Pregnant women breakdancing?

Pregnant woman were out in droves to breakdance to draw attention to a good cause. It happened in London in September 2008. The stats say it all: every day 1,400 women die in labor and child birth. Here's the video: BTW, at the end of the video, you'll hear that the women who were actually breakdancing were not actually pregnant.

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All-too-human art

In a recent article appearing in Nature, "More Than Skin Deep," Martin Kemp asks what we are to think of Andrew Krasnow's work of art entitled "Flag from Flag Poll." The artwork is a 2 meter long American Flag made out of human skin. Consider, also, the online exhibit entitled "Making Visible Embryos," by Tatjana Buklijas and Nick Hopwood. In Nature, Alison Abbott describes the exhibit as "the story of how embryos have been depicted."

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Finding Comfort in Balboa Park

Outside the Science Center: evangelists galore! A tall red banner emblazoned with a cross speaks of human rights violations. According to the banner it is illegal in 52 countries to do what this man in black does. He shouts: "JESUS IS THE ONLY WAY! Going to church won't save you! Doing good works won't save you! YOU MUST ACCEPT JESUS!" It's hard to hear over the mariachi band, a long-haired waif playing kindergarten ditties on his guitar and another woman calling out to passersby behind a table covered in brochures. I stroll past a circle of teenagers dressed all in black, waving their arms and stepping in time to Radiohead. This grimacing bevy of stricken blackbirds has drawn a crowd. They've obviously choreographed their wordless skit. But what is it that they're getting all worked up about? Participants switch out of this dancing, grimacing bevy of stricken blackbirds.

Are they Jesus People, too? "That's what I've been trying to figure out," mutters a sun-browned, wrinkly man in banana-yellow bike shorts. "They're wearing the same T-shirts." I nod and start to speak, but Bike Shorts has already pedaled off on his mountain bike, taking his quizzical mug and silent opinions with him. It's probably for the best. I don't like discussing religion with complete strangers anyway.

Across the lawn, a fortune teller gesticulates at a client across a round table decorated with a crystal ball and the customary jewel-toned tablecloth. A rapt young woman nods back earnestly. How much did she pay the ball-reader, I wonder. I hesitate to whip out my camera because the fortune teller is watching me watch her.

I'm an agnostic, but I can't help thinking that all anybody here wants on this gorgeous day is some relief from anxiety, uncertainty and doubt. We want to hear that if we studiously follow the prescribed cure, jump through hoops and submit ourselves humbly to a wiser being, no matter how silly the prescriptions may seem, things will be okay.

I know the feeling well. I came to the park for comfort, too. I found some in this:

portrait bp-bench-shoes Niki Sculpture Outside Mingei

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Saint Francis Xavier Church – a midtown St. Louis landmark

Two nights ago, I was riding a bicycle past a midtown St. Louis landmark, Saint Francis Xavier Church, better known as "College Church," due to its location on the Jesuit campus of St. Louis University. I know this campus well, in that I am a graduate of the SLU School of Law. I've often enjoyed this architecture--I decided to stop to take this photo.

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