Maybe this is what Whitman meant...

The composer John Cage visited a sound-proofed anechoic chamber in order to experience total and complete silence.  It didn't quite work out that way.  Describing the experience, he later wrote, "I heard two sounds, one high and one low. When I described them to the engineer in charge, he informed me that the high one was my nervous system in operation, the low one my blood in circulation."

This seems to raise a lot of questions.  Are the two sounds always at the same two musical notes and keys, or do they vascillate and, if so, why?  Can they be in tune with each other, creating a kind of harmony, during which we feel good, or dissonant when we feel bad?  Is the music of our bodies naturally harmonious with the music of those we fall in love with?  Might we be prone to hate someone whose natural music is discordant with our own?

"But zomgz it was totally worth it!"

Ah, but I jest.  Strokes are serious business, and an orgasm did cause her stroke, but the 35 year-old was treated soon enough that she dodged all but very minor brain damage. All her symptoms were gone within 12 hours of treatment aside from a sore vag and a little lost dexterity in her left hand which wikipedia tells me should return with time. Sadly, I could find no data on how good the orgasm was, but I suspect it was fucking awesome, the kind where half your body goes numb.  (If find that offensive, just remember that stroke and joke rhyme for a reason).

Now, I am trying to avoid writing posts that are little more than a reiteration/commentary of some other article (i.e. the "Blogosphere" a.k.a. redundancy, internet flotsam and shitsam repository), but this one was too good to pass up and two things in the article proper caught my attention.

Bush breaks yet another record.  George Bush's disapproval rating is the highest of any President.  Ever.

Palin can't answer questions.

Pine beetles are also eating at Utah's forests.  Part of a Utah newspaper story: the complex relationship between climate change, pine beetles and wildfires.

In a quick, non-campaign figurehead-related follow-up to my last post, I have recently become pretty curious about the World of Neuro…  There are blogs and articles alike popping up everywhere on “neuro-economics”, “neuro-marketing” and even “neuro-merchandising” it seems.  They cover new techniques where behavioral study at the neurological level and directed by university-level scientists is applied to economic theory, market research, branding and a host of other related topics anchored in confusing and often contradictory human decision-making habits.

Sounds a little morbid I must admit, but in reality it some really cool research that is being under taken. There is a new study being conducted called AWARE, doctors will examine patients who are in state of cardiac arrest... why cardiac arrest well as it turns out death is not one single moment but a process.

"Contrary to popular perception, death is not a specific moment," said leader of the study Dr. Sam Parnia of the University of Southampton in the U.K. "It is a process that begins when the heart stops beating, the lungs stop working and the brain ceases functioning — a medical condition termed cardiac arrest, which from a biological viewpoint is synonymous with clinical death."

Now that Luke is eight, he has started going to cub scouts.  I had two brothers who went through it all, but I guess I didn't pay much attention because it is all new and strange to me.  Luke LOVES it.  His leaders do really cool stuff like making rockets out of 2 liter bottles that they shoot off and they once played waterballoon human battleship.  We got him his cute little cub scout shirt and booklet.  In order for him to get his Bobcat Patch at the next den meeting, today I helped him pass off eight requirements.  It went pretty quick since it was mostly learning and memorizing the cub scout promise, motto, salute, handshake, sign and I can't even remember what else. 

Seriously, I mostly like cub scouts.  It's a great opportunity for Luke to play and work with other boys, have other great men to look up to and they teach honesty, teamwork and other good values.  They sure push that patriotism though dont' they?  I keep my mouth shut.   

A BBC article says a new drug could be a major breakthrough in treating aggressive prostate cancer. A pill could possibly be available in 2 to 3 years. The drug works by blocking certain hormones.
Scientists are hailing a new drug to treat aggressive prostate cancer as potentially the most significant advance in the field for 70 years.

Abiraterone could potentially treat up to 80% of patients with a deadly form of the disease resistant to currently available chemotherapy, they say.

The drug works by blocking the hormones which fuel the cancer.

The Institute of Cancer Research hopes a simple pill form will be available in two to three years

That shouldnt' be news if you've visited this site this summer.  I've maintained a running series on this critical issue as I've been collecting and watching resources on it (August discussion, July discussion).  The same can't be said for the corporate media, of course.  The Rocky Mountain News finally took note of the situation, but wrote only five short paragraphs on it.  Thankfully, there is no "other side of the story" in the piece.  I am going to discuss the situation in much more depth than the Rocky did, leaning on those resources I mentioned above.

[caption id="attachment_1207" align="aligncenter" width="499" caption="Black Swallowtail butterfly at Powell Gardens, Lone Jack, Missouri, 2007."][/caption]

One day a week ago the bronze fennel was teeming with Black Swallowtail caterpillars.  The next day, they were gone.  Where did they go?  Off to the woods forty feet away?  I worried about them struggling through the grass to complete their life cycle.  It's a dangerous world.  Birds, lawnmowers, children chasing balls, other insects. 

I was at my doctor's surgery today for a routine check up with the practice nurse, and I'm pleased to say everything was fine, I never mind waiting at this surgery because they always have a good supply of New Scientist magazines to read.

This edition from April caught my eye, for obvious reasons. The premise of the article is that as civilization gets increasingly complex, the more vulnerable we become to just small problems knocking the whole thing off balance - so that everything comes crashing down around us.