I'd planned to be out of town at a conference all weekend, so I didn't make any arrangements to attend NYC's World Science Festival, which is being ably chronicled over at Science Fair. Alas, the events I'd wanted to see are sold out, and in my infinite wisdom the very time I'd chosen to drop by the Street Fair at Washington Square Park was during the thunderstorm. Still, it was cool to see the little kids with their galactic face paint--as well as the Park's atheist protestor who, given the immediate context, seemed a bit redundant.

On the way to the Fair, I had a religious experience of another sort, this time at the Madison Square Park Kids Fest. The event announced as I walked through: Karma Kids Story Time Yoga. Which got me thinking of the question I'd ask if I were a precocious Karma Kid--namely, if reality is an illusion, why do I have to go to school?

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A sacred relic preserved for eternity by the Comics Curmudgeon

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"Is that God up there?" - "Felix Fritzl, 5, sees the moon for the first time since leaving the cellar" where his father/grandfather had kept him sheltered since he was born.

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Gawker has the scoop.

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A note attached to a fallen helium balloon:

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Note what's in the center and what's waaaaaaayyyy down in the lower-left blind spot:

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From a photo series based on children's drawings:

"...The power of a child's imagination is how it delicately refigures memory and real imagery into unreasonable and unexpected expressions and impressions. Children's fantasies spring from flexible interpretations of adult conventions. The challenge of photographically reconstructing these fantasies may reflect Jung's challenge of becoming a father in real life. It is not hard to imagine that he is inspired by the limitless imaginative power of the child playing before his eyes. This makes even more sense in light of Kristeva's comment that the child is the "mythical figure" of the imaginary. The adolescents who play-act for Jung take on the adult forms of their drawn figures, but with adolescent minds, and thus visually realize the fusion of fantasy and reality. These are works that gaze upon the world of adult reason with the pure, unsullied eyes of a child. Balanced between reality and fantasy, the deformed cartoonish world in "Wonderland" sways our values and beliefs."

Via Neatorama

Posted by jat at 08:48 AM | Permalink

Via nonprofit IT expert Beth Kanter, a photo from Cambodia "of the donation box at the Watt in Roteang Village where the Sharing Foundation has most of its programs." The inscription reads "donation to the Buddha."

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"Ending child slavery with beads and clay"--a compelling look at a new exhibit of children's art in Montreal, in which sale proceeds go to helping impoverished kids in India.  For more on the nonprofit organization behind this effort, check out http://www.aipe-cci.org./

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The blingdom of God takes center stage at New York Fashion Week, with the Fall 2006 collection for Child Magazine.  I'll leave for you to decide whether putting kids on the runway is truly divine.

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