L E G M O U N T A I N

twenty six faces and a typeface for two thousand one legendaries stories

an A to Z of beauty designed by m/m (paris)
photographed by inez van lamswwerde and vinoodh matadin

WWOOF is a world wide network - It started in the UK in 1971 and has since become an international movement that is helping people share more sustainable ways of living.

WWOOF is an exchange - In return for volunteer help, WWOOF hosts offer food, accommodation and opportunities to learn about organic lifestyles.

Phrenology originated with Franz Joseph Gall (1758-1828), a German physician, assisted by his colleague, Johann Kaspar Spurzheim (1809-72). Phrenologists believed that the shape and size of various areas of the brain (and therefore the overlying skull) determined personality. Gall and Spurzheim eventually disagreed and went on to promote rival systems of phrenology. These heads are numbered according to Spurzheim’s classification. The heads may have been used to teach phrenology but were probably made as a general reference collection. A wide range of different heads are present. For instance, head number 54 is that of a scientific man; head number 8 is recorded as the head of an ‘idiot’. The heads were made by William Bally, who studied under Spurzheim from 1828 onwards.

Infact there are still people who believe this to be an accurate and scientifically accurate method of identifying certain ‘types’ of person. The best thing to have come from Phrenology seem to have been these small carved heads which can be found in the science museums collection. Their object number is A642804 which can be searched for along with the rest of their collection HERE.

The world’s first moving building, an 80-storey tower with revolving floors giving a shifting shape, will be built in Dubai, its architect says.

The Dynamic Tower design is made up of 80 pre-fabricated apartments which will spin independently of one another.

“It’s the first building that rotates, moves, and changes shape,” said architect David Fisher, who is Italian, at a news conference in New York.

“This building never looks the same, not once in a lifetime,” he added.

The 420-metre (1,378-foot) building’s apartments would spin a full 360 degrees, at voice command, around a central column by means of 79 giant power-generating wind turbines located between each floor.

The slender building would be energy self-sufficient as the turbines would produce enough electricity to power the entire building and even feed extra power back into the grid, said the Italian architect at the unveiling of the project in New York.

The apartments, which will take between one and three hours to make a complete rotation, will cost from $3.7m to $36m.

There are also plans to build a similar, 70-storey skyscraper in Moscow.

“I call these buildings designed by time, shaped by life,” said the Florence-based architect, who has never built a sky-scraper before.

“These buildings will open our vision all around, to a new life.”

The skyscraper will cost an estimated $700m to build and should be up and running in Dubai in 2010.

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A little about Dubai.

Article 25 of the Constitution of the UAE provides for the equitable treatment of persons with regard to race, nationality, religious beliefs or social status. However, many of Dubai’s 250,000 foreign laborers live in conditions described by Human Rights Watch as being “less than human.” NPR reports that workers “typically live eight to a room, sending home a portion of their salary to their families, whom they don’t see for years at a time.” On 21 March 2006, workers at the construction site of Burj Dubai, upset over bus timings and working conditions, rioted: damaging cars, offices, computers, and construction tools. The global financial crisis has caused the working class of Dubai to be especially hard hit, with many workers not being paid but also being unable to leave the country.

Judicial rulings in Dubai with regard to foreign nationals were brought to light by the alleged attempts to cover up information on the rape of Alexandre Robert, a 15 year old French-Swiss national, by three locals, one of whom was HIV positive and by the recent mass imprisonment of migrant laborers, most of whom were from India, on account of their protests against poor wages and living conditions. Prostitution, though illegal by law, is conspicuously present in the emirate because of an economy that is largely based on tourism and trade. Research conducted by the American Center for International Policy Studies (AMCIPS) found that Russian and Ethiopian women are the most common prostitutes, as well as women from some African countries, while Indian prostitutes are part of a well organized trans-Oceanic prostitution network. A 2007 PBS documentary entitled Dubai: Night Secrets reported that prostitution in clubs is tolerated by authorities and many foreign women work there without being coerced, attracted by the money.

1. organise before they rise
2. they feel no fear, why should you?
3. use your head: cut off theirs
4. blades don’t need reloading
5. ideal protection = tight clothes, short hair
6. get up the staircase, then destroy it
7. get out of the car, get onto your bike
8. keep moving, keep low, keep quiet, keep alert
9. no place is safe, only safer
10. the zombie may be gone, but the threat lives on

“So, here is the deal. 
I went to the Billy Graham crusade at Flushing Meadows Carona Park up in Queens this June knowing that the Westboro Baptist Church (who run www.godhatesfags.com) would be there. The first day I mostly observed how people responded to them. It’s pretty interesting to see how different people react to them.  Some just walk by and chant prayers or tell them that Jesus loves them, others get into yelling matches and then they all start quoting the bible back and forth. Honestly, both sides seemed equally outrageous at times.
The next day I got there early in the morning and they were at it again.  I think the highlight was one of them telling a black woman that she looked like a crack head and had a stupid haircut (that’s the kind of level they are on).  They started packing up and changing into regular clothes because “it’s a sick world and we have to get to the next protest safely” So I hopped on the 7 train with them and we headed over to St. Patrick’s church. They set up the police barricades across the street from the church and did their thing again.  A young solder started screaming at them when he saw their “Thank God for 9/11″ signs.  He was yelling how it disgusted him that he had fought for their freedom, while his mom was holding him back… I don’t know why I didn’t get photos of that.  Soon after, these two guys started making out in the street in front of the protest while one of the church members was yelling, “Now you know what each other’s semen tastes like”.  I dunno, I guess that’s where it stops… can’t really top that.”

Maxim Ryazansky

(Click picture for link to Louis Theroux’s documentary)

Laura Edith Guy’s visual exploration (A study in grey) into the import of Chinese slate for processing into Welsh slate mills/mines. The Aberllefenni Slate Quarry has a long history And has been operating from as early as the 14th century.

Neighbouring Bethesda Mine is pictured here circa 1900. and is reported to be the largest slate mine in the world.

Laura initially visited China in 2007 as part of a scholarship cultural exchange. ‘A study in grey’ has been a spin of from this. She plans to return to visit some of the huge slate mines there which now supply Aberllefenni Quarry.