Do it yourself

Every professional performer always does the same thing at exactly the same moment in every show they do. What I like are things that are different every time. That's why I like amateurs.

-- Andy Warhol

David Lynch: Renaissance Man, Weather Man

Spurned by an article in the NYT Magazine, I checked out David Lynch's website. I give it 10 points for range of topics. He does a daily weather forecast (though I'm not sure you can really call it that... more like a present-cast) and had links to his foundation, The David Lynch Foundation for Consciousness-Based Education and World Peace. David believes that, "Every single person has within an ocean of pure vibrant consciousness. Every single human being can experience that — infinite intelligence, infinite creativity, infinite happiness, infinite energy, infinite dynamic peace."
I like his optimism.

Ten things you don't know about the earth

More fun facts and an interesting read from Discover magazine about the planet. No time to pull out the key tidbits, so I'm suggesting this is worth a full read. Most of the first facts talk about the weird and shifting shape of the earth but there is more, oh, there is more. From multiple moons, to yo-yoing in a tunnel through the center of the planet infinitely like a pendulum, the author outlines some pretty wondrous facts. He also closes with a cheesy but appropriately Bueller paragraph I found resonant. Its reflects one of my motivations for this here blog.

But remember the main point here: you live on a planet, and you may not know all that much about it. The only cure for that is learning, and that’s driven by wonder. Keep wondering, and keep learning. And don’t forget to look around.

Thanks to Kottke.org.

Water Water Everywhere!

They found water on the moon (care of Nat'l Geo). So, by my amateur calculations, we have water on Earth, Jupiter's moons, Mars and the Earth's moon. Only life on Earth though, unfortunately.

Anyway, back to the moon. They JUST discovered water molecules embedded in volcanic glass beads that were brought back from the moon by the Apollo missions in the 60s and 70s. Pretty startling stuff, especially because it throws a wrench in astronomers' long held theory that the moon was formed 4.5 billion years ago by a planet colliding with earth. For that to happen, the explosion would have reached a certain temp (that of molten solids) and would have vaporised the molecules that form water. So, the debate rages.

For some cool facts on the Moon, go here.

Drugs are meaningful

Recommended reading of the day. Basically, people who have taken psychedelic drugs consistently rank the experience "as the most, or one of the five most, personally meaningful and spiritually significant (experiences) of their lives." click through for more from Boing Boing and the researchers from Johns Hopkins.

Intellectual pursuit of the day

The headline is inflammatory, but the story, "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" from this month's The Atlantic is a comprehensive look at how communication and media has shifted society and the structure of the human brain throughout history. Its a beast at over 4 full Internet pages of text only (what? Does that ever happen anymore?), but chock full of history. Its an interesting look at the ability of the human brain to rewire itself based on how it interacts with information and how the Internet, by monitoring and hosting our perceptions of the world, is turning our brains from a dense forest of information and reasoning to a "flat pancake" of processing tasks refined to track down information (Googling info). In other words, go read a book this weekend.

Eat Food, mostly plants

Here's how to eat. Courtesy of the author of "In Defense of Food" Michale Pollan and Google. It all revolves around a central tenant - eat food, mostly plants, not too much.

Stephen Hawking speaks at TED

One of the smartest people in the history of the world answers three simple questions inside of 10 minutes.

1. How did the universe begin?
2. How did life begin?
3. Are we alone in the galaxy?

It was recorded at the TED conference in March 2008. When you watch this, give yourself some time to absorb.

Knowledge

In a very cool feature the BBC News put out a list of 100 things we didnt know last year. Some personal favorites...

5. Cloudy apple juice is healthier than clear, containing almost double the antioxidants which protect against heart disease and cancer.

29. The average duvet is home to 20,000 live dust mites. (in the UK that is!)

42. Nearly seven out of 10 (69%) of adults are still in touch with at least one childhood friend. (I consider myself lucky to be in touch with half a dozen)

46. Peanuts can be made into diamonds.

67. The brain can turn down its ability to see in order to listen to complex sounds like music. (a personal favorite for obvious reasons)