Blogs, media and news

Glyn Evans’ iPhoneography covers iPhone photography and videography.

Photographers and Galleries

Need a quick fix? Here’s a good breathless rundown of great shots!

iPhone Photography is a reader-submitted gallery of great iPhone pix.

Yes. there’s a Flickr group.

Greg Schmigel is a street photographer who uses an iPhone and puts it all on the webs at Just What I See. [twitter]

Chase Jarvis’s “iPhone as Art”

Taken With an iPhone is another gallery site.

Since 2008, there’s even been an Annual iPhone Photo Award

Tools, apps and add-ons

Phil Coffman is a great iPhone photographer and he shares information on app combos and techniques in this blog entry.

Hipstamatic is a clever app that makes your iPhone camera work like the best (and cheapest) of the cheap plastic medium-format film cameras of the past. It’s clever because it doesn’t stop at the $1.99 app, but you can buy add-on lenses and film packs for more variations and effects. The makers of the app regularly run a reader-submitted contest, with a gallery for the winners, but I’ll tell ya: best Hipstamatic pics I’ve seen are right on Jon Konrath’s Flickr photostream. Awesome!

You can even do HDR with an iPhone! [video howto]

Need more? Friedbeef’s Tech has a great rundown: “12 Awesome iPhone Photography Resources”

 Writer

Biography and Origins

While there exists no doubt that Arthur S. Halsey, Jr. (ASHjr) is a current, and secretive, writer, there are distinct questions concerning his identity, most notably a general confusion as to his absolute time spectrum. Reports have indicated that ASHjr “attended schooling” in the 1980s and is a member of Generation X, having been born in the early 1970s. This would put him in his late 30s (summer 2010), and the general consensus is that ASHjr is a current author, writing contemporary to now. (In fact, much of his material is concerned with the interaction of the 21st century networked world with that of the recent past, especially various pinpoint moments of the 20th century.)

However, there are other contradictions in the historic account. Arthur S. Halsey was known for developing a “bomb rack and control” in 1933, and his appearances had been briefly documented in both Great Britain and New England at various points in the early 20th century. It has been proposed on at least a few occasions that the real ASHjr, a visionary, had written his entire oeuvre in the past and the work is only surfacing now due to delayed agency release. This proposition does not seem likely. Other speculations indicate that some of these references are actually to ASHjr’s father, or to other persons of no apparent relation. Whatever the case, the secrecy and confusion has only elevated Halsey to cult status as a writer.

Online “disappearances”

Inexplicably, there were occasions when it appeared that Halsey had all but disappeared from the Internet. This phenomenon has not been explained and cannot be caused by brief network outages as the actual references in the links appear to have been cut, but appear later in a future time. The “disappearance” has an uncanny connection to actual situations and themes in his work, as will be shown.

Writing style and work

ASHjr is primarily known for a new fiction style described by readers and critics at times as “extraordinarily fun,” “cinematically vivid,” “extremely strange and frightening” and “thrilling.” This style appears concerned with exploring lost and contemporary ideas of history, the paranormal and the unknown in a literal “fabulist” manner, heavily atmospheric in an often noir mode, and his material (often literary in style while blatantly commercial in character and design) is sometimes described as paranoir, a genre that seems exclusive to him. A characteristic ASHjr piece involves “timebending” and “time splicing” (varous events occuring at two separate moments in time and connected, or two distinct scenes at different times occurring at the same location, or a linear scene whose principles or narrators are operating in regular time but are cutting through time and space at a different speed, or multiple isolated moments — distant in time and space — that are conjoined in the narrative to reveal plot motion and meaning); elevation or reduction to different mental states involving experimental psychology, psychotropic pharmacology and NLP; the use of stylistic and atmospheric elements from vintage commercial genres (film noir, espionage, true crime, western and classical mystery); “lost” legends, secret histories and paranormal tropes; a thematic obsession with the loss or breaking-away from reason; popular scientific models and cultural artifacts as they exist not at the narrative present but from some different time (1910s Egyptology accounts, implications of 1930s cosmic ray theory, long descriptions of rare 1967 acid rock vinyl, unsigned memoirs of 1990 Manchester “acid house” scene, Sony Discman hacks, Palm Pilots, Ray-O-Vac 9v battery flashlights as a handheld “electric torch”) juxtaposed in or on top of other eras; breakdowns of character, “character molding,” and alternate or subconscious views of the same person; “constant themes of disappearance, obscurity, resurgence and bilocation” (Hapsburg 2008); cut-up dialogue or description; philosophical puzzles or logical paradoxes that are what he calls his characters’ “barriers to entry.”

The Agency

Little has been revealed about the “agency” that ASHjr has been associated with; it is unclear if this agency is a writing group, a sponsor or benefactor, or some other type of organization who are working to develop the ideas presented in his fiction. It is known that the agency operates online and consists of a great many writers, possibly in the upper hundreds. It has been speculated that the agency exists or was formed as a counter to the prevailing postmodernism. But the precise origin and even name of the agency is not known; ASHjr fans have at times referred to it as “The Agency.”

Published fiction and excerpts

Information on published material by ASHjr has been difficult to obtain, as apparently much of his early work had been published on small press broadsides and distributed via local channels and have yet to be properly catalogued or collected. However, as of this writing (Aug 2010) there appears to be a new resurgence of his work.

“The Dreamreapers,” a new story, has been collected in The Lifted Brow no. 7 (Aug 2010); it chronicles the work of agent Arthur Munfrey and has been noted as part of a larger “story-cycle”; the unnamed “agency” that Munfrey is or has been employed by is thought to be a fictitious parallel of the secret agency that Halsey works for.

Various quotations have been attributed to ASHjr, most notably the early phrase “Become who you hate,” but the original context of this quotation is not known.

Other quotation-graffitis that are known as ASHisms:

• TAKE OFF THE LOGIC CHAIN

• MOVE BEYOND REASON

For futher reference

In development.

 1921-2009

King of the DIY HOW-TO writers — Gladstone was a prolific writer, photographer and ideaman for Popular Science and later was the home-workshop columnist for The New York Times for over 30 years. [more]

Was also a boater and a WWII veteran who had enlisted in the Army in 1942, finally discharged after sustaining injuries in the war.

Retired to Bradenton Florida. Died Jan 29, 2009 in University Park Florida. At the time of his death, he was survived by daughter Robin, his second wife Sandra Zalbowitz, four stepchildren. He was also a grandfather.A funeral service was held on Monday Feb 2 2009 at 11 a.m. at Toale Brothers Funeral Home. [NYTimes obit] [Paid notice from Ruth] [Guestbook (behind paywall)]

Career

Wrote for Popular Science as a teen and soon worked up to editor — commuted to Manhattan from his Long Island home — lived there in late 40s with his wife and children and had one of the first bamboo-laden postwar basement tiki bars, with Kentile flooring (including shuffleboard court) plus other side for laundry, clothing storage closet (painted with cedar paint to deter moths and with an indicator light on outside to show if light was left on), and a photographic darkroom.

Also wrote for Mechanix Illustrated.

Later went on to be a popular and syndicated columnist for The New York Times and retired in 1991, but continued to work freelance from home and file stories for several years until retiring to Florida.

Gladstone was the author (or editor) of many DIY books such as The Complete Home Guide to Furniture Finishing and Refinishing and The New Boatkeeper: Motorboating & Sailing’s Authoritative Guide to Maintenance, Repair and Improvement.

Articles etc

Wrote hundreds and hundreds of short articles on home handyman projects as well as collections of hints and tips. Many of his Popular Science articles were collected and repackaged into paperback books for the handyman and do-it-yourselfer.

• How to Install a Live Well
• The Right Way To Choose And Use Solvents
• Plaster ‘bridge’ repairs wall cracks
• Insulate attic door to prevent cool drafts
• Smoke and Fire Alarms (scroll down midway)
• Pros and Cons on Reel and Rotary Lawn Mowers

For further reference

ad
 Advertisement.

add
Copy to be added to a story already written.

advance
1. A preliminary story describing a future event. 2. To move a story
up in priority (“We’re advancing the scandal story to the front
 page.”)

angle
The aspect emphasized in a story.

assignment
The task or story a reporter must cover.

background
1. A story that is not assigned a deadline. (See also “backgrounder.”)
2. Any information that is given to reporter not specifically for a
quote, but for general information on a subject.

backgrounder
A story that details the background of a subject. (“I’m assigned to do
a backgrounder on the new company.”)

bank
See deck.

banner
A headline that extends across the page or screen.

beat
The area or subject matter that a reporter regularly covers.

blind interview
An interview which does not give the name of the person interviewed.

blurb
Short phrase issued by a publisher to promote the sale of a book.

BOD
“Book-on-demand”; method of book printing where each book is produced
as it is ordered.

boil down
To reduce in size.

break
1. The time when a story has been published. (“When did that story
break?”) 2. The first news source to report a story. (“An indie
Web site first broke the scandal.”)

brief
A brief story.

bump
1. To move something ahead or behind schedule. (“We’re going to bump
this story up to Tuesday.”) 2. To increase or decrease. (“We’ll bump
your payment up to compensate you for the extra work you did.”)

byline
The author’s name at the beginning of a story.

caption
The descriptive text for an illustration; often credits the name of
the photographer or artist who made the illustration. Also “cut line”
or “cutline.”

casebound
See “hardbound.”

clip
A collection of a writer’s previously published work, used to show the
talent and interests of a writer. (“Can you send me some clips on the
 subject?”)

codex
A book made of bound pages.

copy
The text of a story.

copyreader
One who edits and gives headlines to news stories.

cover
To research and put together a story.

credit
Acknowledging the source for a given fact.

cub
A beginning reporter. Also “rookie.”

cut
Remove a portion of a story.

cut line
See “caption.”

daily
A publication that publishes every day.

deck
Part of the headline which summarizes the story. Also “deck copy,” “bank.”

dog watch
See “lobster shift.”

editorialize
To inject the opinion of the writer in a story.

filler
Short news stories or tidbits used to fill space.

flak
A low-position spokesperson for a company.

flash
Short news summary of an event.

follow-up
A story that gives new developments about the subject of a previously
published story.

folio
Page number.

foto
 Photograph.

fotog
 Photographer.

freelancer
One work works for himeself, and is not employed by the publisher; a
freelance assignment is one given to a writer not employed by the
publisher. Also “free-lancer.”

fyi
For your information.

get
A very good, or exclusive, interview.

graf
 Paragraph.

hardbound
A codex book whose cover material is hard and not flexible. Also
“hardback” or “casebound.”

head
See “headline.”

headline
Title of a story.

inset
1. Correcting copy inserted into a piece that is already typeset. 2.
Any material inserted into something larger: pages, copy,
illustration, advertisements. (“The corrections in the book’s new edition were made
with inset copy — you can see that the typeface is slightly
 different.”)

journo
1. Journalist. 2. Journalism.

kicker
The first sentence or first few words of a story’s lead, set in a font
size larger than the body text of the story.

kill
To delete copy; to remove an item from the publication schedule (“In
light of the airplane tragedy, the editor decided to kill the airline
humor story.”)

kill fee
Fee paid to reporter for a killed story; usually a percentage of the
normal fee.

lead
The lead paragraph or sentence in a story.

lede
See “lead.”

leg man
A reporter who gathers news.

library
A publication’s private collection of files, clips, illustrations,
prepared bios/obits, etc.

lobster shift
Working in the hours after a publication has gone to print.

masthead
The page of a publication that gives its staff and editorial information.

morgue
See “library.”

mug shot
A head-and-shoulders picture of an individual.

net sales
Number of actual sales of a book (ie, not counting copies sent to
distributors and later returned).

nut graf
Paragraph in a story containing the “meat” details of what the story
is all about, often directly following an anecdotal lead.

obit
 Obituary.

on spec
Submitting a piece on the “speculation” that the editor will accept
it, a practice more new free-lancers

op-ed
“Opposite editorial” — features page usually printed opposite a
newspaper’s editorial page, often containing pieces presenting a
position on an issue which is the opinion of the author and not
necessarily (or usually) the opinion of the paper. Also “O&E.”

orphan
A single line of text beginning a paragraph or section of text and
appearing at the bottom of a page.

pad
To make longer.

paste-up
A page’s individual elements assembled in its layout on a board
(usu. by _pasting_ or taping); used to make the photographic plates
which are then printed.

pic
Picture or illustration.

pitch
Story idea sent to an editor by a reporter.

pix
 Pictures.

play up
Emphasize. (“Why don’t you play up the infidelity angle?”)

pork
Material held for later use, if needed.

POD
“Print-on-demand.” See BOD.

pull quote
A quotation from an article, sometimes edited for brevity, displayed
in larger type as a figure to the body of the article. (Also
 “pullquote.”)

puff
Editorialized, complimentary statements in a story.

puff piece
A news story that contains a lot of puff.

query
A pitch, usually for longer, editorial or magazine pieces.

redletter
Exclusive, breaking news coverage of a major news event, printed in red type.

retraction
A publication’s withdrawal of a previously-published story or
fact. (“The _Times_ retracted their comments on the man.”)

revision
A re-written or improved story, often with additional quotes or facts.

rookie
See “cub.”

run
1. To put an item on schedule for publication (“Let’s run this item in
the gossip column.”) 2. A reporter’s beat.

sacred cow
News or promo material which a publisher or editor demands be
published, often for personal reasons.

scoop
1. An exclusive or first-published story. (“That story you did was a
nice scoop.”) 2. A synonym for “tip.” (“I got another great scoop from
 her.”)

sell-through
Percentage amount of net sales for a book.

short
See “brief.”

source
An individual whose statements are used for material in a story.

spec
See “on spec.”

stet
Proofreader’s mark for “restore to condition before mark up.”

street edition
The edition of a newspaper that comes out first and is available “on
the streets” such as at newsstands.

subhead
A smaller one-line headline for a story.

TK
Proofreader’s insertion mark for data “to come”; also “TKTK.”

take
A section of a running story.

tie back
See “tie in.”

tie in
Part of the story that reiterates past events in order to make recent
developments clear. Also “tie back.” (“Your piece is good, but the
tie-in is weak.”)

tip
Information about a potential story that has not been broken.

top heads
Headlines at the top of a column.

trim
To reduce the length of a story.

vet

weekly
A publication that publishes once a week.

widow
A single line of text ending a paragraph or section of text and
appearing at the top of a page.

For more, see “Glossary of Printing and Allied Terms” in the third edition of Words into Type (pg. 535), in print for more than a quarter-century and still unparalleled.

The cut-up (or “cutup”) is a method of juxtaposition where a work (usually text) is cut into pieces and the pieces rearranged in a random order, similar to the montage or collage technique in painting. The traditional cut-ups of Brion Gysin and William S. Burroughs were done manually with scissors, razor blades, axes and other cutting devices. (Netmonkey.com has published an excellent summary of the theory behind the cut-up method, and another good one is in Brion Gysin’s own words.)

Scissors are no longer necessary for making cut-ups; they can be performed more efficiently using a digital computer. The following is a list of open source tools for cutting up etexts and other data using open-source software. The best of these tools improve on the process, generating Markov chains from text input and who knows what else.

Note that the cut-up does not free the artist from the duty of expression; cut-ups serve as a compositional aid and are not a substitute for the act of composition itself.

• Florian Cramer’s “Permutations” contains what he calls “the only technically ‘proper’ CGI-Adaption of Gysin’s/Burroughs’ cutup method.” (All of the site’s Perl source code is GPLed.)
• Lee Worden offers a similar cutup CGI which uses a different algorithm than Florian’s, but is also easy to use.
• cutup, part of the tinyutils package (deprecated), is a small shell script for cutting up an input text file into four sections and then reassembling the slices diagonally. (a Perl rewrite should feature the ability to choose the number of x- and y- slices on the text.)
• Luke Kelley’s Cut-Up Machine is a Web cgi that lets you insert up to 100 elements from Naked Lunch into the output text.
• English as She is Spoken is Jonathan Feinberg’s Python script which takes text and runs it through AltaVista’s Translations service, and then runs the output through again, multiple times until no further “linguistic mutations” occur.
• An earlier Translations tool is the Transmogrifier; this tool powers a multi-lingual chat room (within 10 years you will probably be able to select a default language in your net interface and see the entire Internet translated in such fashion.)
• chef is a lex scanner for outputting its input text in the dialogue of a Swedish chef; the Debian filters package contains a bunch of these little text dialogue filters.
• The Shannonizer takes text or URL input and outputs a translation by a number of famous writers, including Hunter S. Thompson and Lewis Carroll.
• BABLE is a Perl script that generates Markov chains. It works best on large texts.
• Dissociated Press is an Emacs function for “dissociating” the current buffer, combining words and characters to form newords and charcatures; in Emacs, type:
  

  M-x dissociated-press <RET>

• Jamie Zawinski’s dadadodo generates Markov chains of word frequencies. One of its best features is the ability to scan a given text and write a compiled object file which you can then use later to generate output based on the original text.
• JWZ’s latest is webcollage, which builds a collage of random images from the Web on the root window of your X session.

  Ideas for improvements/expansions to webcollage:

  • ability to specify a single host or localhost directory tree when searching for images;
  • ability to specify the number of random images to output (coupled with the above gives a random-image cgi that could be useful for Web sites).
  • ability to save the image from the root window to a file (with as many of the original file properties saved as possible)
  • ability to limit images from a site or sites (say, display random images from eBay auctions)
  • integrated with the window manager so that a double-click with the left mouse button (say) opens a default web browser window with the URL of the originating image; a triple-click (say) pastes the URL to the X selection.
  • option for outputting to an .html file, either with x number of <img src> lines or with an image map
  • including a text option so that random pages/paragraphs/sentences/words/chars of text can be added to the output

This last one leads to an idea for an avant-garde web-art project: you write a program that obtains random text from the Web and then outputs that text in HTML, with random links interspersed through the text (the link heuristics are configured by a filter file whose entries contain two lines: the pattern to match in the input text and the link to use in the output, either a specific URL or a text value, in which case it uses a random URL containing that text); the resultant page is then a hypertext cut-up. Will sites allow you to link to them in such a context? Will linking out of context be outlawed? Or will popular browsers eventually contain cut-up-mode toggles, enabling a network of enthusiasts to trade and morph their filters, even holding filter-contests for the most unique views of/traversals through the Web?

Free software cutup tools are described in The Linux Cookbook, 2nd edition.

Related to this subject is a page on computer-generated writing.

As is Fuse by Scott Draves. The algorithm is inspired by dissociated-press but works on images, not text.

Another related subject is generative art — art where devices such as computers are used to generate source material (which, as with cut-ups, may then be reinterpreted, modified and otherwise used by the artist). Like cut-ups, it poses interesting philosophical issues of authorship and the creation or invention process. The definitive site for generative art research and free software tools is www.generative.net.

Feline hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (hcm) is a disease affecting cats in which the walls of the heart become increasingly enlarged.

This dossier compiles information on the disease for veterinarians and pet owners (as originally hosted on dsl.org since 1997), and includes an updatedlist of other good HCM Internet resources. (Standard disclaimer applies: I’m not a vet and this is not medical advice.)

Diagnosis in early stages can be tricky, but here are the symptoms: lethargy, poor appetite, panting/troubled breathing. Often, a feline will develop a heart murmur along with HCM; while the HCM can be treated if detected early, the murmur will probably never go away (but it isn’t anything to worry about).

Even after treatment, weakness or paralysis of the back legs should be watched for — blood clots can be developed and lodged in each leg (“saddle thrombosis”). This is a grave condition and must be treated immediately (within minutes, maybe hours at best) for the feline to survive.

Prognosis is not favorable — no cure is known at this time. In a fairly recent study, cats with HCM lived for an average of around 736 days, but I’ve heard of HCM-afflicted cats living for four or more years before heart failure.

If diagnosed early, medication can slow the process down. Late diagnosis is usually postmortem, or when the disease has reached an acute state.

The cause of HCM is believed to be genetic. It has been noted that an alarming increase of cats (and dogs), especially younger ones, afflicted with HCM in recent years.

The best hope for HCM, it seems, is to diagnose animals which carry the HCM gene and don’t let them breed.

Poll Results: Who bred your HCM-afflicted cat?

• 7% - Pet store or other corporate breeder (11 votes)
• 11% - Friend, family member, or other indivdual (18 votes)
• 20% - Professional cattery (32 votes)
• 62% - Unknown (obtained from animal shelter, etc) (99 votes)

(Poll presented on 1999-11-30; 160 votes total)

Cat Fanciers’ Association have also published advice to breeders on HCM.

Treatment is through medication to both thin the blood and retard the growth of the heart wall. Several types of vet-prescribed medications can be administered: atenolol (generic for tenorim, a beta blocker, which lowers blood pressure), lasix or other diuretic, and Cardizem. Baby aspirin (normally fatal to cats) can be given twice a week to thin the blood.

It can be a struggle getting the medication down the hatch, and few cats seem to be easily “tricked” into eating food laced with meds. The best technique is to kneel on the ground with your feet crossed, the cat held between your knees. Open the jaw with one hand and insert the medication with the other. It can also help to give meds before they eat their first meal of the day, to reduce the chance of vomiting it up.

Matthew Soffen offers some good advice here. He says that if you can find a Compounding Pharmacy, it can be helpful: they can create a liquid version of the medication. He says that they can get them in various flavors (fish, bacon, cheese, beef, and so on) which make it appealing to the cats and is easy to adminster.

It may be appropriate, later down the line, to take the cat off diuretics (which act as an appetite supressant and can also dehydrate the cat).

Other treatment is focused on encouraging strength and optimum health by giving the feline the best living conditions possible; this also happens to be sound advice even for cats who aren’t sick — a diet of name-brand, commercial pet food is probably worse for cats than a human on a diet of fast food:

1. Feed high-taurine, quality foods. Commercial cat foods that seem to meet standards include Bench & Field, Nature’s Recipe, Wysong, Katz-n-flocken. (Who else? Diamond Pet Foods’ Naturals? Premium Edge Cat Food?)

2. Other healthy foods reported to be liked by some cats include plain, cooked oatmeal; steamed broccoli; cooked liver. Avoid salt and salty foods. (Proper diet for HCM-afflicted cats is of utmost importance.)

3. Exercise should be with caution (feline should not be stressed), but is also important.

4. Give several holistic treatments — these are all from The Natural Cat by Anita Frazier, a book I highly recommend; Frazier’s book has been a great success and was published in several editions. The very latest edition, updated with new co-author Norma Eckroate, is now on sale at a discount at Amazon. If you’re serious about treating HCM you should use this book. It’s well worth it.

   Here’s just some of treatments for HCM explored in this book:

   • Vitamin E supplements in wet food

   • Make your own Vita-Mineral Mix (recipe given in book) and add to food

   • Give weekly or daily “kombu broth” mixtures (recipe in book)

   • Daily supplement of “Pet Tinic” (rich in B-complex vitamins)

   • Hawthorne berry supplement, a mild diuretic, to encourage self-confidence

   • More herbal supplements and treatments are given on Holisticat’s HCM page (see below). One important supplement to investigate is dandelion, a natural diuretic.

Anecdotes and updates

In May 2010, Matthew Soffen reported that his cats, who were diagnosed with HCM four years ago, are currently doing fine and only need an annual trip to a veterinary cardiologist.

Carrie Sparks wrote in to say that her cat had been diagnosed at seven years of age, and with a treatment of Cardizem and baby aspirin she lived until almost nineteen!

Here’s another positive anecdote from Robert Durlak on his barely one-year-old cat, “Y,” who’d been diagnosed with HCM in 1995 after going into heart failure:

Knusper, the feline tiger pictured above, was diagnosed with HCM in Dec. 97. He’s quite well now, after it was determined in 2001 that his “illness” was actually a misdiagnosis! The medication took away his appetite and he got thinner and thinner … until he was completely taken off all medication and then immediately sprung back to his former lively, roly-poly self.

For further reference

• feline-heart is “a list where members can discuss feline heart conditions and treatments.”

• JAChinitz has a huge site on feline hcm that includes a valuable, one-page information sheet in PDF format that you can download and print.

• A “succinct review” for veterinarians by Chuck Newman, PhD DVM, explains the difference between the less common dilated cardiomyopathy and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, gives clinical signs and detailed information on medication and treatment. Dr. Newman has also put up illustrations on this page.

• A site with good HCM info, dedicated to the memory of the cat Mickey.

• Clear, concise page discussing treatments for “the silent killer” from the UK’s Feline Advisory Bureau.

• West Boulevard Veterinary Clinic (Vancouver) has an informative page about HCM, the “silent killer.”

• Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Association — for humans, but good general info on the disease.

• MedLine search abstracts on feline HCM.

• HOLISTICAT is a mailing list for discussing holistic feline care; there’s quite a bit of HCM discussion on the list, as it has unfortunately become quite a common feline disease. Check the HOLISTICAT site for subscription instructions.

• Do this Google search on feline HCM to list up-to-date sites.

Food-science expert and nutritionist, “First lady of nutrition” (1904-1974)

Daisie Adelle Davis, American health and nutrition expert, dietician, progenitor of the health conscious (“health food nut”) movement, advocate of unprocessed additive-free foods and high-protein breakfasts [wiki]

AD Today: the Adelle Davis Foundation, active online discussion group

B-vitamin shopping list

Pepup

Invented the pepup cocktail for vigor and energy: whipped milk and egg yolks

Original recipe

Corbis photo of Adelle Davis drinking milk, circa 1970

The pepup is discussed, along with new modern variations & improvements on it, in English writer Michael Allen’s book, The Truth About Writing: An Essential Handbook for Novelists, Playwrights and Screenwriters (Kingsfield 2003). Allen recommends the pepup as a daytime energy drink for writers. [PDF]

Mentioned briefly in short online essay “What’s a Mother to Do?” by Ardith W. Walker

Books

Let’s Eat Right to Keep Fit

Let’s Get Well

You Can Get Well

Let’s Have Healthy Children (“America’s most famous food expert gives the vital nutritional do’s and don’ts for expectant mothers, babies, and growing children.”)

Let’s Cook It Right

Exploring Inner Space: Personal Experiences Under LSD-25 (as Jane Dunlap) (Mystical experiences mentioned in The Secret Chief Revealed by Myron J. Stolaroff.)

Quotations

“As I see it, every day you do one of two things: build health or produce disease in yourself.”

“Thousands upon thousands of persons have studied disease. Almost no one has studied health.”

Articles and info

“Adelle Davis Revisited” is a site containing information on modern supplements, vitamins and routines related to Adelle Davis’ ideas.

“The Legacy of Adelle Davis,” a critical look by Stephen Barrett

Adelle’s Granola

• 5c old-fashioned oatmeal
• 1c cut almonds
• 1c unrefined sesame seeds
• 1c sunflower seeds
• 1c shredded coconut
• 1c soy flour
• 1c powdered milk
• 1c wheat germ
• 1c honey
• 1c vegetable oil

1. combine all dry ingredients

2. combine honey and vegetable oil in separate dish

3. combine all ingredients, spread on two cookie sheets

4. bake at 300 degrees for 1 hour or until slightly brown

(From Life magazine, Oct 1971)

For further reading

]]> http://thedossiers.net/adelle-davis/feed/ 0 http://thedossiers.net/sigrid-undset/ http://thedossiers.net/sigrid-undset/#comments Fri, 31 Jul 2009 13:46:18 +0000 admin http://thedossiers.net/?p=1140

Norwegian novelist (1882-1949)

Wrote about Scandinavian countries in the Middle Ages. [more] [wiki]

Became a Catholic in 1924.

Awarded Nobel Prize for literature in 1928. [more]
[autobio]

Her modernist novels vividly depict medieval life

Books

Kristin Lavransdatter

The Axe: The Master of Hestviken, vol 1

Gunnar’s Daughter

The Unknown Sigrid Undset: Jenny and Other Works

Articles and info

“Reading Sigrid Undset” by Cynthia Grenier, CERC (1999).

By degrees my knowledge of history convinced me that the only thoroughly sane people, of our civilization at least, seemed to be those queer men and women the Catholic Church calls Saints. They seemed to know the true explanation of man’s undying hunger for happiness — his tragically insufficient love of peace, justice, and goodwill to his fellow men, his everlasting fall from grace.

For further reference

]]> http://thedossiers.net/sigrid-undset/feed/ 0 http://thedossiers.net/asperatus-clouds/ http://thedossiers.net/asperatus-clouds/#comments Wed, 08 Jul 2009 19:57:42 +0000 admin http://thedossiers.net/?p=1138 A new cloud classification — the first new classification since 1951.

First seen in 2005/2006

Clouds look like the agitated surface of the ocean — called undulus asperatus, Latin for “rough” [wiki]

Discovered by Jane Wiggins of Des Moines, Iowa, who snapped a digital photo from a downtown office building in June 2006. [pic]

Photos

Google search

Flickr search

UK Guardian’s gallery

Large photos in gallery at io9

In the media

AP article

USA Today

National Geographic, June 2009 (illustrated)

CBS news story includes criticism of new cloud category

]]> http://thedossiers.net/asperatus-clouds/feed/ 0 http://thedossiers.net/shigeaki-hinohara/ http://thedossiers.net/shigeaki-hinohara/#comments Wed, 06 May 2009 19:24:17 +0000 admin http://thedossiers.net/?p=1133

Japanese doctor, almost 100 years old and still practicing (1911- )

Shigeaki Hinohara

Famous for his recipe for living a long life

Has been working at St. Luke’s International Hospital (Tokyo) and teaching at St. Luke’s College of Nursing since 1941

Was passenger on a jet that was hijacked in 1970 and then dedicated his life to helping people

Set up the Life Planning Center in 1973 (motto: “lifelong health”)

Helped save and restore the Massachusetts home of Manjiro Nakahama (John Manjiro, the first Japanese person to live in the USA, 1843) and gave the dedication in May 2009.

[long profile] [short profile and photo] [news]

New Old People’s Movement

Seeks “healthy people 75 years and older” to be part of his new “movement.”

When we reach 75 we should start something new in order to discover those unused genes and develop them. It could be painting, or making music, writing poetry, sports or volunteer activities. One of my patients in his 60’s had been admitted to St. Luke’s with cancer, and was getting neurotic with anxiety over the disease. So I suggested he try to find something he enjoyed, like painting. He tried to avoid the issue, saying he was too clumsy with things. But once he took up the brush, his talent came out, and 10 years later he was holding his own one-man exhibitions and winning awards.

Books, interviews, advice and writing

Published more than 150 books since turning 75

Honohara’s famous words of wisdom, a simple formula for longevity

Interview with the Tokyo International Forum: “At 75, we should develop genes we have never used and keep challenging the new!”

How to Live Well (2001) (original title: How To Die Well; Japanese, Ikikata Jozu or “Good At Living”)

Ongaku no Iyashi no Chikara (The Healing Power of Music)

Ikiru koto no shitsu

Oi o hajimeru

Oi to shi no juyo

Gendai igaku to shukyo (Sosho gendai no shukyo)

Inochi no utsuwa: Jinsei o jibunrashiku ikiru

Inochi o mitsumete

“Iyashi” no waza no pafomansu

Osler’s peregrinations in Asia: A report on an unusual event

Wrote stage adaption for the picture-book Happa no Freddy (Freddy the Leaf) (2000)

Wrote the forward to Art and Nature: Healing Design for Health in the UK & Japan, a book containing the work of over 70 archictects on health care design

Co-edited Osler’s A Way of Life and Other Addresses, with Commentary and Annotations

Mentioned in , Caregivers: Drowning in a Sea of Cognitive Challenges, First to Arrive: State and Local Responses to Terrorism, Metamorphoses: Memoirs of a Life in Medicine, and other books.

For further reference

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