Jing-reed's Musings from Thailand

The Center of All Things

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. . .  and a more lyrical view of the same concept by that poet/astronomer Carl Sagan:

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Maurice Sendak 1928 - 2012

I admit to being a long time afficionado of the books and words of Maurice Sendak. An affair which began as I was finishing my undergrad work at L.A. State in 1963, and when his 'Where The Wild Things Are' was published, and my closest friend J. was pumping out yet another child.  [Although she had never found a husband, she seemed to become impregnated with increassing regularity.]

Maurice Sendak was doing the same, but with phenomenal books for children.


Where the Wild Things Are (as read by Christopher Walken)

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Maurice Sendak and Stephen Colbert   Part I

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The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive

 

Maurice Sendak and Stephen Colbert   Part II

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The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive

I ♥ Google

Google has a bit of fun for April Fools day.
Real 8 bit maps.

.....and it actually works. 
Go to 'Google Maps' and hit the 'Quest' button.

Google Maps 8-bit for NES

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Only Boys Aloud - The Welsh Choir's Audition

"They took to the stage, all 133 of them, to sing their hearts out. And sing they did! With their modern take on classical choir singing, all four Judges heaped praise with Amanda being reduced to tears."

"Founded by Only Men Aloud in May 2010, Only Boys Aloud is a choir made up of young men aged 14 – 19 who rehearse weekly in local Only Boys Aloud Choirs stretching from Cross Hands to Cwmbran and Treorchy to Caerphilly coming together to rehearse and perform as a mega-choir at regular intervals. The boys are mentored and trained by nine Team Captains who are members of Only Men Aloud and also supported by volunteer Community Leaders.

Established to re-invigorate the Welsh male choral tradition, OBA also embraces choral singing as a means for these young men to broaden their horizons and grow in ability and self–confidence in a supportive environment whilst also challenging long-held misconceptions about teenage males from South Wales."

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Beautiful Minds: The Enigma of Genius

From the World Science Festival.

Immanuel Kant, who coined the term genius in the 1700s, defined it as the rare capacity to independently understand concepts that would normally have to be taught by another person. Since then, the spectrum of abilities that we call genius has widened, but pivotal questions remain: What exactly is genius? Where do the remarkable abilities of genius come from? Is genius something that lives within all of us, or is it a categorically different way of seeing the world that is bestowed upon only a few?

 

With the emergence of new imaging technologies and a fundamental shift in the understanding of how information is spread through our brains, we’re beginning to find some answers. We joined neuroscientists, psychologists, renowned thinkers, and special performers as they untangled the complicated nature of genius, creativity, and exceptionality.

 

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How Creativity is Being Strangled by the Law

Larry Lessig, the Nets most celebrated lawyer, cites John Philip Sousa, celestial copyrights and the "ASCAP cartel" in his argument for reviving our creative culture.

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And in a related video, 'Copyright Math'.  It may be short and humorous, however it contains abundant facts about the current copyright laws.

"The brilliance of Reid’s talk is that he thoroughly skewers the content industry’s dubious appeal to quantitative reasoning. We’ve all see the headlines proclaiming huge numbers of dollars, jobs, and patents lost to piracy. The appeal to quantitative measures is supposed to undermine counterarguments by doing two things: slyly stepping into a (pretend) world of objectivity, and raising the alarm with big, scary numbers. It’s hard to look at those kinds of headlines in the same way after Reid’s elegantly hilarious skewering."

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Fossils of 'Octopostes marinis'

The 'Octopostes marinis' lived in vast colonies in swampy areas during the Carboniferous period [359 million years ago].

Little is known about 'Octopostes marinis' other than that fact that had a rather curious habit of growth, in vast rows of five columns and that reproduction was by a form of mitosis.  This can be seen in the second row of these fossil remains, where the parents have begun to split. The third row shows five young juveniles that have broken away from their parent cells and begun life on their own, and of course the parent is now a new cell itself.

The individual cell was eight sided, hence the Latin name Octopodes [from the Greek 'οκτώ όψης'] and though very small,  they occurred in such incredibly large numbers the Octopodes are thought to be a major contributor to the vast coal deposits around the world.

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BTW, all of the above is pure fantasy.  Time for me to reveal my 'Piltdown man' fossil fakery.

The 'Octopodes fossils' were found during a recent session with the Mandelbulb 3d software.  Whereas most of the people who use Mandelbulb3d prefer to entertain situations and fantasies of future scenarios, I have found that this incedible fractal generation program is equally at ease in producing phenonmenal versions of the past, even if they are not necessarily true. 

For a more detailed view of this 'fossil' image, visit my deviantArt page, and click on the enlargement button.

Eine kleine Nachtmusik in Fractal Form

     [click for full size]

The Serenade No. 13 for strings in G major, K. 525 was written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1787. The work is more commonly known by the title Eine kleine Nachtmusik. The German title means "a little serenade," though it is often rendered more literally but less accurately as "a little night music."

     1  Allegro
     2  Romanze (Andante)
     3  Menuetto (Allegretto)
     4  Rondo (Allegro)

Somewhat surprised yesterday, while in the process of creating a new fractal image in Mandelbulb 3D, to suddenly be presented with Mozart's 'Eine kleine Nachtmusik'.  There was no doubt in my mind, that this marvelous piece of music, which I had listened to countles times over the years, had mysteriously been transported into fractal form.

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More 'Mandelbubl 3D' Jabber

Have been working/playing with the Mandebulb 3D program for a couple of weeks now.  And my enthusiasm for this fractal generation program knows no bounds.  It is a wonderful combination of personal creativity and computer generated mystery.  It is every child's world of fantasy and wonder as it becomes reality.  Images which are soft and mysterious to shockingly crisp detail.

Also have a new site for displaying the most recent fractal designs in their larger sizes and vibrant detail.

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Fractals - Hunting the Hidden Dimension

Since encountering my first fractal image nearly 15 years ago I have been obsessed with this means of examing a previously unknown world.  And have utilized a number of fractial software programs over the years.  No more than a week ago I encountered a new program that renders fractal images in 3 D.

Mysteriously beautiful fractals are shaking up the world of mathematics and deepening our understanding of nature.

You may not know it, but fractals, like the air you breathe, are all around you. Their irregular, repeating shapes are found in cloud formations and tree limbs, in stalks of broccoli and craggy mountain ranges, even in the rhythm of the human heart. In this film, NOVA takes viewers on a fascinating quest with a group of maverick mathematicians determined to decipher the rules that govern fractal geometry.

For centuries, fractal-like irregular shapes were considered beyond the boundaries of mathematical understanding. Now, mathematicians have finally begun mapping this uncharted territory. Their remarkable findings are deepening our understanding of nature and stimulating a new wave of scientific, medical, and artistic innovation stretching from the ecology of the rain forest to fashion design. The Nova documentary highlights a host of filmmakers, fashion designers, physicians, and researchers who are using fractal geometry to innovate and inspire.


   Part 1

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   Part 2

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   Part 3

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   Part 4

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