Michael's List

A Sudden Winter

2009-11-19T09:11:00.000-08:00

I am used to the swings between rain and snow in Juneau, but not the sudden onslaught of winter. The week began with a ferocious storm on Saturday, constant light snow and yesterday's forecast of 1" became 6". Now the landscape looks like mid-January, and it is still not officially winter for a month! So it goes, a warm curling into books, tea and singing bowls until our next summer of long light.

Still Here!

2009-09-16T20:39:00.000-07:00

I spent a week and a day off to the East Coast...Amazing tour. First visiting my father, Alastair, in NYC; busy with great conversations for a rapid day +. Then, belatedly, off to Boston with visits and stays (thank you SOOO much!) with Jane and Neal and their brilliant daughter Annie! followed by a much overdue (20+years!)visit with my brother Jasper and lovely wife, Deb,'new' niece Ella and nephew Ian. And a lovely dinner with Jane, Neal and Annie along with Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez, lately of MIT. Whew!! FOLLOWED by a visit to my sister, Anne and brother-in-law, Andrew at his farm, Clear Brook Farm, in Shaftsbury, VT, with my mother living, as Anne points out, "in our front yard" in a house they built for her for 1/2 of the year. So, everyone was visited, and for each far too briefly. Another pilgrimage will be planned in the Spring. Back in the grey Alaskan Panhandle waiting for the sun to drop from our experience. But I had REAL tomatoes while I was away! WOW!

Vermont is astonishing, and green and abundant, and NYC was but a 45+ minute car trip, a 2 hr train and $35 away!!! Things to think about!

"Bottle On a Journey" An oddly wonderful fragrance!

2009-04-14T22:59:00.000-07:00

"Wow, what a fun day THAT was..I have to get a lathe like Eric's...making all those tiny little silver doodles was great!....what time is it anyway?" 6:50....Hmmmm...Oh NO! Jennifer is taking me out TONIGHT..I've got 10 minutes! and I REEK of that lathe oil. Sheesh...wipe it off, try hmmmmm...something...ahh here is an old bottle of what? Perfume...no label...flowers...Made in France sticker...duh! Ok..wash arms and try this...hmmmm maybe...All I can smell is the oil...Quick..gotta get dressed....crap!"

"Harry? You ready? Wow, you look GREAT! What's the scent? Smells kinda like my grandmother but whats the other smell? Oil? What IS that?" "I'll tell you at dinner"
~~~~~~~~~~~
Andy Tauer has really mixed it up this time; a old fashioned floral (hyacinth) that blends a cacophony of blossoms with an undercurrent of cutting oil (think 3-In-One household oil) that helps to ground the angelic sweetness with a dose of reality. It is a perfect foil, and one that draws you closer. I am NOT a floral fan, and this is one of the first that made me take notice. Very close to the "What IS it?" reaction that people have to Luctor Et Emergo (POTL) with its Play Doh/cherry notes, or Dzing!(L'Artisan) that is described variously as "burned, rubbery, and cardboard. It is the placement of the oil note so close to a vibrant floral that makes you actually pay attention to the brash smoothness of the oil note. This scent works as both a mysterious feminine or an edgy masculine. The tentative title of Mr. Tauer's work in progress is "Hyacinths & a Mechanic", which in this reviewer's opinion, is spot on!

Andy Tauer introduced his creation by mailing a full 4 oz bottle to a friend with a brief introduction and instructions to pass it on to another. The bottle has made a slow journey and is now in the Eastern US at last note. I had it a month ago and there was about 1/2 ounce of scent left.

An experience not to be missed, and likely the first and last floral scent I ever buy and wear!

For further information about Andy Tauer's superb line of perfumes see: http://www.tauerperfumes.com/website/index.php?lang=en

I AM Still Alive....

2008-06-09T18:59:00.000-07:00

Contrary to appearances, I am very much alive and reading. So many favorites.
I should note: Itzhak Bentov Stalking the Wild Pendulum; a superb book from 1977 about vibration, the cosmos and consciousness. This was found through reading Tom Kenyon's The Hathor Material (www.tomkenyon.com); an arresting compilation of channeled information from the Hathors. Not-To-Miss!!!

Earthworm books. We LOVE earthworms. The BEST pets! Quiet, not demanding, very low maintenance, produce wonderful fertilizer, (your houseplant's best pals!) and fascinating. I have had worm bins for about 5 years. Look at a great book, The Earth Moved: On the Remarkable Achievements of Earthworms by Amy Stewart. A page turner!

What else? 2012 material, Buddhism, Chess, atmospheric physics, oh, and Clara's Grand Tour: Travels With a Rhinoceros in Eighteenth-Century Europe by Glynis Ridley, a rollicking tale of the FIRST-EVER rhino to visit most of Europe (by horsecart). A lovely bit of historic peculiarity.

So it goes...

More from Egypt...

2008-03-22T14:33:00.001-07:00

Luxor

Luxor

The Pyramid of Khufu from behind the Sphinx

The Temple of Karnac

Avenue of the Sphinxes

An Amazing Trip

2008-03-14T21:24:00.000-07:00

I am freshly back from 10 days in Egypt and 2 days in London. I recommend Egypt to everyone; the scale of the temples is staggering and beyond any comprehension gained from books. The polychrome hieroglyphs must have been breathtaking in their original colors and still carry traces of luscious blues and greens. Seeing the lush green surrounding the Nile give way to endless desert was the perfect counterpoint coming from Juneau, Alaska, located in the middle of an enormous rain forest. Visiting Aswan with 0 (!) rainfall per year was difficult to comprehend. I recommend Egypt to everyone; the bustle of Cairo and the rich enveloping history contrasted to the daily rigor of outlying areas, makes for a moving and transforming experience. Arabic opens up such a range of foreign vistas that I am considering taking lessons. I came away astonished and impressed with the kindness, compassion and richness of the culture. Thank you!

Of Ponies and Life-in-General

2008-02-06T21:15:00.000-08:00

I may be quite late to the party, but I just finished Dan Millman's "Way of the Peaceful Warrior" having bumped into a copy at our local used bookshop. Most of the insights are, by now, pretty mainstream, yet it served me notice of what remarkable lives we live. Even the most mundane, chore-laden drudge can be seen as a rapid series of reckless life changing decisions that have profound consequences for all of us. I was reminded, on my morning pony rounds what a bright and enthusiastic fellow Sammy-the-Wonder-Pony really is, always ready to head off into the day's adventure. I offer a belated shout of joy to Dan Millman and a magic, shiny apple to my favorite pony, soon to be 34! Life is rich, be joyful in your day!

A Compelling Tale

2007-12-25T23:11:00.000-08:00

Ok, I went to see "The Golden Compass" anticipating disappointment. I was pleasantly surprised. The movie didn't stringently follow the book's plot but most descriptions survived their visual translation intact. (why did the "dark haired Mrs. Coulter" translate to brilliant blonde?) The imagery drove me into the trilogy again and I find reading it again as much fun as the first pass through Mr. Pullman's grand descriptions and elegant prose. He is a superb storyteller and I urge anyone who hasn't had the pleasure of losing themselves in this series to plunge in, delightedly!

Phillip Pullman "The Golden Compass" (Volume One of "His Dark Materials")

The 16th Karmapa's Dream Flag

2007-10-03T08:58:00.000-07:00

This flag came to H.H. Rangjung Rigpe Dorje, the 16th Karmapa, in a dream and was sewn from his drawings by Deborah Luscombe. He called it Namkhyen Gyaldar ; "Victorious Flag of the Buddha's Wisdom" and announced that the Dharma will flourish wherever the flag is flown.

The book that has me enthralled, and led me to the Dream Flag, is Mind Beyond Death by Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, a contemporary gloss on the Tibetan Book of the Dead. Rinpoche Ponlop's stunning read brings the experience of the bardos to life and provides a map for what to expect in the "otherworld". His detailed description of the process of dying, where consciousness gradually separates from the body is fascinating, and makes the act of living and perceiving even more astonishing. A miraculous book that I found comforting in it's compassion.

Applied Physics

2007-06-28T00:29:00.000-07:00

After reading a spate of Zero Point Field books and articles, I have been reading the spinoff applications. A few titles emerge from the tumult:

The Prosperity Game: The Wealthy Way of Heart, Mind and Spirit by Steve Nobel, Findhorn Press, 2006.
Merging NLP techniques with a business background has led to a brilliant discussion of individual limits to prosperity. Mr. Nobel's discussion of scarcity and the arguments for scarcity that permeate our culture is eye-opening, and alarming. He uses many real life examples of the limiting nature of scarcity based viewpoints and offers illuminating possibilities for abundance in our lives, work and world. An enlightening and profound book.

Creating Affluence by Deepak Chopra, New World Library 1998.
Deepak Chopra uses an alphabetical list to layout similar points as Mr Nobel does; this slim volume is closer to a user's guide. A short, succinct and profound guide to positive steps for a richer life, this book balances money and wealth against quality of life. The result is a snapshot of ebb and flow, a balance between acknowledgment and giving. By combining an alphabetical list of steps with a numeric list of qualities, the author has made intention and wealth an accessible concept.

The Spirit of Silence: Making Space for Creativity by John Lane, Chelsea Green Press, 2006.t
Another gem of a book by John Lane, author of Timeless Simplicity: Creative Living in a Consumer Society. Mr. lane extends the sensible observations of his earlier book into the joys of a considered life. A manifesto of silence, this book looks at our society as an enemy of our essential nature and a disruption that challenges the core value of living. "In my view, the fully active life, if necessary and often hugely stimulating, always needs, like the fallow years that follows a period of intensive agriculture, a period of rest."(p. 65) John Lane falls in with Annie Dillard, Thomas Merton, and contemporary Buddhist writers in advocating a life of attention and intention, filled with reverence and bliss. A lovely, necessary book!

A Tuvan epic!

2007-06-05T07:57:00.000-07:00

Galsan Tschinag's stunning novel, The Blue Sky, shimmers with crisp descriptions of his Tuvan homeland. A coming-of-age narrative that contrasts a boy's universal feelings of loss, change and fear against the unfamiliar backdrop of the yurt, the family herds and the limitless landscape. The vivid images Galsan evokes leave you charged with memories of a landscape suddenly familiar and longings for the steamy, pungent interior of the yurt. A book not to be missed.

The Blue Sky, Gassan Tschinag, Milkweed Editions, 2006. ISBN 9781571310552

Editorial!

2007-05-23T11:21:00.000-07:00

Current Favorites

2007-05-23T10:59:00.000-07:00

In no particular order: (reading The Field first may help make sense of following titles)

The Field - Lynne McTaggart
The Intention Experiment - Lynne McTaggart
The Self-Aware Universe - Amit Goswami
The Visionary Window - Amit Goswami
The God Theory - Bernard Haisch
The Joy of Living - Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche
The Prosperity Game - Steve Nobel
Apocalypse 2012 - Lawrence E. Joseph

and, a novel,
The Blue Sky - Galsan Tschinag

Currently reading:
Buddha - Deepak Chopra
Mind Beyond Death - Dzogchen Ponlop

Upcoming titles!!

2006-11-20T10:12:00.000-08:00

Two notable books on the horizon:

"Remainder" by Tom McCarthy (Vintage pub. date 02/07)
Wow! A brilliantly conceived novel that is Borges' Funes the Memorious meets The Matrix. Remainder holds a fascination with memory, repetition and perception that leads to a swirl of possibilities. McCarthy has created a stunning gem in this book. A must read!!

"The Strange Case of the Broad Street Pump: John Snow and the Mystery of Cholera" by Sandra Hempel (Univ. of Calif. Press pub. date 01/07)
Ms. Hempel has written a luscious medical history of the unravelling of the mystery of cholera by an Englishman, John Snow, in the late 1800's. A beautifully realized book, balanced between grim descriptions of the ravages of the disease and the careful, methodical analysis by Snow, Hempel recreates living conditions in the Industrial Revolution with a stark clarity. One of the most compelling books in the genre!!

Current Favorite Books!

2006-09-15T12:28:00.000-07:00

There has been a flurry of interesting titles recently. Too many to read, which is a grand situation! Some notables:

The Cloudspotter's Guide: The Science, History, and Culture of Clouds by Gavin Pretor-Pinney. Perigee, June 2006. A lovely field guide/historical background to clouds that is not to be missed. The layout is reminiscent of 'The Boy's Handy Book' with black and white illustrations (even a lava lamp!), charts, photographs and a rich blend of fact, mythology and history. Mr. Pretor-Pinney formed The Cloud Appreciation Society in England in 2004. It is worth your while to view the member's posted photographs on their site!!! A useful and fascinating book that allows readers to look up with new appreciation.

Black Swan Green by David Mitchell, Random House, 2006. As perfect a novel as I can imagine; David Mitchell has increased his range since his earlier book, The Cloud Atlas. Black Swan Green is a year long coming of age sage of an English boy, Jason Taylor, and is filled with the chaos of identity and the shifting slang of adolescence. A remarkable joy of language, "A cow of an awkward pause mooed.", makes the writing seem effortless and brings the reader continuing surprises. Do not miss this book!

An Amazing Visit

2006-08-28T20:15:00.000-07:00

Luca Turin, his wife, Desa Philippi, and Adela and Tazio were our guests here in Auke Bay for an amazing week of salmon, pony rides (Adela is an extraordinary 5 1/2 year old ponywoman!!), helicopters, float planes. and a great lecture on olfaction by Luca at UAS. We look forward to having Luca's book, The Secret of Scent, available in the US in November from Ecco Press. Luca had his first US booksigning with people who had ordered it from the UK! The price of fame!! A lovely week spent with great friends. Picture above of me, my wife Susan, Tazio, Adela, and Luca and the Ward Air Beaver in the background.

2006-05-29T20:26:00.000-07:00

Sammy-the-Wonder-Pony celebrated his 32nd birthday and Azaadem turned 27 today!!! We went to the 'fun day" at the neighboring barn and carrot cake, carrots and apples were inhaled by all. A lovely day; HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BOYS!!

The perfect ring!

2006-05-15T16:22:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite forms, an Ethiopian wedding ring from the 1800's, of coin silver, with a groove where the leather thong wore the metal. I cast a copy in 24K gold.

Currently reading...(books by the bed)

2006-05-03T08:25:00.000-07:00

Timothy; Or Notes of an Abject Reptile - Verlyn Klinkenborg. A wonderfully wry and wise immersion into the mind of an 18th century tortoise. Superbly written with a short terse style that beautifully articulates the droll observations of Timothy. An inspiring book; one of the few that I immediately reread.

Metaphors We Live By - George Lakoff & Mark Johnson. A classic lens through which to examine our society. I find this book especially valuable in analyzing the current political chaos.

The Soul of Money - Lynne Twist. Money as energy, creativity, and a reflection of our personal conversations with the world. A tool to transform money from a nuisance and worry to a powerful ally in supporting our passions.

Dictionary of Symbols - Carl G. Liungman. International symbols, categorized by structure, and cross referenced into a captivating whole. Contains current company logos along with alchemical signs and petroglyphs. A wonderful mix of design and history.

Finite and Infinite Games - James P. Carse. My current favorite and a book on my Top Ten List (more on that later). A succinct and thrilling opening of life into an eternal game. A book that expands our limits and exposes much of what we hold as vital as limiting and petty. I found this book through reading the bibliography of Stewart Brand's Clock of the Long Now. Written in 1986 and likely even more relevant now than then. A 'must read'!

Where to start? A book list!

2006-04-30T20:38:00.000-07:00

Below is an ongoing compilation that follows several threads on sustainable society, Borges, philosophy, and life.
This is a core list that has led me to many connections and new titles. You must begin somewhere!

A Reading List
April, 02003
----------------------------------
DESIGN

Alexander, Christopher, The Timeless Way of Building, Oxford University Press, New York, 01979. ISBN 0195024028.
Alexander, Christopher, A Pattern Language, Oxford University Press, New York, 01977. ISBN 0195019199.
Brand, Stewart, ed., The Next Whole Earth Catalog: Access to Tools, Random House, New York, 01980.
Hillis, W. Daniel, The Pattern on the Stone: The Simple Ideas that Make Computers Work, Basic Books, New York, 01998. ISBN 0465025951.
Orr, David W., The Nature of Design: Ecology, Culture, and Human Intervention, Oxford University Press, 02002. ISBN 019514855X.
Papanek, Victor, Design for the Real World: Human Ecology and Social Change, Pantheon, New York, 01971.

THEORY

Abraham, Ralph, McKenna, T., Sheldrake, R., Chaos, Creativity, and Cosmic Consciousness, Park St. Press, New York, 02001.
Barbour, Julian, The End of Time, Oxford University Press, New York, 01999. ISBN 0195117298.
Benford, Gregory, Deep Time: How Humanity Communicates Across Millenia, Avon Books, New York, 01999. ISBN 0380975378.
Brand, Stewart, Clock of the Long Now, Basic Books, New York, 01999.
ISBN 04650412X.
Burr, Chandler, The Emperor of Scent, Random House, New York, 02002, ISBN 0375507973.
Calvino, Italo, Six Memos for the Next Millennium, Harvard Univ. Press, Cambridge, 01988.
Carse, James P., Finite and Infinite Games, Ballantine Books, New York, 1986.
Collis, John Stewart, The Vision of Glory: The Extraordinary Nature of the Ordinary, George Braziller, New York, 01973.
Collis, John Stewart, The Worm Forgives the Plow, George Braziller, New York, 01973.
Davies, Paul, How to Build a Time Machine, Penguin Press, New York, 02002. ISBN 0670030635.
Diamond, Jared, Guns, Germs, and Steel, Norton, New York, 1999. ISBN 0393317552.
Dubos, Rene, The Wooing of Earth: New Perspectives On Man’s Use of Nature, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 01980. ISBN 0684165015.
Eco, Umberto, Kant and the Platypus; Essays on Language and Cognition, Harcourt, Brace, New York, 01997. ISBN 0151004471.
Eisley, Loren, All the Strange Hours: The Excavation of a Life, Scribners, New York, 01975.
Goodman, Nelson, Ways of Worldmaking, Hackett, Indianapolis, 01978, ISBN 0915144522.
Gray, John, Straw Dogs: Thoughts on Humans and Other Animals, Granta, London, 02003,
ISBN 1862075123.
Jaynes, Julian, The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind, Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 01976.
Jensen, Derrick, A Language Older than Words, Context Books, New York, 02000, ISBN 1893956032.
Kubler, George, The Shape of Time: Remarks on the History of Things, Yale University Press, 01962.
Lane, John, Timeless Simplicity; Creative Living in a Consumer Society, Green Books, Devon, UK, 02001. ISBN 190399800X.
Merrill, Floyd, Unthinking Thinking; Jorge Luis Borges, Mathematics and the New Physics, Purdue Univ. Press, W. Lafayette, IN, 01991.
Merton, Thomas, The Wisdom of the Desert, New Directions, New York, 01960.
McKenna, Terence, The Archaic Revival, Harper Collins, San Francisco, 01991. ISBN 0062506137.
Schumacher, E.F., Small is Beautiful, Harper & Row, New York, 01973
Schultes, Richard Evans, Hoffman, Albert, Plants of the Gods, Healing Arts, Rochester, VT, 01992.
Schwartz, Peter, The Art of the Long View, Currency, New York, 01991, ISBN 0385267312.
Vaihinger, Hans, The Philosophy of “As If”, Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, 01968.
Watts, Alan W., Myth and Ritual in Christianity, Vanguard Press, New York, 01954(?).
Wheelock, Carter, The Mythmaker, Univ. of Texas Press, Austin, TX, 01969.
Whitehead, Alfred N., Process and Reality, Macmillan, New York, 01957.
Whorf, Benjamin Lee (Carroll, John, ed.), Language, Thought, and Reality, M.I.T./Wiley, New York, 1956.

FICTIONS

Baker, Nicholson, The Size of Thoughts, Random House, New York, 01996, ISBN 0679439323.
Borges, Jorge Luis, Selected Non-Fictions, Penguin Putnam Press, New York, 01999, ISBN 0140290117.
Borges, Jorge Luis, Collected Fictions, Penguin Putnam Press, New York, 01999. ISBN 0140286802.
Borges, Jorge Luis, Selected Poems, Penguin Putnam Press, New York, 01999. ISBN 0140587217.
Calvino, Italo, If on a winter’s night a traveler, Harcourt, Brace & Co. New York, 1981. ISBN 0156439611.
Connell, Evan S., Notes From a Bottle Found on the Beach at Carmel, North Point Press, San Francisco, 01984, ISBN 0865471444.
Connell, Evan S., Points for a Compass Rose, North Point Press, San Francisco, 01985.
Lightman, Alan, Einstein’s Dreams, Warner Books, New York, 01994.
ISBN 0446670111.
Nabokov, Vladimir, Pale Fire, Everyman’s Library, London, 01992.
Valery, Paul, Sea Shells, Beacon, Boston, 01988.

MEMORIES

Nabokov, Vladimir, Speak, Memory, Vintage, New York, 01989.
Paustovsky, Konstantin, The Story of a Life, Pantheon, New York, 01964.