Brain Chow: June 17

Listening
Podcasts
I really like the Lenswork podcasts and magazines because its all related to the creative process. Not much info about photographic technique.
Lenswork #535 Examining Our Habits
Lenswork #536 Repeat After Me

What It Means To Be Human - "Biological Colonialism" podcast
On this episode of What It Means to Be Human, bioethicist Wesley J. Smith examines the biological colonialism that has come in the wake of the devaluation of human life. With the rejection of human exceptionalism, we now have the commoditization and exploitation of the body parts and functions of the poor, effectively treating human beings as mere natural resources to be exploited and/or harvested. Listen in and learn what it means to be human -- and why it's so important.
Text

What It Means To Be Human - "Granting Rights to Plants in Switzerland"
An ethics panel in Switzerland is considering granting rights to … plants. On this episode of What It Means to Be Human, Wesley Smith, Discovery Institute senior fellow in human rights and bioethics, looks at how Switzerland's enshrining of "plant dignity" is a symptom of a cultural disease that has infected Western civilization, causing us to lose the ability to think critically and distinguish serious from frivolous ethical concerns.

Gymnast Shawn Johnson Put To Sleep After Breaking Leg

Bill Moyer's Journal Vodcast - Talks with Robert Reich
June 12, 2009
Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich sits down with Bill Moyers to talk about the influence of lobbyists on policy, the economy, and the ongoing debate over health care.

New Juice
Blueberry/Cantalope

I know..I know..it's blank. Give me a couple of days...a new song is on it's way..^_-

Exhibition
Went to see the Ryoichi Aratani Photo Exhibition at the Canon Gallery in Gina. He is a great photographer who is always around the Yokohama jazz club, Airegin, taking photos of musicians. What I surprise I got when I arrived at the exhibition. Aratani-san had one of my photos displayed at the entrance to the gallery along with 3 or 4 others throughout the exhibition. In addition, he had a copy of Photocon magazine June '09 issue sitting on the table. Photocon had a few of Aratani's photos from the exhibition in the this month's issue including one of mine. Aratani will move his exhibition to Fukuoka, Japan in July.

Photocon Magazine
http://www.photo-con.com/
http://www.photo-con/0906/index.html

HPGRP
Went to the hrgrp gallery in Aosando (between Aoyama & Omotesando) to see Miki Kubata's exhibition. Very cool, very unusual. hrgrp is a very nice space.

Reading
LensWork May-June 2009 Issue
Brooks Jensen
Editors Comments
Ten Motivations
"From time to time, we all need motivation to keep a project moving-or more commonly, to break the inertia of inactivity. Here are some ideas to get moving and finish your photography projects."

DeBono-Lateral Thinking
Difference between vertical and lateral thinking:

Rightness is what matters in vertical thinking. Richness is what matters in lateral thinking.
DeBono-Lateral Thinking, chapter 2 pg 37

Art
When I met Tommy-G at Aratani's exhibition, he told me about a great artist in Kyoto, Japan. Her name is Rie Mandala and you can see some of her work on flickr.