Hot Fossils and Rebel Matters 201 – Snow Globe Musical Mashup

An Anne Keenan Higgins Stocking Hook - (Photo by Ninja)

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Today I give you a Ninja original Snow Globe Christmas Mashup with ambient household white noise including the refrigerator.

Reindeer in Tutu with Santa (Photo by Ninja)

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Hot Fossils and Rebel Matters 200 – A Trip to the Museum of Gender Archaeology

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Every year, Toronto participates in an all night festival of art known as Nuit Blanche, so named because it colloquilally means “all-nighter” in French,  but literally means “white night”. It’s a sunset to sunrise event on the first Saturday of October. There is so much to see all over the city, and it is by design impossible to see everything. The most popular events seem to be the ones that use lots of light shows and sound. For example, many exhibits feature projections against walls and buildings. One exhibit that was a hit was the tennis point played over and over all night long called The Tie-break. It was a re-enactment of the legendary fourth set tie-break from the 1980 Wimbledon Gentlemen’s Singles Finals between Björn Borg and John McEnroe. That would have been something to watch. But we limited ourselves to one area of only a few of many possible events that night.

First we dropped by the Museum of Gender Archaeology that eventually led us into the GendRPhone booths. I’ll admit, apart from the gender changer, commonly used for electronic connections, and the display of so-called ancient bathroom signs for male and female, most of the meaning of the items in the small collection were lost on me. And Ninja is all about exploring the nuances of gender. I get that it was meant to represent a future bygone world of gender dualilty and it was a great start, but it simply wasn’t enough for me. I love shock factor in art (I just revelled in the outrage caused by the kissing of the pope and the imam), and I wasn’t shocked, merely amused. If that is what the artist was after, then it that sense, it did succeed. The installation invites us however to re-imagine our gender. On the gendRphone, you can select the sex and gender of a potential lover and hear their words of love. In the words of Marshall McLuhan, “When you are on the phone, you have no body”.  Just a disembodied voice. I love that concept. It’s full of possibility. Not sure that the installation piqued my imagination though. Maybe I just wasn’t in the mood.

My favourite installation was the sound and poetry presented by a local group called New Adventures in Sound Art.  Go figure. I loved the beat and words that went with it. You’ll hear some of that. The last two installations we went to were light and sound shows. The first was called Night Light Travels and the second was another installation by the NAISA (New Adventures in Sound Art), called Sonic Spaces (The Kinetics of Sound). Both used feedback mechanisms and other triggers to change sound and in some cases light in real time. A Markov chain is a mathematical system that undergoes transitions from one state to another, between a finite or countable number of possible states. The next state depends only on the current state and not on the sequence of events that preceded it. This kind of “memorylessness” is called the Markov property. Markov chains have many applications as statistical models of real-world processes and Shawn Pinchbeck uses them to evolve the sound in Sonic Spaces. He also used Vocoder (Voice encoder) technology and theory to change what we hear in the installation.

Have a listen and see if any of this art is your cup of tea.   

 

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• HotFRM 200 (28mb)

Hot Fossils and Rebel Matters 199 – I Want My Therapeutic Seal

 

 

This past summer,  Special K, Dragon, Fly and I went to Ottawa’s Canadian Museum of Civilization.  The highlight of the visit was the exhibit called Japan: Tradition.  Innovation.  The exhibit showcased Japan’s achievements in design.   I wanted to take home everything I saw, including a robotic seal intended for elder care.

Links:  Japan: Tradition and Innovation at the Canadian Museum of Civilization, Therapeutic Seal, Museum of Civilization

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• HotFRM 199 (25MB)

Hot Fossils and Rebel Matters 198 – Filling Up and Spilling Over

mmm...doesn't that look refreshing?

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Are you a lesbian? Have you ever been a lesbian? Well Holly Near was. Singer, songwriter and activist, she was a lesbian-feminist in the heady, crazy days of early gay and women’s liberation. In the 70s she sang with the prolific and talented ladies of Olivia Records; with the likes of Cris Williamson , Meg Christian, and Teresa Trull.  Olivia Records eventually stopped producing lesbian-feminist music and morphed into a cruise line and travel company. Oh and Holly Near herself morphed into a heterosexual.

Today’s show is about the Olivia Travel company. During a recent trip to Ottawa, we had the pleasure of dinner with some friends of our travel companions who live there. Talk turned to what it was like to holiday in a resort exclusively for women. Also mentioned, in case you don’t know her, is the comic Karen Williams who has worked as a comedy writer, host of In the Life, and featured in the documentary We’re Funny That Way. Marga Gomez, as part of the resort entertainment, was also on the trip. Other Musicians Mentioned: Carole Pope, Kevin Staples.  Other Artists Mentioned: General Idea, A.A.Bronson.  Lezebrities Mentioned: Rosie O’Donnell

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Hot Fossils and Rebel Matters 197 – Water is the Only Thing That Matters or Watermageddon

That’s How Much Water We Have to Use for 7 Billion People

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On Canada Day this year, July 1st, Special K and I went to Royal Ontario Museum, the ROM to view three separate exhibits. The first is on water, what it is, what it means to us, what it means to everything on the planet and how little of it there actually is. The second was an exhibit of Edward Burtynsky’s photography. A well known local and international photographer, the exhibit showcased some of his more stunning and beautiful pieces. I try to describe his photography as I move through the display. See what you think. The last exhibit is a display of Bollywood showcards and I try to get you interested in the delights and promise of the most popular cinema art form in the world.  Important Links:

The Big Picture Science Podcast

http://www.ec.gc.ca/eau-water/default.asp?lang=en&n=300688DC-1

How Much Usable Water? Really?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_distribution_on_Earth

http://www.allaboutwater.org/water-facts.html

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• HotFRM 197 (35 mb)

This Just In: Science Explains Evil – The Media Says So

In the aftermath of the horror that took place in Norway recently, the headline on the Globe and Mail print version today reads:  Can Science Really Explain Evil?   Doesn’t that seem just a bit sarcastic to you?  It did to me.  Let’s have a look at that statement – shall we?   First of all the statement belies an underlying assumption about science, in this case, as an authority that makes you sit up and ask challengingly, “Yeah? Can they?”  Note that I did not write it. I wrote they. That is because here is another assumption:  That science represents the collective opinion of a group of people rather than a system of knowledge.  Now let’s imagine that I am ultra-religious.  Or even a little bit religious. Or even religious in a tiny way ; in a way that has been unexamined, say the type of faith you have in a belief that you have never bothered to question. Like Christmas: good; Ramadan: makes me feel funny and uncomfortable.  In this case the belief is:  There is a group of people called scientists that arrogantly believe they can solve the mystery of life, the universe and everything (to turn a phrase).  Oh and by the way these stuck up geeks think I caused global warming.   This ingrained belief in the truth of what a scientist really is leads me to the next question I then ask myself:  If science can’t explain evil, what can?  What is the next choice?  Oh!  Maybe faith?  Maybe religion?  It doesn’t matter. The question is the hook that makes you buy the paper.   If you’re a skeptic like me, the last thing you want to do is fork out the coin.  Instead I went to the internet version and read the associated article.  Nowhere in the article is there any implication or certainty that science has the answer to this pseudo-authoritative question.  I’ll repeat it again – just in case you forgot : Can Science Really Explain Evil?  Who said science ever has explained evil?   There is only discussion of neuroscience and psychology.   In fact one of the more banal statements that is made in the article is that the scientist, who is representing the complexity of this question, reveals that empathy is on a spectrum and that “[t]he spectrum approach reminds us that none of us are angels and none of [us] is the devil [sic] …”  Well.  Thank you so much for that gem of wisdom. Now I understand everything.   You may be wondering as I did, why there is no mention of that other discipline that explores the problems of our day known as philosophy.   Oh, but there is.  It is explained that the scientist’s “…investigations are more practical than philosophical”.   It seems to me – call me a little out of it – that neuroscience and psychology, being rather young disciplines, ought not to have been called upon as the only route to explain the question of acts as disturbing and vile as the recent events in Norway.   Using philosophy is wanting because, well, it’s difficult to distill and present the difficult concepts to a layperson – especially when, as a writer, you are trying to make deadline to keep the paper afloat in these times of yellow journalism.  And anyway – philosophy is way beyond what most of us can handle in the age of quick sounds-bites and headlines delivered to our already overflowing inboxes.

Was the media ever anything more than yellow journalism?   That’s a good question to ask too.  And mostly I want all of us to ask a lot of questions.

Hot Fossils and Rebel Matters 196 – Pride 2011 – An Interview…or Two

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Dina Paige explains SIS (Photo by Ninja)

At 1:20am on the morning of Saturday June 28, 1969, police entered a Mafia run gay bar called the Stonewall Inn. It is still located at 51 and 53 Christopher Street in Greenwich Village New York. The police had raided the establishment countless times before to take their payoffs. It appears that the combination of delays getting patrol wagons to the site, police mis-communications, and undoubtedly, a growing sense of frustration with the constant raids, a riot broke out on the street, amid crys of “Gay Power”, against the police. Michael Fader, quoted by David Carter in the book Stonewall: The Riots that Sparked the Gay Revolution, explained:

We all had a collective feeling like we’d had enough of this kind of shit. It wasn’t anything tangible anybody said to anyone else, it was just kind of like everything over the years had come to a head on that one particular night in the one particular place, and it was not an organized demonstration…. Everyone in the crowd felt that we were never going to go back. It was like the last straw. It was time to reclaim something that had always been taken from us…. All kinds of people, all different reasons, but mostly it was total outrage, anger, sorrow, everything combined, and everything just kind of ran its course. It was the police who were doing most of the destruction. We were really trying to get back in and break free. And we felt that we had freedom at last, or freedom to at least show that we demanded freedom. We weren’t going to be walking meekly in the night and letting them shove us around—it’s like standing your ground for the first time and in a really strong way, and that’s what caught the police by surprise. There was something in the air, freedom a long time overdue, and we’re going to fight for it. It took different forms, but the bottom line was, we weren’t going to go away. And we didn’t.   (source: Wikipedia)

This period in American history also coincided with other civil and social movements of the time, including the African-American civil rights movement, the counterculture of the 1960s and the anti-war movement. The riots lasted for the next six days. It stands as a marker and pivotal moment when the gay liberation movement in North America came of age. Since that year, the last weekend of June has been a weekend of choice for Gay Pride parades, the world over. During the 1970s, Toronto had over the years various events to mark gay pride, but in 1981, after the Toronto bathhouse raids by police where 306 men were arrested, Lesbian and Gay Pride day was incorporated and Toronto’s first official celebration occurred on Sunday June 28.

This year the parade – known simply in Toronto now as “Pride” or the “Pride Parade” was held on July 3 during the Canada Day and American July 4^th long weekend. The first year since 1981 that Pride Day wasn’t held on the last Sunday of June was in 2010 when the G20 summit literally closed down the Toronto core during the last week of June. Now it seems that between the city and the Pride Committee, the decision stands to hold it on the long weekend in July, a move that barely conceals the money making, tourism, and commercial nature of the week long Pride festivities.

I am not alone in feeling this way among Toronto queers, but we all don’t feel that way either as CP tells me in today’s show recorded during the pride weekend this year. I should apologize to CP because she might actually wished I referred to her as SP. So…sorry about that SP. D’oh. In today’s show I also talk to Dina Paige, a woman who has created the S.I.S. or the Sexuality Identification System. Using different categories, I can chart my level of femaleness, maleness or gender ambiguity that show where on the gender spectrum I define myself. I spend a few minutes talking to her about that. Enjoy the show.   
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HotFRM 196 (16mb)

Should Toronto Pride Be Moved Back to the Last Week in June?

what? has my poll  been closed by polldaddy?.  what a harsh man.  It was 100% (5 out of 5) for Yes.

Hot Fossils and Rebel Matters 195 – Savage Beauty and a Bit of Gershwin

A Typical McQueen Creation

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Special K follows the fashion world, so it made sense that she didn’t want to miss the late designer Alexander McQueen’s retrospective Savage Beauty. It was showing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art during our New York trip. I’m normally not so keen on fashion, so I didn’t expect to be blown away by the exhibit. On Feb 11 2010, McQueen tragically killed himself in his London flat at the age of 40, just days after his mother’s death. He was known for his runway spectacles, outrageous edgy performance art meant to compliment his fashion creations and make a statement. I didn’t even know any of this about him when I followed Special K and Dragon into the first gallery. Despite the crushing crowd, straining to get a glimpse of his works adorning mannequins and on display platforms, I lingered over what I realized were oddly compelling works of art. I couldn’t believe that anyone would collect razor clam shells, strip them, varnish them and then drape them over a woman’s body or make a leather suit with bleached denim attached and taxidermy crocodile heads. I think the pieces that intrigued me the most were his monstrous lobster claw shoes and the endless variety of masks, some playful, some nightmarish, adorning the mannequins’ heads. To me, it is brilliant, ironic, and a little mischievous that these pieces are even called fashion. Instead, each garment tells a story and makes a point, sometimes terrible as illustrated by his collection called Highland Rape. 

Besides seeing this exhibit, we also took Dragon and Fly through Central Park and through an photographic exhibit by the Korean artist Ahae. Walking through the Vanderbilt Hall in the Grand Central Terminal, we saw but a small sample of the many photographs he took over the course of two years from one window where he lives and works in Korea.

And what trip to New York would be complete without a pianist in Washington Square Park playing Gershwin’s iconic Gotham tune Rhapsody in Blue?

Playing Gershwin in Washington Square Park (Photo by Ninja)

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• HotFRM 195 (27Mb)

Hot Fossils and Rebel Matters 194 – New York is Just Like Toronto With More Stuff

NYC Ground Zero May 6 2011 (Photo by Special K)

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• Hotfrm 194 (30 Mbs)

I haven’t posted a show in two months. I have some good reasons for that. For one thing I’ve been working hard and enjoying my new day job. I’ve also been spending time working on another new project http://threegratitudes.ninja-radio.com/. Every day I think of three things in my life to be grateful for and share them on the site. You would think that coming up with three things to be thankful for every day would be dead easy. It’s not. There is so much tragedy and negative things happening in the world and in my life every day, that to take delight, pleasure and gratitude in small and simple things around me can be tricky. Especially on a day to day basis when much of our days also take the form of eat, work, sleep, repeat. But I am persevering in this. I have seven months to go and then I’ll end the project. Until then, you can join me if you want in the project in various ways. You can email me at hotfrm@gmail.com with your gratitudes or comment on the site. Either way your gratitudes will make it to the project.

A New Concept in Fast Food (Photo by Ninja)

This month Special K and I took our friends Dragon and Fly to New York. Fly had never been there and it had been many years since Dragon had. In today’s segment, we visit an interesting restaurant for breakfast called 4Food – the purpose of which is to de-junk fast food. We run into many French tourists. The aim that day was to visit to Ground Zero the day after Obama visited on May 5, 2011. Surprisingly we were stopped by a journalist who interviewed us for Swiss Public Radio about 9/11. Bit of a switch for Ninja.  We also find out that there is a huge French community in New York. We talk about the movie Winter’s Bone and a class of humanity that are sometimes, but not often, represented in movies. Other movies discussed: Pulp Fiction, Deliverance, The Fly.  Food mentioned:  Pressed rice patties. Television Shows referred to:  Modern Family.  Broadcasters mentioned:  Swiss Public Radio, The CBC.

Links:  http://midtownlunch.com/   http://www.facebook.com/4food?sk=notes

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• Hotfrm 194 (30 Mbs)

Hot Fossils and Rebel Matters 193 – Nonsense, Lunacy, and a Little Cello Music

Leo Zhang - Cellist

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• HotFRM 193 (25 Mb)

Meshugoss : me·shu·gaas or mish·e·gaas or mish·e·goss (msh-gäs) n. Slang Crazy or senseless activity or behavior; craziness.

Narishkeit:  nar-ish-kite (a nar is a fool) n. Slang Nonsense; foolishness.  “An artist, you want to be? Never mind this narishkeit! Better you should go to college and get a real job!”

Another Saturday morning at the Market and we cover lots of ground.   Subjects of import discussed:  Family Day, Bad Driving, Gender bias ascribed to bad driving, Canada Goose Jackets – everyone is wearing them, the Apple iTouch new killer app – the flashlight, Ninja proves she looks terrible in hats, the saddest music in the world,  Leo Zhang – A cellist plays for us in the background (well at least I think so), How to fix a deviated septum, Flash Flicker Photography Group, Flash mobs.

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• HotFRM 193 (25 Mb)

Hot Fossils and Rebel Matters 192 – Peak Oil, Global Warming and General Armageddon

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• HotFRM 192 (32 mbs)

"I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones." - Albert Einstein

What do Canadians do while they are waiting for the end of the world?  Watch hockey of course.  But that doesn’t stop Ninja from engaging her father and nephew in a lively discussion about impending global catastrophe.  But before we get to that, Ninja shares expert information about climate change,  how petroleum is processed, and what is required to support life here and elsewhere in the universe.   Ninja is hoping to soon make the three and half year trip to Jupiter’s moon Europa where scientists think life could exist in our solar system.

Famous people featured: Linda Hunt, Albert Einstein, Steven Hawking, Martin Gardner.    Moons and planets mentioned: Earth, Jupiter, Mars, Venus, Io, Europa, Mercury. Places on earth mentioned:  Stratford Ontario, China, Shanghai.

Europa may be mankind's only hope.

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• HotFRM 192 (32 mbs)

Hot Fossils and Rebel Matters 191 – Moving Objects With Only My Mind

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• HotFRM 191

Last fall, Special K and I took a short trip to Chicago.   We covered a lot of ground during our five day stay there.   We visited our usual museums and restaurants.  Special K took me on a tour of the Gold Coast, one of the more interesting architectural areas of the city.

Former Playboy Mansion in Chicago (circa 1960)

I was duly impressed by the city. I also took some time out on Sunday to visit Madge Weinstein of Yeast Radio and Eat This Hot Show fame.   But the most delightful moment for me was when I watched and then played a game of Mindball at the Chicago Museum of Science and Technology where I moved an object with only my mind.  It was thrilling.

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• HotFRM 191 Moving Objects With Only My Mind (21 Mb)

Collaboration?! Me?!

I normally run my own show.  It’s safer that way, and possibly more polite.  Then there is only one person to blame when the mission goes wrong.   But here I’ve gone ahead and done a collaborative thing with George Motoc.   You can find his blog at  Canadian Immigrant Song.  I researched and wrote the text for one of his podcasts.  You can find it at  The Rolling Stone 500.

Download the show (22 MB): RS500496

 

Hot Fossils and Rebel Matters 190 – Because I Have a Voice

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• HotFRM 190 (24 Mb)

The movie ‘The King’s Speech’ is based on the book written by Mark Logue and Peter Conradi, The King’s Speech: How One Man Saved the British Monarchy. Mark Logue is the grandson of Lionel Logue, the titular man who saved that monarchy. Special K argues that in fact it was the Queen Mother, Elizabeth, wife of King George VI, known to his family and intimates as Bertie, who really saved the monarchy.  Lionel Logue was the speech therapist known for enabling King George VI, a lifelong stutterer, to speak confidently, sincerely and as a leader during a time in history when the British Empire needed that leadership most: the dawn and period of World War II. Lionel Logue, in wikipedia, is described as being distinctive in his therapeutic method that emphasized humour, patience and superhuman sympathy.

And this is in great part what makes this movie enduring art in its depth and emotional complexity. Geoffry Rush’s performance completely embodies these three qualities. There is no other way, the movie, convinces us, that he could have helped the king otherwise. A normally mild-mannered man, the film portrays King George VI, played exquisitely and poignantly by Colin Firth, as someone who could erupt in frustrated rage when provoked to face the disability that could make or break royal credibility.  For all the remoteness royality seems to the otherwise common man, this film attempts to show the humanity in all of us through Bertie and the heartwarming affection between him, his wife, the Queen Mother, his daughters Elizabeth and Margaret and his lifelong bond with his speech therapist.

Links:  Lionel Logue George VI Stuttering is Cool The King’s Speech

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• HotFRM 190 (24 Mb)

Science Unites – Religion Divides

 

Why?  Because 1+1 gives you the same value in China, or in Japan, or in the U.S. or in Saudia Arabia, Africa, or South America.    God is different across cultural, racial, national and individual boundaries.

Hot Fossils and Rebel Matters 189 – PodCursing Meetup



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• Hotfrm 189 (35 Mb)

 

When the Scarborough Dude shows up, you can bet that the conversation will not be safe for work and the podcaster meetup in December was no exception.  We start out discussing C words, the W and T word, J word, D word and F word. We then effortlessly move onto the discussion of violence – domestic and workplace.  Talking out of my ass, I refer to bill 184, but what I really meant was bill 168. This bill came into affect on June 15 2010 and amends the Occupational Health and Safety Act specifically with respect to violence and harassment in the workplace. Bill 184 is an act to amend the floral emblem act – not remotely related to workplace harassment or violence. I for one come away less closer than I expected to a working definition of psychological versus physical violence.

So you are forewarned. Don’t play it full blast at your cube or within ear’s reach of your mother or nana.

Political issues discussed: Nanny State, Treason, The FLQ crisis, Pierre LaPorte, and Julian Assange.   Fictional heros mentioned: Lisbeth Salander. Deserts mentioned in a pejorative way : May West, the uniquely Canadian fluffy cake snack, not the film and entertainment sex symbol of the early 20^th century.

Podcasters present:  Valerie,  The Dude, The Dude Again with Brent, Closet Geek (Brent)

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• HotFRM 189 (35 Mb)

Hot Fossils and Rebel Matters 188 – Coffee with Tyffanie

On a lazy rainy Sunday afternoon in November, Ninja calls Tyffanie Morgan (of Breakfast With Tyffanie). She hails from Kingston, Canada, has been a host of the Kingston’s Gender Bender community radio show, and speaks from time to time on social media.

While Ninja sips her delicious coffee, they discuss the subtleties of cooking beer can chicken on the grill, gardening, yard vermin, gender bending, musicals, queer politics, have the requisite meta-talk about podcasting, social media and Podcasters across Borders. There may or may not spoilers in this show about Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. She didn’t specify which kind of beer she used for her chicken. Broadway Shows mentioned: Hair, Priscilla Queen of the Desert. Classic Canadian Plays mentioned: Hosanna. Canadian small towns mentioned: Picton. Iconic Gay Music mentioned: Madonna, ABBA, Disco Podcamps mentioned: Podcasters Across Borders, Podcamp Toronto

Other Links

http://www.wordreference.com/fren/cuirette

http://www.rabble.ca/

Priscilla, Queen of the Desert

Hosanna by Michel Tremblay

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• HotFRM 188 (50 Mb)

Things I Want to Do. Now.

1. Scan all the family photos I’ve got from 1900 to now.  Takes about 10 minutes per photo.
2. Scan all my own photos of my life, friends, and lovers from the age of 15 to now.
3. Read my wired magazines
4. Read the articles I’ve printed
5. Hot Yoga
6. See Tim Burton Exhibition
7. Analyse why I liked Scott Pilgrim Against the World so much.
8. Get My Hair Cut
9. Put together the movie of our last trip for someone’s viewing pleasure.
10. Read the National Geographic issue October 2010
11. Clean up the basement
12. Sand and shine some rocks with my dremelling kit
13. Watch Fight Club
14. Create a DVD of documentaries for my father
15. Paint the bathroom
16. Watch Fringe Season 2
17. Finances
18. Get a new stopper for the bathroom sink
19. Read the mountain of books by my bed
20. Solve the next Sudoku in my One Sudoku a Day calendar.  Current puzzle:  Feb 28,  2007.
21. Convert all my VHS tapes to avi
22. Take Tai Chi
23. Read Life of Pi
24. Finish Atlas Shrugged
25. Read The Lost Symbol
26. Find old copies of Andy Warhol’s Interview Magazine
27. Read The Girl Who Played with Fire. And then. Immediately after - The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest.
28. Start my Christmas shopping.
29. Do the Mona Lisa puzzle with Special K.  Spread out on the dining room table. Before our dinner party.
30. Loose weight.  (Are you calling me fat?!)
31. Take it up a notch.
32. Take it down a notch.

Hot Fossils and Rebel Matters 187 – Waterfalls, Geysers, and Fault Lines – Iceland 3

Gullfoss Waterfall (Photo by Special K)

The second tour that Special K and I took in Iceland was the Iceland Circle Tour. It covers approximately 300 kilometers looping from Reykjavik into central Iceland and back. The tour started in Reykjavik where we travelled to the Thingvellir National Park, home of the Iceland’s ancient Viking Parliament. We walk across the fault line that separates the North American plate from the Euro Asian Plate. The tour continues up to the magnificent Gullfoss waterfall cascading down over lava rock. We then head to the great Geyser and the Strokkur geyser that erupts in 3 to 7 minute intervals spouting boiling water to a height of 30 meters.

 

Strokkur Geyser Iceland (Photo by Special K)

Listen to the show here

• HotFRM 187 (16 Mb – 12:29 minutes)

First Some Bad News

Do you have any idea what fossil fuels provides us?   Here is a rundown:

1. 10 calories of fossil fuels are required to produce every 1 calorie of food eaten in the US
2. Pesticides
3. Commercial Fertilizers
4. Automobiles, Tractors, Trailers, Trucks
5. Airplanes
6. The buildings in which and the tools from which other products like appliances are made
7. Natural gas
8. Diesel Fuel
9. Jet Fuel
10. Propane
11. Gasoline
12. Microchips
13. Computers
14. The Internet
15. Asphalt
16. Concrete
17. Highways
18. Modern Cities (1 ton of cement requires 45 gallons of oil or 420 pounds of coal or 4.7 million BTUs of energy)
19. Discovery and extraction of copper, aluminum, uranium, and platinum. (A good sized aluminum plant uses as much power as a city of 175,000 people.)  (1 ton of copper requires 17.8 barrels of oil)
20. In the production of Solar panels
21. In the production of Electricity
22. In the production of wind energy
23. In the production of nuclear energy
24. In the production of biofuels (soybeans and corn)
25. All Plastics
26. Paint
27. Astroturf
28. Tires (Synthetic Rubber)
29. Latex
30. Nylon, Polyester, Acrylic
31. Vinyl
32. Styrofoam
33. Naugahyde
34. Formica
35. Candle Wax
36. ASA painkiller
37. Cosmetics including Hand Lotion, Hair Dye, Lipstick, Blush, Eyeliner, Eyeshadow
38. Food Colouring (coal tar)
39. Soapless Detergents use a petrochemical called glycerin
40. Petroleum Jelly
41. Deoderant
42. Rubbing Alcohol
43. Heart Valves, Artificial Limbs
44. Polyethylene, Polypropylene, Polyurethane
45. Fake fur
46. Plexiglass
47. Bubble gum

I’m thinking that’s enough. One 42-gallon barrel of oil creates 19.4 gallons of gasoline (from RankinEnergy.com ). The rest is used to make items like the ones listed above.

Hot Fossils and Rebel Matters 186 – Eyafjallajökull – Iceland Episode 2

Eyafjallajokll and Northern Lights (Photo copyright Gunnar Blondal)

It’s ok.  You don’t have to try to say to the name of the Volcano that crippled air travel in the spring: Eya fak ylla yo kuth.   Even if you try it that way – it won’t work unless you are Icelandic – so there.   But even so I’ve provided a lesson or two in this show.  Then, join Special K and I at a lovely Reyjkavik cafe while we  soak in what little sun comes out that day.

Listen to the show at:

• HotFRM 186 (11Mb)

Links:

http://www.volcanodiscovery.com/en/iceland/eyjafjallajoekull.html

Eyafjallajokull Erupting (Copyright Gunnar Blondal)

Thoroughly Modern Mikael

Critics and literary pundits wonder if the story has the makings of a classic.  I am merely suspicious of phenomena that take popular attention by storm.  Such was my skepticism about The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.   What is it about the story that is capturing people’s imagination?  Is it the mystery and controversy surrounding the author’s life, legacy and death?  Is it the very modern twenty-first century sensibility that makes us so eager to stick with the book and keeps it alive for us long after we get to the last page?

I have just spent two weeks and one evening of my life immersed in Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander’s world.  It took me took two weeks to get through the book because I did it in audio form.  The version I indulged in was somewhere around sixteen hours of listening time.     I was only able to listen to it for about an hour and half  a day and some of that involved much backing up to get straight the geneology of the Vanger family and details about economics and business that normally go over my head at the best of times.  When I was half-way through the book, I was certain I had solved the mystery of the Vangers or more accurately certain that this was as common a crime novel as any that I had ever read.  Maybe, I was thinking, it’s on a par with In Cold Blood, and certainly not worth any bigger fuss than that. (Though admittedly,  the fuss In Cold Blood caused was considerable.)  I groaned with disappointment when the author, for example, assures us that although Salander will sleep with anyone that the fates choose to present to her, she has a decided preference for the male of the species.   Ok – she’s bisexual – but not too bisexual.  I also thought the author belied a patronizing pseudo-feminist sensibility by giving us a character stunning in her intellectual curiosity and brilliance, who is also only twenty-four, so he could have the inevitable affair with the pixie waif.  Why not make her forty-four?   Well then her four foot eleven aloof taciturn non-conformance would have been about as alluring as a gorilla on her period.  (I found myself asking what becomes of a forty-four or fifty-four year old female hackivist anyway?)

The second half of the book definitely held my interest.   There is indeed a complexity and depth to Larsson’s story telling and characters that I wasn’t expecting.  It is not an ordinary murder mystery.  It is a treatise on morality, ethics and justice masquerading as a thriller.   These are are almost real people dealing with real life difficult questions.  I was pleasantly surprised that though the mysteries and subplots are neatly wrapped up at the end of the book, all the questions and problems of life and love and justice are left as confoundedly open ended as they were before the prologue began.

Now I had to satisfy my curiosity about the film, so I prepared Special K to join me for the almost three hour movie.   This was a much more disappointing experience, as  bits of the story were changed, timeframes condensed, and some characters completely eliminated.    I did enjoy knowing the outcome and  being able to answer Special K’s questions without revealing anything that might ruin her surprise.  Blomkvist and Salander are true to Larsson’s creations, as are many of the Vanger clan. So much, however, is left out in the film that Special K wondered how we kept getting  from here to there.   She was left with a bad taste in her mouth about Salander and her guardian.  To someone who has not read the book, that particular subplot is completely gratuitous, unnecessary and inexplicably disturbing.  (As though it is not disturbing enough as Larsson intended it).  The story was hacked, chopped, and revised to keep the more gruesome bits in the forefront.   I’ll never forgive the filmmakers even though they tried to preserve the spirit of the complexities.   I wish that the story had instead been made into a multi-part miniseries that kept all the intricacies of and faithfulness to the original plot.   That would have made for showing all the character and plot development that would have had the viewer travelling down numerous paths of red herrings as the reader does.

Links : http://nplusonemag.com/man-who-blew-up-welfare-state,  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Girl_with_the_Dragon_Tattoo, http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2009/12/hitchens-200912?currentPage=all,

Seen on the Road #3

C’mon!  You can figure it out. Can’t you?

Hot Fossils and Rebel Matters 185 – Rough Hair and Stinky Mikis

Hot Springs = Rough Hair

Listen to the show:

• HotFRM 185 (24 Mb)

Leaving Reykjavik Harbour to Whale Watch (Photo by Special K)

Well, here it is :  the first podcast of our June Holiday.  Special K and I spent an amazing week in one of the most beautiful countries in the world – Iceland.  On the first day we visited the hot spring known as the Blue Lagoon located between the cities of Keflavik and Reykjavik.  The mineral salts in the spring gave us straw like hair and, being the vain Ninja that I am, I feared I’d be stuck with bad hair forever.   On the second day, we went whale watching.  Based on what we learned later – many Icelanders have more than one job.  But we were still surprised to discover, a couple of days later, that our wonderful whale watching tour guide was none other than Tomas Lemarquis star of the brooding Icelandic film Noi the Albino.  I should have guessed it, with his calm, melodic, meditative speaking tones leading us through our first Icelandic sea adventure.  Listen to the audio of that experience:

• HotFRM 185 (24 Mb)

Tour Guide and Movie Star (Photo by Ninja)

Miki Whale and Bird (Photo by Special K)

Seen on the Road No. 2

Seen on The Road No. 1

Hot Fossils and Rebel Matters 184 – Ring Tones, Batteries and Recalls

Scott. To be real.  Ninja, Special K and Charlie discuss ring tones, batteries, and Toyota recalls.  Special K reveals the truth about shaving accelerator pedals.  Ninja interviews a salt merchant who offers up a scent test of truffle salt.  It really does smell foul, but apparently tastes great.  Ninja maintains that you can’t dance and stay uptight.

Truffle salt smells like gym socks

Links:

Toyota Recall – The Truth, Got to be Real, Dancing in the Moonlight, Truffle Salt

What they do to accelerator pedals

Listen to the show at:

• HotFRM 184 (23 Mb)

Hot Fossils and Rebel Matters 183 – Don’t Fence Me Out

Worker puts finishing touches to a three-metre-high security fence outside the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. (Nathan Denette/Canadian Press)

Special K’s G20 report.  She gives us a first hand description of what she sees on the way to work on the first day of the G20 Summit Week as Toronto gets ready for the city’s security event of the century.  She and I talk outside on the evening of the summer solstice, the longest day of the year.

Links:  Monitor the G20 at CBC News,  About the G20 security measures,  Google Maps and flyover

Listen to the show :

• HotFRM 183 (12.5MB)

Hot Fossils and Rebel Matters 182 – Waiting at the Car Wash Babe

Today I have a special treat for you –  An original synthesized piece composed by that special delivery guy from California Gold country : Special Delivery Mark.   It’s called Sequence1 (beta). No doubt that is just its working title.  It’s extremely soothing.    I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

One of the Musical Tools of Mark

Later, Special K and I find ourselves at a new car wash near the sound stages of Hollywood North.  We are trapped in line because of some poor soul who has no idea how to navigate his way through a touchless car wash.   While we wait, we discuss Roman Polanski, Frantic and Rosemary’s Baby.

Listen to it here at:

• HotFRM 182 (20 Mb)