HorsePerson and the ShoeMan

During last winter, the water pump that runs the little pond I have in my little backyard with the little fall broke down.
I tried my best to dry out the pond until such time as I had enough money to buy that sophisticated water filter-pump. Alas, my efforts were in vane as rain kept falling even though everybody claims we're in a drought.
And then... I was away for a month.
During that month, I've traveled to the Mediterranean hoping I could bathe and swim, catch a wave or two to shore and all the other fun things one does at sea.
Twice I have visited the sea. Twice I was disappointed.
The first time I went swimming in the Mediterranean, the water was calm. No waves. Like being in a salty pool. This was not what my heart desired, but I managed to enjoy myself nonetheless.
Before my second attempt at a swim, I was forewarned. The sea is dangerous, I was told: high waves, strong pull, sneaky undercurrents, and ...
and jellyfish.
Determined as I was, I went to the beach after all. A very small section was closed off by the lifeguards to the enjoyment of the swimming crowd, nowhere else was permitted. But people were in the water, in that little sectioned off part. So, encouraged by this, I decided to go in as well. It wasn't before long that I started feeling the stinging and the itching in a few places in my body. The experience became unpleasant and I left the water to examine my body. In a few places I had what seemed at first like red burn marks, which turned into welts after a few minutes only to settle into burgundy color the next day with what looked like small scratches in the middle of the burgundy spots. It's the jellyfish secretion I was told, and jellyfish eggs. The water was apparently full of secretions and eggs that stung and itched and burnt all bathers who dared going in the water. So much for swimming in the Mediterranean.
Last week I finally returned home and found to my dismay that my pond wasn't just full of water (apparently it rained), but also full of living things I could not name. The waters shimmered from the life in it, not unlike from water sparkling under the sun, and yet so different.
It took me a few days until I gathered enough courage to deal with the pond, but I finally drained it over the weekend. And today I even came this close to buying a new pump. Yet today something else happened. All of a sudden, today for some strange reason, after nearly a fortnight of not bothering me, all my jellyfish burns started itching. And I have no idea why. Maybe I'm growing little jellyfish under my skin from the jellyfish eggs that nestled under my skin??

I didn't know the war was on, but apparently it was and Beethoven beat Bono. Big time.

Forget Coldplay and James Blunt. Forget even Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, which, in the version performed at Live8 by Sir Paul McCartney and U2, has become the fastest online-selling song ever. Beethoven has routed the lot of them.

Final figures from the BBC show that the complete Beethoven symphonies on its website were downloaded 1.4m times, with individual works downloaded between 89,000 and 220,000 times. The works were each available for a week, in two tranches, in June.

I'm not sure what to make of this, but you can read it here yourselves.

And I can't help myself -- it seems that this battle was won in the tranches, not in the trenches :)

Categories: music

It was discovered that human bones have microscopic shock absorbers. Just like car shock absorbers they help the bone when it's under stress. They also help repair minor bone damage.

In our immortality quest we may be interested to find how these shock absorbers work so that we can maintain bone density even as we age.

I would like to add to that research. Cats' purrs. It is known that

Purring may also reduce pain, help a wounded cat to heal, and even help to keep a cat's bones strong. Cats purr at 27 - 44 hertz, and exposure to similar sound frequencies is known to improve bone density in humans. Purring has also been proven to have positive effects on cell regeneration.

Categories: science, health, immortality

Okay, I know, this has been out a while. The idea that the new generation will live forever or have a very extended lifespan isn't new.

However, lately, there have been a few new additions to our family. I look at the babies/kids and think to myself - will they live forever? I hope they do. And I also hope to be able to live forever with them, because according to Aubrey de Grey, a Cambridge University researcher who heads the Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence (SENS) project and runs the Methuselah Mouse prize for breakthroughs in extended aging in mice, we might be able to do just that. Here's an interview with him from Live Science - 11 Apr 2005
Hang in There: The 25-Year Wait for Immortality

On the same subject, it seems that vampires and those who believe that eating youngsters can make them immortal or keep them young, may have some truth in them after all. New research shows how young blood helps heal tissue.
From Live Science - 16 Feb 2005
Infusion of Young Blood Revives Old Muscles

And finally, if you want to know how to live forever, or at least until science can help you with your immortality goals, Ray Kurzweil wrote this: Fantastic Voyage : Live Long Enough to Live Forever (or from Amazon.ca Fantastic Voyage: Live Long Enough to Live Forever). Apparently he pops something like 250 pills supplements a day and drinks green tea in his health regimen, hoping to live long enough until the awaited break thorough in science.
From Live Science - 14 Feb 2005
Ray Kurzweil Aims to Live Forever

Categories: science, immortality

Yes, indeed, I am.

Of course, traffic to my blog has decreased, but I hope I'll be able to get it back up soon.

I have so much to catch up on, so much interesting things I want to share.

Happy to be back!

Categories: personal, blogging