Random Stuff
esiegel | August 11, 2013"I'll chop your head off!" -Axe Cop
What games did you play with your imagination as a little kid? Did you make up stories involving muppets? Horses? Cartoon characters? Cowboys and... native americans? Or, as the Hoosiers would sing,
Cops And Robbers?
Well, if ever any of that amused you, have I got a discovery for you.
Image credit: Ethan Nicolle and Malachai Nicolle.
A cartoon created, literally, by the imagination of a (then) five-year-old! When Ethan Nicolle, an animator/graphic artist in his late 20s, went to his parents house in 2009 to visit his little brother Malachai, the…
esiegel | August 4, 2013"My doctor told me to stop having intimate dinners for four. Unless there are three other people." -Orson Welles
I just completed my 35th trip around the Sun yesterday, which was a great time! But, it got me thinking, has my time in this world resulted in a build-up of toxic substances in my body? Is there any way to get rid of them? Is there anything, as Olenka & the Autumn Lovers might sing, that can get me
Clean?
Well, maybe there is, if you look in the right place!
Image credit: http://www.cleansevsdiet.com/. *NOT* an endorsement, by any means!
Think your kidneys and liver aren't…
esiegel | July 28, 2013"If you think you're too small to have an impact, try going to bed with a mosquito." -Anita Roddick
There's a lot to enjoy when it's warm and tropical, which it is many places this time of year. The flowers are out, the Sun often shines, and there's no shortage of spectacular music. Have a listen to to West Virginia-based band The Recipe, as they rock out (and give a shout-out to Neil Armstrong's moonwalk) in their great song,
Whiskey Pickle.
But there's an unwelcome visitor that comes along with this kind of weather: the mosquito.
Image credit: public domain image; source unknown.
Some…
esiegel | July 18, 2013"Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent." -Victor Hugo
Well, they say that man cannot subsist on bread alone, nor should he want to, and I suppose I'm no different. You all know I'm a big fan of music, particularly live, and with outstanding musicianship. You don't get much more outstanding than David Grisman, who's been tearing it up for around 40 years, producing some amazing music, like
Flatbush Waltz > Opus 57.
I've never seen him live, and that's all about to change. Because this year, he's headlining Northwest String Summit.
Image credit…
esiegel | July 14, 2013"It is said an Eastern monarch once charged his wise men to invent him a sentence, to be ever in view, and which should be true and appropriate in all times and situations. They presented him the words: 'And this, too, shall pass away.' How much it expresses! How chastening in the hour of pride! How consoling in the depths of affliction!" -Abraham Lincoln
There's a whole lot going on in the world right now, and you don't need me to tell you about it. You don't need me to tell you about injustice, inequality, persecution, or any of the other troubles facing humanity today, in my country and…
esiegel | July 6, 2013"If I see a spider in my house, I put it in a cup, and then I take it outside. I save it. What is wrong with me?" -Jacqueline Emerson
There's something not only incredibly useful but also beautiful about the intricate structure of a spider web. It's such a universally admired phenomenon that it's become a metaphor for many other things, as Welbilt sings you in their song,
Spiderweb.
Dependent on the type of spider and various environmental factors, the web can take on any number of beautiful shapes.
Image credit: Darlyne Murawski, via National Geographic Society, 2007.
Image credit:…
esiegel | June 22, 2013"If the stars should appear one night in a thousand years, how would men believe and adore, and preserve for many generations the remembrance of the city of God which had been shown!" -Ralph Waldo Emerson
If you're a regular here, you're no doubt more connected and interested in what lies beyond this world than most. But how often do you truly get to experience the wonder of a dark night sky for yourself? Like a great many of you, I live in the city, and in a particularly cloudy, overcast part of the world. During much of the year, it's far too cold to be out stargazing, and for perhaps the…
esiegel | June 16, 2013"Illusion is the first of all pleasures." -Oscar Wilde
It's tough to tell fact from fiction, and sometimes just as hard to tell reality from illusion. As long as you're enjoying yourself this weekend, I'd have to agree with Buckwheat Zydeco, and say
Let The Good Times Roll.
But despite what these images you're looking at might seem to show, there's nothing rolling at all here.
Image credit: Illustrator Fiestoforo.
Nor is anything moving, nor is there a hint of animation in any of these. Yet, based on what your eyes show you, things appear to be bulging, spinning, or more generally, there…
esiegel | June 9, 2013"A man's face is his autobiography. A woman's face is her work of fiction." -Oscar Wilde
It's an intense world out there, and life can leave you weary in many ways. And sometimes, making your way through each day makes it feel like the whole world is watching, and there's no hiding. Have a listen, this weekend, to The Basement's song,
I Just Caught A Face.
Sometimes, no matter how hard we try to put our best face forward, we come off as stand-offish (or worse) to the world.
Image credit: ©2009-2013 ~lalalietta of deviantART.
Well, what if that person with the confrontational look on their…
esiegel | June 2, 2013"...because today, with cameras as pervasive as they are, there is no such thing really as professional photographers." -Marissa Meyer
Before you get irate, I don't actually agree at all with that quote above; I have no talent for photography at all and a tremendous respect for those who do, and who cultivate it to produce something beautiful. So this weekend, the most appropriate song I could find for you was by a group known as Camera Obscura, and their rather dark ballad,
Your Picture.
Why do I bring up photography today? Because one of my blog's biggest fans, Felicity, runs a fun little…
esiegel | May 26, 2013"We are asking the nations of Europe between whom rivers of blood have flowed to forget the feuds of a thousand years." -Winston Churchill
One of the great arenas in the world that knows no international bounds are the performing arts in general, and music in particular. Some of my favorite musical innovations have come from not only foreign countries, but from mixing many different musical cultures together. This weekend, have a listen to this amazing collaboration between James Keelaghan and Oscar Lopez, whose work combines Irish, Flamenco, and Canadian influences together to create this…
esiegel | May 11, 2013"But I'll tell you what hermits realize. If you go off into a far, far forest and get very quiet, you'll come to understand that you're connected with everything." -Alan Watts
As we move farther away from the equinox and towards the solstice, my part of the world is seeing not only more daylight, but also more sunshine, warmer temperatures, and -- at least today -- some glorious days to be out in nature. This weekend, have a listen to Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, Ronu Majumdar, Sabir Khan & Tarun Bhattacharya's interpretive nature song,
Flame of the Forest,
while I share with you my list of the…
esiegel | May 5, 2013"I don't understand how super mario can smash blocks with his head but dies when he touches a turtle." -Unknown
The past few weekends have been far too serious around the internet, and it's time to kick back and enjoy something nice and simple. I'd like to introduce you to the little-known indie band The Mountain Goats, who, along with Kaki King, sing a delightful song about feeling trapped and being rescued, called
Thank You Mario But Our Princess Is In Another Castle.
Of course, those of you who remember your old nintendo cartridges will know exactly where the song title comes from.
Image…
esiegel | April 28, 2013"For I dipped into the Future,
far as human eye could see;
saw the vision of the world,
and all the wonder that would be." -Alfred, Lord Tennyson
This weekend, the Sun is shining here in Portland, as we've gotten our first annual spell of warm, sunny days recently. It's got me thinking of the approaching summer, and one of my favorite music festivals that's coming up. One of the great groups I'm looking forward to is Keller and the Keels, who have an unparalleled penchant for amazing bluegrass mashups, such as their rendition of two very different songs by Beck/The Grateful Dead artistically…
esiegel | April 21, 2013"Fluoridation is the single most important commitment a community can make to the oral health of its children and to future generations." -C. Everett Koop
Most weekends, I take on a lighter topic, as a way of taking a break from the deep physics, astronomy, and science we share during the week. But every once in a while, there's an important story that needs to be told. This weekend, I invite you to enjoy Tony Rice's rendition of a fabulous Gordon Lightfoot story song,
Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.
One of the most contentious issues going on in my city -- Portland, OR -- right now, is our…
esiegel | April 13, 2013"There is an energy with stop-motion that you can’t even describe. It’s got to do with giving things life... to give life to something that doesn’t have it is cool, and even more so in three dimensions, because, at least for me, it feels even more real." -Tim Burton
Of course we always like to think of the world as being constantly in motion, with time flowing smoothly and continuously from one moment to the next. Living in our bodies, it feels -- as Ozomatli would say -- like no matter what, you
Can't Stop.
But our perceptions fool us. It's why you can take a series of stationary images,…
esiegel | April 7, 2013"Acceptance is not love. You love a person because he or she has lovable traits, but you accept everybody just because they're alive and human." -Albert Ellis
In my experience as a human being, I've seen far too often what evils can come from judging people who are different from you and the groups you identify with. We're all unique creatures, and we all will face many of the same challenges and fears in our lives, as Natalie Merchant reminds us in her rendition of the folk classic,
Poor Wayfaring Stranger.
I don't have the right to speak for anyone other than myself, of course, but I have…
esiegel | March 31, 2013"I'm not anybody's judge; I don't know what motivates people to do what they do. But I have a lot of admiration for anybody who can start with absolutely nothing and make a little something out of it." -Wilford Brimley
I've got a lot of respect for the creativity that goes on over the internet, ever since the original Winnie-the-Pooh and Spirit of Christmas videos I saw way back in the 1990s. But unlike the corporatized Harlem Shake, there's a classic from more than seven years ago that keeps spawning new videos: Wilford Brimley's commercials!
Image credit: Liberty Medical.
As I've told…
esiegel | March 23, 2013"By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest." -Confucius
I never was any good at taking someone's word for it; I've always been the type of person who wants to learn it for myself, and often that means living it and finding out on my own. This weekend, I'm still reeling from the loss of Magnolia Electric Company's Jason Molina, who died of alcohol abuse earlier this week. I'll remember him best for his heartbreaking vocals and lyrics, particularly at the concert I saw him…
esiegel | March 19, 2013"A lot of mothers will do anything for their children, except let them be themselves." -Banksy
One of the great joys I got to experience came last year, when for the very first time, I was invited to be a guest of honor at a most fabulous convention: MidSouthCon 30!
Image credit: MidSouthCon XXX, originally from http://www.midsouthcon.org/.
I went into it not knowing what to expect, and I wound up having one of the best times I could have asked for. I met some of the kindest, most interesting people I've ever met in my life, and I felt like everyone there immediately accepted me into their…