Fire & Ice

Via Knowledge News Email:

Volcanic Fire Under Glacier Ice Some 1,240 miles (2,000 kilometers) north of Antarctica is an island--Montagu Island--in the treacherous waters of the South Atlantic. This is no place for people, or penguins even. A glacier blankets the island land. And beneath the glacier, actually creating the island, is an active volcano. Now scientists have satellite pictures of the volcano--Mount Belinda--spewing fiery lava down toward the icy sea. In just four weeks' time, the lava, traveling in a 100-yard (90-meter) flow, has released massive amounts of glacier-trapped water into the ocean and built up 50 new acres of land, as the molten rock slides into the water and cools. Scientists expect the changes to be dramatic. A decade ago, lava from a volcano in Iceland melted enough ice to create the second-largest flow of freshwater on the planet. At the time, only the Amazon River sent more freshwater toward the sea. Scientist John Smellie, of the British Antarctic Survey, says, "How hot rock interacts with ice is so poorly understood. This opportunity to monitor a live eruption and see how it affects ice cover is priceless." Dr. Smellie also says he would "give his right arm to be down there right now." Image Credit: NASA / Jesse Allen / Earth Observatory / HIGP Thermal Alerts Team + Full Resolution

Kung Fu Monks Go Modern

From the Los Angeles Times:

Shi Yongxin wears a bright yellow robe and heavy prayer beads and lives in an ancient shrine high up in the mountains of central China. Yet he spends a lot of his time traveling in a chauffeur-driven jeep, jet-setting around the world and hobnobbing with Hollywood types. No wonder some people call him a CEO in a monk's robe. As abbot of the world-famous Shaolin Temple, the holy land of kung fu, Shi indeed plays multiple roles. His latest is executive producer of a $25-million movie about the life and times of the legendary fighting monks that is set to hit cinemas in time for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He also has a reality TV project in the works, a kind of "American Idol" for kung fu masters.

I wonder if they'll have a Simon Cowell-type judge on that reality show. If so, he or she will have to have some pretty impressive credentials -- and fight cred -- to poke fun at and insult potential kung fu masters. Otherwise, there will be some interesting footage for the blooper reel.

A Zen Story

A brash young man watched a sage drawing water from the village well. Slowly, hand over hand, the old man pulled up the wooden bucket of water. After some time the young man left and returned with a pulley, and excitedly explained how to use it, and how easy it would be to draw water by cranking the handle. The old man refused:

“Were I to use a device like this, my mind would congratulate itself on being so clever, and then I would quit putting my heart into what I was doing. . . . If I don’t put my heart and whole body into my work, my work will become joyless. And how, then, do you think the water would taste?”

-- Zen Calendar Workman Publishing

Quotable | Torn

Every morning I awaken torn between the desire to save the world and the inclination to savor it.
 -- E. B. White, American essayist and literary stylist (1899-1985).

E.B. White is best known for The Elements of Style, and three award-winning children's books: Charlotte's Web, Stuart Little, and The Trumpet of the Swan.

Chrismukkah: Evangelize Your Secular Holiday Sensibilities

"Deck the halls with lots of tchotchkes, Fa la la la la la la la la la. Tis the season to eat latkes, Fa la la la la la la la L'Chaim!"

Chrismukkah is now upon us, or so the good folks at chrismukkah.com[dead link] would have us believe. And the Chrismukkahans want to help you celebrate a Merry Mish-Mash Holiday. For example, you can build your own Matzoh House (as long as you buy the Merry Mish Mash Holiday cookbook)!

 

You can plan a special Chrismukka Nosh[dead link]: invite some friends over for a Noel Nosh and a hot cup of Meshugga Nog. You can also read the Chrismukkah blog[dead link] and submit your own Chrismukkah stories[dead link]. Now, maybe this whole Chrismukkah thing is a joke. Maybe they really are trying to support interfaith families. But their only serving a portion of the population by narrowly focusing on Judeo-Christian celebrations. If they really want to go interfaith, they have to add Solstice, Yule [Heathen Yule, Wiccan Yule], Bodhi Day, Zarathosht Diso and probably a dozen or so others that I've missed. That would change the thrust of their site ... and force them to really come up with a snazzy name. And while you're checking out Chrismukkah, don't forget about Chrismahanukwanzakah (which I blogged about last year). The "Angel" link uses the song from last year, but not the cool animation. I guess they dropped it for all new stuff this year. That's too bad, the graphics on the original were outstanding.

Update 2014-12-09: Seems that chrismukkah.com is no longer with us. It went down sometime after 2009 (you can see some archived blog posts here), and the domain is currently parked by GoDaddy. And good luck getting your hands on that cookbook. It's currently out of stock moderntribe.com.

PBDR: You Can Dance ... If You Want To ...

Apparantly, this thing (Partner Ballroom Dance Robot) was news back in June of this year, but I'm only finding out about it now. engadget has another photo. And I'm curious, does anyone else find this thing the least bit disturbing?

I'll bet his mother is thrilled that he found a nice, um ... robotic ... girl.

And the folks at Tokhuro University aren't the only ones interested in robotic partners. Kosuge & Wang Laboratory is working on -MS DanceR-.

Color me ... Gone (for the Weekend)

I probably won't be blogging this weekend, which won't be much of a change for me, really. But as opposed to the usual reason (um, just not getting around to it), I don't think I can blog this weekend. I'll be away and I doubt I'll have Internet access. Where am I going? (Ahhh, what a question, eh). I am attending a retreat during which we will discuss the topic of "Our Religions of Origin." Let me know if that piques your interest at all. If so, I'll post a summary upon my return to the blogosphere.

I.A.D. -- There's Help for the 'Net Addict!

Do you know what Internet Addiction Disorder is? Well, neither do I (though Mrs. Brainwise might argue that I am a tad too familiar with it). But I came across this story about it yesterday:

Hooked on the Web: Help is on the Way By SARAH KERSHAW Published: December 1, 2005 www.nytimes.com THE waiting room for Hilarie Cash's practice has the look and feel of many a therapist's office, with soothing classical music, paintings of gentle swans and colorful flowers and on the bookshelves stacks of brochures on how to get help. But along with her patients, Dr. Cash, who runs Internet/Computer Addiction Services here in the city that is home to Microsoft, is a pioneer in a growing niche in mental health care and addiction recovery. The patients, including Mike, 34, are what Dr. Cash and other mental health professionals call onlineaholics. They even have a diagnosis: Internet addiction disorder... [Read More]

Friday Pet Blogging | Hacking

When Otis jumped into my lap the other night, I thought, "Aw ... how cute. He wants to help me with my work." There he was, pretending to know what he was doing as he swatted at the keyboard and tried to reach the mouse:

"And when I press this key, all the catnip in the world will be delivered right to my door!"

Cute, right? And I kept thinking it was cute and humorous ... right up until I checked my credit card bill and found over 20 charges for cat toys, fresh catnip, and a video I don't even want to mention. *

Who the blankety-blank-blank showed him how to use PayPal?!

More Pet Blogging See the Friday Ark, featuring a compilation of today's pet blogging posts, over at The Modulator. Check the M&O Archives for previous Milo & Otis appearances. Carnival of the Cats, coming at you every Sunday.

* Um, just in case it wasn't obvious ... the pic is real, but the story is a joke. No, Otis does not know how to order merchandise via the web. At least, I don't think he does. Milo, on the other hand ...

A Simple Creed

I believe in the forest, and in the meadow, and in the night in which the corn grows. -- Henry David Thoreau, American author, naturalist, pacifist, tax resister and philosopher (1817 - 1862)

Henry David Thoreau, photograph published circa 1879.

As a writer, Thoreau labored over his work, writing and re-writing -- and then re-(re-)writing several times over -- until he finally expressed his thoughts to his satisfaction. The end result may not betray all that effort, since he seems to say so much with so few words. And, although many of Thoreau's statements have the easy brevity of a modern soundbite, a thoughtful reader can reap treasures of layered meanings and nuance in every paragraph. Take, for example, the quote that leads today's entry. Thoreau lists only three beliefs, and does so in brief. There is no explicit mention of a divine being. No trace of a nod to a personal savior. But I submit to you that these words carry more power and a deeper mystery than any creed or oath in 2000 years of christendom. On a literal level, the "forest" he refers to here means, of course, an actual forest. An outside wooded area. On deeper, metaphoric levels, this "forest" wherein Thoreau places belief refers to Nature, and the mystery and power that reside therein. What is the mystery in a forest, in Nature? As Robert Frost wrote, "The woods are lovely, dark and deep." Standing just outside the forest, your sight cannot penetrate to its heart. "What is in there?" you might wonder, or, more to the point, "what is it hiding? What dangers lurk there?"As for the power of Nature, look to the trees themselves. Branches that sway and bend with the breeze, but do not break. Roots that, over hundreds of years, can break down stone. In the right circumstances, and it doesn't take much (though it is a careful balance), trees and other woodland plants are highly resilient. And they can live hundreds of years, outstripping individual humans, or their societies, in their longevity. That is, of course, unless threatened by those human societies (see campaigns to save Old Growth forests in the U.S., Australia, and Sweden, for example). The forest can also represent the mythic "descent into darkness," through which the hero faces a crisis, or turning point, and achieves greater self-knowledge. Refer to Joseph Campbell's books The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1948, 1972), Myths to Live By (1972), The Masks of God (4 vols, released 1959-1968). Or, if you are short on time, just do a 'net search on "Hero Quest Cycles" and/or "Joseph Campbell." That will turn up lots of interesting reading, such as the concept of the Monomyth, an essay on Beowulf and Star Wars, and Linda Griggs' Hero Quest Cycles. I've barely scratched the surface of forest symbolism, and that is as it should be. So now I will leave the forest in the middle of my ponderings and turn to the meadow. This open space is still part of Nature, but it is more inviting, perhaps it feels safer. With wide vistas, one can see to the heart of a meadow, and beyond. It does not seem to hold any secrets. But that is, of course, its secret. The meadow may still have some part of Nature at its heart -- it is not tainted with human dwellings. But it is Nature tamed. The woodland cleared. The meadow is the boundary, perhaps, between the mysterious forest and the oh-so-safe structures of human civilization. I meditate now upon the phrase, "...the night in which the corn grows." To believe in that night is to believe so many things, particularly now that the growing season has passed. This is a hopeful statement, full of promise. Full of awe and respect for the power and wisdom of our true Mother, the Earth. And the night itself, domain of the Moon, plays yin to the sun's yang, represented here by the golden yellow of corn kernals. This phrase is also a knowing nod to humanity's first true currency and wealth: grains. The cultivation and storage of grains helped early communities grow and thrive -- from ancient Egypt, to the Mayans, to Indian tribes of the Northeastern United States. It is not just an army that travels on its belly. Hmmmm. Starting today, I will stake my belief in Thoreau's forest, meadow, and night for my own creed. And I don't mean this in a dogmatic sense, for the world is sorely drenched in dogma as it is. I merely want to explore what it means to believe in these things, perhaps only for a week ... maybe until the end of this year. I don't know what will come of it, and I don't particularly care. But for some reason, I feel I will be all the better for having d0ne it. For more about Henry David Thoreau, I invite you to check out the Wikipedia entry on him, as well as their collection of external links.