Vib Gyor

Vib Gyor is a UK band, and they are now known as Fossil Collective.  Their song Red Light was used in the movie Intouchables:

Knots Beads Mothers Daughters

A beautiful pair of mother and daughter living in the beautiful city of Bolu in Turkey, are creating beautiful crochet jewelry together.  Watching this video of their close relationship through the materials they use and their creations, I see the perfect portrayal of the love and respect that are the two overarching characteristics of Turkish culture.

I wanted to include a sample picture of their very unique creations but quickly realized that choosing only one was impossible, so here are four of my favorites for your viewing pleasure:

Automated Art Appreciator

An experiment, published in a recent issue of ACM Journal on Computing and Cultural Heritage, on using algorithms to have machines analyze visual clues from 1,000 paintings of 34 well-known artists, and grouping them into relevant genres, proved that the computers perform better than untrained humans in quantifying the subtle differences between closely related schools of art.

* Minimalist Sushi Master

I love sushi.  I am in love with sushi.  In fact, the only bar where everybody knows my name is the neighborhood sushi bar!

I remember my very first sushi experience which did not go so well for it came from a supermarket in Mid-West, and was extremely disappointing in its blandness.  To my ignorant taste buds, it was not something I would try again.

Lucky for me, during a training week in Florida little over four years ago, my coworkers took pity on me, convinced me to go to a real sushi bar, and practically ordered everything on the menu.  The memory of closing my eyes, and absorbing the incredible variety of sushi and sashimi pieces one after another, is still very vivid.  I was so captivated by the food, I did not even feel embarrassed by my lack of command with chopsticks, and proceeded with my fingers ever so gently.  I was hooked.

Following this heavenly sushi experience,  I purchased ten pairs of chopsticks, and literally ate everything with them until I was able to lift a single rice grain from my plate to my mouth with unhurried grace.  Finding the best tasting sushi everywhere I travel, has become my biggest food quest.

Knowing my admiration for sushi, several friends highly recommended the movie "Jiro Dreams of Sushi", and finally today, I had the great pleasure of watching this movie about the most talented sushi master in the world.

Besides his talent in adding so much flavor to this Japanese delicacy, his minimalistic creativity is awe inspiring.  He describes his success as a result of loving the profession he chose; he says "it is the key to being regarded honorably".

If you love sushi or if you just want to watch an inspiring human being who takes his job very seriously, make time to watch this movie.  You will not be disappointed...

Faery Islands Of Faroe

Since someone from Faroe Islands has been kind enough to pay a visit to my blog, I decided to educate myself about this constellation of islands under Danish rule, tucked away in the Northern Seas halfway between Norway and Iceland, just above Scotland.

Their people that make up their 50,000 population are called Faroese, making them sound like they have magical superpowers.  As I read the Færeyinga Saga, my fascination of the Norse cultures swelled, and made me want to have adventures in those Viking-Lands.

The beauteous Faroe Islands are now added to my ever growing list of places to go!

Keeping Perfect Time Forever

I am having a difficult time wrapping my head around the Space-Time Crystal, a four-dimensional device proposed by scientists at the Berkeley Lab.  This four-dimensional crystal has periodic structure in both space and time, and could be used to build a clock that would keep perfect time, even after the heat-death of the universe.

I do have some questions:
1.  Where will this device reside once the universe is gone?
2.  What is the point of keeping time after everything is gone?
3.  Is there an assumption that there will be another big-bang after the death of the universe and the device will then be in the new universe?
4.  If the assumption in the previous question holds true, since we measure time in a very earthly manner, what will it mean to the beings that get into the possession of this device?

Anyone care to elaborate?

Custom Bicycles by Cykelmageren

I have a special affection towards bicycles for I believe they are the best urban transportation vehicles.  Cyclemageren in Copenhagen, Denmark is what I would like to call a Designer Bicycle Studio where they build custom bicycles by hand one at a time. You can choose from a handful of designs or have your very own design created with almost unlimited options.  Whatever you choose, you can be assured that you will have a simply beautiful product!