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2 months ago

The dream is like a minestrone

Lately I’ve found myself speaking about dreams quite often, so I finally decided to share my thoughts about them. In these years I ended up with a quite funny way to figure, in my mind, what goes on while we dream. It is funny because it has more than a link with the art of cooking. 

To me, dreaming is like preparing a minestrone. I might not know much about dreams, but as any other italian, I know a lot about this cornerstone of Italian cuisine.
In this unusual scenario the minestrone is our inner self (what some psycologists would call our unconscious). While we’re dreaming, we keep stirring and stirring, making feelings and sensations (or whatever our minestrone is made of) collide, crush and blend. 

No image, no sound, no smell has been created up to this point. There’s no need to be in a hurry. Just keep stirring, in the deepest and darkest regions of ourselves.
Just when we’re really close to waking up, something happens. Our consciousness is calling for us, we’ve got to come back to the surface, where the sun shines. In a matter of seconds, we are catapulted to the real world up there, but we don’t want to. We try with all our forces to grasp a hold, but all we can take with us is a handful of that minestrone we prepared with so much care. 

In the process of regaining consciousness, our inner self turns into our physical and real self, and it’s not the only thing changing shape and nature. The soup we’ve taken with us has turned into images, sounds, smells, people, cities, animals…, producing nothing but the dream we will remember once awake. In the process of being built, fragments of our unconscious are associated with objects of the real worlds, which are products of our senses. This conversion follows rules that are unique and personal, probably incompatible anyone else’s. 

That’s why trying to describe a friend what you dreamt about can be both unsatisfying and frustrating. It’s like trying to share that minestrone you earlier prepared: the soup suddenly changes its ingredients while the spoon reaches someone else’s lips. 

2 months ago

Kirkstall Abbey, Yorkshire

Kirkstall Abbey, Yorkshire

2 months ago

“Si sta come [campione] d’inverno sugli spalti i cori”

Finalmente qui in mint_cloud un post italianissimo. E’ da tempo che mi frulla in tempo un’idea, e solo questa sera ho deciso di approfondire seriamente la questione. Mi è capitato ultimamente di notare che spesso e volentieri gli artisti pop della nostra amata penisola propongono nei loro capolavori sonorità che rievocano atmosfere e momenti squisitamente calcistici.

Poco fa ho racimolato qualche esempio incredibilmente calzante. Ognuna di queste canzoni contiene almeno un elemento che richiama l’aspetto squisitamente canoro del giuoco del calcio. Gli artisti sono italiani (a parte la bonus track), per tutto il resto non ci sono regole, né per il genere, né per la lingua, né per l’annata. Sappiate che si tratta in tutti i casi di pezzi per palati sopraffini e sofisticati.

 Ora, sorridete: siete di fronte alla prima compilation al mondo di questo genere! Please welcome:

 “Si sta come [campione] d’inverno sugli spalti i cori” , la compilation che fotografa l’ITALIA DEL CALCIO

Traccia 1. Jovanotti - Go (video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsdylIsoVVw)

Il nostro Beastie Boy italiano, al climax di una squisita scalata di “Go..Go..Go”, esplode con una serie di urla e scimmiottamenti da sparare rigorosamente a braccio teso rivolto alla tifoseria avversaria.

Traccia 2. Righeira - Italians a Go-Go (http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x9kcan_righeira-italians-a-go-go-live_music)

Il nostro amato duo torinese canterà in uno spagnolo tanto in voga nella scena gay-italo-disco 80s, ma sfodera un intramezzo da ahola, con tanto di inno di incoraggiamento “Italians a Go-Go” tanto ha fatto per riportare in alto la nostra reputazione nel mondo. Escluse dalla compilation (non per mancati meriti nella causa) le hits “Vamos a la Playa” e “No Tengo Dinero”.  

Traccia 3. 883 - Weekend (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mwUObS-KTY&ob=av2e)

La vera ballata della compilation, rigorosamente in terza posizione (potenziale secondo singolo). Questa canzone, oltre a cantarlo, il calcio lo racconta. La domenica italiana: bar, sigaretta dopo il caffè, mal di testa regolare dopo il day-aftèr..uomini con radioline a passeggio con la moglie incazzata, sintonizzati sui big match del San Siro o delle Alpi. Il tutto condito da un commovente coretto in seconda voce. Da che mondo è mondo, in Italia il weekend se ne va con i gol in tele. 

Traccia 4. Z100 - Arriva Arriva (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RupZPQwCFTQ)

Mettiamo le cose in chiaro: i cori da stadio sono una delle espressioni più liberatorie e viscerali per un uomo. Il cervello è spento ma il corpo vibra tutto. Ecco perché il calcio si può trovare facilmente nella commercial dance primi anni ’90 italiana. Una musica senza testa che fa ti esplodere le vene. La traccia dei Z100 tra un rassicurarci (“arriva arriva”) e un metterci in guardia (“non arriva più”), ci propone una serie di cori degni dei peggiori ultrà.

Traccia 5. Ivan Graziani - Lugano Addio (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3KtATaeA9M)

Il caro Ivan ci regala un intro che avremmo potuto tranquillamente adottare come inno post vittoria del mondiale 2006, se proprio volevamo fare le cose per bene.

Traccia 6. Francesco Salvi - C’è da spostare una macchina (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4jN5hcl_GM , oppure con jovanotti http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkFbMjRn5Lw)

Questa perla di commercial-demento-mediaset-dance sembra trattare una questione che poco ha che fare con il nostro amato sport. Il parcheggio della disco è intasato, il dj non + d’aiuto, eppure c’è sempre tempo per un coretto (i carabinieri nel video) di sottofondo che sembra “dare il LA” all’interno stadio.

Traccia 7. Elio e le storie tese - La gente vuole il gol (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHWmV3NlSqs in versione raisport, oppure http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEjsBSDy7NY)

Il miglior gruppo cabarettista italiano ha realizzato molti pezzi riguardanti il calcio, ma questo è senza dubbio il più forte e importante. Per una serie di motivi: esser stato l’inno quasi ufficiale degli europei 2000, proporre un frammento di telecronaca, contenere tutto il spettro di frequenze udibili in curva sud, con un repertorio che comprende tripudi di trombe, tamburi e ohohohoho-oh-oh-oh. 

Traccia 8. Bugo - Il Sintetizzatore (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noi9lUQ0iEA)

E’ ufficiale: il motivetto che accompagna tutta la canzone è stato vergognosamente preso in prestito dall’inno domenicale dei tifosi della Ternana.

Traccia 9. Raf- Self Control (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4oya9nYv7Q)

Pezzo cult anni 80, talmente popolare nel mondo che ne sono state fatte svariate cover. Il nostro cadaverico (vedi video) RAF potrà atteggiarsi quanto vuole, ma il leggiadro ritornello “OH OAH OH!” arriva direttamente dagli antri più bui e viscerali dell’animale italiano. 

Bonus Track. Pet Shop Boys - Paninaro (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ORZk-FXjSo)

Unica eccezione all’interno della compilation per quanto riguarda il criterio di nazionalità degli artisti. I PSB sono inglesi, certo, ma a seguito di una loro visita a Milano nell’86, vennero folgorati da una delle sottoculture più degne di nota dai tempi della Giovine Italia: i Paninari. Il duo londinese decise dunque di incidere questo gioiello synth-pop, non mancando di infiocchiettare il ritornello con un italianissimo “OH OAOH OH”, principio e fine di ogni inno. Principio e fine del made in Italy.

3 months ago

We need love to be liquid [A manifesto]

 

In the middle of a quite heated conversation, the quickest person shouting an opinion is the most likely to be considered right. It’s like playing table tennis without even seeing the ball. Do we put enough attention on what we, and others as well, say? 

To what extent are we able to neglect others in our decision making process? Can we take actions without considering the effects our choice is going to have on someone else? Look at the big picture. In a way or another we always weigh things against a set of values, projecting them through our entourage to get the very consciousness of being part of this world. Most of the decision we make is ours, but still because of the others. 

Being egoist has the only logic result of having no one else around. Egoism never pays. Even when we’re seeking power and wealth. More often than we think our happiness thrives in other’s. Especially if it’s us who has created it.

What’s the point of being angry at someone? Once anger has gone, how is that supposed to make us feel better? Knots only make life harder.

Focus on people. And if you feel you can’t handle it, retreat and focus on yourself. Forgive. Be receptive. Listen carefully to what people tell you. Take your time. Never stop trying to say and do something valuable. Be wealthy. Get the most out of your life.

There’s no love mine, no love dissipation, no love tree. Love can only be wasted. 

It’s ok if you waste it, as soon as you create more.

We need love to be liquid, not like dust.


4 months ago

Plenty of dots, that’s for sure

http://vimeo.com/34182381

This is a great video. It contains lots of topics covered in this blog. The first time I saw it it’s been 100 seconds of pure delight. The speaker is talking so fast that you can’t fully grab words that weigh tons for all the concepts that go with them. But most of all, it’s a great video because it raises more questions than it’s trying to clear up.

Clearly one post wouldn’t be enough to cover all the things mentioned here. After having seen it three-four times, still it’s hard to end up with a clear list of topics I’d like to dealt with. Here’s the ones I found so far that are worth (at least) one post in this blog. Actually, they are worth an entire library of philosophy books, but unfortunately mint_cloud has no solid knowledge in that field. Nevertheless, I’ll still have a go.

“Understand is to perceive patterns”.

It just sounds like music to my ears. But is true for everyone? Is a pattern the best structure to hold knowledge.

“The true comprehension comes when the dots are revealed”. 

 This is a bit hard to approach I’m afraid

“How is it possible that man made artificial technological systems that behave like natural systems?”. 

A lot of stuff that comes from scientific researches apparently can model and efficiently represent things that happen in nature.This one really stirs me up. Maybe it’ll be the first one covered.

“The more we can measure the more we can visualize. The more we can visualize, the more we expand our consciousness.” And again: “Technology is increasingly becoming an expander of human consciousness. It extends our thoughts, it enrich our vision, revealing so much more.”

Well, obviously the first thing that come up in my mind is: “what if everything is a big illusion?” What a huge fail it would be.

Stay tuned for updates, quite surely covering the topics aforementioned.  

4 months ago

Music is black (it began in Africa)

“It began in Africa”. That’s the title of a Chemical Brothers’ song. Guess what? Tonight I want to talk about dance music and Africa. Or, more precisely, black people.

Today I bumped into this awesome webpage:

http://www.thomson.co.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/infographic/interactive-music-map/index.html 

Well, not surprisingly, everything started in the black continent. Be aware that even most of the pioneers of the genres highlighted in the left part of the screen were black. That is true for jazz, blues, rock&roll, even for house and techno, born in Chicago and Detroit respectively in the mid 80s.  

Often these genres, in the process of going mainstream (that is, when white artists appeared to play their part), lost a lot of their original traits. I might sound out of line here, but I think white man has rarely succeeded in following the path drawn by early black musicians. Just as he wasn’t able to embrace the same “poetics”. It approached it, digested it, gave it momentum, but turned it into something different. Somehow less naif. Somehow corrupted. 

Most of the music we listen to has deep roots in Africa. Africa is the continent  where all began. It’s the cradle of humankind. Music, the rhythm that makes our soul vibrate, must be an echo from those early days. No one else but black people can turn it into sound. 

Watch this video. This is one of first house music anthem. How does it make you feel?

Just a short quote from the song:

“Sisters, brothers, we’ll make it to the promised land”

5 months ago

A new ethic is needed

For a start, have a look to the image above, and read some of the milestones listed. 


How does this make you feel?

The image is taken from 2045.com, the website of Russia2045, a “strategic social movement”. One of this project’s main goals goes: “to form a culture connected with the ideology of the future, promoting technical progress, artificial intellect, “multi-body”, immortality, and cyborgization”. 

I warmly suggest you to read at least the first paragraphs of the movement’s manifesto, shown on the right. It’s definitely worth reading, I’m sure you just won’t get your eyes out of it.

I know it may sounds like science fiction, but it’s better if we quickly get used to such things. A few years ago I read R.Kurztweil’s best-seller “Singularity is Near”, and it really opened my mind to a new perspective. I look around me and I just can’t stop seeing signs of something big coming. Just a few examples:

Boston Dynamics’ Big Bot: if you’ve never seen it, just click on the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1czBcnX1Ww

Optical lenses (tested on rabbits) with a display embedded on it:
http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/onepercent/2011/11/electronic-contact-lens-displa.html

IBM’s supercomputer “Watson”, capable of listening and interpreting the questions posed to “him” during a TV quiz game “Jeopardy”. Ok, it’s been designed to accomplish such a task, that means that probably it can’t have a conversation with you at the pub counter, but still it’s quite impressive:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFR3lOm_xhE

The  “neuro-headset”, that is a handset capable of sensing your brain’s waves. So far, it’s capable of figuring out if you’re thinking on concept like “left” or “right”. SDK is given to developers for only $500. Ah, by the way: you can have the headset for $300.
http://emotiv.com/store/hardware/epoc-bci/epoc-neuroheadset/

Technology singularity simply predicts that a technology breakthrough (a very important one) is coming in the next few decades, probably before 2050. Technologies are accelerating exponentially, with a pace growing itself exponentially, so our lives will be affected very soon by the results and products of this process. These changes concern a large amount of scientific fields: medicine, neurology, bio-engineering, and lots of computer science. 

Why are we putting so many efforts into scientific research? Usually scientists’ answer would be:”to improve people’s life”, especially as far as medical issues are concerned. For example, they are recently designing nanorobots capable of reaching cancer cells in our bodies to deliver drugs effectively. The need to be “better off” from a medical point of view seems to justify these advances in science.

But some of these scientists are aware of what’s going on, and they’ve already seen something beyond. One of the most “disturbing” innovation that Singularity will bring is a non-human form of intelligence, in which we will be able to transplant our brains into this artificial device, in order to “overpass” the biological limits that go with our bodies. 

There are lots of futurists and scientists working for that “cause”. Just have a look again at the 2045 project’s website.

You may think that I’m ok with all of this. Well, that’s not the case. Every day that passes I just realize that something is going to happen. And do you know what strikes me the most? The fact that 99% of the world’s population don’t know anything about that.  

We clearly need to talk and discuss about it, as soon as possible. Spread the word. This is my timid attempt. This is no more science fiction. 

We need a new ethic. Humanity will decide what is good and what is bad. But first, let her know.


5 months ago

When words are missing

We are prisoners of our own words, of our sentences, of series of conjunctions-prepositions-phrasal verbs that all together guide our reasoning.

The verb provides a direction, the name is the launching and landing pad. But the rest is nothing but the thrust. And suddenly the language, and thus the thoughts we think we have clear in mind, can easily drift away and reach unexpected lands. This process happens unconsciously as we speak: our words instantly crystallize what we have in mind into a clear, net image. Was it really what we originally wanted to say? All of this takes place no matter how much you think you’re at ease with speaking your language.

Words. Our patient shepherds, our pitiless guards.  They play with our satisfaction. They are the loose caliper we need to drive the nail into the cross sketched on the white wall we always wanted to hit. They’re the only turning fork that allows us to tune ourselves on the world’s frequency, in order to get into resonance with it.

We are their prisoners, how could we rescue ourselves? How could we break the river’s banks, let the water flood everything again? How could we make rich a ground where thousands of springs have blossomed?

5 months ago

How would you design nature? Synthetic Biology is a new approach to engineering biology, generally defined as the application of engineering principles – such as standardization and modularity - to the complexity of biology. The aim is to ‘make biology easier to engineer’, through the design and construction of new biological parts, devices, and systems, and the re-design of existing biological systems for useful purposes, from biofuels to new medical applications. Biology is becoming a new material for engineering - a new technology for design and construction.

About - Synthetic Aesthetics

h\t @digitag

(via wildcat2030)

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