Hackberry South

Waves and Waves of Wood

2009-03-28T00:13:00.002-05:00

Reuben Margolin makes amazing kinetic sculptures from found and salvaged materials. His pieces are often model recreations of simple waveforms found from observing nature. Out of these simple observation Reuben begins the complex construction process to make pieces of wood behave like water. The end result of his pieces are often mesmerizing as shown on this video by Make Magazine.

Found At Boingboing.net

TED: THIS ONE IS BIG, CREATING A 6th SENSE

2009-03-20T11:02:00.005-05:00

TED conference has all kinds of wonderful talks, one of the most memorable was when Jeff Han debuted the Multi-Touch panel back in 2006(now being used everywhere in Apple's Itouch.) Likely this one will equally mark the point in which Technology took a leap forward.
TED 6TH Sense

Jeff Han TED 2006

Found on Grinding.Be, Thanks.

SHEEP PONG & ANIMATION

2009-03-20T10:30:00.002-05:00

What would you do if you had dozens of sheep and an LED expert at hand?
This was found over at Grinding.be blog, and it's pretty amazing.

Home Invasion?.... Why Not Video Blog It?

2009-03-17T14:58:00.004-05:00

The news has been filled recently with stories of congressmen Twittering rather than listening during Obama's congressional speeches. I must admit there is a Hackberry South Twitter page, though the site doesn't seem to only work for for blatant advertisement. Most of what can be said is pointless, and you have to either not have many friends or stay connected constantly to catch the things you might actually care about. To relish in the ridiculousness of it, here is a guy that decided to Twitter and Video blog when someone broke into his home. There are plenty of questions that arise. I'll let the NYTIMES handle it.

New Music Ensemble 2009 Remix

2009-03-16T19:39:00.003-05:00

A while back we did a posted about composer Steve Reich and had clips from Grand Valley State University which learned and performed Music For 18 Musicians in it's entirety for Steve Reich's 70th Birthday. Here is the trailer for what sounds like an amazing remix cd they are releasing later this year.

Terry Riley - In C

Mel Chin's - Paydirt & Fundred on Studio 360

2009-03-15T16:46:00.007-05:00

*Thanks Wagner

Tennessee to Texas... "Suck it!" or How To Create A Giant

2009-03-15T16:28:00.007-05:00

See they say all things are bigger in Texas, well Tennessee's got a problem with that. Tennessee is home to Little Debbie, which provided the "protein bars" necessary to create the world's largest spider monkey. State Government plans to clone little Lucy A, and try to one up itself by feeding Lucy B a strict diet of Chinese Buffet food (Sweet n Sour Pork, Pizza, Chicken Wings and extra helpings of the little doughnut rolls.)

*Thanks Prof. Roberto

Teaching Is Like War, It's Worse When You're Sober

2009-03-10T23:37:00.011-05:00

By EMILY JOHNS, Star Tribune

"A substitute teacher in the St. Paul School District offered a lesson Tuesday on what not to do if you're looking for teaching jobs: Drink and teach at the same time.

The teacher was sent home after he was apparently drinking while teaching a fourth-grade class at Roosevelt Elementary West Side School of Excellence.

Police found a pint-size bottle of Phillips vodka in his bag and gave him a ride home after he registered 0.18 percent on a Breathalyzer test...."

Full Article Here

Here Is Why He Should Have Known This Was A Bad Idea
"Witnesses reported seeing the teacher vomit on a field trip and then leave first-graders to wander through a corn maze by themselves while the teacher passed out on a school bus."

*Re-enactment of what the children did to the teacher after they found their way out

More Here

What To Do With An Advanced Degree From MIT

2009-03-10T23:24:00.004-05:00

On the Effectiveness of Aluminium Foil Helmets:

An Empirical Study

Abstract: "Among a fringe community of paranoids, aluminum helmets serve as the protective measure of choice against invasive radio signals. We investigate the efficacy of three aluminum helmet designs on a sample group of four individuals. Using a $250,000 network analyser, we find that although on average all helmets attenuate invasive radio frequencies in either directions (either emanating from an outside source, or emanating from the cranium of the subject), certain frequencies are in fact greatly amplified. These amplified frequencies coincide with radio bands reserved for government use according to the Federal Communication Commission (FCC). Statistical evidence suggests the use of helmets may in fact enhance the government's invasive abilities. We speculate that the government may in fact have started the helmet craze for this reason."

Full Study Here

*Thanks Carlos Vanderheech

Past Present Future

2009-03-09T09:13:00.003-05:00

Future Fashions

Dynosphere

Papa Got A Brand New Bag Of Something

2009-03-09T08:30:00.002-05:00

Southern Icon meets Drunk History

Dance Lessons

Night Train

Where's the Beef or Entrepreneurship?

2009-03-08T11:42:00.002-05:00

Full Article at Forbes.com, By Sramana Mitra

A growing concern is the current lack of policy to support entrepreneurship from this administration, especially bootstrapped entrepreneurship. As the government tries to assess what might stimulate entrepreneurship, I don't see many "practitioners" of true entrepreneurship represented on President Obama's advisory council. Who represents the voice of the bootstrapped entrepreneur in the government? Who understands the extreme cash-strapped conditions under which entrepreneurs operate? Without understanding, how can they design an effective system?
...In fact, this week, there was some whining from the venture capital industry about a tax increase for carried interest per the Obama budget proposal. The administration proposes raising taxes on these firms' general partners by treating carried interest, the portion of profits they take from successful investments, as ordinary income instead of capital gains. That change would increase the tax rate, starting in 2011, to 39.6% from the current 15% level.

Give Up That Twitter For Lent!

2009-03-04T20:18:00.002-06:00

From AP, Full Story Here

ROME - Roman Catholic bishops in Italy are urging the faithful to go on a high-tech fast for Lent, switching off modern appliances from cars to iPods and abstaining from surfing the Web or text messaging until Easter.

The suggestion goes far beyond no-meat Fridays, giving a modern twist to traditional forms of abstinence in the five-week period Christians set aside for fasting and prayer ahead of Easter.

So Bad It's Good : Heavy Metal Parking Lot

2009-02-28T22:31:00.004-06:00

Just watched Heavy Metal Parking Lot the other day, and was pretty amazed by it. Just a camera, a parking lot, and the crowd waiting around getting trashed before a Judas Priest/Dokken concert, when Metal was still proudly Heavy Metal, and leather and big hair were the rage. . It's remarkably amateur and simply put together, but it captures a lost culture from the 80's that no longer exists.

Confuse Your Bum - Lo-Res Chair

2009-02-28T18:35:00.007-06:00

From OOOMS Design
Why not? You know, why not? Usually Comfort and Style have trade-offs but not anymore with the Lo-Res chair. You have lots of padding for comfort, along with both a blocky 8-bit Nintendo chair and a stylishly modern Eames chair hidden in the negative space. I mean, everyone that comes to your house will know without a doubt you know whats going on. You Sir or Madam have Style, Taste, and are a Hip/Modern individual too. Who needs subtility?

Found on Design Milk

When Good Things Break.......Skype

2009-02-28T18:04:00.003-06:00

RANT: I believe in Skype, I really do. I even canceled my cellphone and switched to using my Skype service as my only phone.
It was a choice I made for a large part to save money but just as importantly because I believe it's a remarkable service. I had virtually no complaints until about two weeks ago when it just stopped making calls. Everything has been paid for, and I changed nothing on my computer that would prevent calls from connecting, it just stopped working to landlines and cellphones. The service is only 2.95 a month, so there is only so much you can expect, but as a true alternative to whats out there, waiting over two weeks to get your phone working again is pretty sad. I want to believe in them, I want something cheap and affordable and as a service I still absolutely recommend it, just don't go canceling your cellphones just yet.

Shanghai Rock Quarry Gets Hotel Make-Over

2009-02-25T12:09:00.008-06:00

Full Story at E-Architect
"The innovative design of the 400-bed resort hotel stands two levels higher than the rock face of the 100 metre deep quarry and includes underwater public areas and guestrooms. It will incorporate conference facilities for up to 1,000 people, a banqueting centre, restaurants, cafés and sports facilities. Sustainability is integral to the design ranging from using green roofing for the structures above the ground level to geothermal energy extraction.

An aquatic theme runs through the design both visually and functionally. Curved wings of the main body of the guestrooms enclose a naturally lit internal atrium, which uses the existing rock face with its waterfalls and green vegetation. This will be overlooked by guestroom balconies and contain restaurants and cafés at the base. Two underwater levels will house a restaurant and guestrooms facing a ten-metre deep aquarium. The lowest level of the hotel will contain a leisure complex with a swimming pool and water-based sports."

Found at Grinding.Be Blog

Fish With Tubular Eyes Can See Through It's Own Head......

2009-02-25T11:42:00.008-06:00

Full Article & Video at MBARI.ORG

"Researchers at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute recently solved the half-century-old mystery of a fish with tubular eyes and a transparent head. Ever since the "barreleye" fish Macropinna microstoma was first described in 1939, marine biologists have known that its tubular eyes are very good at collecting light. However, the eyes were believed to be fixed in place and seemed to provide only a "tunnel-vision" view of whatever was directly above the fish's head. A new paper by Bruce Robison and Kim Reisenbichler shows that these unusual eyes can rotate within a transparent shield that covers the fish's head. This allows the barreleye to peer up at potential prey or focus forward to see what it is eating."

From the
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Fashion Designed for Covert Planting

2009-02-24T23:08:00.007-06:00

"Earrings for Spontaneous Seeding"

"A seed here. A seed there. You never know when an opportunity for planting might present itself. Be prepared with these tiny glass bottles filled with vegetable and flower seeds. Great for secretively planting in friends' yards, medians, and those boring beds full of petunias outside your doctor's office. Includes refill seeds. Note: these are very high quality seeds - many of them heirloom. They come from Seed Savers Exchange."

Get them at Leafcutter Designs

*Found at Grinding.be

How Technology Will Help Reboot the Economy

2009-02-24T22:58:00.004-06:00

I've been watching through the released TED 2009 talks which is always amazing, but found this one by Juan Enriquez’s over at Grinding.be blog. Pretty fantastic look at where the world might be heading, and quite funny as well.

A Little On The Nature Of Reality

2009-02-24T13:38:00.002-06:00

A few video clips from brilliant minds now past.

Robert Anton Wilson-Real Reality

Terence McKenna-Culture Is Not Your Friend

Getting Smart For Free, Academic Earth

2009-02-23T14:31:00.003-06:00

As with the bad news there is always good. Academic Earth.Org is a web based organization whose goal is to provide Top-Notch education to the entire world. Thousands of video Classes & Lectures by Yale, MIT, Stanford(Etc.) professors on subjects varying from Business, Science, Philosophy, and History. Enroll Now!

*Thanks Roberto!

Crashing Economy or not, The Toast Must Go On!

2009-02-23T14:22:00.004-06:00

See through glass toaster and Message toaster two just two of the Top 10 Modern toasters over at Yanko Design.

Sit , Read, Spin.....Round Bookshelf & Chair

2009-02-23T14:13:00.005-06:00

From Yanko Design

Well can't say if this is a good idea or not, but it looks cool. Perhaps if there was a round window behind it would make more sense. Visit the Yanko Design page to see design specs.

Designer: Zhdanova Irina

Bitter? Try Print Liberation T-shirts!

2009-02-23T14:02:00.005-06:00

Found on BoingBoing

More at the Print Liberation Store

Even Caves Are Susceptible To Economic Storms

2009-02-22T18:13:00.004-06:00

The Sleeper Family went after a dream, they bought 3 acres of land on ebay that had an old Mining cave on it. They spent years using the existing cave as the structure to build their 15,000 sq ft. home inside. Unfortunately their dream didn't make preparations for the crash in the economy that would come. They currently have the home for sale on Ebay for $300,000 and are trying to raise enough money to save it from the bank as well.

Find out More from the EBAY AUCTION

Under the Covers-This Mortal Coil

2009-02-21T22:56:00.008-06:00

It's amazing someone else hasn't created a project like This Mortal Coil. For those that don't know the head of 4AD records created a project band that covered songs(of various genres from the 60's,70's and 80's) but melded them through a classical, darkwave, dream pop filter. The brilliance of the project was how disperate the source material was, whether it was The Byrds, Talking Heads, Emmylou Harris, Tim Buckley or Brian Eno it all worked together. Even the musicians changed on each album(heavily 4AD supported but artists outside the label were welcome too)but the albums held together as if it were all written by the same band. The project spanned 3 albums that created something new, and provided a wealth incredible of source material to track back to as well.

Tim Buckley-Song to the Siren (Incredible Album Version Here)

This Mortal Coil-Song to the Siren

Big Star-Kangaroo

This Mortal Coil-Kangaroo

Gene Clark - With Tomorrow

Late Night - Callin Reese

2009-02-21T22:34:00.002-06:00

If you didn't catch the first round of Reese skits then by all means go here. Before South Park, Sifl and Olly, or Wondershowzen...There was Knoxville public access..

Squirrels

$1.37

Rubber Ducky

Southern Icons: John Prine

2009-02-21T21:44:00.004-06:00

Some music just takes time to find it's way to you. There are those bands and musicians you've heard of your whole life but you never invested in, or simply hadn't formed the right experiences to give meaning to the words. For many of us John Prine has been making music our whole lives, since 1971. He's someone I've only recently began to admire. In the simplest of ways his songs somehow say just enough, and throughout his catalog he says just about everything that needs be said.

All the Best

w/ Iris DeMent - In Spite of Ourselves

Souvenirs

w/ Emmylou Harris - Angel from Montgomery

Of Southern Pastimes

2009-02-21T20:49:00.003-06:00

Southern Divorce Court

Gary Coleman Death Punch

Inversion House -by Dan Havel and Dean Ruck

2009-02-19T11:22:00.007-06:00

The New Orleans art houses below reminded me of this installation by artists Dan Havel and Dean Ruck I saw back in Houston,Tx several years ago. It was made a few months before the house was to be demolished….
Here is the old Press Release

*images from DesignVerb.com

From CoolHunting.com: New Orleans Art Houses

2009-02-19T11:15:00.002-06:00

Including Safe House by Mel Chin

Dick Furious at Bush Over Scooter Libby

2009-02-18T14:26:00.006-06:00

BY Thomas M. Defrank NY DAILY NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF Photo: Jim Watson / AFP/Getty Images

Sources close to Cheney told the Daily News the former vice president repeatedly pressed Bush to pardon Libby, arguing his ex-chief of staff and longtime alter ego deserved a full exoneration - even though Bush had already kept Libby out of jail by commuting his 30-month prison sentence.

"He tried to make it happen right up until the very end," ... "He's furious with Bush," a Cheney source told The News. "He's really angry about it and decided he's going to say what he believes."

Full Article at NYDAILYNEWS

Random Word #001: Waffles

2009-02-17T21:27:00.009-06:00

It's no secret that one can literally find everything he or she needs on the internet, whether it be ordering food, buying clothing, a car, or researching just about anything. With necessities long since covered there is an endless stream of excess information, pointless yet often funny, historically factual yet ridiculous. Where does it come from and why are we so eager to transmit so much unneeded information? Will we ever be able to absorb enough to keep up with the added amounts of useless information? I've decided, to play along with this and try a random word each week and see what I can find through simple search engine results. Feel free to join in and leave comments we'll post your results.
Today's word: Waffles
Wikipedia:
Medieval waffle law:In medieval Europe, vendors were permitted to sell their waffles outside of churches on saint's days and during other special relgious celebrations. Competition at the churches eventually became so heated, and at times violent, that King Charles IX of France imposed a regulation on waffle sales, requiring vendors to maintain a distance of at least "deux toises" (6 feet) from one another.
Waffle Keyboard from Geekologie

$200 Limited Edition Ice Cream Waffle Shoes via Complex

Lego Waffles

Somebody stole the funk....Daptone Records Burgled!

2009-02-17T19:46:00.007-06:00

From NYT By Dave Itzkoff

Daptone Records, the Brooklyn-based soul label that releases albums by Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, and the Budos Band among others, was burglarized over the Presidents’ Day weekend, the label’s co-founder, Gabriel Roth, said in an e-mail message, which was reported on the Web site BrooklynVegan.com. Mr. Roth wrote that numerous items were stolen or damaged, including computers, turntables, amplifiers, guitars and other instruments.
Continued at NYT

*From the love of Mr.Sewell

Microsoft Offers $250,000 Reward To Find Virus Maker

2009-02-15T12:34:00.007-06:00

By Maggie Shiels Technology reporter, BBC News, Silicon Valley

A reward of $250,000 (£172,000) has been offered by Microsoft to find who is behind the Downadup/Conficker virus.

Since it started circulating in October 2008 the Conficker worm has managed to infect millions of computers worldwide.

The software giant is offering the cash reward because it views the Conficker worm as a criminal attack.

Full Article at BBC NEWS

Out of Control Russian Sarellite Crashes into US Satellite

2009-02-15T12:04:00.006-06:00

By MARCIA DUNN, AP Aerospace Writer

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Two big communications satellites collided in the first-ever crash of its kind in orbit, shooting out a pair of massive debris clouds and posing a slight risk to the international space station. NASA said it will take weeks to determine the full magnitude of the crash, which occurred nearly 500 miles over Siberia on Tuesday.

Full Story at Yahoo News!

Thanks Sara

Framing the Landscape: Myoung Ho Lee

2009-02-12T17:57:00.008-06:00

Found these over at Booooooom.com, and thought they were pretty amazing.

Here's what Lens Culture has to say about the Artist and images:
Myoung Ho Lee, a young artist from South Korea, has produced an elaborate series of photographs that pose some unusual questions about representation, reality, art, environment and seeing. Simple in concept, complex in execution, he makes us look at a tree in its natural surroundings, but separates the tree artificially from nature by presenting it on an immense white ground, as one would see a painting or photograph on a billboard.

From The Onion: KY Jellies and Jams

2009-02-12T11:37:00.004-06:00

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ—Johnson & Johnson, manufacturer of the nation's most popular personal lubricant, K-Y Jelly, held a press conference Monday to unveil its new line of K-Y Jam, which the company has touted as having "that thick, homemade feeling you've been craving."

Dancing Motorcycle Gang in new Peter Bjorn & John Video

2009-02-12T11:16:00.006-06:00

From Booooooom.com
Gigantic hair, duct taped boots and moves that are a mix of swing and break dancing and you could be in a Japanese motorcycle gang. Pretty amazing stuff.

Click to watch Video

From the
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Lost in a Forest: Invisible Treehouses

2009-02-10T22:18:00.003-06:00

Full Story + Pics at Treehugger.com
It is an old architectural trick used since the invention of mirrored glass: covering buildings with the reflective material and declaring that they blend in with the surroundings. Most architects use it to convince wary citizens that it is OK if their building is tall because it will reflect the sky and nature. The rendering always makes the building disappear, and the reality is always a big clunky mirrored box. But a mirrored box can be elegant, too, such as this treehouse by Swedish firm Tham & Videgard Hansson Arkitekter. TreeHugger loves treehouses (see our roundup of them here) when they are designed to minimize impact on the surrounding landscape. And in this case, it looks like the architects have pulled it off successfully.

Southern Icons: Mel Chin

2009-02-10T20:17:00.009-06:00

There are very few people who live up to the being called a Hero(or Super Bad Ass for that matter,) not for a momentary act but by the extent of their career, dedication, and spirit. Mel Chin is someone I consider both. His works are never about himself or the advancement of his career, rather they almost always attempt to reconcile Art with public service and social awareness. It is hard to do justice to such a career through a simple blog article. There isn't a book I can direct you to or a single source to read search for yourself this work is truly amazing.

Do Not Ask Me @ The Station Museum Houston,TX
(Mel Chin Retrospective click above)

PAYDIRT

FUNDRED

Mel @ CAVS

9-11/9-11

WMD PT.1

WMD PT.2

PBS ART 21 1, 2

Where Pirate Radio and Graffiti Meet

2009-02-10T20:01:00.002-06:00

From Grinding Blog

2009-02-09T21:46:00.003-06:00

Prince covering Radiohead Creep Isn't #1
See the list at Hypeful.com

Shepard Fairey Arrested in Chicago

2009-02-09T18:29:00.006-06:00

UPDATE: Now Shepard Fire is Suing the AP: In a pre-emptive strike, the street artist Shepard Fairey filed a lawsuit on Monday against The Associated Press, asking a federal judge to declare that he is protected from copyright infringement claims in his use of a news photograph as the basis for a now ubiquitous campaign poster image of President Obama. More from NY TIMES

Click Image for Fairey Interview on Charlie Rose

Shepard Fairey was arrested Friday night on his way to the Institute of Contemporary Art for a kickoff event for his first solo exhibition, called "Supply and Demand."

Two warrants were issued for Fairey on Jan. 24 after police determined he'd tagged property in two locations with graffiti based on the Andre the Giant street art campaign from his early career, Officer James Kenneally said. One of the locations was the railroad trestle by the landmark Boston University bridge over the Charles River, police said.

Fairey, 38, of Los Angeles, is scheduled to be arraigned Monday in Brighton District Court, said Jake Wark...
More at Huffington Post

Graffiti Goes Pop: The Art of KAWS

2009-02-09T17:45:00.005-06:00

From the
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1990, 2001, Today: Comparing Job Loss Rate

2009-02-09T17:27:00.005-06:00

What 3.6 Million Jobs Lost Over 13 Months Looks Like

February 6th, 2009 by Karina at More at The Gavel Blog

This chart compares the job loss so far in this recession to job losses in the 1990-1991 recession and the 2001 recession – showing how dramatic and unprecedented the job loss over the last 13 months has been. Over the last 13 months, our economy has lost a total of 3.6 million jobs – and continuing job losses in the next few months are predicted.

By comparison, we lost a total of 1.6 million jobs in the 1990-1991 recession, before the economy began turning around and jobs began increasing; and we lost a total of 2.7 million jobs in the 2001 recession, before the economy began turning around and jobs began increasing.

*Found on Boing Boing

The World and Art Through Legos

2009-02-09T16:38:00.007-06:00

*Both above by Nathan Sawaya

On display through May at Legoland California is a large scale lego interpretation of the Obama Inauguration. Amazing attention to detail can be seen throughout, down to the Porto-potties and Barbara Bush.

More Obama Inauguration Pictures and Story At Oddity Central

Pigeons in my Pants!

2009-02-09T16:26:00.003-06:00

An Australian Customs handout shows a man caught with two live pigeons stuffed in his pants as he got off a flight from the Middle East (AFP/HO/Australian Customs)

From Yahoo News

Waveform Inside, Mobile, Floating Design

2009-02-09T16:00:00.009-06:00

This is the honorable mention for a contest to create a Conceptual, mobile gallery, designed to travel along the river Thames in London. Pretty fantastic, the winners can be seen here.

From Dezeen Blog: The first element is composed by a form generated by three ellipses that suggests the occupation of the spaces and allows, through the permeability of the structure, the interaction and visibility of the user from any location. A winding and fluid space allows individual events, creates different environments, or integrates the entire space of the gallery by projections, holograms, multimedia presentations and virtual experiments, proposing not just a single focal point, but a new perceptive universe.

From the
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9 Million Dollars Stolen In Worldwide ATM Hack

2009-02-08T10:20:00.006-06:00

*Found on Boing Boing
A global flashmob of ATM thieves netted $9 million in fraud against ATMs in 49 cities around the world. Can anyone find the message-board where this one was cooked up?
These people in the photos are believed to be "cashers," low-level players, in a scheme devised from some mastermind -- a dangerous computer hacker or hacking ring authorities fear could strike again.
Full Story Here

Redneck Amusement Park Vol.2

2009-02-06T23:14:00.001-06:00

The Living Planet - Visualizations of the Internet

2009-02-06T23:08:00.005-06:00

Marshall McLuhan called it the Global Village, Howard Bloom updated the idea and called it the Global Brain. From a google image search for "What does the Internet look like?" this is what turned up and how appropriate that it looks like a series of neurons and is roughly brain shaped. Add the video of Kevin Kelly describing WEB 3.0 below and you've got enough to chew on for a few weeks.

Kevin Kelly-Web 3.0

East Nashville's 5th & Main condos seized over debts

2009-02-06T13:30:00.005-06:00

Developers fell behind by $29M to Wachovia

SHELLEY MAYS-THE TENNESSEAN

Wachovia Bank won a court order Thursday appointing a receiver to take control of the Fifth & Main condo project after its owners had little success selling units and fell far behind on what the bank says is more than $29 million in principal, interest and other expenses.

John R. Cheadle Jr. was appointed receiver of the 130-unit property by the Davidson County Chancery Court. He said Wachovia, one of the lenders, probably would try to sell all or part of the property, although that could be complicated by the slow economy and iffy condo market.

Story Continued at Tennessean.com

Hope: Teen Saves 6-Year Old During Gunfight

2009-02-06T13:24:00.001-06:00

The Onion: Kim Jong Il Plans to Bring Moon to N.Korea

2009-02-06T13:15:00.003-06:00

DRUNK HISTORY EP.3

2009-02-06T12:48:00.002-06:00

Thanks Sam

The Postman is Still Ringing: People and there(i) Thoughts

2009-02-06T00:15:00.006-06:00

Neil Postman-Amusing Discourse

David Lynch on Iphone

David Lynch, Ideas

The Medium is the Message: Marshall McLuhan

2009-02-05T23:26:00.003-06:00

Ads are the cave art of the twentieth century. Advertising is an environmental striptease for a world of abundance. QUOTESAdvertising is the greatest art form of the 20th century. An administrator in a bureaucratic world is a man who can feel big by merging his non-entity in an abstraction. A real person in touch with real things inspires terror in him. QUOTES Anyone who tries to make a distinction between education and entertainment doesn't know the first thing about either. QUOTES Art is anything you can get away with. Everybody experiences far more than he understands. Yet it is experience, rather than understanding, that influences behavior. QUOTES In this electronic age we see ourselves being translated more and more into the form of information, moving toward the technological extension of consciousness. Mass transportation is doomed to failure in North America because a person's car is the only place where he can be alone and think. Societies have always been shaped more by the nature of the media by which men communicate than by the content of the communication. QUOTES The photograph reverses the purpose of travel, which until now had been to encounter the strange and unfamiliar.

Most of our assumptions have outlived their uselessness.
I don't necessarily agree with everything I say. -MM WIKI

Marshall McLuhan Probes TV Medium

McLuhan's Wake

Terrence Mckenna on McLuhan

Annie Hall with McLuhan

How Color Affects Your Mind

2009-02-05T19:41:00.007-06:00

*Image From CoverPop.com
...Research on how color affects cognition has yielded inconsistent findings, says Rui (Juliet) Zhu, a consumer psychologist at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. Some studies find that red enhances cognition, for example, while other studies suggest the opposite. Zhu suspected this might be because the work didn't pay enough attention to which types of cognition were being affected. Red might enhance performance on some tasks, she reasoned, while impairing performance on others.

To investigate, Zhu and graduate student Ravi Mehta manipulated the background color on a computer screen while volunteers, mostly undergraduate students, performed a variety of tasks. For those that required attention to detail--such as proofreading a list of addresses--participants were slightly more accurate when the background was red, compared to blue or white.

Blue, on the other hand, stimulated creativity. When subjects were asked to name as many uses for a brick as they could think of in a minute, they came up with more creative responses (such as "to use it as a scratch post for animals") and earned higher creativity scores from a jury of their student peers when the background was blue, Mehta and Zhu report online today in Science.

continue at Science Now

Ants tricked into raising butterflies

2009-02-05T19:27:00.004-06:00

From Yahoo News!
Flitting across your yard, butterflies seem friendly and harmless. But at least one type has learned to raise its young as parasites, tricking ants into feeding it and giving special treatment.

The pupae of the European butterfly Maculina rebeli exude a scent that mimics the ants and make themselves at home inside the ant nest. Once they become a caterpillar they even beg for food like ant larvae, researchers report in Friday's edition of the journal Science.

But, not content just to be fed, the butterflies even manage to demand special treatment, Jeremy A. Thomas of Britain's University of Oxford and colleagues report.

It turns out that ant queens make subtle sounds that signal their special status to worker ants. The caterpillars have learned to mimic those sounds, the researchers say, earning high enough status to be rescued before others if the nest is disturbed.

In times of food shortage, nurse ants have been known to kill their own larvae and feed them to the caterpillars pretending to be queen ants, they added.

In nature, the real ant queen and the caterpillar keep to different parts of the ant colony and would not encounter one another, the report said.

But in an experiment, a butterfly pupa pretending to be an ant queen was placed in a chamber with worker ants and four real ant queens. The ant queens began to attack and bite the caterpillar, but the workers intervened, biting and stinging their own queens, which they then pulled to a far corner of the chamber while other workers attended the pupa.

Thanks Sara!

Hope: Low Tech Solution to World Health Problems

2009-02-05T16:30:00.002-06:00

Fumes from indoor cooking fires kill more than 2 million children a year in the developing world. MIT engineer Amy Smith details an exciting but simple solution

Amy Smith from TED

TED Conference 2009 is Underway, See Whats Happening Here

Hope: $100 Laptop Around The World

2009-02-05T16:25:00.001-06:00

$100 Laptop In More Countries

Australia

Indian man jailed for taking 50 cents 24 years ago

2009-02-05T16:12:00.003-06:00

PATNA, India (Reuters) – An Indian court sentenced a 75-year-old doctor to jail for accepting half a dollar (35 pence) as bribe nearly a quarter of a century ago, officials said on Wednesday.

India's federal police caught Balgovind Prasad accepting 25 rupees (51 cents) from a sweeper in 1985 for issuing a fake medical certificate, police said.

The case dragged on for years and Prasad was convicted in 1992 and given a one-year jail term. He was freed as he appealed the sentence.

On Tuesday, a higher court in India's eastern state of Bihar state reduced the one-year term to three months, saying the bribe amount was too small, but directed the police to take Prasad into custody as he was guilty of the crime.

"The case was also dragging and the bribe money was too small, so Prasad thought he would get a reprieve from the court," prosecution lawyer Vipin Kumar Sinha told reporters after the verdict. "But all the charges has been proved against him."

Indian justice is often delivered at a glacial pace and a case can drag for decades with endless hearings.

(Writing by Bappa Majumdar; Editing by Alistair Scrutton and Sugita Katyal)

No kissing please, we are Indians

2009-02-05T16:05:00.003-06:00

A court in India recently dismissed criminal proceedings against a couple who were arrested for kissing. The BBC's Soutik Biswas examines India's tangled relationship with the kiss.

Look before you kiss in India. A smooch can get you in serious trouble in the world's largest democracy.

Earlier this week, a court in Delhi - ah, of all places, in the "happening" capital! - threw out the case against a young, married couple who were picked up by police allegedly for kissing near a railway station.

The kiss has been under threat in India for as long as I can remember.

Two years ago, an over-enthusiastic Richard Gere had the riot act read to him when he swooped down and clasped actress Shilpa Shetty and planted several kisses on her. The two, by the way, were at an event to tell lorry drivers about safe sex.

More at BBC NEWS

UFOs Attacking Wind Farms....If the GOP wasn't bad enough

2009-02-05T15:52:00.005-06:00

Damage at Wind Farm From UFO?

The BBC reports that some people are blaming a UFO for damage to a wind farm in Lincolnshire that cannot be explained. One wind farm turbine was damaged and another was knocked down. Experts say even a large bird could not have done this.

UFO enthusiasts are claiming damage to a Lincolnshire wind farm turbine was caused by a mystery aircraft.

The turbine at Conisholme lost one 66ft (20m) blade and another was badly damaged in the early hours of Sunday.

County councillor for the area Robert Palmer said he had seen a "round, white light that seemed to be hovering".

Ecotricity, which owns the site, said while investigations continued they were not ruling anything out - but the extent of damage was "unique".

The most recent news is that a family claims to have spotted "tentacled UFOs" days before the wind farm reported damage.

More Here

2009-02-05T15:40:00.006-06:00

COLLINSVILLE, Ill. – Hackers are messing with electronic road signs in some states, warning of zombies and raptors down the road. Traffic safety officials aren't amused. The latest breach came during Tuesday morning's rush hour near Collinsville, Ill., east of St. Louis. That's where hackers changed a sign along southbound Interstate 255 to read, "DAILY LANE CLOSURES DUE TO ZOMBIES."

Similar pranks have been pulled in recent days near Indianapolis and in Austin, Texas.

More Here

Thanks Sara

Progressively Larger Snakes-Giant Snake Fossil Found

2009-02-05T15:32:00.005-06:00

By MALCOLM RITTER, AP Science Writer
NEW YORK – Never mind the 40-foot snake that menaced Jennifer Lopez in the 1997 movie "Anaconda." Not even Hollywood could match a new discovery from the ancient world. Fossils from northeastern Colombia reveal the biggest snake ever discovered: a behemoth that stretched 42 to 45 feet long, reaching more than 2,500 pounds.

"This thing weighs more than a bison and is longer than a city bus," enthused snake expert Jack Conrad of the American Museum of Natural History in New York, who was familiar with the find."It could easily eat something the size of a cow. A human would just be toast immediately." "If it tried to enter my office to eat me, it would have a hard time squeezing through the door," reckoned paleontologist Jason Head of the University of Toronto Missisauga. Actually, the beast probably munched on ancient relatives of crocodiles in its rainforest home some 58 million to 60 million years ago, he said. Head is senior author of a report on the find in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature.

The discoverers of the snake named it Titanoboa cerrejonensis ("ty-TAN-o-BO-ah sare-ah-HONE-en-siss"). That means "titanic boa from Cerrejon," the region where it was found.

Continued Here

Real Anaconda Eating a Baby Hippo!

Thanks Sara!

Number of alien worlds quantified

2009-02-04T21:47:00.005-06:00

Intelligent civilisations are out there and there could be thousands of them, according to an Edinburgh scientist.

The discovery of more than 330 planets outside our solar system in recent years has helped refine the number of life forms that are likely to exist.

The current research estimates that there are at least 361 intelligent civilisations in our Galaxy and possibly as many as 38,000. The work is reported in the International Journal of Astrobiology. Even with the higher of the two estimates, however, it is not very likely that contact could be established with alien worlds. While researchers often come up with overall estimates of the likelihood of intelligent life in the universe, it is a process fraught with guesswork; recent guesses put the number anywhere between a million and less than one.

"It's a process of quantifying our ignorance," said Duncan Forgan, the University of Edinburgh researcher who carried out the work.

In his new approach, Mr Forgan simulated a galaxy much like our own, allowing it to develop solar systems based on what is now known from the existence of so-called exoplanets in our galactic neighbourhood.

...........................................................................Continued Here

*Thanks Sara

Colorado Invaded By Klingons Looking for Cash

2009-02-04T21:34:00.005-06:00

From the AP
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Colorado police say a man with too much "Star Trek" on his mind used a sword modeled after the weapon carried by Klingon warriors to demand money from two convenience stores.

Investigators say the man took an unknown amount of cash from a 7-Eleven store Wednesday but left empty-handed when he tried to rob another store about 25 minutes later.

*image and story are unrelated find out about the image here

Spirit in a World of Matter: Louis I. Kahn

2009-02-04T18:29:00.011-06:00

There are few architects with as much mystery an respect to them as Louis I. Kahn, even the name itself is something to live up to. Though the number of structures he completed was quite limited his life serves as the quintessential 20th century model for quality over quantity. He managed to find a delicate interplay between his raw materials, usually concrete and wood, and light and space that created environments with a presence that was both peaceful and intimate, as well as daunting and sublime. Like a true nomad, his creations existed somewhere between the physical and spiritual world. Here are a few of his major works; Salk Institute, National Assembly Building of Bangledesh, Phillips Exeter Academy Library,
Kimball Art Museum.

From the Film "My Architect"

The Film"My Architect" is unlike any other historical biography. It is of a son's spiritual journey to find out the mystery behind his fathers life and work. Scene after scene has moments authentic discovery rather than a simple pre-programmed message or portrait.

*Thanks Will

Obama Land Art

2009-02-03T15:59:00.002-06:00

Article by Ariston Anderson

Obama art swept the nation, but his support among the art community wasn't just limited to the states. Renown culture jammer Jorge Rodriguez-Gerada, created a 2.5 acre sand painting of Obama in Barcelona, Spain. Named "Expectation," the piece is made of 650 tons of sand and gravel and was revealed on the eve of Election Day. "People from all walks of life came together to make Expectation a reality," says the artist. "We struggled against a tight production schedule, zero budget and four consecutive days of torrential rain." If nothing else, the project reveals the global impact of Obama's election.

Continue reading at Cool Hunting

Saying Farewell To The Silver Jews

2009-02-01T19:52:00.013-06:00

If you could have one last show the way you wanted it how would it be? The Silver Jews called it quits but went out in the most beautiful and humble of ways; underground, beneath a chandelier, with friends in Cumberland Caverns. In a deeply sincere voice Dave Berman left the stage surrounded by fans giving hugs and handshakes to all and repeated thanked the audience for driving so far and for supporting them for so long.

For Authentic Cave Music Visit, http://bluegrassunderground.com/

Getting Your Local Greens: Local Harvest and CSA

2009-02-01T16:23:00.009-06:00

January has turned to Feburary and now is the time to start looking into your options for locally harvested foods and C.S.A.(Community-Supported
Agriculture) Farms.

http://www.localharvest.org/ is an amazing resource for finding local farms, and drop off points for local CSA's.

Here are just a few of the CSA Farms in Nashville:
http://www.avalon-acres.com/Index.html
http://www.doerunfarmtn.com/
http://www.hungrygnomefarm.com/
http://www.littleshortmountainfarm.com/

To learn more about CSA's watch the fantastic documentary.

The Real Dirt On Farmer John

Scientists Invent Regenerative Shocks

2009-02-01T13:04:00.003-06:00

by Jonathon Ramsey

Scientists at Tufts University have patented a shock absorber that converts compressive energy into electricity, which can then be stored in a hybrid vehicle's batteries. Called the Power-Generating Shock Absorber (PGSA), actually an electromagnetic linear generator, it uses "magnet arrays, high magnetic permeability spaces, coil winding arrays," and a linear electric motor to capture the energy of its motion and use it to charge the batteries.

The technology can be used on any vehicle that uses shocks and batteries, but its greatest application could be on trucks due to their higher mass and electricity-generation potential. Electric Truck, LLC has licensed the shock technology, which is predicted to generate between 2kW and 17kW of energy on an average road. According to the men who created it, "the percentage of recoverable power/energy for a 2,500 lb vehicle that employs four optimized design regenerative magnetic shock absorbers and whose average speed is 45 mph on a typical US highway is likely to be between 20% and 70%." Put four of those on a Prius and stay in town, and all of a sudden you're talking about interstellar gas mileage.

Full Article at Auto Blog

From the
...
...........Moe Raw
......
....
...................Brain Feed

Currency of Creators: Science & Money

2009-01-31T22:10:00.008-06:00

Comparing these to current U.S. currency not only points out how dull it is, but how misguided our view of what makes someone Historically significant. Imagine growing up with people like these on our currency, and how that could open a childs mind to science, as well as other events and individuals such as MLK, Rosa Parks, etc.

Lord Kelvin

Erwin Schroedinger Marie Curie

Guglielmo Marconi

Galileo Gallilei

Albert Einstein

Nicolaus Copernicus Niels Bohr

More Can Be Found Here

Nikola Tesla - The Forgotten Wizard

2009-01-31T09:55:00.010-06:00

Found this on the YouTube, and was utterly blown away. It's short but powerfully points out that Nikola Tesla was one of the greatest inventors in history and has not received his Historical Due. It's amazing the influence one man can have on the course of human history. Tesla was truly a man of courage.
The Forgotten Wizard

Go Back To Your Room, There Is No Longer A Secret Morrissey Show

2009-01-31T09:21:00.005-06:00

The Cream has been privy to some astounding news this morning regarding a certain celibate English singer and a local record store. The annual Alliance of Independent Music Stores (AIMS) convention--starting Feb. 24--is going to be hosted by Grimey's and taking place in Nashville. The event is closed to the public, but will include a series of shows at The Basement. One of which was going to be a secret Morrissey show (to take place Feb. 25). I shit you not. I also regret to inform you that the secret is out BECAUSE the show has been scrapped.

The Cream caught wind of the rumor yesterday and have now been informed, by an unnamed source within the Grimey's camp, that the promoter's "fiscal scenario has mandated a cancellation." Lost Highway Records has a "developing" artist or two that they wanted to get on AIMS shows and their quid pro quo was to offer the services of a marquee artist on their roster. Morrissey begins a tour on Feb. 28 in Boca Raton, so it seemed like everything was gonna work out. It's not.

Continued At The Nashville Cream Blog

Cormac McCarthy's Boyhood Home Consumed By Fire

2009-01-31T08:58:00.004-06:00

By Brantley Hargrove in By the Way

Friday, Jan. 30 2009 @ 12:49PM

The shambling two-story house that sheltered one of our greatest living writers in his boyhood was fully engulfed in flames Tuesday night. Flames that, he might say, "sawed in the wind" while "the embers paled and deepened and paled and deepened like the bloodbeat of some living thing eviscerate upon the ground before them..." Sorry couldn't resist a little of "the Evening Redness in the West." The cause hasn't been determined just yet, but the house wasn't connected to any power, according to the Knoxville News Sentinel, nor were there any real tenants other than a few squatters (somebody pass out drunk with a cigarette, mayhaps?)

Continued at the Nashville Scene

OH MY GOD! - I'VE WAITED MY WHOLE LIFE

2009-01-31T08:26:00.002-06:00

NYTIMES: Steep Slide in Economy as Unsold Goods Pile Up

2009-01-31T08:17:00.003-06:00

By LOUIS UCHITELLE

Published: January 30, 2009

The economy shrank at an accelerating pace late last year, the government reported on Friday, adding to the urgency of a stimulus package capable of bringing the country back from a recession that appears to be deepening.

The actual decline in the gross domestic product — at a 3.8 percent annual rate — fell short of the 5 to 6 percent that most economists had expected for the fourth quarter. But that was because consumption collapsed so quickly that goods piled up in inventory, unsold but counted as part of the nation’s output.

“The drop in spending was so fast, so rapid, that production could not be cut fast enough,” said Nigel Gault, chief domestic economist at IHS Global Insight. “That is happening now, and the contraction in the current quarter, as a result, will probably exceed 5 percent.”

Continue Here

David Letterman's Farewell to George Bush

2009-01-31T08:07:00.000-06:00

The Onion: Depleting Miley Cyrus' Entertainment Value

2009-01-31T07:58:00.002-06:00

The Onion

A little bit from the South... Carter family & Bill Monroe

2009-01-30T11:53:00.002-06:00

Carter Family-Wildwood Flower

Bill Monroe-Uncle Pen

*Thanks Mike G

Viral Comedy: Old Greg

2009-01-30T11:35:00.003-06:00

Most of you have probably already seen this, but if you haven't it's freaking addictive. Be warned Old Greg will never leave your mind. Pray Steven Johnson is right and "Everything bad is good for you."

Old Greg - Nipple Ball Of Funk

Old Greg - Mangina

*thanks Mr. Sewell

Yucko The Clown In Nashville.........Very Explicit

2009-01-30T11:12:00.008-06:00

Yes, we too cater to the lowest common denominator..... Be warned this is Very Explicit & Offensive to nearly everyone.

*Click Images for Link

*Thanks Greg, I Think

Family Learning Channel PSA-REJECTS

2009-01-30T11:07:00.003-06:00

These are ridiculous........... Why are the rejects always so much better than the real ones.

*thanks Philip

Steven johnson: The Invention of Air

2009-01-30T09:53:00.007-06:00

"As a “compulsive sharer,” Joseph Priestley believed wholeheartedly in the free flow of information: in letting insights from science flow into the streams of faith and politics, in trusting in the human mind as the ultimate homeostatic system, able eventually to find its internal balance no matter how large the disruption."

This is a bit outdated, but worth posting anyway. My first introduction to Steven Johnson was through the book 'Everything Bad is Good For You." It's a title that is obviously far fetched but yet page after page he proves that most of what we call 'Junk' is actually a progressive force in our society. In a way it was a Wisdom of Crowds for pop culture. His last several have had more to do with how history and science have created society today. His most recent book continues in a similar fashion focusing on scientist and friend of the founding fathers Joseph Priestley.

*thank you Mr. Sewell

A little bitty Solar Powered Bonsai.......

2009-01-29T16:40:00.007-06:00

Incorporated with exactly 54 miniature solar panels this contraption can efficiently grab natural sunlight energy in order to charge loads of electrical gadgets. As the photovoltaic panels integrated in this tree figured structure are pettily sized they just confer the illusion of diminutive yet gorgeous tree leaves hence giving whole arrangement a portrait of elegant home decoration piece. Moreover the powering up of discharged electrical gadgets via this Solar Bonsai is so trouble-free that we can swiftly get our doodads charged by simply plugging in their power leads into the electronic bonsai tray.

Article

From the

.........Moe Raw

.................... Brain Feed

Future Cities: Abu Dhabi

2009-01-29T09:52:00.003-06:00

Abu Dhabi - Cultural District

New home sales plunge to lowest on record

2009-01-29T09:43:00.002-06:00

Government report shows sales of newly built homes fell to an annual rate of 331,000 in December, lowest since reporting began in 1963.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Sales of newly constructed homes plunged in December to the lowest level on record, going back to 1963, according to a government report released Thursday.

The U.S. Census Bureau reported that new home sales fell to an annual seasonally adjusted rate of 331,000 in December. That's down 14.7% from a revised 388,000 annual rate in November.

The December sales pace was 44.8% below the same month a year ago, when the annual rate of new home sales was 600,000.

Full Article At CNN.com

Solar Trees & Living Homes

2009-01-29T09:18:00.004-06:00

Solar Tree Concept

Functional Solar Tree Link

New Tree Houses

Because We're Always Happy To See You

2009-01-28T18:41:00.000-06:00

Huge Pants

Jean-Claude Van Damme

Tech Wallets For the your Future

2009-01-28T16:43:00.006-06:00

More Here

Wisdom of Hip Hop : KRS ONE & CHUCK D

2009-01-27T21:12:00.003-06:00

KRS ONE: You Can't Be Rich and Make RAW HIP HOP

Chuck D-On Music of The Civil Rights Movement

Batman Bike..... Don't Worry It's Environmentally Friendly

2009-01-27T20:42:00.005-06:00

Designed and constructed by Blastolene, the same company that built Jay Leno's tank car and the Cadillac V12-powered B-702, this three-wheeler features a supercharged Hemi V8 that probably produces more power than Zeus can muster. It makes the Dodge Tomahawk Concept look like a child's toy.

Story + More Pics Here

From the
...
...........Moe Raw
......
....
...................Brain Feed

Gettin' Uppity - What's Missing in a City Made of Music

2009-01-27T15:49:00.007-06:00

Contemporary Classical music is something near and dear to my heart. So many of us still have this outdated idea that the bourgeois is out there controlling the tastes and desires of the populace and must be stopped. In the process of fighting an imaginary battle few have bothered to look up and realize that it's long since been over, the Internet, Wikipedia, GuitarHero with songs by the Pixies and the Clash, and Top 40 charts are proof of the matter.

"Today there are just 34 commercial radio stations playing classical music in the U.S., a drop of more than 29 percent from a decade ago"

Hauschka @ Mutek

The reality is that small independent "rock" venues are popping up left and right without a peep from new theater houses, concert halls or venues that allow and support music as the totality of the experience. We have become convinced that a mix of intoxication, cigarettes and bumping shoulders is a necessity to have a good live experience.
Nico Muhly - It Goes Without Saying

Granted these things can be as important if not more so in making a good show great, but who really gets ahead in these places? My guess is that it's rarely either the venue or the band, I'd put my money on Philip-Morris, Pabst and Anheuser-Busch . Every new bar or venue whether it stays or goes is just another little corner convenience store for Alcohol and Tobacco. Punk rock tried to bridge the gap between performer and audience, and to some degree did so quite well, but what is the end result? Are we all living for the moment trying to be rock stars, sharing in the excessive consumption and thrashing about in a mock sense of Starlit liberation? Knowing full well that Major Corporation are capitalizing on our imaginary sense of rebellion, my question is do we really need this type of interaction to appreciate music? Is sitting and letting the music take you away no longer enough.......? In my mind the idea of a room full of hundreds of people sitting quietly,meditating without cellphones going off is what seems truly radical today.
Eluvium - Indoor Swimming at Space Station

Hauschka-Schones Mädchen

* Comments Welcome

To Boldly Go Into Great Silence.......

2009-01-26T21:06:00.010-06:00

LOS ANGELES – The creator of "Star Trek" and his wife will spend eternity together in space. Celestis Inc., a company that specializes in "memorial spaceflights," said Monday that it will ship the remains of Gene Roddenberry and Majel Barrett Roddenberry into space next year.

The couple's cremated remains will be sealed into specially made capsules designed to withstand the rigors of space travel. A rocket-launched spacecraft will carry the capsules, along with digitized tributes from fans. The Roddenberrys' remains — and the spacecraft — will travel ever deeper into space and will not return to earth, company spokeswoman Susan Schonfeld said.

After Gene Roddenberry died in 1991, his wife commissioned Celestis to launch a part of his remains into space in 1997. She died Dec. 18, 2008.

Story Here

* Thanks Sara

Where Did Sagan Go? I see you....

2009-01-26T15:32:00.008-06:00

"I have no problem with a faith that is rooted in the unknown, it's when you tell me your faith is rooted in the known, that your understanding of what god is is complete that I have a problem"

..............................When asked if Carl Sagan was an Athiest.

Answer: In some respects an Atheist is a very silly person...we've only been investigating the universe for a mere Four Centuries... And so our
knowledge of the universe is very superficial, and very new, we are very ignorant....He was truly an Agnostic and that was because science was his religion he saw science as informed worship...
We are great liars as a species, we lie to each other we lie to ourselves and so we need the scientific method to test our perceptions of reality.

*from Science & the City Podcast: Carl Sagan's Search for God

Pale Blue Dot

Carl Sagan's Last Inteview

Pt. 2 Here
Now, Even More So

4th Dimension

Why Can’t We Tickle Ourselves?

2009-01-26T12:55:00.004-06:00

By Elizabeth Giddens

Aristotle puzzled over the great mystery of why it’s impossible to tickle oneself. Turns out it’s quite simple, really. Here’s a brief explanation by British neuroscientist Sarah Blakemore that appeared in Scientific American:

“The answer lies at the back of the brain in an area called the cerebellum, which is involved in monitoring movements. Our studies at University College London have shown that the cerebellum can predict sensations when your own movement causes them but not when someone else does. When you try to tickle yourself, the cerebellum predicts the sensation and this prediction is used to cancel the response of other brain areas to the tickle.
Two brain regions are involved in processing how tickling feels. The somatosensory cortex processes touch and the anterior cingulate cortex processes pleasant information. We found that both these regions are less active during self-tickling than they are during tickling performed by someone else, which helps to explains why it doesn’t feel tickly and pleasant when you tickle yourself. Further studies using robots showed that the presence of a small delay between your own movement and the resulting tickle can make the sensation feel tickly. Indeed, the longer the delay, the more tickly it feels.”
From RadioLab Blog
Image from Scientific deliriums/Flickr