k m a c h i n e

etsy!

2010-05-13T12:40:00.002-04:00

I've taken the plunge and opened a cyberstore through which to sell my portraits.

Presenting!: Portraits from the Realm of the Unreal

horoscopes

2010-05-13T12:39:00.000-04:00

this week from astrobarry.com:

SCORPIO (October 23-November 21): You ain't gonna hang out in this same spot for the rest of your days, I'm pretty sure about that. You've already had one foot out this door for a while now. And now, you're at that illustrious point of becoming unable to ignore the writing on the wall. Your several months of struggle to 'get somewhere' have now gotten you somewhere… or given you ample reason to conclude that 'somewhere' is probably somewhere else. In either event, Scorpio, you've got to get yourself excited about whatever's next—whether that's made itself clear to you yet, and even if you only have a vague sense of the first step involved. But whatever the case may be in that zone of your life, you also have a responsibility to summarize your findings in one-on-one conversation(s) with the person(s) likeliest to have their life impacted by the specifics of the 'somewhere' you're headed. There's no better method for putting the plan into action than telling somebody else. A discussion makes it real.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22-December 21): You can't really 'hold on' much longer… nor would I ask you to, Sagittarius. I'm talking about those incessant reiterations to 'get back to work' I've repeatedly lobbed at you, and whether anybody (least of all, some online astrologer) could demand you keep on as that 'good little boy/girl' indefinitely. The obvious answer is a defiantly rip-roaring 'hell no!' Pretty soon, you'll find your fiery drive for full-stimulation, all-cylinders-go adventure can't be politely held in place one more cotton-pickin' minute—at which point, I totally expect you to dunk yourself, head-to-toe, in the wild opportunity or crazy romance or irresistible excuse to go for it that's liable to present itself. Is this news to you? I've seen it coming all along. Perhaps you thought I wanted to cram nonstop 'responsibility' down your throat because I get off on it? Hardly. I simply thought it wise for you to bank a good chunk of diligent duty-fulfillment in advance of this oncoming 'go-for-it' moment. With that in mind: Better finish up soon.

Books I need to read:

2010-03-17T23:54:00.003-04:00

1. Wind-up Bird Chronicles
2. Infinite Jest
3. Demystifying Mushrooms
4. Second Nature

Links to geniuses.

2010-02-26T02:23:00.001-05:00

Listening to Joanna Newsom's new release. I'll be digesting this one for a while.

Revisiting this post on Artblog just so I can bask in the glory that is Hunter Stabler's genius. Planning a trip to Philly to see this, stat.

*********************

Edit: Speaking of genius, Christopher Langan too. "You cannot describe the universe completely with any accuracy unless you're willing to admit that it's both physical and mental in nature." I mean, christ, that's what I've been trying to tell people and no one listens!

*********************

Last edit and then I'm going to bed I swear: Another one! But before you read it, see if you can guess the correct answer to this question:

"A shopkeeper says she has two new baby beagles to show you, but she doesn't know whether they're male, female, or a pair. You tell her that you want only a male, and she telephones the fellow who's giving them a bath. "Is at least one a male?" she asks him. "Yes!" she informs you with a smile. What is the probability that the other one is a male?"

And good night.

Note to self.

2010-02-17T14:43:00.002-05:00

Look at more Peter Beard.

Miranda July

2010-02-17T00:40:00.006-05:00

Still trying to follow through on my decision to write my reflections on anything I finish reading on the internet. Usually I forget, and sometimes I just don't. My hope is that through this writing exercise, eventually I will have something to say.

(This photo is from Interview Magazine.)

I just finished reading a short interview on Dazed Digital with Miranda July. I've seen "You and Me and Everyone We Know," and read "No One Belongs Here More Than You." As I recall (and it's been a few years), she deals a lot with emotional vulnerability in relationships, which rarely captures my interest as artistic subject matter.

DD: Are you ever afraid that your work is too intimate?

Miranda July: I am concerned about that but there’s nothing I can really do. I try to push myself towards symbolism, partly for that reason but also that it is liberating. I often write a little reminder that says ‘move in symbols’ so I don’t get too autobiographical. Nonetheless, everything that I can think of that will be coming out in the next couple of years, I feel like I’m throwing myself to the lions. I really could just cry about it, that’s how upsetting it is to me, but I don’t know what to do. Oh well. Everything has its problems.

I don't criticize her work for the sappiness though. At least she's straightfoward. She reminds me of my bff's very sincere little sister who just started college and is apparently getting paid $12/hr to work part-time as a prop in an art piece at the Guggenheim. This same little sister, now that I think of it, is the one who initially recommended that I read her work. I think there's a lesson in here for me somewhere.

On "trashing."

2010-02-12T14:21:00.003-05:00

Excerpt from "Trashing: The Dark Side of Sisterhood" by Jo Freeman

"There is, of course, a fine line between trashing and political struggle, between character assassination and legitimate objections to undesirable behavior. Discerning the difference takes effort. Here are some pointers to follow. Trashing involves heavy use of the verb "to be" and only a light use of the verb "to do." It is what one is and not what one does that is objected to, and these objections cannot be easily phrased in terms of specific undesirable behaviors. Trashers also tend to use nouns and adjectives of a vague and general sort to express their objections to a particular person. These terms carry a negative connotation, but don't really tell you what's wrong. That is left to your imagination. Those being trashed can do nothing right. Because they are bad, their motives are bad, and hence their actions are always bad. There is no making up for past mistakes, because these are perceived as symptoms and not mistakes."

I was directed to this article from a post written by Kathleen Hanna on her blog. I'm not reposting this because I empathize as a member of the feminist movement. I'm not active in any political movement or organization, although I am an interested observer. But it did resonate with me because Freeman's description of "trashing" within the feminist movement as of 1976 is more or less the same as any incident of trashing that I've experienced on a personal level. The key to a good trash seems to be the abuse of a trust that the "victim" places on a larger body-- be that a movement or a friendship. Solid stuff, as relevant in 2010 as it undoubtedly was in the seventies. Full text here.

Perfect winter dress.

2010-02-12T13:22:00.003-05:00

A couple years ago I made a project of making three "perfect" summer dresses. They fit me perfectly and had pockets. However, my sewing skills were (are) less than air-tight, and they've since disintegrated. My next goal is to make a perfect winter dress, and it will look exactly like what Emma Roberts has on. Jessica Alba's shoes are tragic.

Epic Vegetable Garden 2010

2010-02-10T18:55:00.007-05:00

This year's garden brought to you with guidance from "Grow Great Grub" by urban gardener superhero Gayla Trail of You Grow Girl fame.

Vivarium, etc, vishlist

2010-02-10T18:48:00.007-05:00

1. Terrarium

With instructions from You Grow Girl. Claire just bought her book "Grow Great Grub" and we are in the midst of planning Epic Vegetable Garden 2010. But as we are unfortunately also in the midst of Snowpocalypse 2010, I am thinking on a smaller scale. Maybe a microgreens windowsill terrarium from which to feed Celeste.

2. Formicarium

Just started going through archives of The Footnotes of Mad Men. No idea why I didn't start reading this sooner. Anyways, props to them for the image.

3. Vermicompost

and a

4. Paludarium for Celeste!

Before:

After, hopefully:

But with a larger quantity of dry land.

Ward Shelley

2010-02-10T13:59:00.003-05:00

For all you visual learners out there... "Who invented the avant garde?"

More of Ward Shelley's work here.

Heavy is hilarious.

2010-02-09T15:19:00.004-05:00

Choice moments from "Happiness is heavy," an essay written in 1999 by Miltos Manetas. Was turned on to it by the snarky Manya Scheps in her blog, New RSSHole.

First sentence:

"Websites are today’s most radical and important art objects."

Major groan. I suppose so, but maybe that's because websites are today's most radical and important objects, period-- like factories before them (spawning pop art), and farms before them (spawning commercial art as we know it), and before them... opposable thumbs, I suppose. Why is Blogger telling me that I'm spelling opposable wrong? Wikipedia and Arstechnica disagree!

Moving on:

Bob Dobbs (a friend of McLuhan) said: "advertising is communication between machines”. He also suggested that machines came alive in 1967 and that “now they are in an angelic state”. According to him, “advertising is communication between Angels”.

I once said "Internet is elevation of the soul." Guess (glad?) I wasn't the only one!

I am not feeling critical enough to wrestle with this one further. All in all, a light, fun read, despite the title (mine or Manetas').

Scorpio/Sagittarius cusp

2010-01-18T08:30:00.001-05:00

From Free Will Astrology:

"You can have it all," says fashion designer Luella Bartley. "It's just really hard work." That's my oracle for you, Sagittarius -- not just for this week, but for the next three months as well. According to my reading of the astrological omens, the cosmos will indeed permit you to have your cake and eat it, too, as long as you're willing to manage your life with more discipline, master the crucial little details everyone else neglects, and always give back at least as much as you're given."

"In the first half of 2010, your calling will be calling to you more loudly and insistently than it has in years. It will whisper to you seductively while you're falling asleep. It will clang like a salvation bell during your mid-morning breaks. It will soothe you with its serpentine tones and it will agitate you with its rippling commands to spring into action. How will you respond to these summonses from your supreme inner authority? This week will be a good test."

J-pop

2010-01-14T00:58:00.002-05:00

Ben and Adam! (Adamben! sounds like a sleeping pill or something),

Neojapanisme is a mental beast of a blog. Lean, comprehensive essay (it's long, i'm warning you. Skim read, then ******** and go back into it for the links) on J-pop of the last ten years. I enjoyed it out of nostalgia, but also to learn about all that i'd missed. And also because it's a fun exercise to weigh the differences between Japanese and American music culture. Let me know if you hear anything you enjoy out of it. If anything it's great for the crazy band names.

I hope you're well and maybe we can hang out when i visit in a few weeks.

Hugs to W-Philly,

Kiriko

Fun fact: I revise most emails I send about five times (ha, at least) before sending them out. Is this indicative of anything? It's probably fine, but still, I wonder about myself sometimes.

Holiday Getaway

2010-01-12T19:25:00.006-05:00

I was marginally involved in this project at Tyler School of Art. The assignment for Jess Perlitz's sculpture class was to work collaboratively to organize a holiday fair of sorts for everyone at Tyler. My partners and I decided to create a "relaxation station" in three parts:

1) First station would feature an armchair where you could sit and receive a five-minute scalp massage (from me).
2) Second station would be an enclosed space. Inside would be 3 chairs, a long sandbox for feet, and a projection of ocean scenery.
3) The third station would be a totally insulated cave-like sleeping space, with sleeping bags, blankets, and pillows where one could sleep for as long as necessary.

The kicker was that a visitor could either pay $5 to go through the station, or get in for free if they agreed to have their face filmed close-up throughout the process.

I ended up leaving school before I got to help execute the project, but Maddie was kind enough to keep me posted as to how it actually played out. It appears the first and last stations disappeared, and the second "beach house" station became the focal point. I love that someone actually mooned the camera.

I read a lot.

2010-01-09T12:57:00.003-05:00

I read a lot in my free time, and now that I'm unemployed (soon to change, hopefully) and not in college, I have a lot of free time. I've decided that I need to have something to show for all the reading I do, lest I look back at this period of my life and see that I wasted my time. So from now on, I will attempt to link to anything that I read and, at least briefly, reflect on it. To make this more manageable, I will only write about things that I read from beginning to end (I read countless headlines and do a lot of skim-reading; these don't count for the purposes of this project).

More under "Ew But True."

2010-01-08T02:16:00.003-05:00

I was listening to a rad song called Chit Chatta- smatter of fact I think i'm gonna listen to it again!

Anyways, the song's called Chit Chatta by St Louis-based artist Ebony Eyez, feat. Chocolate Tai and Penelope Jones. (Love both the names! I'd drink a cocktail called Chocolate Tai any day. And Penelope Jones sounds like the name of the delightfully kooky gardener widow down the street from you in your idyllic childhood in the suburbs of San Francisco) I heard a word I'd never heard before! It sounded sexy-mean coming out the mouth of Ebony Eyez, born Ebony Williams. But when I typed "urban dictionary dirt digger" in my Google search bar, this is what I found.

Was roaming the Interwilds...

2010-01-07T22:56:00.003-05:00

...and found an Insidious Marketing Technique! Ew, Google and FB.

Fricassée

2010-01-01T16:02:00.003-05:00

Dylan says, "In an ideal world, you want as much browning and water retention as possible."

A thought

2009-12-29T15:49:00.000-05:00

Flowers knew how to preach divinity before men knew how to dissect and botanize them.

--H.N. HUDSON.

"Our Google Government"

2009-12-25T19:08:00.003-05:00

From "Philosecurity," an article by Sherri Davidoff. Iiiinteresting. Thanks to Adam for pointing this out:

"Recently I saw an ad which read:

“Over 60% of the U.S. state governments have gone Google.”

Does this mean that we’ve now handed the majority of our state governments’ operational data to a single privately-controlled company which has well-publicized partnerships with other governments such as China?

To find out more, I contacted Google’s press department. A representative promptly got back to me with more information:

“The reference to Going Google refers to US state governments using one or more of Google’s enterprise products…With regard to data hosting, Google Apps is a cloud computing solution meaning Google hosts the data in our data centers, relieving the customer or gov agency of the burden of managing their own servers in house.”

In other words, according to Google, United States state governments have literally handed over our public data to be held and managed by a private company which has well-publicized partnerships with other governments such as China. The data is physically stored in Google’s buildings, on Google’s servers, managed by Google’s employees. This means Google now controls our government’s access to it’s own data."

Read the rest of the article here.

Cabin fever.

2009-12-20T17:53:00.004-05:00

Facebook friends' zodiac data. Totally not what I expected!

A thought

2009-12-11T17:40:00.002-05:00

Not really sure what I meant by all this in retrospect, but can it be written mathematically?

"Two stories in one: Settling the Nature vs Nurture debate
and
An argument against Wealth as an absolute, which works just as well against other invisible concepts"

If

"The completed diagram of the path of value transactions over the course of human history- large sums spent in fits and bursts, minor sums spent more regularly; regular paychecks, unexpected raises, accumulated small change; increased wealth accumulation as one human emerges, lives, and dies- with its often erratic behavior, eventually results in a single average sum per unit of time.",

and

"The grandfather passes on to the father to the son to the grandson, for both directions from the birth of the species to its inevitable end."

then

"A current of symbolic wealth underlines our each preexisting, living, and postmortem, moment. That is, the grandfather passes on to the father to the son to the grandson, for both directions from the birth of the species to its inevitable end"!

Furthermore, if

"The wealth flows in an eternal web throughout, although a pervasive modern belief is that there exist a number of separate wealth systems which constantly compete to grow proportionally larger than the others; another modern belief is that causality is a universal constant."

then

"Ironically**, the logical resolution of even this belief is that all wealth systems, down to the most minute of transactions, are inextricably intertwined, into a single unbroken chain of the sum of all wealth throughout human history- an organism in itself, if you will, and all connected by humankind's subjective and collective delusion that various physical objects contain less or greater intrinsic Value- the spark of psychosomatic attachment to the perceived "not me"- in relation to one another."

Therefore

"The current of wealth runs parallel to the progression of eternity, implying that human thought has the effect of irrevocably changing the physical qualities of eternity, and thus the eternity manifests its nature through, among other habits of matter, the path of human thought."

** Can mathematical language be used ironically?

And I think this fits in that equation somewhere:

"In every act of recognition is the birth of a beast which breathes two breaths, then dies: with the first breath he utters a metaphor, and with his second, a memory."

One more, then < /procrastination >

2009-10-22T01:25:00.001-04:00

3. Remember the rules of electricity: positive attracts negative. So be negative to attract the positive. Also, negative repels negative. Double win!

One more, then

2009-10-22T01:25:00.000-04:00

3. Remember the rules of electricity: positive attracts negative. So be negative to attract the positive. Also, negative repels negative. Double win!

Pistachio's, McSweeney's, bed, check.

2009-10-22T00:54:00.001-04:00

Oh god:

Unpromising
Apartment-Ad
Teasers Actually
Found on Craigslist
That Would Make Even
Less Promising
Personal-Ad
Teasers.

BY ERIC FEEZELL

- - - -

Beautiful on the Inside!

Totally gutted and refurbished charmer

Huge unit! Looking for single person or couple only.

Back on market. Spacious! Clean!

"UNIQUE"

Gas, garbage incl. Cozy.

Your complex awaits!

BIG ... CLOSE TO EVERYTHING ...

Rarely available and will go quickly!

Look no further! I'm where the welcome mat goes!

Legal in-law

Ed

2009-10-21T19:19:00.002-04:00

Black outfit, accessories, General Tso's. An attractive look.

Shirley's Food Truck

2009-10-21T19:07:00.004-04:00

Shirley's Food Truck at 13th and Norris, in front of the new Tyler School of Art building, deserves an award for her excellent bagel sandwiches. I've gotten at least one bacon, egg, &cheese on a bagel every month of my life for the last 6 years. This trend started in high school, when Laure and I walked to the deli every morning for breakfast. They're hard to screw up, but Shirley's are consistently the best I've ever had, for 2 reasons:

1) First, Shirley cooks her bacon in the microwave before bringing it to the truck every morning; then she re-fries it before serving. This process burns off unnecessary fat, without making it dry and crispy. She says she likes to prepare her food as healthily as possible so that her customers stay young and beautiful. She chose the location in front of the Tyler building specifically because she likes being surrounded by youthful students.

2) Second reason- she uses flimsy bagels. If I'm having a bagel toasted, with cream cheese or something, I like it to be pretty hardy. But she gets the cheap kind that is kind of plastic-y on the outside and soft and bready on the inside, which is better for a breakfast sandwich because then you're not overwhelmed by the bread and get to enjoy the filling more. Anyways, here's a photo:

Proposals for "Neighborhood" Installation

2009-10-07T01:45:00.001-04:00

#1. Time Is Out: Herman Carter Retrospective

Herman Carter is a self-taught Philadelphian artist who has for the last 15 years been creating a body of work that typically combines acerbic social commentary, pop culture references, and a peculiar brand of urban mysticism. Herman- who over the past few months I've known him has also called himself "Cobra" and "Time Is Out"- Herman has possibly the strongest singular creative vision combined with lifestyle integrity of anybody I've ever met. He's a prophet and pop artist in one.

He was raised on our block at 50th and Hazel Ave in West Philly; the dilapidated house he squats, which is attached to mine, was the one his mother lived and died in. He had a really rough childhood and adolescence, but I've been told by guys he grew up with that he was an unusual and very smart child. He started making art in elementary school, and in his late teens started working odd jobs, moved to South Philly, dated here and there. From what I understand, it's only been within the last couple years that he's given up trying to fit into society in the typical fashions- he gave up his apartment, gave up on working at jobs, thrwe away his car (called White Girl) and cellphone, and took to spending all of his time painting on the porch of 5031 Hazel Ave. We got to know each other when I moved in this past May.

My proposal is to give this artist a retrospective! I've already talked to him about this and we agree that we should collect as much of his work as possible (I own a few originals, 2 gifts and one that I purchased), and exhibit them on his porch- the literal and symbolic source of his life's work. I'll finance the whole project, which will include lighting, installation, and promotional materials.

#2. Infinity

Less fleshed out than the Retrospective. I want to place invitational fliers in the windshields of as many cars throughout Philadelphia as humanly possible, with the following text:

On xx/xx/2009 at xx:00 PM,
Please turn up the volume in your car as loud as you can
And turn on the radio to [xxxx station].
Park your car if you can,
Roll down your windows,
And listen to the music.

I am going to write to WXPN and see if they'll help publicize the event. The song will probably be Alice Coltrane's "Infinity."

Vonnegut's 8 Rules for Short Stories

2009-10-07T01:41:00.001-04:00

From Bagombo Snuff Box: Uncollected Short Fiction:

1. Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted.
2. Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for.
3. Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.
4. Every sentence must do one of two things—reveal character or advance the action.
5. Start as close to the end as possible.
6. Be a Sadist. No matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them—in order that the reader may see what they are made of.
7. Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.
8. Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible. To hell with suspense. Readers should have such complete understanding of what is going on, where and why, that they could finish the story themselves, should cockroaches eat the last few pages.

Baltimore Ave

2009-10-03T16:51:00.002-04:00

photos taken for various reasons this month.

2009-09-27T02:51:00.004-04:00

From 09.2009

Photovoltaic Fabric

2009-09-14T00:03:00.001-04:00

My new purpose in life is to work with this stuff.

BFFs

2009-04-27T22:12:00.001-04:00

Weather report, looking good.

2009-04-27T11:57:00.002-04:00

Also!

2009-04-23T23:30:00.001-04:00

Has it ever occurred to you that "obnoxious drunk girls" as a segment of the accepted middle or respectable class is an extremely new development in the history of social hierarchy?

So here's where I'm at!

2009-04-23T22:48:00.005-04:00

"My latest purpose for drawing: not just depictions of ideas or visions or objects, but now also a tool to create serious mental and emotional discomfort in the subject, and, therefore (thus?), personal growth (/consciousness transcendence, or at least expansion) through a process by which the subject shuts off as much ego as possible- thinking of only one object, and making the smallest effort possible to create, in this case, a line. What's my biggest bang (the line) for a buck (effort)? The practice is a meditation! a meditation in the most minimal product of reality enrichment efforts. Where's the line between ego and action? This is my next goal in 2 dimensional- no! CYBER Dimensional! ARTISTRY!! THE INTERNET IS ELEVATION OF THE SOUL"

^ Excerpt, edited, from a page in my sketchbook. This is how I sometimes think privately. Imagine what I would read like on Twitter!

My new fav artist: Jen Stark

& new fav music: Daniel Francis Doyle , from Austin TX, although i'm not sure how well this translates as a recording; it's amazing, unnerving, and superraw live.

oh and reading: Collected Stories by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Seedlings growing: watermelon, zucchini, morning glory, arugula, basil, and something else. WHICH WILL SURVIVE? have yet to plant musk melon or dinosaur kale.

Drawings drawing: (aside from the line project) A lot of sculptural, translucent or sheer sculptural fashions; Suckerpunch costumes; portraits; diagrams of power

Researching: Olanzapine and mental disorders.

PS: I'm also going to start making drawings on the internet using Rich Text Editors.

Doughnut lesson #1:

2009-02-01T00:50:00.000-05:00

Honey and vegan are mutually exclusive.

Philadelphia Vintage!

2009-01-26T19:37:00.004-05:00

Blog
MySpace
Twitter

Words from Penny Scout.

2008-12-28T12:48:00.001-05:00

“It is by breaking our hearts that we can give respect to the victims of our culture.” -Laurel Luddite, Fire and Ice

It was a name that came to me in an instant. It had a nice ring to it. Originally it had to do with the ones I’d left behind. Some applied it to my looks, the ones who never even got a chance. Of course, in a new relationship “breaker of hearts” is not necessarily something one wants to be, so the title was somewhat discomfiting and came with the * except Urban Scout’s.

As an herbalist, I thought, perhaps I should change my name to “Healer of Hearts”, but it just didn’t have the same oomph. Then my heart was broken and it seemed even less fitting. However, last night in bed while reading an obscure anti-civilization book lent to me by some friends called Fire and Ice: Disturbing the Comfortable and Comforting the Disturbed While Tracking our Wildest Dreams by Laurel Luddite and Skunkly Monkly, the name Breaker of Hearts took on new meaning,

Epidemic levels of rape and assault. The greatest mass extinction in the planet’s history. Global warming. Nuclear proliferation. Loss of top soil. The libraries are overflowing and the internet is flooded. This information is not new and you do not need new information to add to the list, to measure exactly the height of the walls around us. The weight of what we already rationally know is causing us to sink deeper in our cynicism and denial…

…Start with a clear-cut, a conquest, a whale carcass, a dead child. Start with whatever tragedy is nearest your heart, trying to get in, rubbing the muscle raw. Stop resisting. Feel it. To escape this prison, your heart must break.

Now I see why I don’t have to change my name. To allow one’s heart to break and break fully, is the first step to healing. Most of us go around with it broken anyway, but we refuse to acknowledge it, and are unable to let go. I had a vision once in regards to pain. They wanted their story to be known. In it pain and fear were tiny, sad little creatures, a lima bean and a chihuahua, that lived in a dark cave underground. At first they pretended not to be, but it became clear that they were very lonely. The only way they knew to get attention was to amplify themselves up into the world through a giant organ.

To many people grief, their own and especially other people’s grief, is an inconvenience. If we were to truly feel it, we would be unable to get anything done, to sleep at night, to go to work.

Exactly.

Perhaps the work we do is not the work we need to get done. But there is more to it than this. There are times when awareness is not enough, for self-preservation is our instinct. There are good reasons many of us do not allow ourselves to fall apart. The threat of death is real. If we lose our jobs, we lose our ability to feed ourselves, or our children. If we display our full range of emotion we may lose relationships when those who see a part of themselves in us but are not willing to go there, feel threatened and run. Did anyone ever tell you things have to get worse before they get better? This is one of those times. Be brave.

Read the rest of the post here.

Amelie Jr.

2008-11-13T18:12:00.000-05:00

Possibly the cutest thing I've ever seen, ever. Ever.

Once upon a time... from Capucha on Vimeo.

On Sarah Palin.

2008-11-07T18:18:00.001-05:00

From an article posted on The Herald Sun:

"She did not believe she had contributed to the Republicans' resounding defeat.

'I don't think anybody should give Sarah Palin that much credit that I would trump an economic time in this nation that occurred about two months ago,' she told CNN."

Okay, what does that sentence even mean?

Oh Maya.

2008-11-05T23:31:00.001-05:00

Anamaya: night

me: <3<3<3

Anamaya: "too cute"

me: yeah yeah

Anamaya: loon says that all the time

me: loon?

Anamaya: my mum

me: you call her loon?

Anamaya: hell yeah

me: I had no idea.

Anamaya: ha.

11:30 PM thats her nick name

for linda

me: That's amazing.

Oh Mike.

2008-11-01T21:19:00.001-04:00

"Post title: John McPhee is special; perhaps I will see you tomorrow.

Post body:

While not a household name like John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, or Albert Ayler, Joe McPhee is a saxophone player with the same artistic status. Joe plays a very personal form of creative improvised music that is only distantly related to "Free Jazz" or "EFI" (Euro Free Improv), so people's preconceptions of an improvising saxophonist really don't apply to his music. It's a very rare balance of an abstract, experimental sensibility and a raw, deep, direct human experience. I can guarantee that if you see him play you will have some spinal shivers and teardrops. My first encounter with his music was in Chicago in 1996 and in the 12 years since then he's become firmly established in my personal pantheon of the handful of musicians I've bonded with most deeply (alongside the Maneris, Tim Berne, and Jack Wright), the rare musician who's shaped my life and understanding of art.
It's been a long time since he's been in Philly so I'm excited to see him tomorrow night:
arsnovaworkshop. com
He is a special, beautiful human being and musician, so I wanted to make this quick note in case anybody cares about that sort of thing.

By the way, if anyone wants a recommendation about which of his albums to dig into, I recommend his stuff from the past few years, like the Trio X and Bluette discs on CIMP. Even though his early albums from the late 60s and early 70s have been nicely reissued and hold up well, and his 70s and 80s albums on Hat Art are classics, he is a restless artist who just keeps going deeper and getting better, so in recent years he has reached a golden peak.

I hope tomorrow night will be one of those rare, sacred gatherings of the people who have a genuine passion for creative art. I realize that as an atheist I have been able to enjoy a much richer spiritual life than most people because of the most sublime, passionate, creative music like this. It's a secular, harmless, constructive way of living that would eliminate wars, genocide, tribalism, etc if it became the norm instead of superstition and mob psychology. If people also quit their poisonous addictions (refined sugar, flour, alcohol) and respected their bodies, we could also eliminate most crime and poverty and solve the health care and pharmaceutical scandals/crises. Toss in the dismantling of the factory farm infrastructure and some wise usage of suburban lawns for biodynamic agriculture (veggies, goats, chickens) and we also solve most of our environmental and economic problems. Obama is an awesome, brilliant guy, but he's not going to solve any of these problems and make the real changes. Only us individual people can do that one person at a time. By the way, while I'm rambling, I would like to extend a big, virulent "fuck you" to all the whores of corporate sports (e.g. Phillies) and governmental politics (e.g. the tragic criminal collusion of D.C. and mega-corporations). You're all pawns of an insidious, disgusting reality TV show.

-Mike"

"The Full Obama Interview."

2008-10-28T16:04:00.001-04:00

Posted by Joe Kline to Time.com, October 23, 2008:

Q] I want to ask you some questions about the way you make decisions and then some questions about issues. To me the signal decision of this election was the way you chose your vice-president and the way he chose his. You are known for deliberation and being a rational decision-maker. But sometimes you have to make decisions another way. I just wanted to ask you whether you have made gut decisions during the course of this and whether you can tell me about any of those.

[BO] Sure. I think that, in some ways deciding to run in the first place was a gut decision. If you looked at the pros and cons of running now versus later, there was a lot of potential downside. I was in a very good place—[inaudible] Michelle and the girls were very happy and it was [inaudible] with some risks if the campaign wasn’t successful then I would be seen as presumptuous—probably lose some potential leverage in the senate. My gut told me that the country was looking for something different and that if we were able to build an organization that harnesses that. [Inaudible]

[Q] You had plenty of time to make that decision, I am talking about…

[BO] A spot, instinctual

Q] Yeah, instinctual

[BO] Well, during the course of this campaign probably our response to those Reverend Wright videos had to be a spot decision, because frankly it was unanticipated and I hadn’t seen those
incendiary videos before. The decision to make it big as opposed to make it small.

[Q] To make the [Philadelphia] speech.

[BO] To write a speech in two days and deliver it at a time when there was a singular focus on the topic I think is an example of having to make decision based on what in my gut would make sense.

[Q] What was your gut telling you?

[BO] My gut was telling me that this was a teachable moment and that if I tried to do the usual political damage control instead of talking to the American people like an adult—like they were adults and could understand the complexities of race that I would be not only doing damage to the campaign but missing an important opportunity for leadership.

[Q] Let me give you one. I’ve talked to people about the day that McCain suspended.

[BO] That is another one where we had to make a decision quickly.

[Q] You were getting phone calls from people in Washington.

[BO] We were getting phone calls from people in Washington and I think there were some on our staff that were thinking that maybe we should interject and respond in some way. My strong feeling was that this situation was of such seriousness that it was important not to chase the cameras. One of the advantages that we had was that I think we had been steady from the start. I had already called my economic advisors together. I had already put forward a clear set of principles that were in the process of being adopted. I had been talking to Paulson and Bernanke and the congressional leadership on a regular basis so it wasn’t like I felt in any way that I was out of the loop. I felt like I was helping to shape the direction of this. And one of the things that I have become more and more convinced of during the course of this campaign is that in an environment like this one where people are really paying attention because they are worried and they are scared good policy will end up being good politics—more than I think might have been true during boom times in the nineties when people were just feeling like it was sport, it was a game.

[Q] It has been my experience from [covering] far too many of these that when people are paying attention, negative ads are less effective.

[BO] That is exactly right, because people are thinking to themselves I want to see how this guy operates in solving problems not how entertaining he or she is, or what the latest gossip on the cable news is.

[Q] When people were saying to you that day that McCain suspending, he’s going to seem above the fray and I know that some people felt that way, you didn’t go with that.

[BO] I didn’t believe it. I have to tell you, one of the benefit s of running this 22 month gauntlet is that you have been through some ups and you have been through some downs. And you start realizing that what seems important or clever or in need of some dramatic moment a lot of times just needs reflection and care. And I think that was an example of where my style at least worked. There are going to be some times where I think I won’t have that luxury of thinking through all the angles. Obviously I wasn’t President at the time which influenced my decision. I did not control all the levers of power. And I think that the one thing I have become pretty confident about is being able to tap into the smartest people on any subject and to draw together a lot of contrary or contradictory perspectives. And push people’s arguments against each other, ask the right questions and figure out at a least a framework for solving problems.

[Q] Let me ask you about a situation like that. I have been collecting accounts of your meeting with David Petraeus in Baghdad. And you had [inaudible] after he had made a really strong pitch [inaudible] for maximum flexibility. A lot of politicians at that moment would have said [inaudible] but from what I hear, you pushed back.

[BO] I did. I remember the conversation, pretty precisely. He made the case for maximum flexibility and I said you know what if I were in your shoes I would be making the exact same argument because your job right now is to succeed in Iraq on as favorable terms as we can get. My job as a potential commander in chief is to view your counsel and your interests through the prism of our overall national security which includes what is happening in Afghanistan, which includes the costs to our image in the middle east, to the continued occupation, which includes the financial costs of our occupation, which includes what it is doing to our military. So I said look, I described in my mind at list an analogous situation where I am sure he has to deal with situations where the commanding officer in [inaudible] says I need more troops here now because I really think I can make progress doing x y and z. That commanding officer is doing his job in Ramadi, but Petraeus’s job is to step back and see how does it impact Iraq as a whole. My argument was I have got to do the same thing here. And based on my strong assessment particularly having just come from Afghanistan were going to have to make a different decision. But the point is that hopefully I communicated to the press my complete respect and gratitude to him and Proder who was in the meeting for their outstanding work. Our differences don't necessarily derive from differences in sort of, or my differences with him don't derive from tactical objections to his approach. But rather from a strategic framework that is trying to take into account the challenges to our national security and the fact that we've got finite resources.
[Q] But you didn't have to make that point.
[BO] No well I think that I did, I felt it necessary to make that point even though I tried not to talk about it publicly, not knowing sort of what the terms of our discussion were. Precisely because I respect the Petraeus and [inaudible], precisely because they've done a good job and because my job as a candidate is preparing myself to be commander in chief. And I want to make sure that I'm taking their arguments seriously, they understand I'm taking their argument seriously. I want our military brass and our mid level officers to all feel that I am going to be listening to them. This notion that I'm not paying attention to them is nonsense. I'm listening to them very carefully and I take their advice with great seriousness. I just want them to know that I've got a, I potentially will have a broader task at hand.
[Q] Right.
[BO] And I want to make sure that we establish a relationship of respect early on. Again not just with the joint chiefs but also with folks who align responsibly on the ground.
[Q] Now I've heard that conversation characterized as everything from angry to spirited to agreeable. And I kind of took it as
[BO] I would say it was between spirited and agreeable. That's how I would characterize it.
[Q] And after you made that point, [Petraeus] said I understand now.
[BO]He did. I mean I think we came away sort of thinking that, let me put it this way, I'm glad Patreus is in Centcom. He now has to, has these broader response abilities of seeing what's happening in Afghanistan and Pakistan. I think he's a very, he's not just an astute soldier, but I think he's somebody who cares about facts and cares about the reality on the ground. I don't think he comes at this with an ideological pre-disposition. That's one of the reasons I think he's been successful in moving the ball forward in Iraq. And I hope that he's applying that same perspective to what's happening in Afghanistan.
[Q] Lets go back to we're now moving to the issue portion. When you questioned him [in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee] the last time. You asked him about what [conditions on the ground] would be ‘good enough’ for us to leave Iraq.

[BO] Right.
[Q] As you sit here today, and you look at what's happening in Iraq, is it good enough?
[BO] I don't think it's quite good enough yet because I think we have to do a little more training. We've got to build up the logistical capacity. I think the possibilities of ethnic strife breaking out again are still present, precisely because the political system has not stabilized itself yet. But I do believe that we are at a point now where we can start drawing down troops. I think we can time a process where the drawing down of troops parallel to building up the capacity in Iraq and the Sofa agreement that just, the Sofa that was just put forward I think reflects that reality.
[Q] On Afghanistan, couple questions. I was at Walter Reed and some of the kids there were casualties of the firebase that was overrun--16 wounded, 9 killed.
[BO] We were very, it was a week or 2 weeks after those kids [were overrun], when we made our trip [to Afghanistan]
[Q] And then some of those kids at Walter Reed, they said [the Taliban attackers came] across the border from Pakistan, only 30 km away. Should we, is it right what we've started doing to chase them back across the border?...How do you deal with that?
[BO] Here's my attitude. Number 1 we can't have our troops remain sitting ducks. We should, under our coalition mandate we are in Afghanistan at the invitation of the afghan government. We're there legally, under international watch. When those troops are attacked, they have a right to defend themselves. Period. Now I think that the most critical task that we have in Afghanistan is to not only strengthen the Afghan government, it's military capacity, it's ability to deliver services to its people, its capacity to work with the agricultural sector there to replace the poppy crop. But it’s to also work through a viable strategy for Pakistan. My sense is that Zedari has already been willing to step out and commit himself in a pretty difficult situation to work with the United States to root out militant terrorists.
So, building a different relationship with the Pakistani government, the Pakistani military, the ISI. Working with Pakistan, this government to deliver for its people so it gains legitimacy, in all regions of the country. Working with Pakistan and India to try to resolve, and Kashmir, crisis in a serious way. Those are all critical tasks for the next administration. Kashmir in particular is an interesting situation where that is obviously a potential tar pit diplomatically. But, for us to devote serious diplomatic resources to get a special envoy in there, to figure out a plausible approach, and essentially make the argument to the Indians, you guys are on the brink of being an economic superpower, why do you want to keep on messing with this? To make the argument to the Pakistanis, look at India and what they are doing, why do you want to keep n being bogged down with this particularly at a time where the biggest threat now is coming from the Afghan boarder? I think there is a moment where potentially we could get their attention. It won’t be easy, but it’s important.

[Q] Sounds like a job for Bill Clinton.

[BO] Might not be bad. I actually talked to Bill, I talked to President Clinton about this when we had lunch in Harlem.

[Q] …Should we be talking to the Taliban? I don’t mean you.

[BO] You know, I think that this is one useful lesson that is applicable from Iraq. The Great Awakening, the Sunni Awakening changed the dynamic in Iraq fundamentally. It could not have occurred unless there were some contacts and intermediaries to peel off those who are tribal leaders, regional leaders, Sunni nationalists, from a more radical Messianic brand of insurgency. Well whether there are those same opportunities in Afghanistan I think should be explored. I can't guarantee that they are and one of the problems that we had and we've historically had, the Russians historically had it, the British historically had it, is our intelligence there is poor and our understanding of the culture is poor. And our understanding of the tribal and clan ties that exist there are complicated. But the Afghans don't see things in the same black and white terms on many of these issues that we legitimately do because we're concerned about our safety and our security. But what we're going to have to do is to have folks on the ground who do develop that understanding, I was very impressed with McKernan, very impressed with a lot of the folks who are there. My impression is that those who have a chance to stay there a little bit longer and develop clear understanding of the formidable complexities are going to achieve a lot more than simply us rotating in folks on a rapid rotation and I think that people on the ground tend to agree with me on that.

[Q] You talk about the need for an Apollo project and it just seems to me that if there is a unified big bang I theory in this election, it's a program that involved national security, jobs growth, environmental…

[BO] Absolutely.

[Q] So why haven't you given the big speech about it?

[BO] We actually gave a very big speech of it in New Hampshire very early on. And I recommend pulling that speech back up because it was pretty comprehensive and it gave the blueprint for our energy approach. I think that the immediate economic crisis and the consequent decline in oil prices has led us to a dangerous point where maybe we start thinking in terms of business as usual again.

The biggest problem with our energy policy has been to lurch from crisis to trance. And what we need is a sustained, serious effort. Now, I actually think the biggest opportunity right now is not just gas prices at the pump but the fact that the engine for economic growth for the last 20 years is not going to be there for the next 20, and that was consumer spending. I mean, basically, we turbo-charged this economy based on cheap credit. Whatever else we think is going to happen over the next certainly 5 years, one thing we know, the days of easy credit are going to be over because there is just too much de-leveraging taking place, too much debt both at the government level, corporate level and consumer level. And what that means is that just from a purely economic perspective, finding the new driver of our economy is going to be critical. There is no better potential driver that pervades all aspects of our economy than a new energy economy.
I was just reading an article in the New York Times by Michael Pollen about food and the fact that our entire agricultural system is built on cheap oil. As a consequence, our agriculture sector actually is contributing more greenhouse gases than our transportation sector. And in the mean time, it's creating monocultures that are vulnerable to national security threats, are now vulnerable to sky-high food prices or crashes in food prices, huge swings in commodity prices, and are partly responsible for the explosion in our healthcare costs because they're contributing to type 2 diabetes, stroke and heart disease, obesity, all the things that are driving our huge explosion in healthcare costs. That's just one sector of the economy. You think about the same thing is true on transportation. The same thing is true on how we construct our buildings. The same is true across the board.
For us to say we are just going to completely revamp how we use energy in a way that deals with climate change, deals with national security and drives our economy, that's going to be my number one priority when I get into office, assuming, obviously, that we have done enough to just stabilize the immediate economic situation. In conversations with folks like Warren Buffet, Larry Summers, and the other people that I've been spending time with on this, I described it as we've got a boat with a lot of leaks and we need to get it into port. That's what the financial rescue package is about. But once we get it into port, once the credit markets are functioning effectively, then it's time for us to go back to the fundamentals of this economy. Now, the one other point I want to make about this, though, we can't divorce the energy issue from what I believe has to be the dominant political theme underlying everything -- the economy, healthcare, you name it. And that is restoring a sense that we're growing the economy from the bottom up and not the top down. That's the overarching philosophical change that we've got to have. It's the attitude that Henry Ford had when he paid his workers a decent wage. That means they're going to be able to buy their cars. The irony of McCain trying to make this whole Joe the Plumber thing as his sort of mantra over the last few days, if you look at the transcript of my conversation with him, the point I was making was two-fold. Number one, I want to give you a tax cut sooner so you can save sooner to start your business sooner because the average plumber starting off sure isn't making $250,000 a year.

[Q] Neither is Joe.

[BO] Of course. And the second thing is plumbers, like everybody else, you need customers. And if everybody's broke, you're not going to be able to build your business. That's why I tell that little pie story in speeches. It's a simple principle that we've lost, which is when everybody's sharing in our prosperity, everybody wins. The entire economy grows. Fighting for the middle class, whether it's on tax cuts, on healthcare, on college affordability, those are things not designed to simply penalize rich people, those are designed to create this broad middle class that creates our rich people. That's what I'm going to be fighting for. Last question, gentlemen.

[Q] Last question is, the logic seems to me, on the environmental side, that you're going to have to slow walk cap-and-trade, you're going to have to slow walk because that would naturally raise prices. Electricity prices, as you said in the past -- the series of priorities --

[BO] The only way to do it effectively is if you are building effective consumer rebates into the plan. The bulk, the lion's share of any revenue generated from cap-and-trade has to go right back to the consumer.

[Q] So the payroll tax swap?

[BO] The payroll tax swap is one way of doing it. Just sending a pure energy rebate to folks is another way of doing it. We've got to figure out a simple way to do it but the point is, is that we've got to cushion consumers from those price hikes and then allow technology to catch up in such a way that whatever retrofitting has to be done pays for itself. I mean, essentially what we should be doing is setting the rules, setting the incentives, pricing pollution accurately, and then letting technology catch up the same way it did with acid rain. And the one thing that we probably will have to do, and this is where the federal government expenditure side comes in, we've got to pump a lot of separate players to make the initial investment. We went to this company in Seattle, McKinstry, great little company. Not so little anymore. It started off as a mom-and-pop plumbing and HVAC operation. Somebody at some point in the family figured out you know what, we could really just specialize in making businesses more energy-efficient. They ended up working this niche. They now have several thousand employees. They've got welders on-site who are making $80-90,000 union wages with full benefits. They've got engineers, all computerized designing completely remaking school buildings, hospitals, etc. This has been voted like one of the best companies to work for in Seattle. They've got a full-court basketball and weight room where everybody goes out during lunch and plays. Great cafeteria. I mean, it's an ideal model, but here's the point. I asked them, I said what are your average customers saving. And their customers are saving 20-30% on their energy bills so they're recouping their cost potentially in 5 years time but in the current economic environment, a lot of great potential customers of McKinstry aren't going to do it unless they get some strong incentives from the federal government. That's where the federal government comes in. We've got to do [inaudible] but we've also got to help folks who knows this is the right thing to do, do it. It's the same thing with -- there are tons of people right now who want to buy hybrids. There's a huge market for it. But good luck getting a car loan to trade in your SUV for a hybrid. We've got to give some folks some incentive so they can start making the right decisions.

I just love this.

2008-10-22T17:20:00.001-04:00

And this:

More Ms. Newsom

2008-10-21T20:54:00.003-04:00

Unedited transcript of Rob Young's interview with Joanna Newsom, following the release of her second album Ys, from Issue #273 of The Wire:

J: I think the fingers bleeding thing doesn't happen too often; I think I had been having too much fun in the weeks leading up to the tour instead of rehearsing four hours a day like I should have done, and I hadn't built up enough callous in time, so my fingers blistered, and then I bled when I played through the blisters...

R: Was Ys made by a different person from the one that made Walnut Whales and your early music?

J: Yeah, I think so. It would be difficult to justify saying yes if you had said, the Milk Eyed Mender, if you go as far back as those first little EPs - I don't think of them as EPs, but they're real home recorded CD-Rs that I made - but those were made in an incredibly different time, in my head, in my life, in my heart. Definitely. Some of those songs on the first EP wre written when I was still in high school. I'm almost 25 now, so without a doubt I'm a different person.

R: You've been forced to analyse what you do because of the exposure, do you feel more self-conscious about the process of writing now, or does it still come from a pure place?

J: I don't know if it ever came from an entirely pure place, I don't think anything that I do is pure, but it comes from the same place as before: writing music has been my chief joy and chief activity for almost my entire life, since I was eight years old. And nothing could be more natural to me than writing music. There are are a lot of other aspects of social interaction that I'm bad at, specifically because my entire adolescence, youth and teenagerhood was spent playing the harp all the time. So no matter what happens, the ability to write and play, it's going to be the last thing to go. They'll have to cut my hands off for that to happen, I think. It could take a number of different forms depending on what I'm thinking about in a particular period of time, or how I'm feeling. But always the reaction for me is to write music, naturally.

R: From those early days were you telling stories in the way that you do now?

J: No. I didn't sing, until I was 18 years old, so it was just instrumental. And it was like, me attempting to write music to be a composer and rthat was a very different form as well. When I was younger, everythign followed a general Celtic music form, or classical music, and when I got a little older, maybe 13 or 14, was when I started getting obsessed with all the West African figures, and then everyhting I did had to follow those lines, or had to be some outgrowth of those processes - I might not do three metre against four meter, but I might do five against seven... It was always an outgrowth of that for a few years. So whatever I'm doing with music has changed quite a bit, and it hasn't always felt evolutionary, often it's felt like a massive shift all of a sudden. But the common denominator is just that I'm playing or writing no matter what.

R: I read a quote where you said you prefer to think of yourself as a harper, not a harpist. Can you clarify the distinciton?

J: Yeah I heard that too, I've heard that damn quote everywhere, I don't think I said that ever! I truly don't. I may have pointed out that that distinction exists, but I don't in the least have a preference. People I know who play the harp sometimes make a distinction, and I believe it's a distinction between folk harp and classical harp. I believe harper is a reference to folk harp, and I think it might even be something like men have specifically been proponents of, becaue I think harpist is somehow coded as feminine somehow. I don't think there are many words in the English language ending with 'ist' that refer to something that men are likely to do. I could think of 'typist' - it's a real feminine suffix, and I'm not sure why. I don't think it's officially feminine. And the reason I say folk harp rather than classical harp is that there aren't many men who play pedal harp still, because there's so many associations with women still with that instrument that men don't feel welcome to play it. So I really don't think I said that, but I could be wrong, I don't remember. But that sounds like a really wack thing for me to say, and I don't think I did!

R: Can you tell me where 'Ys' the title comes from?

J: Yeah, I can say where that came from. Basically it's a reference to the island in Breton mythology that existed off the coast off, I forget what it was called, begins with a D, somewhere of the coast of Brittany. But it was a city built upon an island, surrounded by a wall, and the basic story was that the wall was breached and the city was flooded, but there are several myths surrounding that. The most common is that the king built the city as a present for his daughter, and then the daugher proceeded to decline into a state of complete hedonism and decadence, and the poepple of the city followed in her footsteps. And the most extreme version of the story that I've heard involved her taking a new lover every night. And when she's done with him, putting this mask on him... Oh, I guess she puts the mask on him in the evening, so she doesn't even have to see his face throughout. But the mask has these prongs that come out when she's done with him, and kill him. And then she throws his dead body over the walls of the city and goes about her business. And then one day a man comes to call on her, and she falls in love with him because of his great beauty - and some versions imply that he's the devil - and other versions imply that he's this messenger of righteousness, come to visit her punishment on her. But she falls in love with him, and he convinces her to take the keys to the city from her father, and she either unlocks the door, or he unlocks the door to the city. But regardless, it floods. And her father the king escapes and tries to take her with him on the back of this magical horse that can run on water, but a saint - I think - refuses to let her go, every time he lifts her onto the horse, she's forced to get off again, and is forced to stay and perish with the city. And then she becomes a harpy figure who lures sailors to their deaths with her singing.
But my reasons for choosing it as the title for my record are many. I chose it because there were five or six different layers of meaning, from superficial or circumstantial, down to extremely specific. And I don't want to align myself too closely with certain parts of the story, because some reasons for choosing that as the title have nothing to do with the story itself but more to do with my thinking surrounding the story, like, one thing I was thinking about at a certain point in the process was the inquiry into the places whre Christianity came and erased a true story. Because I think when you read through this myth, you can see remnants or shadows of what it may have been in its original form, which of course would have been a pagan, Druid myth. And you can almost feel, although they're just out of reach, you can perceive distantly these spots where you can feel there used to be something else there. The story used to be different. And I think in a way maybe this record connects with what I imagine to be the actual pre-Christian myth, than I do connect with the Christianised, sterilised, morally upstanding of the myth that remains. But certainly I relate it also to the themme of the city going under the water, cos that's a pervasive theme throughout this entire record, of songs reachig their resolution - some of them don't resolve, but they reach a climax, or, they reach a point where something goes under the water, something drowns of sinks or floods, or changes beneath the water, and the water is a huge force of changing and starting over, and destruction. And also there's a big theme of fecundity and harvest and fertility, and also the excess of those things. I associate water with that as well - a flooding idea. And also, the original thing is that I was dreaming about the letter Y and the letter S, and I knew that I wanted the record title to contain those two letters - it just felt immediately right. That had to be what it was, no matter what.

R: You were dreaming about letters?

J: Yeah [laughs]. And I knew I wanted it to have one syllable, and there are very few words that have the letter Y and the letter S that have one syllable. There's like Say, and Yes, and I can't think of any others, and they're not very good record titles, and I'm like god dammit, what am I gonna name my record? It has to be this, and I know it in my heart, and then I read about Ys, and probably dropped my glass of water, was very dramatically like, Jesus, this is it! You know... And my certainty was driven home by the spooky fact of reading a line in this ficiton book, not only a reference to the city of Ys, but it also contained the line, 'It is that damnable bell', which is a line from one of my songs, and has a very particular syntax... It's weird that I would find that line in a book, it seemed like a massive coincidence.

R: You had written the song first, then you found that line repeated in a book?

J: Exactly, I had written it already, and then I just stopped in my tracks, because I read 'It is that damnable bell', which seems like, outside of the narrative that I wrote for that particular song, which is a real time narrative - it's not like 'this happened and then this happened'... It's like I'm narrating it as it is happening. And that is not a tone that is adopted in fiction very often at all. And I think that tone is required in order for that syntax to make sense and it's really awkward outside of that particular tone, and it was very strange for me to read it, and it felt like yet another confirmation. And then I read a little more about the city of Ys, and how the bells of the cathedral, you can still hear them ringing underwater on a still day, and I have yet another song about bells ringing under water. The point is, this title was the last thing to come. All the songs were already written, and I just needed a title, and couldn't think of anything that could encapsulate everything. And I didn't want a line from any of the songs, or a title of any of the songs, I didn't want to over-emphasise one of the songs over the others, and it seemed somehow inappropriate to do that, that seemed like a normal convention for an album. And I wanted to follow a different type of logic to choose a title for this record. And then I found that.

R: When you were talking about the city of Ys, you mentioned the word decadence, and I was going to bring that word up - it seems that although a lot of people talk about a childlike quality of your music, to me it seems like decadent is a better word - you give yourself the luxury to indulge yourself in song, it's opulent.

J: [Laughs] Sure, I think that's definitely true. It's a tone that's voluntary - it needs to be a prerequisite for allowing myself to write songs in a way that they came about for this reocrd, but it was also an aesthetic choice - for example I wanted the presence of an orchestra, the cover art, which took my friend a year to make, I wanted there to be an opulence and a level of detail and care that was really consistent throughout, so it made a lot of sense for me to do it that way. But the third and for me, probably the most significant role that decadence plays, is in the narrative itself, like, decadence figures very prominently. Either the idea of decadence, or I guess a searching or longing or wnodering that is rooted in a desire for any self-gratification, selfishness, self-centredness, which is a sort of decadence I guess. I try to convey that by using language which places as the goal this over the top thing, you know, like fiefs and that sort of thing. [laughs]

R: That antique quality in some of the words you use... you use 'thee' occasionally...

J: That's not so much a conscious aesthetic choice as it is an attempt to say what I mean to say in the most musical way possible. And the use of 'thee' I think only happens once, in "Emily", that particularly made sense to me because it was part of the three-part singsongy sort of rhyme, and that made sense to put thee in there, because within that tiny little section it seemed really appropriate for the tone. But I don't know if I would have used it elsewhere in the record, it was really specific to that moment. I mean, there's a real singsongyness to describing the three states of a meteor, and the three states for those and what they describe, and it was almost a singsongy rhyme that you would use as a mnemonic device to remember the differences between all of those things, and so it had to have thee in there, if that makes any sense! But I don't go out of my way to use 'antique' or archaic words, in fact I find it really distasteful when I hear music where I feel like that's intentionally done, where someone could have said something a different way, and they said it that way specifically because they wanted to make a period piece. I'm not interested at all in 'period indie music', I find it to be often really cheap and actually not very intelligent. In this case, I really wasn't intending to do that, but occasionally there was a certain type of word that I felt was entirely necessary. And I truly felt like, if anybody took me to task and went through the lyrics and questioned me on every word that seemed archaic to them, I could justify the use of that word over any other word. I've thought so hard about the lyrics that I truly feel that I could sit down and argue for my use of every single word on this record.

RY: The line about the damnable bell makes me think of Poe...

J: Yeah, definitely!

RY: And The Rime of the Ancient Mariner... the lines are long and it's moving towards the post-romantic...

J: And I think another similarity to that period of time that is less overt, is the pacing, because these songs were written from the ground up, with the knowledge that they were going to be long. And I think the same is true for a lot of poetry from that period, and short stories, they carried themselves in a differnet way from a lot of other poetry that I've read, each line seems to be written with the knowledge that it was going to be part of a longer one, like an epic poem, "Quoth the raven, never more!" - those are long pieces and they pace differently, and they select the moments in which they are going to repeat themselves, based on a different set of values, because they're framed differently. And I definitely relate to that. I had to reframe my writing style based on the fact that it was going to be contained within this longer form. The pacing of the ideas, the rate at which the ideas develop and unfold, it was all going to be different, because the songs were going to be long, from the first line I wrote.

R: "Emily", there's a reference to your sister, is it also addressed to Emily Dickinson?

J:: No, although maybe I shouldn't say no, because that's an interesting interpretation. I certainloy appreciate that, but that wasn't what I intended. It's certainly about more than just my sister, but the Emily referred to is my sister, yeah. And the use of the start and the cosmic imagery has a lot to do with the fact that my sister is an astrophysycist, and I wanted to express the idedas I was interested in with the song in not necessarily her language, because it would be awfully ignorant of me to think that I was speaking an astrophysicist's language, but at least I was taking a symbolic bow towards what she studies and the way her brain works.

R: So you write the lyrics separate to the music, and you work hard on the words aside from that? They don't evolve while you're playing harp?

J: No, I'd say some words do evolve while I'm writing the music, but what also happens is that I'll map it out, I'll have a lot of lines that're just bracketed by parentheses that retain a sentiment or an idea or a thought, but they're not worded yet. And I know that that will be paired with a particular musical phrase or a musical section, but I haven't been able to fill it out yet, with words that'll say precisely what I need them to say and say it with the set of sounds that are gonna agree musically with each line of instumentation. So it often takes me a lot of time to fill in all the chinks and cracks in each song. But sometimes a certain line of music will instantly call to mind a lyric and I'll know very quickly what I want to say there. And the melody, the sung melody, often comes quickly also. I often know the sound of what I'll be singing before I actually have it articulated with the words.

R: So the record is framed as a series of fables - the booklet looks like a book of Victorian adventure stories... when you live in these songs, they don't feel like the fairy tales or nursery rhymes that people talk about - but there is that framing device that you've used... how do you think about these songs - it's like they're not quite made for this world...

J: [laughs]

R: Are they a retreat, or a way of confronting the world...?

J: No, I mean, this is a really big world - I think there's room for just about everything, every idea you have. I do think they don't quite fit... I was very much prepared - mournfully resigned - to my expectation that this record would be very poorly received! There was not a single damn thing I wanted to change, I was so happy with it, but I didn't think that it necessarily had a place within the context of recorded music, that people would bring home and listen to. I just didn't know what was going to happen, I couldn't hear it, it was the first time, I was a stranger, there was no way of knowing what it would sound like to someone else. But I don't feel like it's a retreat from this world; I feel like it's maybe an invocation of some larger ideas that I've been scared to touch in conversation, or in previous songs, or whatnot, and those ideas are very much of this world. I don't feel that I'm writing for a time that hasn't existed yet, or that has existed previously, or anything like that, I don't feel conflicted in that way...

R: What about the cover painting, was it your choice to be depicted in that way, like a kind of Renaissance princess?

J: Aah, well first of all, I definitely would disagree with that. I think his painting style derives from a pre-Renaissance movement in Germany and Austria which I think is called Nazarene, maybe? [actually 19th century]. I'm not sure, but I'm sure he could clarify that. But he differs with the suggestion that it's a Renaissance style painting. My clothing in that painting is like, totally my clothing, that I wear normally on the street and is completely normal, it's not a Rrenaissance constume, it's a cotton T-shirt with a folk shirt underneath cos it was cold. It's been interpreted as the weirdest stuff. The only thing in the whole painting that looks slightly constumey is that wreath, and that was specifically because of the flowers and plants in the wreath, and that was a symbolic message I wanted to send with each of those, and that was my choice. But many of the things in the painting were Benjamin's choice. And we talked and talked about the images we wanted the painting to contain. I think the choice to do a painting instead of a photo was that it afforded so much more opportunity for packing in information, and I thoght it was really appropriate and consistent with the content of the songs, to have a really symbolically rich piece of work on the cover. That everywhere you look, everything in that painting is supposed to mean something. And it's not really super-important that anyone know what it means, the same as it's not super-important to know what any of these songs are directly referring to, but I think it somehow magnifies the charge and the strength and the worth of the work, to have that meaning. Like filling every nook and cranny with information - the choice to do the painting like that was made from that perspective. It was definitely not intended to invoke a Renaissance princess, however, I can understand that reading completely in context, particularly because the posture he has me sitting in, you know, the three-quarter facial profile, the window in the corner with the curtain, there's all the conventions of that period in art; but then there's also an airplane trail in the sky... there are little nods to the fact that it's not supposed to have existed any time but now. But it seemed with any particular style of painting it seems awkward - like I wanted to wear jeans originally, but he was like, It would be so weird for me to paint that. Not that he's afraid of modernity, but becauue he prefers not to pin his paintings down in time at all. He doesn't have any references to Renaissance but he also doesn't want them to feel like 2006. So, there was a certain amount of compromise... mainly that I grew out my bangs for the painting - he really felt that your forehead contains the majority of your facial expression, and he was like "I can't paint under these conditions!" You need to uncover your forehead! So I grew my bangs out, and I continued growing them out, and they're at this weird challenge for myself to see if I could live without bangs, because I've had them for so many years. But, the content of the painting and the way it feels was definitely the product of quite a bit of discussion between him and me. But of course it is also a huge mystery for me, because there's no way to know what emotion is going to be projected or how the painting as a whole is done. He's the only one who had any real idea of that. And I had scenes I wanted to talk aobut - one of which was an idea of decadence, but also one of decay, like a little room with flowers everywhere, and bugs crawling over the flowers, and a skull, and poppies in the hair, which is like an opiated drugged reference, and the wheat which is fertility - there's all these references to physicality and death, and excess. And all contained in this very airless space - and the posture's extremely stiff, implying a corseted or breathless sense - hot summer air... There's also the sickle in the hand which is another reference to wheat but also a reference to a line in the song... All this stuff. There's no way to project it any other way than in a painting, and I had been thinking that for months, and then Ben actually approached me, and said, I was thinking I would like to do a painting, woud you mind sitting for me. And I was like, "actually... not only would I not mind, but could I use it for my record cover?" So it worked out nicely.
He spent a damn year on the thing.

R: Astral Weeks... the music carries off the singer, there's a flow to it... reminds me of Ys. Yours works in a similar way... Could you talk about the process of constructing the whole pieces?

J: Let's see. As far as the construction of the long song goes from an instrumental perspective, I'd say that that was much more natural for me than the process of writing the lyrics. For years that has been the way that I wrote music, before I even sang. Certainly when I was in school attempting to be a composer, those were the forms it was almost taken for granted I would write within. And obviously no vocals...
It goes back to the decadence of allowing myself to luxuriate in this longer song form - it very much felt like a return to a way of writing that was really familiar and natural for me, and I have attenuated and reined in, and disciplned quite a bit when I decided to start singing with my music. And that's a choice I still belive in, and think in future that's a good idea to uphold; the desire to be economical - I don't think it's a good idea to promote myself to range out on these insanely long songs. That's because it made sense very early on for this record, and the subject matter and the things that I was thinking about and feeling and wanting to write about for this record demanded a longer song form, and it seemed like it would be incredibly crass and vulgar to sit down and write a conventional song form, it would be clumsy to do that... Because I had set myself to the task of writing these long songs and loved doing it, it was so fun and so natural, and so wonderful to think about... so natural to allow the idas that much time to develop, instrumentally, and the strucutre of the songs - it is different from anything I've done, because even though they don't have choruses, they certainly have quite a bit of returning back to certain ideas, reiterating musical themes, and repeating certain melodies and so forth - there's a cyclical nature to these songs, but the cycle is much wider, and instead of just stretching out each theme to fit that new words, I'm filling it in with new vignettes... musically it was really interesting and a bit of a challenge, but mostly just really fun, and very natural. And it probably took me, just the writing of that stuff, took me about five months. I wasn't really keeping track. And I think the spontaneity that somehow manages to get preserved in the record, I think a lot of that had to do with the fact that I recorded the harp and vocal parts prior to a single note of the arrangements being written. Because Van Dyke wanted it that way - he had noticed that I vary my performances slightly, but often, and he wanted to write his arrangements to my final take rather than a straight harp take because any tiny change in the performance would completely inform every nuance of his arrangements. Which was very reasonable to me; I was a tiny bit disappointed because I was excited about standing in the middle of a full orchestra and making eye contact with people... But it turned out to be the best thing that could possibly have happened to that record, because... I really hate to use the word innocence, because usually I don't relate to it at all in my music. But in this context it's slightly appropriate because I recorded these songs and harp parts in a climate in which I had no idea what was to come. And they were just the sogns, they were really simple, there wasn't a lot of formality, I wasn't burdened or encumbered by the knowledge of this huge orchestera and what it was going to be doing at each turn of phrase, so I was able to do things without too much... I think it would have been very different if I'd recorded with the orchestra or later on, when their parts had been written. I think there would have been much more formality, more stiffness. And much less emotional presence, because I was in this small room with Steve Albini and nobody else, and I was playing the songs exactly as they are, and it was a pretty intense time, and I had it candlelit, in the dark with just candles and conjuring up these pretty insane moments that I had been experiencing... Basically I felt like I was in an environment where I was able to sing the songs the way they were when I wrote them. Which isn't always the easiest thing when recording. Sometimes I can do that when I'm performing; there's something about the heightened energy of performing focuses me and brings me back to the place I was in when I wrote those songs, but I've never been able to record very easily without changing the energy of the songs, and there's something about the way Steve recorded me and the environment in which it was done, there was a sense of closeness and spontaneity, and I felt extremely emotionally on edge, and I went through these vocal takes, I was just like wrecked afterwards because it was such an emotional experience. But it was really good, that I was able to do that, because then we went into about five or six months of working on the arrangements. And I got so much more technical in my brain during that process, and I think it would have been much more cumbersome, if I had tried to record all the harp parts in that mindset. And it was really hard work - I was using a different part of my brain, so I was glad to have gotten that stuff out of the way.

R: What was it like working with Van Dyke - did you learn stuff about your own music that you hadn't thought about before?

J: Hmm, no, I don't think that's accurate - I think I learned a lot, but... It was amazing working with him. This is going to sound incredibly arrogant, but I know my music really really well. It's one of the very few things on this planet that I know really well, is my own music. I'm not saying I know music in general really well, but my own. But I learned a lot from him about other stuff! I learned a lot about arrangements from him, I learned a lot about what he does. And Iearned about grace and being rad, cos he's really rad! And he's an incredible human being... and he was writing these arranegments that from day one were just amazing and spectacular, and even in the form that he was sending them to me, which was on a cheesy synthesizer approximation of the arrangements, you can still tell, oh, that's Van Dyke - that right there is his inimitable, singular writing style. And they were incredible. But they started out pretty far from what I needed them to be for this record. The exception was "Monkey And Bear" - pretty soon after he wrote that arangement, we were able to get it to a point where it was exactly what I wanted. But for the other pieces, it took months of editing and drafting, and him sending me these ararngements and me coming up with a huge list of notes about what I wanted to have changed, and sending it back, and him instituting those revisions, and them sending it again... And these arrangements went through geneartion after geneartion and he was just incredibly graceful and tireless about the whole process. As I said, the producing was incredible gorgeous. Because I lack the technical abilities that he has, in terms of what I want... If I had the technical language to describe what I wanted exactly, then I would also have the technical ability to score these arrangements myself. So, like, I didn't, I couldn't be as technical as I wanted to. So there were a lot of times when he was responding to a prompt that I had given to him in a very non-technical form, like, I want this to feel like this, or I wanted to evoke this particular image, or I wanted to shift from this mood to this mood at this particular point, and I want the instruments that are involved to switch from this group of strings to the woodwinds... It left so much room for him to write exactly what he needed to write, and it took a long time for us to bring it to a point where we both felt it was what it should be. But his way of being throughout this whole proces has been patient and fearles and really certain that we were going to get there. That we would reach a point where people would feel good about the arrangements. What was necessary in the end was for me to come to LA for a few weeks just so I could comb through them bar by bar, because there was such a huge volume of notes and musical gestures, stacked on top of each other, that I needed to be able to hear it while looking at the written score and to be able to point out this note or that note... It's pretty incredible that he allowed me to do that - and invited me to do that - it was his idea. Come to LA, and like comb through, nitpick his work. And he said, in the history of his working with people, he's never ever had somebody do that - someone he was arranging for come to his office and go through the arrangement he'd written for them and say what they wanted changed and what they liked and everything. So I think the whole process was really different for him. But I think he produced some incredible work - really amazing stuff. And one of the most painstaking things I've done.
In order for him to make these arangements, a digital transfer had to be made so that he could lay down a click track over my harp and vocal parts, because they modulate so much in tempo from passage to passage. I refuse to record to a click track because I think it's inherent to the lyrics that they speed up and slow down on various sections. So just to do his work, and write an accurate score that could be read by orchestral players as they were listening to this piece, he had to transfer it digitally so he could put a click track on it and line it up to something approximating an accurate representation of the tempo and time changes. Which means the orchestral scores look pretty amazing - they're like bonkers, the time changes are constant throughout. But it was totally worth it, because when we sat with the orchestra there was a real fluency and instanteneity, and they had the click that he had generated digitally, and they all had their little headphones, and then they had the record, the harp and vocal parts they were recording to, and Van Dyke jumping around in front conducting them, doing the most beautiful conducting job I've ever seen in my life, and they were just so present and to what was required of them, which I had had so many fears about. If my playing was just too idiosyncratic for anyone to follow along to. But they did it, they were so on top of it. So that was pretty incredible.

R: "Monkey And Bear" suggests concern with tension between artistic freedom and the obligations in the day to day world...

J: I'd say actually, believe it or not, the motif of the performing bear, the dancing bear who's just being egged on throughout has nothing to do with my experience of being a performer. In a way, the song is obviously a surreal narrative that goes away from the story of the record - in my mind I was still talking about the same set of ideas, and one of the most important things for me when I was thinking about the story of the song, was that this monkey and bear had been in captivity in the beginning, and they had still been a dancing bear and an organ grinding monkey, but they had been in captivity, in the possession of a farmer - it's supposed to be slightly unclear exactly what the situation was. But I thought it was an interesting story to tell, of what happens when they get free, and they're still in captivity because they're wild animals and there's no place for them to be wild, and they're in search of self-gratification, the idea of decadence I was interested in. And it's basically a fucked-up love story, like, I was interested in the relationship between the monkey and the bear, and a few other things [I'm sorry, I have to blow my nose again!]
I think the idea of performance in this song has more to do with the relationship between the monkey and the bear than anything else, like conditional love - the monkey's saying, if you just dance a little bit longer and if you keep those chains on, and if you keep that costume on, then under those conditions then I'll continue to love you. So that's much more like a smaller comment I'm making than any comment on the idea of being a musician. And there's a bunch of things that go on in that story. The whole story is a set up for an end, which is supposed to be totally, 100 per cent different, and it's supposed to be scary and strange and disorienting and it's not supposed to be clear what's happening. One thing that is supposed to be clear is I'm hoping it'll reiterate again the idea of just searching and searching and searching for gratification, in the image of the bear, what's left of the bear after the bear removes itself from itself, dragging its coat through the water trying to catch minnows with its own fur as a net. But it's really meant to be ambiguous, whether it represents death, or rebirth, or a triumph on the part of the bear, or a complete absolute resignment on the part of the bear, it's supposed to be pretty unclear. I have certain ideas myself, intentions for what I meant there, that I thought it would be a much better passage if I thought there were several interpretations. I wanted it to be surreal, I wanted it to be juxtaposed with the baroque, very simple story, it was supposed to feel simple at first, then I wanted it to break down into this weird scenario...

R: "Sawdust & Diamonds", using images of puppets... it made me think, as a harpist, the instrument turns you into a kind of marionette, doesn it?

J: [laughs] I really like all of your interpretations, I feel bad saying no, because I don't want to close doors for anybody, but I can say that, again my intention there was pretty far removed from the experience of my own performance. It was more supposed to be a larger comment - "Monkey and the Bear" was very small and specific, this type of performance I was referring to was a larger social one. That refers to everybody, not just people who get on a stage. But certainly you're right interpreting the strings as marionette strings, that was intended, and the lights in the wings are supposed to be the wings of a theatre, not the wings of a bird... But that line set off more about spectatorship and scrutiny, and the collective gaze of these things, more than he idea of me playing harp in front of some people.

R: You mentioned about the interest in pagan stories, where does that interest come from?

J: It comes in part as a nod to the friend for whom many parts of this record were written, who I can't talk about very much. But I basically did some reading and studying specifically, I guess, in honour of her - I don't particularly like that expression but I don't know a better one. Sorry to be so cryptic!

R: Is there any conneciton, you've talked about your idyllic sounding upbringing in Nevada... you made a lot of music with your family?

J: I think that has actually been pretty over-emphasised or exaggerated. We had this little thing when I was way younger, and my mum led a little children's band for Christmas shows when I was little, like, me on a tiny little harp and my sister on a tiny cello, and a few other people. We all played music to some extent, but we didn't sit around evening times and like jam together or anything like that. We all had very differnet experiences in music; my brother's a great musician; he plays piano and guitar but all the time I was growing up he was this insane drummer. We have a drum room at my parents' house, that was built for him and my mum, cos she's an African drummer and she could have her classes meet up there. But my brother would go into the drum room and play every waking hour, when he wasn't he was eating or being forced to do homework. And that was similar to the way I was with harp, only I was in another little room, making up weird little stuff. And then my sister was much more classical, she was a cellist and my mom would play with her, cos a lot of her cello suites need a pianist. There was music happening all the time, but we didn't sit around together singing "koombaya" or anything like that.
There was music playing around the house a lot, but I feel like a lot of people have that experience. Mine probably wasn't totally unique in that regard at all.

R: Did you always have an active imagination, were you writing at an early age?

J: They definitely did. I guess you could call them hippy parents, but they're almost more like new agey parents. But not only that, because in other ways they're more western orientated, like they're both doctors, not alternative medicine doctors - they're physicians, but they're just really like, really liberal. My mom is a total feminist and political activist and always has been - since the 60s she was in student activist movements then, and she just never stopped. So she has a million causes that she's always spearheading, and involved with doctors without borders stuff, and all of that. And my dad is really sensitive and quiet and gentle, and really really smart, intimidatingly smart. One of those people, ask anything he's read 18 books on the subject and he for fun studies etymology and and meteorology and all this crazy shit. And he, I think, I mean my mom encouraged me most in music, cos music is one of the big loves of her life, but my dad I think encouraged me with words. He used to buy a new book once a week and hide it under my pillow, and I would read it and he would want me to tell him about it. He just has this enormous soul. I mean my mum is too - I make her sound like a militant scary woman, but she's also this incredibly beautiful sweet woman. But my dad, it sounds so cheesy now, but when we were younger he used to do these things called poem races in our front yard, and he would make these relay race things where the rule was, you pulled a piece of paper off a tree and it had a word written on it, and you had to yell out a poem about the word, and run to the next tree... I can't even remember. But I think in retrospect both of them really wanted us to have a craetive life, because they were both doing something very left-brain, and they both came from very ambitious struggling backgrounds, and just happy doing what they're doing, but maybe both felt creatively deprived, and had gone through this huge consciousness raising during the 60s of course, and had read a lot about psychology, and they were trying things out on us constantly, we were guinea pigs for weird ideas, how to nurture someone creatively. But I think all of that was nothing for me in terms of composition, if I hadn't had this insane music teacher who, from the first harp lesson I ever had with her, she ws like, OK, we're going to improvise, I'm going to play chords with my left hand and you're going to do whatever comes into your head, with your right hand. There's no wrong note - just play. And we'd do that for half an hour of every single lesson, for years and years, until I was a good enough harp player to play the part with my left hand. And from very early on, she would assign me to write songs, when I was very little. And she was one of those teachers who valued improvisation and composition just as highly as she would value practising etudes or classical repertoire, which I did eventually. I think that was more important than anything else because it was really specific, because it was just 'my whacky childhood'! but that was how I learned how to write and play music.

R: What do they think of your music now?

J: yeah, I think they really like it, but I don't like to talk too much about it... Maybe it's because I want my family and friends to be this safe zone - when I've talked all day in interviews about the songs, and I want to pretend that I don't even play music. And I think they are trying to learn that I really don't want to get peppered with questions about what something means... But I told my dad, cos "Emily", it's written for my sister, but it's partially about my father, and I told him some of the stuff that that song means, because I knew nobody would understand it otherwise, and it's not really important to me in general that people understand it, but I really wanted him to. So when it comes to my mind I'll explain something but... It's weird, like with your family it's so intimate, it's like talking about sex or something like that - it seems really gross somehow talking about music! I feel like it's too close to home or something.

R: Beyond this record, you suggested that there's a sense of a quest about this record, so do you feel that you reached a certain point that you were trying to reach, or if there's still stuff that's out of reach... Where do you think you might be led next?

J: Yeah... hmmm... Well I feel like conceptually, in terms of the ideas I was struggling with, and then writing about, in some ways I feel I reached a certain resolution, and in other ways I felt like I had reached some extremity, some point where I felt I couldn't feel worse, or I couldn't feel better, depending on what we are talking about... And crested this hill, and there was endless mountain ranges stretching out before me. I think there's certain heights or depths that the more you think about them and the more you go into them and write about them, the more boundless and paralysingly huge they seem. So, I feel like I certainly am different because of thinking and working the way that I did on these songs, but I don't know if that change carries with it a great deal of resolution, or whether it's a different kind of restlessness, a new way of being restless. But musically, I don't really know... I feel this is a real self-contained project and whatever I do next will exist completely separately of this project. It'll be either very simple again, or very complicated but in a totally different way of being complicated. I feel this is a complete work or idea for me, and it's building something really delicate... And this is an image I hate to use, because it reminds me of thinigs people say about my music that I like the least, but the image that came into my mind was something very detailed and delicate, like a doll house built out of toothpicks or something like that, and it took me months and months, and I had a bunch of other people helping, like I had an architect, and a draftsperson and a contractor, and all these, Jim O'Rourke, Steve Albini, Van Dyke Parks, and my label who helped me so much, and the orchestral players... I had so many things in place that allowed me to make this little house, and when I was done I couldn't help, I was just bellowing and weeping for weeks after I finished this project because it was just so huge for me, and I was so overwhelmed by how everything had come together, and it was exaxctly the way I wanted it to be, and now it's this object that so much work and attention has been put into, but it's contained. Nothing else to do on it, and whatever I do next is going to be pretty separate from that. I don't know what I'm going to be interested in talking about next, and what I'm going to be writing next...

R: difficult one to repeat..

J: Yeah. Well, especially because it requires a great deal of force and motivation, and emotional pressure to do it, and all of that stuff got released into this work. I can't conjure up the motivation to do anything nearly this hard unless I have a new reason to do anything different - that's just as hard, because it's just... done!

R: Are you a restless person or a contented one?

J: Yeah. I think I'm creatively restless and I think I'm content in every other regard. I'm a lazy pig most of the time, and unambitious, and not a big traveller - if I wasn't a big traveller, I'd probably never leave my town. There's so little that I want to do in this life - I want a little family, I'm really domestic. It's actually hilarious to me that I'm able to do music as my career because I never really made any effort in the beginning for that to be the case, other than just writing my music. Writing, writing, writing obsessively, because that's all I like to do, outside very mundane things that aren't worth mentioning. Somehow by chance several of the right people who should have heard it, herad it, and let me make a record, and all this stuff happened. But I don't have any major ambitions beyond just writing the best music I can write, and hopefully continuing to do that indefinitely.

Advice.

2008-10-20T16:05:00.002-04:00

Counterintuitive Advice for Young BFAs: Part 1

from SELLOUT by Deborah Fisher

All the advice I got when I was in your shoes eleven years ago was a variation on keep making art. I understand that advice, but I don't think it's the right advice to give. I think it's more important to think broadly than it is to think narrowly when you are right out of college. Particularly when you're graduating into a recession. And particularly when you just got a degree that has the potential to be less than worthless; that has the potential to saddle you with an egomaniacal addiction that sucks up relationships, money and time, with no real hope of anyone beyond your family and friends even caring about what you do, much less paying you for it. Discipline is great, but it won't help you avoid the worst things an art degree can give you. In fact, blind reliance on discipline can make this whole being an artist thing worse.

1. Realize that your degree is full of highly transferrable skills--that it's a really useful degree.

The first thing I did was assume the opposite--that I had gotten a useless degree, mostly because my professors and family told me so repeatedly. This negatively informed my choices when it came time to look for a job after school. Instead of thinking big, and doing something really challenging that could open my eyes to lots of different ways of looking at the world, I thought only in terms of studio time v. dayjob. I delivered pizzas and waited tables.

I look back on this as wasted time--as wasted opportunities every single time I went on a jobhunt. It's not just possible to spend the bulk of your day doing something more satisfying than earning your nut--it's what most college graduates aim to do. I don't think freshly-minted BFA graduates should be exempt from this basic aspiration. I, like many graduates, assumed that an interesting, engaging job would prove to be a distraction--that it would send me on the wrong path. This is potentially true, but in hindsight, I think I was looking at the problem in the wrong way. The overwhelming majority of art students never become artists, so a challenging job is a useful litmus test. If your job is more interesting than your art, then that's a real sign that you don't need to make art to be whole. Good for you--you dodged a bullet! And if you have a job that challenges you, and yet you come home four nights a week and make a big mess on your kitchen table because you can't stop painting, then you are definitely an artist, and nothing you do, including a challenging job, will make you any less of an artist. Lord help you!

Either way, you have opened yourself up to possibilities instead of shut yourself away from them, and this openness to whatever life brings is what will either make you or break you. I'm relatively successful. My art career is consistently revenue-neutral and therefore sustainable, and people search me out as much as I apply for things. I'm in balance. But still: my worst habits of mind stem from the way I continue to shut out life in order to privilege studio time, and so do my worst habits as a professional.

If I could go back in time and be a new BFA graduate, I would go really wide in my search for work, and actively market myself as a BFA graduate. I would write enthusiastic cover letters about how much working in the studio taught me about being totally accountable for what I do, and the intrinsic value a job well done. I would prove that I have the unique ability to qualitatively evaluate very subjective work, think outside-the-box, and care deeply about what I do. I would search for the most interesting job I could find.

I would do it this way because now I know that the art will either come or it won't. And that you'll be fine either way as long as you're open to whatever life brings you.

The Dead.

2008-10-05T16:28:00.003-04:00

Excerpt from "The Dead" by James Joyce:

"The air of the room chilled his shoulders. He stretched himself cautiously along under the sheets and lay down beside his wife. One by one, they were all becoming shades. Better pass boldly into that other world, in the full glory of some passion, than fade and wither dismally with age. He thought of how she who lay beside him had locked in her heart for so many years that image of her lover's eyes when he had told her that he did not wish to live.

Generous tears filled Gabriel's eyes. He had never felt like that himself towards any woman, but he knew that such a feeling must be love. The tears gathered more thickly in his eyes and in the partial darkness he imagined he saw the form of a young man standing under a dripping tree. Other forms were near. His soul had approached that region where dwell the vast hosts of the dead. He was conscious of, but could not apprehend, their wayward and flickering existence. His own identity was fading out into a grey impalpable world: the solid world itself, which these dead had one time reared and lived in, was dissolving and dwindling.

A few light taps upon the pane made him turn to the window. It had begun to snow again. He watched sleepily the flakes, silver and dark, falling obliquely against the lamplight. The time had come for him to set out on his journey westward. Yes, the newspapers were right: snow was general all over Ireland. It was falling on every part of the dark central plain, on the treeless hills, falling softly upon the Bog of Allen and, farther westward, softly falling into the dark mutinous Shannon waves. It was falling, too, upon every part of the lonely churchyard on the hill where Michael Furey lay buried. It lay thickly drifted on the crooked crosses and headstones, on the spears of the little gate, on the barren thorns. His soul swooned slowly as he heard the snow falling faintly through the universe and faintly falling, like the descent of their last end, upon all the living and the dead."

RIP James Austin Phillips VI, 1987-2008.

Mary Margaret O'Hara

2008-10-04T16:26:00.001-04:00

By Kurt Wildermuth (May 2002)
From Perfect Sound Forever:

"Mind-blowing," "stunning," "dazzling," "brilliant," "strikingly original," "exceptionally superb," "extraordinary," "very unusual . . . !" are the sorts of words fans use to describe the Canadian singer-songwriter Mary Margaret O'Hara. "One of the most powerful singers I've ever heard," R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe once called her; "a performer of astonishing force."

Stipe's endorsement was reprinted on a promotional sticker affixed to Koch Records' 1996 reissue of Miss America, O'Hara's only full-length recording, originally released by Virgin Records in 1988. Even more impressive than the devotion O'Hara inspires is that it's pretty much based on one 44-minute, 49-second album. Wanting more, devotees have tracked down her Christmas EP (Koch, 1996) and her contributions to the compilations Sweet Relief II: Gravity of the Situation-The Songs of Vic Chesnutt (Columbia, 1996) and September Songs: A Tribute to Kurt Weill (Sony, 1997). They've cataloged her guest spots on records by Bruce Cockburn, Morrissey, Gary Lucas, John & Mary, Paul Haines, the Henrys, and others. They've found cover versions of her songs by the Cowboy Junkies, the Walkabouts, This Mortal Coil, Holly Cole, Sue Garner. They've seen, or at least noted, her acting in independent movies such as Candy Mountain (1987) and Apartment Hunting (2000). The lucky few who've been to her concerts employ the full range of superlatives to describe those appearances, in which M2OH, as she's known, enacts the songs through a transformative series of seemingly involuntary motions. "You were watching an immensely sophisticated artist figuring out from scratch what it is to sing," Amy Taubin explained in the Village Voice after a 1998 show. "When it all comes together-the voice, the rhythm, the lyrics-each time is the first time, and it's ecstasy."

Ecstasy seems to be what O'Hara was seeking throughout Miss America. In this quest, she resembles the late Pakistani qawwali master Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, though O'Hara's music is Western and secular. She resembles Hugo Largo's Mimi Goese (another Stipe favorite; in 1988, he produced Hugo Largo's Drum), though O'Hara's songs have more discernible forms and more decipherable lyrics. She resembles Van Morrison, though she's far more interested than he is in meeting the listener halfway, drawing the audience into the artist's search. She even resembles Roxy Music's first album in the way she bends and shapes pop-song structures as well as Avalon-era Roxy in the way she lends her voice to the exploration of musical atmospheres. If Roxy Music is about the triumph of impersonality, of having nothing to say and saying nothing stylishly, Mary Margaret O'Hara is about having something so personal to say that something, maybe your one thing, bursts out of any container, any song. That spilling over is ecstasy, or it can be: "joy is the aim," O'Hara sings on "Year in Song," written a full ten years before Miss America was released.

Why the decade-long gap? The story goes something like this. Sister of actress Catherine O'Hara (SCTV, the Home Alone movies, Waiting for Guffman and Best in Show), M2OH was born in Toronto, graduated from Ontario Art College, and performed in a couple of bands before, around 1983, going solo and getting signed to Virgin. XTC's Andy Partridge liked her demos so much that he agreed to produce the record, but he reportedly disliked O'Hara's ideas or recording techniques or something (if not her one thing) so much that he fled the studio. According to some reports, he lasted one day. The O'Hara tapes lingered or languished until Canadian guitarist-composer-producer Michael Brook agreed to work on them. Brook was once a member of the new-wave band Martha and the Muffins (remember the great "Echo Beach" single?), but he might be best known as a collaborator with Brian Eno and our man Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Opinions differ, rumors gathered as to how successful the O'Hara/Brook collaboration was, but the reissue's liner notes make clear that six of the eleven tracks were recorded in 1984, four were recorded during mixing in 1988, and one was recorded in 1983 and mixed "later." Three of the 1988 recordings were produced by O'Hara and Brook; the rest were "constructed and conducted" and produced by M2OH, who also did the design, drawings, and calligraphy.

The music, reflecting none of this odd history, starts straightforwardly enough. On "To Cry About," over ringing electric guitar and five-string bass, O'Hara sings of love lost: "there will be a timed disaster / there's no you in my hereafter." The song is practically an advertisement for her voice, which ranges here from a low rumble to a near-whisper.

Drums kick in as "Year in Song" takes us to very different territory (Throughout the CD, guitar, bass, and drums are augmented with violin, piano, lap steel, and, on one song, something called DX-7 log rhythm). O'Hara begins the song with recognizable, if cryptic, lyrics, but halfway through she starts to free-associate, or to play with the lyrics in a way that poststructuralist poets would envy:

sitting on beats all wind-up toys
sitting on beats all wind-up noise
am damn noise and am sitting on it
i'm damn noise and i'm sitting on it

What is she getting at or working out here? What "iss [sic] the aim eh?... joy?" The aim may be finding and going with the groove, letting the sense of the song take care of itself. By the time she's barking about "ta-ta music" in lines difficult to decode without the printed lyrics, O'Hara seems to have created her own set of self-expressive terms. In this, she resembles Kristin Hersh, who as a member of Throwing Muses and as a solo artist has often waited for songs to transmit themselves to and through her in late-night, dreamlike sessions. O'Hara's songs may be more constructed than received- she's writing "standards," after all, that lend themselves to being covered in a way that Hersh's songs never do- but she too is twisting logic and language to fit a vision (on one song she laughs a little, and it's hard to know how much calculation goes into that lightness, how much of that spontaneity is planned). In "Body's in Trouble," the next song, the body's both an object and a person. O'Hara never spells out the dilemma, just pushes and pulls and plays around with the idea of forces at work. Meanwhile, the music rises, dips, bends, and breaks.

Far more grounded, though its speaker "beg[s] stars above," is "Dear Darling," a countryish ballad of devotion and longing. In conveying "a thing of such beauty" that "must be called love," M2OH proves the vocal and emotional equal of Patsy Cline. Next, she's a French chanteuse fronting an English ska-pop band on the bouncy, piano-based "Anew Day," which advises:

when your heart is sick with
wonder
at a long and lonely way
walk in brightness
'cause it's anew day

Sounding like that song's somber cousin, "When You Know Why You're Happy" is a slow vamp over which O'Hara meditates on knowingness and happiness. "My Friends Have" is propulsive, while "Help Me Lift You Up" is its gentle flip-side. "Keeping You in Mind" is slinky lounge-jazz, with a highly articulate violin solo and O'Hara's sweetest vocal. From an entirely different universe, a world unto itself, comes the off-kilter funk workout of "Not Be Alright": "my tail, this tail, this tail is tall / this tale is tall / innocent to a fault," O'Hara riffs, making it perfectly, inarguably clear that some unnamed situation will not, just will not "be alright."

In the last track, accompanied only by bass, her voice gliding and ascending, M2OH offers us (or herself?) the assurance that "you will be loved again." Perhaps, when you've loved, when you've lost, when you've had something to cry about, when on the way to feeling better you've found sounds that say what it feels like to break, then all you'll find at the other end of this process is the solace of words. "The poem of the mind in the act of finding / What will suffice," as Wallace Stevens put it in "Of Modern Poetry." "The poem of the act of the mind." That's the experience of Miss America, the sense it gives of this singular creative process, part thought, part voice, being caught, directed, redirected, and released.

Unreleased, of course, is M2OH's follow-up recording. Fans say Virgin found it too uncommercial. Of course.

Don't vote.

2008-10-04T11:35:00.000-04:00

If Stephen Hawking says so....

2008-10-01T15:17:00.002-04:00

The Final Frontier

by Stephen Hawking
from Cosmos Magazine

"In the 1960s the space race created a fascination with science and great technological advances. To find alien life we need to take back up that mantle, says astrophysicist Stephen Hawking, and send people further into space.

Why should we go into space? What is that justification for spending all that effort and money on getting a few lumps of Moon rock? Aren't there better causes here on Earth?

In a way, the situation was like that in Europe before 1492. People might well have argued that it was a waste of money to send Columbus on a wild goose chase over an almost unimaginable distance. Yet, the discovery of the New World made a profound difference to the old one.

Spreading out into space will have an even greater effect; it will completely change the future of the human race and maybe determine whether we have any future at all.

It won't solve many of our immediate problems on Earth, but it will give us a new perspective on them and cause us to look both outwards and inwards. With luck it could unite us to face a common challenge.

This would be a long-term strategy – and by long term, I mean hundreds or even thousands of years. We could have a base on the Moon within 30 years, reach Mars within 50 years even the moons of the outer planets within 200 years.

By 'reach', I mean with manned space flight. We've already driven rover and landed a probe on Titan, a moon of Saturn, but if one is considering the future of the human race, we have to go there ourselves.

Going into space won't be cheap, certainly, but it will take only a small proportion of world resources. NASA's budget has remained roughly constant in real terms since the time of the Apollo landings, but it has decreased from 0.3 per cent of U.S. GDP in 1970 to 0.12 per cent today.

Even if we were to increase the amount spent on space endeavours internationally by 20 times, to make a serious effort to send people into space, it would only be a small fraction of world GDP.

There will be those who argue that it would be better to spend our money solving the problems of this planet, like climate change and pollution, rather than wasting it on a possibly fruitless search for a new planet. I am not denying the importance of fighting climate change and global warming, but we can do that and still spare a quarter of a per cent of world GDP for space. Isn't our future worth a quarter of percent?

We thought space was worth a big effort in the '60s. In 1962, President Kennedy committed the U.S. to landing a man on the Moon by the end of the decade. This was achieved just in time by the Apollo 11 mission in 1969.

The space race helped to create a fascination with science and led to great advances in technology, including the first large-scale integrated circuits which are the basis of all modern computers.

However, after the last Moon landing in 1972, with no future plans for further manned space flight, public interest in space waned. This went along with a fall in enthusiasm for science in the West because, although it had brought great benefits, it had not solved the social problems that increasingly occupied public attention.

A new manned spaceflight program would do a lot to restore public enthusiasm for space and for science generally.

Robotic missions are much cheaper and may provide more scientific information, but they don't catch the public imagination in the same way, and they don't spread the human race into space, which I argue should be our long-term strategy.

A goal of a base on the Moon by 2020 and of a man landing on Mars by 2025 would reignite a space program and give it a sense of purpose in the same way that President Kennedy's Moon target did in the 1960s.

A new interest in space would also increase the public standing of science generally. The low esteem in which science and scientists are held is having serious consequences. We live in a society that is increasingly governed by science and technology, yet fewer and fewer young people long to go into science.

One important questions is: what will we find if we do make the effort to go into space? Is there alien life out there, or are we alone in the universe?

We believe that life arose spontaneously on the Earth. So it must be possible for life to appear on other suitable planets, of which there seem to be a large number in the galaxy.

But we don't know how life first appeared. The probability of something as complicated as a DNA molecule being formed by random collisions of atoms in ocean seems incredibly small. However, there might have been some simpler macromolecule which was a building block for DNA or another molecule capable of reproducing itself.

Even if the probability of life spontaneously appearing on a suitable planet is very small, since the universe is infinite, life most likely would have appeared somewhere else too. If the probability is very low, the distance between two independent occurrences of life could be very large.

However, there is a theory known as panspermia, which suggests that life could spread from planet to planet or from stellar system to stellar system carried on meteors. We know that Earth has been hit by meteors that came from Mars, and others may have come from further afield. We have no evidence that any meteors carried life, but it remains a possibility.

An important feature of life spread by panspermia is that, at least in the neighbourhood of Earth, it would also have DNA as its basis. On the other hand, an independent occurrence of life would be extremely unlikely to be DNA-based.

One piece of observational evidence on the probability of life appearing is that we have fossils from 3.5 billion years ago. The Earth was formed 4.6 billion years ago and was probably too hot for about the first half-billion years or so. So life appeared on Earth within half-a-billion years of it being possible, which is short compared to the 10-billion-year lifetime of an Earth-like planet.

This fact would suggest either panspermia or that the probability of life appearing independently is reasonably high. If it the probability very low, one would have expected it to take most of the 10 billion years available.

While there may be primitive life in another region of the galaxy, there don't seem to be any advanced intelligent beings. We don't appear to have been visited by aliens. I am discounting reports of UFOs, of course – my main reason for this being, why would they appear only to cranks and weirdos?

If there is a government conspiracy to suppress the reports and keep for itself the scientific knowledge the aliens bring, it seems to have been a singularly ineffective policy so far.

Furthermore, despite an extensive search by the SETI project, we haven't heard any alien television quiz shows. This probably indicates that there are no alien civilisations at our stage of development within the radius of a few hundred light-years. Issuing an insurance policy against abduction by aliens seems a pretty safe bet.

And why haven't we heard from anyone out there? One view is expressed a Calvin and Hobbes cartoon. The caption reads: "Sometimes I think that the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us."

More seriously, though, there could be three possible explanations of why we haven't heard from aliens. First, it may be that the probability of primitive life appearing on a suitable planet is very low.

Second, the probability of primitive life appearing may be reasonably high, but the probability of that life developing intelligence like ours may be very low.

Just because evolution led to intelligence in our case, we shouldn't assume that intelligence is an inevitable consequence of Darwinian natural selection. It is not clear that intelligence confers a long-term survival advantage. Bacteria and insects will survive quite happily even if our so-called intelligence leads us to destroy ourselves.

There is a third possibility. Life appears, and in some cases develops into intelligent beings, but when it reaches a stage of sending radio signals, it will also have the technology to make nuclear bombs and other weapons of mass destruction. It will, therefore, be in danger of destroying itself before long.

Let's hope this is not the reason we have not heard from anyone. Personally, I favour the second possibility; that primitive life is relatively common, but that intelligent life is very rare. Some would even say it has yet to occur on Earth.

Another question is: Can we exist for a long time away from the Earth?

Our experience with the International Space Station (ISS), shows that it is possible for human beings to survive for many months in space, but that zero gravity causes a number of undesirable physiological changes such as weakening bones.

One would therefore want any long-term base for human beings to be on a planet or moon, with gravity.

By digging into the surface, one would get thermal insulation and protection from meteors and cosmic rays. The planet or moon could also serve as a source of the raw materials that would be needed if the extraterrestrial community was to be self-sustaining and independent of Earth.

What are the possible sites of a human colony in the Solar System? The most obvious is the Moon. It is close by and relatively easy to reach. We have already landed on it and driven across it in a buggy.

On the other hand, the Moon is small and without atmosphere or a magnetic field to deflect the solar radiation particles, like on Earth. There is no liquid water, but there may be ice in the craters at the north and south poles. A colony on the Moon could use this as a source of oxygen with power provided by nuclear energy or solar panels. The Moon could also be a base for travel to the rest of the Solar System.

Mars is the obvious next target. It is half as far, again, as the Earth from the Sun and so receives half the warmth. It once had a magnetic field, but it decayed four billion years ago, leaving Mars with no protection from solar radiation. This stripped Mars of most of its atmosphere, leaving it with only one per cent of the pressure of Earth's atmosphere.

However, the pressure must have been higher in the past because we see what appear to be runoff channels and dried-up lakes. Liquid water cannot exist on Mars now, as it would vaporize in the near-vacuum. This suggests that Mars had a warm and wet period during which life might have appeared either spontaneously or through panspermia.

There is no sign of life on Mars now, but if we found evidence that life had once existed, it would indicate that the probability of life developing on a suitable planet was fairly high.

NASA has sent a large number of spacecraft to Mars, starting with Mariner 4 in 1964. It has surveyed the planet with a number of orbiters, the latest being the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. These orbiters have revealed deep gullies and the highest mountains in the solar system.

NASA has also landed a number of probes on the surface of Mars, most recently the two Mars Rovers. These have sent back pictures of a dry desert landscape.

However, there is a large quantity of water in the form of ice in the polar regions. A colony on Mars could use this as a source of oxygen, at least.
There has been volcanic activity on Mars too. This would have brought minerals and metals to the surface which a colony could utilise.

The Moon and Mars are the most suitable sites for space colonies in the Solar System. Mercury and Venus are too hot, while Jupiter and Saturn are gas giants with no solid surface. The moons of Mars are very small and have no advantages over Mars itself.

Some of the moons of Jupiter and Saturn might be possible. In particular, Titan, a moon of Saturn, is larger and more massive than other moons and has a dense atmosphere.

The Cassini-Huygens Mission of NASA and ESA landed a probe on Titan in 2004, which sent back pictures of the surface. However, it is very cold, being so far from the Sun, and I wouldn't fancy living next to a lake of liquid methane.

What about beyond the Solar System? Our observations indicate that a significant fraction of stars have planets around them.

So far, we can detect only giant planets like Jupiter and Saturn, but it is reasonable to assume that they will be accompanied by smaller Earth-like planets. Some of these will lay in the habitable zone where the distance from the stars is the right range for liquid water to exist on their surface.

There are around a thousand stars within 30 light-years of Earth. If just one per cent of each had Earth-sized planets in the habitable zone, we would have 10 candidate new worlds.

We can revisit it with current technology, but we should make interstellar travel a long-term aim. By long term, I mean over the next 200 to 500 years.

The human race has existed as a separate species for about two million years. Civilisation began about 10,000 years ago, and the rate of development has been steadily increasing. But, if the human race is to continue for another million years, we will have to boldly go where no one has gone before."

Hurricane Ike.

2008-10-01T14:48:00.008-04:00

Photos from Houston and Galveston. Props to Pops.

Tara Donovan.

2008-09-29T12:48:00.001-04:00

The Genius of Little Things

by Carol Kino
published September 23, 2008 in the NY Times Online

ON a recent afternoon at the Pace Prints workshop in Chelsea, the artist Tara Donovan was hard at work with two master printers. They had already completed four pieces that day, and now they were assembling the plate for the fifth, a thickly inked sheet of tempered glass measuring 40 by 48 inches. Once Ms. Donovan had prepared it, the glass would be used to create a single monotype, or unique print — although she prefers to call it a drawing.

After placing a wooden frame around the plate the printers stepped back a few feet while Ms. Donovan donned a pair of safety goggles. Then she picked up a hammer and chisel. “This is the fun part,” she said. Placing the blade precisely near one edge of the glass, she delivered a sharp whack with the hammer. The pane broke neatly, as if on command, sending out jagged rays from the point of impact.

“I’m getting good at this,” she crowed. “First try!” As the team gathered around to look at her handiwork, which remained contained in a neat rectangle by the wooden frame, the broken glass began to crackle and pop, like thousands of Rice Krispies.

For Ms. Donovan the visit to Pace offered a welcome break from two long-term projects. Her first monograph was published this month by Monacelli Press and her first major museum show, a traveling retrospective, opens on Oct. 10 at the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston. “It’s nice to have a surge of new work,” she said of her printmaking at Pace. “So much of the last seven months has been spent thinking about the past.”

Ms. Donovan, 38, who won a $500,000 MacArthur Foundation “genius” award last week, has drawn attention over the last decade for her ability to transform huge quantities of prosaic manufactured materials — plastic-foam cups, pencils, tar paper — into sculptural installations that suggest the wonders of nature. The retrospective will include many of the works that made her name, like the series “Bluffs” (2006), which she created by gluing hundreds of thousands of clear shirt buttons together into craggy peaks that recall white coral reefs or stalagmites.

To construct “Untitled (Plastic Cups)” (2006), which must be freshly built each time it is shown, she stacks millions of transparent plastic cups in a tight, rigorous grid and sculptures the swaying piles into gentle waves that suggest a cross-section of a pixilated landscape. (Like much of her work, it can be expanded or contracted to fit the space.)

“Nebulous,” an installation Ms. Donovan first created in 2002, initially brings to mind an expanse of translucent moss or a bank of fog hovering near the floor. It is built with 100 rolls of Scotch Tape, Magic and Invisible. (The Institute recently acquired a variant of the piece for its permanent collection.)

Though Ms. Donovan’s new prints won’t be on view, her glass-shattering talents will be: she intends to recreate “Untitled (Glass),” a process-oriented sculpture that she first made in 2004. It involves stacking sheets of tempered glass into a perfect cube, then working carefully one by one from bottom to top, striking a single corner of each pane with a hammer. As with the print, Ms. Donovan will contain the glass with a wooden frame while she works. Once the mold is removed, the cube “stays in place,” she said. “You can still see the layers, but everything’s really broken into itty-bitty teeny-weeny shards.”

Unlike some of the installations, which are fabricated by Ms. Donovan and her assistants in her studio and reassembled on site, the glass cube must always be built from scratch — and perhaps more than once during a single showing. “If you bump into this and knock a corner off it, it can’t be repaired or remade with the same materials,” said Ms. Donovan, who tends to speak in short staccato bursts. “It has to be made over again.”

And when the show is over, she added, matter of factly, “it gets taken away with a shovel.”

To some in the art world, the appeal of Ms. Donovan’s work lies in its relationship to Minimalism, as propounded by the likes of Carl Andre, Sol LeWitt and Eva Hesse. “When most artists of the current generation refer to Minimalism, it’s usually in quotation marks, as appropriation or perhaps critique,” said Nicholas Baume, the Institute of Contemporary Art’s chief curator, who instigated the retrospective. “Tara’s work isn’t ironic. It actually takes up the discourse of Minimalism. It’s about creating a system, using a structure, and repeating incremental units that can go from the finite to the seemingly infinite.”

Yet where many classical Minimalists adhered to a strictly rectilinear grid, Mr. Baume noted, Ms. Donovan’s work expands well beyond it. “The work has the pragmatic rigor of that earlier American period,” he said, “but it brings it into our own period by suggesting digital, cellular, emergent networks. It seems to speak to the systems that are shaping our lives.”

Another consistent thread is Ms. Donovan’s ability to uncover unexpected qualities in the most commonplace materials and objects. One of the earliest pieces in the show is a version of “Moiré,” which she originally made for her 1999 master of fine arts thesis exhibition at Virginia Commonwealth University. It comprises several giant rolls of adding-machine tape that she molds and layers into an undulating shape whose surface appears to ripple. To make the rolls, she said, she and her assistants tape hundreds of normal-size rolls together, end on end, rerolling them “really loosely so they’re really malleable.”

Yet while Ms. Donovan seems quite willing to explain how she makes a piece, she is considerably less voluble about the genesis of her ideas. Press her on how an installation began, and she’s likely to respond with something vague, like “I don’t remember specifically” or “It was a matter of identifying transparent materials.”

She divulged more about an untitled installation in the Boston show that she will be making on a large scale for the first time. A block of translucent, apparently honeycombed, material within a 24-by-4-foot rectangular cutout in a wall, it consists of 2,500 pounds of plastic sheeting loosely folded over and over onto itself until the material’s fugitive color and texture emerge. Viewers will be able to walk around the piece and see through it into the next room. “You can see people moving on either side,” she said. “It actually creates a very kaleidoscopic sort of effect.”

Like many of her pieces, this one began with a visit several years ago to an industrial surplus store where Ms. Donovan bought a roll of plastic sheeting, hundreds of pounds worth, for about $10, she said, because “I thought it might be handy around the studio.”

Eventually “I needed a bunch of the plastic for something else I was doing, she recalled. “I was probably using it as a drop cloth. I was spooling it off, and I thought, ‘Oh, that’s actually really interesting, the way it folds on itself.’ A lot of times, things are discovered in accidental ways.”

Ms. Donovan’s career trajectory has been similarly haphazard, though also quite swift. After her work was chosen for the 2000 Whitney Biennial, she moved back to New York, her hometown, and got a job waiting tables at Savoy, a SoHo restaurant where one lunchtime regular was the painter Chuck Close. She didn’t tell him that she was also an artist until she won a residency at the Marie Walsh Sharpe Art Foundation studios in SoHo, where Mr. Close is on the board. Soon afterward she left Savoy to work on her first show at Ace Gallery in Los Angeles, but the two stayed in touch.

In 2003 — several waitressing jobs later — Ace offered Ms. Donovan her first major New York show, in the 25,000-square-foot branch it then maintained in SoHo. Ms. Donovan, given only a month to assemble a crew and create seven installations to fill the space, still leapt at the opportunity because she already had a show planned out in her head. “I tend to make things in the studio on a relatively small scale and then imagine them big,” she said. “So I’d sort of compiled all of this work and just needed the real estate to make it properly.” She has not waited tables since.

Mr. Close visited the show and came away an ardent fan. “I thought it was such an incredible alchemy that she had pulled off with these really simple materials that transcend their physical reality,” he said. “I dragged everybody I knew” to see it.

That included most of the top brass from his gallery, PaceWildenstein, which was about to start representing younger artists. Ms. Donovan joined the gallery two years later.

Since then, she said, her life has changed considerably. “I feel I have a lot more recognition,” she said. Although she said she was thrilled about receiving the MacArthur grant, she added: “I don’t really know that the money is really going to change anything. I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing.”

Her method has long remained consistent. She spends hours experimenting with materials until she happens on something that works. She spends more hours devising a system for creating and assembling the individual elements that will make up the overall piece, so that others can help her fabricate it.

Underpinning it all is her capacity for absorption. “So much about the art-making process is about paying attention,” Ms. Donovan said. “It’s about looking and noticing things.”

Surinam toad birth.

2008-09-29T03:56:00.001-04:00

Props to Paul.

12-year-old hamburger.

2008-09-25T22:29:00.001-04:00

Full text at Serious Eats (brought to my attention by the unstoppable kottke.org):

"The McDonald's hamburger on the right is from 2008; the one on the left is from 1996. And they both look fairly edible.

Wellness educator and nutrition consultant Karen Hanrahan has kept a McDonald's hamburger since 1996 to illustrate its nonexistent ability to decay. Aside from drying out and bit and having "the oddest smell," it apparently hasn't changed much in the past 12 years."

1000/fps.

2008-09-24T18:05:00.002-04:00

A clip of people getting punched in the face at 1000 frames per second.

(props to kottke)

Bike helmets.

2008-09-24T10:06:00.005-04:00

(My thoughts exactly, posted by Fabric Horse, originally from Bike Snob NYC):

"Of course, I'm not surprised people were upset about the helmet...We live in a time when having a brake on your bike is seen as a matter of personal preference, but not wearing a helmet is considered suicidal and an affront to human decency. Which is not to say that you shouldn't wear a helmet. Obviously it's always better to wear one than not to wear one, and you really can't go wrong putting one on. But I will say that in some sense a helmet is kind of like a yarmulke (or, if you prefer, a kippah) in that it tells the world you are a member of the Congregation of Safety. And just because you don't wear one all the time doesn't mean you don't believe in safety and should be scorned. Some of us simply choose to worship in our own way when and where we choose, as godless and wrong as it may be."

(Well, almost my thoughts exactly-- I wear a helmet less than all the time, which is never, but I'm considering getting something like this.)

Horoscopes.

2008-09-20T17:55:00.001-04:00

Always uncanny, from Rob Brezny's Free Will Astrology:

Scorpio--

Three enlightened teenagers I know have formed a gang called The Disciples. It's dedicated to plying the dangerous arts of humility, curiosity, and optimism -- three qualities that are so undervalued in our culture as to be almost taboo. Here's their motto, which reveals how far they're willing to go in order to listen well, keep their egos in check, and constantly scour their surroundings for reasons to be grateful: "We have no issues and no problems, but only questions." I urge you to start your own branch of The Disciples, Scorpio -- or at least work on cultivating their approach.

Sagittarius--

A poet friend of mine hatched a scheme for writing a book in record time. He bought a round-trip ticket for a Greyhound bus that would take him from Oakland, California to New York City and back. He vowed that over the course of those nine grueling days and 6,000 miles, as he ate stale sandwiches from vending machines in bus stations and slept sitting up surrounded by strangers, he would churn out an epic-length poem about the experience of traveling cross-country on the most populist form of transportation. The experiment worked. His book was witty, shocking, and entertaining. I urge you to give yourself a comparable assignment, Sagittarius. Invoke the magic of a strict deadline to create something beautiful that will last a long time.

Good stuff.

2008-09-20T17:30:00.001-04:00

Old posts from Jezebel:

Esquire put up a slideshow of 75 books every man should read, and it is indeed a very good list. However, it's a very good list that's also extremely myopic. It relies way too heavily on the old white dude cannon (particularly the WASP angst end of it) with books by Updike, Cheever, Kingsley and Martin Amis, Hemingway, McPhee, Joyce, Roth, Mailer, and the token Russians. There are only four non-white men on the list (Ellison, Rushdie, Haley, Wright) and just one woman, the incomparable Flannery O'Connor with her classic book of short stories, A Good Man is Hard to Find. The only really offensive choice on the list is Bukowski. I've read Bukowski, and even though he's an old cuss, I like his writing. However, I would never call something so unapologetically misogynistic something men "should" read. Anyway, in light of Esquire's myopia, we decided to curate a list of 20 books every woman should read. You should fill in the other 55 in the comments!

One note about the choices. Of course there are many, many books by men that "should" be read, but just like Esquire's list, most of the extant rosters of must-read classics are full of old white dudes. So our list is going to be mostly women. Anyway, here goes!

The Lottery, Shirley Jackson
To the Lighthouse, Virginia Woolf
The House of Mirth, Edith Wharton
White Teeth, Zadie Smith
The House of the Spirits, Isabel Allende
Slouching Towards Bethlehem, Joan Didion
Excellent Women, Barbara Pym
The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath
Wide Sargasso Sea, Jean Rhys
The Namesake, Jhumpa Lahiri
Beloved, Toni Morrison
Madame Bovary, Gustave Flaubert
Like Life, Lorrie Moore
Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë
The Delta of Venus, Anais Nin
A Thousand Acres, Jane Smiley
A Good Man Is Hard To Find, Flannery O'Connor
The Shipping News, E. Annie Proulx
You Can't Keep a Good Woman Down, Alice Walker

Free regional rail this weekend!

2008-09-18T14:00:00.001-04:00

From marketwatch.com:

PHILADELPHIA, Sept 17, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Free Rides for Passengers after 6:30 PM on Friday, Saturday Evening.

SEPTA will offer free travel after 6:30 p.m. on all of its Regional Rail Lines this weekend to commemorate its new late-night service.

This special promotion will provide passengers with free rides on all trains scheduled to arrive and depart Center City Philadelphia exclusively on Friday & Saturday, Sept. 19 & 20 after 6:30 p.m. each day.

SEPTA's free promotional fare will allow commuters to travel to events in the region using new late-night train service now operating on select routes. Regular SEPTA train fares will be in effect prior to 6:30 p.m.

SEPTA has implemented several initiatives to enhance service and accommodate increased passenger ridership levels, including adding extra late-night trains on the R5 Paoli-Thorndale, R6 Norristown and R7 Trenton Lines on Friday and Saturday evenings.

SEPTA also recently extended the parking garage hours at the Norristown Transportation Center (NTC) to coincide with late-night R6 trains. As a result, the NTC parking garage is now open until 1:30 a.m. on Fridays and includes new Saturday and Sunday hours.

All SEPTA service information is online www.septa.org or by telephoning the SEPTA Customer Service Department at 215-580-7800.

Telemarketers get your phone numbers tomorrow.

2008-09-17T15:17:00.001-04:00

Props to my grandfather for forwarding this to me.

"REMINDER.... all cell phone numbers are being released to telemarketing companies tomorrow and you will start to receive sale calls.

.... YOU WILL BE CHARGED FOR THESE CALLS

To prevent this, call the following number from your cell phone:
888-382-1222.
It is the National DO NOT CALL list. It will only take a minute of your time. It blocks your number for five (5) years. You must call from the cell phone number you want to have blocked. You cannot call from a different phone number.

HELP OTHERS BY PASSING THIS ON TO ALL YOUR FRIENDS.. It takes about 20 seconds.
or go to www.donotcall.gov"

"Doing Time, Doing Vipassana"

2008-09-16T10:32:00.002-04:00

West Philly Tool Library.

2008-09-16T10:30:00.001-04:00

"What is the West Philly Tool Library?

The West Philly Tool Library is a place where fellow community members can borrow a variety of hand, power, bike and garden tools to help us fix up our homes, maintain our yards, build furniture and other objects, and even start new art projects! "

This is awesome.

Porch sale 2!

2008-09-15T11:53:00.002-04:00

Vipassana meditation.

2008-09-03T07:40:00.004-04:00

I'll be practicing Vipassana meditation for the next 10 days. I've never really meditated before. Here is some information straight from the website (I did edit some information, so for the full text go here):

Introduction to the Technique

Vipassana is one of India's most ancient meditation techniques. Long lost to humanity, it was rediscovered by Gotama the Buddha more than 2500 years ago. The word Vipassana means seeing things as they really are. It is the process of self- purification by self-observation. One begins by observing the natural breath to concentrate the mind. With a sharpened awareness one proceeds to observe the changing nature of body and mind and experiences the universal truths of impermanence, suffering and egolessness. This truth-realization by direct experience is the process of purification. The entire path (Dhamma) is a universal remedy for universal problems and has nothing to do with any organized religion or sectarianism. For this reason, it can be freely practiced by everyone, at any time, in any place, without conflict due to race, community or religion, and will prove equally beneficial to one and all.

What Vipassana is not:

It is not a rite or ritual based on blind faith.
It is neither an intellectual nor a philosophical entertainment.
It is not a rest cure, a holiday, or an opportunity for socializing.
It is not an escape from the trials and tribulations of everyday life.

What Vipassana is:

It is a technique that will eradicate suffering.
It is a method of mental purification which allows one to face life's tensions and problems in a calm, balanced way.
It is an art of living that one can use to make positive contributions to society.

Vipassana meditation aims at the highest spiritual goals of total liberation and full enlightenment. Its purpose is never simply to cure physical disease. However, as a by-product of mental purification, many psychosomatic diseases are eradicated. In fact, Vipassana eliminates the three causes of all unhappiness: craving, aversion and ignorance. With continued practice, the meditation releases the tensions developed in everyday life, opening the knots tied by the old habit of reacting in an unbalanced way to pleasant and unpleasant situations.

Although Vipassana was developed as a technique by the Buddha, its practice is not limited to Buddhists. There is absolutely no question of conversion. The technique works on the simple basis that all human beings share the same problems and a technique which can eradicate these problems will have a universal application. People from many religious denominations have experienced the benefits of Vipassana meditation, and have found no conflict with their profession of faith.

Meditation and Self-discipline

The process of self-purification by introspection is certainly never easy--students have to work very hard at it. By their own efforts students arrive at their own realizations; no one else can do this for them. Therefore, the meditation will suit only those willing to work seriously and observe the discipline, which is there for the benefit and protection of the meditators and is an integral part of the meditation practice.

Ten days is certainly a very short time in which to penetrate the deepest levels of the unconscious mind and learn how to eradicate the complexes lying there. Continuity of the practice in seclusion is the secret of this technique's success. Rules and regulations have been developed keeping this practical aspect in mind. They are not primarily for the benefit of the teacher or the course management, nor are they negative expressions of tradition, orthodoxy or blind faith in some organized religion. Rather, they are based on the practical experience of thousands of meditators over the years and are both scientific and rational. Abiding by the rules creates a very conducive atmosphere for meditation; breaking them pollutes it.

A student will have to stay for the entire period of the course. The other rules should also be carefully read and considered. Only those who feel that they can honestly and scrupulously follow the discipline should apply for admission. Those not prepared to make a determined effort will waste their time and, moreover, will disturb others who wish to work seriously. A prospective student should also understand that it would be both disadvantageous and inadvisable to leave without finishing the course upon finding the discipline too difficult. Likewise, it would be most unfortunate if, in spite of repeated reminders, a student does not follow the rules and has to be asked to leave.

The Code of Discipline

The foundation of the practice is sīla — moral conduct. Sīla provides a basis for the development of samādhi — concentration of mind; and purification of the mind is achieved through paññā — the wisdom of insight.

The Precepts

All who attend a Vipassana course must conscientiously undertake the following five precepts for the duration of the course:

to abstain from killing any being;
to abstain from stealing;
to abstain from all sexual activity;
to abstain from telling lies;
to abstain from all intoxicants.

There are three additional precepts which old students (that is, those who have completed a course with S.N. Goenka or one of his assistant teachers) are expected to follow during the course:

to abstain from eating after midday;
to abstain from sensual entertainment and bodily decorations
to abstain from using high or luxurious beds.

Old students will observe the sixth precept by having tea without milk or fruit juice at the 5 p.m. break, whereas new student may have tea with milk and some fruit. The teacher may excuse an old student from observing this precept for health reasons. The seventh and eighth precept will be observed by all.

Other Techniques, Rites, and Forms of Worship

During the course it is absolutely essential that all forms of prayer, worship, or religious ceremony — fasting, burning incense, counting beads, reciting mantras, singing and dancing, etc. — be discontinued. All other meditation techniques and healing or spiritual practices should also be suspended. This is not to condemn any other technique or practice, but to give a fair trial to the technique of Vipassana in its purity.

Students are strongly advised that deliberately mixing other techniques of meditation with Vipassana will impede and even reverse their progress. Despite repeated warnings by the teacher, there have been cases in the past where students have intentionally mixed this technique with a ritual or another practice, and have done themselves a great disservice. Any doubts or confusion which may arise should always be clarified by meeting with the teacher.

Noble Silence

All students must observe Noble Silence from the beginning of the course until the morning of the last full day. Noble Silence means silence of body, speech, and mind. Any form of communication with fellow student, whether by gestures, sign language, written notes, etc., is prohibited.

Students may, however, speak with the teacher whenever necessary and they may approach the management with any problems related to food, accommodation, health, etc. But even these contacts should be kept to a minimum. Students should cultivate the feeling that they are working in isolation.

Course Finances

According to the tradition of pure Vipassana, courses are run solely on a donation basis. Donations are accepted only from those who have completed at least one ten-day course with S.N. Goenka or one of his assisting teachers. Someone taking the course for the first time may give a donation on the last day of the course or any time thereafter.

In this way course are supported by those who have realized for themselves the benefits of the practice. Wishing to share these benefits with others, one gives a donation according to one's means and volition. Such donations are the only source of funding for course in this tradition around the world. There is no wealthy foundation or individual sponsoring them. Neither the teachers nor the organizers receive any kind of payment for their service. Thus, the spread of Vipassana is carried out with purity of purpose, free from any commercialism.

Whether a donation is large or small, it should be given with the wish to help others: 'The course I have taken has been paid for through the generosity of past students; now let me give something towards the cost of a future course, so that others may also benefit by this technique.'

Summary

To clarify the spirit behind the discipline and rules, they may be summarized as follows:

Take great care that your actions do not disturb anyone. Take no notice of distractions caused by others.

It may be that a student cannot understand the practical reasons for one or several of the above rules. Rather than allow negativity and doubt to develop, immediate clarification should be sought from the teacher.

It is only by taking a disciplined approach and by making maximum effort that a student can fully grasp the practice and benefit from it. The emphasis during the course is on work. A golden rule is to meditate as if one were alone, with one's mind turned inward, ignoring any inconveniences and distractions that one may encounter.

Finally, students should note that their progress in Vipassana depends solely on their own good qualities and personal development and on five factors: earnest efforts, confidence, sincerity, health and wisdom.

May the above information help you to obtain maximum benefit from your meditation course. We are happy to have the opportunity to serve, and wish you peace and harmony from your experience of Vipassana.

THE COURSE TIMETABLE

The following timetable for the course has been designed to maintain the continuity of practice. For best results students are advised to follow it as closely as possible.

4:00 am		Morning wake-up bell
4:30-6:30 am		Meditate in the hall or in your room
6:30-8:00 am		Breakfast break
8:00-9:00 am		Group meditation in the hall
9:00-11:00 am		Meditate in the hall or in your room according to the teacher's instructions
11:00-12:00 noon		Lunch break
12noon-1:00 pm		Rest and interviews with the teacher
1:00-2:30 pm		Meditate in the hall or in your room
2:30-3:30 pm		Group meditation in the hall
3:30-5:00 pm		Meditate in the hall or in your own room according to the teacher's instructions
5:00-6:00 pm		Tea break
6:00-7:00 pm		Group meditation in the hall
7:00-8:15 pm		Teacher's Discourse in the hall
8:15-9:00 pm		Group meditation in the hall
9:00-9:30 pm		Question time in the hall
9:30 pm		Retire to your own room--Lights out

I want a mini-cow.

2008-08-27T08:21:00.009-04:00

From the TimesOnline UK:

"Just right for the garden: a mini-cow

Miniature cattle farming is catching on with families trying to stay ahead of rising food prices

Chris Gourlay

[photo found separately from the article]

It's the little cow with a big future. Rising supermarket prices are persuading hundreds of families to turn their back gardens into mini-ranches stocked with miniature cattle.

Registrations of the most popular breed, the Dexter, have doubled since the millennium and websites are sprouting up offering “the world’s most efficient, cutest and tastiest cows”.

For between £200 and £2,000, people can buy a cow that stands no taller than a large German shepherd dog, gives 16 pints of milk a day that can be drunk unpasteurised, keeps the grass “mown” and will be a family pet for years before ending up in the freezer.

The Dexter, a mountain breed from Ireland, is perfect for cattle-keeping on a small scale, but other breeds are being artificially created to compete with it, including the Mini-Hereford and the Lowline Angus, which has been developed by the Australian government to stand no more than 39in high but produce 70% of the steak of a cow twice its size.

Home on the range for the Farrant family is a detached house with a large garden on the outskirts of Ashford, Kent. Bernard Farrant and his wife Sue, both teachers, have bought four Dexters.

“With high food prices, they are actually quite an attractive option if you like producing your own food,” said Sue Farrant. “Both my husband and I have full-time jobs so we’re keeping them on the side as an interest. They do largely look after themselves and they’ve been hugely popular with the children.” Her husband said: “They have a phenomenal reputation for the quality of the beef. I think they are proving very attractive to families who have a bit of land and are interested in organic produce. From an economic point of view, we get to eat as much meat as we want and we roughly break-even, but you can sell what you don’t eat.

“As long as you’ve got plenty of grass they will be fine. You don’t really have to feed them.”

More than 4,100 Dexter cows were registered last year by the Dexter Cattle Society, which monitors the breed - more than double the figure in 2000.

“People are realising that if you’ve got a couple of acres, you can just stick them there,” said Sue Archer, the society’s breed secretary. “They eat grass so they are very cost-effective and they have a lovely temperament.”

The Dexter originated in the south of Ireland in the 1800s as an ideal “cottager’s cow”, producing enough milk for the house, and a calf a year.

Today’s mini-cattleman follows a similar pattern, choosing to keep a single “house cow”, collecting the milk each day and using artificial insemination to produce one calf annually for meat. Many people start with one cow and let it produce a calf before sending it to slaughter at the age of two, when the meat is at its most tender and high in healthy omega3 fats.

A desire for organic food, fuelled by health concerns over factory farming and soaring food prices, means that many people now see growing their own food as a viable alternative. As many as 2% of households are now estimated to have their own fresh supply of eggs. In the last year food prices have increased by a record 13.7%. The cost of meat has risen 16.3%, while milk, cheese and eggs rose by 19%, according to figures released by the Office for National Statistics last month.

In America, small cow breeds such as the mini-Hereford are catching on among professional farmers keen to save money as the cost of feed skyrockets. These Herefords consume about a third less feed than normal cows and produce proportionately more beef for the amount of grain they eat.

Among the Dexter Society’s growing membership is Pam Ayres, the poet and songwriter, who lives with her husband and two sons and has a small herd of mini-cows in her 20-acre Cotswolds property.

“The government has no interest in where our food comes from or how it tastes, so it’s nice to set your own welfare and quality standards,” said Ayres, who is also a patron of the Battery Hen Welfare Trust.

“If you’ve got a bit of land, a breed like the Dexter can work out a lot cheaper than the supermarket, plus they do a pretty good job of mowing the lawn.”

The Omnivore's Hundred.

2008-08-17T16:14:00.002-04:00

From Very Good Taste:

Here’s a chance for a little interactivity for all the bloggers out there. Below is a list of 100 things that I think every good omnivore should have tried at least once in their life. The list includes fine food, strange food, everyday food and even some pretty bad food - but a good omnivore should really try it all. Don’t worry if you haven’t, mind you; neither have I, though I’ll be sure to work on it. Don’t worry if you don’t recognise everything in the hundred, either; Wikipedia has the answers.

Here’s what I want you to do:

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment here at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

Evelyn McHale

2008-07-16T16:10:00.003-04:00

Again, thank you to kottke.org.

Word of the day.

2008-07-14T13:18:00.002-04:00

Thanks to kottke.org for this one:

"Mamihlapinatapai, a most succinct word.

It describes a look shared by two people with each wishing that the other will initiate something that both desire but which neither one wants to start. This could perhaps be translated more succinctly as "eye-contact implying 'after you...'". A more literal approximation is "ending up mutually at a loss as to what to do about each other".

Heartbreaking. I wish we had an English word for that feeling. (via cyn-c)"

From McSweeney's.

2008-07-06T19:50:00.003-04:00

THE OPENING ACT FROM THE ORIGINAL, UNUSED TELEPLAY OF LOST'S PILOT EPISODE.

BY ANDREW BRIDGMAN

JACK: OK, everyone, gather round. I'm Jack. We crashed on this island. I'm kind of an alcoholic, and I had a really complicated relationship with my father, Christian, who was also an alcoholic.

CLAIRE: Christian Shepherd? That's my dad, too!

JACK: No way!

SAWYER: Oh, yeah, I know that guy, too. I met him at a bar. He's proud of you.

JACK: You met my dad?

SAWYER: Yeah, I met him right before I killed this guy I thought had ruined my life as a child. He was a con man who went by "Sawyer" and had an affair with my mother and then my dad found out and killed her and himself. It was ugly.

LOCKE: No way! That sounds just like my dad! He stole my kidney and then paralyzed me.

KATE: Paralyzed people can't walk.

LOCKE: Don't tell me what I can't do! I can walk now, obviously. I think this island is magic or something crazy like that.

KATE: Know what else is crazy? I killed my stepdad, who was actually my dad, by blowing up the house he was in. Then I went on the run for a long time. That marshall guy that's dying there was taking me to the U.S. to put me in jail.

(The "monster noise" is heard in the jungle.)

CHARLIE: What was that, mates?

HURLEY: I think it was a monster made of smoke that's floating around for some reason.

CHARLIE: That's bloody weird. Almost as bloody weird as me being a heroin addict due to my rock band, DriveShaft, and my brother, Liam.

HURLEY: Oh, yeah, you guys were popular right around the time I won the lottery thanks to some cursed, mysterious, omnipresent numbers. You guys suck.

SUN: Ha! They totally do.

SHANNON: You speak English?

SUN: Yeah, I do. Hey, Jin.

JIN: (Something in Korean.)

SUN: I speak English. I also had an affair with a bald guy, who taught it to me, then he killed himself, or maybe I killed him. But you can't blame me, right? You used to be a really nice guy before we got married and I paid off a blackmail debt to your prostitute mother by taking a loan from my father, which led him to make you his guy who beat the shit out of people, which destroyed your soul. I hope we reconcile and you gradually learn English. Wanna go in that tent and see if we can get me knocked up?

JIN: ... Boat?

(JIN and SUN go into their tent.)

SAYID: While they're doing that, we should try to figure out how to get off this island. I need to get back to Nadia, this chick I used to like and who I sorta tortured once. I'm from Iraq. Did I mention that?

MICHAEL: No. Hey, where'd Walt go?

SAYID: Oh, some grungy-lookin' pirates took him.

MICHAEL: WAAAAAAALT! WAAAAAAALT! I wanted to be there for him, but his mom was a bitch and took him away from me. I'm trying to get to know him now. Sucks that he got kidnapped.

LOCKE: Hey, while you guys were talking, I found some door in the jungle.

JACK: Did you open it?

LOCKE: Yeah, there was a Scottish guy in there, and I made him stop pressing some button. It just exploded and released a bunch of electromagnetic energy, so the island is visible to the outside world again.

DESMOND: Hi, bruthas. I'm Desmond. I can kinda see the future. Charlie, you're gonna die.

CHARLIE: OK, I'll go swim to an underwater station so we can all get rescued.

DESMOND: Sounds good. Then I can reunite with this chick I liked but got separated from due to her father's meddling. It was kinda like The Notebook.

ROUSSEAU: I found this guy in the jungle.

BEN: My name is Henry Gale!

SAYID: Really?

BEN: No, it's Benjamin Linus. I'm an Other, which means I'm part of this group of people who were on the island before you guys. I was initially part of the DHARMA Initiative, but it was purged by me and other people who have been on the island a long time and may or may not be immortal. It's complicated.

ROUSSEAU: They whisper.

BEN: Right. I'm really manipulative. If you help me escape, Michael, I'll give you back Walt. He makes birds run into doors. I don't like that and neither does Jacob, the cabin-ghost guy who runs this island.

MICHAEL: OK. (Shoots off into the distance.) I just killed Libby and Ana Lucia. Trust me, they're on the other side of the island. Tail section.

BEN: OK, here's Walt back. Get on this boat and then go sneak onto the freighter that's coming to kill us.

MICHAEL: OK.

(MICHAEL and WALT get on the boat and sail off.)

ALEX: Hey, Dad, what're you doing here?

BEN: Hi, Alex, this is your mother.

ROUSSEAU: Hey, I've been looking for you for 16 years.

ALEX: Weirdo.

JACK: Hey, Kate.

KATE: Yeah?

JACK: Pick me or Sawyer.

KATE: Who's Sawyer?

SAWYER: Me.

KATE: Oh, OK. I dunno. Sawyer, I guess.

SAWYER: Thanks, Freckles.

BOONE: I'm gonna go die now.

LOCKE: Yeah, the island's been saying it demands a sacrifice. Go for it, kid.

(First commercial break.)

How camera lenses are made.

2008-07-06T14:22:00.001-04:00

This one's for Alison:

Obama, Japan

2008-06-29T11:12:00.001-04:00

More big news.

2008-06-23T16:17:00.003-04:00

I just discovered that my tortoise, Celeste, is a Red Foot Tortoise!

Also--

2008-06-20T08:49:00.000-04:00

HAPPY SUMMER!

This is big.

2008-06-20T08:38:00.000-04:00

There's ice on Mars!

Capital One.

2008-04-24T22:45:00.002-04:00

Lord help me, I just got approved for my first credit card. I requested the "Wild Horses" design.

Harder better faster stronger

2008-04-06T21:24:00.002-04:00

Why don't I spend all my time making videos like this? May this serve as inspiration throughout the upcoming week.

This made my day.

2008-03-26T23:40:00.001-04:00

Type "baby laugh" in YouTube.

Tyler School of Art Grads

2008-03-26T11:15:00.002-04:00

I've just discovered their blog here (and have also posted the link in the navigation bar to the right). I particularly enjoy the "studio visits," in which various grads are interviewed, I guess in their studios.

Bike Share Philadelphia

2008-03-12T10:08:00.003-04:00

Finally! A bike-sharing program here in Philadelphia is something I was fantasizing a lot about last year, and I'm glad that someone has put together what looks like a viable program. Check out Bike Share Philadelphia's website.

If any of you thousands of readers are a student in Philadelphia, see this email I received from Temple's Honor's program below:

"Hey Honorables!

It's time to get your activism on! Have you seen An Inconvenient Truth? Does the thought of global warming concern you? Are you worried that you can't swim and won't be able to stay afloat when the ice caps melt? Do you feel like you don't know what to do about global warming? Well, now is your chance to get involved and do something about it. The Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia needs representatives on college campuses in the city to meet with adminstrators and advocate for the Philly Bikeshare Program.

Here's information on the Philly Bikeshare Program:

http://bikesharephiladelphia.org/home/

Here's some information for potential advocates:

http://bcgp.blogspot.com/2008/03/promoting-bike-sharing-on-college.html

Even if this isn't your cup of tea, you should still check out the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia:

http://bicyclecoalition.org/"

So that's one possible mode for involvement, though one I probably won't explore myself. Perhaps Temple and the other universities could somehow become involved via their own branches of the Bike Share Philadelphia program, in the form of free bikes for students to use on and around campus. It's a thought, and free for the taking if anyone is interested in undertaking such a project.

The transcendent brain.

2008-02-27T21:29:00.004-05:00

Jill Taylor, a brain scientist who suffered and recovered from a stroke, as transcribed on the TEDBlog:

"On that morning I woke up to a pounding pain on the back of my eye. It just gripped me, then released me, then gripped me, then released me. I got up trying to perform my usual routine, jumping on my exercise machine, and I realize that my hands look like claws. It's like as if my consciousness had shifted away. I got off the machine and walked and realized that my body had slowed down, every step was very rigid. I stood in my bathroom ready to go into the shower and looked down at my arm and realized I could no longer define the boundaries of my body, of where I begin and where I end, the molecules of my arm were like blended with those of the wall, am all I could detect was energy flowing."

Read the entire post here. (Check out the TED Talks (and the conference videos) in my links list to the right -->)

The brain's perception of physical boundaries (the concept of "I") is a topic I've been interested in for a while. Below is an excerpt of an article that I re-wrote into a sketchbook from two years ago. The subject matter is similar to that of Taylor's lecture (neurology, transcendence), but more in-depth:

"Phenomenology seeks to unveil the fundamental structures of experience, by shielding all the assumptions one has about objective reality. Perhaps the most basic of these assumptions is our own spatially divined presence, whereby our surroundings provide the context of our own presence. Neurologists point to the posterior superior parietal lobe- the portion of the brain Newburg and D'Aquili (2001) have dubbed the orientation association area, or OAA:

The primary job of the OAA is the orient the individual in physical space- it keeps track of which end is up, helps us judge angles and distances, and allows us to negotiate safely the dangerous physical landscape around us. To perform this crucial function it must first generate a clear, consistent cognition of the physical limits of the self. In simpler terms, it must draw a sharp distinction between the individual and everything else, to sort out the you from the infinite not-you that makes up the rest of the universe.

They suggest that reduced neural activity in the OAA during transcendence indicates a deficit condition resulting from a lack of information processing:

Would the orientation area interpret its failure to find the borderline between the self and the outside world to mean that such a distinction doesn't exist? In that case, the brain would have no choice but to perceive that the self is endless and intimately interwoven with everyone and everything the mind senses. And this perception would be utterly and unquestionably real.

However, by assuming that the spatial limits of the self are the absolute limits of the self, they overlook the key attribute to transcendence, which is the heightened sense of immediacy. They fail to acknowledge that the brain has to first generate a perspective from which to interpret the spatial boundary of the self.

One's perspective emerges from those movements in the scenery that are attributed to one's own movement. In essence, the mind uses these movements for the sake of determining one's moving perspective. Since the correlation between these movements and one's own motion is immediate, the relationship between them contributes to one's sense of immediacy."

Now that I re-read this, I think I may have already posted this excerpt. Whatever-- it's endlessly interesting. I e-mailed the author, Daniel Webber, (a surfer from Australia, it turns out) a few months ago for the rest of the essay. You can reach him at his website here.

"Doomsday" Seed Vault.

2008-02-26T18:23:00.001-05:00

From Wired News:

"Norway opened a frozen "doomsday" vault Tuesday deep within an Arctic mountain where millions of seeds will be stored to safeguard against wars or natural disasters wiping out food crops around the globe.

Biblical references repeatedly cropped up as guests at the opening ceremony carried the first seed deposits into the vault in the remote Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard.

"This is a frozen Garden of Eden," European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said, standing in one of the frosty vaults against a backdrop of large discs made of ice."

Read the rest of the article here.

WD-40

2008-02-26T09:44:00.001-05:00

An unusually useful forwarded email:

"I had a neighbor who had bought a new pickup. I got up very early one Sunday morning and saw that someone had spray painted red all around the sides of this beige truck (for some unknown reason). I went over, woke him up, and told him the bad news. He was very upset and was trying to figure out what to do probably nothing until Monday morning, since nothing was open. Another neighbor came out and told him to get his WD-40 and clean it off. It removed the unwanted paint beautifully and did not harm his paint job that was on the truck. I'm impressed! WD-40 who knew?

Water Displacement #40. The product began from a search for a rust preventative solvent and degreaser to protect missile parts. WD-40 was created in 1953 by three technicians at the San Dieg o Rocket Chemical Company. Its name comes from the project that was to find a "water displacement" compound. They were successful with the fortieth formulation, thus WD-40. The Corvair Company bought it in bulk to
protect their atlas missile parts.

Ken East (one of the original founders) says there is nothing in WD-40 that would hurt you.

When you read the "shower door" part, try it. It's the first thing that has ever cleaned that spotty shower door. If yours is plastic, it works just as well as glass. It's a miracle! Then try it on your stovetop... Voila! It's now shinier than it's ever been. You'll be amazed.

Here are some of the uses:

1) Protects silver from tarnishing.

2) Removes road tar and grime from cars.

3) Cleans and lubricates guitar strings.

4) Gives floors that 'just-waxed' sheen without making it slippery.

5) Keeps flies off cows.

6) Restores and cleans chalkboards.

7) Removes lipstick stains.

8) Loosens stubborn zippers.

9) Untangles jewelry chains.

10) Removes stains from stainless steel sinks.

11) Removes dirt and grime from the barbecue grill.

12) Keeps ceramic/terra cotta garden pots from oxidizing.

13) Removes tomato stains from clothing.

14) Keeps glass shower doors free of water spots.

15) Camouflages scratches in ceramic and marble floors.

16) Keeps scissors working smoothly.

17) Lubricates noisy door hinges on vehicles and doors in homes

18) It removes black scuff marks from the kitchen floor! Use WD-40 for& get; those nasty tar and scuff marks on flooring. It doesn't seem to harm the finish and you won't have to scrub nearly as hard to get them off. Just remember to open some windows if you have a lot of marks.

19) Bug guts will eat away the finish on your car if not removed quickly! Use WD-40!

20) Gives a children's play gym slide a shine for a super fast slide.

21) Lubricates gear shift and mower deck lever for ease of handling on riding mowers.

22) Rids kids rocking chairs and swings of squeaky noises.

23) Lubricates tracks in sticking home windows and makes them easier to
open.

24) Spraying an umbrella stem makes it easier to open and close.

25) Restores and cleans padded leather dashboards in vehicles, as well as vinyl bumpers.

26) Restores and cleans roof racks on vehicles.

27) Lubricates and stops squeaks in elect ric fans.

28) Lubricates wheel sprockets on tricycles, wagons, and bicycles for easy handling.

29) Lubricates fan belts on washers and dryers and keeps them running smoothly.

30) Keeps rust from forming on saws and saw blades, and other tools.

31) Removes splattered grease on stove.

32) Keeps bathroom mirror from fogging.

33) Lubricates prosthetic limbs.

34) Keeps pigeons off the balcony (they hate the smell).

35) Removes all traces of duct tape.

36) Folks even spray it on their arms, hands, and knees to relieve arthritis pain.

37) Florida 's favorite use is: "cleans and removes love bugs from grills and bumpers."

38) The favorite use in the state of New York WD-40 protects the Statue of Liberty from the elements.

39) WD-40 attracts fish. Spray a LITTLE on live bait or lures and you will be catching the big one in no time. Also, it's a lot cheaper than the chemical attractants that are made for just that purpose. Keep in mind though, using some chemical laced baits or lures for fishing are not allowed in some states.

40) Use it for fire ant bites. It takes the sting away immediately and stops the itch.

41) WD-40 is great for removing crayon from walls. Spray on the mark and wipe with a clean rag.

42) Also, if you've discovered that your teenage daughter has washed and dried a tube of lipstick with a load of laundry, saturate the lipstick spots with WD-40 and rewash. Presto! Lipstick is gone!

43) If you sprayed WD-40 on the distributor cap, it would displace the moisture and allow the car to start.

P. S. The basic ingredient is FISH OIL.

P. P. S. I keep a can of WD-40 in my kitchen cabinet over the stove. It is good for oven burns or any other type of burn. It takes the burned feeling away and heals with NO scarring."

Tomorrow night.

2008-02-23T00:42:00.001-05:00

Make A Rising is a band from West Philly. Check out songs from their latest album at their Myspace. Also check out the site for To New Planet, their art/music collective. And then go to their show tomorrow night!

Science fair photos.

2008-02-20T23:45:00.001-05:00

From Photo Basement:

See the rest (all 41 of them) here.

Hand and Lock Prize for Embroidery

2008-02-12T16:10:00.000-05:00

Overall Brief: Dimension

Working on the theme dimension students should investigate fashion embroidery
that explores relief effects or three dimensional fashion products using embroidered
techniques as a foundation or integral part. This can be in the form of relief
embroidery techniques – padded or raised embroidery methods such as fabric
manipulation, quilting, raised goldwork techniques, raised beading techniques, found
objects covered with thread / material, and construction processes made from
embroidery alone.

Please choose one of the following topics:

WISTFUL HIGHLAND
Think ‘Scottish Tradition’ meets ‘romance’ for this enchanted look. Clues are
drawn from historical elements such as tartans and Celtic ornaments, while
ethereal and glistening aspects are inspired by the proverbial magic forest.

POETIC EMPIRE
This is an exquisite, sensual theme, which draws inspiration from the
Napoleonic era. Here we see lace covered gold buttons on slim-line
military style cropped jackets and trousers, ethereal empire dresses
ornamented with gold brocade, velvet ribbons and ruffled trims. Finely crafted
accessories and footwear add elegance and sophistication to this delicate
yet structured look.

TRADITIONAL PASTIME
This is a smart casual look for the preppy crowd inspired by traditional
elements such as uniform attire. We see ‘army medal’ style badges and
brooches on breast pockets, while ‘uniform’ style pins embellish lapels and
schoolboy scarves. Buttons are luxurious and often utilise gold; decorative
dome shaped buttons are particularly important. Crests and ornamental
detailing are important.

NARRATIVE MARK MAKING
Old storybooks and stylised figurative drawings inspire printed and embroidered
textile design. Graphics bear a resemblance to illustrations from children's novels
and have a slightly retro feel. Loose marks and floral motifs keep the look fresh.

All three winners of this prestigious prize will receive:

* 1 year free subscription to Embroidery magazine.
* A commemorative framed hand embroidered plaque produced by Hand & Lock's skilled craftsmen.
* Work Experience and tambour course at the Hand & Lock workrooms in central London.
* 1 year mentoring by the LCF - toward an exhibition (Date TBA)
* Free trip to London for the Prize Giving and Conference
* 2008 Book of Finalists, showing the work of all the 2nd Stage Finalists and the 1st 2nd & 3rd prize winners.

First Prize
" $15,000 USD
" Entry displayed at The Victoria and Albert Museum, and behind the scenes tour.
" One day course at The Royal School of Needlework.
" The winning entry used on posters to promote Hand & Lock Prize for Embroidery 2009.
" Dedicated page on the Hand & Lock website, with a biography.

Second Prize
" $2,000 USD

Third Prize
" $1,000 USD

Daily dose of fist-pumping.

2008-02-06T12:01:00.000-05:00

An excerpt from today's post on Sellout:

"I think these discussions of gender inequity that focus on the stats and counting up everyone's adherence to an idea of equality are a monumental waste of time and effort. This is a practical blog, and I decree such discussions very impractical. But they're more insidious than that. They inject a boatload of doubt into every woman's studio, and I cannot say strongly enough: that should not be fucking tolerated. You need your irrational optimism, and it is every artist's right to cultivate it. That is an appropriate application of a concept like equality. Women are less prone to developing that irrational optimism than men in the first place. They're taught to be more practical than men are. And if there is one thing that will guarantee any one artist's success or doom any one artist to mediocrity, it is the degree to which the artist can cultivate and deploy their irrational optimism. It's not just about the work. It's about the myth you, the artist, are creating that goes with the work. I hate to be crass, but it's about your brand. And artist's brands are generally built around this irrational optimism. That is what people are buying into when they buy your art. Unless the collector is a cold-hearted mofo just looking for fashion or youth, they are spending all this money because they want you to inspire them."

I'm not totally on board with every statement she makes, but it's an energizing and inspiring post overall. Read the full post here.

The rules.

2008-01-31T23:27:00.000-05:00

From HI + LOW RULES:

Free Will Astrology

2008-01-30T11:35:00.001-05:00

I like these horoscopes because Rob Brezsny tends to give good, solid advice rather than offer useless information about planetary alignments and such. I usually end up reading the horoscopes for all of the signs, but here are the weeklies for Sagittarius and Scorpio.

Sagittarius:

"There are two things to aim at in life," wrote essayist Logan Pearsall Smith. "First to get what you want, and after that to enjoy it. Only the wisest of mankind achieve the second." As you have probably already guessed, Sagittarius, one of your main challenges in 2008 is to be one of the wise who accomplishes that second thing. And you're about to experience a major turning point in your ability to pull it off.

Scorpio:

One goal of meditation is to empty the mind of its obsessively generated thoughts, rationalizations, and images. Alas, much of the media functions as a reverse meditation machine. Not only does it stir up your own mental clatter, it also floods you with the seething surge of other people's private pandemoniums. Furthermore, it delivers this rattling racket with entertaining words and brilliant color and crystalline sound, driving it as deeply into your psyche as your own flotsam. Keep this in mind throughout February, which is Clean Out Your Brain Month. Cut way back on your media intake. Snack lightly rather than gorging continually.

She never stops blowing my mind.

2008-01-21T12:36:00.000-05:00

What is this thing on her head? How do I make it mine?

Maybe this is the answer.

2008-01-20T16:48:00.000-05:00

From a blog I just started reading called The Fabulous Forager:

[F]or many centuries, and perhaps back to Homer, Western society slept in two shifts. People went to sleep, got up in the middle of the night for an hour or so, and then went to sleep again. Thus night — divided into a “first sleep” and “second sleep” — also included a curious intermission. “There was an extraordinary level of activity,” Ekirch told me. People got up and tended to their animals or did housekeeping. Others had sex or just lay in bed thinking, smoking a pipe, or gossiping with bedfellows. Benjamin Franklin took “cold-air baths,” reading naked in a chair.

[read the full post here]

And furthermore, from The New York Times (this is from a link found in the above post, by the way):

Economists and bureaucrats who ventured out into the countryside after the Revolution were horrified to find that the work force disappeared between fall and spring. The fields were deserted from Flanders to Provence. Villages and even small towns were silent, with barely a column of smoke to reveal a human presence. As soon as the weather turned cold, people all over France shut themselves away and practiced the forgotten art of doing nothing at all for months on end.

In the mountains, the tradition of seasonal sloth was ancient and pervasive. “Seven months of winter, five months of hell,” they said in the Alps. When the “hell” of unremitting toil was over, the human beings settled in with their cows and pigs. They lowered their metabolic rate to prevent hunger from exhausting supplies. If someone died during the seven months of winter, the corpse was stored on the roof under a blanket of snow until spring thawed the ground, allowing a grave to be dug and a priest to reach the village.

[read the full article here]

"The corpse was stored on the roof... until spring thawed on the ground." Not so different from my "four hour naps in lieu of dealing with things," as mentioned in yesterday's post. I'm gonna go take a nap.

Top 5's

2008-01-19T21:33:00.001-05:00

NO:

1. The fact that I know something should go here (something overarching) but I haven't been able to pinpoint what it is
2. Poor diet + winter weather leading to lethargy and vague sense of depression
3. Not being able to find another job
4. Taking four hour naps in lieu of dealing with things
5. Biking without proper gloves

YES:

5. Deep breathing
4. Potlucks
3. A new roommate
2. Personal projects
1. Spontaneous yes-es

Housekeeping.

2008-01-14T20:17:00.000-05:00

Revelations:

1) I have several single socks. Most of them are made of synthetic fibers and get lint-y easily. They are excellent for quickly sweeping hair and other debris off my bathroom floor.

2) I don't have a screwdriver. I had to unscrew something this weekend, so I clenched a dime with a pair of pliers and used that contraption quite effectively to get the job done.

Today's high:

2008-01-08T10:25:00.001-05:00

73 degrees. Um, hello January.

A manifesto.

2008-01-04T22:25:00.000-05:00

From "Free Will Astrology:"

Let me remind you who you really are: You are one of the chosen ones. You're a luminous being. A primordial miracle. A resplendent avatar. You are a deity in disguise--not a Buddha or a Christ, but of the same lineage and made from the same mojo.

I want to be sure you get what I'm saying. You're an immortal messiah. You have been around since the beginning of time and will be here after the end. Every day and in every way, you're getting better at playing the mysterious master game we all dreamed up together before the Big Bang bloomed.

Let me put it another way. You're a rebel creator longing to make the whole universe your home and sanctuary. You are a dissident bodhisattva joyfully struggling to germinate the seeds of divine love that are packed inside every moment.

It's time to remember. You are a shimmering burst of spiral hallelujahs that has temporarily taken on the form of a human being, agreeing to endure amnesia about your true origins. And why did you do that? Because it was the best way to forge the exquisitely unique and robust identity that would make you such an elemental force in our 14-billion-year campaign to bring heaven all the way down to earth.

You and I are freedom fighters scrambling and finagling and conspiring to relieve all of our fellow messiahs from their suffering and shower them with more blessings than they know what to do with.

*

Lately, I must admit, our work has seemed almost comically impossible. Many of our brothers and sisters believe that everything is upside-down and inside-out. Is war really peace? Is slavery really freedom? Is ignorance strength? How did it all get so insane?

Even many of the smartest among us seem to have lost their vision. Cynicism has become a supreme sign of intelligence. Compulsive skepticism masquerades as perceptiveness. Mean-spirited irony is chic. Beautiful truths are suspect and ugly truths are popular.

At this peculiar turning point in the evolution of our 14-billion-year-old master game, it ain't easy to carry out our mission. We've got to be both wrathful insurrectionaries and exuberant lovers of life. We’ve got to cultivate cheerful buoyancy even as we resist the temptation to swallow thousands of delusions that have been carefully crafted and seductively packaged by those among us who bravely volunteered to play the role of deceivers.

We have to learn how to stay in a good yet unruly mood as we overthrow the cockeyed mass hallucination that is mistakenly referred to as reality.

Maybe most importantly, we have to be ferociously and single-mindedly dedicated to the cause of beauty and truth and love even as we keep our imaginations wild and hungry and free. We have to be both disciplined and rowdy.

That's especially thorny because of the fact that a genocide of the imagination is raging world-wide. It threatens to render our imaginations numb and inert and passive and tame.

I know you know what I mean.

Aren't you psychically assaulted by dangerous images every day? Don't the media relentlessly blast you with their trendy doom and gloom fixation, barraging you with messages about how bad life is? Doesn't the entertainment industry force-feed you insipidly paranoid scenarios in the same way a French foie gras farmer crams eight pounds of corn down the gullet of his prize goose every day?

Aren't your eyes and ears constantly scalded by blistering harangues to buy stuff you don't really need? Isn't the sacred temple of your imagination pounded ruthlessly by smart bombs whipped up by evil advertising geniuses in their Madison Avenue laboratories? Hasn't your ability to envision the astounding intricacy and richness of the web of life gotten hijacked and hooked on decadent fantasies about new possessions that would allegedly make you happier?

Your imagination is supposed to be the engine of your destiny. It is the wizard's wand you can use to design your future. Your imagination is your power to create mental pictures of things that don’t exist yet and that you want to bring into being. Every human creation on this earth has begun as a vision in someone's imagination.

Your imagination is also your very own all-purpose joy stick, your snakeskin bag of magic tricks. It's your remote-control channel-changer, and the only reliable rearranger of anything anywhere anytime. It's your X-Factor, your wild card, your wicked funny instigator, your Goddess-sanctioned trouble-maker -- your swarming, terraforming, always-morning brainstormer.

Love desperately needs your imagination. As psychologist James Hillman says, "For a relationship to stay alive, love alone is not enough. Without imagination, love stales into sentiment, duty, and boredom. Intimacy fails not because we have stopped loving but because we first stopped imagining."

Your imagination is the single most important tool you have in your daily fight to be free. It is the source of every act of liberation you will ever need to pull off.

But how can your imagination flourish--how can it dream up scenarios that energize you to create your own version of heaven on earth--if you are forever deluged by dazzling psychic toxins that sting and sap and wound your lust for life?

Too many of our brothers and sisters have fallen victim. Their swarming terraforming always-morning brainstormers have been cruelly fooled into acting as if their deepest desires are impossible lies. As a result they live incoherent lives corroded by chronic anxiety.

I for one am no longer willing to tolerate the epidemic obsession with big bad nasty things and flashy trite empty-hearted things. I say it's time for us to re-consecrate and regenerate and lubricate and liberate and take back our imaginations. Here are my demands.

DEMAND #1: I demand that Amnesty International launch a crusade against a form of terrorism I call the genocide of the imagination.

DEMAND #2: I demand that you periodically go on a media fast. For a week at a time, once a season, avoid all TV, movies, novels, yalk shows, newspapers, magazines, and Internet.

DEMAND #3: I demand that you learn to tell the difference between your own thoughts and those of the celebrities who have demonically possessed you.

DEMAND #4: I demand that People magazine do a feature story on "The World's Fifty Sexiest Perpetrators of Beauty, Truth, and Rowdy Bliss."

DEMAND #5: I demand that you wear underpants on your head and dance naked in slow motion whenever you watch movies on TV about tormented geniuses who create great art but treat everyone in their lives like crap.

DEMAND #6: I demand that you refuse to be entertained and entranced by bad news--by stories whose plots are driven by violence, abuse, terrorism, bigotry, lawsuits, greed, crashes, alcoholism, disease, and torture.

DEMAND #7: I demand that you seek out and create stories that make you feel that the universe is friendly and life is on your side. You could hunt down stories about how, for example, rising rates of intermarriage are helping to dissipate ethnic and religious strife worldwide; how the violent crime rate in America has been steadily declining for 30 years; how death rates from cancer are shrinking; the birth rate among teenage mothers is the lowest it's been in six decades; acreage devoted to organic farming is increasing rapidly; the number of refugees and weapons sales all over the world are way down from the level they were 15 years ago, and how the actual bare naked truth is that levels of literacy and education and political freedom and peace and wealth are steadily growing all over the world.

DEMAND #8: When you're too well-entertained to move, screaming is good exercise. Which is why I demand that you scream now and then whenever you're soaking up slick crap generated by the imaginations of people who are devoted to money, power, and ego instead of love, reverence, and play.

*

There is another force that fuels the war against the imagination--and that's fundamentalism.

The fundamentalist takes everything way too seriously and way too personally and way too literally. He divides the world into two camps, those who agree with him and those who don’t. There is only one right way to interpret the world, and a million wrong ways. The fundamentalist not only enslaves his own imagination to his belief system, he wants to enslave our imaginations too. The liberated imagination, God forbid, is taboo.

In one of her poems, Diane DiPrima declares that a war against the imagination is raging worldwide. "The only war that matters is the war against the imagination," she says. "All other wars are subsumed in it." If she's right, then the war against terrorism is a symptom of the war against the imagination. The war against our civil liberties is a symptom of the war against the imagination. The war against the environment, the war against the poor, the war against some drugs--all symptoms.

It's the fundamentalists who want this war. They fight it and force everybody else to fight, too.

And who are the fundamentalists? It's not just the usual suspects; it's not just the religious fanatics of Islam and Christianity and Judaism and Hinduism.

There are many other kinds of fundamentalists, and some of them have gotten away with practicing their fundamentalism in a stealth mode. Among the most successful are those who believe in what Robert Anton Wilson calls fundamentalist materialism. That's the faith-based dogma that swears physical matter is the only reality and that nothing exists unless it can be detected by our five senses or by technologies that humans have made.

There is no inherent meaning or purpose to the universe, the fundamentalist materialists proclaim. There is no divine intelligence. The universe is a dumb accidental machine that grinds on endlessly out of blind necessity.

I see spread out before me in every direction a staggeringly sublime miracle lovingly crafted by a supernal consciousness that oversees the evolution of 500 billion galaxies, yet is also available as an intimate companion and daily advisor to every one of us. But to the fundamentalist materialists, my perceptions are dead wrong and utterly idiotic.

There are many other varieties of fundamentalism. Every ideology, even the ones I like, has its share of true believers, fanatics who judge all other ideologies as inferior, flawed, and foolish.

I know astrologers who insist there's only one way to do astrology right. I know Buddhists who adamantly decree that the inherent nature of life on earth is suffering. I know progressive activists who sincerely believe that every single Republican is either stupid or evil or both. I know college administrators who would excommunicate any psychology professor who dared to discuss the teachings of Carl Jung, who was in my opinion one of the greatest minds of the twentieth century. I know pagans who refuse to consider any other version of Jesus Christ beyond the sick parody the Christian right has fabricated.

There are true believers everywhere. And they don't like to hear that there are at least three sides to every story. They don't like to hear that everyone has a piece of the truth.

And here’s the really bad news: Many of us here, including me, are infected with the fundamentalist virus. Each of us is fanatical, rigid, and intolerant about products of the imagination that we don't like. We wish that certain people would not imagine the things they do, and we allow ourselves to beam hateful, war-like thoughts in their direction.

We even wage war against our own imaginations, commanding ourselves, sometimes half-consciously, to ignore possibilities that don't fit into our neatly constructed theories. Each of us sets aside certain precious beliefs and symbols that we give ourselves permission to take very seriously and personally and literally.

Our fundamentalism, yours and mine, may not be as dangerous to the collective welfare as, say, the fundamentalism of Islamic terrorists and right-wing Christian politicians. It may not be as destructive as the CEOs who worship financial profit as the supreme measure of value and the scientists who ignore and deny every mystery that can't be measured.

But still: We are all infected, you and I. We are fueling the war against the imagination. (What's your version of the virus?)

This has got to stop. We are primordial miracles. Resplendent avatars. Deities in disguise. Rebel creators. We are wrathful insurrectionaries and exuberant lovers of life dedicated to navigating our way through this peculiar turning point in the evolution of our 14-billion-year-old master game. It is our sacred duty to keep our imaginations wild and hungry and free, and to make sure that all of our fellow messiahs, even those who volunteered to play the roles of ignorant deceivers, have the chance to keep their imaginations wild and hungry and free.

How might we start curing ourselves of the virus and move in the direction of becoming more festive, relentless champions of the liberated imagination?

For starters, we can take everything less seriously and less personally and less literally.

We can laugh at ourselves at least as much as we laugh at other people. We can blaspheme our own gods and burn our own flags and mock our own hypocrisy and satirize our own fads and fixations.

We can enjoy the pleasures of healing mischief, friendly shocks, compassionate tricks, irreverent devotion, holy pranks, playful experiments, and crazy wisdom.

We can inspire each other to perpetrate healing mischief, friendly shocks, compassionate tricks, blasphemous reverence, holy pranks, and crazy wisdom.

We can be humble enough to understand that it's a crime against life to act like a know-it-all who has everything all figured out.

Vusi Mahlasela sings "Woza"

2007-12-24T15:38:00.000-05:00

From "More Ways to Waste Time"

2007-12-16T20:21:00.000-05:00

Ruth Asawa

I had to bop over to San Francisco's de Young Museum for a work thing this week (I know -- poor me). On my hurried way to check out the thing I needed to see, I was struck speechless by these ethereal wire sculptures by Ruth Asawa.

Seriously: One minute I was jogging to the elevator, and the next I was rooted to the spot where I stood, my mouth hanging agape at the gorgeousness before me.

The delicate biomorphic and organic sculptures themselves are breathtaking -- but it's the play of light and shadow that they cast upon the walls that's absolutely magical.

Although it turns out that I'd seen various pieces of Asawa's public art around the City over the years, I didn't know anything about her. And when I read up a bit on her life and work, I was even more blown away.

As a young woman during World War II, the California native was sent with her family to a Japanese internment camp, where she began to explore art. At art school, she studied under Buckminster Fuller and learned traditional basket-making techniques while traveling in Mexico.

Photo by Laurence Cuneo

In the 1950s, Asawa actually crocheted these pieces from iron, copper, brass, and bronze, often working late into the night while her six -- yes, you read that right: six -- young children slept. (So much for that "parenthood leaves me no time for creativity" rationalization, eh?)

Her work has been exhibited at various California museums as well as at New York's Whitney and the Museum of Modern Art. Asawa also dedicated much of her life to advancing and safeguarding art in San Francisco's public schools.

For more on Ruth Asawa and her amazing creations, keep an eye out for the book Contours in the Air. And if you're in the Bay Area, don't miss the opportunity to see her beautiful wire sculptures in person at the de Young -- they're in the Hamon Tower entrance on the ground floor, which you can visit for free.

By Jovana Sarver.

2007-12-07T21:44:00.001-05:00

The lyrebird.

2007-12-07T16:30:00.000-05:00