The Arts 2/10/10

My first exposure to poetry and painting helped me find the passion I needed to enjoy life.  After my suicide attempt at 18 I found a way to persevere and survive. Get through the next hour, get through the next day.  It was in the passion of the poetry of Walt Whitman, and the incredible imagination of painters like Van Gogh, Picasso and Dali that I found the inspiration to live with joy.

Which artist (poetry, painting, music) do you enjoy the most? Name as many as you care to.

I spend as much time as I can in the world of the arts.  Here are a few artist I spent some time with last week.

1. Poetry

One of the best examples of love and passion are from two verses of the poem “Song” by Allen Ginsberg.

“No rest without love

no sleep without dreams of love

be mad or chill

obsessed with angels or machines,

the final wish is love”

“The warm bodies shine together

in the darkness,

the hand moves to the center of the flesh,

the skin trembles in happiness

and the soul comes joyful to the eye”

Ginsberg’s page on the Poetry Foundation site:

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/archive/poet.html?id=2547

2. Music

I look for creativity and passion in music, more than technique.  I have been listening to a performance of  “I Remember” by Lisa Hannigan and Damien Rice.  It’s starts as a beautiful love song with the haunting voice of Lisa Hannigan, then changes to a rocking explosion of music.  Damien Rice’s words make no sense but the passion of the music stirs my soul.

Lisa Hannigan’s Wikipedia bio:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisa_Hannigan

Damien Rice’s bio

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damien_Rice

3. Painting

This video from the TED Talks series demonstrates the art of Tom Shannon.

“TED visits Tom Shannon in his Manhattan studio for an intimate look at his science-inspired art. An eye-opening, personal conversation with John Hockenberry reveals how nature’s forces — and the onset of Parkinson’s tremors — interact in his life and craft.”

Tom Shannon’s web page:

http://tomshannon.com/

Tapeworms and Hagfish Slime – Gross Enough For You

I was watching a Nature special on PBS about “The Beauty of Ugly”.

 http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/the-beauty-of-ugly/video-full-episode/5380/

There was a mention of two of the grosses things I have ever heard about,  Tapeworms and Hag Fish.

1) The worst, grossest, job in the world.  Being a volunteer in a experiment about tapeworms.  I found an article about biologist Mike Leahy who volunteered to have a tapeworm grow in his gut.  I doubt you could pay anyone enough money to do it.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3236294.stm

“As part of a University of Salford experiment to develop a diagnostic test for beef tapeworm, biologist Mike Leahy volunteered to grow this gruesome parasite inside his own gut.

Mike swallowed the immature tapeworm cyst with a glass of red wine and the worm started to grow at an initial rate of four centimetres a week.

Twelve weeks later he had to call a halt to the unusual experiment because he was getting married!

After a dose of anti-worm pill Mike passed out an intact tapeworm three metres long.

Imagine giving up on growing a tapeworm in your gut just because you are getting married.

What are the worst jobs you have heard about?

2) Worst cooking ingredient I have heard about.  Cooking with Hagfish slime.

What are some gross foods you have heard about.

For your viewing pleasure a video showing Hagfish slime, from Animal Planet:

From the Museum of Awful Food blog, http://ewewgross.blogspot.com/

“I should clarify for the sake of journalistic honesty that the matte white bits surrounding the black slimy bit are actually the gloves of a researcher, and only the black slimy bit is actually the hagfish. If you would like to know what a whole hagfish looks like, mentally picture an earthworm that has slime-secretion glands running along the length of its body, magnify it by like twenty, and put on the creepy head evidenced in the above images. Yum, hagfish. Actually there are some decidedly awesome Fun Facts about hagfish, such as: they get their own slime up their noses, and then they sneeze it out. No joke.

So you will have noticed by now that the hagfish secret tons of slime, because I mentioned it in the previous paragraph. As I learned from my vast hagfish research (this one site, pretty much), the slime is a sugar and protein solution that coagulates when it’s secreted into water, forming a slime that is similar in texture and chemical composition to egg whites.”

“I’m going to posit that a scone is significantly more appetizing than a hagfish. The, um, fearless students who made a hagfish-slime scone didn’t include the recipe in their lab report, so here is my personal recipe for excitingly flaky and not at all dense cheddar-gruyere scones, which receive rave reviews whenever I bake them. Except that I’ve changed what would have been “eggs” to “hagfish slime.” I trust you to adjust accordingly.”

Hagfish-Slime Cheddar-Gruyere Scones

4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons baking powder
4 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (two sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 cups (packed) coarsely grated extra-sharp yellow cheddar cheese (about 9 ounces), or a mix of 6 ounces cheddar and 3 ounces gruyere.
1-1/2 cups chilled heavy whipping cream
6 tablespoons hagfish slime

Preheat oven to 375F

In a food processor, blend flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Cut in the butter using quick pulses until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add cheese and cut in using quick pulses. In a small bowl, whisk together the cream and hagfish slime. With the food processor running, add cream mixture through feed tube. Process until dough just holds together – don’t overmix!

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Gather the dough together and divide into quarters. Pat each quarter into a round just short of 1 inch high (it should be about 6-7 inches in diameter). Using a clean, sharp knife, cut each round into six wedges. Transfer half the wedges to ungreased baking sheets lined with parchment paper, spacing them about 2 inches apart.

Bake the first batch of scones until the edges just start to brown and a toothpick comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer them, still on their parchment paper, to a wire rack to cool at least 10 minutes, during which time put in the second batch of scones.

Serve warm or at room temperature. The scones will stand for about 8 hours. Do not refrigerate. If you want to reheat them, warm them in a 350F oven for about 5 minutes.

TV Commercials – Are You Buying What They’re Selling?

Watching the Carly Fiorina “Demonic Sheep” political ad makes me wonder how stupid our candidates for office think we are.  Of course looking at some who do get elected that answer’s my question. 

1) Carly Fiorina is campaigning to represent California in the US Senate.  She  run the ad below comparing an opponent, Tom Campbell, to demonic sheep.

 

I was reminded of another famous political ad, Daisy, that the LBJ campaign created during his 1964 Presidential race against Republican Barry Goldwater.

Vote for Goldwater and you’ll get blowed up.  Vote for LBJ and you’ll be sitting in a peaceful bed of flowers.  I did vote for LBJ and peace.  My reward, along with 400,000 other young Americans, was to get shipped off to fight, and die, in Viet Nam.

Do you think political ads have a significant impact with voters?

2) I have also been exposed to some pretty creepy commercials.

The Quizno Subway chain put out some ads featuring pirate rats singing in really creepy voices.  No, as you see below, I did not make that up.

The commercial below makes me want to scrub out my eyes and ears.

I think the only thing Smiling Bob would turn on is demonic sheep. 

Proving there is some justice in life Steve Warshak, founder of the Berkeley Premium Nutraceuticals that sponsored the commercials, was found guilty of fraud, sentenced to 25 years in Jail, and ordered to pay back consumers $500,000.  It is sad to think enough men paid for these male enchantment pills to generate $500,000.

What other creepy, weird commercials you have been assaulted with?

Bible Study – 1 John 4:7-12, God’s Love and Ours

Looking at the tragic events that befell Haiti, I saw an outpouring of love and compassion by the people, and nations, of world.  For one moment all the barriers came down.  Love is the one force that can do that.

I looked up Bible verses that dealt with love of others and found 1 John 4:7-12.

1 John 4:7-12 (New International Version)

⁷Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. ⁸Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. ⁹This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. ¹⁰This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. ¹¹Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. ¹²No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

1) Love is not just something God does, it is what he is.  Love has existed eternally, and the world was created out of this love.

Our relationships with our fellow man can become mixed and confused.  As the Christ Follower learns to use the soul God gave them this confusion will be removed.  Strengthen your connection to God, and his guidance will lead you to more fully experiencing love and joy.

By choosing to live by the truth of God you will learn to recognize your fellow man as having the same loving father, and share God’s love with them.

2) I believe the desire to be loved is the most basic of human emotions we feel, perhaps even in the womb.

The only why to experience authentic love is by first being willing to risk giving it.  The more we live in the world there will be times when our love is rejected, we will experience pain.  It is natural to want to erect barriers to avoid being hurt.  However we will never experience love again if we live behind a barrier.

It’s a hard but clear choice.  We must remove these barriers if we are to live with love and joy.

Haiti proves the barriers dividing the people of the world can be overcome.  Love can overcome anything, if given a chance.

In the News – Funny Lines, Science, Travel & Humane Society

I found these interesting articles in the news I thought I would share.

1) Some funny lines in the comic strips:

“For some marriage isn’t a period in life, it’s a sentence.”

 ”For some marrying a free spirit turns out to be very expensive.”

“Why do we need Stainless Steel Cleaner? If it’s stainless why would we need a cleaner?”

“Father to son, “You’re a little late coming home from school.”  Son,”I’ve been to Compulsory Opportunity Sessions designed to redirect my behavior to success.” (Detention – my favorite class) Father, “Keep up the good work.”

Question – How well behaved were you in school. 

In class I was actually pretty quiet.  Except for driving the teachers crazy with questions.  That is when I made to class.  About once a week I sought my education in the great outdoors.  I missed over 30 days of school my senior year in high school.    

I was on my own a lot.  My father worked 7 days a week to pay the bills.  My mother was sick and in the hospital much of the time.  

2) Northwestern University researchers have developed a new nanoscopic material that enables cartilage to do what it doesn’t do naturally, grow.

http://www.northwestern.edu/newscenter/stories/2010/02/cartilage.html 

“Northwestern University researchers are the first to design a bioactive nanomaterial that promotes the growth of new cartilage in vivo and without the use of expensive growth factors. Minimally invasive, the therapy activates the bone marrow stem cells and produces natural cartilage. No conventional therapy can do this.

“Our material of nanoscopic fibers stimulates stem cells present in bone marrow to produce cartilage containing type II collagen and repair the damaged joint,” Shah said. “A procedure called microfracture is the most common technique currently used by doctors, but it tends to produce a cartilage having predominantly type I collagen which is more like scar tissue.”

The Northwestern gel is injected as a liquid to the area of the damaged joint, where it then self-assembles and forms a solid. This extracellular matrix, which mimics what cells usually see, binds by molecular design one of the most important growth factors for the repair and regeneration of cartilage. By keeping the growth factor concentrated and localized, the cartilage cells have the opportunity to regenerate.”

3) In travel news one theme park I need to visit. China’s “Chocolate Wonderland”, boasts chocolate model of the Great Wall.

 

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-Pacific/2010/0129/A-new-world-wonder-China-s-Great-Wall-remade-in-tons-of-chocolate

“What do you do with empty Olympic facilities to try to make them useful once the Games are over?  Why, open a World Chocolate Wonderland, of course.

That’s what the Chinese have done. In a hangar-like building next to the Bird’s Nest a team of innovative chocolatiers have taken 80 tons of Belgian chocolate and turned it into replicas of the Great Wall, the famed terracotta warriors, and even more unlikely icons, such as a Louis Vuitton handbag.

The show opened Friday, and organizers say they expect as many as 1 million visitors over the next 10 weeks to pay a hefty $12 each to marvel at what they call “a combination of Chinese tradition and chocolate creativity.”

4) The Humane Society came up with a great re-cycling idea.  Turn in you old fur coat to help cloth an orphaned animal, Coats For Cubs.

http://www.hsus.org/furfree/campaigns/c4c/

“The furs are cut into an appropriate size for the animal, whether it be a bobcat, fox, raccoon, squirrel, or rabbit, and placed inside the animal’s enclosure. The furry blanket becomes a surrogate mother to orphaned animals, reducing stress and giving comfort.

One rehabilitator related a story about a restless orphaned river otter who chirped constantly. Once she was given a fur blanket, she settled right down. Turning the sleeve of a fur coat inside out, a rehabilitator can also create a warm nest for a burrowing animal such as an opossum. Some animals adopt a piece of fur as a playmate, jumping on it and wrestling with it.”

Punxsutawney Phil & PETA

This being the season of awards I am giving the Lifetime Award for Stupid ideas to PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) .  I read about their latest in the Christian Science Monitor.  They want to replace Punxsutawney Phil with a robot groundhog:

Any award winning stupid ideas you would like to submit?

Any animal behavior stories?

Link to article by Chris Gaylord:

http://www.csmonitor.com/Innovation/Horizons/2010/0201/Groundhog-Day-PETA-wants-to-replace-Punxsutawney-Phil-with-a-robot

Unfortunately Phil saw his shadow so we could see another six weeks of winter.  Of course I crawled back under my covers this morning too.  I’ll also take my bursitis pains over any Weather Channel predictions.

Five Punxsutawney Phil Facts.

• Punxsutawney Phil is immortal. Well, practically. According to folklore, the furry oracle was born in 1887, making him 123 years old. The average groundhog lives less than 10 years, making Phil a statistical anomaly … or not Phil (remember when Daddy came home from the vet with Harry the hamster, only Harry looked different?). Fans of Punxsutawney Phil insist a magical “elixir of life” keep Phil looking youthful.

• Phil’s about as accurate as your average meteorologist. That is to say, not very. The US National Climatic

Data Center estimates Phil’s forecast is correct only about 40 percent of the time. (Perhaps he could find a job at the Weather Channel.)

• Phil’s got competition. Watch out, Phil: prognostication is popular among the rodent set. New York’s got Staten Island Chuck, Ohio’s got Buckeye Chuck, and Georgia’s got good ol’ General Beauregard Lee. There’s more. Wiarton Willie, Dunkirk Dave, Shubenacadie Sam, French Creek Freddie, Balzac Billy, the list goes on.

• Phil’s gone high-tech. He may hail from the 19th century, but Phil’s getting word out in a decidedly 21st century way: he’s texting. And YouTubing. Phil text messaged fans his forecast Tuesday morning (followers signed up in advance by texting ‘Groundhog’ to 247365), and he has his own YouTube channel. And like everyone else and their mother, he’s on Facebook.

• There’s no Groundhog Day in Alaska. For which we can thank Sarah Palin. There aren’t many groundhogs in Alaska, so then-Gov. Sarah Palin signed a bill last year officially designating February 2 as Marmot Day. The marmot can’t forecast the weather, but he may be the only rodent that can see Russia from his burrow.

More Animal Forcasters from the CSM:

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Global-News/2010/0202/Groundhog-Day-Top-five-animal-forecasters

1. Birds on a telephone wire signal a rainstorm. (Think Hitchcock’s “The Birds.”)

2. When dogs eat grass, expect a severe storm. (Or, you forgot to feed your dog.)

3. Squirrels are busier gathering nuts before a bad winter. (But who really has time to count nuts?)

4. If rats in the hold climb out on deck, it will be a fair day. (Or maybe tanning machine below deck is broken.)

“In England, it’s said that rain is on the way when the woodpecker laughs, and that frost is coming if a cat sits with its back to the fire. Plants and trees, too, evidently have the knack: frost is ended when mulberry tree put out shoots, but if the Ash buds before the Oak, then it’ll be “a regular soak.” And in lower Canada and America’s northeast, Woolly Bear Caterpillars are said to show a wider middle brown section if the coming winter will be mild.

Dowsing For Bombs

The ATSC Ltd, based in England, has sold $85,000,00 of it’s ADE-651 device to the government of Iraq to detect explosives.  In it’s training manual the company also claims the device can also detect elephants, humans and $100 dollar bills.  The ADE-651 has never passed any scientific test, it’s a scam.

In December an attack killed over 120 people after security using the ADE-651 failed to detect any explosives.  It is still apparently being used at checkpoints in Iraq.

The founder, and managing director of ATSC, Jim McCormick, has been arrested for fraud, and is now out on bail.  Who knows how many Iraq’s have dead as a result of the failure of this device.  In my view McCormick should be charged with murder, not just fraud.

What is even more tragic is that McCormick’s history of fraud goes back to at least 1995, when he was marketing his detector in the US.  He was exposed back then by the James Randi Educational Foundation, which has offered McCormick $1,000,000 if he can prove his device works.

James Randi, a retired 82 year old magician, who is one of my favorite persons on the planet.  Here is Randi’s own words on this story.

A link to a story in the Guardian:

 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/8471187.stm

A link to the Wikipedia bio on James Randi. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Randi

Bible Study – Matthew 28:16-20 – Spreading the Message of Faith

1) Matthew 28: 16-20 (New International Version)

 ¹⁶Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. ¹⁷When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. ¹⁸Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

It is my perception that all Christ Followers are called to spread the Gospel of Christ.  It’s part of their God’s plan for them.  They may make this the focus of their life, as with evangelist.  It may be by being an example in their community of the power of God’s love.  Encouraging non-belivers to seek a connection to God, and learn the healing powers of his love.

However a person is called to spread their faith it should always done with love and respect.

Colossians 4:2-6 (New International Version)

²Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. ³And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. ⁴Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. ⁵Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. ⁶Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

There are two ways to sell any idea, the soft sell and the hard sell.

The soft sell is to focus on non-believers who are lost, and defeated by life.  Helping these lost souls in both how to live in the world, and to save their souls to make sure that when they pass on it will be to the reward of Heaven.

The hard sell is to try to convince those who believe they have found the faith they need that their faith is a false one.  That they need to convert to the one true faith of the Christ Follower.

The message I have received, on more than one occasion, from people of faith is that if I don’t surrender my will to their God I will suffer everlasting torment in Hell.  I think that goes under the hard sell. 

How do you think you have been called to spread your faith?

What do you think is the most effective way to do this?

2.a) Atheist have also begun to spread the message of our faith, although most of my Atheist friends don’t use the word faith.

I consider myself as part of the soft sell.  I try to avoid debates, and focus on creating a dialogue with people of religious faith.  To improve understanding between us.

I encourage people to use the process of asking questions, examining evidence, then testing that evidence to see if it supports an idea that will make their life, and world, better.

Following this process could confirm the existence God.  The starting point for any search for the best answer must start with being willing to accept that anything is possible.

2.b) The hard sell is represented by Richard Dawkins.

From is bio on wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_dawkins

“Dawkins has described himself as a “cultural Christian, even proposing the slogan “Atheists for Jesus”, but that his opposition to religion is twofold, claiming it to be both a source of conflict and a justification for belief without evidence. Following the September 1,2001 attacks, he pointed to the incident as evidence of religion as dangerous nonsense that was undeserving of respect. He argued that atheists should be proud, not apologetic, because atheism is evidence of a healthy, independent mind. He argues that the existence of God is a scientific hypothesis.”

Some quotes from his web site: 

http://richarddawkins.net/ 

“Who will say with confidence that sexual abuse is more permanently damaging to children than threatening them with the eternal and unquenchable fires of hell?”

“The patient typically finds himself impelled by some deep, inner conviction that something is true, or right, or virtuous: a conviction that doesn’t seem to owe anything to evidence or reason, but which, nevertheless, he feels as totally compelling and convincing. We doctors refer to such a belief as ‘faith’.”

“I doubt that religion can survive deep understanding. The shallows are its natural habitat. Cranks and fundamentalists are too often victimized as scapegoats for religion in general. It is only quite recently that Christianity reinvented itself in non-fundamentalist guise, and Islam has yet to do so. Moonies and scientologists get a bad press, but they just haven’t been around as long as the accepted religions.

Conclusion - Trying to convince someone that their personal faith is wrong always has the potential for some level of conflict.  My only concern about how we do it is that it must always be done with love and respect, which of course is not easy when discussing something as personal as faith.

The Coolest Way To Get People To Exercise – The Piano Stairs

I was just sent this video and had to share it with you.

Swedes may be the coolest people on the planet.  One group came up with an idea for a fun way to get people to get more exercise by climbing stairs, instead of just using an escalator.

Brought to you by The Fun Theory – http://www.thefuntheory.com/

The Piano Stairs:

Would you ever choices to use the escalator again?

Sneak preview – My next post will be a Bible Study on evangelism, spreading the word of Faith.

Australia and India Share Their Nations Anniversaries

Today January 26th, was the National Day of two countries, Australia and India.

1) Australia Day per Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia_Day

“Australia Day (previously known as Anniversary Day, Foundation Day and ANA Day), and also referred to as Invasion Day by several groups within Australian society, is the official national day of Australia. Celebrated annually on 26 January, the day commemorates the arrival of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove in 1788, the hoisting of the British flag there, and the proclamation of British sovereignty over the eastern seaboard of Australia.

For some Australians, particularly Indigenous Australians, Australia Day has become a symbol for adverse effects of British settlement on Australia’s Indigenous people. The celebrations in 1938 were accompanied by an Aboriginal Day of Mourning. (Sympathies many Native Americans of the US share about my countries founders)

Although it was not known as Australia Day until over a century later, records of celebrations on 26 January date back to 1808, with Governor Lachlan Macquarie having held the first official celebration of the formation of New South Wales in 1818. In 2004, an estimated 7.5 million people attended Australia Day celebrations and functions across the country.”

The unofficial national anthem of Australia is of course “Waltzing Matilda” written in 1887 by Banjo Paterson.

Slim Dusty – Waltzing Matilda

2) Republic Day of India commemorates the date on which the Constitution of India came into force replacing the Government of India Act of 1935 as the governing document of India on January 26, 1950.

From Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_Day_(India)

Although India obtained its independence on August 15, 1947, it did not yet have a permanent constitution; instead, its laws were based on the modified colonial Government of India ACT of 1935, and the country was a Dominion, with George VI, with George VI as head of state and Earl Mountbatten as Governor General. On August 29, 1947, the Drafting Committee was appointed to draft a permanent constitution, with Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar as chairman.

A draft Constitution was prepared by the committee and submitted to the Assembly on November 4, 1947. The Assembly met, in sessions open to public, for 166 days, spread over a period of 2 years, 11 months and 18 days before adopting the Constitution. After many deliberations and some modifications, the 308 members of the Assembly signed two hand-written copies of the document (one each in Hindi and English) on January 24, 1950. Two days later, the Constitution of India became the law of all the Indian lands. The Constitution of India  came into effect only on January 26, 1950, 10.18 AM IST. Following elections on January 21, 1950, Rajendra Prasad was elected as the president of India. The Indian National Congress and other parties had been celebrating January 26th as a symbol of Independence, even before India actually became independent. Thus, signing the constitution on January 26, to mark and respect January 26 and the freedom struggle and the freedom fighters.”

The song ”Mera Joota hai Japan (translation My Shoes are Japanese), a Hindi song composed by Skankar Jaikishan was widely embraced in its time as a representation of the newly sovereign nation of India.  

From Wikipedia:

“The songs first and most famous appearance was in the movie Shree 420 where it was picturised on the popular Bollywood star Raj Kapoor. The opening lines are:

Mera Joota hai Japani

Yeh Patloon Inglistani

Sar pe lal topi Rusi

Phir bhi dil hai Hindustani

which translates to

My shoes are Japanese

These trousers are English

The red hat on my head is Russian

But even then, my heart is Indian

Raj Kapoor – Mera Joota Hai Japani

What is your favorite patriotic song(s)?