Here's a fun video from www.Zumbakamera.com and there's more where that came from! Check out the illustration gallery while you're there!

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"Troy, N.Y.— A researcher at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has uncovered mathematics embedded in the designs of various aspects of native and contemporary culture, from traditional beadwork and basket weaving to modern hairstyles and music. Using the discovery, he’s developed a series of interactive, Web-based teaching tools that are capturing the interest – and imagination – of students in math classes across the country." - Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

All of these Web-based tools can be found complete with historical information and tutorials at Culturally Situated Design Tools, free of charge.

Love how they say this guy "uncovered and discovered" fractals and mathematics in native and contemporary designs. It's been widely known for some time now. But the site is a geat resource for folks of all ages, he even has a section on modern day graffiti. I'd like to see him do an applet for mandalas or kaleidoscopes with references to middle-eastern culture as well.

I recently noticed that my new computer gently hums to the pitch of the opening note the organ plays in Prince's "Let's Go Crazy"... no lie!

For weeks every time I sat down at my desk, that song would instantly pop into my head. Now I know why. I'm eternally cursed to live with the words "Dearly Beloved, we are gathered here today to get through this thing called life..." rampaging through my head.

Prince was recently awarded with the Webby Lifetime Achievement Award on June 12th, in recognition of his "visionary" use of the Internet that included becoming the first major artist to release an entire album—1997's "Crystal Ball"—exclusively on the Web. Congrats, Prince, you androgynous yet sexy-motha-f#%@er! Ever the trend-setter, aren't ya?

"A molecular biologist has borrowed a technique from genetic science to date hand-printed art. The so-called print clock method, developed by Blair Hedges of Pennsylvania State University, could help historians and collectors pinpoint when thousands of undated, hand-printed materials were created." - Scientific American, June 21, 2006

Soooo cool!

My husband and I met with a good friend for dinner a couple nights ago. The topic of Highlander came up and we all agreed that the first movie rocked, the second and third were a bad joke and the television series was... well, we honestly don't know what it was besides a poorly written attempt to cash in.

This is, I think, my favorite Highlander scene. I cannot go into an enclosed parking lot without thinking about this fight scene. Here we see Christopher Lambert giving a number of his best introspective emo expressions before the old balding guy steps out of the shadows. Of course Lambert has sexy lips, so naturally, he will be the victor! He hits old guy once and he starts trembling like a geriatric who forgot to drink his Ensure that morning.

For those of you who would rather not sit through 116 minutes of the first movie, here is a 30 second reenactment performed by bunnies.

On the other hand, for those of you diehards who love everything Highlander, this guy put together Connor MacLeod's Multi-Universal Timeline based on bits of information gathered from various sources (books, movies, scripts, etc.).

...and uh, where would the Internet be without fanfics?

This rare type of rainbow is called a circumhorizontal arc, and it was photographed on June 3 in northern Idaho near the Washington State border. The arc spanned several hundred square miles of sky and lasted for about an hour.

"It is caused by light passing through wispy, high-altitude cirrus clouds. The sight occurs only when the sun is very high in the sky (more than 58° above the horizon). What's more, the hexagonal ice crystals that make up cirrus clouds must be shaped like thick plates with their faces parallel to the ground." - National Geographic

Need proof? link

When in the course of organic evolution it becomes obvious that a mutational process is inevitably dissolving the physical and neurological bonds which connect the members of one generation to the past and inevitably directing them to assume among the species of Earth the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and Nature's God entitle them, a decent concern for the harmony of species requires that the causes of the mutation should be declared.
We hold these truths to be self evident:   more »

Just a fun site that contains a "World Canvas" where graffiti is encouraged and displayed in a zoom-in-zoom-out, Google Maps style interface.

I just might draw a little something myself!

Heh, this site's cute retro design pulled me in. The fun content within was worth listening to the anoying timer tick while it loaded.

"According to gossip, The Housewives Tarot was introduced by housewife extraordinaire Marlene Louise Wetherbee in the early 1950s. She was a happy homemaker who seemed to have it all- a devoted husband and obedient children, a sparkling home that was the talk of the town, a fashion sense to die for, a far more than her fair share of women's intuition..." - The Housewives Tarot

Hey! That kinda sounds like me!

Seriously though...

...OK, maybe just the part about the fashion sense and the devoted husband.

My husband said I should take a picture of my keyboard and post it. See the grooves in the letters E,S and D? Yeah, those are from my fingernails! There are similar grooves in letters R, N, M, L, C and V. It's a Dell QuietKey keyboard, though I'm sure it would be way more quiet if it weren't for the sound of my nails hitting the keys at a mile per minute. I found this keyboard in an old box in Tucows' basement years ago when my previous keyboard bit the bullet. Lord knows how old it is...

Yes, it's pretty boring, no fancy-shmancy Internet keys or macro'd audio keys... just the basics. It has served me well. I kinda like the grooves, actually. Sure, I occasionally find myself lusting after one of those illuminated beauties with the couple dozen macro keys I'll never use (I'm old school like that)... or maybe one of those flexible ones that wouldn't take up so much space... but there's something to be said for the comfort of the familiar. My Dell QuietKey has been there for me through the good times and bad. It still works fine though I've dropped crumbs onto it, spilled coffee into it, and generally mistreated it. I think I've even dropped it a time or two, not to mention the consistent use, 8 hours a day, 5 days a week for an estimated 5 years! What a friend! A true companion!

I don't know where my fascination with graffiti stems from, maybe it was growing up in a depressed urban area. I've seen a lot of it on the streets of Flint, Michigan. I find what people choose to say with a can of spray paint very interesting. The world is their canvas. This site, www.picturesofwalls.com, contains 4 galleries of photos depicting graffiti on walls and objects that were taken in cities around the world.

Interestingly enough, there are reoccurring themes; my favorite are the obligatory anti-government and anti-commercialism ones. It seems graffiti artists are just saying what we all wish we could say but don't want to risk vandalism charges to do so.

(A sense of humor and tolerance of cuss words required.)

Sometimes I lay in bed at night and ponder the wonders of the universe. Who decided that the long yellow fruit should be called a banana, and how did he convince everyone else to call it that as well? What was the force that seperated matter from antimatter? How on earth did they multiply roman numerals?

Then I literally StumbeUponed this site by Dr. David P. Stern that explained in detail the very peculiar yet accurate way Romans multiplied... they didn't know why it worked then, but it all comes back to the use of that good ol' binary.

Humans

Agent Smith: I'd like to share a revelation during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species. I realized that you're not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment but you humans do not. You move to an area and you multiply and multiply until every natural resource is consumed. The only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet. You are a plague, and we are the cure.


(Couldn't help but draw a correlation between the two.)

And while I'm on the subject.. have you seen The Meatrix? "It's the story we tell ourselves about where our meat and animal products come from."