I’m watching a really cool video right now on the Ancient Sumerians and how they knew about the solar system thousands of years before the telescope and space exploration. The video talks about how human beings may have been engineered by other life forms from this 10th planet, but I’m not 100% sure about that. What is interesting is how the Sumerians predicted the color and strange vertical orientation of Uranus. The show “Phenomenon – The Lost Archives” is hosted by the guy from Quantum Leap and Battlestar Galactica, Dean Stockwell. I especially like the part in the video that talks about the tower of Babel.
August 22, 2009
August 20, 2009
Parry Gripp Nom Nom Fun Animals Eating Video Bunnies and Mice
I found this super cute video with good music of creatures eating veggies.
I guess it’s by Parry Gripp.
August 19, 2009
The Music of Derj will make you climb a Skitzofrenik Summit
Finding new good music on the internet is kind of like finding a ten dollar bill on the street. You pick it up. Even though you know it may be dirty, you put it in your pocket. It’s dirty because it has been places. You know that 10 dollar bill has been used by a great deal of people and probably has germs, but who cares? The thing has value. But does its value come from the bill itself? Nope. It’s just a piece of paper. The true value comes from what you can get with it. Finding a 10 dollar bill is like picking up a little piece of power that fits in your hand. Well, finding new good music is similar to finding money. But instead of getting purchasing power, you are accessing emotional power. When you listen to music, you can put on a pair of headphones and literally control what emotions you would like to experience. Let your mp3 playlist be your palette for your mind. For example, you can listen to relaxing ambient music to tap into tranquil emotions and the music will help you become more relaxed. I used to do this all the time when listening to The Future Sound of London’s, LIFEFORMS.That double CD would let my mind drift for hours. But when you find music on MySpace Music or other music listening services you have access to literally tons of artists and tracks to preview. There is a lot of music rough edges on the internet, but sometimes you find a rare gem that you want to listen to over and over again. That kind of music is like finding a 10 dollar bill, because you can listen to it in your player and tap into emotions. But yesterday a 100 dollar bill found me, symbolically speaking. An artist from London who currently resides in Dublin called Derj. Derj is extremely talented. His music spans from pounding Drum and Bass to thought provocative electronica. I say his music was like having a 100 dollar bill finding me because he has so many excellent full tracks to listen to on his MySpace. The music takes the listener on a journey while directly taping into a specific emotional response along the way. The way he enters each emotion is by using excellent production, tasteful use of structure and intimate layering skills.
Listen to Derj on MySpace Now
Derj’s songs, Summit and Skitzofrenik are superb. Summit is an intriguing song with a twisting tempo and amazing layering. It starts with repetitive violin sounding instruments that set the foundation for a song that makes me reminisce. When I listened to it the first time I finished hearing the track and I thought there was something wrong with my player because time had gone by so fast. At around 2 minutes and 20 seconds Derj implements a really innovative bridge that ties into the second half of the song. During the bridge these strange sounding crying-like instruments speak into your ears and force you to take a break from Derj’s pleasant beat. There are also these oscillating bell-like sounds that are almost creepy. But when the beat kicks back in Derj takes you back on the primary journey and does so with friendly organic sounds.
Derj is a London artist residing in Dublin
Skitzofrenik is a Derj track that is more up-beat Drum and Bass. The track is aggressive and is the kind of music I could totally imagine myself dancing to at a Drum and Bass club or rave. The bass/drum combination mixed with the wet snare give Skitzofrenik a feeling that puts the listener in center of the audio pocket. There are even these small sounds of what I imagine imps or pygmies yelling “Go!” at me. I love it! At around 1 minute there is a sweet buildup where minor distorted organs show the listener the destruction that has occurred. I feel like a student being taught an important lesson in history and wisdom and restraint by an old wizard-like teacher during this part. Then at 3 minutes the beat drop and you are left a grippingly sick, organic rhythm. Then small sounds add beautiful layers to the music preparing you for a large movement at 4 minutes and 45 seconds. The guitar-like lead takes off and rocks you while you take a look back and witness all the chaos that had to take place in order to get you to your new state of survival-awareness. At the end of the song you hear the sounds from the beginning, but after all you’ve been through, it sounds different. Now you understand it better, because you have seen smaller parts of a much larger, much more dangerous machine.
Overall I think Derj is a master at this whole music thing and I recommend that you visit him on MySpace now and listen to Summit and Skitzofrenik. Once you have heard those two songs, venture on and listen to the rest of his music. But if you read this article you should not miss out on Summit and Skitzofrenik. For they are great examples of detailed modern musicianship crafted with the utmost skill and precision.
August 18, 2009
Square Watermelons Strange New Shape Same Great Nutritional Value
The Japanese have been making their fruit square! It is a form of fruit conformity that has hit the grocery store with a vengeance! The crafty Japanese farmers have been growing watermelons in containers to make them acquire a square shape. This makes the watermelons have a cube shape when they are done growing.
What are some advantages to cubic watermelons?
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This is why watermelons roll around in your fridge!
They fit in your refrigerator better. Since refrigerators are designed to store rectangular shaped items, it makes sense that a square watermelon would waste less space. They also tip over less. This is because when a circle touches a flat surface the circular shaped watermelon is constantly tangent to the surface of the refrigerator. This is similar to how a wheel on a car is able to move quickly along the road. A wheel stays in a state of constantly falling once it is in motion. Well the same principle holds true for your round watermelon in the fridge. Once it gets knocked by the milk jug as you are trying to make your midnight snack of cereal, the watermelon will want to move around and cause havoc in the fridge. Well, if you have a square watermelon, it will lie flat on the refrigerator surface. This is because a square watermelon is tangent along its parallel line of its rind in relation to the refrigerator. This is unlike the round watermelon, which is tangent to the surface only at a single point in its rind at a time.
- Square watermelons are small and cute and you can give them as presents. Expensive presents though. CNN says that in Japan the price of a square watermelon is as much at $82!!! This is a hefty price to pay when you want some watermelon. In Japan the usual price is around $20. That’s nutty! We know from my last article on watermelon nutritional value that even a big watermelon doesn’t have more than 1,000 to 2,000 calories. So I think a square watermelon would make a good gift but it would be expensive for a family to get used to getting them regularly.
Watermelon Bonkers
- Is it just me or do these square watermelons remind you of Bonkers? Yeah, remember those cubical candies that had fruit flavors. They used to have awesome commercials of people getting served by huge grapes and watermelons. Well, maybe square watermelons are where they got the juice for the square Bonkers….oh wait, Bonkers were artificially flavored.
Sources:
Patterson, Thomas “Japan Corners the Market on Square Fruit”
CNN.com, June 15th, 2001