Some numbers about Blogs: NYT October 23, 2003: 'Blog Bog and an E-Mail Pony Express' by Pamela LiCalzi O'Connell. Recent study by Perseus Development, a research firm and maker of software for surveys: 66% of the 4.12 million Blogs, created on eight leading blog-hosting services, have been "abandoned'', i.e., not updated for at least two months. 1.09 million of those were one-day wonders. Fewer than 50,000 of the sites in the study were updated every day. The typical blog is written by a teenage girl who uses it twice a month to update her friends. However, only blogs on eight leading blog-hosting services were studied. According to Perseus's research: 2002: 1.62 million active blogs, 2003: 3.3 million. In 2004: 5.86 million predicted.
Snippets:
~~~~~~~
Video: The Greeks: Crucible of Civilization. PBS Home Video (2000). 165 min. History of ancient Greeks with focus on Cleisthenes, Themistocles, Pericles, and Socrates. Informative, but too long.
~~~~~~~
Video: Naked Lunch (1991), 115 min. Based on the book by William S. Burroughs; w/ Peter Weller (Robocop), Judy Davis (Deconstructing Harry), Roy Scheider (Jaws); directed by David Cronenberg (The Fly). Music by Ornette Coleman. A drug-addicted pest-control man drifts into the hallucinatory world of 'Interzone'. Imagination and reality melt into a horror trip. Surreal, weird, great special effects with lots of bugs and phantasy creatures. Just don't watch it while you are eating.
~~~~~~~
Friday, October 24, 2003
Monday, October 20, 2003
Glossary of Greek Mythology:
Khaos (Chaos): Greek goddess; was the first of the Protogenoi (ancient elemental gods); the female personifcation of air; also means lower atmosphere of the earth - air, mist and fog; her name means "gap", i.e., the gap between earth and sky. Others say that Chaos is the void which came into being before anything else, or a shapeless and confused mass of elements.
Erebus (Erebos): Greek god; the male personification of darkness; his thick mists of darkness were said to envelop the edges of the world; husband of Nyx (Nox, =Night). Erebus' name was often used to describe the cavernous underworld of Hades.
Elysian Fields (Elysium): happy otherworld for heroes favored by the gods; final resting place of the souls of the virtuous; paradise of the heroes, either in the Underworld or in the far West.
Other Links:
Theoi Project: A Guide to Greek Gods, Spirits, and Monsters
Snippets:
~~~~~~~
Video: The Piano (1992). w. Holly Hunter, Sam Neill. Slow. Boring. Depressing. Waste of time.
~~~~~~~
Book on Tape: Jules Verne: Around the world in 80 Days (originally published in 1873). The English gentleman, Phileas Fogg, his servant Passpartout, the Indian princess Aouda, and the detective Fix travel around the world in most unusual ways for the purpose of winning a wager. A classic book with a couple of suprises! A good read. Other stories by Jules Verne.
~~~~~~~
Sunday, October 19, 2003
David Pogue (NYT, October 16, 2003) amused us by reciting a couple of short, but 'effective' funny computer stories:
"Hello, Apple? My cup holder broke off." "Uh, sir, that's your CD-ROM tray."
Or this: "Hello, Dell? My mouse is squeaking." "Squeaking?" "Yeah — and the funny thing is, it squeaks louder the faster I move it across the screen!" "Ma'am, why are you dragging your mouse across the screen?" "Well, I saw a message that said, Click HERE to continue!'"
Snippets:
~~~~~~~
Video: 'Tut: The Boy King' (1978). Hosted by Orson Welles. Warner Home Video. Objects from King Tut's tomb filmed in the National Gallery in Washington DC (on loan from the Cairo Museum). Archeologists Howard Carter and Lord Carnaravon discovered these treasures of ancient times in 1922/23.
~~~~~~~
Video: 'Joe versus the Volcano' (1990); w/ Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. When a hypochondriac is told by a physician that he has a 'brain cloud' and only six more months to live, he accepts the offer to jump into a volcano on the remote tropical island Waponi Woo. During his trip he learns to enjoy life. Cheesy, but funny! Unconventional characters. Meg Ryan in three roles, you can hardly recognize her!
~~~~~~~
Video: Great Souls: Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn --- Voice of Truth (2002). 56 min. Biography of the Russian writer who was a Gulag prisoner, was sent to labor camps in Siberia, and finally set the stage for the collapse of the Soviet Union. Major books are 'The Gulag Archipelago: 1918-1956', 'The First Circle', 'Cancer Ward ', and 'The Red Wheel'.
~~~~~~~
Book: Aldous Huxley: Science, Liberty and Peace (1946). Harper & Brothers Publishers. Huxley was a visionary, forseeing many of the problems that the science and technology race in the 20th century has brought up. To him, applied science aids a few people seeking control over the masses. He especially refers to the science that is conducted for warfare, and discusses the social impact of the atomic bomb. Short book (86 pages), but addresses a lot of very relevant questions!
~~~~~~~
Monday, October 13, 2003
Notes on Book 'Calendar' by David Ewing Duncan (1998):
Roger Bacon: Franciscan friar (c.1214 - 1292); interest in mathematics, optics and general sciences; one of the first scientists at the end of the Middle Ages; wrote his 'Opus Majus' in 1266; it contained, among others, the idea of a reform of the Julian Calendar, since it was off by one day every 130 days; dispatched the book to Pope Clement IV, who unfortunately died suddenly in 1268, driving Bacon's ideas into oblivion; it took three more centuries, until Pope Gregory XIII (1502-1585) finally fixed the calendar in 1582.
Other Links:
Roger Bacon: Friar Bacon His Discovery of the Miracles of Art, Nature, and Magick
Roger Bacon: Biography
Catholic Encylopedia: Roger Bacon
WSHU: Engines of our Ingeniuity: The Temptress Moon on 1/24/03
Snippets:
~~~~~~~
Friends of the Western Buddhist Order (FWBO): international network dedicated to communicating Buddhist truths in ways appropriate to the modern world. Other Links to FWBO.
~~~~~~~
Bas Hoeben's Photo Gallery dedicated to The Art of Black and White Photography
~~~~~~~
CD: Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool. Recorded in New York, New York on January 21 & April 22, 1949 and on March 9, 1950. First released in 1956. Remains one of the defining, pivotal moments in jazz. Three sessions where the sound known as 'cool jazz' was essentially formed.
~~~~~~~
Video: Eastern Philosophy. Cromwell Films 2002. Part 1: Confucius, Shinto (50 min). Part 2: Hinduism, Buddhism (50 min). Part 3: Judaism, Islam (50 min). Informative overview, but -of course- far from comprehensive.
~~~~~~~
Index Librorum Prohibitorum = Index of Prohibited Books = 'list of forbidden books' of the Roman Catholic Church; the first catalog of banned books to be called an index was published in 1559. Publication of the list ceased in 1966, and it was relegated to the status of a historic document. The Index of 1559 (in Latin). Some more information here (including 20th century authors). Index Expurgatorius = list of books allowed only in expurgated form.
~~~~~~~
CD: Eric Dolphy: 'Outward Bound' (1960); Dolphy plays alt saxophone, bass clarinet, and flute; Freddie Hubbard on trumpet; also contained on the Dolphy compilation 'The Complete Prestige Recordings' (1995).
~~~~~~~
Aristarchus of Samos (c.310 - c.230 BC): proposed a heliocentric universe; of his original works, only 'On the Sizes and Distances of the Sun and Moon' survived. His heliocentric treatise is known to us through references by Archimedes. Copernicus, in his famous 'De revolutionibus caelestibus' gave Aristarchus credit for his idea (although interestingly it was crossed out shortly before publication).
~~~~~~~
Video: So I married an Axe Murderer (1993). 93 min. w/ Mike Myers, Nancy Travis, Anthony LaPaglia, Amanda Plummer. Funny, creative guy falls in love with mysterious woman from a butcher shop, who he supects is a bloody killer. Sometimes rather poor acting, especially at the beginning. But has some very funny moments!
~~~~~~~
CD: Latin Quarter: Mick and Caroline (1987). Intriguing lyrics and music. WWW: Latin Quarter (German and English)
~~~~~~~
CD: John Coltrane Quartett: The Complete Africa/Brass Sessions (1995). Two sessions recorded May 23 and June 4, 1961 at the Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, NJ. Coltrane's first recording for Impulse. Trane's Quartett is supported by a brass orchestra that, among other distinguished musicians, includes Booker Little (tp), Freddie Hubbard (tp), and Eric Dolphy (as, bc, fl). This studio recording was made just a few months before the legendary recordings at the Village Vanguard in November 1961.
~~~~~~~
Video: Metropolis (1927). Directed by Fritz Lang. w/ Gustav Froehlich (as Freder Fredersen), Brigitte Helm (as Maria/The Robot (AKA Futura)). Silent movie. Story of a revolt of the Working Class against the Upper Class of the city Metropolis. The pacifist leader Maria is abducted and exchanged by a robot who then leads the revolt. Great science fiction movie with unbelievable special effects, considering it was filmed in the 20s.
~~~~~~~
Tuesday, October 07, 2003
More on Dido & Aeneas:
1.) Dido and Aeneas: Aeneas is the Trojan equivalent to the famed Greek hero Odysseus (= Ulysseus).
2.) Bulfinch's Mythology
3.) Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851) painted 'Dido Building Carthage; or, the Rise of the Carthaginian Empire' in 1815, which can be viewed at the National Gallery, London. For this and other Turner paintings, also see WebMuseum , Paris.
4.) Carthage Empire: about 800 BC the Phoenicians (Queen Dido) established Carthage on the edge of a region in North Africa that is now Tunisia. The city became the commercial center of the western Mediterranean and retained that position until overthrown by Rome.
Robert K. Merton (1910-2003): 'The Matthew Effect in Science'. Science 159, 56-63 (1968). Article about the reward and communcation systems of science. Highly productive scientists that study at one of the major universities gain more recognition than equally productive scientists at a lesser university.
Merton, a sociologist at Columbia University, New York, NY, received the National Medal of Science and is perhaps best known for having coined the phrase "self-fulfilling prophecy" (= a prediction that, in being made, actually causes itself to become true). Merton developed this concept out of his interpretation of W. I. Thomas' "definition of the situation," i.e., "If men define things as real, they are real in their consequences."
Other Links:
Garfield Library (UPenn): Robert Merton
Wikipedia: Robert K. Merton
William Isaac (W.I.) Thomas: California State University, Dominguez Hills
W.I. Thomas: The Unadjusted Girl (HTML Text)
Snippets:
~~~~~~~
Book-on-Tape: Miles Davis: 'Miles: The Autobiography' [Abridged]; Quincy Troupe (Contributor), Levar Burton (Reader); book published in 1989; MD tells the story of his musical career, but also talks about family and personal matters, including his drug and alcohol addiction.
~~~~~~~
Video: Mummies and the Wonders of Ancient Egypt: Hieroglyphs. A&E Home Video (1996). Hieratic: ancient Egyptian cursive writing; derived from the earlier, pictorial hieroglyphic writing. Hieroglyph: from the Greek word for "sacred carving".
~~~~~~~
Monday, October 06, 2003
Alexander the Great (356-323 B.C.): Son of Philip II of Macedon. Was tutored by Aristotle. Unified the divided city states of Greece and conquered, among others, Persia and Egypt; marched all the way to the borders of India before he retreated. Through his journey the Greek language and culture was carried into the eastern Mediterranean and into Mesopotamia. Alexander's conquest was described by Flavius Arrianus (Arrian, circa 87 - after 145 A.D.), in his 'Anabasis' (translated into English by Aubrey De Selincourt in 'The Campaigns of Alexander' in 1958).
Other Links:
Alexander the Great at Livius.org
Alexander the Great on the Web
Snippets:
~~~~~~~
Video: Alexander the Great (1956) w/ Richard Burton (Alexander), Claire Bloom (Barsine). Mediocre story of Alexander's life and battles, especially the conquest of Persia.
~~~~~~~
Sunday, October 05, 2003
Virtual Observatories (VOs): allow new ways to analyze astronomical data:
- GAVO (German Astrophysical Virtual Observatory)
- NVO (National Virtual Observatory)
- SkyView Virtual Telescope
- Astrobrowse
- NASA/IPAC Extragalactic database
Other Links:
'Google fuer Sterne' by Stefan Schmitt. DIE ZEIT 04.09.2003 Nr.37 (in German)
Brown Dwarfs (originally called black dwarfs): Objects that, when formed by condensation out of a cloud of hydrogen gas similar to stars, do not accumulate enough mass to generate the high temperatures needed to sustain nuclear fusion at their core. They radiate energy through gravitational contraction. Mass approx. 13-70x Jupiter. First Brown Dwarf, Gliese 229B (GL229B) was discovered in 1995 by the Hubble Space Telescope.
Other links:
The Discovery of Brown Dwarfs by Gibor Basri. Scientific American, April 2000
Wikipedia: Brown Dwarfs
Snippets:
~~~~~~~
Video: The Blair Witch Project (1999); w/ Heather Donahue, Joshua 'Josh' Leonard, and Michael 'Mike' Williams. Directed by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez. Tagline: In October of 1994, three student filmmakers disappeared in the woods near Burkittesville, Maryland, while shooting a documentary. One year later, their footage was found (IMDB). I am split on this one: on one hand it's great to see a movie that can scare you without any special effects; on the other hand the movie drags out too long on the same cheap thrills. I bet the scare was more dominant while the film was still in theaters, and everyone believed is was truely the 'real' footage of three film students.
~~~~~~~
Video: The Color Purple (1985); w/ Whoopi Goldberg, Danny Glover, Oprah Winfrey; director: Steven Spielberg; based upon the novel by Alice Walker. The decades-spanning story of Celie (W.G.) who grows from a suppressed girl to an emacipated woman. Good story, but too long, and too sappy!
~~~~~~~
William Gibson: Author; father of 'cyberpunk'; coined the term 'cyberspace'; first novel: Neuromancer (1984).
~~~~~~~
Book on Tape: 'Brave New World' by Aldous Huxley. Unabridged. Read by Peter Firth. 6.5 hours. Sterling Audio (1992). Book originally published in 1932. A vision of a future world, where the 'ideal' society achieved 'happiness' through genetic cloning, abandoning criticism, and constant dullness by taking psycho-stimulating, anti-depressant 'Soma' tablets. A must-read!
~~~~~~~
Posts
