i'm a trekkie

STUFF TO BLOW YOUR MIND (STBYM) Live: Prime Directives & Planetary Contamination

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The Prime Directive serves as the Federation’s philosophical backbone, no matter how often our favorite Trek heroes bend and break its values in order to save the day. How does this policy match up with current space exploration procedures, colonial Earth history and our most dangerous terrestrial ideas? Robert, Joe and Christian explore in this special LIVE Stuff to Blow Your Mind presentation from Star Trek: Mission New York.

The Society of the Spectacle by Guy Debord (1973)

sometimes you have to watch interesting (BOOMS( stuff on the computer (like this) MERCI! xox

Big Science

World's Smartest Physicist Thinks Science Can't Crack Consciousness   
Scientific American - August 18, 2016


String theorist Edward Witten says consciousness will remain a mystery. Some mind-ponderers, notably philosopher Colin McGinn, argue that consciousness is unsolvable. Philosopher Owen Flanagan calls these pessimists mysterians, after the 60Õs-era rock group Question Mark and the Mysterians. Recently, physicist Edward Witten came out as a mysterian. Witten is regarded with awe by his fellow physicists, some of whom have compared him to Einstein and Newton. He is largely responsible for the popularity of string theory over the past several decades. String theory holds that all of nature's forces stem from infinitesimal particles wriggling in a hyperspace consisting of many extra dimensions.

Dying to Myself

this wonderful guy Whit is on twitter with me (swoon)

our job is not as cool as this 👇👇👇

go to this artistic wonderland HERE

TUTU HOCKEY BOOM (see art not ads in our sidebar)👉👈

https://www.kerismith.com/blog/ways-to-reduce-our-reliance-on-corporations-and-exposure-to-ads/

Ways to Reduce our Reliance on Corporations (and exposure to ads)

After much thought, and some insight from readers I decided to put this list together. I do not attempt to do all of this perfectly, certainly there are many areas where it is hard to be as discerning. You do not have to move to the country and grow your own food to opt out of some unhealthy corporate dependencies (though this is a beautiful thing to do if you choose).

And to be honest it becomes much harder to take time now that I have two small children to care for. Certainly we all have our own contradictions and there are some areas where the options are quite limited (internet providers, insurance, etc.). But we do our best to make some healthier choices for our family, and to show our children that they have power over what goes into their bodies and minds. I see the mind as no different than the body, what you put into determines and effects your mental health on a daily basis.

Simply put I want to increase the soulful, life sustaining, mind expanding stuff, and decrease or eliminate the junk food. Each of us has to draw their own lines where it feels most comfortable. I give myself permission to change and grow on the journey. Many things that once felt okay for me, no longer do and in some areas there is room for improvement. I am finding this journey to be more “self directed” in the world incredibly satisfying and soulful. Making things, clothing my children, cooking from scratch, have made my life more meaningful and rich. Taking a hard line on blogads lets me sleep well at night and makes me feel good about what I am teaching my kids. That we do have a choice.

👇I would love it if you have anything to add, please put it in the comments.

1. Use your purchasing power as a political statement. Shop locally, ethically and in moderation. Ask the question “What do I really need?”
While you cannot remove yourself entirely from mass culture, and for those who may not want to make their own clothing, (in some cases I still shop with Amazon when I cannot find it anywhere else), you can research companies and choose one whose ethics and practices are more mindful. Commit the time to seek out alternatives. We used a non-profit cell phone provider called Earth Tones for years, who were committed to political action in various forms and funded a variety of environmental projects. I use Etsy quite a bit for more homemade options and supplies.

2. Turn off the TV. (need I explain this one?) I will say that after I got rid of the television many years ago, my productivity soared and my imagination flourished. I read much more. I believe there is a correlation to my career beginning to do really well and my giving up TV. My brain became rewired and much less passive as a result. I still watch movies and the occasional series, but I get to choose where and how (no ads).

3. Make your own stuff as much as possible. I have begun making my own cleaning products with simple ingredients, and recently I purchased a great resource to help with all kinds of things that you can do yourself. I highly recommend the book Making It: Radical Home Ec for a Post-Consumer World by Kelly Coyne & Erik Knutzen (I don’t need to add that I have no connection to the authors). Having looked at many books in this category I can safely say that if you are interested in homesteading or just getting off the consumer treadmill, this book will help you do it. I am soon going to try giving up the bottle (of shampoo that is), and give some of their alternatives a try. I’ll let you know how it goes. I already gave up hair color during my second pregnancy, choosing to let my grey hairs go loose and wild!

4. Use an Ad-Blocker program for the web. While this does little to actively stop the advertising, it does cut down on the visual overload and the adcreep we experience while surfing. I use Adblock Plus, which was created by a friend of mine. It is totally free and works like a charm. I’ve used it for years and love it.

5. Move your money.

6. Support media that is ethical and ad free. I have cut down on what sites I visit regularly, choosing ones that are ad-free over ones with ads. I do value when people write about products they like if they are things that I enjoy using (in my case wool, books, environmentally friendly clothing/toys, recipes), but now they must be ad free for me to trust them. In some cases this has been a really hard choice, as some were sites that I enjoyed (a few written by friends I love). But in almost ALL cases, as the ads increased on a site, so did the feeling that the writing began to serve the advertising.

7. Participate in Collaborative Consumption, interactions and economies that involve swapping, sharing, bartering, trading and renting.

8. Begin to perceive value in different ways, not just in terms of money. In the book The Good Life, authors Helen and Scott Nearing felt that having cut and stacked fire-wood that they acquired themselves, was better than money in the bank. It provided more for them physically and spiritually (in the work) and also in keeping them warm throughout the season. What about looking at your skills as being of incredible value in your life? Your ability to sew, cook, knit, grow, build, etc.?

9. Ride a bike or take public transit. Obvious I know, but I had to add it.

10. Use raw materials more, packaged products less. I suppose this goes under #1 and #3.

11. Buy used.

12. Repair your old things. I recently taught myself how to darn socks and sweaters. It is incredibly satisfying. I also learned to repair wool items using needle felting, it’s like magic.

13. Change your language. Name the object, not the brand (i.e. Kleenex v.s. tissue). Words are powerful. -from Kelsi

14. Choose independent businesses over chains. Use public spaces, museums, galleries, bookshops. -from Johnny, Diana & M

15. Pay with cash. When you use debit the bank gets a fee from the vendor. When you use cash the money goes to the owner of the shop. -from Diana

16. Don’t buy bottled water (carry reusable bottles). -from Jeanette

17. Become a minimalist. Cut down on your worldly possessions. -from Anne

(read :mnmlist for tips)

(I will add to this list as things come in...Keri). SOURCE

thomas jane movie marathon

BOOM! I love this guy Thomas Jane (kinda weird name but i like him) more on IMDB

Thomas Jane was born on February 22, 1969 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA as Thomas Elliott. He is an actor and producer, known for The Mist (2007), Deep Blue Sea (1999) and Dreamcatcher (2003). He was previously married to Patricia Arquette and Ayesha Hauer. 

Standoff is a 2016 American thriller film starring Laurence Fishburne and Thomas Jane.
Not exactly a thriller but horror... murder, rampage, grossly violent... I rate ythis one 4 STARS

Recap: A young girl, Bird (Ballentine) with her aunt's boyfriend waiting at the car, visits the grave of her parents on the anniversary of their deaths, witnesses and photographs a hitman (Fishburne) killing people attending a funeral. He kills her aunt's boyfriend, Roger, and tries to kill her too, but she flees into the woods. Bird comes across the house of a war veteran, Carter (Jane), who vows to protect her. Arriving at the house, Sade shoots at Carter, who grabs a shotgun and shoots back. They exchange words and gunfire, and both are wounded. During a break in the gunfire, Sade tries to talk Carter into sending Bird down so he can kill her. Carter refuses, and they both pause to patch up their wounds and prepare for the next round. Carter sends the girl for some light bulbs, which he breaks and throws down the stairs, alerting Sade to the fact that he "ain't no farmer." Carter finds out from the girl what happened in the cemetery and that she has a picture of Sade's face. Sade, in the downstairs of the house, starts going through Carter's possessions and finds a picture of Carter in military uniform with his wife and son. He tries to convince Carter he is also ex-military and he understands why Carter is protecting Bird. Carter lets him know he is aware that Bird has a picture of him and that is why he is after her.

Meanwhile, a sheriff's deputy happens upon the abandoned cars at the cemetery. In the house, a resting Carter is dreaming about a tragedy that happened to his son. He wakes up and sends Bird to get a bottle of alcohol. She returns with the drink and his son's teddy bear, which he angrily tells her to put back. Sade finds and starts to read a letter Carter had written his wife, taking blame for the death of their son. In the letter, he states he knew she blamed him for the death and didn't blame her for leaving him. Sade realizes that Carter had packed up and written the letter as he was contemplating suicide. He snidely encourages him to go ahead.
Bird tells Carter that her dad told her she had "no quit in her" and wonders if she will see her dad when she dies. She asks Carter why his wife left him and he said the house reminded her of their son. They hug and Sade shoots a round, gaining the attention of the deputy (played by Watson) who was looking around for the cars' owners. The light in the house starts to fade and Carter now needs to get Bird out as he only has one shot remaining and in the dark he can't protect her.


VICE

R |2015 ‧ Thriller/Action

A self-aware, artificial human (Ambyr Childers) becomes caught in the crossfire between a cop (Thomas Jane) and the creator (Bruce Willis) of an exclusive resort where paying customers play out their wildest fantasies.

I rate this one 4.5 STARS. (reminder to self: ban A.I. worldwide)

(only saw the  last few scenes of Broken Horses (2015) R | 1h 41min |Action, Crime, Drama|10 April 2015 (USA) )

my dog skid

Skid (a mini-dachshund) understood every word I said (that rascal) (this isn't his photo)

...The study found that dogs recognized each word independently from one another, and responded differently to them according to the way in which the trainers said the word.

“Humans seem to be the only species which uses words and intonation for communicating emotions, feelings, inner states,” Andics told NPR. “To find that dogs have a very similar neural mechanism to tell apart meaningful words from meaningless sound sequences is, I think, really amazing.”
READ

[Skid and I had the exact same birthday too - TODAY!)

story of my life

Clip Joint (Soho) - Live Performance by Five Grand Stereo

need a superhero?

security superhero

Bruce Schneier Facts

Things you might not know about Bruce Schneier [Bruce Schneier eats 0s and 1s for breakfast. And snacks on pi...In Liars and Outliers I talk about security as a tax on the honest. ]  

Go sneak a peek of his website HERE

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Vs lbh nfxrq Oehpr Fpuarvre gb qrpelcg guvf, ur'q pehfu lbhe fxhyy jvgu uvf ynhtu.
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vandals (again)

Vandals tear down iconic Oregon rock formation

Music Monday: Frank Ocean

BOYS DON't CRY LINK

Biography

An R&B vocalist affiliated with the outlandish hip-hop crew Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All, Frank Ocean (Christopher "Lonny" Breaux) was born and raised in New Orleans. The aspiring songwriter and singer had just moved into his dorm at the University of New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina hit. 

With his future under water, Ocean immediately left the academic life behind and moved to L.A. to give music a shot. He cut some demos at a friend's home studio, shopped them around town, and eventually landed a songwriting deal that would find him working for Justin Bieber, John Legend, and Brandy.

Some of this work was alongside Christopher "Tricky" Stewart, a fellow songwriter and producer who would convince Ocean to sign a solo artist deal with Def Jam in late 2009. It was also around this time he met Odd Future and began writing music for the crew while making guest appearances on their mixtapes. In February 2011, as Odd Future were making waves, Ocean broke out on his own with the Nostalgia, Ultra mixtape, issued through his Tumblr blog.

 Later in the year, he appeared on Tyler, the Creator's Goblin ("She," "Window"), Beyoncé's 4 ("I Miss You"), and Jay-Z and Kanye West's Watch the Throne ("No Church in the Wild," "Made in America"). Def Jam's plan for the release of Nostalgia, Lite -- an EP-length version of the mixtape -- was scrapped, yet the songs "Novacane" (produced by Stewart) and "Swim Good" (MIDI Mafia) were released as singles with accompanying videos. The former reached number 17 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart. The latter peaked at number 70.

By the end of the year, several publications listed Nostalgia, Ultra as one of 2011's best releases. While his association with Def Jam had been strained, Ocean nonetheless proceeded with the making of his official debut album, working beside the likes of Malay, Om'Mas Keith, and Pharrell Williams as fellow producers. The album, Channel Orange, was previewed for journalists at a handful of listening events. Some writers alleged that certain lyrics on the album revealed Ocean's bisexuality. Ocean subsequently published a screen shot of a TextEdit file (entitled "thank you's") that included details of a romantic relationship -- his first love -- with a male. On July 10, six days after the post, Channel Orange was released by Def Jam as a download, while the CD version was issued the following week. Along with featured appearances from Earl Sweatshirt, John Mayer, and André 3000, the album involved material about unrequited love, as well as class and drug dependency -- all delivered with Ocean's descriptive storytelling and understated yet expressive vocals. The album would go on to be an all-around success, receiving nearly universal critical acclaim, a spot on the Billboard 200, and a host of Grammy nominations. ~ David Jeffries & Andy Kellman

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