Champollion

Champ: A Space Opera premiered tonight at the Knitting Factory. Here is a small taste from where I stood:

The show was marvelous. I marveled. And it made me warm and fuzzy to see a man close to my heart in his element. More shows coming up.

Flickr WednesdayOn Thursday

I realize it's been a while, but here are a couple random flickr shots I chose for their unique subject matter. The photographer doesn't actually know who created the art work, and the first question that comes to my mind - were the chairs built around the trees, or did the trees grow through the chairs? - isn't answered in the text that's included. Also, I'm not sure where these are taken, but I'm assuming it is somewhere in France.

Dos (pas) sciés

This is a artist's installation I saw in the forest during I was biking. It's HIS/HER idea not mine. But I don't know who (s)he is. I am searching...
But I find nothing. It was an exposition some years ago. It's always there but i find no descriptions on the web...
The name of the artsist is... made. And his work is called "The four seasons of Viv aldi".

Why Big War is Becoming Obsolete

Last week's RU Sirius show is the best this year, I highly recommend listening. From RU's site:

Jamais Cascio of WorldChanging fame leads us in a discussion about being good ancestors and why networked global guerrillas are rendering Big War obsolete.

My kind of radio.

Sunday Videos

This week: Ferrofluids!

Intro

This is to build intrigue if you're not familiar with ferrofluids. A quick peak will do.

Research

What fun.

With Piano

The real deal.

Art

More real deal.

Drip

Long, slow, hypnotic.

And two bonus videos featuring Jesus!

Nick Vujicic

If you want more, check out Nick's motivational speaking.

Jesus Painting

Jesus heals.

Get-Dirty Getting Lazy

Apologies for the past few weeks of inactivity. As June approaches, life gets busier. Also, as Sony Corp. of America finally ties out all the numbers for fiscal year end March 2007, I haven't had the time to post from the office (which I really shouldn't be doing anyway). Two things from my life these past few weeks which may be of interest: photos from my camping trip to Shenandoah National Park, and Old Man Comedy's award winning short, Warmin' Up to Global Warmin':

I will try to keep up with Sunday Videos until I leave for Nippon. Thanks for checking in with GD.

Bonobos at TED

In the Bonobo above all other primates, human beings can see a reflection of our ancestral past. In the eager eyes and smiles of these animals is a hint of who we were hundreds of thousands of years ago: agile, adaptable, cultural sponges. Researcher Dr. Sue Savage-Rumbaugh has spent her career building a "pan-homo culture," an environment where humans and Bonobos learn about and from each other, and she shared some of what she has learned at the 2004 TED conference.

Her talk implies that language, tool-making, and self-awareness may not be unique to man; we are probably but one sentient species among many. To see a monkey understanding spoken English or playing a video game, as you will in the video below, is to be humbled by the power of culture. Indeed it seems likely that in the ineffable ancestral environment, during the very beginning of cultural evolution, human beings were no more sophisticated than the Bonobos who call Dr. Sue's lab home. And it makes the crazily romantic notion that culture was somehow passed on to humans by a more sophisticated being all that easier to imagine.



Related and also worth watching is Jane Goodall's talk from March 2003, particularly the first half. And thanks to Jon for calling Dr. Sue to my attention.

Spidey Saves The Day!

Ashuri recently mailed me a bunch of Spiderman comics she used in her English classes at Gotsu Highschool. They are priceless. Here are three of my favorites, click on the image to see a bigger, more readable version:

Welcome to traffic accident.


Happy end.


Yeah! PANTS.

The last one is the clear winner.

Planet Earth

In the past few weeks, three different people have asked me if I've seen The Discovery Channel's new series Planet Earth. Each time, after admitting that I hadn't, I heard, "You would love it. I thought of you while I watched it." Knowing that my friends and family associate me with quality nature documentaries lifts my spirits. In honor of these recommendations, and because I missed last Sunday, here is the first episode of Planet Earth in three parts:







There are also HD Torrents available all over the web, but the files are huge. I've been told that seeing the series in high-def is simply breath-taking, but for now I have to settle for streaming.