The mind uses a taxonomy—a set of categories—into which it squashes the somewhat messier occurences of life, that not only shapes what we think but what we can think.
Brain Clouds: Out of Box Experience. Terence McKenna was talking about the same thing when he said that culture is provisional:
Beneath the level of culture there is lurking this erotic, time-and-space-bound, feeling-defined, pre-linguistic mode of being, which is real being.
I’d love to pull my photos from Flickr right to my iPod.
A thought: photocasts should be possible.
Does there exist a situation that cannot be improved by the addition of a puppet bear saying ‘waka waka’?
It was obvious to me that all of the separateness I ordinarily perceived was, in fact, an artifact of cultural conditioning, and was indeed less "real" than what I was supposedly hallucinating. At that moment, I knew that I was, for the first time, experiencing things as they are, utterly continuous. There is no discontinuity. There is not one thing and another thing. It is all the same thing, The Holy Thing.
I advise a 12-hour-a-day TV viewing regimen!!
Understanding Zippy (how to read the never intentionally obscure comic strip).
In my writing I got so interested in fakes that I finally came up with the concept of fake fakes. For example, in Disneyland there are fake birds worked by electric motors which emit caws and shrieks as you pass by them. Suppose some night all of us sneaked into the park with real birds and substituted them for the artificial ones. Imagine the horror the Disneyland officials would feel when they discovered the cruel hoax. Real birds! And perhaps someday even real hippos and lions. Consternation. The park being cunningly transmuted from the unreal to the real, by sinister forces. For instance, suppose the Matterhorn turned into a genuine snow-covered mountain? What if the entire place, by a miracle of God's power and wisdom, was changed, in a moment, in the blink of an eye, into something incorruptible? They would have to close down.
How to Build a Universe That Doesn't Fall Apart Two Days Later by Philip K. Dick.
Want to play with Apple's Front Row without buying a new iMac? Check out the hack I'm calling 'Orchestra Pit'. (Disclaimer: randomWalks did not originate any of the technologies or techniques known as 'Orchestra Pit' -- we just gave it a fancy name.) Just download:
Then follow the directions that come with Front Row Enabler. What's it good for? Well, it's a nice way to show off a photo album, and it's good for watching movie trailers. For much else, you'd really want a remote control.
We used to be a family. Now we are four women carrying heavy grocery bags past an unshaven man in an armchair who is staring intently at his thumbs.
The New York Times: Board Games to Put Families Back in Play
My blog is worth $0.00.
How much is your blog worth?
Downloadable wallet guide to pesticides in produce
The Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce lists the 12 popular fresh fruits and vegetables that are consistently the most contaminated with pesticides and those 12 fruits and vegetables that consistently have low levels of pesticides. If you are concerned about pesticides in your diet, the handy wallet card can help you choose produce that lowers exposure to pesticides for you and your family.
If (like me) you can't afford to buy organic all of the time, check out this guide to which foods are more and less likely to deliver pesticides.
flickr ad on Rocketboom today (17 November)
Most vegetarians prefer not to have their food or utensils touching meat or other animal-derived foods. This preference is similar in concept to keeping kosher. In practical terms, some individuals who have "kept vegetarian" for years may endure significant intestinal distress if they ingest meat or grease. When you're cooking for your vegetarian guest, please keep utensils separate (for instance, do not use the same spoon for deglazing the roasting pan and then serving plain steamed vegetables) and do not label a food "vegetarian" if it includes chicken, beef, or veal broth.
This article about hosting a vegetarian guest for Thanksgiving includes recipes and delves into some etiquette and lifestyle concerns that I've not seen discussed before.
NPR : 'My Lobotomy': Howard Dully's Journey
Howard Dully was lobotomized at 12, apparently because his stepmother didn't like him. The above, from lobotomist Walter Freeman's notes supporting the procedure, aptly describes my five-year-old son. The story is available as an mp3 from NPR, and transcripts and extras are at Sound Portraits.He objects to going to bed but then sleeps well. He does a good deal of daydreaming and when asked about it he says 'I don't know.' He turns the room's lights on when there is broad sunlight outside.
Tremendous! Fantastic! Erica Jacobs has her 108 high school English students blogging!
After a few hours at Yucca Mountain, it becomes clear why, despite a desperate need for a solution to the nuclear waste problem (there is already enough waste in temporary storage to fill it), the site has not opened: No one is absolutely sure what will happen if it does. If all the regulatory hurdles are cleared, if Nevada loses its political battle and Yucca Mountain's license — which Benson says will be measured in "linear feet," not pages — is finally approved, the waste that goes into it will last for hundreds of thousands, even millions of years. "We don't know what will happen in 10,000 years," Benson admits. "Will people speak English? There probably won't be a United States."
From part 2 of Judith Lewis' timely and important article in the LA Weekly: Green to the Core? How I tried to stop worrying and love nuclear power.
Open Source Mac “is a simple list of the best free and open source software for Mac OS X.”
George Hotelling nails exactly what's so great about NPR's most interesting podcast.
group cube
Originally uploaded by Xavier de San Diego.
(I'm not sure what's going on here.)
Remember the Alamo? After Eight Months, the Astor Place Cube Comes Back
"I actually thought we would put it on this post and we’d turn it to the position we wanted it and then stick it like that." But it was never bolted in place. In any case, "I did not realize that the turning was such a factor in people’s enjoyment of it."
People just love that thing. I didn't realize I had an emotional attachment to it until I walked by one morning and saw it covered with some type of sheeting. I thought something was going to happen to it and got very upset.
A line of Kerouac clothing will hit stores soon, including dinner jackets. It is inspired by his sense of style, if not the jeans and khakis he actually wore.
Lowell Sun Online - Why is Kerouac on Lowell's back burner?
"Excuse me. Are those Kerouac™ jeans you're wearing?"
Apple's Front Row Comes Closer to Couch-Driven Computing
Where most of the computer industry trudges on under a banner of "more" -- more processor speed, more expansion ports, more stickers on the front of the computer -- Apple's mission statement amounts to "less." It is one of the few companies in the business that understands editing -- how the discipline imposed by having to remove yet another button, menu and toolbar can yield simpler, easier and more useful products.
Playlist: The iPod’s interface could be even better
iTunes has those lovely little Arrow icons next to a track’s name that, if Option- or Alt-clicked, take you to the entry and its surrounding album tracks if you’ve sorted tracks by album. I’d be thrilled if there was some way to open an album or artist entry from within a track’s Now Playing screen on an iPod.
This is the outstanding feature iPod needs most.
