February 2009

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Thank You and Ok!

15 Feb, '09 in Books, Zen

Now reading: Thank You and Ok!: An American Zen Failure in Japan – David Chadwick.
David Chadwick, a Texas-raised wanderer, college dropout, bumbling social activist, and hobbyhorse musician, began his study under Shunryu Suzuki Roshi in 1966. In 1988 Chadwick flew to Japan to begin a four-year period of voluntary exile and remedial Zen education. In Thank You and OK! he recounts his experiences both inside and beyond the monastery walls and offers insightful portraits of the characters he knew in that world—the bickering monks, the patient abbot, the trotting housewives, the ominous insects, the bewildered bureaucrats, and the frustrating English-language students—as they worked inexorably toward initiating him into the mysterious ways of Japan. Whether you’re interested in Japan, Buddhism, or exotic travel writing, this book is great fun.

To learn more about the author, David Chadwick, visit More about David Chadwick

Your time is limited

13 Feb, '09 in Life, Notebook, Quotes

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

- steve jobs, 2005

1234567890 Day

13 Feb, '09 in Life, Nerd

On this Friday, Feb 13 at exactly 3:31:30 PM (PST), Unix time (WTF is Unix time?) will equal ’1234567890′.

Google Proves Humanity Is Sick and Sad

12 Feb, '09 in Life

• 841,000: I have a large cat in my pants.
• 3,300,000: I have a large uterus.
• 112,000: I have a lovely bunch of coconuts (lots of swallows surfing the web).
• 256,000,000: I want to die.
• 3,160,000: Why do I fart so much.

Read the article here: Google Proves Humanity Is Sick and Sad, Yet Absolutely Hilarious [Google Insight]

Dammit, it is a strange world we are living in.

SoundTransit

12 Feb, '09 in World

SoundTransit is a collaborative, online community dedicated to field recording and phonography. On the “Book” section of the site, you can plan a sonic journey through various locations recorded around the world.

Click to hear: Hamburg – Anuradhapura

Departure: Hamburg, Germany with Lasse-Marc Riek “recordings from “the hamburger dom” / “fair of hamburg”, listen to many various sounds. the sounds are together like in an soundscape-composition.recorded in may 2002, hamburg/germany”

via London, United Kingdom with Matthias Kispert “A cavernous space with walls covered in graffiti, the skate park at the South Bank Centre is somewhat reminscent of the sites of prehistoric rituals. In this place, youngsters daily worship the cult of the four wheels attached to a wooden board. Recorded for the D-Fuse project Undercurrent.”

Arrival: Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka with Andreas Bick “Young monks chanting in a monastery in Anuradhapura.”

Europa kreuzweise: Eine Litanei

11 Feb, '09 in Books, Life

Since German is not an easy language for an Ausländer, I do seldom read German books. But wen I found the new book from Blixa Bargeld on Amazon I had to get and and read it. There is not much I can say about it: it is great and with only 150 pages way, way to short. I really did enjoy the calm narrating style, this, the no rock star bullshit and all the little details makes this book great to read.

Europa kreuzweise: Eine Litanei- Blixa Bargeld
ICH SOLL EINEN TEXT VERFASSEN, ein Buch schreiben, eine Litanei anstimmen. Ich bin nicht katholisch und mir fehlt die passende Erinnerung. Meine Freundin Maria, aus Bayern (katholisch und Literaturwissenschaftlerin), die ich bei solchen Gelegenheiten anrufe, schreibt mir aus Berlin: Was mir an dieser Textsorte am interessantesten erscheint, ist die dialogische Form und vor allem die Möglichkeit, Passagen zu wiederholen bzw. wieder aufzunehmen, der Text also potentiell unendlich ist ganz wichtig ist auch, dass die Litanei ein Text zum HÖREN ist Das müsste sich ja mit mir treffen. In ein paar Tagen werde ich in Europa sein. Ich werde wieder 2Monate überwiegend in einem Bus verbringen. Von Lissabon bis Moskau, Oslo bis Neapel, Europa kreuz und quer. Vielleicht sollte ich Maria auch noch fragen, was ein Exposé ist. Was es genau ist. Ich glaube, ich weiß, worauf es hinausläuft: Pressetext, Waschzettel, Kurzbeschreibung. Also bitte: Auf der Reise durch Europa hat der Sänger, Komponist, was weiß ich was, einen zirkulären Text verfasst, einen Monolog, eine Litanei, eine Idiotennovelle, einen Bildungsroman in der erstbesten Person, eine Gardinenpredigt. Europa kreuzweise. Plus 12 Kochrezepte. Blixa Bargeld

Stimme frißt Feuer – Blixa Bargeld . Nice little booklet with mostly texts, drawings and poems from the beginning of Einstürzende Neubauten. This book brings memories back from all the concerts we went to, squatted houses, days without sleep and all the good conversations we had. A must have for anybody who was around.

Kollaps / bis zum Kollaps
nicht viel Zeit
Kollaps / bis zum Kollaps
nicht viel Zeit
Kollaps / Unsre Irrfahrten
zerstören die Städte
und nächtliches Wandern
macht sie dem Erdboden gleich
Kollaps / alles was ich kriegen kann
Alles in mich rein
Kollaps / süßer Kollaps
bitter und bitter und bitter
bis zum Kollaps
Horden / die neue Goldene Horde
diesmal ohne Dschingis Khan
wir zerstören die Städte
nächtliches Wandern macht uns blind
Kollaps / sei mein Kollaps
Kollaps / nicht viel Zeit / nicht viel Zeit
schlag schneller schrei lauter
leb schneller / bis zum Kollaps nicht viel Zeit
wir sind die neuen Goldenen Horden
diesmal ohne Dschingis Khan
bis zum Kollaps nicht viel Zeit
verbrenn mich reiß mich nieder
bitter / bitter / bitter / bitter

Europa kreuzweise: Eine Litanei- Blixa Bargeld
Stimme frißt Feuer

Kindle and the End of the End of History

11 Feb, '09 in Notebook

A must read for book and ebook lovers:
Amazon.com’s New Kindle Is Lighter, Brighter and Chattier.
The Kindle and the End of the End of History.
The Kindle Hardware Tax.

Depressing Facts:

11 Feb, '09 in World

A poll, conducted by OnePoll, that quizzed over a thousand UK teenagers between the ages of 13 and 15 showed that they on average spend over 31 hours surfing the web. Depressingly, it appears teens are spending over 8 hours a week not only browsing pornography but also cosmetic surgery, emotional support and weight loss sites.

Breakdown of the average teenager’s time online each week

* Downloading music 1 hour 40 minutes
* YouTube 2 hours 2 minutes
* MSN 3 hours 29 minutes
* Chatrooms 2 hours 5 minutes
* Virtual World sites 1 hour 55 minutes
* Homework/research 3 hours 10 minutes
* Shopping 1 hour 49 minutes
* Auction sites 1 hour 28 minutes
* Cosmetic surgery 1 hour 8 minutes
* Soft porn 1 hour 40 minutes
* Dieting/weight loss 1 hour 35 minutes
* Family planning/pregnancy 1 hour 32 minutes
* NHS Direct/Health 1 hour 22 minutes
* Samaritans 1 hour 1 minute
* Dating 1 hour 15 minutes
* Social networking 3 hours 47 minutes

Ellie Puddle, Marketing Director of CyberSentinel said:

“The alarming thing about this research is that it shows that teenagers are obviously exploring all sorts of topics as a result of modern-day pressures [and] they find it easier to go online to conduct their research than asking mum and dad for advice.”

For me this shows that this whole idea about a social networking and social web like chatrooms, virtuall worlds and dating sites, probably takes away a even more important social aspect of their lives: talking with people, hang out on the streets, do sports. So yes that is from people of my generation depressing to see that happen.
Family planning/pregnancy, ok but watching Soft porn ? !!! come on …

Strange fact about Mister Kellog..

10 Feb, '09 in Life

Strange fact about Kellogg (From Kellogg Cornflakes )
Kellogg, the cereal company says: …Phelps’s behavior—caught on camera and published Sunday in a British tabloid—is “not consistent with the image of Kellogg.”

This is the same company that for decades has been encouraging children to start the day by inhaling sugar by the spoonful. It’s also the company that still proudly bears the name of the man who advocated yogurt enemas and pouring carbolic acid on the clitoris to prevent women from experiencing sexual pleasure.

Mister Kellogg was an especially zealous campaigner against masturbation; this was an orthodox view during his lifetime, especially the earlier part. Kellogg was able to draw upon many medical sources who made claims such as that “neither the plague, nor war, nor small-pox, nor similar diseases, have produced results so disastrous to humanity as the pernicious habit of onanism,” credited to one Dr. Adam Clarke. Kellogg strongly warned against the habit in his own words, claiming of masturbation-related deaths “such a victim literally dies by his own hand,” among other condemnations.

Kellogg worked on the rehabilitation of masturbators, often employing extreme measures, even mutilation, on both sexes. In his Plain Facts for Old and Young,he wrote

A remedy which is almost always successful in small boys is circumcision, especially when there is any degree of phimosis. The operation should be performed by a surgeon without administering an anesthetic, as the brief pain attending the operation will have a salutary effect upon the mind, especially if it be connected with the idea of punishment, as it may well be in some cases. The soreness which continues for several weeks interrupts the practice, and if it had not previously become too firmly fixed, it may be forgotten and not resumed.

and

In females, the author has found the application of pure carbolic acid [phenol] to the clitoris an excellent means of allaying the abnormal excitement. ”
He also recommended, to prevent children from this “solitary vice”, bandaging or tying their hands, covering their genitals with patented cages, sewing the foreskin shut and electrical shock.

Idiot !

Stumbled on at the Agitator / the Onion

Thai Poosam

9 Feb, '09 in Life, World

Thai Poosam Kavady is a Hindu religious festival dedicated to Hindu deity Lord Murugan. Thai Poosam falls on the full moon day in the Tamil month Thai (January). The ten-day festival starts with hoisting of the flag. Daily rituals, abolitions and singing devotional hymns are held in honour of Lord Murugan.

On the main day of the Kavady festival, devotees carry the Kavady from a distance away from the temple, preferable from a river, back to the temple. It is believed that the more effort and hardship applied when carrying the Kavady, the more benevolent Lord Murugan will be towards fulfilling his devotee’s needs. Devotees usually carry milk and honey on either end of their Kavadies.

The simplest kavadi is a semi circular decorated canopy supported by a wooden rod that is carried on the shoulders, to the temple. In addition, some have a little spear through their tongue, or a spear through the cheeks. The spear pierced through his tongue or cheeks reminds him constantly of Lord Murugan. It also prevents him from speaking and gives great power of endurance. Other types of kavadi involve hooks stuck into the back and either pulled by another walking behind or being hung from a decorated bullock cart or more recently a tractor, with the point of incisions of the hooks varying the level of pain. The greater the pain the more god-earned merit.

After entering the temple grounds the devotees carry their Kavadies three times around the temple. When they are inside the temple, the milk and honey are poured over the statue of Lord Murugan. The festival concludes with the de-hoisting of the flag.

@ wikipedia: Thaipusam

Digital Overload Is Frying Our Brains

8 Feb, '09 in Life, Notebook

Interesting article at Wired: Paying attention isn’t a simple act of self-discipline, but a cognitive ability with deep neurobiological roots — and this complex faculty, says Maggie Jackson 1, is being woefully undermined by how we’re living. Digital Overload Is Frying Our Brains @ Wired.

Distracted isn’t about weighty theories, or dusty trends from the past. It’s all about the new science of attention, which is mapping, decoding and defining this essential human skill for the first time. And it’s about our power bar-grabbing, frenetic multitasking, info-overloaded, cyber-centric, no-time-to-focus lives.

  • We connect with millions of people across the globe, but have trouble grabbing dinner with those we love.
  • We can tap into billions of info-bytes, yet increasingly we create knowledge from what’s first-up on Google.
  • We’ve cut back on sleep and time with hobbies, friends and neighbors — yet still feel that we can’t afford to pause, relax — even take a vacation day.

After reading the wired article I directly ordered the book at Amazon: Distracted: The Erosion of Attention and the Coming Dark Age Maggie Jackson (Prometheus, 2008) Foreword by Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature and The Bill McKibben Reader.

  1. http://maggie-jackson.com ↩

Space Colony Art from the 1970s

8 Feb, '09 in World

ac76-1089qA couple of space colony summer studies were conducted at NASA Ames in the 1970s. Colonies housing about 10,000 people were designed. A number of artistic renderings of the concepts were made. These have been converted to jpegs and are available as thumbnails, quarter page, full screen and publication quality images at the NASA Website.

I AM SEALED in a cottage of glass that is completely airtight…

8 Feb, '09 in Books

Now reading: Out of Control: The New Biology of Machines, Social Systems, & the Economic World – Kevin Kelly (Wired Author) In many ways, the 20th century has been the Age of Physics. 1 Out of Control is an accessible and entertaining explanation of why the coming years will probably be the Age of Biology — particularly evolution and ethology — and what this will mean to most every aspect of our society.

  1. Out of Control @Amazon ↩

LUX INTERIOR – October 21, 1946 – February 4, 2009

8 Feb, '09 in Life, Music

Lux Interior, lead singer of the punk band The Cramps has died aged 62.
According to a statement, Lux Interior passed away from a heart condition at Glendale Memorial Hospital in Glendale, California Wednesday morning.
The Cramps were part of the early CBGB punk movement that emerged in New York, and by being the first known band to blend punk with rockabilly, are widely recognized as precursors of psychobilly, and innovators of garage punk.

How to read 462 books in one year

7 Feb, '09 in Books

This is an interesting article about Sarah Weinman an L.A. Times writer, she managed to read 462 books last year. The way she reads is more or less like I digest a book; I dont read word for word, I read chunks, sometimes slowing down to a sentence at time. This way I read several books a week, mostly readings more then one book a time. Usually I read “harder stuff” in the morning and close my day with poems or a novel. Looking at the comments by the article there are more speed readers around.

What also seems to happen is that I read a page not necessarily word by word, but by capturing pages in sequence in my head. The words and phrases appear diagonally, like I’m absorbing the text all in one gulp, and then I move on to the next sequence I can absorb by paragraph or page. It’s like I’m reading from a whole-language standpoint instead of phonics — that’s the only way I can figure out how to explain it.

How to read 462 books in one year

Bookmarks

4 Feb, '09 in Life

26 Years, 85 Notebooks

2 Feb, '09 in Life, Notebook

Great article about how Michael Bierut has used his 85 notebooks over the past 26 years.
Design Observer.

Klunen and Geography

1 Feb, '09 in Books, Life, World

Just finished reading Klunen by Kluun and Don’t know much about Geography by K.C Davis.
Klunen is a Dutch book that I really enjoyed reading, the paperback is a collection of short stories by Kluun. He talks a lot about Brabant which reminded me about my childhood there. Note to self; Need to get his other books as well1.

Don’t know much about Geography, “by the King of knowledge” (Amazon), KC Davis. To be honest a bit of a boring book. Not much that triggered my intrest or was surprising me. Most of the stuff in there was not new to me, and I did not pay very well attention in the Geography class. 2

Starting now with a new book; Introducing Evolutionary Psychology3, hopefully this book will help me to better understanding of our word…

  1. Books from Kluun (some in Eng). ↩
  2. Don’t Know Much About Geography: Everything You Need to Know About the World but Never Learned ↩
  3. Introducing Evolutionary Psychology ↩