Discarded Christmas Trees

It's time.

From a Magnum Photo photo essay.

Sun vs. Coal

Electricity from the grid is getting more expensive. Electricity from photovoltaics is getting cheaper. At what point does solar become less expensive than the power coming from our existing grid?

There's a app for that. Or rather a chart. But it's animated!

The nice folks at Energy Self-Reliant States have created an animated chart that shows you when solar will be cheaper that the existing electricity sources in your area, but in the meantime here are some fun facts...

1. The cost of solar decreases by 7% per year.
2. The grid electricity price increases by 2% per year.

Here's a link to the chart.

William O'Brien Jr's Allandale House

Here's a beautiful house. Three connected A-frames, each with a different roof pitch.

Travel Photo of the Week - How The World Fishes

A fisherman arranges a fishing net as his wife paddles their boat in the waters
of the Periyar river on the outskirts of the southern Indian city of Kochi.

10 Best Places to Experience Music

Love live music? Lonely Planet has a list of the 10 best place to experience live music performances. Three of the locations are in the good ol' USA. What's number one? The Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee. Of course.

Flying Robots Build Building

Yep, you heard it right. Here's a swarm of flying robots making a building. Swiss architects Gramazio & Kohler have released this video showing semi-autonomous flying robots assembling a structure of foam bricks. Sure, now it's only foam, but just wait untill they have flying robots the size of a car. (finally, flying [robot] cars!)

And we think the building trades are under-employed now.

Happy Christmas

Oh, Christmas Tree!

Here's a wonderful photo essay from Magnum Photos on the tradition of Christmas trees. Happy Christmas Eve!

Chanukah Fun Time!

Make your own dreidel! Makerbot lets you 3-D print your own!

Christmas Fun Time!

Need a last minute present for a do-it-yourselfer musician? Here's a great book on making your own string instruments, Handmade Music Factory. In it you'll get instructions for projects such as a washtub bass, a soup can diddley bow, an electrified stomp box and washboard, a variety of cigar box guitars, an ironing board lap steel guitar, and an upcycled tape deck amplifier.

Get out the tools. Here's some real fun.

Christmas Fun Time!

From the Irish Times, here is a 100 year-old letter from Alfred and Hannah Howard to Santa Claus found in a chimney. In it they ask for "a baby doll and a waterproof with a hood and a pair of gloves and a toffee apple and a gold penny and a silver sixpence and a long toffee.”

Don't you wonder if they got the things they wished for?

Christmas Fun Time!

Need kitchen help for the holidays?

Christmas Fun Time!

I think for Christmas week I'll do a bunch of Fun Time!s. Here's a lovely annimated film for those of us who miss Calvin and Hobbes. Remember all the violence and snowmen themed strips? Well then, you'll certainly enjoy this.



Oh and in case you want to do your own C&H tribute, here's a link to the video creator's site so you can see how it was done.

Old School Bus Becomes A Tiny House

Here is a link to a tiny house blog that has some great pictures of a school bus that's been tranformed into a tiny home. All the wood makes it really look cozy. The couple that bought it made it their home in the North Cascades.

Happy Christmas Music

MOOG, my favorite synthesizer manufacturer, is sponsoring a contest and to enter you must submit Christmas music done on their new Animoog app for the iPad.

I entered three times and here are my entries.

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen by Jeff Bragg

Silent night by Jeff Bragg

Jingle bells by  Jeff Bragg

Merry Christmas!

Fun Time!

Creative Review Magazine had this great contest. The December issue of CR included a blank, paper toy template, and they set their readers the challenge of cutting out and customising their very own toy. Check out some of the results here.

Farmers Occupy Wall Street

After all the hype that Occupy Wall Street (OWS) was just a bunch for college educated losers, whose laziness has not produced riches, whining about good upright Americans who've earned their $100 billion nestegg, here comes a bit about American farmers joining the ranks of protesters.

One Hudson Valley farmer carries a sign that says: “Civilization was built on Agriculture, not a Trading Floor!”

My sentiments exactly. As one website states:

"Over the past three decades, the U.S. has adopted economic policies promoted by Wall Street investment banks and agribusiness monopolies that have led to massive concentration in food and agriculture. Today market concentration is so great that only four firms control 84% of beef packing and 66% of pork production, which has resulted in forcing more than 1.1 million independent livestock producers out of business since Ronald Reagan was elected in 1980."

Here's a little video from the Farmers Occupy Wall Street protest.

Travel Photo of the Week

Beach at Trunk Bay - St. John, USVI

Hacking the Farm Bill

Computer hackers are mostly feared and misunderstood individuals. But the vast majority aren't trying to get to your bank accounts or steal your identity. Here's new about a group who are trying to make things better.

Every five years, The Farm Bill, a massive piece of legislation that shapes our food and farming landscape, comes up for authorization and a "hackathon" - a gathering of computer programmers who lock themselves in a room to tackle epic projects - brought together sustainable food advocates with computer programmers interested in helping them build tools to make this complex bill "digestible" for the average individual.

Various tools came out of the gathering. First prize went to the "FARM BILL of Health," a series of visualizations about the difference in support for fruit and vegetable crops versus commodities in the bill. Second place went to Meatlessly, a mobile app to promote Meatless Monday by allowing people to find, share, and submit recipes, places, and feedback about their progress.

Although only a honorable mention, here's one of my favorites below; a graphic designed to illuminate meat production and industry consolidation.

Tiny House Saga

New American Gothic. Tammy
and Logan with their tiny home.

I post a lot about tiny homes, but I do not live in one. Yet. I'm looking forward to making this life change, so I'm doing lots of research about it.

Tammy Strobel does and here is a blog with her insights, if you're interested in what life in a tiny home is really like.

Seems like it's everything I've dreamed and less!

I especially liked the five questions you should ask yourself about your true needs when determining the size of home you need.

There's An App For That

Seems like everyone has the cool idea to become an app developer.  Seems like there's a chart for that.

Can You Tell Me How To Get, How To Get To...Pakistan?

Seems that American foreign policy just added a new weapon to its arsenal: Elmo. The United States Agency for International Development, USAID, has committed $10 million to the four-year project to create a Pakistani version of Sesame Street. The US government is hoping that as well as providing basic literacy and numeracy skills, the show, called Sim Sim Hamara, will teach lessons in tolerance, and mutual respect.
Ah yes, this is the title of a new Sesame Street movie: Elmo Saves the World.

Hey, it could happen.

Children's Artwork Reimagined

Artist Dave Devries has taken children's artwork and given it a professional do-over. In his book "The Monster Engine," he renders kids art as if if were done realistically.

Below is a video about his inspiration for the project and its conception and execution.

In Milan There Grows A Vertical Forest

Milan, Italy is one of the most polluted cities in the worl, but architect Stefano Boeri has designed a building that will help offset its poor air quality.

This artists rendering of the design show an apartment building with balconies covered in greenery. Although Harvard Design Magazine has dismissed it as "dreamily utopian,” that hasn't stopped it from being built as the photos in the article here on The Creator Project Blog show.

Boeri calls the project Bosco Verticale, which is Italian for “Vertical Forest” and the promotional materials state that...

"The diversity of the plants and their characteristics produce humidity, absorb carbon dioxide and dust particles, producing oxygen and protect from radiation and acoustic pollution, improving the quality of living spaces and saving energy. Plant irrigation will be produced to great extent through the filtering and reuse of the grey waters produced by the building. Additionally Aeolian and photovoltaic energy systems will contribute, together with the aforementioned microclimate to increase the degree of energetic self sufficiency of the two towers."

Sign me up, it sounds good to me.

War Is Still Over, If You Want It

On this day, the 31st anniversary of the death of Beatle John Lennon, I am still given to thinking that we can fix things and make them work; that we can end poverty, we can end warfare, that we can afford to help the weakest and smallest among us, that we can play fair.

For quite awhile there has been a sense that our problems are intractable and that they are part of the fabric of our makeup as fallible creatures. So therefore we should not try to fix what 'aint broke.

The song "God Bless The Child" puts this idea well.

"Them that's got shall get. Them that's not shall lose."

If this isn't the theme behind much of what passes for our political discourse, I do not know what is.

The 1% says, "twas ever thus" and that justifies their behavior. The 99% decries the injustice and demands change from those in power.

All overlook their own power to make the world a better place for all.

"There's nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be. It's easy."

Travel Photo of the Week

The European Alps

Kepler 22-B

Looks like we may have found one. Another Earth, that is. 290 day year. About 2.5 time our size, orbiting a star very much like our own and in the habitable zone. Some scientists are saying there's likely to be land and oceans and the temperature a balmy 72 degrees. Only 600 light years away.

Sign me up.

Here's the article from Science News.

Anatomy Of A Tantrum

Parents often feel helpless as a young child explodes into a tantrum. They feel like somehow they've failed as parents when they can't keep the offspring from meltsdown.

Now research indicates that these events are not inevitable and that there is a rhythm to a childs seemingly uncontrollable outbursts. Key to this research is analysis of the sounds they make during a tantrum. In a paper published in the journal Emotion, scientists found that different toddler sounds – or "vocalizations" – emerge and fade in a definite pattern in the course of a tantrum.

"We have the most quantitative theory of tantrums that has ever been developed," said study co-author Michael Potegal of the University of Minnesota. First they devised a method to collect tantrum sounds, says co-author James A. Green of the University of Connecticut.

"We developed a onesie that toddlers can wear that has a high-quality wireless microphone sewn into it," Green said. "Parents put this onesie on the child and press a go button." Green and Potegal collected more than a hundred tantrums in high-fidelity audio. The scientists then analyzed the audio. They found that different tantrum sounds had very distinct audio signatures. When the sounds were laid down on a graph, the researchers found that different sounds emerged and faded in a definite pattern. Unsurprisingly, sounds like yelling and screaming usually came together.

Here's a video from the research. And here's a link to the abstract.

See Through Church

This church in Limburg/Belgium is a collaboration between young Belgian architects Pieterjan Gijs and Arnout Van Vaerenbergh. They've built a see-through church in the Belgian region of Haspengouw.

The church is 10 meters high and is made of 100 layers and 2000 columns of steel. Depending on the perspective of the viewer, the church is either perceived as a massive building or seems to dissolve – partly or entirely – in the landscape.

Don't we wish all religious expression was as transparent?

Fun Time!

For more funny bent-object photos click here.

The End of the World.......Wait For It!

What with all the 2012 world will end hysteria I think it's a good idea to get back to those crazy folks who started this whole mess: the Mayans.

But wait a minute. Did they really predict the end of the world in 2012? Let's ask people that know something about them.

"We have to be clear about this. There is no prophecy for 2012," said Erik Velasquez, an etchings specialist at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. "It's a marketing fallacy."

Hmm...selling books and t-shirts, I bet.

The National Institute of Anthropological History in Mexico has weighed in on the pending apocalypse, too. "The West's messianic thinking has distorted the world view of ancient civilizations like the Mayans," the institute said in a statement.

Yeah, they got that right. I've been hearing about the imminent end of the world since I've been a kid.  It's been a big theme in "Magic Jesusland." Oh and let's not forget that every generation has thought that their's would be the last to see the sunshine.

And finally, "The Maya did not think about humanity, global warming or predict the poles would fuse together," said Alfonso Ladena, a professor from the Complutense University of Madrid. "We project our worries on them."

Hmm...sounds a lot like people I know.

Autism's Hidden Potential

Humans tend toward thinking very small when it comes to recognizing each others talents and abilities.  Sort of like, "If you can't do what I want, the way I want it done, then you're stupid."

No group I know of suffers more from this stigma than people with autism. This article from Scientific American shows that autism can also be seen as a kind of gift with great advantages; the gift of being able to see the world differently.

In my experience, being able to think outside-the-box is very useful.

Travel Photo of the Week



Fairmont Hotel on Lake Louise, Canada

Liveaboard life: Minimalism In A Tiny Home At Sea

This young woman is living the dream. out on the water on her saleboat as a tiny home. This nine minute short film shows you how she does it.

Time Lapse Sand Mandala

I've watched as Buddhist monks created one of these and then after completing it, they prayed and then swept it up and in a ceremony, disposed of it. The idea is to contemplate impermanence.

Mars Rover Curiousity

This video shows the Mars rover, Curiousity, landing on Mars. Quite a machine.

Fun Time

Clown-Shaped High Voltage Electrical Towers in Hungary

Meghalaya's Living Bridges

If we are really looking for solutions to our cultural and environmental problems, perhaps we should look to people like this for their wisdom and vision. Thinking generations in advance, they weave living bridges throughout their communities.

To Give Thanks

It is important to be grateful for what you are given: life, love, laughter.

I wish a happy and abundant Thanksgiving to all my family and friends. To all homeless, I wish shelter and a good meal. To all our poor, I wish wealth. To all our children, I wish kind and loving parents. To all protesting everywhere, I wish redress for your grievances. To all our Presidents, past, present and future I wish wisdom and forgiveness for how you are treated by a nation that should honor and respect you and your office. To all in Congress, I wish you'd get a clue.

I have so much to be grateful for, my wife, daughter and family, my wonderful work. I just hope I don't forget this in the tumultuous year to come.

Travel Photo of the Week

Broken down bus transporting two cars from Kabul to Ghazni.

Tiny House In California Gold Country

Here's an article about a beautiful owner-built tiny home from the Tiny House Blog. Lovely interior. I like the deck. It looks like it doubles the square footage of the house (technically).

It's off the grid, with a 400 watt voltaic power source and a 12 volt pump connected to a 275 water tank to provide water for the sink. There's a shower, but the owner has an outhouse. Ah, for the good old days!

A Gettysburg Address Moment For Higher Education

I like to take the pulse of many a thing and as mentioned in yesterday's blog, I'm taking the pulse of the economic protest movement right now.

One of the issuses concerning our young people is access to higher education.  It seems that there are jobs out there, just not to many people qualified to take them and that's an education issue.

Cathy Davidson is a writer interested in the ways that digital information change our brains. She too, is concerned that this moment is being misinterpreted by our leaders.

Here is an article she wrote on how university leaders are misunderstanding what's happening on their campuses regarding the Occupy movement.

She says, "We’re at a turning point, a Gettysburg Address moment, where moral authority and moral force needs to be eloquently articulated before this historical moment devolves into violence and polarization. Our students are not wrong in the content of their protests. Calling the police does not address their issues; as we have seen too often, it can foster violence –with an ever-more imminent potential for tragedy."

For those of us who were involved and remember the student movement of the 60s and 70s, doesn't this sound familiar?

Whither Goest Our World?

On this Sunday I'm giving a great deal of thought to the various Occupy movements going on around our world. Although I personally have some issue with the rational and purpose of these protests, I must be honest when I say that there is change in the wind.

Police (apparently) pepper spraying people just for the fun(?) of it. No recognition from the elites that there are those who are really hurting economically are out there with no options. Large numbers of people seeing jobs as an entitlement.

And behind it all, no seeming recognition that these are the kinds of times and events that bring enormous change to a world. There doesn't seem to any idea that the protests in Tahrir Square and the protests on Wall Street are related things.

Here's a New York Times article about an entirely new group of Americans about to slip into poverty. They are called the "Near Poor" and are 51 million strong (or perhaps weak would be a better descriptor).

We need to remember that when people have nothing left to lose, they do things like the French Revolution.

Cake anyone?

Fun Time

Bert and Ernie on your GPS.

A Treehouse Grows in Brooklyn

In the words of Alexandra Meyn, “I think everyone has this special place in their brain — a primal nostalgia — for a treehouse.”

So she did something about it. She built a one in the backyard of her apartment building in Bedford-Stuyvesant NY. It cost her all of $400 and with the help of friends (“It’s hard for people to say no when you say, I’m building a treehouse, man.”) she made the childhood dream of so many come true.

Here'a link the NY Times article about her and her treehouse and here's a link to a fine photo essay about it. 

Travel Photo of the Week



Rooftop Cafes in Thamel, Kathmandu, Nepal

Tiny Origami Apartment In Manhattan Unfolds Into 4 Rooms

In 2005, third-grade-teacher Eric Schneider bought a 450 square foot studio apartment in Manhattan with a tiny kitchen. He then hired architects Michael Chen and Kari Anderson of Normal Projects to design a way to pack more density into his small space.

Here is a tour of the finished apartment and an interview with Eric and Michael describing to process. Quite elegant and beautiful. I wonder what the view is like.

Another Owner Built Tiny Home

Here's another tiny home. Designed and built by Daniel Aragon, it is only 110 square feet. Located just outside Telluride in Placerville, Colorado. Daniel takes you on a tour of his home in this video. Nice music, too.

Best Eggs Ever

I've become very picky about the food I eat. It's not just the taste: it's the nutrition, the carbon footprint, supporting local economies. I want to be able to walk my talk and eat well, too.

Almost every weekend I visit my elderly mother and for the last couple of years or so I've been buying my eggs from a farm market on the way.  Yesterday, when I picked up my eggs, the nice people who work there gave me the card of the person they get these wonderful eggs from so I could continue to get them throughout the Winter when they close.

When I got back home I sent her an email, so she would know that I was definately interested in continuing to get these culinary jewels. This morning she sent me a nice note and the picture here.

Another plus: the profits from the eggs go towards her daughter's college fund. I think I'll try to get her to raise the price. These eggs are worth it.

And don't these look like happy chickens?

Saving Our Heritage One Language At A Time

From my point of view, every time a language is lost, an entire way of life is lost. Ideas, insights, foods, art, culture, all gone.

Here's a video about a group of Wampanoag Indians in South Eastern Massachussetts that are reviving their dead language and the culture it represents. It looks like it's been a lot of work, but it appears to be bearing fruit.

Why is this important? I'll let the people involved tell their story.

Fun Time!

You're listening to music and think, "What would be the perfect beverage to accompany this listening experience?"

Wonder no more. Drinkify allows you to type in an artist and the, viola! The perfect drink is displayed.

Apparently, when you listen to me, it says you should try 6 ounces of Apricot Brandy, served on the rocks. And don't forget to garnish with pickled asparagus.  And here I thought they would have suggested motor oil garnished with ten-penny nails.

Down the Hobbit Hole

Here's a photo essay from Dan Price author of Radical Simplicity: Creating an Authentic Life. He fashioned a little underground home out in the woods that bears more than a passing resemblance to the hobbit holes in Tolkien's books.

It looks rather cozy to me. I wonder what the energy bills are and how well the elements are kept out.

Note: Fun Time! will be switching to Saturdays.

Travel Photo of the Week

Sydney, Australia

Tiny Home

Here's a beautiful backyard house made from recycled barnboard with copper roofing. It was inspired by The Mistake House by Bernard Maybeck.

The owner, Megan Lea, has created what she says is a "beautiful, useful, artful, and comfortable space while minimizing environmental compromise."

The interior is just as lovely as the exterior.

Kimberly Wood Stove

One of the problems folks have in a small house is the dilemna of heating it. The Kimberly wood stove looks to be one of the most efficient and compact models, burns virtually smokeless in less than 10 minutes and can generate up to 30,000 BTUs. Stovetop temperature gets up to 1,100 ° F.

Great for RVs, boats, yurts and small houses, of course.

No price yet, but here's their website. Kimberly Wood Stoves.

Recycled Building Materials in Maryland

Community Forklift is a fine shop in Edmonston, Maryland that offers recycled building materials such as windows, sinks, tubs (cast iron!), doors and the like. As the website notes:

"When producing new building materials, serious environmental damage is caused by harvesting, mining, and transportation across continents. Then, we fill our landfills and incinerators with the old stuff – construction and demolition debris makes up OVER HALF of our nation’s solid waste! Building material reuse is an alternative that just makes sense! Donors can avoid dumping fees, and earn tax deductions."

Sounds good to me.

Lloyd Kahn - Renaissance Builder and Publisher

Here's a lovely video of Lloyd Kahn at his homestead in Marin, California. Lloyd and Shelter Publications have been publishing books on building for over forty years and their Domebook and Shelter are classics in the do-it-yourself and alternative architecture genres.

Lloyd is currently in Hong Kong overseeing printing on his latest book, Tiny Homes.



Here's a link to the Shelter site and to Lloyd's Blog.

Oblique Strategies Online

Ever needed just the right (oblique) strategy for a particularly persistent problem? Nothing has ever been better than Eno and Schmidt's Oblique Strategy cards. Now you can have the extended set of "useful dilemnas" afforded by the cards online.

My useful dilemna for today is, "What to maintain?"

Fun Time!

Hoxton Monster Supplies, is one of the 826 Valencia literacy project's storefront operations. Each of the 826 outlets features a storefront, with various whimsical product lines and a backroom which features literacy tutoring. Dave Eggers, who wrote A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, is the man behind this. Hoxton is having a sale right now. Why don't you go down and pick up one of their fine items such as a can of Escalating Panic or maybe a bar of Impacted Earwax? I'm going to order a complete, four volume set of The Awfully Bad Guide To Monster Housekeeping, myself.

Travel Photo of the Week

The villiage of Shangri La in November

I Want My Flying Car

Back in the 1960s I went to the New York World's Fair. They don't have those anymore, something about the risk of terrorism or perhaps general lack for interest. Well I think maybe it's because of the promises they make, but don't keep. That's how it was with flying cars. They said we'd have them by the 1980s, but I didn't see any flying cars then.

Enter a bunch of young German guys and E-Volo, their company. Seems they've developed a nice little idea for making this dream a reality. It's appears to be a scaled up UAV, except without the U(nmanned) part. Now if they can only bring it to market. And make the battery last longer then 30 minutes.

Here's a little video about their maiden flight.

Design With Intent

Are you a designer? Involved with a group making decisions that affect others? Then this deck of oracle cards could be very useful. We often don't consider all the ramifications of the products and procedures that we create. This little deck of cards can be very helpful for seeing where things go, as I like to put it. Along with Roger Van Oech's "Whack Pack" and Eno's "Oblique Strategies" cards, I think they will be very useful.

Download the Design With Intent cards free, here: Design With Intent.

There's also an iPod, iPad version here: Design With Intent.

Babbage's Difference Engine and the Antikythera Mechanism in Legos

Andrew Carol just is a marvel. He excells at building antique and ancient computing mechanisms...in Legos. Below is his version of Charles Babbage's Difference Engine.



And here is his version of the Antikythera Mechanism, a device from about 150BC used to predict astronomical events.

Unlimited Green Energy Supply From Google!

"New research from SMU’s Geothermal Laboratory, funded by a grant from Google.org, documents significant geothermal resources across the United States capable of producing more than three million megawatts of green power – 10 times the installed capacity of coal power plants today."

That quote, from a public relations release from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, points us to a clear and clean future for energy production and consumption. We make the vast amount of our energy through burning things, things that add heat to our world, not to mention fouling our air.

If heat is the answer to our problems, then we have plenty to go around, according to the study. If we tapped those sources we could power the entire country without adding one plant or nuclear power plant. Look at the map below to see how hot your area is.

Fun Time!

On last week's Fun Time I posted a link to the BBC production, "Holy Flying Circus," the recent mocumentary about the events and difficulties experienced by the Python's when they released "The Life of Brian."

Then the BBC pulled the vid from YouTube. So for my revenge, here's a link to the Python's YouTube channel. Most of the funny bits are there (Dead Parrot, Ministry of Silly Walks, Spam, Lumberjack Song, etc.), plus there are some great interviews, if you like that sort of stuff.

Here's one of my favorite Python skits, Upper Class Twit of the Year.

Travel Photo of the Week

Simonetti Staircase, Vatican Museum

Self Powered Robot Legs

It looks like some brilliant folks at Nagoya Institute of Technology in Japan have come up with some robot legs that only need to go downhill to keep walking. All they need is a little push and off they go. They walked 100,000 steps, 15km, over 13 hours last year. Have a look at these two videos, the applications are obvious.

The Evolution of the Spacesuit

Wired has a great retrospective on the evolution of the spacesuit. What started as a simple way to maintain consciousness in high altitude balloons has gradually given way to the spacesuit as complex, self-contained spaceship.

This article and accompanying photo essay chronicles the development and history of this most under-appreciated of garments. Perhaps it's because although your jeans don't keep you alive, you think they are important.

JBJ Soul Kitchen

Jon Bon Jovi has started a restaurant that is accepting cash or volunteer work in payment for meals. Inspired by another such restaurant in Denver CO, The Soul Kitchen opened in Red Bank NJ, on October 19th and hopes to bring the surrounding community together and raise awareness on issues of hunger and poverty in the area.

The building was originally a three bay garage and has been beautifully converted. The menu has no prices. You select your meal and either pay the minumum donation, pay more to help feed a neighbor or donate an hour's work volunteering.

Synthesizer 404: Daphne Oram and the Oramics Machine

And here's a video on the machine and the exhibit itself.

The Oramics Machine

I have an obsession with machines that go "Ping!" Ever since the first heard Switched on Bach album by Wendy Carlos, I've been interested in synthesizers, electronic devices for sculpting sound. Through my years of study, many names have popped up: Robert Moog, Terry Riley, Karlheinz Stockhausen. But recently one in particular has been on my mind.

Daphne Oram was one of the founders of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. They're the folks who did the Dr. Who theme music (and many others). Oram, however, has often been omitted from accounts of the Workshop, and passed away in 2003 leaving little evidence of her life's work. Slowly, but surely, that has changed, and an exhibition at The Science Museum in London has recently further revealed her visionary understanding of how music would be made in the future.

The exhibit offers information on her life and work and the device she invented to make music, The Oramics Machine. Oram had adapted the process by which sound was mated film to create music. She drew squiggly lines on film to control pitch, volume and other parameters and the machine "read" those lines and turned them into sound.

Here is a video about the rediscovery of this device and work to restore it for the exhibit.



Here is a link to the Apple store. They have an Oramics Machine app. I have it and it's pretty cool.

Fun Time

I love the Pythons and obviously the BBC does, too. This week they are airing "Holy Flying Circus," a mocumtenary over the furor surrounding the release of the film "The Life of Brian."

The video below is a short documentary on the creation of the opening title sequence which pays homage to Terry Gilliams's wonderful animations for the Pythons.

Travel Photo of the Week



waterfall in the middle of Morocco



360 Degree View of Things



photo by Jonas Pfeil

This nifty ball can be thrown in the air and at its apogee, take a suround photograph. 36 cameras snap photos that are knitted together by software to create a spherical panorama.

To be presented as the Emerging Technologies demonstration 'Throwable Panoramic Ball Camera' at the SIGGRAPH Asia 2011.