Not so weird: My favorite author Neil Gaiman wins the Newbery Medal for children’s literature for his new release, “The Graveyard Book.” You should check it out, too.

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What that means is that we are, for all intents and purposes, composed of information. Data. And all our info is encoded in the light at the edge of the universe and projected back through space and time — a condition I’m willing to wager means we never cease to exist. All that we are, ever were, or will be is saved in the cosmic data stream.

What that has to do with belly dancing may not be clear at first glance, but follow me here.

I was a guest of the Unitarian Universalist  Church last week, and read a short story likening quantum physics to the art of crochet. (Ask a woman who crochets about chaos theory; she’ll show you her tangled skeins.) Other guests showed off artwork or rug weaving, played jazz piano or read poetry. One group performed a series of belly dances, including a snake dance that sent at least one member of the audience looking for the back door. (See photos of the event here, and watch video of the event here.)

In the midst of reflection, as I sought the invisible connections between all these people and their creative interests in an earlier effort to write this column, I ran across the news above.

The funny thing about holograms is this: All the information that makes up the image is contained in its components; a hologram can be broken into smaller sections and the original image can still be seen from each small piece. (The smaller the segment, however, the less perspective can be achieved in viewing the image.)

So this means that, in a holographic reality, each of us carries within us the whole of the universe — though the view is limited. By extension, our expressions of creativity carry within them an abiding view of the whole of our beings.

It’s a truth with which most artists were already familiar, whether they’re writers, painters, weavers, musicians — or a dancer with jewel in her belly button or a snake on her head.

In the end, it’s more than just navel gazing. Who you are and what you do reflects the universe.

Peace.

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But that’s OK, when you put it in perspective: Our whole universe may be nothing more than a giant hologram. You and me? Just information on a massive 2D surface.

That’s no reason to give up hope, even if you’re only a goat. Like this one that hanged itself.

So what’s going on in your world? How’s the future look from where you’re standing?

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Reading: Ex Machina Vol. 7; Essential Zen; The Order Vol. 2; Tori Amos Comicbook Tattoo.

Listening to: Various artists, including Death Cab for Cutie, Johnny Cash, Sting

Watching: (clearing the DVR, which had episodes of) Dexter, Life on Mars, Sanctuary, and Stargate Atlantis. The latter was the biggest surprise; this is usually a goofy sci fi romp, but it has gone off the tracks (in a good way) for its final season. The last-ever episode is this Friday, but last Friday’s (set in a parallel reality) was incredible for its visual and musical style, as well as the inevitable ending (if you equate the story to that of a Japanese samurai).

Also spent a weird evening watching two hours on the Discovery Channel about the efforts to cure the “tree man.”

Visited: Century and surrounding towns for the after-Christmas family thing; a concert by four bands at “The Bridge Venue,” which is otherwise known as Crossbridge Church.  Check out this guy, Pat, who performs as “The Cries Of.” Good stuff. Here is in via video:

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An amateur enthusiast studying a device brought up from the ocean floor near Greece has rebuilt the thing and created a functioning astronomical calculator. Literally, a 2,000-year-old hand-cranked computer that runs on gears and dials. Read all about it here.

Meanwhile, top brains are trying to figure out how to deflect a killer asteroid. Apophis will pass very close to the Earth in 2036, and there’s still a chance that variations in its path could cause it to strike the planet. Read all about the effort to find a way to deflect it here.

And off topic: My prediction for biggest movie of Summer 2009 (it’s not Star Trek). Click here.

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Robert Carlyle, from The Full Monty and Trainspotting,  will lead the cast of Sci-Fi Channel’s new Stargate spinoff, Stargate: Universe, starting in 2009.  The current  version of Stargate is ending soon. I just got the preview screener for episode 100, which is the last ep of the series. I’ll let you know what I think soon.

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Rick Bragg has been named the 2009 recipient of the Harper Lee Award for Alabama’s Distinguished Writer of the Year, according to a news release from the Alabama Writers’ Forum.  Bragg, whose “Ava’s Man” is still a favorite of mine, will receive the award at the Alabama Writers Symposium in Monroeville (where my Dad lives now) on May 1 at the annual luncheon.

Here are some notes from the news release: Bragg is the best selling and critically acclaimed author of Southern non-fiction, including a trio of books on his Calhoun County (Ala.) family that have become anthems of working-class Americans—“All Over but the Shoutin’” (Pantheon, 1998), “Ava’s Man” (Alfred A. Knopf, 2001) and “The Prince of Frogtown” (Alfred A. Knopf, 2008).  The books, award winners in both literary and audio circles, track one family’s conflicts and triumphs across a century of whiskey making, deprivation, fist fights, knife fights and human kindness. The story of his mother’s sacrifices in raising him and his brothers in 1960s Alabama, “All Over But the Shoutin’” is one of the most often read books in community and college-wide reads.

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Got this one (filed under “This Bizarre World”) from Warren Ellis: A burglar was trapped for days in a house by a ghostly force, and only escaped when the owners returned to find him hungry and dehydrated. MSNBC reported it here.

Peace.

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Click here to see the face of reason.

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But maybe not for long, if you believe any of the 2012 hype. You know, the Aztec calendar ends in 2012 (on 12/21, or 12/20, depending on who you ask). That could mean a new age of enlightenment dawns, or terrible catastrophe that destroys the world.

Which one do you think would make for a better movie? Here’s the trailer for “2012,” the latest end of the world movie from the guy who brought us the original Stargate and Independence Day. It was released to the interwebs today. Say what you will about his movies, but the image of a giant wave cresting the Himalayas is pretty awesome.

The scariest thing about 2012?

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Yes, those are real people walking on real selenite crystals in a cave in Mexico, not a special effect. How awesome is that?

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So, what did you do this weekend? We traveled to Tallahassee to watch FSU students perform a play my son wrote (and which was first workshopped last May at Gulf Coast Community College). The play was one of five one-acts put on at the drama department. And the town was BUSY. Not only a game day but also Parents’ Weekend. Traffic was nuts. But we got to see some people we don’t see enough of, like Claire, who took us on a brief campus tour and joined us for the show, and Turner, who showed us various student housing (and who directed Nathan’s play), and JV, who just showed up unexpectedly. It was a beautiful autumn day, and there was a great sense of life and energy all around.

What was your weekend like?

Peace.

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