Latest Posts…
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Back to Stem Cells
The confusion around stem cells is due, I think, in large part to a fundamental misunderstanding of the function of DNA. In the popular mind, DNA contains a complete description of a person’s body. From this perspective, the DNA in the 100 or so stem cells in a balstocyst fully describe what the person will…
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Hey Nagel–not done with you yet!
The more alert among you will have long ago noticed that the cyberkrunk blog is, at its core, an extended rumination on the mind-body problem in the guise of chatty posts about pop music, restaurants and movies, all expressed in the language of a writing style I invented some time ago called “Gonzo Prufrock”. Since…
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Nagel on Realism
Reading Sam Harris’ The End of Faith. While it’s interesting, Harris really seems to go off on the deep end whenever he starts talking philosophy. Some ludicrous stuff on ethics. The he goes off on strawman arguments against relativism and pragmatism. Against pragmatism? Why that’s just un-American! In a lengthy end-note, he quotes Thomas Nagel’s…
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New DAWg
Spent the day putting my new Digital Audio Workstation (DAW), Cubase 4, through its paces and you can hear the results yourself. Only took a few hours to get the audio set up to match my studio and learn the basics of looping, audio tracks, MIDI tracks, mix automation, inserts, sends, mixdown, the whole works.…
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Today’s Meme
“Every time you read it or say it, you make another copy in your brain.” Dan Dennett.
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ex tenebris
Emerging from what must be one of the all-time longest work jags, maybe two months non-stop. There is one track destined to become a classic on “The Weirdness”, the new Stooges record that completely sums it up: “I’m fried”. Good record all around – could be looser, grittier. But what a huge disappointment “A Weekend…
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Celluloid Potty
David Denby had a terrific piece in the New Yorker a couple of weeks back, which made for great reading atop the thunder bucket (“le seau de tonnere” en Francais). The main thrust of the piece is how films that play with chronology, once the domain of arty directors like Resnais, have now become commonplace.…
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Seen this weekend
monkey bar – pam’s real thai – russian vodka room – the whispering gallery in grand central – the campbell apartment (closed, but we snuck a peek) – lombardi’s – bucket of live frogs in chinatown – a nice decanter at crate and barrel (we bought it) – some old port in the best wine…
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In which I go to Best Buy and get a bunch of CDs
Stones: Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out; Sticky Fingers; Exile on Main Street; Black and Blue. I’m filling out the Mick Taylor period here. Now have pretty much everything I need, Stones-wise. Although I do still pine occasionally for the octagonal “Through the Past Darkly” that I bought in the Village on my very first trip to…