Weekend Thoughts - 6.25.16

Image by Stephanie Kraus, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Happy Saturday y'all! Below, I have rounded up some things for you to think about this weekend:

1. I have been a ginormous fan of the Icelandic band Sigur Rós for the past 10+ years, and was pleasantly surprised to see that the band has released a new song—for the first time in three years! In fact, it's a music video, rather than just a song. Fair warning—the music may be beautiful, but the video is a bit graphic (on the gory side, really). But still, it's worth checking out if you're as big of a fan as I am. If you're brand-new to Sigur Rós, I would suggest checking out their albums Taak and ().

2. For fans of the science fiction film Blade Runner, check out this extremely thorough typographical and design analysis of nearly every frame of the movie. For anyone who is unaware of Blade Runner, it is a movie adaptation of the canonical science fiction novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K Dick. Both are very well-known in the science fiction genre, and are well worth exploring.

3. The spontaneous light shows that accompanied artists like the Grateful Dead back in the 1960s were essentially live art experiments that produced never-before-seen visual effects. An interview with one of the prominent visual artists at the time, Bill Ham, explains the environment that these light shows were surrounded by and the techniques that were used to produce the effects. The interview is a bit long (albeit it well worth the read), but it's also worth clicking through to take a look at the art itself.

That's all for this week's edition of Weekend Thoughts. Until next week, keep thinking wilder.

Weekend Thoughts - 6.18.16

Image by Sebastian Ilari, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Happy Saturday y'all! Below, I have rounded up some things for you to think about this weekend:

1. Other animals have some interesting and unique senses that we are still learning about. For example, did you know that octopuses' have patterns in their skin that are entirely invisible to the human eye? And vampire bats are capable of smelling veins? How about the fact that elephants can sense and understand vibrations created by other elephants up to 10 miles away? The world is truly an amazing place, and this collection of weird senses that animals have just adds more evidence to prove that point.

2. An article from the Australian publication Hospitality Magazine explains why veganism is no longer a dirty word in the local restaurant business. The reasons for this include accessing a wider market, encouraging innovation by pushing the boundaries, and boosting creativity and morale amongst restaurant staff. I follow several Australian vegan YouTubers and have noticed that their environment seems to be a bit more vegan-friendly compared to the United States, but this article is encouraging nonetheless. This is one of my favorite quotes from the piece, and something I have tried to drive home to my friends and family time and time again:

"Vegans aren't going to eat from your menu if [there are no options for them]; they can't, they choose not to. But meat eaters and everyone else can eat the vegan items – that's an inclusive product. Even if it's just avocado on toast with mushrooms or whatever, that menu item can feed everybody, and you're also catering to a whole different market – the vegan market – so you're putting money back in your wallet."

Restaurants that choose to not offer vegan items are exclusive, whereas those that do offer vegan items are inclusive. In other words, everyone can eat plants, but animals are not foods that everyone can eat. I truly hope that more restaurants in the United States choose to follow suit.

That's all for this week's edition of Weekend Thoughts. Until next week, keep thinking wilder.

Weekend Thoughts - 6.11.16

Image by Bill Stilwell, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Happy Saturday y'all! Below, I have rounded up some things for you to think about this weekend:

1. This collection of interesting drug ads from a 1930s French magazine are pretty cool. The magazine, Ridendo, was a medical and humor magazine (somewhat of an odd combination) distributed to French physicians from 1933 to 1977. The content focused on jokes and cartoons about medicine and medical life, and the covers are a decent representation of French culture over the years. This selection of cover images featuring drugs is definitely worth a look.

2. Keeping with this week's art theme, check out these naked body-painted women that look like animals. They are beautiful and trippy at the same time.

That's all for this week's edition of Weekend Thoughts. Until next week, keep thinking wilder.

Weekend Thoughts - 6.4.16

Image by Sonny Abesamis, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Happy Saturday y'all! Below, I have rounded up some things for you to think about this weekend:

1. More than a dozen men (thought to be neo-Nazis) stormed into a vegan cafe in Tbilsi, the capital of Georgia, shouting, smoking, and throwing meat at patrons. In many other locations around the world (and probably even other stats in the U.S.), going against any mainstream opinion (including the non-mainstream decision to be a vegan) can often be a calculated risk concerning the potential to be on the receiving end of physical violence. Although I do wish that veganism was more accepted here in North Carolina and the overall country, I am grateful that I don't have to worry (all that much) about being physically attacked for my choice to abstain from consuming/using animal products.

2. If humans were to disappear from Earth, what would happen to the planet? Traces of our existence would start to vanish fairly quickly. Within 24-48 hours power will be out pretty much everywhere. After 72 hours, all of the world's subways would flood. One year later, satellites in space will fall into the atmosphere, looking like shooting stars that packs of wild dogs will see. 25 years later, streets will be reclaimed by vegetation growing underneath the pavement, the air will be cleaner, and nature will have taken back mostly everything we've built over it. 500 years later, there will be no trace of modern cities. 300 million years later, there will be no trace of us at all. The visiting aliens at that time will have no idea we were ever here. For more detail, photographs, videos, and animated GIFs that depict this process, check out what Earth will look like millions of years after humans.

3. As a rabid fan of Alice in Wonderland, I really enjoyed this brief compilation of the various ways that people have interpreted the book: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Many ideas have circulated over the years about what the book is about—drugs, sex, religion, politics, colonialism, etc. It's possible that there is a mixture of all of these involved, as far as I am concerned. Regardless of any allegorical hidden meanings behind the book, it's an excellent read, Disney's 1951 film adaptation is superb, the 2010 version with Johnny Depp was pretty good, and you should probably check all of it out if you haven't already.

That's all for this week's edition of Weekend Thoughts. Until next week, keep thinking wilder.

Weekend Thoughts - 5.28.16

Image by sirmichael, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Happy Saturday y'all! Below, I have rounded up some things for you to think about this weekend:

1. Google is hard at work on a research project that is setting out to find an answer to the question—can computers can be truly creative? The project is called Magenta (a branch of the overall Google Brain Team), and it is an attempt to find out if artificial intelligence systems can be taught to create original music, art, or video. Although it's a bit away yet, the real test will be if AI will be able to create art that humans will find enjoyable. One application for computer-generated music would be a system that takes a person's heartbeat and generates music that fits the situation. So for example, a system could produce fast-tempo upbeat music for exercise, and slow ambient sounds when it is time to decompress after work or go to sleep. To me, this begs the question—if, in the future, artificial intelligence is able to accomplish much of the work currently done by humans as well as provide enjoyable entertainment, what will become of us?

2. Beijing has developed an innovative solution to tackle its legendary traffic jams—an elevated bus that drives above other vehicles on the road. Watching it is fairly awesome, to say the least. If this form of public transportation is implemented across China (not to mention other countries), it would potentially alleviate congestion and reduce pollution in the world's most populous country. Implementing this form of transportation in the United States would be another story, because it would require uniform street width, vehicle size limitations, and the discipline for drivers to stay in their lanes at all times. However, it's worth checking out. I mean, just look at it!  

That's all for this week's edition of Weekend Thoughts. Until next week, keep thinking wilder.