Well...I'm totally freaked out.

Sorry I've not been hanging around ToS all that much, being the busy and diverse olde farte I've been (hmm...how to say "olde farte" in Na'vi escapes me at the moment...) :D

But today I was listening to Pandora Radio....wandered back into the den and as I sat down a track from Avatar came up on my station. Well, heck, I thought....gotta schmooze over to ToS and see what's up.

And I had no idea that today was the exact two year anniversary of the US release of Avatar. Two years since I nearly lost it in a movie theater, and two years since I was transported.

Aytsmukan si aytsmuke ... I seriously think there's something to Eywa ...or whatever others would call it.... that transcends the film. How connected we all really, really are..... gobsmacked, am I.

This morning as ma yawne and I were just lying in bed together, we were having this discussion about other groups of people that we had each seen, but before, and now that we are together, that had been founded on a false premise, or attempted to grow, or remain amid the hypocrisy of their members, or practices.
We discussed that while Star Wars, and Star Trek were technically good movies for their time, they were escapist, while Avatar is the finest Allegory of where our planet, and the effect that those who serve only power and greed are having on it.
we were thinking that while it would be counter productive for us to become "eco-terrorists" on this planet, committing acts of sabotage on the companies that are raping this planet, we can and should walk without footprints upon this planets ecosystems as much as possible.
I think that many people are aware of the power of boycott. If a company produces a product, and rapes the environment to do so, and if the general public can be mobilized to NOT buying that product from that company, but rather buys another product, from another company that acts in a more
eco-sensitive manner, the irresponsible company will go out of business as surely as if all of their equipment was destroyed, but the actions of the people causing the collapse of the business would be totally legal.
It is our earnest wish that as the sequels are released, that our family grows exponentially, and realizes, and then exercises it's financial power.
Eywa ngahu

Feels like yesterday we were celebrating the one year, making that film for james, alan!
And now its finally two years. How time flies. Truly unbelievable. I raise my glass today for everone here, and james cameron who two years ago released the film the changed all of us. Irayo!

Kaltxi HotG :hi: Oel ngati kameie ma tsmukan.

Yeah I know. Hard to imagine really. I posted a link to our Irayo film halfway down on the previous page. Kind thought it would be good to share it again.

I wonder what James Cameron is doing now? Will he be celebrating and thinking back on how it all turned out compared to what he thought it might be like? I wonder...

Alan

When I bought the CE blu-ray, I was thinking to myself that now I will finally watch it again, but somehow I feel, a revulsion of sorts when I think about it.

I mean my last time was one of the last remaining original theatrical showings in February 2010, and since then I just don't feel like watching it anymore. I don't really know why. There is this strange apathy about where I don't care about a lot of things, and when the things I do care about are unavailable, it is as if everything else just feels so meaningless.

That is the worst feeling, but I know exactly what you mean. It's terrible, because the boredom breeds more boredom.

I leave it on while I'm doing things, but today will be the first day I've seen it since the meetup :)

HAPPY AVATAR DAY EVERYONE!! It's hard to believe that it's 2 yrs since AVATAR came out and look at where we are today. Thanks to AVATAR , my eyes were opened and I learned "to see" my life and the world around me. The best part of it all is the wonderful friendships I have made over the last couple of years thanks to a common bond and interest we have all shared; AVATAR.

Hope everyone had a beautiful day and thank you all for the fantastic friendships and the love you have shown me. Oel ngati kameie. Irayo ma ayeylan. :):kiss:;)

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net...15909470_n.jpg

Indeed, but boredom and apathy aren't really synonyms that way, because boredom means that you can't do anything you would want to do, while apathy means you don't want to do anything. In other words, boredom breeds apathy.

Miss Tammie, beautiful Happy Avatar Day card! :awesome:

I was reading the posts & thinking: "Yes, yes... I feel this way, too!" but this pic really clicked me back into "the Avatar feeling". I don't know how to describe it but you, the family, surely know what I mean :rolleyes:

the other day I was talking to a relative about "my forum" :awesome::love:, the upcoming 2012 Uniting The Clans meetup, Our Only Home video... she said: "Wow, this movie seems to have really changed the world!"

Well... yeah! it changed us - we are part of the world - so hell yeah, it did change the world! Way to go :)

There is a thing we could call inertia of spirit. There are probably those who make their millions from raping the earth, that probably saw the movie, (it WAS that popular), who then thought, "Great graphics, REALLY cool model making, and a state of the art computer system has made an escapist story VERY believable".
Those of us who were already struggling to live within the bounds of environmental sanity, and those who were open minded, but somewhat undecided as to what the ecological truths were, took a different message from the experience, however. They, meaning WE, took it as a call to action. A story line that was fictional, for the sake of entertainment, but the underlying thrust of the movie was a great allegory on just what is happening to the planet.
Has the movie CHANGED that much? I don't think so, what it HAS done though, is brought more folks to the realization of how badly unbridled greed can blind people, and institutions to it's dark underbelly.
I think that it has solidified the battle lines, so to speak, in the upcoming war of the minds over the future of this planet.
Ateyo te syaksyuk and I moved out to the county in Texas with, by far, the lowest population density. Purely rural, consisting of very spread out farms and ranches that are measured not in acres, but in sections.
Seven years after we moved out here in 2003, it was discovered that there are Rare Earth deposits under three of the mountains in Hudspeth County. two of them within thirty miles of our place.
There is this desert lizard that is indigenous to this area that has been declared endangered, that will shut down a lot of oil drilling in the several hundred square mile area that we live in the middle of, but will likely not even slow down the exploratory drilling at the base of those mountains because of the magic six words, "In the Interest of National Security".
We will see what happens, but as the quality of life, and environmental purity of this county goes straight into the toilet, the land values will go right through the ceiling. When we lose all the legal challenges that we can mount
against the firms that can smell the many millions that can be made ripping the earth open, (The only REALISTIC "war" we can make on "the company"), and Eywa does not come to our aid, the two of us will sell our 80 acres with it's private airstrip for a bunch of money, get a large sailboat, and sail it down to one of the largely uninhabited island Archipelagos, and SHOOT ANYONE who comws within gun scope equipped range of our boat.
Moderators are welcome to cross post this if they wish.
Niri Te

Take me with you

Kaltxi TheIknimaya :nhi: Great to see you around again. Don't be a stranger. You could always meet everyone in Seattle next year ;)

I'm wearing one of my Avatar T-shirts too! I always seem to these days...well ever since I first got one. I carry 'my' Avatar with me. Help me maintain that tsahaylu that, for me, was made on 22nd December 2009.

Kaltxi Miss Tammy :hi: Irayo ma tsmuke fpi nga ti'eylan. Oel ngati kameie...in seattle ;)

That picture says it all, doesn't it....

Kaltxi Apache ma tsmuke. :hi: Yeah, we all know what you mean.

For many of us it was a shock to the system, but we have all taken that feeling and evolved to open up to how things could...should be. Our friendships, that have been cemented in places like this, I hope will last a life time. I also hope that we can all truely make a difference in our own little way to leaving our home in a better state than how it was handed to us by those before. It is a challenge we can not brush aside...

Eyway ngahu ma eylan,

Alan

^^^^I meant this sort of change: the consciousness, the awareness, the seeing sort of change. Not that Avatar changed me - but it made me See things more clearly, in some way it "put me more in touch with myself" so to speak. It's like having a 40 KW lightbulb in the garage, and Avatar comes and puts a 100 kW bulb - everything is what it was, nothing is added or removed, but one sees it now so much better - everything, the cobwebs, the dust, some bats & bugs maybe ("oh sh**) - but also one can see a bicycle one forgot existed because it was always half-dark in the garage, or maybe one shall even discover a treasure chest. Or something.

I'd say not only "make a difference in our own little way" but "within our possibilities, responsibilities, and arm's reach" - & here we can think of many things. Some people can do little changes in everyday life like in OOH video - but some (from 9 countries) "reached their arms out" to create it, like you. It's a whole new level. "My arm" reached to make the subtitles & start sending the link around to "all God" like they say here in Spain - & people get interested. Niri Te will battle for the cause worth fighting for as much & as long as possible - & then do something else "within an arm's reach". Some NGO's arms are even longer. Or, imagine a politician sees Avatar, gets a shock to the system, "starts seeing" & introduces a green-minded law, like reducing CO2 emissions or something. I know it sounds like wishful thinking ("you can say I'm a dreamer" :P), but, really, one can do as much as one can do - & this "can do" vary from person to person(s). "Instead of cursing the darkness, let's each light a lamp".

The thing with this one is that most of the problems we face now, are the result of short-sighted behaviour of previous generations, but also due to the fact how the whole system of finance is about to come crashing down due to its inherent flaws, and is in danger of taking too much stuff with it as it goes. Like it's not bad enough that we received a broken train, but one which doesn't even have any brakes and we are headed off a cliff. And the sad thing is that I think I'd rather go with the train when it reaches the cliff than stay behind and struggle.

Hehehe. I know what you mean. I recall Sempu saying something similar a while back. It is like the 'wattage' has been been turned up and is shining brightly. We can now see properly. The only downside is that it is not always pleasant what we end up seeing.

You're right Apache. It is a range from doing little things to reaching that bit further. Maybe little things we can do ourselves, possibly the odd reach here and there. But together....that's a potent mix!

I see your point. The thing is I guess money is a good servant, but a bad master. It seems it has been the master for too long. People have placed too much trust in it. The thing is, because it is something that us humans have created, it has flaws in it, which we are now finding out.

The trick is to use this as an opportunity to change, to see things through new eyes. Maybe this is the tipping point where things can turn the corner to a better way?

Aquaplant, don't get on that 'train' and miss the potential to make this a better place and say 'I did that... I know what the right way was and others are playing catch up'.

Alan

The thing is that I don't want go the right way, because that is not a place for the likes of me. I'm one of those people who hated the movie WALL-E, especially the ending. I'm not willing to give up my comforts when everything fails, so I'd rather take my own way out when that happens.

I watched the original cut on the anniversary... It was the first time I had watched it since I got the CE, it was actually interestingly different.

I like the original opening much more, but the missing scenes seem really jarring to me now. It was still a good viewing though :)

Can't believe it's been this long. I'll be around a little more hopefully! :)

Well, fair doos ma 'eylan. I must admit I'm not one for the mushy stuff...although I have weakened over the past 2 years - ;) The thing is I can't see why we can't keep the comforts we have. All we need to do, and do rather rapidly, is make it sustainable. As an engineer I really do see it as possible. We have the technology here - now - to do this. It is just that those with 'power', like car manufacturers, oil giants, the big bankers etc, etc hold it all back. The outlook might seem bleak as a result. But over the years I have seen the need to be sustainable become more and more the norm. We need to continue in this light and it will be a place for the likes of you and all of us. Well that is my sincere hope anyway and I will try and do my bit.

Interesting HNM. I'm hoping to have an Avatar 'day' over the Christmas holiday so I can reaquaint myself with an old friend. But which version shall I choose...hmmm :rolleyes:

In fact tomorrow, 22nd December, will be my 2 year anniversary and where will I be? In work! MEH! But I remember standing at the entrance to the cinema in an absolute daze having just watched Avatar as if it were yesterday.

Hey, The Man in Black! Long time no see ma tsmukan. It's been a while since I've seen your image on the forum.:hi: By the way have you heard there is an Avatar Meet up happening next year in Seattle? There is more info at www.avatarmeet.com ;)

Alan

This really brightens up my day, or night as it currently is, but still.

Thank you.

By the way, what do you mean by mushy stuff?

I try to think the same way and hope for this, even if at times it doesn't seem likely :(

I'm glad ma 'eylan. I read plenty of engineering journals that have articles covering sustainable technology. Even the company I work for is developing tidal power generation technology. (Tidal energy - Rolls-Royce)

As for 'mushy stuff', well I mean sort of 'they all liked happily ever after skipping off into the sunset holding hands, whispering sweet nothings into each other's ears'. If you get my drift.

I'm glad you hope so too ma tsmuke, but it is only us, all of us who can do something about it. We have to make that choice to life differently. It doesn't have to be a massive change. Just little things like fitting energy saving light bulbs or turning the tap off whilst cleaning your teath and so on. Right through to being more active in doing stuff like...campaigning for better public transport to help drive car usage down and give people a choice to travel by alternative means....or trying to get 'green' initives going at school, like setting up some solar panels or a wind turbine. The scope is as narrow or as broad as you want it to be. The important think is that we all make an effort, because nothing will happen if we don't at least try to make a difference.

Alan

I understand that those curly new light bulbs emit a toxic gas when broken. Srak?
Niri te si oe use solar energy to power our mini laptops and satellite receiver! Rools royce using tidal energy? Tsantsan!

So, what's the official Avatar Day then? I want to mark it Blue & Purple in my calendar.... Oh, wait! I want an Avatar Calendar! :awesome: does anybody know where to get it?

I saw one someone had made on DA, but I don't recall the URL right now. And I think it was for 2011.

- Mikko ... finds it amusing that this post, his 404th, is about a missing URL.

December 16-18th depending on location, it was everywhere by the 18th.

There's an Avatar day?

It's what we've called the day of the release each year :)

I remembered the day... but didnt celebrate it... sadly. I'll never forgive myself for that. I love you all and think about this community... this second family... daily. Unfortunantly due to internet issues (again) i have not been contributing to things here as much but i'm still here... I love you all... thank you for being here

Eywa ngahu

There are many things to never forgive yourself for Stanley. Not celebrating the second Avatar day is very much not among them. Even for diehard Avatar fans. Honest. :cool: :) :hi:

Yeah Stanley, perhaps it was a disturbance in a temporal warp or something that caused you to be on a different timescale. You remembered now, and that's all that matters.

We don't think any less of you for that, you're still a Na'vi where it matters :)

I only spent a couple of hours on Avatar on the day due to being away for most of the day. In the end, it's HOW we feel, not when.

Hey, Stan... Like the rest say above, worry not. I was actually in a manufacturing meeting at the exact time that marked two years since I first saw Avatar for me. At 10:30 I kinda perked up to see the time and immediately got lost in may thoughts from my first Avatar experience. Fortunately I did not have much input into the meeting - hehehe. Just as well, I was on Pandora!

If it makes you feel better you can always come to Seattle in July for some serious Avatar theorapy with the rest of us. I recommend the experience. ;)

Eywa ngahu rakrr,

Alan

Thanks aytsmukan! It was kinda a joke, a little, not completely beating myself up for it or anything =^_^=

And HNM

that made my night

I've been waiting to post on this thread until now...Exactly 2 years ago to the minute I was walking out of the theater after seeing Avatar for the first time...What a mind-blowing experience that was!!!!!

Little did I know how Avatar was to change my life & how many times I would see it before it left the theaters........

Heres to all that We have seen, done & accomplished---THERE is so much to do in this world to set things right again & not have Avatar be a "real" vision of our future!!!!! :shock:

I hope it's the same in one way: I'd love for us to find alien life that soon!

Yesterday was my two year anniversary.

Haven't seen the movie in over a year, but the feelings are still just as strong. PAD/E. Now for a few weeks of intellectual/emotional/spiritual contemplation on the dreamworld we all share...

I watched Avatar (original version) on Friday 30th December last week for the first time since the group showing at the June meet up in Seattle. It was the closest I could get to my 2 year anniversary (22nd Dec).

Boy did it have the same effect :'(...and that felt good in a strange way that I know you will understand. Reminded me why I am still here with all you good aysmukan sì aysmukan.:)

I then had the pleasure of chatting with two Avatar aysmukan on Skype. Wow...just showed me how far I have come. Irayo James Cameron and your team for Avatar.:hi:

Alan