Friday, December 18, 2015

Tuesday, November 24, 2015

"Hippie Modernism" exhibit coming to town in early 2017

 I was interviewed at length by a UC Berkeley professor preparing for a traveling exhibit:

http://bigthink.com/Picture-This/is-it-time-for-hippie-modernism-again 

Quick CIty is featured.  I am curious to see his take on our activities.

update:

Professor Greg Castillo wrote this article about "Hippie Modernism". 
Although he does not mention us, there are ties to what he describes there.
Ralph was part of Ecology Action and I was at the Aspen conference.

Sunday, September 13, 2015

some serious voodoo here - dance moves and a message!

Janelle Monae

Lake County fire enters Middletown and Harbin Hot Springs

SFGate

great essay on decoherence and US democracy

Vox begins the discussion of polarization, the consequences for decision making, and likely outcomes.  I recommend following the links to the background essays as well.

I land on the side of the discussion that fears the rise of a strong-man phase of government.  The miserable performance of Congress, due to the intransigence of the Tea Party-dominated Republicans installed by gerrymandering, is leading to a hunger for a strong leader, particularly on the Right (as ironic as that might be, it fits with their Strong Father bent and favoritism of the military).  The rise of Trump is clear evidence for this.  Given that we face increasing levels of crisis, if for no other reasons than climate change, the rise of ISIS, and likely proliferation of nukes, drones and other technical means of unconventional warfare, the general public is increasing likely to demand someone who can deliver results with a "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!" style.  This does not bode well for democracy nor Democrats, the less organized party.

The Rugby Player documentary

This documentary is uplifting and breaks stereotypes. It shows the lives of Mark Bingham, September 11 hero, gay rugby player, Cal booster, heavy metal fan, fraternity member, and his mother.   I highly recommend it!  KQED broadcast it last night.

trailer  and  official site

Saturday, September 12, 2015

ostentatious toy

laser-based no-touch turntable offers superb fidelity, no wear and no pop and click artifacts

$14k  (taking donations now via PayPal :-) )

Friday, September 11, 2015

Sunday, September 6, 2015

I'm looking forward to the Tower Records documentary!

Spent a lot of money there over the years and found a lot of reading material and new music...
All Things Must Pass: the Rise and Fall of Tower Records premieres in US theaters October 16

https://www.facebook.com/towerrecordsdoc

Elaine Brown slams Nelson's Black Panther film

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/07/03/ex-black-panther-leader-elaine-brown-slams-stanley-nelson-s-condemnable-documentary.html

My own mixed feelings about the Black Panthers aside, Brown does a good job of dissecting the film.

dinner last night

We had a good time last night visiting with high school friends and their spouses, David and Bebe and Mike and Avril.  It turns out Avril and Sara had seen each other at a work conference - small world.  Mike is a sustainability consultant and keeps Starbucks, et all, on the up and up.  Nice to see him after forty years and to meet his wife and, as usual, fun to visit with David and Bebe.  Life is good...

data-driven health

My fitness band showed me that I experience too little REM and deep sleep, so, prompted by Sara, I returned to using my CPAP machine.  The results are good - I am more rested and stats have improved.

The meditation timer app I use, Insight Timer, shows that missing meditation sessions has reduced my average daily meditation time to 22 minutes over the last four months.  In response, I try to sit 2-3 times a day for 20 minutes per session.

My weight-tracking shows I've lost ten pounds over the last three months, but that this requires serious diligence and effort, beyond what I expected.  In particular, I severely reduce carbs and exercise regularly, lifting weights and walking on the treadmill.  These days I experience performance highs and exercise endorphins and a strong feeling of something missing when I don't exercise.  My cardio capacity and physical strength both are near life-time peaks, based on two hour workouts most days.

Some life-long friends who are triathletes organized a thirty mile annual bike ride last year, so I am rehabilitating my bike to see if my knees will allow my participation.  At any rate, I look forward to the get-together later this month.

Thursday, May 14, 2015

Zimbardo critiqued on video games, porn and men

While I am inclined towards his thesis and am a non-participant in these activities, this article's criticisms make sense.

Monday, May 11, 2015

ephemeral sand art

Remember this super-popular KQED Arts video exploring the mesmerizing beach artwork of the Bay Area's Andres Amador Arts? It's one of the the KQED videos to receive a total of 17 nominations for the Northern California Emmy Awards across Arts, KQED Science, KQED News and KQED Education!

Posted by KQED on Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Monday, May 4, 2015

truths about drugs ( regulations, history, effects on humans)

Chasing the Scream is a real eye opener and a tremendous counter-balance to common beliefs about drug use - I cannot recommend it highly enough!  It's up there with The New Jim Crow.

Friday, April 10, 2015

light profile of Art Lande

Daily Camera article, mainly about his fantasy baseball game.  So I see Art doesn't use email or computers - that's why I can't email him...  If you haven't heard his music, check it out!

Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Black-ish

 Black-ish “refuses to oversimplify the place that oversimplifications have in our hearts.”

I am enjoying the first season of this TV show and it has garnered praise from the black political commentators I follow.  I agree with this Slate article .

David Bowie assessment

David Bowie—indigestibly arch; unfailingly cerebral, distant, and detached—was always sincere about his insincerity, but never insincere about his sincerity.

by Bill Wyman

Pacific Coast Trail traversal

1 picture/mile

Creep - Vintage Postmodern Jukebox Radiohead Cover ft. Haley Reinhart

Tuesday, March 31, 2015

interested in reading a book on decision processes

The Talking Point is a reference in Hieroglyph, a special sci-fi short story collection about positive futures.  I recommend the latter and will find the former.  Both likely of interest to Sadams and Bruce.

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Microsoft's new strategy

A few months ago I said I would have invested in MSFT based on its new strategic moves if I had extra money.  TheVerge describes the strategy and how it will make money.

Friday, March 20, 2015

even paranoids have enemies

A skepticism towards the wariness that I cultivate these days did not serve me today and I was taken advantage of by unscrupulous criminals.  I was scammed.  It is revealing how the psychology of fear combined with strong commands took over, a lesson for sure.

 My neighbor, a cop, says there is a lot of this going on, so watch out.
Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (800) 366-4484
www.tigta.gov

late 2017 update: the scammers were busted

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

annoying friend

The Onion

a talk recommended by Michelle Alexander

Shaka Senghor TED talk on "Why Your Worst Deeds Don't Define You"

Bateson and Reich and McLeod

Gregory emphasized that life, in all its forms, is about learning.  He was particularly critical of physical metaphors for personality, for instance bottling rage and exploding.  Reich, of course, talked about emotional armoring.  What applies when recognizing bracing and undoing that false economy to be present?   Ken McLeod says to focus on increasing awareness and the ability to be present no matter what you experience and whether it seems internal or external.

Monday, March 16, 2015

the backlash against mindfullness addressed

When mindfullness began to "have its moment in the sun" I thought there would be a backlash, particularly from fundamentalist Christians, but this HuffPost article shows some other sources.  It also answers the critics.  As to the class issue, mindfullness doesn't cost money and instruction is for the most part free or cheaply available.  Try it out...

nothing to hide/nothing to see

On Paranoids

You could tap my brain, my phone and my computers now and there is nothing I'd fear being seen. In the past when I was obsessed, around the turn of the century, I felt extreme paranoia about my cyberbullies.  Eventually I realized what was happening and cleaned up: regular, complete sleep, values clarification, making behavior consistent with my values, useful therapy and, most of all, meditation and my new at the time wife. Extreme times had made little things into mountains of significance - my journey had become a battle slog.  I am so very grateful that is over and done!

Note: there were consequences for those I interacted with in the early Blogosphere; for that I strongly apologize. My magnified concerns and my obsessive focus on them created a paper tiger, which in turn cast a shadow. I wish I could undo that - but I cannot.  It weighed primarily on those who did not know what exactly they were seeing and who imagined all manner of things.  Mainly I put some people on a pedestal - that was pretty much it, nothing more unsavory, but how would they know? While the pedestals are gone, dissolved by a more realistic appraisal and by my own experience with those people's dark sides, my respect remains.  Not just because these people are wealthy now, either... they've proven they can create and deliver repeatedly - kudos to them, best wishes, and peace!

Sunday, March 15, 2015

Lost In Redding

 "Lost In Redding" is track one and "Small World In A Small Town" is track two
on Snakeoil's new jazz release, You've Been Watching.  This is popular with reviewers
and will appear in a month.  Any connection?

Read about bandleader Tim Berne, note David Torne produced this, and see that Berne played
with Frisell and with Nels Cline, so the usuals might find this interesting...

metacademy learning resource

http://metacademy.org/roadmaps/

jazzy cover from American Idol!

http://on.mash.to/1EeKW2z

Friday, March 13, 2015

KIrtan with Krishna Das

When I feel the tone of my spiritual life is too spare and self-limiting, I remember times like this and times with Ram Dass.

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Thursday, March 5, 2015

tomorrow night

Looking forward to the Other Minds concert af SF Jazz and dinner with Lori and Jon!
And not the least, the return of the love of my life from San Diego!

Monday, March 2, 2015

Thursday, February 26, 2015

the Net and Lindy Hop history

Although I am a West Coast Swing dancer, I learned Lindy Hop in the Eighties.  Ryan Francois was one of my favorite dancers and teachers.  Here he recaps the revival from then to now in a Ted talk and demo.

Friday, February 20, 2015

living in the future meme: autonomous cars

I agree with Zack Kanter's post about the loss of jobs and transformation of the economy.

And while you're there, read his post about the prevalence of VR by 2020.

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

When bad men combine, the good must associate;
else they will fall one by one ..

- Edmund Burke

Saturday, January 10, 2015

cognitive enhancement

http://johannhari.com/2008/05/06/my-experiment-with-smart-drugs/

Republicans reject anthropogenic climate change because they're paid to

I have said before that deniers for the most part believe that climate change is occuring and that it is man-made, but they vehemently reject it because they don't like what it implies - that we, the world population, must change our ways.

Included in this clear analysis of the origin of climate denial is the real reason driving it all - the Koch brothers paid the politicians to deny.  It's about the money, plain and simple.  Take the Keystone XL pipeline - the brothers stand to make $100B from it, by some estimates.  Talk about motivation!

Also included in that piece is video of Congress ridiculing and ignoring John Holdren, one of my favorite professors in college and now the President's Science Advisor.  Watch it and get your dander up!

Wednesday, January 7, 2015

more of "the future has arrived meme"

Deep learning article with TedX talk is well worth checking out - listen to the talk all the way to the end.  h/t to Bruce and his "handover species" meme for this.  Note that 2020 is when the speaker says we will see strong impacts of deep learning, including employment impacts.  As I said to Ross and Julie, it is hard to advise what young people should do beyond being ready for major changes - it is a mistake to think that the 2020s will be easily recognizable.
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