“You must believe in Spring” by Bill Evans and Tony Bennett.
August 30th, 2010
you must believe in spring
August 21st, 2010
the earth is round but everything on it is flat
This video — a clip from the musical Gigi– is part of Slate magazine’s fun little round-up of the ways Hollywood represents foreign characters/locations on screen.
We tend to take language for granted; how foreign speech is handled in film shapes our experience as viewers, usually without our knowing it. The accompanying slide show explores the various ways that filmmakers negotiate foreign speech, highlighting those films that approach the problem as an opportunity to deepen the story.
See more examples at Slate.
August 7th, 2010
challenge the dogma
Maverick scientist James Lovelock on his approach to science.
His wikipedia page has a summary of his rather compelling argument for pro-nuclear environmentalism. He is probably most famous for his Gaia hypothesis.
July 24th, 2010
tree climbing or skinny dipping?
Last October I posted Elaine Morgan’s TED talk, in which she argues quite compellingly in favour of the “Aquatic Ape Theory”, a theory suggesting that there was an aquatic phase in our evolution.
Yesterday I discovered that there was a BBC documentary made in 1998 about Elaine and her championship of the theory. It’s on youtube in its entirety (Part 1, above).
It’s a good summary of the basis of the theory, and it also includes criticism of the theory by scientists.
July 22nd, 2010
Rush hour, Utrecht.
There are more bikes, busses and trams than private automobiles! It’s almost balletic. (via paigeandmodern).
July 21st, 2010
Rosemarie is for remembrance, between us daie and night
An unhinged Ophelia (Kate Winslet) recalls that rosemary is
traditionally for remembrance, in Hamlet (Kenneth Branagh, 1996).
A rose by any other name:
The botanical name Rosmarinus is derived from the old Latin for ‘dew of the sea’, a reference to its pale blue dew-like flowers and the fact that it is often grown near the sea. (Garden Guides)
Rosemary for memory:
Rosemary is said to stimulate the memory; both Greek and Roman students wore garlands of Rosemary to further learning in their studies. Rosemary also has a strong association with marriage and it was traditional for brides to carry sprigs of Rosemary in wedding bouquets; this was originally for its aromatic properties. Today, Rosemary is also associated with death; some European countries carry Rosemary at funerals and throw the herb into the grave. (Suite 101: Rosemary)
To wear a wreath of rosemary into an exam would be a fun tradition to uphold, I think.
I was looking for some kind of natural mosquito repellent and I read online some claims of rosemary to that effect. So I steeped a heaped teaspoon of dry rosemary in about 3/4 a mug of hot water, for an hour or so — maybe a bit longer. I strained the solution into a small atomizer in order to spray it on my skin before bed. And, lo and behold, I haven’t gotten a bite since, except for a night when I forgot to use it. I admit that’s hardly conclusive scientific evidence, but so far so good.
Rosemary in English folklore:
Rosemary was also popular as a Christmas decoration, an all-purpose disinfectant, and even as a hair rinse. As late as the 1990s people were still calling it the ‘friendship bush’: ‘You always had to plant rosemary in your garden so that you wouldn’t be short of friends’ (Vickery, 1995: 318). Nevertheless, a parallel belief states that rosemary only thrives where the woman of the house is dominant. A much older tradition, reported by Nuttall, holds that rosemary plants never grow taller than the height of Christ when he was on earth, and that when they are 33 years old their upward growth stops. (answers.com)
As for Rosmarine, I lett it runne all over my garden walls, not onlie because my bees love it, but because it is the herb sacred to remembrance, and, therefore, to friendship; whence a sprig of it hath a dumb language that maketh it the chosen emblem of our funeral wakes and in our buriall grounds.
– Sir Thomas More (1478-1535) (Suite101: Remembering Rosemary)
More info about rosemary’s alleged medicinal uses at suite101.
July 18th, 2010
sofa or settee?
David Mitchell ruminates on the relationship between the way we use language and the way we see ourselves and others. I’m enjoying these videos a lot — Mitchell’s is like that endearingly curious and sometimes overly analytical voice in my head that has to be kept in check.
Check out his refreshing opinion on climate change, and the rest of his youtube channel. Thanks Aengus for bringing this to my attention.
July 14th, 2010
i know they want me to … enter eyedroppers and invade pills
The poetry of Jayne Cortez is based on the principle that there is an inherent music in words. It comes across like free word jazz when she performs her work, though the words are preconceived. The associations she conjures are sometimes cryptic or surreal but always expressive, contributing towards a greater image and meaning through a mesmeric shifting of perceptions and gradual layering of images. A good example is “I am New York City”
Another rendition can be found here, including further performances of her poems (…and a ghastly introduction sequence, especially dangerous for epileptics).
More on Cortez and her poetry in Heroism in the New Black Poetry @googlebooks.
July 2nd, 2010
soul beneficiary
Coleman speaks like he plays the sax, apparently; he looses his thoughts freely and uninhibitedly, so much so that in both speaking and playing he seems to display a gentle modesty in conforming to any grammar of sound at all.
And yet he’s right, there’s still enough meaning to be read into the sounds he makes with his mouth if you’re prepared to listen and make it your own. What do you hear?
May 16th, 2010
the biology of love
Above is a video about the visual MD — a new way to visualize the system of our bodies.
Here’s one of their videos, giving a scientific perspective on mother-child bonding: The Biology of Love.
I could watch such videos all day. I have some sort of drive to learn about how things work.
May 6th, 2010
under the influence and canopy of the linden
Above: Lindenallee, Berlin, circa 1961. Johann Stridbeck.
The [linden tree] was a highly symbolic and hallowed tree to the Germanic peoples in their native pre-Christian Germanic mythology.
Originally, local communities assembled not only to celebrate and dance under a [linden] tree, but to hold their judicial thing meetings there in order to restore justice and peace. It was believed that the tree would help unearth the truth. (wiki)
I remember studying the poem “Under der linden” by Walther Von Der Vogelweide at university:
Under der linden
an der heide
dâ unser zweier bette was
dâ [muget]1 ir vinden
schône beide
gebrochen bluomen unde gras
vor dem walde in einem tal!
Tandaradei
schône sanc diu nahtegal.
The full text can be found here in the original Middle High German, with an English translation.
There are many interpretations of the poem on YouTube. I don’t know which of them would be considered most faithful to the original pronunciation or most appropriately accompanied musically, but certainly these were amongst the most harmonious:
And this was perhaps the most original interpretation I came across:
I was led back to the above poem today after drinking a cup of “tila” and orange leaf tea here in Spain and not knowing exactly what the tila part was. Tila, I have learned, is the Spanish for “Linden”. So it was tea made from the blossoms of the Linden tree. The clue would have been in the latin name for all trees in this family: Tilia.
According to some web sources, linden tea is commonly drunk in South America, particularly in Mexico and, historically, by the Aztecs who claimed its possession of the following medicinal qualities:
* Tranquilizes the Nervous System,
* Cures Insomnia,
* Favors Digestion,
* Calms Menstrual, Hepatic and Renal Cramps,
* Disinflames the Digestive Tract,
* Is a Laxative,
* Sudorific
and
* Diuretic
* Useful in Bronchitis Cases
Apparently the species Tilia cordata is used not only in landscaping in Central Europe and the former Yugoslavia, but also traditional herbal medicine.
Wikipedia has a (rather impressive) paragraph of the purported health benefits of Tilia:
Tilia flowers are used medicinally for colds, cough, fever, infections, inflammation, high blood pressure, headache (particularly migraine), as a diuretic (increases urine production), antispasmodic (reduces smooth muscle spasm along the digestive tract), and sedative. New evidence shows that the flowers may be hepatoprotective. The flowers were added to baths to quell hysteria, and steeped as a tea to relieve anxiety-related indigestion, irregular heartbeat, and vomiting. The leaves are used to promote sweating to reduce fevers. The wood is used for liver and gallbladder disorders and cellulitis (inflammation of the skin and surrounding soft tissue). That wood burned to charcoal is ingested to treat intestinal disorders and used topically to treat edema or infection such as cellulitis or ulcers of the lower leg.
I certainly feel tranquillized. And the tea is very agreeable to the tastebuds. I may start drinking it more often.
May 1st, 2010
in space, staying healthy is half the work
Learning about how our bodies behave in space, one appreciates more how automatic and self-sustaining our bodies are on earth.
This episode of Euronews’ Space series gives insight into the challenges of staying healthy in space. It goes a little more in depth than the usual “yer bones get weak n stuff”.
One has to respect the astronauts for the conditions they endure and the risks they take, and one has to respect everyone involved in such projects for their vision and ambition and professionalism.
April 29th, 2010
meat love
Jan Švankmajer (born 4 September 1934 in Prague) is a Czech surrealist artist. His work spans several media. He is known for his surreal animations and features, which have greatly influenced other artists such as Tim Burton, Terry Gilliam, The Brothers Quay and many others.
Švankmajer has gained a reputation over several decades for his distinctive use of stop-motion technique, and his ability to make surreal, nightmarish and yet somehow funny pictures. He is still making films in Prague at the time of writing.
Švankmajer’s trademarks include very exaggerated sounds, often creating a very strange effect in all eating scenes. He often uses very sped-up sequences when people walk and interact. His movies often involve inanimate objects coming alive and being brought to life through stop-motion. Food is a favourite subject and medium. Stop-motion features in most of his work, though his feature films also include live action to varying degrees.
More of his imaginative short films (like Food) are available to watch on youtube. Thanks Femi
April 5th, 2010
night of the carrots
Priit Pärn‘s 1998 animation Night of the Carrots is finally available to view online, in three parts: One. Two. Three. Thanks Tom for the head’s up.
March 17th, 2010
inner potential
Irish comedian Dylan Moran muses on self help and “unlocking your inner potential”.