A Moving Day for SuperForest!

Good Morning SuperForest!

As the morning progresses you might notice that SuperForest looks a bit different today.
That's because we are now hosting our own site on our own server space!

AND we've redesigned things to make searching for your favorite SuperForest posts easy! Want to read all of the posts by a single SuperForester? Just click their name.

Yay!

So we must say a fond "Aloha" to Blogger, which has worked so beautifully for us, as we say "Hello" to Wordpress.

In addition to the increased ease of use, hosting our own site also allows us to grow in some exciting new ways. Now, we can have our own wiki, our own chat rooms, our own social networking site.

In short SuperForest is shaping up. If you like your content elevating, your discussions thought provoking, and your DIY info so tantalizingly informative, well, you know where to go...

SuperForest.org!

We sincerely hope you enjoy the redesign and the increased usability.

Love to All,

Team SuperForest



(top image courtesy of humorpix.com)

Alex Steffen and WorldChanging.com

Wow!

I just got done watching a mind-blowing TED talk by Alex Steffen about mankind's transition to sustainability. It's very, very hopeful.



To distill: The Earth is too small and there are too many folks for us all to live as we currently do.

The solutions are many faceted, but boil down to two things: Bright Green Cities- We in the developed nations must work to make our cities as efficient, people-dense, and easy to get around as possible. Invest in infrastructure, low energy buildings, green roofs and a "sharing economy."

AND we must help the billions around the world leapfrog all old technologies and modernize with cheap and robust tech as quickly as possible. Set up community centers to teach computer literacy and programming.

Efficient at home and efficient abroad, everyone sharing and playing nicely together.

He spells it out well, I think.

It turns out that Mr. Steffen runs a site called WorldChanging.com which is like SuperForest's big, serious, older brother. You've got to see it.

Says Alex Steffen about his site: "(It's) a news service for the unimaginable future."

And yet, everything he proposes is very imaginable. What is totally unimaginable is the sort of societal transformation that would occur were everyone's basic necessities provided for using technology.

With everyone interconnected via the net, who can foretell the amazing hybrids and trends to come. As

We shall check in often with WorldChanging. And keeps our looky-balls peeled for Mr Steffen.

Goodbye to Andrew Wyeth

"Always believe in yourself, and believe in love."
-Andrew Wyeth

The world has lost an incredible painter and a gentle and loving soul.

Andrew Wyeth passed away on Friday. He died while he was sleeping in his home in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania. He was 91 years old.

MSNBC has a nice little web-only video on Wyeth and his work:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

So far as we can tell, Andrew Zuckerman conducted the last interview and took the last portrait of Andrew Wyeth for his Wisdom Book. A remarkable man interviewing a remarkable man.

And here is Mr. Wyeth's obituary from the Times: "Andrew Wyeth, Painter, Dies at 91"

Bravo and aloha, Mr. Wyeth.

SuperForest Celebrity: The Guitar-tistry of Buddy Clontz!

How oh how did I find Buddy Clontz?

It's like a fever dream... The sweltering wastelands of endless youtube videos... searching for an instructional video... Who will clearly illustrate how to play "Please Please Me" on guitar?... So many dead ends... So much that is unhelpful... and then... Buddy Clontz.

Stumbling onto the many instructional videos that Buddy Clontz has uploaded is like wandering out of a dessert and finding a Pinkberry.

Let us begin...

Firstly, Mr. Clontz's masterly take on "Please Please Me":



After watching many people fumble through sketchy versions of "Please Please Me," Finding Mr Clontz's video was a revelation.

(Mr. Clontz, may I refer to you as Buddy? Buddy is just too friendly to resist.)

Next, Buddy puts his skilled fingers to the task of George Harrison's track "Beware of Darkness" off of 1970's All Things Must Pass.



Buddy can do more than just Beatles. Watch him tear up "Wind Cries Mary":



Buddy's quiver of excellent covers is practically overflowing.
He does Kinks, Byrds, Cream, Hendrix, Zeppelin. He's amazing.

I think it's the mix of the deadpan expression, unforgettable name, high skill level, and sensitive attention to detail that really makes Buddy work for me.

Plus, he lists every guitar he's playing on at he beginning of each vid!

As you watch Buddy's videos, which I have for many hours now, you slowly get to know this interesting man. Because he seems to shoot only in his "music room" but in many directions, you eventually get a feel for the room, and the little details begin to stick out.

Buddy's Beatle memorabilia. His classic rock poster collection. His Marshall stack. His good luck strap.

Thank you for uploading these to youtube, Buddy.

Of all the videos, one stands out, because it is the only one with a light show, and one of the few when Buddy is standing.

Here's Buddy's take on Cream's "White Room":



Incredible.

Take us out, Buddy. Do that voodoo that you do so well.



For further guitar-tistry, here's Buddy's youtube page.

SuperForest Heroes: Captain Chesley B. Sullenberger III

So now we know the name of the quick thinking and steel tempered man who so gently set US Airways Flight 1549 down in the Hudson, saving the lives of all hands on board.

Captain Chesley B. Sullenberger III!

Man, how he did it, I do not know.

Here is the video we shot yesterday:

(At around 1:28 you can see the tail of the plane.)



I left the video unedited so you can better get a feel for the scene on the streets.

Standing on the shore of the Hudson, watching all these little rescue craft tend to the struggling airliner like dolphins keeping a humpback afloat, and then turning around and seeing all of the people lined up at windows and on rooftoops, seeing just what I was seeing, the realization of the sheer scale of the event we were all sharing in was pretty heavy.

Captain Chesley, I hope you fly every plane I ever get on.

You don't need us to tell you, but you are a SuperForest Hero.

Wingsuit Base Jumping Video

Seems so uplifting.


wingsuit base jumping from Ali on Vimeo.

Saw it on boingboing.

Ask SuperForest: SuperForester Frank Needs a Carbon Fiber Tank!

Good Morning SuperForest!

We just got in a question from SuperForester Frank, who writes:

"(Dear SuperForest,)

Where can I obtain carbon fibre bottles as on Jem Stansfield's bike? Please
see attached photo.

-Frank"

(This appears to be Frank himself astride his own homebrew compressed air motorbike.)

Dear Frank!

What a marvelous question!
We had nearly forgotten about good ol' Jem Stansfield and his miraculous air-bike. Thank you for jostling the memory.

Firstly, where can you get the tanks?

Here are some we've found:

New: Remote Medical
Used: A bunch on ebay

We think ebay should have you covered and provide a significant discount, however, it's not everyday that you purchase what is essentially a potential explosive, especially one that is lovingly cradled between your legs.

Maybe you wanna go with the full warranty on this item and scrimp on everything else. Think of the future.

And what of Mr. Stansfield? What of his wonderful vehicle?



As you can see, Jem is up to a great number of compressed-air-related shennanigans, (and how many folks can one say that about?)

Jem is using his powerful intellect for more than just vehicle design, he's also working on ways to feed and cook for large numbers of people using only the sun.



So, as you can see Jem's become a bit of a TV star. Good for him, because he's a massive celebrity to us here at SuperForest.

Here's is Jem's "Planet Mechanics" show site.

Good luck to you, Jem Stansfield, wherever you are and whatever you're up to.

And thank you to Frank, for his thought provoking question.

Got a question you need answerin'?

Ask SuperForest.

Anti-Love Potion Number Nine?

John Tierney has a very interesting article up over at nytimes.com about love potions. Yes, very real love potions. For voles, that is.

Even more interesting are the anti-love potions being developed to help protect you (the voles) from the love potions.

Says Dr. Larry Young, a scientist developing this technology at Emory University:

“It would be completely unethical to give the drug to someone else,” he said, “but if you’re in a marriage and want to maintain that relationship, you might take a little booster shot yourself every now and then. Even now it’s not such a far-out possibility that you could use drugs in conjunction with marital therapy.”

Here's Dr. Larry's full article on vole amour.

Can we just call this one? Are we all wizards and witches now?

Love potions for prairie dogs? Segways? iPhones? The internet?

We're all like, love potion makin', telepathic, livin' forever with stem cells and organ printing, communo-love-wizards.

Tell me I'm wrong.
No, text me: you'43 wr0n9!
No, no, email me: you're wrong!

I'm not wrong. Humans are awesome.

SuperForest Celebrities: Casey Brooks - Phantom Sea

I wanna rap in y'all's ears for a second about a truly amazing man: Mr. Casey T. Brooks.

Casey is a Brooklyn musician and longtime friend of SuperForest. He's got a project called Balene and is about to release his first album.

Take a gander at this:



A very nice promo, no?

What I really like about Casey is that he wrote and recorded the songs, shot and edited the promo, and is now on the verge of enacting his plans for releasing said album, which he is doing in a very modern way.

Instead of printing the usual couple hundred cd's, Casey is selling vinyl records, and each record coming with a code that allows you to download the album as mp3's. Smartilocks and the three bears.

He's a one man DefJam!

SuperForest recently scored an interview with Mr. Brooks. Let's hear what he has to say:

Nicey nice, Mr. Brooks!

Phantom Sea is set to drop in a month or so. We'll keep you posted.

Casey T. Brooks, you are a SuperForest Celebrity!

Chad VanGaalen Love!

I’ve recently discovered the sweet sweet tunes of Chad VanGaalen and can’t get enough of them! Here are a few tracks for you to start your week out in style.

Hot Red Drops

Clinically Dead

The music itself is splendid but I totally flipped when I learned VanGaalen is responsible for creating those lovely animations and their surrealist vibes too.

To learn more of the groovy VanGaalen, check out his website here!

Love to all,

C

SuperForester Chris Presents: A Beginner's Guide to Circuit Bending!

Dear SuperForest,

My name is Chris!

Granted, this isn't my first appearance in SFHQ (I'm already rolling in some cool acronyms! Just kidding.), but I figured an introduction would be nice. I, like many, stumbled on this website while sifting through a new favorite musician's blog, and I was hooked. I think within a week I had read close to every post. I was attracted to the immense style, positivity and kind vibes. SuperForest became a safe haven of the internet!

To be honest, I feel extremely out of my league with such an awesome crew to begin with. I am a rookie! Everyone starts somewhere, and needless to say SF is an extremely welcoming environment. One that I'm so excited to write, share, and explore with such cool people in.

And with that, I'd like to share a little story:

My friend, SuperForester Matthew, and I have recently gotten ourselves into circuit bending.

From Wikipedia:

"Circuit bending is the creative, short-circuiting of electronic devices such as low voltage, battery-powered guitar effects, children's toys and small digital synthesizers to create new musical or visual instruments and sound generators. Emphasizing spontaneity and randomness, the techniques of circuit bending have been commonly associated with noise music, though many more conventional contemporary musicians and musical groups have been known to experiment with "bent" instruments. Circuit bending usually involves dismantling the machine and adding components such as switches and potentiometers that alter the circuit."

And that's just what we did. We picked up an old child's keyboard from the Goodwill store (any DIYer's heaven) for six dollars. We took a walk to a local electronics wholesale shop and bought anything we could think of. The two women working there thought our complete lack of basic electronics knowledge was "cute." It probably was.

We walked back home, set up a small workshop in Matthew's room, complete with an open window and an air cleaner/fan (you don't want to breathe in solder smoke!), dismantled the keyboard, touched terminal to terminal with alligator clips until we found desir able sound-altering effects, soldered components like toggle switches, potentiometers, and even 1/4 inch stereo cables for electric instruments into these points. A guitar sounds awful through a toy circuit, believe me.

All in all, we had a super fun afternoon. We never realized how accessible a "hobby" could be. All it took was walking around town and a desire to have fun.

Here's a video we took. If you can get over the TERRIBLE quality and the home movie style, I bet you can see how much we were enjoying it. And how much you can too.



With love,
Chris


(Jackson here... Amazing post, Chris!
I got all excited about circuit bending and found these cool videos on youtube:





Furby sounds forlorn. Cheer up, Furby.

Also! Just found this gallery of mp3 examples of circuit bending via makezine.

NASA Pic of the Day: A Scientist on the Moon

This here is scientist-astronaut Harrison H. Schmitt, star of the below photo:

"Scientist-astronaut Harrison H. Schmitt stands by the American flag during a moonwalk on the Apollo 17 mission. Home, that small dot in the blackness of space above the flag, is a quarter-million miles away.

Schmitt, Gene Cernan and Ron Evans made the Apollo program's final journey to the moon in December 1972, 36 years ago this week."

This image makes me proud to be an American, an Earthling, a human being, and a lover of science, technology, and exploration.

Fab work, NASA. And fab work Mr. Harrison H. Schmitt.

Fun Fact: Harrison Schmitt and fellow crew mate Gene Cernan were the last two human beings to walk on the moon.

Andrew Berman's Private Library

Architect Andrew Berman was asked to build a writing studio, and his resulting building is an absolute gem box.


Private Library from A Space In Time on Vimeo.

Thanks to SuperForester Jon for sharing!

Forever Young: Bob Dylan

Paul Rogers is an illustrator, and oh what an illustrator he is! Here are a few examples of his work.

And one of my personal favorites…

This past October, a children’s book by the incredible Bob Dylan was released featuring the illustrations of Mr. Rogers. It is a book based off of Dylan’s 1974 classic “Forever Young” and the combination of the heart felt lyrics and the amazing illustrations make for a jaw dropping book.

In his blog, Paul Rogers describes the challenge in illustrating a book that takes on one of Dylan’s most loved songs. He explains that he attempted to bring elements from Dylan’s personal life background and his other songs in order to create a book that children, adults, and Bob Dylan fans in general, would enjoy.

I’d say he was very successful in doing just that.

Thanks Paul for such wonderful images and a big thank you to Mr. Dylan for such wonderful words. Words that will never cease to uplift and inspire me.

May you stay forever young,
Carla

Street Art: Roadsworth!

This is Peter Gibson:

And this is some of his artwork:

That’s right SuperForest; we’ve got another street artist for you! This one is coming to us straight from Montreal and his thought provoking artwork over in Canada has caused quite a stir. He began his work with one simple goal in mind, create more bike lanes. This goal would later evolve into somewhat of a movement. Gibson explains,

“As my personal artistic process evolved, political concerns were eclipsed by artistic ones and I often felt more inspired by the process than I did by the message I was trying to convey. Marshall Mcluhans famous quote "the medium is the message" is significant in this regard. The ubiquitousness of the asphalt road and the utilitarian sterility of the "language" of road markings provided fertile ground for a form of subversion that I found irresistible. I was provoked by a desire to jolt the driver from his impassive and linear gaze and give the more slow-moving pedestrian pause for reflection. The humourlessness of the language of the road not to mention what I consider an absurd reverence for the road and "car culture" in general made for an easy form of satire. In the spirit of Marcel Duchamps, all I had to do was paint a mustache on the Mona Lisa so to speak, to introduce a glitch in the matrix. A matrix made up in part by a worldwide network of roads and an ever-growing fleet of humans encased in steel carapaces, hurrying about like molecules in the body of an insatiable machine.”

Exciting! Some smart cats decided that his artwork was so astonishing, it had to be shared with a wider audience and as a result, they made a documentary about him. This documentary has been floating around several film festivals. Here’s a little demo.

What a mind blowing artist! Now of course much of what Peter Gibson was doing was quite illegal (he received quite a bit of heat from the law) but a lot of his artwork brings to mind simple yet important questions; questions on freedom of expression and to what extent that freedom holds true in public space. Gibson writes,

Although we thankfully don’t live in a totalitarian society (some would argue this point) there is nevertheless an underlying assumption that to have a voice in the public realm requires money, property or political influence. Some would say that relinquishing barriers to public expression is to invite anarchy but I would argue that a certain form of anarchy already exists: corporate anarchy. Not that I think that marketing or advertising is wrong. The exchange of goods and services is obviously an essential facet of the human experience but not the only one and I feel the common space should reflect a greater diversity of expression.

Interesting, do you have any thoughts on this or on street art in general? We’d love to hear them!

Have a great weekend!


(Learned about Roadsworth on Drawn! Peter Gibson photograph found here.)

Althea & Donna - "Uptown Top Ranking"

This here is the new fave jam. Althea & Donna getting it done in 1977! (I was negative one.)

This rampagin' track is a special shout out to the incandescent SuperForester Christine, who celebrated her birthday yesterday.

Happy Birthday, Christine!

Love from SuperForest!

Great Jim Jarmusch Quote

Came across this great quote from director Jim Jarmusch:

(The print is from artist Mark Malazarte.)

My favorite line is the Jean-Luc Godard quote at the end, "It's not where you take things from - it's where you take them to".

Hope this inspires you to steal a few things this week.

-Spoon

Architects of a New Dawn

On December 31, 2008, guitarist and world renown musician Carlos Santana launched a new website called "Architects of a New Dawn". Snazzy title no? This incredible website was designed to create "a global network featuring uplifting and positive media". Sounds very SuperForesty if you ask me! I'll let Mr. Santana explain:

"…there is definitely enough love and resources to go around. I have wondered over the years when this could be realized and who would be the ones to do it. Today, I am convinced more than ever that this is the time and that we are the ones we have been waiting for – generations of conscious beings from all walks of life with the courage, communications, and know how to change the world for the better.

We are the Architects of A New Dawn and this is what we came here to do."


Check out this oh so inspiring video!

What a wonderful project, click around the site, it holds many treasures worth discovering. Many thanks to Carlos Santana and friends for taking the initiative to spread such awe inspiring messages.

Keep it Fresh,

Carla

Neil Young on Huffpo: Perfect Storm for Innovation Gathers in Washington

Neil Young knows a thing or two about cars. In today's Huffpo, he's got this to say about electricity, X-prizes, and coming opportunities for growth in the automotive industry...

"A perfect storm for innovation is gathering in Washington. With the government's recent financial assistance to GM and Chrysler, the Big 3 now have until the end of March to make the case that shows how they will survive. Survival is not enough though.

America now has a chance to lead the world in power and fuel efficiency. The Big three will still be looking for help at the end of March. As the major shareholder, the US government would have an opportunity to DEMAND the type of cars that will lead the world toward saving the planet for future generations.

If the Big three cannot agree to make only cars that are fuel efficient enough to get at least 50 MPG by 2011, 75 MPG by 2013 and 100 MPG by 2015, then they should go into bankruptcy and fend for themselves like all the other businesses that are having trouble. The truth is this can be done and innovators know the way to do it.

Better Place is a new model for power distribution to replace the old model of gas stations that supported the evolution of the automobile to this point. Better Place is taking hold in countries around the world and in some areas of the US. Better Place's revolutionary concept for distribution of power to vehicles actually lowers the price of the vehicle by making the battery free to the consumer and automaker, while a subscription allows the user to only pay for miles traveled. There is a great opportunity for innovative solutions with Better Place.

The Automotive X Prize is a race of 100MPG vehicles across America in 2010 sponsored by the Progressive Insurance Company. There are many entries. These cars must be safe and have a business plan that allows for at least 10,000 units per year. Automotive X prize contenders need to share their knowledge with the Car Czar. How will they get their cars to the magic 100mpg? There are some good ways to do it. Now is the time to share.

Innovators should swarm like locusts on Washington in January, February and March to show the Car Czar how to make fuel-efficient cars.

A Car Czar who knows how it can be done, and a government in control of the automakers while they stabilize will be key to demanding all autos made in the USA have a minimum mileage rating of 50MPG. This includes cars, SUVs and pick-up trucks. Now it is time for America to take back the reins of innovation and show the true wave of the future. It is a window for a sea change and a new opportunity for America to lead the world.

Lincvolt, an X Prize contestant, is a 2.5 ton, 19.5 foot American classic now attaining 65 MPG utilizing electricity and domestic fuel. The converted 1959 Lincoln Continental MK IV demonstrates that today's big sedans SUVs and pick-up trucks can get at least 50 MPG if they are fuel-efficient and use electric power, making it obvious that smaller cars could do even better than that. Ultimately, the Lincvolt team aims to demonstrate a Lincvolt hydro bio-electric series hybrid that will attain 100MPG with domestic fuels and very low emissions.

In February, Lincvolt will begin an historic drive to Washington to showcase "the people's fuel," and show the President, the Car Czar, Congress and the Senate how innovation happening right now in America can be a beacon of change to the world.

The Lincvolt team invites the other contestants in the Automotive X Prize Race, Better Place, and innovators from around the world to join us in Washington during the first 100 days of the new administration."

Nice!

So, to distill:

50 MPG by 2011, 75 MPG by 2013, and 100 MPG by 2015. X-prizes good. Electric cars also good. A Better Place = amazing. Neil's got an electric Lincoln and is going to drive it to Washington.

Fun! Maybe we can be there when he gets there. That would be fun to see.

Here's the Lincvolt website.
And the Better Place site.

Can We All Become Human Calculators? Arthur Benjamin and the Calculator Kids

Hello All,

Okay, first watch this.



After seeing the way these children can quickly calculate massive sums solely by visualizing an abacus, one would think that with the necessary drive and enough practice anyone could learn this skill.

One wonders what other delightful mental tricks we'd be capable of, if we found the right way to visualize them.

If you liked the first video, you'll flip over this one:



Awesome, no?

Here's Arthur Benjamin's website.
His book - "Secrets of Mental Math"
Ooooooh ooo! "Secrets of Mental Math" for the Kindle.
And here is the abacus wiki.