ME and Ophelia

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PRESIDENTIAL HOPEFUL HOWARD DEAN
Now chairs Democratic Party

Dear Jim Moore and many other Americans will be pleased with this news. Former presidential hopeful Howard Dean has taken the reins of the Democratic Party, saying there is much work to be done, Democrats need to reclaim the debate from Republicans, compete in every election, and turn the party's structure upside down. (Click here for full story).



Photo: Outgoing Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe (R) and incoming Chairman Howard Dean (L) celebrate after Dean gave his acceptance speech during the DNC Winter Meeting in Washington, DC. Feb 12 2005 (AFP/Alex Wong)
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New York opens up its golden Gates

New Yorkers woke up yesterday to a "river of gold" running through Central Park as the saffron coloured panels of The Gates, a gigantic £11m art installation by the Bulgarian born artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude, were unfurled, says the Sunday Times today.

Hundreds of volunteers in grey and orange tunics designed by Christo gathered along 23 miles of the park's pathways, planted with 7,500 16-foot high vinyl frames, to shake loose the billowing pleated fabric. It provided a splash of sunrise 26 years in the making.

What its meaning is, none can say. "The Gates is the result of simply a lot of love for each other, and a lot of love for art. Nothing more. It's only a work of art," Jeanne-Claude demurred.

Christo and Jeanne-Claude, both 69, provided the money to erect the art work out of their own pockets and hope to recoup the costs through the sale of Christo's lithographs, collages and drawings of The Gates.

The project is not designed to last. The Gates will be taken down after 16 days and the material recycled in a deliberate tribute to the transience of art.

"The Gates" are open - all 7,500 of them. The biggest art project in New York City's history debuted Saturday in Central Park with the unfurling of saffron-coloured fabric banners suspended in 16-foot-high frames, providing a splash of sunrise 26 years in the making. The Gates project, created by artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude, officially opened in New York's Central Park on February 12, 2005.

The giant $21 million art project The Gates," filled the park's 23 miles of pathways as thousands of saffron-colored portals blossomed yesterday.

The large scale project uses approximately 7500 gates placed on over 23 miles of walkways throughout Central Park.



Photo: A bird's eye view of the art exhibit 'The Gates, Central Park, New York, 1979-2005' as it snakes around Central Park in New York City. The work is displayed along 23 miles of paved paths.(AFP/Getty Images/Spencer Platt)

"I came for this. It's poetry in motion. It's for the moment — a kind of Zen," said Barbara Knorr, a German-speaking visitor who came from Switzerland just to see the exhibit created by Christo and Jeanne-Claude.

"The Gates" is the pair's first major project in New York City. It features 7,500 frames with their hanging orange-tinted fabric, creating what the artists billed as "a visual golden river" along 23 miles of footpaths in the park. Click here for a photo slide-show. It's amazing. What a great boost for the people of New York and tourism.