++ BALKAN BEAT BOX ++
New world music stuff, with a mid-east flavor from ex Gogol Bordello member Ori Kaplan, and others. Cool stuff. I’ve loved GB since I found out about them a few years ago. Balkan Beat Box is just as good, but not quite as punk, it seems. Check ’em out.
(Via Lost at E Minor)
More on “The Stone Spheres of Costa Rica”.
There seems to have been a lot of speculation about these since they were found, but this article cuts through the myths.
And More.
An interesting article from Natural History magazine, about perfect stone balls found in Costa Rica, in the 1950’s. The article is by an archeologist’s wife, and details the discovery, and explorations of these objects. I like that the article is from a non-scientist’s point of view, which gives us more insight into the process, than we may have had otherwise.
I’d like to know if anything else has been discovered about these in the intervening years.
I am PUNK AS FUCK! The model punk. I care not for anything. I kick ass, but probably smell really bad.
I think I lost points because I’ve never punched out a cop, and I own a car.
By way of Art News Blog
Art is significant in my life, people are scum but I have the capicity to deal with it. Give it a few more years and I will either forget about art or hate the world.
A different approach to powering your home, than my previous nuclear battery one, over at Geoff Manaugh’sBLDGBLOG. Growing algae in balloons, in a way that makes it produce mucho H2. Some beautiful renderings of the project (it’s an urban design project in Iceland), and some commentary from Geoff about how depressing it is that we go to these lengths to, basically, just keep on doing what we’re already doing, instead of trying to change the fundamentals of our society.
Growing algae to produce power is an interesting concept, but really it’s useless without designing communities that use less energy. People just don’t seem to believe in frugality any more, and that’s what we need to return to.
And, no I’m not a hippy, preaching back to the land, and such, because, damnit, I love my tech, and my Schtufff, but with 6 billion people (is that right) on this planet, we really need to figure something out, don’t we?
Actually it only comes in a size that will power 25,000 homes, but hey, in Maine it would only take 20, or 30 to power the whole state. The manufacturer calls it a “battery” and not a reactor, since there’s no moving parts, and it doesn’t require an operator.
Nuke to the Future for the article about it. Here’s the website for Hyperion, the manufacturer.
Cool digital art by Alex Cherry
Intolerance
Many of his titles are from songs (including Rage against the Machine, and Radiohead) and interpretations of said songs.
He also has a deviant art page where you can buy prints.
Reminds me of:
Atomic Fireballs
Burning the inside of my cheeks.
Reminds me of:
Waking up at 2 AM,
To feed the fire
Before it goes out.
Reminds me of:
Simpler times
That weren’t–
Really.
This post from Neil Gaiman’s Journal (Thanks from the future…) reminded me of another point against e-readers in general. When you buy and e-book, what happens to author’s signings, autographs, etc. I know most people don’t care, but many do, and that physical interaction with the author does have meaning. Yes I remember from the Times article–the first in my series on E-Readers (strange I didn’t mean for it to go there, but there you have it.)–that there might be more interaction in general, but all electronic, or from a distance.
So while authors may like the e-book idea for this reason, since it’s easier on them (although I think many do enjoy meeting their fans, and interacting with them (Wil Wheaton for example)), it’s a lousy deal for fans.