Berlin Holi Open Air Festival

Holi: Festival of colors..
Just by the name of it you feel that it would be an amazingly awesome event!

Unfortunately I can’t go this year, but it won a spot on the ‘to do’ list of my life. Right next to the Burning man festival 😀

Many many thanks to Stephan and Jim for telling me about these events and spreading the joy 🙂

Avant Hard

Holiis an ancient festival of India and was originally known as ‘Holika’. The festival finds a detailed description in early religious works such as Jaimini’s Purvamimamsa-Sutras and Kathaka-Grhya-Sutras. Historians also believe that Holi was celebrated by all Aryans but more so in the Eastern part of India.

Days before the festival people start gathering wood for the lighting of the bonfire called Holika at the major crossroads of the city.

Then on the eve of Holi, Holika Dahan takes place. Effigy of Holika, the devil minded sister of demon King Hiranyakashyap is placed in the wood and burnt. For, Holika tried to kill Hiranyakashyap’s son Prahlad, an ardent devotee of Lord Naarayana. The ritual symbolises the victory of good over evil and also the triumph of a true devotee.

Next day, is of course the main day of Holi celebrations. The day is called Dhuleti
and it is on…

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Imagine… the ideal state

The translation is under the sketch

The ideal state is the one:

“Where laws have no superiors” Bias of Priene

“Whose inhabitants are neither too poor, nor too rich” Thales of Miletus

“Where virtue is honored and malice is hated” Periander of Corinth

“Where offices are always given to the virtuous and never to the evil” Pittacus of Mytilene

“Where citizens are more afraid of the accusation than the punishment” Cleobulus of Rhodes

“Where the laws are honored more than the rhetoricians” Chilon of Sparta

“Where an offense against a citizen is perceived as an offense against the entire state” Solon of Athens

[in the bubble: ‘I am ashamed for today…’]

*****

These and many other great men have told us how we can coexist peacefully and happily. They’ve been telling us since probably forever.

The problem is not enough people are listening.

The problem is we still promote (even celebrate) violence, despite knowing that violence brings forth more violence, resulting in a vicious cycle.

“When it gets down to having to use violence, then you are playing the system’s game. The establishment will irritate you: pull your beard, flick your face to make you fight. Because once they’ve got you violent, then they know how to handle you. The only thing they don’t know how to handle is non-violence and humor.”
John Lennon

You may say I’m a dreamer… I say I’m human.

The beautiful neuron

Back in the days when I was doing my bachelor thesis, part of the work included visualizing neurons and neuronal networks with light microscopy. I think I will always remember the first time I saw a neuron we had stained… it was beautiful! So, so beautiful!!! Different shades of brown in the background and a black neuron standing out, with branches stretching from the soma, going in all directions creating such an intricate pattern. I remember thinking “Dendrites.. it truly is a fitting name!” (The scientific name for the branches is ‘dendrites’ – coming from the greek word ‘dendro’ meaning tree). I was in awe! I couldn’t believe this much beauty was hiding in our brains. The two weeks of early morning waking required for staining this neuron were definitely worth it.

I increased the magnification only to discover more details.. there were even thinner branches! But there was more. Along the dendrites I could see small bulges, the spines. It was like an almond tree before blooming. Knowing that these were the points where this neuron would connect with other neurons (invisible to me because we hadn’t stained them) and transmit his information, blew my mind.


I think I spent one hour looking at this neuron, going up and down, left and right, taking in its every micrometer. Later on, I also had to use fluorescence microscopy for my thesis. First time looking at the stained section was another mind-blowing experience. With this method, in the same sample we could visualise different networks of neurons in color! There was not a single neuron identical with another. Each one had its own unique pattern, some more interesting, other more boring, other too complicated to follow.. And with the press of one button magic would happen: the red network would change into a blue or a green one, and with each change a whole new set of neurons would be revealed! I literally felt like a child with a new toy – the most awesome toy ever! The bad thing with fluorescent dyes is that they wear out after being exposed to the light for too long. So I couldn’t enjoy and explore as much as I wanted.


Looking back at these days, from all the work I did, the time I was spending in that dark room with my music and the microscope was by far my favorite. I really think that 1/4 of that time was just for admiring the beauty of the neurons (since I couldn’t simultaneously concentrate on the scientific question :p )! I remember my supervisor saying that you get used to it after a while and it stops being that exciting. I’m happy I never did 🙂 I prefer the feeling of disappointment when the work load was too high and there wasn’t enough time to admire that small work of art, than the desensitization to its beauty any day. Maybe if I was still doing it after 5 years, I would have gotten used to it – I can’t know. I’m just glad I’m left with this feeling of awe. This way I can fully appreciate work like this of Greg Dunn.

Greg Dunn is a visual artist and has a Ph.D in neuroscience. I discovered him a few days ago and instantly fell in love with his work. As you figured by now, all the pictures in this post are his. Actually, deciding which ones to include has been an impossible task. So visit his personal web page Greg A. Dunn Design for more awesomeness!
Quoting from the ‘about’ section in his site:

I enjoy Asian art. I particularly love minimalist scroll and screen painting from the Edo period in Japan. I am also a fan of neuroscience. Therefore, it was a fine day when two of my passions came together upon the realization that the elegant forms of neurons (the cells that comprise your brain) can be painted expressively in the Asian sumi-e style. Neurons may be tiny in scale, but they possess the same beauty seen in traditional forms of the medium (trees, flowers, and animals).

I’m really happy that I’m not the only one appreciating his work. There is an interview with him in the Huffington Post: Neuroscience Art, as well as in The Beautiful Brain (a site I discovered thanks to Greg and is now permanently under my science links section). I agree with how he sees things and I encourage you to read both of them. Here’s a small taste:

‘What do you find beautiful about the brain?‘

It is literally the most complicated object in the known Universe! The tremendous knot of cells when connected in a certain way gives rise to a strange sense of “I” that is able to ponder and learn things about its environment. It is an utter miracle, and is at the root of why we are conscious beings able to appreciate this world and all of its beauty. How can you not love it?!

You can read the whole interview from Beautiful Brain here.

Discovering Greg made my week! Plus I have found the next present I will buy myself 😀

If you know other neuro-artists – or other artists – you think I might like, please leave a comment to tell me.

Pity the nation…

Three paintings by Khalil Gibran: Jesus the Son of Man – On Giving – Etreinte

“Pity the nation” is one of those poems that transcends time. It was written by Khalil Gibran sometime in early 1900s but published posthumously in 1933 in “The Garden of the Prophet”.

Pity the nation that is full of beliefs and empty of religion.
Pity the nation that wears a cloth it does not weave,
eats a bread it does not harvest,
and drinks a wine that flows not from its own wine-press.

Pity the nation that acclaims the bully as hero,
and that deems the glittering conqueror bountiful.

Pity the nation that despises a passion in its dream,
yet submits in its awakening.

Pity the nation that raises not its voice
save when it walks in a funeral,
boasts not except among its ruins,
and will rebel not save when its neck is laid
between the sword and the block.

Pity the nation whose statesman is a fox,
whose philosopher is a juggler,
and whose art is the art of patching and mimicking.

Pity the nation that welcomes its new ruler with trumpeting,
and farewells him with hooting,
only to welcome another with trumpeting again.

Pity the nation whose sages are dumb with years
and whose strong men are yet in the cradle.

Pity the nation divided into into fragments,
each fragment deeming itself a nation.

What brought a sad smile on my face was when I found people from USA, Pakistan and Greece relating to this poem after just 4 minutes of googling.
I guess there are still many nations to pity…

Khalil Gibran – artist, poet, writer

George Carlin

Today’s post is a small tribute to George Carlin. I’m assuming that you know who he is. In the unlikely event that you don’t know, google him, go to youtube to see some of his videos and if you still have spare time, then come back here.

I still sometimes watch or think stuff he has said over time and get a smile/grin in my face. I miss him and can’t stop wondering what he’d have to say about the recent economic crisis – at least we have youtube. So here are some of my favorite George Carlin quotes, for me to always remember and you to enjoy 🙂
 
 
.: Think of how stupid the average person is… and realize that half of them are stupider than that :.
 
 
.: Inside every cynical person, there is a disappointed idealist :.
 
 
.: …rights aren’t “rights” if someone can take ’em away; they’re privileges :.
 
.: Some people see things that are and ask, Why?
Some people dream of things that never were and ask, Why not?
Some people have to go to work and don’t have time for all that :.
 
 
.: …it’s also interesting who it is we assassinate… It’s always people who’ve told us to live together in harmony and try to love one another. Jesus, Gandhi, Lincoln, John Kennedy,Bobby Kennedy, Martin Luther King, MedgarEvers, Malcolm X, John Lennon. They all said, try to live together peacefully’. BAM! Right in thefucking head :.
 
 
 
 
.: You know how I define the economic and social classes in this country?
The upper class keeps all of the money, pays all of the taxes.
The middle class pays all of the taxes, does all of the work.
The poor are there… just to scare the shit out of the middle class. Keep ’em showing up at those jobs :.
 
 
.: Just ’cause you got the monkey off your back doesn’t mean the circus has left town :.
 
 
.: A person of good intelligence and of sensitivity cannot exist in this society very long without having some anger about the inequality – and it’s not just a bleeding-heart, knee-jerk, liberal kind of thing – it is a normal human reaction to a nonsensical set of values where we have cinnamon flavored dental floss and there are people sleeping in the street :.
 
 
 
 
.: Boy those conservatives are really something, aren’t they? They’re all in favor of the unborn. But once you’re born you’re on your own.
Pro-life conservatives are obsessed with the fetus from conception to nine months. After that they don’t want to know about you. They don’t want to hear from you. No, nothing.
No neonatal care, no day care, no head start, no school lunch, no food-stamps, no welfare, no nothing.
If you’re a pre-born you’re fine, if you’re pre-school you’re fucked :.
 

 
 
 
 
 
 

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