Mr. "Go F*ck Yourself", Dick Cheney, appeared amid the stench of sulfer & brimstone on my TV tonight with Larry King. Watching Cheney lie and snarl on the screen before I go to bed is like being visited at midnight by Mephistopheles himself as you curl in terror inside a candle-lit pentagram.
While doing an image search on Google, I came across this collection of great takes on the stupid Republican elephant icon. (For the record. the Democrat's donkey is just as stupid.)
I love seeing design work that is way too clever for me to accomplish. It gives me something to aspire to.
I can sit on my back step for an hour just watching ants and other bugs crawl across the vast mini-landscape. Their ability to explore & survive as a collective intelligence is one of the wonders of life. Humans are just as immersed in their own 'hive minds' whether they be political rallies, evangelical mega-churches, or the Internet.
This is the very beginning of a future in which all sorts of surfaces will be covered in motion graphics or morphing designs. I think electronic paper & film will eventually be the common technology in the world of ever-changing appearances.
In what could be considered a primitive precursor, this piece of furniture by Front Design seems to use a mechanical array of panels to simulate the appearance of large shifting pixels:
I am always interested in the history behind mundane, yet universal pieces of our culture. There is nothing more mundane & universal than punctuation, but their origins are more diverse than we would think.
This background on the basics of our language symbols is from the supremely entertaining "Uncle John's Bathroom Reader":
There are not many TV shows I watch religiously... The Daily Show, Colbert Report, The Simpsons, South Park, and a couple others.
I like the programming on the Discovery channel, but there is one show that I have become a big fan of - "Man vs. Wild". It is basically a show where a former British special forces soldier is dropped of in some extreme location & has to survive to find civilization. I had no idea that the host's name is Bear Grylls, but it just makes him that much more awesome.
As an Independent voter, I make no judgments about a candidate based on party affiliation. The only thing that matters to me is what they are saying, how qualified I think they are, & the greatest of all analytical tools - my own intuition.
I think the Democrats have intelligent, competent people in their lineup. Unfortunately, much of the rhetoric I hear from the 'front runners' about war & solutions to serious problems is just that, rhetoric that doesn't address the root causes. On the Republican side, I couldn't tell you too much about their rhetoric (besides "9/11" & "more torturing brown people")... it is so overwhelmingly insane and idiotic it makes my ears bleed if I listen for too long. Personally, I hope the Republican party gets their asses handed to them in the next elections, because they have become a frighteningly corrupt & inept group whose purpose has apparently been twisted into creating a fascist theocracy.
There is one person in each party that I consider mostly clear-sighted and correct in their positions. Although they are underdogs in this game of millionaires and media creations, the fact that their message is being heard and supported is a great thing.
Of course, the corporate media and the influence peddlers will continue to vigorously resist promoting these 'far-shots'. I sometimes wonder what it would be like to live on a sane planet...
Luckily there is the wonderful world of Youtube, where you can hear their positions for yourself.
After I had posted about the possible energy revolution that's coming, I remembered a technology I read in Popular Science during my lunch break. As I read the article, I was blown away by the simplicity of the concept and the functionality of the design.
The invention is an incinerator that uses super-hot plasma to basically burn everything except nuclear waste down to individual molecules. I don't care how much it costs, there should be local and federal initiatives to mass produce these machines. This is the best investment any government can make.
"A Startech machine that costs roughly $250 million could handle 2,000 tons of waste daily, approximately what a city of a million people amasses in that time span...
..a $250-million converter could pay for itself in about 10 years, and that’s without factoring in the money made from selling the excess electricity and syngas. After that break-even point, it’s pure profit." The article is great, and all the benefits of this device are just mind-blowing. The above example is just one of many reasons for investing in this technology.
The technology that is coming our way with most potential to change our society is super-efficient forms of energy production & transmission.
Obviously, so many of our domestic and international problems come from the archaic use of combustion energies and their necessary fuels. The wars in the Middle East should be called the 'Petroleum Wars', because the main benefactors are the companies pumping the oil we're taking, plus the weapons companies & military contractors who profit with almost no oversight.
Why are we still in Iraq? The overwhelming reason is that interests who can influence the policy are making money. If we truly interested in stabilizing the region, we would give up our grip on the situation and have serious summits with all parties, even countries that our government tells us are supposed to be our enemies. However, that would mean giving up the continuing revenues for the previously mentioned industries. As George Orwell said, "War against a foreign country only happens when the moneyed class think they are going to profit from it."
The end of not just dependence on foreign oil, but the end of our oil dependence altogether, would be a situation as revolutionary as the emergence of the Internet. I believe almost anything that humans can imagine can be willed into existence eventually. For my senior design class, I envisioned & a portable computer that ran off wireless electricity after studying the father of A/C electricity, Nikola Tesla. I am convinced in the feasibility of technologies as wireless electricity, fusion power, and even harnessing so-called "Zero Point Energy."One day we will figure out how to draw energy right from the infinite quantum field that permeates everything. It's only a matter of time, vision, and effort.
I've posted before about the bacteria and organisms living throughout our bodies, but it never stops amazing me how the body is mostly a vessel for an entire universe of living organisms.
90% of our mass supposedly consists of living microbes, viruses affect our DNA, and we cannot live without organisms like stomach bacteria. The idea of an independent 'self' is ultimately just that - an idea. Each person is really a system of symbiotic beings in constant interaction, on many different scales.
The amount of integration and effect that microscopic life has with us makes George Lucas's idea of Midichlorians not quite as stupid as I first thought...
I saw a clip of this video on a VH1 show & watched it repeatedly on Youtube. It's one of those things that makes you laugh your ass off and shake your head in shame at the same time. (In other words, it's awesome.)
Then, I saw this segment from Jimmy Kimmel showing the whole video & it's so great I just had to post it. As Jimmy says, "I could watch that 100 times in a row..."
There are only four words left to say: "Captain Redneck Dick Murdoch"
Jim Henson, creator of the Muppets, made this surreal look at the reality of the human experience. This is from a TV show in 1969, before he went on to produce iconic puppet characters such as these two.
"This philosophical teleplay covers many themes such as, the nature of reality, individual versus scientific perception, self-reference, man's relation to others and society, insanity, social projections, and race relations. It originally aired on NBC's weekly anthology television show NBC Experiment in Television February 23, 1969. The production was produced and directed by Jim Henson, and was one of several experiments with the live-action film medium which he conducted in the 1960s"
I saw this house on boingboing.com & think it's pretty wild. Truly a home fit for a 900 year-old Jedi master! It would be awesome to have either a house that's organic like this or modern yet 'green'.
This painting depicts the Buddha while living in the deep forest, where no people were around who could support him by offering food. The monkey then gave the Buddha some honey.
It shouldn't be a surprise that life with complex cognitive and social structures could exhibit behavior similar to ours. The more people observe other creatures, the more we realize the depth of life's processes.
Monkeys and other simian are the closest forms of life to ourselves, therefore many of their social processes are similar to ours. Altruism, or the idea of compassion, has been considered a uniquely human trait. However, it should be expected to be seen in living things that form social networks and produce the cognitive feedback that we call emotion. Monkey Buddhism is alive and well among our fellow primates -
Of course, just like people, sentient creatures are also prone to what we consider negative characteristics such as violence and aggression. Just as there is a Monkey Buddha, there must be a Monkey Devil to explain this madness -
These type of infrastructure & public works should be government projects that employ citizens and benefit citizens. This train goes up to 185 miles per hour, has free internet, and would be a wonderful thing to have going my way between Philly, Atlantic City, & NY.
I heard something about the recent Supreme Court ruling about a kid who was suspended from school for having a sign during a field trip that said "Bong Hits for Jesus".
In our land of mere mortals, free speech obviously doesn't really mean free. It's a great ideal, but impossible as long as we are still communicating through simian grunts and our egos can be disturbed. The only language that even should be questionable among adults is that which is intended to direct physical danger to a person or property.
I have no problem with warning labels or specified viewing hours for objectionable material. Schools and their administrators need to keep some kind of order. This court decision is not really all that outrageous, because under our country's draconian drug laws, the flower Cannabis has been considered a dangerous drug since the 30's. Therefore, (if you want to be considered a dork) you could argue that the principal is obligated to punish a student who, at a school function, is promoting illegal drug use. Personally, I think it's ridiculous & funny, but I also don't think it's completely defensible behavior.
Free speech or obscene language... brilliant satire or offensive pro-drug slur? You'll never know... without "Bong Hits for Jesus: The Game":
I just realized, looking at the archive links down the side of the page, that The Monkey Buddha blog is 2 years old! It seems much longer since I made the first post, about the Da Vinci's Challenge game I created. Time flies when you're flinging knowledge around like monkey poop!!!
Blogger is a great creative tool, and I can only hope that Google or the whole internet isn't hit by some cataclysm that destroys the work of millions of people. That would suck. Ok, enough doom & gloom...
Since The Monkey Buddha is a virtual entity, the best way to celebrate is with a virtual monkey cake... Enjoy!
There are only 3 reasons that I'm not getting the iPhone, which is a revolutionary piece of technology. I would be a filthy liar if I said I didn't really, really want one. However, to keep myself from an expensive impulse buy, I'm telling myself....
3. I'd rather have a better version w/ initial bugs worked out.
2. $500
1. I don't want to switch my carrier to AT&T
I will probably wait until my current phone contract is up & see what the deal is. Apple is going to have to get on board with other carriers eventually. If Verizon & Apple sign a deal in the near future, I may well end up at least $500 poorer.
The only thing as appalling as the widespread destruction of innocent life caused by our occupation of Iraq is the loss of precious art & artifacts. The looting ofthe Baghdad museum waaaay back in 2003 was one of the first things that convinced me that the strategy in Iraq was actually not to bring Democracy, but Destruction.
We were never there to save anyone or help the people in the Cradle of Civilization, we went in there to divide and decimate it. It was obvious to people with clear vision 4 years ago, and it should be obvious now to any idiot with a little hindsight. Our vital military and national resources have been misused in a disgraceful way that has only profited oil companies and military contractors. The Neocon ideology that has ruled the White House considers American troops to be mere political pawns in an international chess game, instead of what they are - citizens fighting for the good of their nation.
The U.S. government has recently issued our soldiers playing cards depicting Iraqi archaeological treasures and info on how to protect them. If this isn't a case of 'too little, too late', I don't know what is.
This diary from DailyKos provides an example of how people of all political stripes are finally coming to their senses and realizing that the Bush/Cheney White House is a lair of villains:
It's depressing that there is even still a debate whether Bush & Dick should be impeached. The reality is that they should be subject to much more severe consequences. The idea of these madmen slipping out of office in 2008 to retire to Paraguay (or wherever fascists go to hide) is almost as disgusting as the idea of them being in charge of the U.S. government in the first place.
Of course, there's the possibility that the insanity of Bush Inc. (a subsidiary of Halliburton) is necessary in some cosmic way. Perhaps we need to witness the depths of human depravity before we can grow and transform as a global culture into something that transcends such destructive paradigms.... or maybe they are just a bunch of a-holes.
I've found some cool sites about the art one of the most fascinating ancient cultures - the Maya, of what is now Yucatan Mexico and the surrounding region. Although they suffered from the same tendency to institutionalized violence as any other large & imperial society, they were also creators of written language, art, and science that was pretty sophisticated. However, the Mayan style was so unique, creative, and alien that I wonder how much of it was influenced by Teonanácatl, the ancient sacrament known as 'The Flesh of the Gods'.
The link to A Masterpiece Revealed on the following page has an awesome interactive tour of a 2,000 year old mural uncovered in San Bartolo, Guatemala. It is a great feature that really helps give context & meaning to art that can be initially very confusing to look at for someone unfamiliar with the style. NOVA scienceNOW: Maya
Even though this is Photosynth technology that has probably been stolen by The Great Satan, Microsoft, it is pretty interesting. It seems a little clunky, though. The demos I've seen of touchscreen technology make me much more giddy.
Speaking of Microsoft, there is a video spoof on how it would re-design and utterly destroy the brilliance of the iPod & its packaging. As a designer who is all about Apple, I find this spoof to be hysterical:
The art and technology of computer visualization is changing our whole human experience. Human consciousness is going to have to transcend itself simply to keep up with the tidal wave of visual and virtual information being produced around the globe.
One thing I really enjoy is reconstructions or visualizations of ancient architecture, art, & tech. The "Engineering an Empire" series is great because of the detail and accuracy produced. I saw that there is a project called 'Rome Reborn' by the University of Virginia that maps the layout and architecture of ancient Rome. The great thing about this work is that it will be built upon. The level of detail will improve, life such as plants, pets, and citizens added, more realistic shading, etc.
I've always dreamed of a system in which a pair of glasses could be worn that impose a virtual historical representation of the place you are at. So if you were in Rome, a super detailed version of the ancient version of the city would appear in the shades and allow you to be immersed in the environment. Perhaps the tiny, powerful, & networked computer of the near future could even impose ancient 3D representations of the actual people around you into the image, to prevent you from bumping into someone!
It's encouraging to see such amazing work being done that fuses boundaries between art, history, technology, and archeology.
The first I heard about Democratic Presidential Candidate Mike Gravel was from my parents. I didn't see the first Democratic debate, & my Dad was saying something about "this crazy old guy". In my family, 'crazy' is not necessarily a bad term, so I had to see who they were talking about. Even tough I'd throw him in to replace Bush or Cheney any day, this video convinced me... I'd much rather have a quirky Zen master in charge of things than an obnoxious cowboy-wannabe.
No, it's not the severed & skinned head of Paris Hilton... ...it's what is being called the most expensive piece of contemporary art. With a multi-faceted name, "For the Love of God" by Damien Hirst is a platinum cast of an 18th century skull. It has been covered with 8,601 flawless diamonds to create a thought-provoking work of stunning contrasts;
macabre vs. glitzy impermanence vs. durability biological carbon vs. crystallized carbon worthlessness vs. pricelessness
Will Ferrel once again proves that he does the best impersonation of our deranged 'leader'. All his related videos on the Youtube page are comedy gold, too.
I have watched the Sopranos on and off since it began and think it is a pretty awesome show. Like most people, I didn't know what the hell was going at first when the screen just cut to black as Tony looked up at the diner door his daughter was coming in. The more I think about this choice for an ending, the more I appreciate it... because it's making me think.
At first me & my brother got up and walked around, wondering out loud what we just saw. It might not be how I would have thought to end the show, but there is a great Zen aesthetic to the approach. The sharp cut in the scene hit millions of people in the head like a Shaolin Master's cane. Some people just rubbed their head & said "Stupid!" Many, however, have fulfilled the creator's intention by pondering and participating in the dialog that extends to our own lives and imaginations. The Sopranos is a powerful show and the greatest effect of the story is to make people analyze their own minds and motivations.
The buildup in the last scene gave the viewer an overwhelming sense of the paranoia and anxiety that would be experienced by someone in Tony's position. It made the abrupt end all the more startling. In a show where the superficial are obsessed with who gets whacked in the most creative way, the creator has given a very real and direct lesson about death. It won't come at a convenient time when we have put all our loose ends and problems away. As the use of the band 'Journey' indicates, it's the quality of and perceptions created in each life's journey that determine how the ending goes for the individual.
So kudos to Zen Monkey Buddhist master David Chase for revealing the empty nature of reality to the masses, who have filled it with their collective consciousness.
"Hey, take that Zen crap an' shove it up your ass!"
This video would be depressing if it weren't so funny. Probably my favorite comment was from the old guy who claimed that "Al Qaeda is a wing of the Masonic Order."
This guy pictured below had another great line which illustrates why people can't even understand the Middle East situation, no less figure out a solution:
click to watch
"Ok, I'm a little mixed up over the Palestinians and the Israelis... which one's throwin' the rocks?"
It's amazing how little of an understanding some people have of the world we live in. I'm not going to be a hater and say all Americans are stupid, since I'm an American and consider myself very wise for a mere mortal primate.
I will say that the myth of American Superiority in ALL Things is very exaggerated almost to the point of national delusion. Especially under the administrations of criminals and fools like 'Saint' Reagan and Bush, Inc., our country's infrastructure & democratic ideals have been continually eroded to the point we are now, teetering on the edge of catastrophe. Instead of an prosperous & noble power, our country is becoming a stumbling, crooked monster.
There are plenty of 33 percenters featured, who are morons based soley on the fact that they respect & trust the Criminally Insane War Monkey.
Which mutant or super-powered being are you most compatible with? Now you'll now with the Superhero Dating Quiz! Make sure you specify whether you are looking for a super female or super male. My super-match is the sexy red-clad daughter of arch-villain Magneto: The Scarlet Witch.
"Scarlet Witch has altered the probabilities and has given you a chance to date her. If you're into chaos, magic, and tight corsets, she's the girl for you. Just be careful, you might find yourself in an alternate reality... or dead if your date goes poorly."
I came across this About.com article featuring 6 games that are fun to play with the whole family. One of them is my creation, "DaVinci's Challenge"...
The Monkey Buddha treasures all things of the Monkey Realm. Therefore, these striking photos of Monkey Portraits have to be shared and commended. Some of these images of our fellow furry life-forms are pretty hair-raising, stupid pun intended.
On her website, The Manipulator, Jill Greenberg also has portraits of other subject matter, including the only TV host that I watch every single day, the great Jon Stewart of The Daily Show.
I caught some of the Legacy of Star Wars programming on the History Channel this past weekend, so I've had The Greatest Movies Ever Made on my mind. Then, I came across this interesting artistic experiment using the unforgettable armored breath mask of my favorite character, Darth Vader.
I think this is pretty cool... an almost psychedelic video of 500 years worth of female portraiture continuously melding into one another. It's a dynamic study of the timeless and ephemeral nature of the beauty of women and the classic art that tries to recreate it. While you stare at this, it becomes eerily alive and almost like an amorphous female deity with schizophrenia.
beinArt.org is an awesome online gallery of some of the work from contemporary surrealist artists. There is a ton of work on here, and it is all wonderfully surreal. There are some artists I'm familiar with, like the great Alex Grey, Mark Ryden, and my long-time favorite H.R. Giger, the designer of 'Aliens'.
I remember dreams pretty regularly, and most of of my dreams are generally realistic settings & situations. There have been several times, though, where I have experienced a very convincing ability to fly. I still remember the dream where I first did it very clearly... even though it was years ago.
I was at my parent's house and there was extended family there. An uncle of mine who was a Jeopardy! champ in real life instructed me on how to rise and control myself in the air. I remember feeling like I was learning to ride a bicycle again. Finally, I began to hover and circle the main rooms of the house before going outside and circling the entire house. It was exciting, but not scary - just like taking off for the first time on 2 wheels. I met the treeline and flew high enough to see the immediate area.
There have been times since where I've dreamed of reaching the upper atmosphere and having clouds below me. The realism of the experience is mind-blowing, but familiar at the same time. The times I remember flying in my dreams, I have always been aware of the dream state and understood it to be what the waking experience is also - a production of the mind.
I watch the HD digital cable channels over my parents house & the programming is awesome. Tonight I was watching a Sunrise Earth special about the Sun and its affect on man's livelihood & mythology. Right after that I put on the Digging For the Truth episode about Macchu Picchu, the Peruvian royal estate and temple complex of the Sun-revering Inca.
Deus Sol Invictus, "The Invincible Divine Sun" is the source of the elements that create our world, and the sustainer of life that has thrived within it. It's awesome and incomprehensibe nature inspired the ancient precursors to modern religious existence. The Sun is both creator and destroyer, defying such ultimately meaningless labels. The damage a major solar flare or storm could cause to communications, navigation, and possibly all electromagnetic technology is a humbling thought, to say the least. It would make what I'm writing now and trillions of human creative and productive efforts completely useless. I wouldn't recommend trying to feed human hearts to the Sun God, Ahau-kin, so I guess all we can do is keep our fingers crossed...
The graphic below is my sun tattoo that I designed in college. This was before I really began to try learning about the mythologies of the world and the astro-religious worldviews of ancient cultures. I'm fortunate to have chosen a tattoo that I appreciate more as time goes on. Looking at it now, I never noticed how much the Chinese symbol resembles a face! Since it's on my chest, I usually see it upside-down.
The most powerful use of computers is as a tool to enhance the human imagination, whether it be imagining artistic or scientific concepts. These silicon extensions of the brain are allowing us to visualize processes and ideas that are impossible to understand otherwise.
This is a video that briefly describes some of the many uses for the processing & visualization power of computers.
I'm not really fond of practical math, but the concept of numbers & calculating value is a cognititve ability that has fascinated people since the beginning of counted time. The list in the link above names a "special" feature about each number from 0 through 9999. I'm sure the more you love math, the more special they are.
I've read a couple books on the Divine Ratio aka Phi aka 1.618... It's one of those things if you think about too much, your brain will overload.
(Seen on Crooks & Liars.com)Some of George W's signature moments were used to make this Top 10 List for the White House Correspondent's Dinner. Although this list is funny, they also had comedian Rich Little, who from the clips I saw, was pretty bad. He was doing a Sw
Still, it's almost impossible to top the classic performance by Stephen Colbert in 2006. It takes balls to stand in front of the illegitimate President of the United States and drop sarcasm bombs all over the place. That was when Colbert proved he's on equal standing with that other Comedy Central late-night great - Jon Stewart of The Daily Show.
Mr. "Go F*ck Yourself", Dick Cheney, appeared amid the stench of sulfer & brimstone on my TV tonight with Larry King. Watching Cheney lie and snarl on the screen before I go to bed is like being visited at midnight by Mephistopheles himself as you curl in terror inside a candle-lit pentagram.
I'll give just one example each that shows the level of candor & insight these candidates have compared to the rest of the pack:
The technology that is coming our way with most potential to change our society is super-efficient forms of energy production & transmission.
Mmmmpph! Antibacterial soap... useless, it is!!!
I saw a clip of this video on a VH1 show & watched it repeatedly on Youtube. It's one of those things that makes you laugh your ass off and shake your head in shame at the same time. (In other words, it's awesome.)
click for Youtube video
This painting depicts the Buddha while living in the deep forest,
Count this under the many things that America should be spending it's money and manpower on:
Mmmm, those are some tasty-looking pixels!
There are only 3 reasons that I'm not getting the iPhone, which is a revolutionary piece of technology. I would be a filthy liar if I said I didn't really, really want one.
The only thing as appalling as the widespread destruction of innocent life caused by our occupation of Iraq is the loss of precious art & artifacts. The looting of the Baghdad museum waaaay back in 2003 was one of the first things that convinced me that the strategy in Iraq was actually not to bring Democracy, but Destruction.
Virginia.edu: Rome Reborn
No, it's not the severed & skinned head of Paris Hilton...
"Commander in Chief of the World"
"Hey, take that Zen crap
"Ok, I'm a little mixed up
"Scarlet Witch has altered the probabilities
Some of George W's signature moments were used to make this Top 10 List for the White House Correspondent's Dinner. Although this list is funny, they also had comedian Rich Little, who from the clips I saw, was pretty bad. He was doing a Sw
