When DC was first chosen by George Washington, it was perfect diamond. But then the issue of slavery saw this beautiful 'dark crystal' shatter, when slave holders in Alexandria thought it was more keen to return to Virginia.
Monday, March 2, 2020
Alexandria DC Reunion Flag
When DC was first chosen by George Washington, it was perfect diamond. But then the issue of slavery saw this beautiful 'dark crystal' shatter, when slave holders in Alexandria thought it was more keen to return to Virginia.
Yukhari-Bukhudarli Flag - a Counter to the Nagorno-Karabakh Flag
The Azeri and Amenian go together like salt and pepper. Their names are so similar, yet they are people so different. There were drafted into Soviet Union, but when freedom tolled across the land a deadly game of payback between peoples commenced. Like Yugoslavia, a brutal ethnic cleansing left deep scars on Armenia and Azerbaijan. However, the war between these old roommates received little notice in the Western Media. In the aftermath, a divided land like Israel-to-Palestine or Cyprus-to-Northern Cyprus has put a barrier between to ancient sisters.
Sunday, March 1, 2020
North Kosovo Flag
The North Kosovo flag is based upon the Serbian flag mixed in with an element of Norgono-Karabakh flag. The Norgono-Karabakh element is the Atari Age nine pointed arrow that points towards the hoist. Basically this 2 bit graphic represents a region that outside of the 'Motherland.' In this case, the northern region of Kosovo is populated with Serbs who would rather be a part of Serbia, rather than Kosovo.
This flag is meant to educate and connect, provoking thought that all nations have parallel issues that can be resolved peacefully. As the trite expression We are All Connected expounds, we are all connected to Serbia and Kosovo. Remember WWI? Hopefully this flag shows that no nation suffers alone. Rather it is the hope that all parties involved, recognize that we are in this together. God Bless Serbia and Allah Bless Kosovo.
If not provoke a different way of looking at an old problem, this flag should bring a smile or chuckle.
Wednesday, February 26, 2020
Poles for the North, South, East, and West
The Cardinal Animal Poles are an organic system poles that point in the direction of North, South, East, and West. The animals on the finials always point toward the direction of the origin. Since Polar Bears are native to the North Pole they point Northward. On the other hand, Penguins are native to the Southern Hemisphere, thus they point Southward. Consequently, the Polar Bear and Polar Penguin are facing opposite directions.
These Cardinal Animal poles should be placed on the most Eastern, Western, Southern, and Northern point of schools and universities. Or at the compass head of an immobile direction indicator.
Also the colours of the pole should follow the pattern. They don't have to be exact copies. But since red pole of North is red due to the Northbound Red Star of Orion, known as "Beetle Juice." Also Santa is associated with the colour red. Thus the Blue South Pole is associated with the Southbound Blue Star of Orion, known as Rye-Jell." The Yellow Pole of the East is associated with a risen Yellow Sun of Morning. Finally a rainbow motif should be found on the Western Pole, as to represent the many colours of the setting sun, as the black darkness of night takes over from day. 
So there we have it, you can finally show off your East Pole with Rooster or West Pole with Jaguar. 
Monday, February 24, 2020
2020 Tokyo Olympic Medals Expanded
Every two years, the arguments for a 4th place medal arise. This persistent expansion, is loved by many. There are several good reasons for expansion. Namely it fits the way of the Olympics and mirrors the flag of the Olympics. There are five rings so let's have five medals? Note that Pewter like silver, gold, bronze and copper is mostly made of tin and was known to the ancients.
Let me repeat the argument...
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Fourth and fifth place certainly deserve something for their fortitude and so close effort! They don't even have to stand on the podium or get their flags raised. But maybe they can stand on the flanking left and right sides? Also if it's a team sport then only one member of the team can stand by the podium. When the Olympics started in 1896 there weren't as many nations participating as their are today. In fact their were only 14 nations, now there are over 200 participating nations.
5 Olympic Rings match with 5 Olympic Medals
So what would the metals be made up of? It really does not matter but it would make sense to have them made up of the constituent elements of bronze. Thus fourth place gets copper while fifth place gets tin.
So that would make 6th place the unlucky duck who just missed out..... but not completely!
Another idea that would take focus away from the national obsession for trophies, is to give out awards to the best 24 competitors. Since the Games are based on Greek culture why not give out ring trophies to the top 24 competitors? Just wait till you hear how we would do this!
24 Olympic Achievement Rings based on the Greek Alphabet from Alpha to Omega, for the top 24 places.
First it will promote Greek Culture, and thus the world will become familiar with Greek letters. Second, we all enjoy the games because of the Greeks, it's the right thing to do to honor the Greeks. Finally all those athletes who sacrificed so much certainly deserve something.
Thus 1st place gets the Alpha ring, the 2nd place gets the Beta ring, 3rd gets a Gamma ring, 4th gets a Delta ring, and 5th gets an Epsilon ring in addition to their medals the receive already.
6th place to 24th would not get a medal but only rings of their respective position. 6th gets a ring with Eta on it while 24th position gets a ring with Omega on it. The person or team in 25th does not get a Greek Ring, but only a token participant ring.
Doing this is in the spirit of the games for community and healthy competition, and in respect to the Greeks who started these games. If this is done, people all over the world will eventually know the Greek Alphabet through osmosis (my favorite Greek word).
If they ever expand the medal reward system, why not also crown 1st place with a wreath of olives too? Apparently in the original Greek Games only the winner received this olive branch token. Medals for 1st let alone 2nd and 3rd were modern contrivances.
Besides, wearing an Olympic medal in public after the games are over is a wee bit ostentatious, no? But the athletes who placed in the top 24 positions can still strut their stuff and inspire others with "Official Place Position Olympic Rings."
The rings of fist five places should match their medal position. Thus 1st place gets a golden ring, 2nd a silver ring, 3rd a bronze ring, 4th a copper ring, and 5th a tin ring. Places 6th and below get a regular ring made out of a less expensive metal than tin or some alloy of it.
These men and women worked hard and sacrificed time, money, and certain aspects of their youth. They deserve something. If any of these ideas are adopted then former Olympic athletes can easily show others a humble memento and inspire.
They can keep the fire of the Olympics shining wherever they go.
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Did you know that expanding the medal reward system has already happened for the modern Olympics? The first two Olympics at Athens & Paris only gave out official medals for first and second. And they did not give out any gold. Instead first place received a silver medal and second place got a bronze medal. If you placed third – you got nada.
It wasn’t until the first American Olympics in St. Louis that gold medals were handed out. So
if you think we shouldn’t add medals for fourth or fifth just because
it breaks with tradition – tradition has already been broken.
Furthermore, when you do the math on the ratio of prizes to participating nations the shift in numbers is staggering. During the first modern Olympics there were 14 participating nations competing for 2 medals (first and second). This
leads to a 1 out of 7 chance of randomly winning a medal. Basically, if
things were led to chance a nation had a 14% chance of winning a
medal.* When
they started handing out gold medals for first place at the St. Louis
Olympics the ratio actually increased to about 1 to 4, because there
were 3 medals to win for 12 participating nations (25% chance). Fast
forward to the Rio-2016 Olympics with 206 participating nations –
the ratio of winning a medal is about 1 to 69. In terms of a percentages that’s about a 1% chance of winning a medal.
Let’s
say they expand to five medals for the top five places, the ratio
changes to about 1 to 42, raising the chances of winning a medal a
measly 2%. So if you are worried that giving fourth and fifth a medal will devalue 1st, 2nd or 3rd - is one percent a big fuss?
Now
when you calculate the 24 ring-alphabet awards with 2016-Rio
Olympic numbers the pure chance ratio of winning ring is about 1 to 8.5 –
which is only 12%. Note 12% is a lot closer to the original ratio or percentage of the first modern Olympics at Athens.
So why not!? Think of all that hard work and sacrifice those athletes put into their training – the heartache, time, tears, sweat, and blood. Certainly they deserve a better shot at winning a medal or at least snatching a humble token of their dedication and fortitude. The time has come to expand the Olympic medal reward system.
An
expanded idea for the Olympic rings is that all participants get a
ring. If they place 24 or higher they get a Greek letter carved in it,
if they place 5th or higher they get a medal. Athletes who place 25th
or below get a ring with logo of the host nations choosing, perhaps the
year, place, and logo. Thus all athletes get a ring, some will get the
generic participant ring, some will get a Greek lettered ring, while a
few will get a coveted gold, silver, bronze, copper, and tin ring.
Finally since the Olympic flag has five rings - five medals make a harmonious whole for the five 'official' continents. This idea is consistent with the official Olympic Creed:
"THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN THE OLYMPICS IS NOT TO WIN BUT TO TAKE PART, JUST AS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN LIFE IS NOT THE TRIUMPH BUT THE STRUGGLE. THE ESSENTIAL THING IS NOT TO HAVE CONQUEORED BUT TO HAVE FOUGHT WELL" -PIERRE DE COUBERTIN
Image Source Podium: https://www.rt.com/news/russia-figure-skating-win-770/
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Sunday, February 16, 2020
Don't Tread on Me - Pitfall Rattle Snake Flag on the Atari 2600
One of the first and most famous snakes to appear in matrix of video games was in the 1982 classic by Activison: Pitfall! One of the many deadly hazards that the player had to avoid was the coiled up black snake.
https://www.activision.com/
Wednesday, February 12, 2020
Atari's H.E.R.O. Video Game Livery from 1984
One of the best games from the Golden Age of the Consul from Atari was H.E.R.O. However, due to the crash of video games in 1983, this wonder hero — Roderick Hero — was lost in the shrinking sauce as an icon of Atari age. Instead Pitfall Harry is perhaps the best Original Atari Idol to make into the modern age. In many ways Roderick (R. Hero) has superior game play and challenge that meets today's standard of game play. Really, if you HAVE a chance to play this game, it is worth your time. This is a golden nugget from the Golden Age of Video Games, that deserves its rightful place in the lore of Classic Video Games. Generations yet to be born will no doubt enjoy this game, it starts off easy... but as it progresses in difficulty... only the hardcore gamer can finish this unsung masterpiece.
The lightening bolt on blue neat unique choice for a sigil. Nonetheless it makes R. Hero a standout among the many icons that use bolts of thunder to represent their cause or person.
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