SuperForest

Last year SuperForester Jackson told us about Craig Damrauer and his genius book, New Math. I was super intrigued by this amazing concept but a bit of time passed and eventually, I forgot about it.

Last night, after bouncing back and forth between websites, I saw those familiar baby blue rectangles filled with witty wonder on “my love for you is a stampede of horses”! Even more amazing, I found out he’s created a website where he has been adding more new math every Monday. Fun! So I easily spent the next 30 minutes of my evening on this site clicking and laughing (in that order). For those of you who are unfamiliar with “New Math” here are a just a few examples of the many he has created…

So to sum it all up (pun intended)…

New Math=(Wit + Creative Mastermind) – Numbers

As a fun little homework assignment, I think it’d be awesome if we flex our own creative capabilities and complete an equation and shared it in the comments section. Here it is…

The possibilities are endless! You can make it as complex or as simple as you want, and if you don’t feel like doing SuperForest, you can do whatever you’d like; your boyfriend, dog, etc. The point is, they are fun to read, but writing them and sharing them should even more fun. And plus, how cool would it be if we created our own little collection?!

(A big thanks to Craig Damrauer for creating this and my love for you is a stampede of horses for bringing it back into my consciousness)

(Click to embiggenify)

Much love and happy Spring!

-Jackson

“My hands are empty, but I want to prove that a woman with empty hands can do a lot. It will be a lesson for all the women of Afghanistan. Already five thousand years, we women have waited for our turn. We cannot wait another century.”

Good Morning SuperForest!

Last night I got to meet a real life superhero. I went to a screening of the new film Frontrunner, which follows the journey of Dr. Massouda Jalal during her bid to become the first woman president of Afghanistan.

Here’s the trailer:

To say that Dr. Massouda Jalal is a brave and strong woman doesn’t go nearly far enough. To list her many accomplishments would take too long. I’ll just link to her wiki, and tell you that Dr. Jalal has repeatedly put herself on the line for her beliefs.

What beliefs? Dr. Jalal believes that Afghan women should be treated as equals, and have a hand in any discussion about the rebuilding of Afghanistan following the collapse of the Taliban. The equality that Dr. Jalal promotes has resulted in numerous death threats and a relentless stream of intimidation towards her.

Somehow, Dr. Jalal manages to take all this in stride. Somehow she manages to run a highly visible and vocal campaign for President while still being a wife, pediatrician, psychologist, and mother of three.

Last night, I sat in the audience watching this extraordinary story of bravery and triumph play out, while the star of the film sat a few rows in front of me.

After the film, there was a brief panel discussion where Dr. Jalal was asked whether she would run for President again in the upcoming Afghani elections, and she replied that without the support of the international community, she would not, as to avoid yet another disappointment for her fellow country-women.

Then the floor was opened up for questions and I threw my hand into the air and waved it madly until someone handed me a microphone. I asked Dr. Jalal how in the face of great personal danger she was able to remain hopeful and unafraid? What she used to remind herself to keep going, and that anything is possible?

She replied, (and sadly, I must paraphrase as no recording devices were allowed,):

“Once I had made up my mind to champion the rights of Afghanistan’s women, I was unafraid. For if you die in the service of a great idea, to elevate the lives of millions of people, then you die with meaning. Even your body will provide further validation for the ideas you serve. To die believing in nothing, serving no ideals, is to die without meaning.”

All I could do as this wonderful and powerful woman looked into my eyes and said these words was nod and smile. I so needed to hear that. After the screening I was lucky enough to shake her hand and thank her personally. Swoon!

Thank you, Dr. Massouda Jalal for the inspiration you spread. I hope that this little blog can help spread word of your gifts and wisdom throughout the international community, and that when you decide to run again, you find the support of your hundreds of thousands of fans right alongside you.

Thank you also to Miss Virginia Williams for directing Frontrunner and putting your neck on the line to help get the word out about Dr. Massouda Jalal.

Here is the Frontrunner myspace page.
The Frontrunner movie site.
The Frontrunner blog.
The Dr. Massouda Jalal wiki.
And, an interview from Awakened Women e-mag.

Extraordinary accomplishments abound.

Love to All,

Jackson

On the last day of every month SuperForester Julius presents a monthly recap of the most amazing happenings in the world of science, technology and computing. Julius is currently in his last year of High school and plans on enrolling the Applied Physics bachelor this September.

The Amazing Photo-balloon

To start things off I have, in my opinion, an awesome photograph. But the story behind it is even more awesome.

image courtesy of Meteotek

This picture was taken at an attitude of 28 kilometers (approximately 17 miles), which isn’t very special. Satellites take images from much greater heights all the time. But this picture wasn’t taken by a satellite, it was taken by a relatively cheap Canon consumer camera. And the people who took it didn’t shoot it out of an airplane window (it has to be said that 28 km is mind bogglingly high for a plane), they weren’t even holding the camera.

A few students from Catalonia, that is in Spain, teamed up and built a unit which they attached to a big balloon. The unit contained a camera and some essential electronics (to trigger the shutter of the camera, for example). They then released the baloon up into the air so it could take pictures from our planet’s atmosphere. And this is one of the results!

It is so awesome that people in this 21st century have the possibility to do stuff like this. Electronics are available on the cheap and with a bit of intellect wonderful things can happen. If you’re interested to read more it’s recommendable to check out their official website (which is written in Catalonian but can be translated into English) but if you’re just interested to see more pictures they’ve got an awesome flickr page. With graphs displaying measurements and with another few photographs.

Life on Mars, Again?

For as long as written history goes back people have been guessing about other lifeforms in the universe. This quest for extra-terrestrial life is truly fascinating, taken the large amount of money that’s invested in it. Apparently us humans are tremendously curious to know whether or not we’re alone. Anyway, another lead has been found.

A few scientists working at the NASA Space Center, Houston have identified objects that could resemble mud volcanoes on Mars. Mud volcanoes are small volcanoes bubbling up mud that comes from a few miles underneath the planet’s surface. The scientists aren’t 100% sure but the Mars volcano looks a lot like mud volcanoes on Earth.

But how can a such a volcano suggest there’s life? Scientists have been speculating a while about the presence of water on Mars, it could be possible that there’s liquid water present a few miles underneath the surface of the small red planet. But since current technology doesn’t enable us to fly to Mars with a ginormous drill and drill down to the planet’s core they’re still speculating. Now, it is known that in order to create life, water is needed. And that certain life forms produce gasses (methane for example). If there’s life present, and gas is produced, this gas can bubble up to the surface and like this mud volcanoes can ‘erupt’.

It’s of great interest to study those heaps of mud because they can contain all sorts of substances that give scientists little hints about what’s going on underneath the surface.

Be Good, Drink Tap Water

At my school it’s pretty regular to fill a plastic bottle with some tap water every morning and take that with you to school to stay hydrated. I myself do it everyday. But it wasn’t until I heard about an analysis by the Pacific Institute that I realized how environmental-friendly that habit was.

The conclusion is that a bottle of ’spring’ water costs 2000 times as much energy as a bottle of tap water. In other words: the energy it takes to produce one bottle of spring water can be used to fill two thousand bottles with tap water.

For a reason this conclusion doesn’t surprise me. Here in The Netherlands all bottled spring water comes from springs that are situated in France or in Belgium. So it has to travel all the way to… here! This takes lorry trucks and cargo trains, while a bottle of tap water only takes me walking to the tap and opening the darn thing.

And to make water drinking even more enjoyable there is a wide range of fancy bottles available. When I heard that people drinking tap water were doing the environment good I couldn’t let it but think of this water bottle. Simply EcoLogical.

That rounds it up for March’s Most Amazing Science. Of course, not everything could have been covered. But if you feel like I’ve missed out on something enormous feel free to share your scientific news of last month in the comments section. And if you feel the urge to share your thoughts about anything that got covered the comments section is opened too! Have an awesome Tuesday!

(image via youthsportsny.com)

Here’s a reason to feel good! This weekend, Elisabeth Rosenthal at the NY Times published an article about a clever new (old) scheme for fighting childhood obesity, cutting traffic, and curbing carbon emissions. The answer? Have the children walk to school.

“I get to see my friends and we feel special because we know it’s good for the environment,”
-Giulio Greppi, age 9

In Italy, a pilot program is being carried out for the “piedibus” (which translates to “foot bus.”) Every school day morning, kids meet at several piedibus stop, where an adult “driver” walks by and leads them on to the next “stop” where more children are waiting. The group of children gets bigger and bigger as more stops are made, and a short walk later everyone safely arrives at the school’s front door. Safe and sound and rosy cheeked from the outdoor air. Modern environmentalism at its finest.

From the article:

“the town’s piedibuses have so far eliminated more than 100,000 miles of car travel and, in principle, prevented thousands of tons of greenhouse gases from entering the air, Dario Pesenti, the town’s environment auditor, estimates.”

Thank you, Elisabeth for the helpful reminder that the smallest things can make the biggest difference.

All of a sudden the humble stroll is looking thoroughly modern.
Walk for health and country!

Love,

Jackson

The Lost Tribes of New York City from Carolyn London on Vimeo.

“Filmmakers Andy and Carolyn London (A Letter to Colleen) interviewed people around New York City and transposed their voices onto inanimate objects. The result could be likened to a grittier (and more disturbing) version of Creature Comforts. Andy told me that to covertly record the two drunks who appear in the short, he had to slouch down on the ground next to them in Penn Station and act drunk while pretending to listen to music.”

Amazingness! Thank you to SuperForester Christine!

(via cartoonbrew.com)

Hooray Superforest!

Last month I ordered two Dietz Lil’ Wizard lanterns from Lehman’s catalogue. After a bit of a mix up involving wrong floors and basement storage areas, I’m happy to report that my lanterns (and fuel oil) all made it safe and sound.

Since I’ve never before owned or used a lantern, I was relieved to see that the instructions are quite simple: Fill with oil, light, enjoy.

I could do that. I filled one with oil, waited a moment for the oil to soak up, and then touched a match to the little strip of cotton. Poof! A jolly yellow flame that grew brighter as the oil heated up. The instructions said to wait five minutes and then adjust the flame height for maximum illumination, which I did. And then I sat in the warm dark of my apartment watching my Lil’ Wizard cast its warm light.

If the lights and power went out, I would have enough oil to light my apartment and perhaps (though I’m sure this is strictly forbidden,) heat up a can or two of chili, for at least two weeks. I’m no survivalist, but it puts a good feeling in your belly just knowing that such useful and long lasting comfort items are filled, ready, and within reach.

Lehman’s was also kind enough to send me a hard copy of their catalogue, which is stuffed with cool gear. Most of the items Lehman’s offers don’t need electricity, so reading through the catatlogue is like living in a different world where electricity is only used with great care, if used at all. Fascinating.

Need a lantern, butter churn, or an instructional guide on pickling? Try Lehman’s.

And I love my lantern! Thank you, Lehman’s!

(I just now noticed the little digital glitch in the photo of the green heart! Look just above the comforter next to my left foot.)

Good Morning, SuperForest!

Our very own Superforester Taylor has just released his first solo album, Whiplash Ballroom!

Taylor and I were talking and we thought it would be fun if I interviewed T about what made him tick, his thoughts on peace and music, and why his album is packaged in all recycled material.

And here is that very interview! Love:

What inspires you as a songwriter?
I am inspired by other art. Like the cross pollination of a worker bee. BUZZ. Movies inspire me the most though. Blade Runner, Alien, Harold & Maude. I especially love movies that are cross pollinators. Take one of my favorite movies for instance. Blade Runner. It’s is a beautiful Film Noir and a Sci-Fi classic with the most amazing artists all working on it. Ridley Scott’s direction, Phillip K. Dick’s story, Cronenweth’s camera, Syd Mead’s glorious illustration and visions of the future. They give me such energy to work on something of my own. I really like what Jim Jarmusch said about stealing from everywhere that resonates with inspiration, then it will be authentic. It’s flattery. Really!

Who inspires you?
My grandma Veith. She is a firecracker snapdragon beauty queen. I love her.

Tell us about the production of this album. Who worked on it with you, who helped you nurture it? What is it about?
I hope by explaining this I am not going to water down my tea too much for you but it’s pretty simple. I always use the same structure. Intro verse chorus, verse chorus, bridge chorus, outro. Now each one of these might be a little bit longer or shorter for each song but for the most part I use the same esqueleto. I have a feeling this works as a pretty good Narrative Archetype. I try and use the rule of comedic threes with the songs elements. If something happens in the song, beyond the structure, whether it is a melody or a main or peripheral sound, you will hear it again in some other capacity in the song two more times. Whether you are aware of it or not it’s there. I find myself really drawn toward symmetry. Even when I am painting or drawing something, the piece just always feels better if it’s balanced on both sides. I worked on Whiplash Ballroom with two great friends of mine in Austin. I played a few songs for my best bud Jason Lewis and he really encouraged me to play them for another friend of ours, living in Austin, Ryan Young. See, Ryan is a few years older than me but in High School my friends and I revered him as a musical juggernaut. We would hear him play at talent shows and we would hum oooooo Ryan Young. Even after he left school he had a reputation. So when I first/re met him in Austin I was a little bashful. Needless to say, he loved the songs and wanted to produce an album for me and we became amazing friends.

Physically your album is packaged in recycled materials, how did you decide on that?
I really wanted this to be important in the release of Whiplash Ballroom. I did a lot of research on the subject and you would be surprised how many options are out there! My wife is a designer so she had so much intelligent and creative insight. The most responsible means of getting music to people this minute is digitally. So we first released the album on line. Then for a tangible product we decided to go with something very minimal while maintaining some protection and design. So, we put the album title and my name on the disc. You could see the title and name through a die-cut hole in the sleeve. The packaging, “resleeve”, is 100% recycled chipboard from post consumer post industrial products by a company called Sustainable Group. We printed all of the info on the back of the sleeves with a man powered 100 year old Italian letter press.

How does your songwriting reflect your views on humanity? On love?
I decided I had been a consumer in so many ways for so many years. In terms of art and music and food and clothes and gadgets and light and life. It’s such a grody term, “consumer”, so I wanted to become a producer of these things too. I had this feeling that I needed to get these ideas and products out of myself before it was too late. I’m not really sure what that “too late timeline” really is but it surely gave me a sense of focus and a sense of ownership and urgency. Regardless, I am just getting started. Each song is basically a concept I was dealing with and then got through and conquered. I think we can all do this. Our first reaction is so sensuous. We see or hear or taste or feel a problem and that’s all there is, the problem. The wall of Jericho towering in front of us. Then, the next step is to know that beyond that problem is the promise land. Don’t stay stagnate and bogged down in front of the thing. Love can be so cosmic. That is a huge theme in this album. The way to experience love the way it is supposed to be, is to be fully engaged in it. Not half hearted but really in there, putting someone before you and not looking back. So, if you listen carefully to the Litanies in between the songs they are the revelations. They are called litanies because as we experience a problem in a day we can say these things to ourselves and then DO THEM for OTHER PEOPLE. In these litanies I say things like “look at it this way”, “I’m really listening to you”, “my house is your house”, “don’t bail out, you are about to break through” & “I can’t say it enough, I love you”. It’s the hero’s journey, the archetypal narrative with encouragement along the way. We can’t do it alone. Each song is a narrative arch driving a song vehicle with cinematic handling and YOU are the passenger.

Tell us about your life in Texas. What do you do day to day and how does that reflect in this album?
My life is reeaaally superb right now. I hate to toot the old horn but BrrrrRPPPP! I have a mesmerizing and hilarious wife who is so filled with love and wonder. We just got our first home together and we built it green. Low flush “Terlets”, a tank less water heater, radiant barrier in the attic and under the house with specialized temp vent blowers to regulate heat. Low water landscaping, Rain barrels, compost tumblers, super sealed entrances, etc. It’s like a space probe in Texas.
I am the Human Resources Director of a big commercial construction subcontractor here in Texas called Baker Triangle. I LOVE my job. I get to interact with many different people everyday, I research and develop ways to positively cultivate and inspire each employee and the company as a whole and I recently was asked to be the “Green Representative” for our company! Pretty sweet!

I think I would HAVE to have it this way. Then I can come home and reflect and write the tunesies. What I think about and do at work comes out in the songs when I get home. It’s a good relationship.

What are a few of your favorite sounds?
I love Tuvan bi-tonal singing, My wife’s laughter, Gospel and Renaissance choirs, hardboiled eggs cracking, any forest anywhere, the whir of my road bike’s free wheel when I pedal backwards and all of “Gimme Shelter” by the Stones.

And I’ve got to be totally honest with you Jackson; I think there is nothing funnier in this wide blue world than farts. Even the word make me chuckle.

Can you play the saw?
I have tried! And it sounded awful! But I am willing to take lessons if you are willing to give them! And a second request can you find me a bow made with unicorn hairs? Then I think I would really get it!

Do you believe in building a better world through music?
Goodness Gracious yes! It starts with me and you and them and us. Let’s build it! I love that people use the word “build” with that phrase. It implies to me that we have a solid foundation and maybe some towers and buttresses get a little off track sometimes but we are all in the process and moving upward.

Are you planning on touring?
I am playing around Dallas and Austin currently. I have a recorded show scheduled in Austin during SXSW so I will make sure to get that to you A-SNAP! In fact why don’t come along?! And bring your little bean shaped puppy friend!

To wrap it all up, why do you write for SuperForest?
Oh heavens…There is so much going on the world. I want to live in it all! I can’t do it alone. I have a nerdy need to search. It must stem back from a hairy genetic drive to go out in the forest and hunt and look for food and new paths and new territories and new caves and new discoveries. Not necessarily conquer all of these things in the forest, just search them out and discover them and do something even more important. Share them with everyone else. I like to tell people about what I love. I love to share my lunch, or a Three Philosophers brew dawg or an old Aretha song I JUST discovered. It may be some sort of insecurity I have but it just feels better to me. They don’t have to love it too but at least they listened. Maybe there’s a teacher in me. I don’t want people to be forced to take something in, I think it only works long term, when we accept it for ourselves. Just present the present. As long as they know in their heart, I am for it. I love to encourage people. Giving people a little ba-BAM! boost is such a rush for me. I may not be the one to tip the scales for them so they take the next step in whatever they are doing or whoever they are, I may be number four hundred and fifteen but its such an energizing and cosmic thing to know I am part of the ribbon. We are ALL part of the ribbon for each other! Crazytastaculous! For me, checking it all out on the web and mixing it up in everyday life is kind of like being on the starship TAYLORPRISE. One mission. Search and share.

LOVE,

TV

Love right back at you, T.
Here’s Taylor’s myspace page for to further your adventures on the Starship Taylorprise. And here’s Taylor’s site.

What would a medical student with an art background do if you hand him an old CT-scan (that’s a scan used for analyzing patients in hospitals)? Probably the same as what you would do if someone hands you an industrial copier: indeed, find as many ordinary objects as possible and stash them under the scanner, hit ‘copy’ and watch how that newspaper/credit card/envelope/dollar bill gets replicated over and over again.

This is almost the same as what Satre Stuelke did when he acquired an old CT scanner. Well, he didn’t randomly select objects, he choose objects that form a central part of our daily lives. Stuelke is a medical student who studied and has been teaching art at many institutions, at the moment he is living in New York and at his website radiologyart.com he tries to visualize objects that have a “deeper cultural meaning” to all of us.

He scanned toys, electronics and yes, even food. The above image even is a true BigMac. The analysis he has coming along with this image is nothing but fascinating, and when I read it I directly understood what he means by “deeper cultural meaning”. Here it is:

This is a CT scan of a McDonald’s Big Mac sandwich. Note the sesame seed bun, pickles, special sauce, and cheese all readily visualized within the box. Interestingly, spots of glue can be seen holding the tabs of the packaging.

The sasame bun and the pickles became an icon over the last few decades, but we seem to forget that from time to time.

With his visualization-journey Stuelke not only discovered what the essential parts of common objects are, he also took our modern, Western culture apart. Piece by piece, and analyzed it carefully.

When I first saw the website it occurred to me that he scanned two vacuum tubes. Now, I don’t blame you if you don’t know what a vacuum tube is. I’ll try to explain it briefly: a vacuum tube is an electronic component that’s used to switch or amplify current. It’s the precursor of the transistor (another difficult word, I know, but transistors virtually are the basis of our modern society. They are the main component of microchips for e.g.) Anyway, in research the vacuum tube was the thing that led to the transistor. And the transistor is the thing that led to our lives as they currently are.

I hadn’t realized it like this before, but the vacuum tube turns out to be a darn nifty invention which is damn interesting to scan. And besides that, it delivers beautiful imagery.

Take a look at radiologyart.com, a beautiful journey through the culture of the 21st century world. I really recommend taking a gander at the 360º movies, they’re at the bottom of the page. They’re all beautiful analyses of common objects, objects that are probably much more interesting then you think they are!

When you get ready for the day, what do you usually do?

Brefuss? Coffee? Matcha? Karate? Shower?…..How about a healthy dose of positive news.

Beunos Dias & Guten Morgen Positive News Network!

That’ll get ya’ going!

Love,

TV