John Leonard

Vera Farmiga's directorial debut, HIGHER GROUND, is a coming-of-age drama in which Farmiga delivers a subtle, nuanced performance completely from the gut, with equally strong and compelling supporting characters. Set against the backdrop of the Sixties, when feminism reached its zenith, the film expertly depicts the landscape of a tight-knit spiritual community. Inspired by the resonant memoir from Carolyn Briggs (who also wrote the screenplay) the film is an exquisite study of one woman's internal struggle with the primary love relationships in her life. John Hawkes, Donna Murphy, Bill Irwin, Dagmara Dominczyk, and Joshua Leonard round out the cast, along with Farmiga's younger sister Taissa, who proves herself to be an extraordinary new talent as Young Corinne.

A collection of unusual aerial photographs of the Sphinx on the Giza Plateau in Egypt, music by Patrick Leonard/Shenkar - 'pudusu' from their CD 'udistam'. The Sphinx is classic in its structure and form. Its body is a beautifully proportioned carving out of one piece of limestone bedrock on the edge of the Giza Plateau, although curiously, the head of the sphinx is small. The Sphinx of Giza is about 240' long and 66' high. John Anthony West and Dr. Robert Schoch, a geologist/geophysicist, from Boston University, presented the idea that the weathering on the body of the Sphinx and walls of the Sphinx enclosure had been created by precipitation - over a long enough period of time to create the deep fissures and smooth rounded shapes you can see, particularly on the west and south walls of the Sphinx enclosure. Detective Frank Domingo, a senior forensic officer with the NYPD applied his expertise of identification techniques to compare the facial structure between the Sphinx, and the Pharoah Chephren from a statue in the Cairo Museum. The attribution of Chephren being the builder of the Sphinx is partly because of this discovery and dedication given by proxy, reports suggesting they look similar. Take a good look. Check out John Anthony West's YouTube Channels: JAWSPHINX99 and MYSTERYOFTHESPHINX. For contact re: 'pudusu' from UDISTAM, udistam@yahoo.com, and Shenkar - www.myspace.com/shenkarworld

For our Gods and Angels melting into madness For my Child's Future already marketed For Leonard Peltier and Roberta Blackgoat For Lili'uokalani and Tecumseh For John Lennon Mother Mab and Jesus For Malcolm X and Martin Luther King For Hiroshima and Nagasaki For the Holocausts before and our Apocalypse now I remember with a flower a candle and a prayer And now you will live in me like a seed

Meditation: A Song and A Prayer for Our Forests - The Sacred Places Series A slide presentation, with music by Patrick Leonard - A Journey Through The Sierras Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Park, California Snapshots from a two day wander through Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Park, California ~ A condensed magical journey through the forest, mountains and waterways. John Muir described the mighty Sequoia as nature s masterpiece , the greatest of living things , a king tree , and the very god of the woods . There is indeed something otherworldly about sequoia groves along with their companion pines finding their own space and light beneath the shadow of the giant trees! It is difficult to determine the exact age of the Sequoia, the majestic Grant and Sherman Trees are estimated to be around 3,000 to 3,500 years old. The Grant Tree has the largest known diameter, 28.9 feet at breast height, and about 267 feet tall. The Sherman Tree measured approximately 275 feet tall, 25.1 feet in diameter, a ground perimeter of 102.6 feet, is considered to be the largest living Sequoia, about 10 percent larger volume wise than the Washington Tree, followed by the Grant Tree. Many of the giants are 1,500 to 2,000 years old. The Sequoia s natural habitat is only in a relatively small area of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, a collective total of around 36,000 to 38,000 acres. The Music Patrick Leonard s exquisite piano improvisations. The Photography Snapshots... documenting a moment for the sheer joy and sake of it - one camera, one lens for the most part and taking each moment for what it is, no matter the time of day, light, the situation perfect or imperfect. Remembering magical moments as I appreciate the world I live in, and appreciate our wise ancestors who have left us these legacies of ancient, sacred, mysterious and beautiful places. May future generations also experience the benefit and beauty of our unique, magnificent, a