Swine Flu

When swine flu.

Love

Love

I felt love, and then it went away. I felt love, but it never stays.

K-Os 4321

Check out the new album - Yes!

Humming Bird Slow-Mo

1000fps camera, captures humming bird flapping wings at 72 beats per second.

Watch more LiveLeak videos on AOL Video

Fastest Animals on Earth

... that we know of

Super Slo-Mo: Lady Bug take off

Super Slo-Mo. This is where we get many of our design ideas, from studying phenomenon in nature, evolutionary models.

Time-Capture Mushrooms!

If reality exists in at least 4 dimensions of time and space, then we must appreciate those of us on our planet that live in a different time than us. Check out time capture fungi grow, as perhaps a sloth might.

TED Talk - Liz Coleman's call to reinvent liberal arts education

"We cannot have a viable democracy made up of experts, zealots, politicians, and spectators."

Liz Coleman delivered an eloquent speech that moved me to tears. She delves into importance of interconnecting the academic disciplines, to create generalists rather than narrow minded experts. I've felt a generalist my whole life, curious and trying to explain things, and then always moving onto the next related topic of interest. This behavior is not cultivated or rewarded in today's society, as professionals reign dominant. Please watch, and enjoy.

This Christmas, Count on Christmas

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Are you Open-Minded?

Where do you fit in?

ShamWow Guy in Jail

Buy now, he can't do this all day.

Watch ShamWow Guy in Jail and more funny videos on CollegeHumor

Daft Dance Off

Check out these old homies break down, dressed to kill.

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Proletariat Blues

"We never get paid what our labour is worth, that's why we often in a daze on the way to our work, and when we get there, we can't wait to be out ... so let me tell you what its about"

From "Proletariat Blues" - Blue Scholars

So an update from my previous post "Penniless and Proud", I now am the proud owner of pennies. Got a job at No Frills stocking shelves .. minimum wage at 26 years old is humbling. Frustrating.

I comfort myself by convincing thoughts of 'this job is temporary', though in the meantime, I turn down gigs to record audio just as the spring filming season starts to pick up because they conflict with my schedule at the grocery store.

I wonder how many others out there are struggling. The news paints a picture of economic depression affecting globally, so I have to believe that I am not alone in this. Which comforts me in some ways, and enrages me in most other ways. I find my time consumed with thoughts of a solution, and then back to my more immediate responsibility of paying the rent, then to trying to think long term financially, and circling back again to trying to figure out how to introduce a global solution to our economic and social problems.

No one likes to hear this complaining, and as much I hate to complain to others. The result is to retreat inwards and pretend like everything is ok, in essence, to avoid others or to lie to them.

Spring is here, so I come out of hibernation and start to make plans. My next phase is to seek out employment teaching English in Japan with my brother Ben. We'll get year long contracts, pay off our remaining debts and hopefully save some money to come home with.

To all my friends and family that I keep in the dark, I hope you understand that I'm always thinking about you, care about you, and can't wait to see you all soon.

The Watchmen

My 2 cents on the movie: go see it. This movie lives up to all the hype as one of, if not the greatest superhero movies you will have ever seen. I did not read the comic, and chose not to pick one up to read before going to the movie so I could go in without expectations or knowledge of the story. So I suppose I can't comment on what fans of the graphic novel thought of the movie, but I'm sure they were at least entertained. Be warned, there's a fair amount of blood and graphic violence.

What I enjoyed most was how the story starts with these heroes in retirement. Most superhero flicks that have been pumped out to hungry audiences have focused on their origin stories, and often failing miserably to deliver an accurate portrayal of what these stories mean to their fans. The Watchmen are not typical superheroes either, they behave much more like normal people with flaws and poor judgment. I also enjoyed the language used, in dialogue and narration. I'm told the script follows the comic very closely, which means that the comic would be a very good read as well. I enjoyed this poetic tragedy which left me feeling satisfied and disturbed.

TED talk of the Day - March 4th

My choice for today's TED talk is Benjamin Zander: Classical Music with Shining Eyes. Benjamin Zander is a conductor, teacher, and speaker. He shares his passion for classical music with the rest of us, and shows us that we're all classical music lovers, even if we don't know it yet. His presentation was entertaining, and deeply moving, making it one of my favorite TED talks to share.

Enjoy.

Penniless and Proud

Well, today I feel great, in spite of being poorer than ever. I got my hydro bill today and have no idea how I'm going to pay it, but it just doesn't bother me as much as it used to. I think it has a lot to do with not being able to spend money on the things I've been trying to cut back on, i.e. coffee 3 x a day, cigarettes, weed, beers, you get the picture. The longer I keep this up, the easier it will become to live without, I'll be healthier for it, and that's something to be happy about.

I'm learning to love instant coffee, at $5.99 a bottle, that will last at least a couple of weeks. I still allow myself as much coffee as I want, as long as its from the instant brew, cheap and strong (no cream or sugar either).

The weather is getting better slowly, the days are getting longer and change is in the air. Joel who moved to Cali over a year ago is coming back to T.O. and that's something to be excited for. On top of that, Ben is finally coming home from Ottawa in July and we'll be moving in together. Miss my bro like crazy, so can't wait. I got a job at No Frills to help pay the bills, and had my first shift last Saturday. Sounds like there could be some big gigs coming up this summer for my sound recording business to work on, so that'll be more good news.

So yes, in spite of being broke today I know it won't last and that I'm not alone.

TED talk of the Day - March 1st

About TED:

TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from those three worlds. Since then its scope has become ever broader. The annual conference now brings together the world's most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives (in 18 minutes). The TED site makes the best talks and performances from TED available to the public, for free. More than 200 talks from our archive are now available, with more added each week. These videos are released under a Creative Commons license, so they can be freely shared and reposted. ***

I found this site about a year ago, and its TED talks have been become a huge inspiration for me. I will be posting my favorites for you, in no specific order. I guarantee you will find something of interest to you here, so please pass the word on to others that have yet to find this site.

My first choice goes to Barry Schwartz: The real crisis? We stopped being wise. He talks about what it takes to be a wise person, and how our current society does not necessarily recognize the importance of true wisdom, or the path to becoming wise.