CA), John Conyers (D-MI) and Lamar Smith (R-TX) introduced legislation (S.2913, HR 5889) which is now being referred to as the Shawn Bentley Orphan Works Act of 2008. It is virtually the same bill that was presented in 2006, and subsequently rejected by Congress. But now, they are trying again.
If passed, the Act would radically alter copyright laws, taking away the automatic copyright now guaranteed to artists of all types who create any type of work. Right now, under U.S. law, artists are automatically guaranteed copyright on everything they create, from the sketches in their sketchpad to their best paintings and sculptures.
Under the Orphan Works Act, every creator will be required to register everything he or she creates in a private registry system, requiring a fee of course, and supposedly to make it easier for the "public" to search for works and contact the creators if they want to use the works for some purpose.
Everything created in the last 30 years will need to be registered through this as-yet nonexistent system, including those works already registered via additional fees with the copyright office. If they aren't, and some member of the public makes "due diligence" to find the creator of a work and can't find him or her, that member of the public is entitled to use the work without any limitations, and artists will have no legal recourse.
That means every piece of work artists have out there, especially online, would be open season for use by major publishing houses and businesses (Microsoft â€" who owns one of the largest online image databases â€" and Google have already voiced support for the bill and indicated they will use thousands of images) and everyone in between.
Proponents of the bill say it will assist the public in identifying and contacting creators of works and going through the proper channels to contact them to ask for permission. While we understand the need for an organized system of search, there are MAJOR FLAWS in the proposed bill that need to be addressed before any such proposal should take place.
Here are a few points:
Under this law, artists would need to register EVERY piece of work they create, including those works that you have already registered with the Copyright Office officially, in some system that does not exist and would likely require them to pay to do so. The time and cost to do this is going to be prohibitive for visual artists.
While this is meant to apply to all types of creative works, including music and literary, visual artists will be impacted the most because of the sheer volume of work they create, making it very expensive to register everything they have ever created or will create.
For the visual arts, there would still be little protection for them and their work, even if it is registered, because search tools would rely on names of artists or titles of work, and not image recognition tools, which are still in their infancy of development.
Under this law, if artists register their work, they would have to respond to EVERY inquiry sent to them for use of the work.
So in other words, if an artist has a work out there in a registry system, and some person contacts the artist and says he or she wants to use the artist's work for free on his or her Web site or in his or her new catalog, the artist would need to take the time to officially respond to every inquiry within a specified time limit, letting him or her know if the artist doe not want to have him or her publish the artist's work for free. This will take a lot of time and effort that professional artists do not have.
Last week, the House Judiciary Committee unanimously approved the bill, and on May 15, the Senate Judiciary Committee did as well. This means the bill will be presented to Congress, likely before the end of May.
We need you to write to your representatives ASAP and let them know that you do NOT want this bill to be expedited, as it is now. Tell them we need a better solution, or tell them you don't want it at all: Just be sure to tell them something soon.
Click the links below to get more information on the bill, including a video that gives you a great overview of the artists' concerns:
watch YouTube video
capwiz.com
government update PDF
Click below for several options of pre-written and editable letters that you can fill out, and that will automatically identify and send it to your representatives when you enter your address:
Illustrator Partnership
What does Congress understand about Art? Or about starving artists? Very little, but they certainly will be creating more of them with this travesty of a bill which I assume is meant to increase governmental revenue.
Anti-social boogers, imho.
Watch YouTube video
On April 24, Senators Pat Leahy (D-VT) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Reps Howard Berman (D-CA), John Conyers (D-MI) and Lamar Smith (R-TX) introduced legislation (S.2913, HR 5889) which is now being referred to as the Shawn Bentley Orphan Works Act of 2008. It is virtually the same bill that was presented in 2006, and subsequently rejected by Congress. But now, they are trying again.
If passed, the Act would radically alter copyright laws, taking away the automatic copyright now guaranteed to artists of all types who create any type of work. Right now, under U.S. law, artists are automatically guaranteed copyright on everything they create, from the sketches in their sketchpad to their best paintings and sculptures.
Under the Orphan Works Act, every creator will be required to register everything he or she creates in a private registry system, requiring a fee of course, and supposedly to make it easier for the "public" to search for works and contact the creators if they want to use the works for some purpose.
Everything created in the last 30 years will need to be registered through this as-yet nonexistent system, including those works already registered via additional fees with the copyright office. If they aren't, and some member of the public makes "due diligence" to find the creator of a work and can't find him or her, that member of the public is entitled to use the work without any limitations, and artists will have no legal recourse.
That means every piece of work artists have out there, especially online, would be open season for use by major publishing houses and businesses (Microsoft â€" who owns one of the largest online image databases â€" and Google have already voiced support for the bill and indicated they will use thousands of images) and everyone in between.
Proponents of the bill say it will assist the public in identifying and contacting creators of works and going through the proper channels to contact them to ask for permission. While we understand the need for an organized system of search, there are MAJOR FLAWS in the proposed bill that need to be addressed before any such proposal should take place.
Here are a few points:
Under this law, artists would need to register EVERY piece of work they create, including those works that you have already registered with the Copyright Office officially, in some system that does not exist and would likely require them to pay to do so. The time and cost to do this is going to be prohibitive for visual artists.
While this is meant to apply to all types of creative works, including music and literary, visual artists will be impacted the most because of the sheer volume of work they create, making it very expensive to register everything they have ever created or will create.
For the visual arts, there would still be little protection for them and their work, even if it is registered, because search tools would rely on names of artists or titles of work, and not image recognition tools, which are still in their infancy of development.
Under this law, if artists register their work, they would have to respond to EVERY inquiry sent to them for use of the work.
So in other words, if an artist has a work out there in a registry system, and some person contacts the artist and says he or she wants to use the artist's work for free on his or her Web site or in his or her new catalog, the artist would need to take the time to officially respond to every inquiry within a specified time limit, letting him or her know if the artist doe not want to have him or her publish the artist's work for free. This will take a lot of time and effort that professional artists do not have.
Last week, the House Judiciary Committee unanimously approved the bill, and on May 15, the Senate Judiciary Committee did as well. This means the bill will be presented to Congress, likely before the end of May.
We need you to write to your representatives ASAP and let them know that you do NOT want this bill to be expedited, as it is now. Tell them we need a better solution, or tell them you don't want it at all: Just be sure to tell them something soon.
Click the links below to get more information on the bill, including a video that gives you a great overview of the artists' concerns:
watch YouTube video
capwiz.com
government update PDF
Click below for several options of pre-written and editable letters that you can fill out, and that will automatically identify and send it to your representatives when you enter your address:
Illustrator Partnership
What does Congress understand about Art? Or about starving artists? Very little, but they certainly will be creating more of them with this travesty of a bill which I assume is meant to increase governmental revenue.
Anti-social boogers, imho.
4/21/2008
Return of the Ornate butterfish!
Ornate butterfish has dropped in again to see how y'all are!drawing by jude cowell (c) 2008 Use only by express permission of artist, thanks.
Lulu Storefront: Art Downloads and such, are available, as you wish!
3/30/2008
Jude's Art Storefront on display
Surgeon clownfish drawing by jude cowell 2008
Scroll down a ways to see Jude's Storefront, where all my copyrighted-by-artist images are Downloadable in a jiffy at very modest prices with one Dreamyfish botanical fish portrait also available as an Art Print--Breaksea cod--but you'll have to mosey to the site to see the cod's Art Print link.
Ava Tarh's Tears is freshly drawn and published today, so please scroll a smidge to visit with Ava...perhaps you can cheer her up!
Now if only I could figure out why Lulu leaves the title as 's Storefront on this display window even after it's been corrected a zillion times...esp when Jude's Storefront would make so much more sense.
3/23/2008
released Great White Shark moving fast!
The Mercury News has the story of a released great white shark speeding to Mexico so I guess he's got a romantic date to keep, don't you? Hold on, Honey, I'm a-comin'! These jokers had me penned up, but now I'm on my way back to your lovin' ar-- fins!
Amazingly, this 6-feet-long guest of the Monterey Bay Aquarium (from August 07 to February 08) has traveled 1,200 miles since being released--the fastest ever documented from Monterey to Mexico.
He's already swum past the Baja peninsula and is still heading south, so watch your toes!
photo: The Mercury News
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