Water water everywhere...

Its raining again today. Well, thats March - and I'm thankful for it because I know that it will bring out the blossoms I crave even sooner... so I can live with a few days of rain. Also, I recently watched the most amazing documentary, called Water, the Great Mystery.

Its an incredible molecule that we take so for granted! Life would not exist if it were not for water and we humans are mostly made from water. And even though it is the most basic and common thing on earth, it is still not truly understood. There are some pretty strange claims in this video, especially that water has a 'memory'. This is a fascinating thought. Also, one thing it talks about is the research of Dr. Emoto, who studies the effect of human conscious thought, music, or the environment on water. He fast freezes the water and then observes the crystals that are formed.

There are many images of these and more on the net, but I got this image at detoxifynow.net and there are more images there if you want to see them.

Another interesting thing that the documentary talks about is the power of prayer on water and why it is important to give blessings for the food and water we ingest. Anyway, I encourage everyone to watch this video. As a scientist, I'd like to see more data on the experiments and I don't want to believe something just because a "Dr." says it is true (the white coat effect).. but as a spiritual person and a scientist, I believe that there is much more in this universe that meets the eye and I am intrigued by the research put forth here.



You can watch the rest here or directly on my music/video page under science documentaries.

This statement is false

Last night I picked up the book, Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid (A Metaphorical fugue on minds and machines in the spirit of Lewis Carroll) by Douglas R. Hofstadter. I had recently watched a documentary on the study of infinity and one of the four mathematicians featured was Kurt Gödel. I love the work of M.C. Escher, Bach, and Lewis Carroll (aka Charles Lutwidge Dodgson), so when I saw all four of these names mentioned within a single title I was fascinated. The book is quite a tome, and I've only read the first chapter thus far, but it is very insightful, and I'm looking forward to reading the rest! Hofstadter's aim is look into the nature of infinity and contradiction. Within the universe there exist 'strange loops' that defy our understanding. Simple statements such as 'this statement is false' or 'The following sentence is false. The preceding sentence is true.' can be eerily complex.

Here are some works by M.C. Escher that play along this theme. There are plenty of places you can read about the man and his works, so I'm not going to attempt to put it all here, but you can read about him on plenty of places on the net. There's a good article on Squidoo.

Escher did a number of pieces displaying the Moebius effect. In 1858, two German mathematicians, August Ferdinand Möbius and Johann Benedict Listing, independently discovered what is popularly known as the Möbius strip. The characteristic feature of Möbius strip is that it is a surface with single side. In its most simplest form a Moebius strip can be constructed out a a strip of paper which is twisted halfway and the ends joined together. If one were to start tracing a surface, by the time they complete one trace they find that they are tracing the opposite side of the paper than the one from which they started. Go another round and you come back to the same side.

All of this strangely reminds me of the ancient symbol of the Ouroboros, the snake swallowing it's own tail.

Anyway, the third person that Hofstadter focuses on is Bach because he had a way of showing the infinite within music. Here is one piece that is referred to in the book, from Bach's A Musical Offering.



The fourth person (who is mentioned in the subtitle) is Lewis Carroll. I love Carroll (or should I say Dodgson), and I am very much looking forward to the new Alice in Wonderland movie that is coming out soon (all the more so because Johnny Depp is my favorite actor of all time).

I had just put the following quote on my facebook status the other day and I think it very much sums up the book I am about to delve into:

“If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn’t. And contrary wise, what is, it wouldn’t be. And what it wouldn’t be, it would. You see?”–Alice, Alice in Wonderland.

Just monkeeing around

Last night we were at restaurant in Turner's Falls, MA, where they were having a fundraiser for The Brick House, which is a community center there. Peter Tork, from the Monkees, was performing.


I loved The Monkees show growing up. I know it was before my generation, but it was played as re-runs, and I always thought it was hilarious. Anyway, it brought back some memories.



The above video is not very good quality, so here's the theme song again:



Peter also played 'Daydream Believer' and the crowd sang along.



Another of my favorites of theirs is this song:


It was later in the movie Shrek, re-done by Smashmouth.



This was the info about the night:
PowerTown Music will present a fund raising concert for the Brick House Community Resource Center. The show will feature Peter Tork from the Monkees, Folk legend Cliff Eberhardt, Ray Mason and local rising stars Katie Sachs, DeAngelo Nieves and Brooke Brown Saracino.

Peter Tork was the most accomplished musician of The Monkees, Tork plays 12 different instruments; his choice "depends on what kind of music I'm playing." He Performed as a folk musician in Greenwich Village and Los Angeles before being selected for the Monkees TV show. He made 58 TV episodes 6 albums, a TV special, and a movie before leaving the Monkees. He now Travels the world with his band Shoe Suede Blues.

Cliff Eberhardt knew by age seven that he was going to be a singer and songwriter. A driving force of the Greenwich Village New Folk movement and well known among his peers, Cliff s songs have been covered by the likes of Richie Havens, Buffy St. Marie, Erasure and Lucy Kaplansky.

The event will also feature valley legend Ray Mason and his road-worn 1965 Silvertone guitar. Ray Started his first band in 1966 and averaging over 100 shows a year. Brooke Brown Saracino has been honored in the Rocky Mountain Folks Festival Singer/Songwriter Showcase every year since 2005, and was selected to perform in this year's Falcon Ridge Folk Festival Emerging Artist Showcase..The event will also showcase two local singer songwriters Katie Sachs and DeAngelo Nieves.

All funds will benefit the Brickhouse Community Resource Center and their efforts to create green jobs, sustainable jobs and jobs in the music industry.

The mission of The Brick House is to support individual, family and community well being through collaboration on economic development, youth development, leadership development and education.