Friendship is the essence of orkut, and what better way to celebrate it than with a doodle for International Friendship Day?
International Friendship Day celebrations take place on the first Sunday of August. The spread and origin of this holiday are not yet well documented. Evidence from social networking sites indicates the holiday may have grown with the spread of the Internet, and is known in India, Bangladesh, and Malaysia. There is also some evidence that the day is celebrated in some South American countries. Digital communication modes such as the Internet and mobile phones may be helping to popularize the custom, since greeting friends en masse is now easier than before.
Those who promote the holiday in South Asia attribute the tradition of dedicating a day in honor of friends to have originated in the U.S. in 1935, but no suitable documentation of this has yet been found. Best friends day is celebrated on 8 June and is a different holiday. According to an Indian website, on this day people spend time with their friends and express love for them. The exchange of Friendship Day Gifts like flowers, cards and wrist bands is a popular tradition of this occasion. This year, Friendship Day will be celebrated on 1 August 2010. [Read more on Wikipedia]
Arthur Merric Bloomfield Boyd, AC, OBE (24 July 1920 – 24 April 1999) was a member of the prominent Boyd artistic dynasty in Australia, with many relatives being painters, sculptors, architects or other arts professionals. His sister Mary Boyd married John Perceval, and then Sidney Nolan, both artists. His wife Yvonne Boyd née Lennie, and son Jamie and daughters Polly and Lucy are also painters. Boyd is best known for his experimental and sometimes complex painting of figures and impressionist, pastoral landscapes. He was a member of the Antipodeans, a group of Melbourne painters that also included Clifton Pugh, David Boyd, John Brack, Robert Dickerson, John Perceval and Charles Blackman. [Read more on Wikipedia]
Alphonse Maria Mucha, first name from the Czech Alfons (24 July 1860 – 14 July 1939), was a Czech Art Nouveau painter and decorative artist, best known for his distinct style and his images of women. He produced many paintings, illustrations, advertisements, and designs.
Peder Severin Krøyer (23 July 1851 - 21 November 1909), known as P.S. Krøyer, was a Norwegian-Danish painter. He is one of the best known and beloved, and undeniably the most colorful of the Skagen Painters, a community of Danish and Nordic artists who lived, gathered or worked in Skagen, Denmark, especially during the final decades of the 1800s. Krøyer was the unofficial leader of the group. [Read more on Wikipedia]
If you happen to find yourself walking through Viljandi, Estonia, don't be surprised if you're overwhelmed by the sound of music pulsing through the air. This just means that you've stumbled onto one of the country's largest music festivals.
Traditionally held at the end of July, Viljandi Folk Festival completely transforms the city: thousands of people, mostly students, fill the streets, checking out parties, concerts, and shows. To celebrate this festival, the orkut team decided to make a special doodle:
The Viljandi Folk Music Festival is a music festival in Estonia with a central focus on European folk music. It is traditionally held during the last weekend of July, when the otherwise quiet city of Viljandi is completely transformed as the small city center is suddenly flooded with people. The main attraction of the festival is the friendly atmosphere. Over 25,000 people attend the concerts every year, but many more just come to take part in the festivities. As such, it is the largest annual music festival in Estonia, and one of the largest folk music festivals in Europe.
The festival itself has grown from a more traditional Estonian folklore festival to a massive enterprise with an increasing number of international celebrities. Even some of the key native bands headlining the festival could easily be classified as folk rock (Vägilased) and even folk metal (Oort). The modern and popular music influences makes it highly appealing to the youth and almost all university students have been to the festival before they graduate, but hardcore fans of Estonian ethnic music prefer the more traditional festival held in Võru (south Estonia). [Read more on Wikipedia]
Nam June Paik (July 20, 1932 – January 29, 2006) was a Korean-born American artist. He worked with a variety of media and is considered to be the first video artist.
Paik is credited with an early usage (1974) of the term "super highway" in application to telecommunications. [Read more on Wikipedia]
Josef Frank (July 15, 1885, in Baden bei Wien – January 8, 1967, in Stockholm) was an Austrian-born architect, artist, and designer who adopted Swedish citizenship in the latter half of his life. Together with Oskar Strnad, he created the Vienna School of Architecture, and its concept of Modern houses, housing and interiors. [Read more on Wikipedia]
Naomi Shemer (Hebrew: נעמי שמר; July 13, 1930 - June 26, 2004) was a leading Israeli songwriter hailed as the "first lady of Israeli song". [Read more on Wikipedia]
Today's doodle is inspired by the Obon Festival, a highly traditional event (over 500 years old!) in Japan and around the world honoring one's ancestors. Each year, throngs of people gather to witness and participate in the Bon Odori folk dance and launch paper lanterns on rivers– hoping to light the return path of their ancestor's souls.
Obon (お盆) or just Bon (盆) is a Japanese Buddhist custom to honor the departed (deceased) spirits of one's ancestors. This Buddhist custom has evolved into a family reunion holiday during which people return to ancestral family places and visit and clean their ancestors' graves, and when the spirits of ancestors are supposed to revisit the household altars. It has been celebrated in Japan for more than 500 years and traditionally includes a dance, known as Bon-Odori.
The festival of Obon lasts for three days; however its starting date varies within different regions of Japan. When the lunar calendar was changed to the Gregorian calendar at the beginning of the Meiji era, the localities in Japan reacted differently and this resulted in three different times of Obon. "Shichigatsu Bon" (Bon in July) is based on the solar calendar and is celebrated around 15 July in areas such as Tokyo, Yokohama and the Tohoku region. "Hachigatsu Bon" (Bon in August) is based on the solar calendar, is celebrated around the 15th of August and is the most commonly celebrated time. "Kyu Bon" (Old Bon) is celebrated on the 15th day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar, and so differs each year. "Kyu Bon" is celebrated in areas like the northern part of the Kantō region, Chūgoku, Shikoku, and the Southwestern islands. These three days are not listed as public holidays but it is customary that people are given leave. [Read more on Wikipedia]
The festival of San Fermín (or Sanfermines) in the city of Pamplona (Navarre, Spain), is a deeply rooted celebration held annually from 12:00, 6 July, when the opening of the fiesta is marked by setting off the pyrotechnic chupinazo, to midnight 14 July, with the singing of the Pobre de Mí. While its most famous event is the encierro, or the running of the bulls, the week-long celebration involves many other traditional and folkloric events. It is known locally as Sanfermines and is held in honor of Saint Fermin, the co-patron of Navarre. Its events were central to the plot of The Sun Also Rises, by Ernest Hemingway, which brought it to the general attention of English-speaking people. It has become probably the most internationally renowned fiesta in Spain. Over 1,000,000 people come to watch this festival. [Read more on Wikipedia]
Frida Kahlo de Rivera (July 6, 1907 – July 13, 1954; born Magdalena Carmen Frieda Kahlo y Calderón) was a Mexican painter, born in Coyoacán. Perhaps best known for her self-portraits, Kahlo's work is remembered for its "pain and passion", and its intense, vibrant colors. Her work has been celebrated in Mexico as emblematic of national and indigenous tradition, and by feminists for its uncompromising depiction of the female experience and form. [Read more on Wikipedia]
Every day, 6.7 billion people view the world through their own unique lens. Imagine if there was a way to collect all of these perspectives, to aggregate and mold them into the cohesive story of a single day on earth.
Today, YouTube announced to launch of “Life in a Day,” a historic cinematic experiment that will attempt to do just that: document one day, as seen through the eyes of people around the world. On July 24, you have 24 hours to capture a snapshot of your life on camera. You can film the ordinary -- a sunrise, the commute to work, a neighborhood soccer match, or the extraordinary -- a baby’s first steps, your reaction to the passing of a loved one, or even a marriage.
Kevin Macdonald, the Oscar-winning director of films such as The Last King of Scotland, Touching the Void and One Day in September, will then edit the most compelling footage into a feature documentary film, to be executive produced by Ridley Scott, the director behind films like Gladiator, Black Hawk Down, Thelma & Louise, Blade Runner and Robin Hood. LG Electronics is supporting “Life in a Day” as a key part of its long-standing Life’s Good campaign and to support the creation of quality online content that can be shared and enjoyed by all.
The film will premiere at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and if your footage makes it into the final cut, you’ll be credited as a co-director and may be one of 20 contributors selected to attend the premiere.
Want to take part? Here’s what to do.
1. Visit the “Life in a Day,” channel and learn more about the project. Be sure to read through the steps you need to take to participate and the guidelines for creating your video(s). Also check out some of the sample videos for inspirational ideas.
2. On July 24, capture your day on camera.
3. Upload your footage to the “Life in a Day,” channel any time before July 31.
Regardless of whether your footage makes it into the final film, your video(s) will live on on the “Life in a Day,” channel as a time capsule that will tell future generations what it was like to be alive on July 24, 2010.
Reuben Lucius Goldberg (July 4, 1883 – December 7, 1970) was a Jewish American cartoonist, sculptor, author, engineer, and inventor. Goldberg is best known for a series of popular cartoons he created depicting complex devices that perform simple tasks in indirect, convoluted ways – now known as Rube Goldberg machines. Goldberg received many honors in his lifetime including a Pulitzer Prize for his political cartooning in 1948 and the Banshees' Silver Lady Award 1959.
Goldberg was a founding member and the first president of the National Cartoonists Society, and is the name sake of the Reuben Award which the organization awards to the Cartoonist of the Year. He is the inspiration for various international competitions, known as Rube Goldberg contests, which challenge participants to make a complex machine to perform a simple task. [Read more on Wikipedia]
Think riding a bike is easy? Try riding one for 2240 miles with only 2 days of rest. Sound crazy? Well if you’re competing in this year’s Tour de France, that’s exactly what you’ll be doing.
This year, the Tour de France is celebrating its 97th anniversary, and is certain to continue its tradition of bringing together some of the world’s top cyclists for a fierce and grueling competition.
It’s a sight to behold, so the orkut team thought they’d create a doodle to pay tribute to all of the athletes and their fans:
