Archive for June, 2008
The World Is Just Awesome
NOMMMMMMMMM, NOMMMMMMMMM.
Genesis Is Coming!
Quite literally. Earlier today, Thoughts From Kansas pointed out The National Academies Press is holding a massive book sale and suggested getting Robert Hazen’s “Genesis: The Scientific Quest for Life’s Origins” for super cheap. So that’s just what I did.
I was extremely impressed with both of Hazen’s Teaching Company series, “Joy of Science” and “Origins of Life” so I’m sure this book with be both easy to understand and extremely informative at the same time. One thing I love about Hazen is his strong advocacy for a reformed, more integrated approach to science education, exemplified in his co-authoring of the highly acclaimed textbook “The Sciences: An Integrated Approach” with James Trefil that fully integrates physics, chemistry, astronomy, earth sciences, and biology for students with little or no science background.
I highly recommend both of Hazen’s Teaching Company series and I’m quite sure that in a few weeks time, I’ll be able to recommend this book as well.
Two In A Row
Jesus is coming… Look busy!
Shit, Piss, Fuck, Cunt, Cocksucker, Motherfucker, Tits …
… Fart, Turd & Twat
That’s My Problem Too
Is Heavy Marijuana Use Harmful?
A new study by Australian researchers into the effects of heavy Marijuana use have returned some interesting results. Heavy users showed reduced size in specific areas of the brain as well as earned lower scores than the nonusers in a verbal memorization test.
Brain scans showed the hippocampus and amygdala were smaller in men who were heavy marijuana users compared to nonusers, the researchers said. The men had smoked at least five marijuana cigarettes daily for on average 20 years.
Now, I’m a bit biased in this debate, but isn’t that a bit too heavy? 5 joints daily for 20 years? Marijuana Policy Project spokesman Bruce Mirken seems to agree with me saying, “These were people who were essentially stoned all day every day for 20 years … This study says nothing about moderate or occasional users, who are the vast majority — and the (study) even acknowledges this.” Mirken follows with, “The documented damage caused by comparably heavy use of alcohol or tobacco is just off-the-charts more serious, and you don’t need high-tech scans to find it.”
It is a bit excessive a study group. Even most ‘daily’ users I’ve met never hit the 5 joint mark every day. I think a more moderate-use study would be more informative overall as well as a more controlled experiment to weed out other possible causes. In the end though, the researchers had and have the best of intentions saying, “With nearly 15 million Americans using cannabis in a given month, 3.4 million using cannabis daily for 12 months or more and 2.1 million commencing use every year, there is a clear need to conduct robust investigations.” With that, I whole heartedly agree. More research is definitely needed. And I, for one, will be doing my part.
Via: Reuters
Objects in Space (edit)
While putting the finishing touches on Moments, I’ve been working on some themed generative music that will become my next album. The album is all about astronomy. One of the things I love about astronomy is the humbling notion of being a fragile, non-important object floating around amidst many other inconspicuous objects. I kind of puts you in your place. It shows you that there is nothing incredibly special about your place in the universe and that it’s up to you to make your life special. I’m reminded by something Carl Sagan said in The Pale Blue Dot:
It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we’ve ever known.
I’ve been very influenced by Brian Eno’s 77 Million Paintings and taking that approach into my music writing. I’m trying to write a lot of music that isn’t necessarily constrained by time. There’s no defined opening bit or middle bit or ending bit. I want to approach the songs as if they’ve always been playing and I’m just now tuning in. The songs never end. You just sort of tune in from time to time and listen to what they’re doing at that particular moment. I’m very interested in that.
This particular piece is a 4 minute edit of the 12 minute album version of a song for my next album Background Music 2 (Music for Stargazing).
