Back In Black

Trying to stay on the blog-wagon...

Hannes Coetzee - Herbertsdale

This dude is certainly reinventing a few things in some undeniably 'real' ways, and gives the Spoonman from the Soundgarden song a very 'real' run for his money.

Kriyananda and Yogananda

Swami Kriyananda, disciple of "Master" Paramahansa Yogananda (Author of the incredible 'Autobiography of a Yogi' amongst his other accomplishments) gave a talk this last weekend in Los Angeles about his time spent with Yogananda, and what has happened in the 50 or so years since Yogananda's death - which is a miraculous story in and of itself.
I didn't make it to this talk, seeing the video is almost as rewarding. I did, however, go to another, smaller gathering a few days later at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, specifically at the non-denominational Church of the Recessional, where Kriyananda again spoke with an abundance of humor about his life with Yogananda, reincarnation, and the perfection of desire.
Sometimes I find myself drawn and quartered at the intersection of faith and science. Is it possible to have respect for Richard Dawkins and his crew while maintaining a strong sense of a higher consciousness? I hope there are others out there who can take the essence of all these teachings and distill them into something practical, which is all I'm trying to do. As Kriyananda was wrapping up his talk, and answering questions, someone asked something about the practicality of spirituality, to which he answered "there is nothing more practical than spirituality" to a resounding carom of laughter and applause.
After the talk, Swami Kriyananda received people outside, I knelt before him, with absolutely nothing and simultaneously everything to say to and ask of him, yet in his presence the chatter of my mind ceased. He smiled one of the most memorable and sincere smiles I've ever born witness to, looked past my eyes, and touched me lightly between them...I can't stop thinking of that moment, I hope its a memory I'll never forget, and I've been very deliberately closing my eyes from time to time, focusing on that third-eye place and seeing Kriyananda there, smiling.
Finally, I went to the Mausoleum where Yogananda's crypt is...I found it slightly strange that he was placed amongst mere mortals with nary a epitaph suggesting who he was when he was living. I guess, ultimately, he is not in there, his soul is long gone, but I still believe his body should be placed somewhere more profound. It's akin to burying 'Jesus' in a shoebox in your backyard...I guess I'm not the only one who feels this way as there are proceedings with the local authorities to have his body moved to Mount Washington in Los Angeles where he founded The Self-Realization Fellowship, but its been over 50 years since he died, what's the holdup?



Update 10/2/09 - I found a video of the talk I attended, so I'll post this too:

More TED sifting...Bring On The Waterworks

How We Read Each Other's Minds

Birds On The Wires

Birds on the Wires from Jarbas Agnelli on Vimeo.

Stalacpipe Organ

Wiki

Organic Shoppers Guide to Pesticides

Organic Avocados are a sham! Click here

Ok, after this I'll stop with the Wade Davis' worship.

Wade Davis on Ethnodiversity.

I think all of this stuff is worth our collective awareness. I love that National Geographic is covering topics like this without hesitation. This talk just keeps snowballing into one of the better TED talks I've seen lately:



...and another to reinforce his ideas:



(added 2/17/10: Article about the death of the last speaker of 'Bo' - one of the world's earliest languages HERE

Douglas Hofstadter holds at least one of the keys...

I read 'Godel, Escher, Bach: The Eternal Golden Braid' a few years back, per Sean Malone of Cynic/Gordian Knot's recommendation, and consequently got Escher's 'Knots' tattooed on my shoulders. I recently took 'The Mind's Eye' out on tour and burned through that as well, and was equally stimulated and humbled...I need to find more of his books (and some Borges).

"Fast Is Just Slow Sped Up"

stunning bass-string shot from urbanscreen on Vimeo.

It's been a while...

I still have a pulse...so do these freaks.

Orgasms During Childbirth / Nassim Haramein Content

Okay, this dude just keeps popping up all over the place now that I've got him on my radar...

Life in the Key of Life

Talk about your 'Innervisions'

300 Year Old Food Forest

..."We've had them before, and we'll have to have them again."

The Answer Is Blowin' In The Wind...

Good Vibrations

Richard Dawkins

I really liked 'The God Delusion' and clicked on this...real glad I did.

Deep Thoughts In Deeper Space

Suburbia

YES

No Rain, No Gain

Just completed the Broad Street Run...In the rain.
If anyone cares, started a Nike+ profile here.
I didn't calibrate my sensor very well and it says I ran 11 miles. I actually did 10.
Here's a few photos of the subways full of runners at 7am, runners rode for free.
When we got to the station, everyone was stretching underground because of the rain.
They gave out chipped bands to wrap in your laces that auto-timed you based on that specific chips frequency. By the time I got home, my time was posted...Big Brother.

The lonliness of the long distance runner...

I've somewhat recently started running, and this Sunday I'm doing the Broad Street Run. I saw this last night and got inspired. It's sorta weird to see almost all 'art' these days sponsored by some company, some product, someone other than the artist. It reminded me of the Absoloot Sponsorship essay by Shepherd Fairy, I figure it's worth exhuming and examining.

Sympathetic Vibrations

If you can handle it, this will break your brain. John Ernst Worrell Keely was a true genius.





More information about the Keely motor here.

Glenn Gould

First, read about the Voyager Golden Record which is fascinating in and of itself.
Glenn Gould was the one of the musicians featured on that, playing a piece of Bach's Well Tempered Clavier. He also recorded the Goldberg Variations as his first recording in 1955, and re-recorded them again in 1981 as one of his last performances. Here is the 1981 performance in it's entirety:



Wiki article about him here, and then put this on your movie queue.

Calculating Infinity

I've been blown away by savants and synesthesia lately...Here's one of my favorite examples of this phenomenon:

Cliff Burton, Exposed.

Just when the inspriation well seems to be drying up, a deluge like this falls from the sky:

Nassim Haramein, The Resonance Project and Crossing the Event Horizon

I went to see this guy speak last weekend, and I'm still scraping the hadron-collided particles of my brain off the inside of my skull; that thing shattered like the big bang when this guy finished his lecture...I think he's about as close to coming up with a true unified field theory (using only Einsteinian/Relative math ie. no quantum physics) as anyone else out there...I'll post more as things develop. Here's a video which covers at least some of what I heard him speak about.



Ironically, I was just listening to this new David Wolfe interview and he mentions a physicist named 'Nassim' when he starts talking about water and water molecules...It wouldn't surprise me at all if they have some sort of social connection since a lot of the ideas they're talking about are indeed connected, at least in my world view.

The Brother's Quay

From the Dormitorium: An Exhibition of Film Decors show in Philadelphia.
It was a bit like reading good lyrics that you're used to hearing sung.
There's something about the way their films move and the lighting that the still pieces lacked, but it was still amazing to get a first hand glimpse at a few of the keystones in their creative process.

Powers Of Ten

Bikram Yoga Championships 2007

When I need some direction and/or some inspiration for my yoga practice, I turn to this:

TESTIFY!

Check out this powerful speech on creativity and the role of the creative genius.

The Policeman's Beard Is Half Constructed - Racter (1984)

Although a lot of this is nonsense, a computer writing about LOVE is rather remarkable.
Written in '1984' - irony anyone?



The Policeman's Beard Is Half-Constructed

Practical Advice

Explosions

Frodus@Murky By Eric Hunsaker
View in HD Download 480p Version Visit Eric Hunsaker's ExposureRoom Videos Page

We like explosions that leave you feeling good
We like ideas that change the world for good
Theres nothing past the stop n go
Theres nothing but the ebb and flow
Theres nothing like some in and out
Theres nothing more than what you know
We like new places that jets cant take you to
We do like music when it does what it should do
We like explosions its only right we should
We like ideas we thought you understood
We like new places until theyre overrun
We do like music -- loud shots from the big spudgun
-DEVO

Frodus Escape Plan?

...and away we go!

Quantum Calesthenics

Which in turn, makes me think of these:

Clara

Something about this always makes me ponder the esoterics behind Superstring theory.

Win my bass/Peta2 Giveaway

Although I've had some differences in opinion, or direction with Peta and Peta2 in the past, I'm still vegan after 13 or so years and I still think they're one of the only publicly recognized organizations truly and relentlessly spearheading the animal rights movement. If you think the issue is too big to reverse, may I remind you we just elected a black president, go ask your grandparents if they ever thought they'd see the day. With the way the world is headed, especially in regards to our food supply, I think its time for people to wake up and snap out of their comfort zones and realize what's really going on here. Just in case you need a refresher course, I highly recommend reading this open letter to the president that Michael Pollan recently wrote. If I had to pick a side, and there were only two sides, the one for the animals and the other one, I'm pretty certain that I'd be standing alongside Peta, so...Whacktivism or not, here we come...

Go here, the rest is self explanatory.

NIN / DEP big-band 'Wish' Perth, Western Australia

In case you missed this...We got to join NIN ostage in Perth on March 2nd. Suffices to say, I'm humbled. NIN are, as I've more recently come to appreciate, one of a few truly inspiring bands both on and off the stage. As musicians, their conceptual scope far exceeds what most bands are capable of even imagining let alone executing - their lights are downright ridiculous, the way 'Something I Can Never Have' sounded with Justin on upright and Robin playing lap steel still creeps me out...and their new drummer, Ilan?! That dudes pocket was so deep you couldn't see the bottom! Like REAL deeeeeeeeep.
Anyway, all that I'm trying to convey here are the solid grooves and great vibes that each of their individual personalities (including those of their crew) were broadcasting. Thanks to Trent and the rest of the dudes for letting this happen and having such a great sense of humor about it...


NIN: Wish live with The Dillinger Escape Plan - Perth, 3.02.09 [HD] from Nine Inch Nails on Vimeo.

Qigong

Believe it or not...

"The Humbler"

I just think people better recognize the awesome powers of Danny Gatton...Committed suicide, virtual unknown. {Thank you Ryan Primak for turning me onto this absolute lunacy.}

Can you say, "Uhm, what dude?"

Can this dude please not shred me to tears on the glass harp?
And then he had to go and do the 'City Of Lost Children' theme...Yes dude, whoever you are, I thank you for keeping it real.

True Love

Token Grandfather to us all...David Attenborough.