I never plan posts, but today, I’m really at a loss for what to say so I’m defaulting to one of my favorite subjects, EVER!

The BLACK HOLE!

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Okay, people, this is the very first Arkside Podcast / video blog.  What you’ll get in this first episode: rants, rants, and more rants; all rambling with no real clear direction save for my extreme dislike of the HSBC Bank.  Mention of HSBC’s payoff to the government (which amounts to slap on the wrist), the disparity in prosecuting rich criminals vs. poor criminals, and outright angst.

I curse, so if you don’t like that sort of thing, it’s best not to watch.  Not saying it’s all that bad, but, you know what it is.

by Sahm King

Good day, everyone.

You know, I have a problem.  My problem is science.  See, I’m a Christian, and I believe the Word of God is inspired by God and is, therefore, inerrant (by which I mean perfect and without error).  That said, I believe that there is something fundamentally wrong with our nation.

Science is the reason that God hates America.  Why, were it not for our ignorance as to the workings of the Universe, I believe that God would not be so angry with us.  We have gone too far in placing the sciences before God.  Science is folly.  Never mind that it’s science that has given me the ability to write this post.  Never mind that it’s science that allows for the expedient import of the coffee I so love.  Never mind that it’s science that helps me find the places I’ve never been to in the city in which I live without having to become a cartographer.  That’s all a smoke screen.  The truth is, science goes against God. Continue reading →

More from Symphony of Science

Among the loves in my life, my lady and my Mother both being number one, are the arts, especially the literary arts, ranting and raving, politics, philosophy, science, and music. Well, I just wanted to share this video from Symphony of Science (I believe I shared this last year, some time, but eh), which combines two of those loves. It’s called “Ode to the Brain”. The first three times I saw this, after my lady had showed me, I wept. I wept like a little baby. Why? I don’t know, exactly. I really, really love this track, and the video.

Check out. Maybe you’ll feel what I did.

This posting was inspired by the Huffington Post article “Does Our Planet Need a Stroke of Insight?“

This is one of my favorite videos/songs/creations of all time: Ode to the Brain from Symphony of Science. It’s a collection of seminars and documentaries on the brain turned into music.  It’s absolutely AWESOME!

When my lady first showed this to me, I had a…moment…as it were.  Yes; tears came to my eyes.  It was probably one of the most powerful things I’ve ever had the pleasure of listening to.  Take a look, and enjoy.

If you’d like more, check out Symphony of Science; it’s good stuff.

“Lyrics”

[Robert Winston]
It’s amazing to consider that I’m holding in my hands
The place where someone once felt, thought, and loved
For centuries, scientists have been battling to understand
What this unappealing object is all about

[Vilayanur Ramachandran]
Here is this mass of jelly
You can hold in the palm of your hands
And it can contemplate the vastness of interstellar space

[Carl Sagan]
The brain has evolved from the inside out
It’s structure reflects all the stages through which it has passed

[Jill Bolte Taylor]
Information in the form of energy
Streams in simultaneously
Through all of our sensory systems

And then it explodes into this enormous collage
Of what this present moment looks like
What it feels like
And what it sounds like

And then it explodes into this enormous collage
And in this moment we are perfect
We are whole and we are beautiful

[Robert Winston]
It appears rather gruesome
Wrinkled like a walnut, and with the consistency of mushroom

[Carl Sagan]
What we know is encoded in cells called neurons
And there are something like a hundred trillion neural connections
This intricate and marvelous network of neurons has been called
An enchanted loom

The neurons store sounds too, and snatches of music
Whole orchestras play inside our heads

20 million volumes worth of information
Is inside the heads of every one of us
The brain is a very big place
In a very small space

No longer at the mercy of the reptile brain
We can change ourselves
Think of the possibilities

[Bill Nye]
Think of your brain as a newspaper
Think of all the information it can store
But it doesn’t take up too much room
Because it’s folded

[Oliver Sacks]
We see with the eyes
But we see with the brain as well
And seeing with the brain
Is often called imagination

[Various]

[Robert Winston]
It is the most mysterious part of the human body
And yet it dominates the way we live our adult lives
It is the brain