Dan

Yes, I am saying that in art, there is no absolute truth as to whether it's good or bad.... are you telling me that art is like science, that you can tell if something is good or bad, right or wrong, 0.01, or 0.02, etc.? I am talking about the meaning of words, not the words themselves......... i'm talking about you calling those who think Dali is a good/great artist novices. It's not up to you to say which artist is factually good or bad. you can criticise it, and that's that - criticism, nothing more, nothing less. your opinion, NOT facts. So stop treating your views as God-given truths. Edit note: And just because you started this thread doesn't make you THE authority on art... It simply means that you posted it before anyone else did. Edit note note: And for Christ's sake, stop picking fights with me. If you don't like my opinion, that's fine with me. Attack my views if you will, but don't attack ME. That's just low and nasty.

no, i'm not saying that... i'm saying that 1) i don't believe in God, but I have no problem with Christianity 2) i've had a Christian education 3) i never go to church 4) you know what i mean, i'm not gonna talk about that. i'm talking about not doing the things the Armenian church thinks are right and fit for all "good" Christians to do.

Hi Davit. I may be able to help.. i'm currently on a 1 month vac and can quickly design a website, depending on what you need on the site.. if it's something too professional, i'm afraid i can't help... but if what you want is a decent website design, then yeah... If you can't find ANYONE then I'm available.. lol... i don't think people would consider me a dedicated Christian.. but i'm willing to help regardless, if you can't find anyone who has the time/energy to put into it. good luck.

Edit note: A person who is qualified to comment on art would not dismiss any artist as a bad one, or imply that those who admire that artist's works are novices. Dali may be overrated, but that still doesn't mean he is right in dismissing his admirers as clueless. He may be qualified to have an opinion on art, but that doesn't mean that his opinions are facts, and that people who do not hold his opinion are wrong... there is no right or wrong in looking at a work of art and criticising/critiquing it...

Do I think you are using the argumentum ad hominem fallacy? Yes! Do I think you have no clue what you are talking about? Yes! Do I think you are turning your viewpoints about what constitutes great Art and lesser Art into facts? Absolutely! So do I think you're a novice? No. I think you're just clueless. That's what happens when you argue about something you don't know about - you make your cluelessness prone to discovery. Nice try anyway.

wow.. that's sad.. hmm. lol. it made me think about the possibility of men forcing women to pee standing up.. actually, i had a link to a page that talked about how women could pee like men.. lmao.. ok, i just found the link, view at it your own discretion lol. nothing explicit. http://www.restrooms.org/standing.html

Are you telling me I'm a novice? And you were calling ME pretentious? ... Wow... so, ok, all those who like Dali's paintings are novices. your next pointless point? I'm waiting.

If you believe that Dali's paintings are based only on the intellectual plain, then I have nothing more to say to you, as it'd be pointless to argue with you... a painting is considered a work of art because it represents something beautiful. art, n. The conscious production or arrangement of sounds, colors, forms, movements, or other elements in a manner that affects the sense of beauty, specifically the production of the beautiful in a graphic or plastic medium. If in the process, it makes people think to varying degrees, that's another issue.... I don't think Dali's paintings are not classified as art... Surrealism is not dead. There are a lot of surrealist painters... ok.. Jesus Christ, relax. i apologize if I offended you in any way by calling you "dude"..

Dali lacks real content? Dude.... that pic just makes you think, unlike any landscape by Van Gogh... You don't like Dali, that's fine, but don't just slam the guy down saying that he lacked real content... maybe for you he does lack content, but not for me and many others...

I haven't read all the answers, so I'm not following the discussion... but my favourite artist is Salvador Dali. That guy is a freakin' genius. Or maybe he was on opium.. just take a look at this one heh: http://dali.karelia.ru/images/works/1936_05.jpg There's a gallery of his works online: http://dali.karelia.ru/html/galleries.htm And for all the Van Gogh admirers: http://www.vangoghgallery.com/ And a great site that has European paintings from 1150-1800: http://www.kfki.hu/~arthp/ And this site is good too: http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/

I love slow dancing. I think it's romantic... uhhh... well, i don't really know.. hmm.. i'm not really fixed in my preferences, i can work around them depending on the person I'm with and the general mood at the time, but i'd say dinner somewhere in town or something, and then a long walk in the dark, holding hands. lol. ok ok i have no imagination whatsoever, but what can i do

my cousin who lives in residence @ MIT e-mailed this pic to me today http://www.cs.yorku.ca/~cs213198/snow.jpg it's not snowing here in Toronto today, but it was snowing like crazy a few days ago. I like snow. I just hate the mud.

Of course, every country has its faulty sides and failures, and every system needs improvement to become a better one, but well, as you said, the system in Cuba is of that nature because it is forcefully isolated from other nations (blockade).. I am unsure about the future of Cuba post-Castro, however... I have a feeling Cubans will stick to their own and maybe have a new leader in face of increasing U.$ threats... on the other hand, there is the fear that there might be a period of instability in the country after Castro dies, unless he has an immediate follower.. and U$A might step in, and all hell will break loose and I'm afraid that may be the end of the communist system in Cuba... I am afraid that the reason for allowing tourists into Cuba these days is exactly for that.. who knows how many agents U$A currently has in Cuba.. i have learned to expect the unexpected from U$ policies, that's why i might appear a bit paranoid at times. capitalism might take over Cuba - it all depends on the reaction of the general population in Cuba - whether or not they choose to live without Coca Cola, whether or not they prefer equality (accompanied by equal duties/work/workload/pay) to class hierarchies.. it all depends. no one can be sure. one human being is unpredictable enough, let along group behaviour and its consequences. U$ propaganda is, well, just that - propaganda... and propaganda is usually the result of either a failing/dying system/country/empire, or just another technique of provocation. And I wouldn't be surprised if it's both in the case of U$A... it's a technique that follows the philosophy of "divide to conquer"... in Cuba's case, i think it's just one of those vampirical sprees U$A seems to go on from time to time. not that it's not like that all the time lol.. but if you've ever observed the behaviour of U$A and its pattern of involvement in war in direct relation to its economy, you might have noticed that the downfall in the economy was not the result of the war/fears of terrorism, but the other way around, meaning that there was a downfall in US economy before the war, and that was partly why U$A indeed did go to war... that's my view on it. i'm not saying it's a fact.. just my 2 cents which were "gifted" to me by our great capitalistic brotherhood or sisterhood, whichever may be. lol. i believe that the U$ has a huge economy propaganda as well, not only news (also known as lies in American dictionaries) propaganda... Edit note: For a good satire on propaganda, read Kurt Vonnegut's Mother Night. If you've heard about Howard J. Campbell Jr., you will know what I'm talking about, and in case you don't know who he is: he was an American who went to Germany and was involved in the Nazi propaganda unit.. He was later captured and put on trial, and he committed suicide before they had reached a verdict. But it says a lot about propaganda, especially that the guy was an American. Kurt Vonnegut is absolutely brilliant. The book is very interesting, and a VERY quick read (I finished it the day I started it). I couldn't put it down. It's even funny at times. It makes you shake your head at some obvious truths that hadn't occured to you.

lmao.. don't they all? everyone who has been in USA long enough thinks he/she owns the country and can order newcomers to go in any direction they want. oh well.. such is human nature, i suppose.. i may be guilty of the same thing.. and immigration is an issue i have mixed feelings about, especially with the immigration laws here in Canada, that bring chinese folks by the thousands, and don't bring one Armenian or British or anyone else from Europe for stupid reasons, even though they might have Masters or PhD degrees, whereas the majority of Chinese immigrants come to the country and immediately collapse on the government and become a burden... O well, I will never understand Citizenship & Immigration Canada. and they deport Brazilians who had come here 10 years ago as immigrants, established a business and were productive... go figure. makes me angry. not to mention the thousands of illegal Chinese and Indians here in Toronto (and elsewhere in Canada). Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against Chinese and Indian people. I just dislike imbalance and think that the government is being hypocritical in claiming it's an equal opportunity and equality country... well, equal opportunity my ass. I'm done with my rant.

On second thought, I agree with Harut. Andorra, FC Macedonia, Finland << not very strong teams... but then again, I haven't seen enough of their play to know how they compare to Armenia, so I might be wrong.

I wasn't there when it happened, but I remember when my parents were talking about it.. I was 5 years old at the time.. A coupla years later, about 20 survivors of the earthquake came to our school. they were kids our age, and a lot of them were physically disabled. I remember it crystal clear. we gave them presents and sang with them. Such a thing shouldn't happen to anyone - any human being, regardless of race, nationality, etc. It's just sad. When one sees the faces of those orphaned and crippled children who survived the quake, it makes one think if all those wars are in fact worth one human life.

I agree. but that's not the image of communism painted by the U.$ government (which is the poster child of capitalism)... mainstream thinking says that communism is based on dictatorship. now, i know what MOST (not all) people think about Castro, and I'm not buying into the "dictator" claims.. Castro is not a dictator. True, he IS the head of the country, but he is not necessarily a dictator. Dictatorship is a different thing altogether. So communism CAN be and in theory IS a democracy. It is, moreover, a system of equality. Communism is NOT about Stalin-type dictatorship and tyranny. That is the wrong way to apply it. The right way to apply it is how Castro and Che Guevara did it. And Cuba is a living proof of it.

Now now, MJ... let's not get into what's pathological and what's not.... Yeah, I'm fixated on debating and its rules, but ummm, do you mind? The person I was talking to was trying to have a debate without making any sense. And mind you, I'm not saying that he/she didn't make sense 'cos I don't agree with him/her. It's just that people should be realistic about what they are saying and whether or not it is feasible, and frequently check whether they are being hypocritical - because improvement does not come by itself. It's usually the result of observation that is not blind...

lmao... riiiight. that's so true.. and sad. it also gives a bad picture of Armenians.. and then other Armenians say that when ppl talk things like that about them, they do that cos they are jealous of us... i mean, c'mon people, we gotta be realistic and see our faults too... eh?

lol, yeah, I am pretty sensitive when it comes down to people telling me what I should and should not do, and more often than not, I can't help it and start arguing, even though I said I wouldn't reply. Note to MJ -- see, I AM critical of myself. And no, I did not say the above just to prove to you that I am..lol...

Are you referring to me by that? Meaning that I live in Canada and put up both British and Armenian flags instead of the Canadian? <_< Well, for the record, I put up 4 flags, including the Canadian one. So... I don't think I qualify as distasteful. Or maybe I do..

I believe I am. I always debate with myself, meaning that I try to put myself in the situation of others dealing with me, as well as seeing it from my viewpoint. I don't think anyone can master debate if he/she is unable to defend any side he/she is cast on. So yes, I am critical of myself and I see my faults and failings. As the saying goes, ammen mart ir achkin mechi keraneh bedk eh desneh, ourishin achkin pousheh desnelen arach, or something like that... My Armenian is not the best, so correct me if I made any grammatical mistakes/errors.

Of course. I am as criticial of/about Brits as I am of/about Armenians.

Marx was a Marxist.

On the contrary. Being in an Armenian forum already implies that I am proud of being an Armenian and don't deny it... however, I'm also proud of the other half, and that's why I've put the British flag. It's not cos I'm pretentious or anything...