Cool animation of 17th Century London

Cool animation of 17th century London (pre fire) done by a group of students from De Monfort University.  You can check out their blog at Pudding Lane Productions. 


(via Openculture.com)

The Universe in a Glass of Wine

Eight Writers and the Walks That Inspired Them

 (Click for a larger version via  The New York Times) 

THE TRANSCENDENCE - Jason Silva, David Lynch, Terence Mckenna, Ram Dass, Russel Brand

via graham hancock)

Terence McKenna - Reclaim your mind

The Future of us: Transcension Hypothosis

The Future of Us: Transcension Hypothosis

Sun Gazing 101

Super Human Abilities Confirmed by NASA...

The Internet often can have some way out there concepts, ideas, conspiracies, which all have their place in the human story. But this is one of the most intriguing ideas I've come across in a while. The idea is that instead of getting our nutrition from the "normal" way we can get all we need from "Sun gazing (also known as sun-eating) [which] is the strict practice of gradually introducing sunlight into your eyes at the lowest ultraviolet-index times of day – sunrise and sunset."

Read on at the link above or watch the documentaries below and start staring at the sun.

The Art of Meditation - Alan Watts

A couple of the latest videos from Deltron 3030

City Rising from the Ashes (ft. Mike Patton)


Melding of the Minds (ft. Zack De La Rocha)

The World Outside My Window - Time Lapse of Earth from the ISS

Awesome time lapse Footage from the ISS






(Via IO9.com)

The overview effect... Awesome!

"On the 40th anniversary of the famous ‘Blue Marble’ photograph taken of Earth from space, Planetary Collective presents a short film documenting astronauts’ life-changing stories of seeing the Earth from the outside – a perspective-altering experience often described as the Overview Effect."

OVERVIEW from Planetary Collective on Vimeo.

Thanks 2E for bringing this to my attention. Coob.

Finding planets

Nasa's Hubble telescope finds signs of water of five distant planets.
(via the Independent)

"Nasa has reported that “faint signatures of water” have been found in the atmospheres of five planets outside our solar system, marking a further development in the search for planets capable of supporting alien life." read the rest


Alien Super-Earths Plentiful in Exoplanet Search.
(via space.com) 

"Observations using space-based and ground-based telescopes have indicated that a new class of objects dubbed super-Earths – worlds that are about two to 10 times our planet's mass and up to two times its radius – could be among the most common type of planets orbiting other stars." read the rest

Reality on the radio waves

The BBC radio show, The Infinite Monkey Cage, had a very interesting discussion on consciousness.  One of my favourites, Alan Moore, is on the panel. 
Check the show out here. 

Mmmm...Tasty electric impulses

Taste Simulator Lets You Relish Virtual Food

Discovery News 

"A team of researchers led by Nimesha Ranasinghe at the National University of Singapore have developed a digital simulator capable of transmitting the taste of virtual food and drink to the tongue...
The device consists of a small silver electrode attached to the tip of the tongue. By slightly alternating the current and temperature of the semiconductor, taste receptors can be fooled by signals that replicate the four major tastes: salty, sweet, sour and bitter."

Inner Space and quantum Space

NASA gets itself a quantum computer.  What are their plans?

"According to physicist David Deutsch, a quantum system can work on a million computations at once while a standard desktop PC works on just one. Put another way, a 30-qubit system would be equal in processing power to a traditional 10 teraflop machine, which crunches trillions of operations each second.
These computers will help us find the most expedient solution to a complex problem. As such, they're poised to revolutionize the way we go about data analysis and optimization — including such realms as air traffic control, courier routing, protein modeling, weather prediction, database querying, and hacking tough encryption schemes."

Read the rest. 

(via IO9)


A Neuroscientist's Radical Theory of How Networks become Consciousness

"It’s a question that’s perplexed philosophers for centuries and scientists for decades: Where does consciousness come from? We know it exists, at least in ourselves. But how it arises from chemistry and electricity in our brains is an unsolved mystery.
Neuroscientist Christof Koch, chief scientific officer at the Allen Institute for Brain Science, thinks he might know the answer. According to Koch, consciousness arises within any sufficiently complex, information-processing system. All animals, from humans on down to earthworms, are conscious; even the internet could be. That’s just the way the universe works."

Read the rest on Wired.com

(via Grahamhancock.com)

The Wisdom of Robert Anton Wilson

Pretty awesome talk about Robert Anton Wilson by John Higgs. 

How Can You Be So Radical?

RIP "Buttons" Kaluhiokalani

Marilyn Monroe and James Joyce

Saw this Eva Arnold photo of Marilyn Monroe reading 'Ulysses':

Which then lead me to this awesome short clip on Joyce:

(via Open Culture)

Mars Showcase

Wow!  Amazing footage from the European Space Agency


(Via Io9)

Cool Animation: "Why Do I Study Physics?"

Cool animation on physics...

Why Do I Study Physics? (2013) from Xiangjun Shi on Vimeo.

(via io9)

DIY electronics

At some point I think I would like to dabble in some DIY electronic projects.  Mitch Altman at Cornfield Electronics put together this nice PDF comic on how to solder.

(found via boingboing.net)

Search Escalates for Key to Why Matter Exists

I like the idea that while I am trying to figure out what to eat for breakfast others are asking the bigger questions, like...  'why is there something rather than nothing in the universe?'.  Actually, I sometimes do ask myself that while eating my cereal and trying to figure out why I do what I do.   Some light reading from Quanta magazine.

"According to the Standard Model of particle physics, the universe should be empty. Matter and antimatter, which are identical except for their opposite electric charges, seem to be produced in equal parts during particle interactions and decays. However, matter and antimatter instantly annihilate each other upon contact, and so equal amounts of each would have meant a wholesale annihilation of both shortly after the Big Bang. The existence of galaxies, planets and people illustrates that somehow, a small surplus of matter survived this canceling process. If that hadn’t happened, “the universe would be void,” Schönert said. “It would be very, very boring for us, who would not exist.”"

Read the rest of the article here: Search escalates for Key to Why Matter Exists.  
(via grahamhancock.com)  

Russell Brand on Newsnight

Pale Blue Dot - The Carl Sagan Series

I think I have posted versions of this before, but I like this edit...




(via IO9)

Superman 75th Anniversary Animated Short

(via i09)

Rock and Roll

 

Who is watching the watchmen?

See the post below for see an entertaining use of the mass transmittal of data and then watch this video for a hilarious spoof on where the limitations of such technology lie.  Of course these companies have nothing but our best interests at heart and would never compromise those interests by implementing such zany applications for this new and liberating technology.



(full disclosure:  I own an I phone)

Foursquare data looks pretty cool.

I found these very mesmerizing.  The swarming of some horde into the belly of a great beast and then out again.  The hive mind...  Not sure exactly, but I am fascinated.

"Foursquare has gathered a year’s worth of check-in data from all over the world and made it into these cool time-lapse maps of the activity in major cities." (via wired.com) Check out the rest. 

This Garden Kills Fascists

Sadly, I can't take credit for that title, but it is awesome.  I got it here.

Variations on a Theme - Indra's Net

I have been studying American Literature lately (and again I guess, since I kind of majored in English in college) and have just finished a series of lectures on Ralph Waldo Emerson...

One of the lectures was based on his essay, Circles and has a very similar premise as Indra's Net.  Read this for yourself and let me know what you think.

"THE EYE is the first circle; the horizon which it forms is the second; and throughout nature this primary picture is repeated without end. It is the highest emblem in the cipher of the world. St. Augustine described the nature of God as a circle whose centre was everywhere and its circumference nowhere. We are all our lifetime reading the copious sense of this first of forms. One moral we have already deduced in considering the circular or compensatory character of every human action. Another analogy we shall now trace, that every action admits of being outdone. Our life is an apprenticeship to the truth that around every circle another can be drawn; that there is no end in nature, but every end is a beginning; that there is always another dawn risen on mid-noon, and under every deep a lower deep opens."

something large, something small, and something else

Something rather large and mind boggling:


via (deepastronomy.com)

Something rather small and mind boggling:

A Jewel at the Heart of Quantum Physics

"Physicists have discovered a jewel-like geometric object that dramatically simplifies calculations of particle interactions and challenges the notion that space and time are fundamental components of reality..."

"...The amplituhedron looks like an intricate, multifaceted jewel in higher dimensions. Encoded in its volume are the most basic features of reality that can be calculated, “scattering amplitudes,” which represent the likelihood that a certain set of particles will turn into certain other particles upon colliding. These numbers are what particle physicists calculate and test to high precision at particle accelerators like the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland."

Read more.

 Which kind of made me think of Inra's net. 

"Francis Harold Cook describes the metaphor of Indra's net from the perspective of the Huayan school in the book Hua-Yen Buddhism: The Jewel Net of Indra:
Far away in the heavenly abode of the great god Indra, there is a wonderful net which has been hung by some cunning artificer in such a manner that it stretches out infinitely in all directions. In accordance with the extravagant tastes of deities, the artificer has hung a single glittering jewel in each "eye" of the net, and since the net itself is infinite in dimension, the jewels are infinite in number. There hang the jewels, glittering "like" stars in the first magnitude, a wonderful sight to behold. If we now arbitrarily select one of these jewels for inspection and look closely at it, we will discover that in its polished surface there are reflected all the other jewels in the net, infinite in number. Not only that, but each of the jewels reflected in this one jewel is also reflecting all the other jewels, so that there is an infinite reflecting process occurring." (via wikipedia).

Sound Observation from a Sci-Fi Genius

‘A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve an equation, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly.’~ Robert A. Heinlein

You might know Heinlein from such works as:

"Stranger in a Strange Land"
"Starship Troopers"
"The Moon is a Harsh Mistress"

Can't Get Enough Ed Abbey

Ed Abbey is rapidly becoming my favorite philosopher.  These two clips are taken from Jack Loeffler's interview of Abbey in 1983, when he had become the old man, to which he refers in the first clip.  One would think that having dabbled in Environmental Studies at UVM, I would have been able to recite Abbey chapter and verse, but the truth is I am just now coming to him in my sedate middle age, so that perhaps when I'm in the final stages I'll have something to teach (ed. watch the video...he's rambling again).

Some of my favorite spots when he theorizes that no one is worthy of eternal life and that the desire for immortality comes from having lived a lifeless life.  I also like that he likes the world just as it is, that it is just a roiling human comedy full of strife and conflict, but that is what makes it so great...and when you're gone you're gone and that there's no use getting all sentimental about it.  Finally, I like that he says that we as humans have as much of a right to life as any other life, but that we don't have the right to exploit that right, and that we should have reverence for life in all of its forms.

Annotations:

1. Shakespeare's "The Seven Ages of Man" the famous poem that begins with "All the world's a stage..."
2. A somnambulist's favorite, Joyce's "Ulysses" "History, Stephen said, is a nightmare from which I am trying to awake"

Deltron 3030 - CITY RISING FROM THE ASHES EP

Home Roasting Coffee

My new favourite hobby is roasting my own coffee.  Delicious and awesome. 

I started off by researching easy ways to roast coffee at home and came upon this video:


I found a cheap (free actually) popper at a yard sale.

I ordered the green coffee beans from Sweet Maria's (the company that also made the video).  It cost me (after shipping) just shy of 30 dollars for 4 different varieties of coffee (one pound each).

Following the instructions in the video, each roasting session lasts about 5 to 7 minutes.    I roast the coffee the day before and then enjoy the freshly roasted coffee the next day.  I have just been amazed with the results.

Alan Moore on Satire, Magick and the Power of the Artist

A nice dose of conspiracy

(via disinfo.com)

Click here for the Wikipedia article on the CIA program MK ULTRA.

91 Centimeters

This is a short animated film that I watched this morning.  At first my thoughts about what the movie meant ran towards whether or not the individual is the center of his or her own universe; that is, did the meteorite knock the man, Henry, out of his world by 91 centimeters or did it knock the world 91 centimeters away from him.  Of course, when I contemplated the role of the psychologist/psychiatrist in the overall narrative, I began to see the movie as a parable for some sort of sudden onset mental illness that Henry is dealing with all alone; thus the relative or I guess absolute indifference of everyone around him.

What do you think?   

An Antechamber of Paradise

Something to ponder

The most interesting thing to me ... was the anecdote related by [Simon] Leys ... about sitting in an Australian café minding his own business while a radio is blaring musical and spoken pap in the background. By chance, the program switched to a Mozart clarinet quartet, for a moment turning the café "into an antechamber of Paradise." People fell silent, there were looks of bafflement, and then, "the the huge relief of all," one customer "stood up, walked straight to the radio," turned the knob to another station, and "restored at once the more congenial noises, which everyone again could comfortably ignore."

Leys describes this event as kind of an epiphany. He is sure that philistinism does not result from the lack of knowledge. The customer who could not abide hearing Mozart's music recognized its beauty. Indeed, he did precisely what he did for that reason. The desire to destroy beauty, according to Leys, applies not just to aesthetics but as much, if not more, to ethics: "The need to bring down to our level, to deface, to deride and debunk any splendor that is towering above us, is probably the saddest urge of human nature."

Ian Buruma, "The Man Who Got It Right." The New York Review of Books, 8/15/2013


Not sure if this is THE quartet mentioned, but it is A Mozart quartet. 

When I Die...If I Live That Long

Time was, when quoting Ed Abbey would have automatically had you labeled as a "radical."  His particular style of environmentalism and his method of delivery was misinterpreted as a form of "ecoterrorism" and Abbey himself was derided as an eco-terrorist.  He does have a lot to say about the world, civilization, nature and culture and he uses his deadpan brusque style saying it.  There is no doubt that he was a character, the likes of which are becoming fewer and fewer as our civilization becomes more and more homogenized and technobrainwashed.

This is a great clip of Abbey back in the Arches National Park, the land that he loved and worked for so long.  This was 1985.  It would be fascinating, if he was still alive, to hear what he'd have to say about the state of our environment and our supposed leaders of today.  My guess is he would not be thrilled, but he'd be smug knowing that this is all temporary and in the end, nature is going to win.  Sadly he didn't live long enough.

 

Here are some more Ed Abbey quotes about things:

Anarchism is founded on the observation that since few men are wise enough to rule themselves, even fewer are wise enough to rule others.

No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets.

Counterpart to the knee-jerk liberal is the new knee-pad conservative, always groveling before the rich and powerful.

The earth is not a mechanism but an organism, a being with its own life and its own reasons, where the support and sustenance of the human animal is incidental. If man in his newfound power and vanity persists in the attempt to remake the planet in his own image, he will succeed only in destroying himself — not the planet. The earth will survive our most ingenious folly.

There are some good things to be said about walking. Not many, but some. Walking takes longer, for example, than any other known form of locomotion except crawling. Thus it stretches time and prolongs life. Life is already too short to waste on speed. I have a friend who's always in a hurry; he never gets anywhere. Walking makes the world much bigger and thus more interesting. You have time to observe the details. The utopian technologists foresee a future for us in which distance is annihilated and anyone can transport himself anywhere, instantly. Big deal, Buckminster. To be everywhere at once is to be nowhere forever, if you ask me.

One final paragraph of advice: do not burn yourselves out. Be as I am — a reluctant enthusiast... a part-time crusader, a half-hearted fanatic. Save the other half of yourselves and your lives for pleasure and adventure. It is not enough to fight for the land; it is even more important to enjoy it. While you can. While it’s still here. So get out there and hunt and fish and mess around with your friends, ramble out yonder and explore the forests, climb the mountains, bag the peaks, run the rivers, breathe deep of that yet sweet and lucid air, sit quietly for a while and contemplate the precious stillness, the lovely, mysterious, and awesome space. Enjoy yourselves, keep your brain in your head and your head firmly attached to the body, the body active and alive, and I promise you this much; I promise you this one sweet victory over our enemies, over those desk-bound men and women with their hearts in a safe deposit box, and their eyes hypnotized by desk calculators. I promise you this; You will outlive the bastards.

Robert Anton Wilson Quote

“I’m not an anarchist any longer, because I’ve concluded that anarchism is an impractical ideal. Nowadays, I regard myself as a libertarian. I suppose an anarchist would say, paraphrasing what Marx said about agnostics being “frightened atheists,” that libertarians are simply frightened anarchists. Having just stated the case for the opposition, I will go along and agree with them: yes, I am frightened. I’m a libertarian because I don’t trust the people as much as anarchists do. I want to see government limited as much as possible; I would like to see it reduced back to where it was in Jefferson’s time, or even smaller. But I would not like to see it abolished. I think the average American, if left totally free, would act exactly like Idi Amin. I don’t trust the people any more than I trust the government.” - Robert Anton Wilson

Image from:  The Guns and Dope Party

We advocate
[1] guns for those who want them, no guns
forced on those who don't want them (pacfists, Quakers etc.)
[2] drugs for those who want them,
no drugs forced on those who don't want them (Christian Scientists etc.)
[3] an end to Tsarism and a return to constitutional democracy
[4] equal rights for ostriches.

"Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master. Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action."
-- George Washington

A look at new Detroit

via Disinfo

Reality's hidden layers

World's 10 Most Mysterious Pictures Ever Taken

10 strange and interesting photos. What do you think? I find the NASA ones pretty damn cool.

Peanut Butter Wolf's Vinyl Collection - Crate Diggers

Peanut Butter Wolf's Vinyl collection.



Check out the rest of crate diggers (From fuse. )

Looking At LSD, While Taking LSD

Just got smart to this dude today.  Seems like he's got some pretty interesting things going on.  Plus he lives in San Diego and surfs, so how bad could he be?



and maybe when you're looking at his artwork, if you've got this playing in your earholes it will be some sort of shamanistic/transcendent experience.  Or maybe you just get to hear some cool tunes while looking at cool art.

 

A Midsummer Night's Dream

I have always associated Midsummer with the first few days of August, but it is technically a ancient pagan summer solstice celebration, appropriated into St. John's Day among Christians.  Among the rituals is the lighting of bonfires, because it was/is believed that once the sun starts it southward journey again and summer wanes while winter waxes, evil spirits and witches were free again to roam the earth.  The fires were supposed to protect mere mortals from the spirit beings.

"It is at Midsummer that the Holly King, God of the Waning Year, has encountered the Oak King and succeeded in usurping the reign of the year. In Celtic Mythology the Young God withdraws into the Wheel of the Stars and it is here he waits and learn before his rebirth at Winter Solstice. It is the time when Belenus, Belenos - the Sun god, begins to die, fir-branches; Balefires; were kindled to light his downward path, he will return again at the Winter Solstice, when the Yule logs and lit fir-braches will guide His return."

"The passion at Midsummer has escalated from the playfulness of Beltane to a more fervent intensity. Couples who handfasted the year before at Beltane, tend to marry in a more formal handfasting at Midsummer or Lughnasadh. Divination on matters of love are especially powerful Midsummer's eve. In Scandinavian countries, the night before Midsummer, every young girl places a bunch of flowers tied with nine pieces of grass or nine flowers under her pillow, upon which she will sleep and dream of her future husband. In Ireland the young lasses place yarrow under her pillow to dream of her mate.

The moon of Midsummer have a few names one being the Honey Moon, as this is a time when the hives are been rich in honey, which gathered and fermented into a drink known as mead, customarily, drunk at wedding parties. Mead is rumored to be an aphrodisiac; thus we can observe the roots of modern day marriage practices and "honeymoons", in their Pagan soil."

It is from these rituals and myths, among others associated with this holiday, I suppose, that Shakespeare drew inspiration for what is my favorite play of his, "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and the play relies heavily on spirits wandering the earth, meddling in the weddings and love lives of mortals.

One of these spirits, Puck, who is clearly the embodiment of the trickster, is far and away the show stealer.  So, because it is the middle of the summer, I'll leave you with some of my favorite parts of the play involving Puck.  Revel in the language of a true master of the word.



 Fairy: Either I mistake your shape and making quite,
Or else you are that shrewd and knavish sprite
Call'd Robin Goodfellow: are not you he
That frights the maidens of the villagery;
Skim milk, and sometimes labour in the quern
And bootless make the breathless housewife churn;
And sometime make the drink to bear no barm;
Mislead night-wanderers, laughing at their harm?
Those that Hobgoblin call you and sweet Puck,
You do their work, and they shall have good luck:
Are not you he?

 PUCK: Thou speak'st aright;
I am that merry wanderer of the night.
I jest to Oberon and make him smile
When I a fat and bean-fed horse beguile,
Neighing in likeness of a filly foal:
And sometime lurk I in a gossip's bowl,
In very likeness of a roasted crab,
And when she drinks, against her lips I bob
And on her wither'd dewlap pour the ale.
The wisest aunt, telling the saddest tale,
Sometime for three-foot stool mistaketh me;
Then slip I from her bum, down topples she,
And 'tailor' cries, and falls into a cough;
And then the whole quire hold their hips and laugh,
And waxen in their mirth and neeze and swear
A merrier hour was never wasted there.
But, room, fairy! here comes Oberon.

(more after the break)

Old Soul with New Wrinkles

Since my last post about the genius that is James Booker, apparently the world has stood up and taken notice.  Although he's never gone out of style for those who love the old New Orleans professors and the musical swamp that is NOLA, there's been somewhat of a revival in interest in the man whom Dr. John has called, "the best black, gay, one-eyed junkie piano genius New Orleans has ever produced” and there is a documentary made about Booker called "Bayou Maharajah: The Tragic Genius of James Booker"







If you get the opportunity, do yourself a favor and check it out, and while you're at it, I also recommend the live album, "Resurrection of the Bayou Maharajah."  Play this clip loud, it'll knock your socks off and then go out and buy the album.

Craft Beer - A Hopumentary

I am Bradley Manning

Alan Watts - The Fool,The Joker And The Monk

THE EVOLUTION OF REALITY by Terence Mckenna

Words by Terence Mckenna
PRODUCED BY - AGAPE SATORI https://www.facebook.com/Truebook.org

The Omega Point [Jason Silva]

Earthships

Earthships are sustainably designed houses. 

Fascinating look at Earthships from Democracy Now:

Happy Robert Anton Wison Day!!!

July 23 is Robert Anton Wilson Day. 

Here is a video that I found on the old youtube: 
"Recorded live in San Francisco/Haight-Ashbury comedy club, The Other Cafe, as part of its Comedy Showcase series. Includes a question & answer segment during second half. A humorous and illuminating examination of churches, cults and faiths from around the world by philosophical entertainer, Robert Anton Wilson."

Fnord

Stormy Weather

Time spent out of doors and in nature is never wasted time and sometimes you get to see something as awe inspiring as this.  Imagine what someone must have thought eons ago if they had seen something like this forming over them.  Small wonder that gods and such are often accompanied by stormy weather.  Even knowing that it is a supercell and how it is formed doesn't diminish the grandeur of such a sight.
 


Goes well with Neil Tyson Degrasse and Etta James

An excerpt from Aldous Huxley's "The Doors of Perception" read by Rudolph Schirmer. Music is from the song An Ending (Ascent) by Brian Eno.

Drug Addiction (1951)

"...Started by a friend..." It gets real good at the seven minute mark. There really is so much to this propaganda flick.

The New Dutch Masters

This is some of the most original, freaky shit that I've seen in a long time.  Described here as "Renaissance paintings on LSD," I don't think that even begins to touch it.  This is like HP Lovecraft stories by way of Vermeer cross pollinated with Sesame Street, Clive Barker and various tattoo and street artists...then you get to throw acid into the mix...Enjoy.





More after the jump if you want...or if you want to see this guy's whole oeuvre, check this

Beat the Heat

There's probably nothing much colder than surfing in New Jersey in the winter time.  Just imagine the icy cold water as you go about your day today in "THE HEATWAVE THAT ATE THE NORTHEAST!!!!"

Sand Barlem Shake from Russ Roe on Vimeo.

"Experiments in the Revivial of Organisms" Redux or "Life Beyond the Dead"

Though I could expound on the Dead for a while, and probably will at one point, my musical interests go well beyond what they have to offer.  A quick scan down any of my musical related posts will bear that out.  Here are some nuggets that I found this morning that spin in an entirely different direction.

Consider the first one an appetizer to the main course...the inimitable DJ Shadow remixing some tune I've probably never heard before, but it's music nevertheless.



 The main course is this mix.  Pretty chill for a hot Wednesday morning.  I wish I was outside listening to this by a pool somewhere, but sadly I'm just sitting here in front of a computer.




And for the visual accompaniment...If the Northeast insists on being this hot, I'm going to look at pictures of hunting cabins north of the Arctic Circle.  Here. 

Experiments in the Revival of Organisms (1940)

"This disturbing film records the successful experiments in the resuscitation of life to dead animals (dogs), as conducted by Dr. S.S. Bryukhonenko at the Institute of Experimental Physiology and Therapy, Voronezh, U.S.S.R. Director: D.I. Yashin. Camera: E.V. Kashina. Narrator: Professor Walter B. Cannon. Introduced by Professor J.B.S. Haldane."
Part of the Prelinger Archives

Destination Earth - Oil Industry Film (1956)

Oil and competition are what make America great in this old industry film...

(via achive.org)

“You can find inspiration in everything; and if you can’t, look again” Sir Paul Smith

Reality Tunnels Robert Anton Wilson

Neil deGrasse Tyson and Neil Gaiman Religion vs Science, God of the Gaps, Rainbows

The Flying Man by Marcus Alqueres

"A new superhero is coming, only this time it's on his terms. Will he still be considered a hero?"

The Flying Man from Marcus Alqueres on Vimeo.

(via dangerousminds.net)

Grateful Dead: August 14, 1971

No question, I'm deadhead.  I've been listening to them since I was about 12 or 13 years old and pretty much love the band and the imagery associated with the band.  I hadn't given them a good listen in a while, but about two years ago I dusted off some of my favorite bootlegs and have been reinvigorated.  I usually give them a break when the weather starts getting cold here in the northeast, but once springtime rolls around and I can start driving around with the windows down, the dead just seem like a natural pairing.

The "Steal Your Face" (often called the "deadhead") might be one of the greatest designs of all time.  At first glance, menacing as all hell, but if you know the band and their music it becomes decidedly less threatening.

Adding to this renaissance of sorts is this little gem I discovered on a music blog I like to frequent called Aquarium Drunkard.  They really nail what I have always thought about the band which is that, "There is a raw stigma that runs parallel with the mention of the Grateful Dead. Far too often the circus surrounding the band trumps the actual music, instead placing more emphasis on skeletons, dancing bears, hacky sacks and other vestiges of the ‘parking lot’ scene." While I do love a lot of the imagery what is more important to me is that when they're rocking they're essentially an great rock and roll band.

This show from 1971 really highlights that fact.  It's a burner and as always crank your speakers up to get the full flavor.

The whole thing is stellar, but some of the highlights include, "Bertha, "Sugaree," "Big Railroad Blues,"Sugar Magnolia," and "Truckin' - The Other One" and for some reason, it's not showing in the list of song, but if you click on "Not Fade Away" and then use the controls to go forward one song, the diamond is "Going Down the Road Feeling Bad"  

They called me Mr. Glass

It is amazing watching these glass objects come to life...

Nimbus Machina - a film by Thomas Plaete

via (io9)
Check out the films site here. 

Neil deGrasse Tyson on whether to be amazed or terrified by the universe

Joe Rogan - Seek to improve yourself (NSFW due to curse words)

Arts and Crafts: Design in a Nutshell

Lance's Bewery Tour

" ...Lance Rice is a gifted beer historian with a photographic memory. For nearly forty years Lance has used his computer-like mind to memorize a staggering amount of knowledge in beer and brewery history. Yet even more astonishing is the fact that Lance has never been able to share his passion with the world… Lance is autistic..."

"Lance’s Brewery Tour will show the world the beauty of autism. It will inspire and give hope to those touched by autism. The film and the book have potential to become landmark works of art in both cinema and literature – but that is just the beginning..."

read more at (http://lancesbrewerytour.com/)

Life Emergence

Jason Silva - Shots Of Awe | London Real

A Critical Branch-Point In History [Carl Sagan]

Jack's Abby Hoponius Union (An Epic India Pale Lager!) | Beer Geek Nation Craft Beer Reviews

Alan Watts - Dub

Chapel Perilous - Along the Way to the Mystery

Cosmography of the Local Universe

(via io9.com)

Nicholas Christakis on Slime Molds: How Amoebas Form Social Networks

Stephen Colbert Interviews Neil deGrasse Tyson at Montclair Kimberley Academy

WAX TAILOR feat Ali Harter - Only Once

Neil deGrasse Tyson Funks the Universe - Music Video

(via the Huffington Post)

12-Year-Old Discovers All U.S. Presidents Are Direct Descendants of King John Of England

CAPTAIN T&T (2013) - A Short Film

CAPTAIN T&T (2013) - A Short Film from Christopher Guinness on Vimeo.

Six year old “Thin Foot” strives to becomes the hero of his own life.
(via io9.com)

K23version1 (animation inspired by Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins)

K23version1 from kiarra albina on Vimeo.

Return of the Cicadas

Return of the Cicadas from motionkicker on Vimeo.

Positive Contact: Dogfish Head brew day remix

Awe

Alan Watts - Time To Wake Up

Wolf Blitzer Asks Tornado Survivor if 'She Thanked the Lord'; Replies She's an Atheist

Convos With My 2 Year Old - EPISODE 1

NASA | First X-Class Solar Flares of 2013

Inside The Actors Studio - The Cast of the Simpsons

Ray Bradbury: Story of a Writer (1963)

Ray Bradbury: Story of a Writer (1963) from Maria Popova on Vimeo.


(via dangerousminds.net)

Mariner's Revenge Shadow Puppets

Politicians, Peptides, and Stupidity: An Evening with Robert Anton Wilson

Alan Watts - Society, A Perpetual Cycle

SCREENGRAB

Pretty cool video.

SCREENGRAB from Willie Witte on Vimeo.

"An experiment in transitions. None of the effects are computer generated. All the trickery took place literally in front of the camera." (via boingboing.net)

Who owns the fish?

The shortest possible game of Monopoly requires only four turns, nine rolls of the dice, and twenty-one seconds, , a professor of sociology at Notre Dame University, told NPR's Robert Siegel. (via NPR)

A BAND CALLED DEATH [Trailer]

"Before Bad Brains, the Sex Pistols or even the Ramones, there was a band called Death. Punk before punk existed, three teenage brothers in the early '70s formed a band in their spare bedroom, began playing a few local gigs and even pressed a single in the hopes of getting signed. But this was the era of Motown and emerging disco. Record companies found Death’s music— and band name—too intimidating, and the group were never given a fair shot, disbanding before they even completed one album. Equal parts electrifying rockumentary and epic family love story, A Band Called Death chronicles the incredible fairy-tale journey of what happened almost three decades later, when a dusty 1974 demo tape made its way out of the attic and found an audience several generations younger. Playing music impossibly ahead of its time, Death is now being credited as the first black punk band (hell...the first punk band!), and are finally receiving their long overdue recognition as true rock pioneers."

A BAND CALLED DEATH [Trailer] from Drafthouse Films on Vimeo.

Russian River - Pliny

Cool little documentary on Russian River Brewing and their hoptacular Pliny brews.

Parallel Universes: Many Worlds

Breathing Technique

A nice breathing exercise. 

The Sensory Deprivation Tank - Joe Rogan

Contains some "bad" words (NSFW). 

Deltron 3030

Rehearsal with a live orchestra: 

Live in Canada:

New song (live):

Anarchism, Socialism & Libertarianism: Alternatives for Peace

What are Bitcoins?

Bitcoin Explained from Duncan Elms on Vimeo.


for more info check out: bitcoin.org

Graham Hancock on The Joe Rogan Experience

A great interview with one of my favorite authors. Covering topics like: the Ark of the Covenant, underwater ruins, conspiracies of academics, human history, the pyramids and mind altering substances. (May be NSFW due to language and ideas)

Stupidity - The movie

(NSFW due to curse words) 

Japanese neuroscientists decode human dreams

"Researchers at the ATR Computational Neuroscience Laboratories in Kyoto have developed some powerful computational tools which use blood flow data from MRI scans to approximately visualize what a person is experiencing in dreams. Their results were published yesterday in Science, along with considerable fanfare. Before studies like this can be taken at face value, though, a closer inspection of the actual methods and results is warranted." Read More

 
(I have no idea what is going on in this video. - the mgt)

I can Introvert and so can you!

jerrybrito.org/post/6114304704/top-ten-myths-about-introverts?1d4ef638/


So good ol' Merriam Webster tells us that an Introvert is: 
to turn inward or in upon oneself... as in

a: to concentrate or direct upon oneself
b: to produce psychological introversion in

These definitions are vague and somewhat misleading.

Check out the link above for more accurate defining traits of an introvert

The Reality of American Money

Check out this article/video depicting how our wealth is divided... It's appalling how we've let ourselves be ruled by the vast minority of the nation.

http://www.dailyfinance.com/on/Wealth-Inequality-in-America-viral-video-Politizane/?ncid=dynaldusquot00000001

hmmm...a car that runs on air

You've got to say 'fuck it' - david choe

Are we living in the Matrix?

zendrites #8

Terrence McKenna Quotes

A bit long and a bit tough to read a video, but some pretty awesome quotes.

zendrites #7

50 Common Misconceptions

Find the Others

inspiring words from Henry

Don't Believe In Anybody Else's BS

There is a little mistake in this video.  'Roger Neich' is supposed to be Rajneesh.  I believe. (Maybe?)

I Wish I Was a Headlight on a Northbound Train

It might come as a surprise to some of you (though probably not - ed) but my preferred method for traveling distances of about 1000 miles is by train.  To me there's no better way of traveling.  To start with you don't have to go through all that security nonsense that you do when you fly like showing up hours early just to stand on line, to stand on another line to take your shoes off and throw your water out and get yelled at by some dick head low level federal security guard all for the "privilege" of flying.  Then you get on the plane and if everything runs smoothly you're in the air a good half hour after when you were told your flight was going to depart.  God forbid there is some "weather" happening in either your destination or origin or that you have a layover somewhere you might lose a whole day in transit.  Then there's the ride itself.  It's noisy, you're crammed into tiny seats breathing reconstituted fart air and the only view is of clouds, which can be nice at times, but not nice enough to justify trip.  It's just a big old hassle, that if I could avoid to go about 1000 or 1500 miles, I would.

It's truly a shame that America does not have a real viable rail transport option.  What we have is a slow, expensive option in Amtrak.  It has been my experience that it's cheaper to fly somewhere than it is take a train, which seems counter intuitive.  I have had wonderful experiences riding trains place to place in Europe, both high speed and regular speed and I don't know why such a system can't be implemented in the USA (you know why - ed).

Anyway, I saw this map the other day and it got my mind wandering.

Could you imagine if riding from New York City to New Orleans was as easy as riding the subway from the Upper West Side to Brooklyn.  That would really be something.

And now for a little train music and hippies brought to you by the Grateful Dead

China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider  August 27, 1972

Full Moon Rising in Real Time

The Art Of Asking - Amanda Palmer

Questions no one knows the answers to

Has a bit more on infinity and some other cool stuff...

Just been listening

I have been listening to Radio Free Amsterdam recently. Some blues, jazz and other eclectica.  I have been enjoying the  'Fly By Night' show (It is heavily influenced by Robert Anton Wilson).

Not sure what it is all about, but, I like the name of Radio23. 

Deltron 3030 has a new album coming out.  Here is the song 'Pay the Price':




I sit in a class on Wednesdays at Berklee School of Music. It is taught by Jerry Leake, a world percussionist expert.   He played this song of his in class the other day.  I really dug it...



What have you just been listening to lately? 

How big is infinity?

What is the Universe?

zendrite #4

Ray Kurzweil and the Singularity

Michio Kaku Explains String Theory

Mandelbrot Set

see more at: http://fractaljourney.blogspot.com/

From the wikipedia article: "Benoit B. Mandelbrot (20 November 1924 – 14 October 2010) was a Polish-born, French and American mathematician, noted for developing a "theory of roughness" in nature and the field of fractal geometry to help prove it, which included coining the word "fractal". He later created the Mandelbrot set of intricate, never-ending fractal shapes, named in his honor."

zendrite #3

Graham Hancock at TedxWhitechapel

The title of this talk doesn't do it justice.

Alan Watts - What is it to see?

zendrites #2

zendrites #1

A Universe Not Made for Us

Everywhere that Uncle Sam, has Even a Rural Delivery

With the news that the United States Post Office is going to cease Saturday delivery of regular mail for some reason this song got stuck on repeat in my brain.  This song is almost 100 years old and written by the incomparable W.C. Handy.  The line "Where the Southern cross' the Yellow Dog" is a reference to two train lines, the Southern Railway and the Yazoo Delta (Yellow Dog) and their intersection in Moorehead, Mississippi and it is on the Yellow Dog where W.C. Handy is supposed to have had his first encounter with the blues.

Here's Louis Armstrong and W.C. Handy on what can only be described as a classic rendering of this song.



Oh...and my prediction is that the USPS's days are numbered.  Watch the federal government amend the constitution and outsource mail delivery to FedEx.  You heard it here first.

Aliens!

some fan made this, pretty cool!

Reunion Tours: Quantifying Age via Concert Preferences

I'm the kind of guy who likes to keep track of things. I catalog my record collection, organize my hockey jerseys, kept a log of which players I scored the most goals with in NHL 94 on Super Nintendo and of course a color coded excel spreadsheet of every concert I've ever been to (216 and counting). And checking back on it now I've noticed a few trends that indicate my young yet advancing age...

1) I don't go to as many shows as I used to, Eleven in 2012 down from Thirty-Two in 2006.

2) Once a year over the past three years I've seen a "Reunion" show

Pictured above: Band stuck in infinite Reunion loop

Reunions? Only 50 year olds go to those. Right after they go see Jimmy Buffett.

But you know what? I've been able to see bands I never thought I'd be able to see. It's a growing trend right now in my favorite genres. Pavement, Quicksand, At The Drive In, The Postal Service, Rage Against the Machine, countless ska bands and many others have all called it quits on calling it quits. And thanks to this trend I've gone to see Sunny Day Real Estate, The Specials, Big Audio Dynamite and most recently Refused.

It was that last show that has been stuck in my head for a while. Not the band's music but the night of the show itself has been imprinted on the back of my skull. In 1998 Refused did what every punk band says they're going to do if they became too popular; they broke up. After releasing their greatest album, an album that consisted of the track "New Noise" an anthem that redefined a genre for the next 15 years, they packed up their guitars and said 'no more of this' having never supported their latest release. In 2012 we (being their fans) got the show we've been waiting over a decade for.

Now picture it. A bunch of twenty-something ex-emo kids in a crowded House of Blues. All of them with these grins on their faces that I've never really seen anywhere else. You're excited to be there, you're excited for the dude next to you because you know they're just as excited. It's very much a reunion without knowing personally anyone around you. It yielded one of the best crowds, one of the best pits and one of the best shows I've ever been to.

Next month I may very well pass up seeing Willy Moon, an up and coming artists from New Zealand artist, to go see Texas is the Reason a band I care minimally about anymore but if this show is anything like the other Reunions I've been to it'll be well worth it.

Check your local listings... Go see Fishbone, or Fu Manchu, or They Might Be Giants, or the Gin Blossoms if you're so inclined. Pick any decade old band and go. Watch the faces of those around you and of the band in front. I guarantee you'll be glad you did.