Moss-ly Beautiful

Today I learned how to make Moss Graffiti. I love this environmentally friendly form of artistic expression.

Adventures on the Alimentary Canal

Mary Roach is the writer of hilariously educational books on taboo topics she researches in every possible (and sometimes impossible) detail. Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal is her latest book which will hit the shelves on April 1, 2013. Cannot wait to devour this book.

Koyaanisqatsi

Koyaanisqatsi is a Hopi word, meaning "life out of balance". Between 1975 and 1982 an experimental film was made to show this imbalance between nature and urban life, apparently very similar to two of my most favorite movies Baraka and Samsara.

Kalavantin Durg

In my never ending search for historical places to hike, I came across one of the most beautiful abandoned places on earth. Located near Panvel, India, Kalavantin Durg is a very steep hill with a fort at the top with spectacular views of the surrounding landscape.

Batman Fishes

I got introduced to the unexpectedly quirky photography of Martin Shoeller today. The way he portrays his photographic subjects moved me greatly. His realm of work expands over celebrity portraits to Lexus commercials.

The Inbetweeners

The Inbetweeners is a British series about four 17-year boys' awkward, mostly embarrassing  and universally relevant daily lives. This very funny series magically appeared in my Netflix queue, and being a lover of British humour, I cannot stop watching it. Of course, there is a US remake but not to my taste.

Here's the theme song of the series - "Gone Up In Flames" by Morning Runner:

Enjoy!

Superhydrophobic Glass

A new kind of glass, designed by the MIT scientists, has a textured surface consisting of nano-scale cones which makes it water repellent. The water droplets bounce off the superhydrophobic surface like tiny rubber balls, making it fog-free. Another advantage that comes with the textured surface is, it is also glare-free.

The Casual Vacancy

Today's book recommendation came from my mum. The Casual Vacancy is by the famous J. K. Rowling who has ventured into the adult fiction realm after years of writing Harry Potter books. 

* Blue Daisy

Blue Daisy Cafe is a lovely tiny eatery in Santa Monica where the menu contains a lot of items with the word 'Turkish' in them. I ordered a Turkish Latte to accompany the book I brought with me, and inquired about those menu items, to find out that the owners are Turkish. The food and the authentic beverages are very delicious, and I would absolutely recommend this place if you are in the area. The only thing is, I lived in Turkey for most of my life, and never ever had heard of Turkish Latte before! Still, it was scrumptious! :)

Arara Nômade

Designers André Pedrini and Ricardo Freisleben founded Oboio Design Studio about a year ago and their ingenious closet design Arara Nômade has been getting a lot of attention lately. This very simple design requires no tools nor technical skills to assemble but the intuition of the modern nomad.

The Happy Poet

The Happy Poet is an all-organic, mostly vegetarian comedy about a struggling poet. Opening this week in theaters.

Conducting The Sunrise

IAMX's newest album The Unified Field is available to download for his pledgers on PledgeMusic today. And I am one of them!

Dan's Inferno

Robert Langdon gets entangled in Dante's Inferno in Dan Brown's latest book to be released on May 14, 2013.

* Wooden Batik Faces

During our stroll with my good friend A from MN and her mum in Venice, CA, we visited a store where they  had masks that looked like they were made out of fabric. With a closer look and additional help from the store associate, we learned that those were wooden masks from Bali painted using batik method. 

Omega Point And Noösphere

Panpsychism is the view that all matter has a mental aspect, or, alternatively, all objects have a unified center of experience or point of view. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, a paleontologist and a Jesuit priest, was very explicit about this point of view and he was reprimanded by the church. He conceived the idea of Omega Point, and developed Vladimir Vernadsky's concept of Noösphere.

* Surrender To Passion

Took a long drive to Fillmore, CA to Giessinger Winery for a lovely wine tasting session today.  They purchase their grapes from around California, and make decadent wines. I chose a Sauvignon Blanc, and a Port, and here's what I learned:

"It is when we Surrender to the power and the long-lived beauty of the mind without regards to the short-lived physical beauty that we experience satisfaction. Surrendering to pains may be the ultimate learning and humbling experience. After all, we need Forgiveness to Surrender to Passion."

π Mural

Students of a Brooklyn high-school have come up with a brilliant idea to show off their love of math. They created a design for a mural that would demonstrate the relationship between the golden ratio and pi with a golden spiral based on fibonacci series. They have only 19 days left to raise funds on Kickstarter to realize this projects. Well worth our support!

Cellular Senescence

I learned about Telomeres and Cellular Senescence today!

Tintinnabulation

Arvo Pärt is an Estonian classical composer who has a self-invented minimalist compositional technique called tintinnabuli. This great composer wrote a symphony for my city of angels. Enjoy!

Remember To Breathe

The new music video for the song Take by Soulsavers featuring Dave Gahan in on Vimeo.

Sterling

Just learned that the 3rd season of the TV series Archer is now available on Netflix. Sweet!

The Peter Principle

According to a book by Laurence J. Peter and Raymond Hull, the Peter Principle states that "Employees tend to rise to their level of incompetence". Based on this principle, BBC created a comedy series with the same name, and an "incompetent" lead character by the name of Peter.

Secret Dumpster Pool Party

Macro Sea, a New York real estate company, took it upon themselves as one of their interim projects to convert unused dumpsters into pools at undisclosed locations for the privileged few. Dumpster diving has a whole new meaning...

I Follow Rivers

Lykke Li is a Swedish singer-songwriter whose spacious music carries fragments of nostalgia from my mother's youth.  

Nerds Dance 'Science Style'

ScienceOnline Unconference is held every year in Raleigh, NC where scientists and science communicators get together. I guess they not only exchange science wisdoms but also dance a little. Here's Carin Bondar's parody of 'Gangnam Style' summarizing this year's scientific gathering:

I Am A Time Being

On March 12th 2013, the book A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki will be released in bookstores. It is a story that connects the two sides of the Pacific Ocean through a diary, a 16-year old Tokyo girl, and a Canadian woman. Added to my long list of books to read...

Strange Love Macarons

Strange Love Macarons are the divine outcome of a collaboration between Ladurée and Reed Krakoff. If anyone out there is looking for a very special gift for someone dear, don't even hesitate for a moment to get these chocolatey delicacies.

Thank you in advance! ;)

SurfingCrowdSourcing

Amanda Palmer and her band The Grand Theft Orchestra are the Sex Pistols of 21st century turned-up a few notches. They are not everybody's cup of tea, however, in her TEDTalk, Amanda "Fucking" Palmer makes a great point of encouraging fans to support artists directly. She is very talented in creating human connections in any medium built upon her unique experiences as a street performer early in her career.

Outro

Named after the spiral galaxy Messier 83, M83 is a French shoegaze band with calm vocals spoken over loud electronic melodies. Their last double album Hurry Up, We're Dreaming was designed to have songs that would mirror each other on the two discs. This album has an Intro and an Outro.

Spiraling Down

When Carvalho Monteiro designed the Quinta de Regaleira in early 20th century, he did not know UNESCO would claim this fascinating estate in Sintra, Portugal, to be a World Heritage Site due to its enigmatic nature allegedly harboring hidden symbols related to alchemy, Masonry, the Knights Templar, and the Rosicrucians.

iWatch

Turkish designer Tolga Tuncer's new concept design for an iWatch is one of his best. This very slim watch comes with an OLED screen and slim touchpad, and Cloud syncs with your iPhone, iPad, and Apple computers. His previous concept design for facebook phone has gotten enough recognition to provide him with much deserved good reputation. I hope he gets the support he needs to realize his sleek designs.