Uncontacted Indians?!

???Uncontacted Indians?!??? ??? contact an anthropologist!: "The source of a lot of the information about ???uncontacted people??? is Survival International, a group that I generally think struggles valiantly for the human rights of groups who wish to remain isolated from national populations and preserve their ways of life. But in this case, I wonder if they???re doing a bit of harm with the good, by bringing the whole ???uncontacted Indian??? thing to the table."

One of the reasons these groups are attracting attention is that they are under pressure, especially on the Peruvian side of the border, not only from the usual suspects (miners, loggers, and ranchers), but also from a French petroleum company that wants to drill in the area. Why can???t we go with THAT story

Some biofuels might do more harm than good

Some biofuels might do more harm than good: "new research led by a biologist at the University of Washington, Bothell, shows that some of the most popular current biofuel stocks might have exactly the opposite impacts than intended.

The study looked at factors such as the energy needed to produce a renewable fuel source compared with how much energy is produced, the impact on soil fertility and effects on food supply when fuels based on crops such as corn and soybeans are mixed with fossil fuels. Based on those factors, the authors determined that corn-based ethanol is the worst alternative overall."

"It's foolish to say we should be developing a particular biofuel when that could mean that we???re just replacing one problem with another"

Lotus Therapy

Lotus Therapy: Big money in zazen, the little circle monk has come into his own in the wellness marketplace - "Mindfulness meditation has become perhaps the most popular new psychotherapy technique of the past decade."

???I think that back then, other researchers had to be very careful when they talked about this, because they didn???t want to be seen as New Age weirdos. So they didn???t call it mindfulness or meditation. After a while, we put enough studies out there that people became more comfortable with it.???

What I notice they don't say is the generations of patients the scoundrels completely fleeced and screwed over during their 80-plus years of denying all utility of the traditional methods. But I won't get into that :)

Moanin'

In the jazzier genre, here's the Belmont Sr. Secondary Jazz Band "A"; what I really like about this clip is the infectious joy of the performance. The kids take a chance on taking a rollicking favourite, and making it their own, right down to the "Play that Funky Music" intro, it is their music, their sound played their way.

Which is the only way we can play it. I think it was Joe Walsh (of the Eagles) who said there was no sin in stealing licks from other players because you cannot recreate their sound. Even if we have the same gear strung in the same way, we won't have the same feel, we will have our own, it will be our music whether or not we consciously try to copy the past. John Cage proved as well how you cannot even copy your own performance; the wire-recordings of the most expert players do not line up.

This particular moment of play, it's yours, you own it, the moment already has your stamp on it; you might as well roll it out your own way. It may be a Mingus romp an Amparito Roca or a Star Spangled Banner or Steve Reich's 6 players: you are going to be yourself out there, so you can be all timid and standing self-conscious in someone's shadow, or you can go out there and boldly be who you are.

"If we're gonna die out there, Benny, let's die doin' our own stuff." (Gene Krupa)

Amazon: Charles Mingus