Saturday, March 28, 2009
Japanese Fairy Tales By Lafcadio Hearn, Grace James, Basil Hall Chamberlain
Japanese Fairy Tales By Lafcadio Hearn, Grace James, Basil Hall Chamberlain: "CHIN CHIN KOBAKAMA THE floor of a Japanese room is covered with beautiful thick soft mats of woven reeds They fit very closely together so that you can just slip a knife blade between them They are changed once every year and are kept very clean The Japanese never wear shoes in the house and do not use chairs or furniture such as English people use They sit sleep eat and sometimes even write upon the floor So the mats must be kept very clean indeed and Japanese children are taught just as soon as they can speak never to spoil or dirty the mats"
Friday, January 16, 2009
Helping the Blind (Synchronicity)
The other day I got off the Bus at Harvard station and walked with the disembarking crowd through the station center. We soon mixed with a counter current of passengers leaving the inbound Redline train. In the crowd there was a short dark haired young woman with a dark dog walking by and looking a little lost. As I past her she looked in my direction and I realized she was blind. She called me out and asked for my help. She wanted to be directed to the Dunkin Donuts located right across the concourse. I told her sure. I paused then went for her arm. Every other time I have gone to help a blind person they ask me to hold their elbow or they insert an arm into the crook of my elbow as if I was leading them into a lavish ball. As I touched her arm she stopped me and informed me that I could just walk in front of her dog to lead her to the line. I did so and she thanked me.
I went out to meet some friends last night for some drink in Davis Square and I asked if this was a common occurrence. It did not seem to be very common amongst this group. I took the bus home that night and was struck by a woman with a huge head of wild white hair and a very stylish preppy/alt/nerd red wool suite. She was very talkative to her companion who I soon realized was her assistant as she was blind. The apparent synchronicity occurring led me to think of past interactions.
A few months back I was to meet my friend Dana, again in Harvard Square, for some delicious Pinocchio’s pizza. I got off the T and my way was hindered by a not so small middle-aged woman who was also blind but without a dog. She called out for help and I was the only likely candidate within earshot. She asked me to escort her to Harvest restaurant where she was planning on meeting some friends. I was a little concerned since I was slightly late for my lunch meeting and I was starting to get a reputation of being a flake with Dana. But I knew I had no choice. I think you go to hell if you don’t help a blind person. I was also concerned, as I didn’t quite remember the best route to Harvest. She asked me to grab her elbow and I led her in the most efficient manner that I could and tried to come up with some small talk. Once I got to Brattle Street I ventured down a few false alleys with this poor misguided woman. I finally found the right path but it ended up they were doing construction behind the Brattle hall so I was trying to describe the precarious metallic walkway we were about to go over and explain away the alien noises and dust. I left her at Harvest where her friends who were waiting. I made it to Pinocchio’s where Dana was more then willing to forgive me for my tardiness.
Digging back further into my consciousness I remembered an intimidating man who frequently could be found in Westwood Village California. He was tall, pale and bald. He was also blind and would often cry out in the middle of the village … “Would someone help me?” I understand why people were reluctant to help. His manner was slightly alarming and his large body moved around awkwardly and somewhat aggressively. But I crossed the road to ask him what I could do. He asked for my arm and wanted be lead somewhere. I have to admit that it is always a little bit awkward to have a stranger grab your arm or to grab a stranger’s arm and lead them threw a public square. Despite his loud voice and threatening appearance his personality was ultimately very disarming. His shoes were never tied but as I was walking with him people would tell him that they were untied. He would flatly explain to those concerned that he bought them that way. I have continued to use that line as I am constantly found with untied shoelaces. I saw him a few more times while I was taking my Village breaks from my studies at UCLA.
My ultimate experience assisting a blind person has to be that with my high school history teacher Mr. Robert Acosta. He was a very attentive instructor and despite his handicap did a fairly good job at maintaining order. Students seemed to respect him. My older sister had Mr. Acosta for three years and said he was the only teacher who really cared. She was often late and she told me she remembers him saying repeatedly, “Mendy, sit down!” as he recognized the sound of her clunky late seventies shoes enter the room. I was not the best student in high school and was barely passing his class. He presented a challenge to me. If I get a B on his final and I would get a B in the class. To quell cheating in his class, which we all swore was not an issue; he performed his final by open book oral exam one by one in front of the class. I studied hard for the exam. On the day of the exam I listened with interest to the students who came before me. I felt that I could have made a good showing had I been given any of the questions the prior students had been given. After several students it was my turn and I bombed. I could not answer any of the questions and as I leafed futilely threw my notes. It seemed like all of the good questions were gone and only the most obscure left.
I was in bad shape. I might not pass history. A few days later Mr. Acosta asked if anyone would like to help him by driving him to a meeting downtown on Saturday for extra credit. I volunteered immediately. Based on some hindsight googling I gather that I might have been bringing him to American Council of the Blind meeting but I am not sure. I borrowed my moms red Ford Mercury hatch back which I thought would perfectly fit him and his German Shepard. I later crashed that car but that is another story. I folded down the back seat to give his dog plenty of room in the back. I arrived at his place and met his wife. As we started to leave he asked if I could give his wife, who was also blind, a ride. I didn’t respond because I was trying to work out in my head how to explain that the seat was down. Mr. Acosta said “Sure you can” so I mumbled something and ran to the car to fold up the seat just as his wife found the car door and was climbing into that back. Mr. Acosta stepped into my front seat and his dog fit easily between his legs. I was relieved but felt bad that I didn’t seem more welcoming to his wife.
The day was nice. The meeting was in one of those woody red-chaired early 70’s LA restaurants that served things like burgers and Monte Cristo sandwichs. I talked to one member of the group who was into some cool music and that made me feel like less of the odd man out. On the way home I put on some old ventures surf music and Mr. Acosta new the words to all the standards that the Ventures had turned into instrumentals. I was glad that he appreciated my music. He told the class on the following Monday that I had great taste in music, gave me the extra credit and I passed his class.
Going back even further I remember my mom volunteering with the blind when I was very young. She was very appreciative of their talents and the ways they compensated for their lack of vision. One day she showed me a mosaic of an owl that one of the women she worked with created. It looked like an owl and my mom was very impressed and was excited to share this with me.
So I wonder. Does is it that once you encounter a particular type of person then they regularly make reappearances? Are we trained for the possible interactions we will have in the future. Probably not. Most of these instances could be explained away as artifacts of awareness. Is awareness a synchronicity generator or is synchronicity an artifice of awareness. Either way it is nice to help people out and be connected one other way to the human experience.
I went out to meet some friends last night for some drink in Davis Square and I asked if this was a common occurrence. It did not seem to be very common amongst this group. I took the bus home that night and was struck by a woman with a huge head of wild white hair and a very stylish preppy/alt/nerd red wool suite. She was very talkative to her companion who I soon realized was her assistant as she was blind. The apparent synchronicity occurring led me to think of past interactions.
A few months back I was to meet my friend Dana, again in Harvard Square, for some delicious Pinocchio’s pizza. I got off the T and my way was hindered by a not so small middle-aged woman who was also blind but without a dog. She called out for help and I was the only likely candidate within earshot. She asked me to escort her to Harvest restaurant where she was planning on meeting some friends. I was a little concerned since I was slightly late for my lunch meeting and I was starting to get a reputation of being a flake with Dana. But I knew I had no choice. I think you go to hell if you don’t help a blind person. I was also concerned, as I didn’t quite remember the best route to Harvest. She asked me to grab her elbow and I led her in the most efficient manner that I could and tried to come up with some small talk. Once I got to Brattle Street I ventured down a few false alleys with this poor misguided woman. I finally found the right path but it ended up they were doing construction behind the Brattle hall so I was trying to describe the precarious metallic walkway we were about to go over and explain away the alien noises and dust. I left her at Harvest where her friends who were waiting. I made it to Pinocchio’s where Dana was more then willing to forgive me for my tardiness.
Digging back further into my consciousness I remembered an intimidating man who frequently could be found in Westwood Village California. He was tall, pale and bald. He was also blind and would often cry out in the middle of the village … “Would someone help me?” I understand why people were reluctant to help. His manner was slightly alarming and his large body moved around awkwardly and somewhat aggressively. But I crossed the road to ask him what I could do. He asked for my arm and wanted be lead somewhere. I have to admit that it is always a little bit awkward to have a stranger grab your arm or to grab a stranger’s arm and lead them threw a public square. Despite his loud voice and threatening appearance his personality was ultimately very disarming. His shoes were never tied but as I was walking with him people would tell him that they were untied. He would flatly explain to those concerned that he bought them that way. I have continued to use that line as I am constantly found with untied shoelaces. I saw him a few more times while I was taking my Village breaks from my studies at UCLA.
My ultimate experience assisting a blind person has to be that with my high school history teacher Mr. Robert Acosta. He was a very attentive instructor and despite his handicap did a fairly good job at maintaining order. Students seemed to respect him. My older sister had Mr. Acosta for three years and said he was the only teacher who really cared. She was often late and she told me she remembers him saying repeatedly, “Mendy, sit down!” as he recognized the sound of her clunky late seventies shoes enter the room. I was not the best student in high school and was barely passing his class. He presented a challenge to me. If I get a B on his final and I would get a B in the class. To quell cheating in his class, which we all swore was not an issue; he performed his final by open book oral exam one by one in front of the class. I studied hard for the exam. On the day of the exam I listened with interest to the students who came before me. I felt that I could have made a good showing had I been given any of the questions the prior students had been given. After several students it was my turn and I bombed. I could not answer any of the questions and as I leafed futilely threw my notes. It seemed like all of the good questions were gone and only the most obscure left.
I was in bad shape. I might not pass history. A few days later Mr. Acosta asked if anyone would like to help him by driving him to a meeting downtown on Saturday for extra credit. I volunteered immediately. Based on some hindsight googling I gather that I might have been bringing him to American Council of the Blind meeting but I am not sure. I borrowed my moms red Ford Mercury hatch back which I thought would perfectly fit him and his German Shepard. I later crashed that car but that is another story. I folded down the back seat to give his dog plenty of room in the back. I arrived at his place and met his wife. As we started to leave he asked if I could give his wife, who was also blind, a ride. I didn’t respond because I was trying to work out in my head how to explain that the seat was down. Mr. Acosta said “Sure you can” so I mumbled something and ran to the car to fold up the seat just as his wife found the car door and was climbing into that back. Mr. Acosta stepped into my front seat and his dog fit easily between his legs. I was relieved but felt bad that I didn’t seem more welcoming to his wife.
The day was nice. The meeting was in one of those woody red-chaired early 70’s LA restaurants that served things like burgers and Monte Cristo sandwichs. I talked to one member of the group who was into some cool music and that made me feel like less of the odd man out. On the way home I put on some old ventures surf music and Mr. Acosta new the words to all the standards that the Ventures had turned into instrumentals. I was glad that he appreciated my music. He told the class on the following Monday that I had great taste in music, gave me the extra credit and I passed his class.
Going back even further I remember my mom volunteering with the blind when I was very young. She was very appreciative of their talents and the ways they compensated for their lack of vision. One day she showed me a mosaic of an owl that one of the women she worked with created. It looked like an owl and my mom was very impressed and was excited to share this with me.
So I wonder. Does is it that once you encounter a particular type of person then they regularly make reappearances? Are we trained for the possible interactions we will have in the future. Probably not. Most of these instances could be explained away as artifacts of awareness. Is awareness a synchronicity generator or is synchronicity an artifice of awareness. Either way it is nice to help people out and be connected one other way to the human experience.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Shepard Fairey Around Boston
Shepard Fairey is coming to the ICA in Feburary (Shepard Fairey: Supply and Demand) and the ICA set up some approved areas for him to post his work (Radical chic Shepard Fairey posters Harvard Square). I thought it would be a fun project to go around the greater Boston area and take a look at all the spaces.
I work in Central Square so I decided to check out the graffiti wall near Central Kitchen on one of my lunch breaks. I could not tell what was his and I had no camera so I decided to come back on the weekend after I had had a chance to see the Harvard Square site.
On Saturday I got on the T to do some graffiti (Street Art) hunting. I thought it would be fun to take Granger, the best English Lab in the world, on the T. I got half way there and I remembered Big G's stair phobia. He might not make it up the stairs once he got down. I hoped there were elevators. Granger paused at the stairs at Alewife and skittered a little on the tile floors. Once we got on the train he did great and got some attention from passengers. There were Elevators at Harvard so he was fine.
The first space I came to was at the Massachusetts Ave / Brattle St / JFK St intersection on the walled off store front of what was previously The Greenhouse. The Greenhouse was a great little dive with really good fries and chocolate cookies. I don't know why they closed it down and why nothing has replaced it. Around the corner at the wall outside of the Gap and the basement of The Tannery is the second Harvard Square entry. I really liked this piece.
There was a blues duo in the square. Two older guys. One doing some nice guitar work and the other had a classic blues voice and played the harmonica. I called my friend CJ back in LA to share the musical joy. The high pitched harmonica was the only thing that made it past my cell phone speaker.
After that G and I walked down towards Central Square. We passed the Harvard Lampoon building on the way there and I was happy to see it decorated as a pumpkin for Halloween.
Nothing seemed particularly Shepard 
Fairey but there was some really cool stuff there. All central square visitors should stop and take a look at the graffiti wall.
There was a little bit of a struggle to find a stair case with the proper lighting and width (He doesn't like closed dark spaces) to keep Granger from being spooked. Once he got past the T security doors he was pretty calm and got on the train with no problem. At Alewife he was happy to take the elevator up and all went well.
The next weekend I ran down pretty close to sunset with Pam to Union Square to see the display there. I was not that familiar with the square so it took awhile to find it and we had to wander a bit to get our bearings. Pam noticed a comic book store and suggested we ask them. Props for her keen eye. I asked the girl behind the counter if she knew where the Shepard Fairey street art was displayed and she kind've looked at me cross eyed. Then I showed her the clip out of the Pheonix (See Above) and asked where the Boutique Grand was. She knew exactly what I was talking about and pointed us in the right direction. By the time I got there the sun was pretty low and I was worried about the quality of the photo. When I went to take the picture I realized that the battery in the camera was dead. No biggie. I should come back when the sun is higher anyway.
The next Saturday I was determined to get all of the remaining sites captured. Granger jumped in the back of the Mazda and we went on our trek. I first went back to Union Square and took a picture of the little girl holding a hand grenade rose. Provocative, No? I like all of the images of flowers with weapons. Of course it reminds me of the famous image from the 1967 March on the Pentagon. All of his subjects seem very unconscious of the message they are sending.
There was no convenient place to tie Granger off so I skillfully to took the picture while simultaneously holding his leash.
Next I went down to Montgomery Street in the South End. As always is the case in the South End or anywhere in Boston proper it was challenging to find 
parking and I had no idea where on Montgomery Street it would be. Finally after circling the neighborhood a half dozen times I stole a residents only spot in front of the school on M Street. I assumed the display would be on some concrete wall near this urban looking area. I took Granger out of the hatchback and started to look around. There was no street art to be seen in this area so I walked west towards the town homes. The street looked quite nice with the fall colors. The poster space was at the end of the street. When I got there a couple was putting there child into their car and seemed slightly curios as to why I was standing outside of their townhouse.
This poster was a combination of The Tannery and Union Square displays.
Coming back to my car I was happy to see that there was no ticket and no one had taken particular offense to me taking a private spot.
Next stop was the International Bicycle Center in Alston. As I was traveling down Brighton Ave. I found an open spot but there was someone double parked just in front of the space. I waited to see if he was going to take it but eventually assumed that they were not interested. I started into the spot and suddenly the car started moving aggressively into the space. After he parked I felt bad so I pulled up next to the driver to apologize for appearing to steel his spot. He misinterpreted my intentions and gave me the evil eye. I motioned for him to roll down his window and he started to but then waved me off. I found a spot two cars behind him and lingered with Granger a little to see if the offended parker would walk my way but he never surfaced. Was I looking for trouble or some imagined restitution with this stranger. I guess I felt bad thinking that he would be pissed off all day thinking he was hassled by another, in this case imaginary, obnoxious Boston driver.
Just as I got to the International Bicycle Center a couple arrived to look at the display. The guy kept trying to take a picture of the poster unpolluted buy his girlfriends attempts to obtain his attention. Every time he would tell her to get out of the way she would move and then jump back into the frame with a whimsical little dance and pose. Finally he got his picture or just accepted his lot in life and left the wall for me to photograph. You can sneak a peak of the pair on the left.
All in all a great way to spend a couple of weekend days. If you want to see all of the pictures and download larger size images see my photo stream on Flikr.
Oh and this is my desk top as of Dia de los Muertos.
Addendum: schmeeeb found this at Harvard. http://tontowasgreen.posterous.com/shepard-fairey-art-in-harvard-square
I work in Central Square so I decided to check out the graffiti wall near Central Kitchen on one of my lunch breaks. I could not tell what was his and I had no camera so I decided to come back on the weekend after I had had a chance to see the Harvard Square site.
On Saturday I got on the T to do some graffiti (Street Art) hunting. I thought it would be fun to take Granger, the best English Lab in the world, on the T. I got half way there and I remembered Big G's stair phobia. He might not make it up the stairs once he got down. I hoped there were elevators. Granger paused at the stairs at Alewife and skittered a little on the tile floors. Once we got on the train he did great and got some attention from passengers. There were Elevators at Harvard so he was fine.
The first space I came to was at the Massachusetts Ave / Brattle St / JFK St intersection on the walled off store front of what was previously The Greenhouse. The Greenhouse was a great little dive with really good fries and chocolate cookies. I don't know why they closed it down and why nothing has replaced it. Around the corner at the wall outside of the Gap and the basement of The Tannery is the second Harvard Square entry. I really liked this piece.
There was a blues duo in the square. Two older guys. One doing some nice guitar work and the other had a classic blues voice and played the harmonica. I called my friend CJ back in LA to share the musical joy. The high pitched harmonica was the only thing that made it past my cell phone speaker.
After that G and I walked down towards Central Square. We passed the Harvard Lampoon building on the way there and I was happy to see it decorated as a pumpkin for Halloween.
Nothing seemed particularly Shepard 
Fairey but there was some really cool stuff there. All central square visitors should stop and take a look at the graffiti wall.There was a little bit of a struggle to find a stair case with the proper lighting and width (He doesn't like closed dark spaces) to keep Granger from being spooked. Once he got past the T security doors he was pretty calm and got on the train with no problem. At Alewife he was happy to take the elevator up and all went well.
The next weekend I ran down pretty close to sunset with Pam to Union Square to see the display there. I was not that familiar with the square so it took awhile to find it and we had to wander a bit to get our bearings. Pam noticed a comic book store and suggested we ask them. Props for her keen eye. I asked the girl behind the counter if she knew where the Shepard Fairey street art was displayed and she kind've looked at me cross eyed. Then I showed her the clip out of the Pheonix (See Above) and asked where the Boutique Grand was. She knew exactly what I was talking about and pointed us in the right direction. By the time I got there the sun was pretty low and I was worried about the quality of the photo. When I went to take the picture I realized that the battery in the camera was dead. No biggie. I should come back when the sun is higher anyway.
The next Saturday I was determined to get all of the remaining sites captured. Granger jumped in the back of the Mazda and we went on our trek. I first went back to Union Square and took a picture of the little girl holding a hand grenade rose. Provocative, No? I like all of the images of flowers with weapons. Of course it reminds me of the famous image from the 1967 March on the Pentagon. All of his subjects seem very unconscious of the message they are sending.
There was no convenient place to tie Granger off so I skillfully to took the picture while simultaneously holding his leash.
Next I went down to Montgomery Street in the South End. As always is the case in the South End or anywhere in Boston proper it was challenging to find 
parking and I had no idea where on Montgomery Street it would be. Finally after circling the neighborhood a half dozen times I stole a residents only spot in front of the school on M Street. I assumed the display would be on some concrete wall near this urban looking area. I took Granger out of the hatchback and started to look around. There was no street art to be seen in this area so I walked west towards the town homes. The street looked quite nice with the fall colors. The poster space was at the end of the street. When I got there a couple was putting there child into their car and seemed slightly curios as to why I was standing outside of their townhouse.This poster was a combination of The Tannery and Union Square displays.
Coming back to my car I was happy to see that there was no ticket and no one had taken particular offense to me taking a private spot.Next stop was the International Bicycle Center in Alston. As I was traveling down Brighton Ave. I found an open spot but there was someone double parked just in front of the space. I waited to see if he was going to take it but eventually assumed that they were not interested. I started into the spot and suddenly the car started moving aggressively into the space. After he parked I felt bad so I pulled up next to the driver to apologize for appearing to steel his spot. He misinterpreted my intentions and gave me the evil eye. I motioned for him to roll down his window and he started to but then waved me off. I found a spot two cars behind him and lingered with Granger a little to see if the offended parker would walk my way but he never surfaced. Was I looking for trouble or some imagined restitution with this stranger. I guess I felt bad thinking that he would be pissed off all day thinking he was hassled by another, in this case imaginary, obnoxious Boston driver.
Just as I got to the International Bicycle Center a couple arrived to look at the display. The guy kept trying to take a picture of the poster unpolluted buy his girlfriends attempts to obtain his attention. Every time he would tell her to get out of the way she would move and then jump back into the frame with a whimsical little dance and pose. Finally he got his picture or just accepted his lot in life and left the wall for me to photograph. You can sneak a peak of the pair on the left.
All in all a great way to spend a couple of weekend days. If you want to see all of the pictures and download larger size images see my photo stream on Flikr.Oh and this is my desk top as of Dia de los Muertos.
Addendum: schmeeeb found this at Harvard. http://tontowasgreen.posterous.com/shepard-fairey-art-in-harvard-square
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
A conversation with John and Me about Darwin's Black Box
Seriously .. u are asking me if I think the earth is 6K years old after I have been arguing in favor of evolution for the last few months. I don't believe the earth is 6K years old becouse that would be silly.
How do u fit God into this?You mean the Christian God. Well God is everywhere
Colossians 1:17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
The supposedly "Random" effects may happen at the quantum level. Maybe God directs that with gentle nudges until he gets what he wants. It seems to me that most creationists are actually deists who believe that God has created the world and it will run it's course as prescribed with no room for novelty.
Here is an Exert from Wikipedia on Deism "Enlightenment thinkers, under the influence of Newtonian science, tended to view the universe as a vast machine, created and set in motion by a creator being, that continues to operate according to natural law, without any divine intervention."
To me it seems like the God of the bible is a dynamic God who wants to interact with his creation but also allows his creation to have it's own creative force.
----- Original Message ----
From: john hariot
To: Michael Jones
Sent: Tuesday, November 4, 2008 12:54:31 AM
Subject: Re: a biochemists viewpoint on how the eye works and evolution
very interesting what you say. I think im following you.How do you merge
or blend God into all this?
And i was thinking about another thing. Do you beleive like many bible
scholars that the earth is 6 or 10 thousand years old? And why or why not?
Michael Jones wrote:
> I read Darwin's Black Box a few years ago and thought about this issue of irreducible complexity. One thing struck me. Viruses that are likely to not have been around at the dawn of time such as HIV have seemingly irreproducible complex mechanisms in there interaction with humans. And we see similar but equally irreproducible mechanisms with other species such as monkeys. It is more likely in my thought that human HIV evolved from a monkey strain rather then God creating both irreducible mechanisms at the beginging of creation. It is true that we see these very complex mechanisms in the cell but we also see lots of seamingly uneccesary components and redundant components. Another explanation for the aperance of irreproducible mechanisms is a trimming down of the redundant components, as they are unecessary, until all the fat is gone and we have a mean clean machine.
>
>
How do u fit God into this?You mean the Christian God. Well God is everywhere
Colossians 1:17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
The supposedly "Random" effects may happen at the quantum level. Maybe God directs that with gentle nudges until he gets what he wants. It seems to me that most creationists are actually deists who believe that God has created the world and it will run it's course as prescribed with no room for novelty.
Here is an Exert from Wikipedia on Deism "Enlightenment thinkers, under the influence of Newtonian science, tended to view the universe as a vast machine, created and set in motion by a creator being, that continues to operate according to natural law, without any divine intervention."
To me it seems like the God of the bible is a dynamic God who wants to interact with his creation but also allows his creation to have it's own creative force.
----- Original Message ----
From: john hariot
To: Michael Jones
Sent: Tuesday, November 4, 2008 12:54:31 AM
Subject: Re: a biochemists viewpoint on how the eye works and evolution
very interesting what you say. I think im following you.How do you merge
or blend God into all this?
And i was thinking about another thing. Do you beleive like many bible
scholars that the earth is 6 or 10 thousand years old? And why or why not?
Michael Jones wrote:
> I read Darwin's Black Box a few years ago and thought about this issue of irreducible complexity. One thing struck me. Viruses that are likely to not have been around at the dawn of time such as HIV have seemingly irreproducible complex mechanisms in there interaction with humans. And we see similar but equally irreproducible mechanisms with other species such as monkeys. It is more likely in my thought that human HIV evolved from a monkey strain rather then God creating both irreducible mechanisms at the beginging of creation. It is true that we see these very complex mechanisms in the cell but we also see lots of seamingly uneccesary components and redundant components. Another explanation for the aperance of irreproducible mechanisms is a trimming down of the redundant components, as they are unecessary, until all the fat is gone and we have a mean clean machine.
>
>
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
I saw the Movie Hombre this weekend in the wee hours of the morning. I really liked the character Jessie. I thought she was mean at first but she really grew on me. Here is some dialog.
Doris: I like Dr. Favor.
Doris: He has such lovely manners.
Doris: I was noticing his hands.
Doris: He keeps his nails so nice and clean.
Audra: He's very proud of his hands and feet, they're so small.
Audra: I, on the other hand, am proud of his brain. It's very large.
Doris: He reads a lot, doesn't he?
Doris: Far into the night, which is just as well. 'Cause when he takes his trousers off and folds them neatly and hangs them over the back of a chair, that sharp, exciting intelligence of his doesn't count for very much. All we're left with is thin, spindly legs with those little blue veins on them and all the knots and bumps.
Jessie: A love match, huh?
Audra: When I was 18 and a student of his and I heard him read Robert Browning. But now I'm 35, and I hear him cough up phlegm.
Doris: They all make those noises... bathroom noises and bedroom noises.
Audra: Well, I suppose we've all felt the same chill.
Jessie: Not me. I like men. They may have put a little gray in my hair, but I keep coming back for more, so they must have something.
Doris: I like Dr. Favor.
Doris: He has such lovely manners.
Doris: I was noticing his hands.
Doris: He keeps his nails so nice and clean.
Audra: He's very proud of his hands and feet, they're so small.
Audra: I, on the other hand, am proud of his brain. It's very large.
Doris: He reads a lot, doesn't he?
Doris: Far into the night, which is just as well. 'Cause when he takes his trousers off and folds them neatly and hangs them over the back of a chair, that sharp, exciting intelligence of his doesn't count for very much. All we're left with is thin, spindly legs with those little blue veins on them and all the knots and bumps.
Jessie: A love match, huh?
Audra: When I was 18 and a student of his and I heard him read Robert Browning. But now I'm 35, and I hear him cough up phlegm.
Doris: They all make those noises... bathroom noises and bedroom noises.
Audra: Well, I suppose we've all felt the same chill.
Jessie: Not me. I like men. They may have put a little gray in my hair, but I keep coming back for more, so they must have something.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Dusk at Cubist Castle
I really like this picture. Seems like a place I would love to visit. I like the starkness of the landscape set against the minimalist hotel and the telescope off in the distance. I wonder if they have to dim the lights for night viewing.
Space.com Image of the Day
Space.com Image of the Day
Thursday, March 27, 2008
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