* The Young Kieslowski

It is official! I am an actress with an entry in IMDB!

My 5 seconds of fame is a single-line speaking role in Kerem Sanga's (director/screenplay writer) latest movie The Young Kieslowski to be released in 2014!

Cannot wait to see myself on the big screen!

30 Seconds

We all know that our bodies are amazingly complex, and are capable of things we do not utilize or even unaware of. Still, I watched the video below in awe:

Sense+

Thanks to a sensible technology team out of Seattle, WA, our iPhones now can be turned into smoke and gas detectors while charging on a small dock at our bedsides. Sense+ is out on Indiegogo waiting for sufficient funding to be commercialized. Worth supporting this smart and multi-purpose gadget that tries to alert its user before calling emergency numbers.

Transistors Without Semiconductors

The advances in technology is requiring smaller and smaller electronic devices to the point where silicon surfaces cannot get small enough to meet this demand. Another disadvantage to using silicon semiconductors is, they waste energy in the form of heat.
Michigan Technological University physicist Yoke Khin Yap, and his team developed a way to create virtual carpets of BNNTs (Boron Nitride Nanotubes), and placed 3-nanometer Quantum Dots (QDs) of gold on the tops of insulating substrate BNNTs. When electrodes on either end of the QDs-BNNTs were fired up, the electrons showed a very precise, and consistent behavior jumping from gold-dot to gold-dot known as the Quantum Tunneling phenomenon.

This will have an enormous impact on how small the human implantable medical devices can get. Gotta love science!

* Indian Food Will Never Be The Same

Tonight I was a guest at my kind hearted friend A and her daughter's home. Not only did she make me incredibly delectable authentic Indian food but she also showed me the kind of hospitality you can only find in that part of the world. I watched her make Saag Paneer and Cabbage Curry with the gentle hands of a good mother, while learning how to make these Indian delicacies in a much healthier way by using tofu instead of paneer.
Her company was as delicious as the feast she laid out on the table! Indian food will never be the same for me ever again...

Thank you, A! I am grateful to have a friend like you!

Olmstead Chair

The simplicity, comfort, and neutral tones of the Olmstead Chair by Totokaelo, are complimented with functional playfulness of the copper pieces holding its joints together, and the turquoise ties stretching the smooth leather on its frame.

The Frequency Of Evil

My friend Johnny Jones released his latest album The Frequency of Evil on June 23rd, 2013 with his band Johnny Jones and the Suffering Halos. The highly spirtual, and deeply emotional nature of this colorful-to-the-outside-world man is very tangible throughout the album. Congratulations, Johnny, and thank you for this beautiful work of art! Love it!

A Smoking Video

I do not smoke. Never did, never will. But pop anti-hero Tom Vek's latest video for his song Aroused, makes me almost want to smoke. Almost...

The Town of Aztec

I had no idea there was a city in New Mexico called Aztec where there are well preserved ruins from the Aztecs. Here's to a new destination yet to be discovered.

Thank you, J from Aztec, NM!

The Forever Flight

The plane that flies on only solar power,  Solar Impulse just flew across America. The idea of being able to fly forever without refueling is so intoxicating...

Hipsters In Stone

I love the latest work of Léo Caillard that transforms cold stone statues of goddesses, gods, and kings into guys, and gals next door. Here are two of my favorites:

The Perennial Plate

The Perennial Plate is an episodic show that revolves around sustainable food. The two-people crew of the show travel around the world and bring the exotic, interesting, delicious, and sometimes shocking food adventures to your screens. I particularly enjoyed The Traveler's Republic Of Tofu - the episode of their two week experience across China!

King's Doctor Sleep

Only a day after I post about Stephen King's latest book published a few days ago, I get a message about his upcoming book in September. Doctor Sleep is his sequel to The Shining, and will be coming out on September 24th, 2013. So many books, not enough time to read...

King's Joyland

Stephen King is the reason I became a reader. I disliked reading so much until my late teens when one day one of my classmates lent me her copy of 'Skeleton Crew'. I got immersed in the book and could not stop reading. Immediately after I finished and returned her book, I purchased and read all of the Stephen King books I could find and when I ran out of his books, my hunger for reading led me to reading other books of every variety. On June 4th, 2013 Stephen King's newest book Joyland was published. I cannot wait to read it with the same thrill I felt many years ago when I lost myself in the first one I read...

* Sometimes It's Good To Not See The Signs

My two hiking buddies Robyn & Jen, Robyn's dog Maddie, and I left L.A. late Friday evening, heading northbound to Mammoth where my friend Robyn has a place she rents for the season, to spend the weekend hiking in the surrounding elevations. We arrived at our accommodations close to midnight and quickly made it to bed to get some rest for the next day's hike at the Yosemite National Park. 

The next morning, we packed our backpacks, and had breakfast at the lovely Breakfast Club in Mammoth Lakes.

Photo Credit: Jen Hulme

While we were discussing which trail to hike that morning, a very nice gentleman came by our table and offered to give us some pointers on several different trails. Good people still exist, and they appear when least expected! Per his very informative directions, we decided to do the May Lake hike. Of course, we had to stop at Whoa Nellie Deli - the gas station with Michelin star - to get our provisions for the hike ahead.

After entering the Yosemite National Park, and finding the parking lot at the May Lake trail head, we put on our hiking shoes, and started down the path that was right next to where we parked. We  all were very surprised how we kept going downhill, and just as we were talking about how the hike back will be badass, we ran into a father-son duo hiking towards where we came from. They asked us if we saw the lake. What? Apparently we did not see the signs to the May Lake trail, and started down a wrong path. Oh well, we took in the beautiful scenery, and decided, we would be doing a 5-mile hike instead of a 2-miler.

We completed the trail we were on, and back at the parking lot, we found the beautiful start of the trail to May Lake.

The hike to May Lake, although short, is steep and rocky, but the reward at the end is worth the trouble. We had our lunch in the presence of this magical view:

On the way back to Mammoth, we stopped at the Shepard's Hot Springs - a tiny little bathing hole in the ground in the middle of nowhere - and soaked our tired bodies in the warm water while we soaked our insides with some adult beverages:

Dinner was had at the local Smokeyard BBQ and Chop Shop, and our exhausted & well-fed bodies found their ways to bed rather early that night. Sunday morning, we had a quick bagel breakfast, and drove to the Devil's Postpile National Monument for a farewell hike before we returned home. This geological formation had me mesmerized with it's hexagonal posts formed by a volcanic eruption. Mother Nature is capable of unimaginable surprises.

This was an amazing trip where I got to visit parts of California I have not seen before, and learned about the geological wonders of the surrounding national parks. But I also learned a great deal about my friends, and myself! My heroic hiking friends are capable of scaring bears away by singing drunken bar songs at the top of their lungs:

"We drink to the guys who do

We drink to the guys who don't

We drink to the guys who say they will

But then they really won't..."

We are invincible!

And the best part was on the way back home with Robyn at the steering wheel, and Jen as the navigator, making origami flowers for Jen's wedding with sweet Maddie's tired head resting against my leg, and listening to the steamy and/or hilarious country music streaming from Robyn's Pandora station.

Thank you Jen and Robyn for making this roadtrip one of the best I ever had. I am looking forward to the next one, and many more after that...

Diptic

Diptic is a new app that allows you to combine multiple pictures into a single image. Look what my friend Jen did with it during our Yosemite hike today:

The Last Inca Bridge

Although they never invented the wheel or discovered iron, Inca's were the masters of fiber. They skillfully made everything from ships to weapons to bridges out of fiber. They even talked in fiber using a language of knots. The last hand woven Inca grass bridge connecting the two sides of a steep gorge is in Huinchiri, Peru.

Skillshare

Skillshare is a new website where you can learn almost anything from skilled instructors or if you have certain skills, can teach online globally, or in-person locally. What a wonderful way to share knowledge, skills, and wisdom.

Basil Memories

Now that I have a bicycle that I am in love with, I am discovering some necessities that will improve its efficiency as an urban bike. I definitely need a rear rack, and more baskets to carry my yoga gear, and groceries. I found the Basil Memories Bottle Rear Basket that is tall enough to carry most of what I need, and it comes in pretty colours that would complement the Robin's Egg Blue of my bicycle. I'm thinking salmon colored one would be nice!

Noctilucence In Blue

In the early days of summer, sky watchers of higher latitudes enjoy a delightful sight of electric-blue clouds with tendrils that ripple against the sunset sky. Noctilucent clouds are formed when ice crystals cling to the smoky remains of meteors. This year, this magical evening display started earlier than expected, and is spreading to the lower latitudes.

Invisible Hotel

A treehotel of mirrorcubes in Harads, Sweden is becoming the new attraction for tourist seeking a true hideout. Designed by Tham & Videgard Architects, the mirrorcubes are made of lightweight aluminum hung around a single tree-base. The mirror outer of the cube not only blends in with the surrounding nature giving it a surreal quality, but also provides an all around view. The thoughtful designers laminated the outer surface of the cube with an infrared film only visible to birds, in order to prevent them from flying into the mirrors.

We All Live In A Semi-Submarine

EGO is a brilliant and eco-friendly commercial compact semi-submarine manufactured by RaonHaje Inc. in Korea. This very creative design of a unique water vehicle received an honorable mention from the RedDot Design Award in 2012.

The Cantor Set

The Cantor Set was one of the first fractals to be studied in detail. It is one of the simplest fractals that is generated by removing some percentage of its length from the middle, and then continually repeating this process for each sub-line ad infinitum.

Confessions Of A Knife

Today I was introduced to the strange music of My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult. Their clubish sounding music from the 90s vaguely reminded me of Dead Or Alive from my youth. Judge for yourself:

Dragon At E3

My heart skipped a beat - actually several beats - when I read that SpaceX will be showcasing the first Dragon spacecraft at the E3 EXPO in Los Angeles. Dragon is the first-ever-commercial spacecraft that went to, and returned from a visit to the ISS! The expo will be at the LA Convention Center between June 11 and June 13, AND the SpaceX folks will be giving out cool space stuffs to visitors that stop by their booth. 

This is Super Cool!

Boards Of Canada

Today, my quest for finding new music brought me to Boards Of Canada. They are a Scottish electronic band that have mastered the realm of quiet music. Their fourth studio album Tomorrow's Harvest will be released on June 11th.

And here's Music Is Math from their second studio album Geogaddi:

Eat Your Words

Thanks to my good friend R, I learned about the Typography Cake and stole her word as the topic of this post! What a lovely way to send a secret edible message to someone you care about inside a cake.

Millenium Nonstop

I wanted to re-watch the Swedish version of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo movie today, and did a search in Netflix to see if I could stream it. At the top of the list that came back was an extended version of the movie that was turned into a mini-series of 90 minute episodes. I could not stop watching this extended version until I took a break between episodes 3 and 4 to write this post. If you liked the movies, you will love this Stieg Larsson's Millenium series!

And now back to the movie....

The Argonaut

How lovely to come home and find a paper copy of my new city's free local newspaper waiting for me - The Argonaut!