“Coltrane performs her own ‘Transfiguration’ and joins host Marian McPartland in ‘Giant Steps.’”

(Via NPR Programs: Marian McPartland’s Piano Jazz.)

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Let’s take this journey…

For centuries, fractal-like irregular shapes were considered beyond the boundaries of mathematical understanding. Now, mathematicians have finally begun mapping this uncharted territory. Their remarkable findings are deepening our understanding of nature and stimulating a new wave of scientific, medical, and artistic innovation stretching from the ecology of the rain forest to fashion design. The documentary highlights a host of filmmakers, fashion designers, physicians, and researchers who are using fractal geometry to innovate and inspire.

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Hold on a second, here’s why fractals are now important to me. Ron Eglash has a TED.com talk that you must view. The link to the video and transcript is below.

“I am a mathematician, and I would like to stand on your roof.” This is how Ron Eglash greeted many African families while researching the intriguing fractal patterns he noticed in villages across the continent. He talks about his work exploring the rigorous fractal math underpinning African architecture, art and even hair braiding — and his cool math tools for students.(Recorded June 2007 in Arusha, Tanzania. Duration: 16:51.)

NEW: Watch the video, and Read the transcript >>

I’ve heard the President of the United States of America, Barack Obama being called a Hitler. That has got to be the most insane shit to come out of the mouth of a person that claims to be a citizen of this country.

Anyway, my haunted thoughts are my own. Maybe I’m just living in a bubble of my own making when I see they way some people are treated, and the accusatory names that people throw at each other.

Tomorrow, life must continue on. I have bills to pay and that is a struggle. A HUGE struggle.

Hopefully tomorrow somebody will not run me off the road and into oncoming traffic like happened today, as if I am at fault when somebody decides they don’t want to slow down and change lanes but just take up the whole roadway as if it belongs only to them irrespective of decency and common sense.

This is an airplane shot of the large eruption in Iceland yesterday afternoon. The volcano, Grimsvotn, projected a very large plume of ash high into the atmosphere, and was captured in HD by this Icelander.

movie is free for download over at the icelandic public television website:

http://www.ruv.is/frett/nyjar-myndir-fra-grimsvatnagosinu

With a shock of white hair and matching beard, Wole Soyinka was a striking figure as he indulged a rapt audience at the New York Public Library as the closing speaker for the PEN World Voices Festival. Soyinka’s take on the “Arthur Miller Freedom to Write Lecture” was imbued with perfect diction, mythical metaphors, and biographical clout — he penned his book “Poems from Prison” while in jail for 22 months and has been an outspoken critic of political oppression throughout his five-decade career.

I didn’t say anything nasty. They had a short article and threaded comments about nobody from the movie getting Oscar nominations. I commented that maybe it wasn’t the acting but the story probably wasn’t one where the actors could fully develop a character [deleted]. How about them asking to rate the movie with most responses saying best movie ever. No, I said that “Blowup” was better, that “Fellini Satyricon” was better, that “Gran Torino” was better, that “Precious” was better [deleted again]. So, talk about corporate oversight and control, that’s them, 100%.

UPDATE: 2 Feb. Ten films share best picture nominations, including Cameron’s “Avatar,” but not for actors.

Whoopie, I saw Avatar in 3D. *sigh* Aside from the technical aspects of the movie, it was so utterly predictable I really felt like walking out. The script was on so low a level of quality, I honestly think the interesting movie would have been about HOW the movie was made, not the movie itself. It honestly brought to mind the many years of Bwahana conquering the jungle, of John Wayne and his stupid “god syndrome,” of the typical Euro-American from most of my childhood and into adulthood that says things like, “Oh, look at the lovely natives in their lovely natural habitat,” with an air of superiority that is insulting and reminds me of the bitter taste that still remains in my life experience as a man of color.

Okay, maybe the movie wasn’t ALL THAT, but it certainly reeked of a foul taste. Maybe I should just something nasty and crude, but the reality is that I had expected MUCH more than the movie was capable of giving me back.

The 3D was good though. Okay, that’s about all I can think to say at the moment.