Archives: September 2006
Sat Sep 30, 2006
Touching Ancient Common Objects
Like most people, I prefer historical connections to the ordinary rather than the significant. That's why I prefer local history to something like, say, navel battles. Recently, a friend of mine let me hold two coins she found in a cave in Israel. More...
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Spirtual Music
There's a cool series of radio programs from Australia called Rhythm Divine: "a music journey through the world of belief." (I wish it had a podcast instead of a stream.) I love the variety of the topics: Cat Stevens, the origins of "Swing Low Sweet Chariot," the mantra "aum." The national radio network of Australia has another program about religion that looks interesting too, but I haven't had time to read the transcripts yet: The Ark. I can't imagine a national network of any kind in the US providing quality eucemenical programming like this.
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A New Favorite Writer
I happened to see this article in Wired News about the latest improvements to a computer game called "World of Warcraft." I don't play the game, but I know people who do. I read the review anyway; I'm not sure why. It was one of the funniest things I've read in a long time, even out of context. Then I read other things he's written, and I looked at his wikipedia article. Lore Sorjberg is not only a UCSC alum, he was one of the comic geniuses behind one of my favorite humor sites, way back in the beginning of "The Web": The Brunching Shuttlecocks. I've added his blog to my blogroll, and subscribed to his podcast. Oh, and he doesn't just write, he's a cartoonist as well.
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Be Authentic. Stand Up for What You Believe.
An article I found through Alternet: "12 Traps that Keep Progressives from Winning." Seems about right. I have been studying how progressives win political power since I was in high school. These mistakes seem accurate. And familiar.
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California Spirit
I have seen this book at Bookshop Santa Cruz, but now that I see the website, I want it even more. How fun it would be to tour temples and sacred spots in California. The author, Eric Davis, has an interesting website that includes an article on Druid Heights that I hope to read later today.
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Sat Sep 16, 2006
Court of the Mysteries
A few weeks ago a friend and I drove past the Court of Mysteries on Fair Avenue and she had to stop and look around. She hadn't ever seen it before. I went back today and took a few photos. The library hosts an article by Eric Ross Gibson about it which is the most complete I've read. More...
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Santa Cruz, in the late 1870s
The other day I won in a eBay auction a few pages torn from Scribner's Monthly. An article by Mary Hallock Foote called "A Sea-Port on the Pacific." I was about to type it in for you to read, but found that the Santa Cruz Librarians had already put it online for us. More...
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Mon Sep 04, 2006
A Sense of the World by Jason Roberts
This morning I finished a book written by a friend from college, Jason Roberts: "A Sense of the World/How a Blind Man Became History's Greatest Traveler." More...
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Random Magic Windows
Here's another technology that seems just like magic. And like magic in the hands of the unwise, the untrained, and the lazy, it will bring harm to the Apprentice and entertainment to the rest of us. Via The Register, I found Defeating the Hacker website. Imagine a window into the world--but, more than a webcam, these webcams are installed specifically as security devices. The unlearned installers have provided an unintentional view into their private world. We spy from where they spies sit, and control their cameras. More...
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