calligraphy with light

i think the beautiful calligraphy created with light pictured above means "think".

the stunning work of julie briton.

Read more...

the ideal exam.

from these folks, a perfect exam. i almost want to do it.

1. Patch together some things you have heard in lectures, in no particular order.

2. Has this question vexed philosophers for centuries?

3. Create an impression of original thought by impassioned scribbling (your answer may be ungrammatical, illegible, or both).

4. Does the answer to this question depend on what you believe?

5. How much irrelevant historical background can you give before addressing this question?

6. Describe two opposing views, then say what you personally feel.

7. Rise above the fumbling efforts of others and speculate freely on an issue of your choice.

8. EITHER

(a) Answer this question by announcing that it really means something different (and much easier to answer).

OR

(b) Write out your answer to last year’s question on this topic.

9. Protest your convictions in the teeth of obvious and overwhelming objections.

10. Keep your reader guessing about what you think until the end. Then don’t tell them.

Read more...

fry and laurie for my sister...

this one's for you danya...

all you need to know about english here...

Read more...

interesting interview - slavoj zizek

this interview on democracy now today was really compelling. more of a monologue, really, with slovene intellectual slavoj zizek (seen above with his argentinian-born former-underwear-model wife...). he commented on the usual stuff... the wars, the us presidential race, etc, but with a really captivating look at the left. he's a marxist, lacan-fan and a communist, but he was really more critical of the left than the right. he described bush and osama as escher's two hands drawing each other, warned against being so caught up in crisis (ecological, political, humanitarian) that you don't take time to analyze the situation, but most impressively, to me, when he said that the left should better at critquing the left than the right is...

Read more...

welcome again...

so what in all creation is a "veiled gazelle"?

well, a (translation of a) poem by ibn arabi says...

"and among the wondrous things is a veiled gazelle:
a divine subtlety, veiled by a state of the self,
referring to the states of those who know.
unable to explain their perceptions to others,
they can only indicate them symbolically
to those who have begun to experience the like ..."

so it could be said that a "veiled gazelle" is
an intuitive non-thing, basically inexpressible...
yet can maybe be indicated to another through
symbolic gesture, but only with common "ground."

why is this blog called "that veiled gazelle..."?

well, my first post (february 11th 2008) says:

"...i hope to provide the best of what i find on
the internets and the interworlds here,
to aid you all in wasting less time,
both on- and off-line.
i get really inspired from a real stretch of content,
so i won't pigeon-hole this blog
one way or another.
enjoy!!!"

so, the "non-pigeon-holed" content of this blog,
at first appearing merely scattered and unrelated,
collectively gestures towards "that veiled gazelle..."
if reality is a1000-faceted diamond, these are faces...

so what makes your facets any better than mine?

nothing. the internet's diversity should increase.
if even one post affects you, that is beautiful.
feel free to comment, good or bad, and i'll change.
i've begun to court other authors too...

i'm convinced that we all share a love supreme,
but even i get elitist and skeptical of others.
this effort is as much for me to be changed by
public opinion as my efforts to shape the like.

and what is that image at the top of this post?

that is a piece of digital calligraphy by laura gyre
superimposed over an ancient pattern i copied.
the calligraphy is arabic/farsi, it says "ghzl"
here follows a nice piece of synchronicity:

during a shamanic trance i saw a horned animal
i knew it was a beneficial vision, there to aid me.
i was uncertain of the species until reading arabi...

i told laura i was sure the animal was a gazelle.

sufis often use a weird word in poetry because
it shares a linguistic root with other concepts,
so laura suggested we look up gazelle in arabic
and see what other words have the root, "ghzl"

they were aligned with our work (and our name):

spinner of yarn (we spread tales, sufi means wool)
spinning (we named ourselves "gyre" for a reason)
love (the greatest force in the universe, bonding us)

Read more...

who's ted?

ted is going on. what started out as technology, entertainment, design (hence t.e.d.) is now a more global conference of "ideas worth spreading." they post incredible talks from incredible speakers (or, you could say, credible talks by credible speakers.) each year three people win a ted prize: $100,000 and a granted wish. one of last years winners, james nachtway's talk is great, complete with a ton of amazing photos. all of the videos (when viewed on the ted site) feature this great navigation bar in flash that lets you jump to topics in the video visually.

anyway, this year:

amory lewis turns the "eco isn't business friendly" myth on it's head. watch this talk, and don't let anyone argue why we should keep burning gas. if nothing else, watch at 9 minutes for a great jab at past engineering priorities.

his slide presentation is here.



this talk is just a slice of amazing imaging technology... it's a short 8 minutes and well worth seeing through. incredible future of the way we see digital images:



this lady is funny when she talks about dictionaries... who knew.



i was reminded ted existed today by the venerable boingboing.

Read more...