Ambiguosly Awesome: Arcology

So you think you like the environment? Well you don't like it half as much as Paolo Soleri. Oh whats wrong don't know who Paolo Soleri is? Well listen up you splendid individual you! Paolo Soleri is a man who invented Arcology.












Yes This Arcology













See you knew it all along, all it took was a video game reference, well its true Sim City nor its parent company Maxis invented these terrific little buggers it was in fact Paolo Soleri. But what is that pretty thing that cost so much money in Sim City 2000? Well arcologys are just what they sound like, not like archeology but rather a mash up of Ecology and Architecture. Check it the idea is that you can live in harmony with nature in a hyper urban environment, post urban if you will. The concept is to build a city in three dimensions rather than two which is what we do currently and what leaves us open to the menace that is urban sprawl. The idea is that we can all live in an environment without waste and one that can be place in a natural environment and not destry the nature that it exists with. Currently there are none and the closest thing we got is what Paulo Soleri is building in the Arizona wilderness called Arcosanti. While it is still in its infancy this is an idea that could potentially save the world, and last time I checked and according to most video games I've played, books I've read and movies I've seen saving the world is most righteously awesome.

Awesome Science: 360 Degree Light Fields

Did you know that holograms were integral to saving the very world we know and cherish? Yes sir they were used a long time ago in a galaxy far away to map the rebel assaults on the death star. Not only did these maps look elegant and accurate they were the life blood of the Bothan economy.





Many Bothans died for this JPEG









Since I guess we forgot how to make holograms since those ancient days of space battles and laser warfare we have begun to re-pioneer the use of the hologram. Well the folks at the University of Southern California are busy working on it. While this is awesome news and could very well be the coolest thing we here at DoA have seen in a while I have to be fair, what else is there to do in Southern California other than make holograms.


Interesting Fact! Dennis Gabor of Hungary invented the use of holograms, known as holography, in 1971 and it won him the Nobel prize in physics. Not to shabby.


Oh yeah and those kids from USC you can check out a very quiet video of their holograms at

Youtube
or
POEtv

Week of December 17th: Reasons to Celebrate

Monday: The First Powered Flight

You may recall that last week there was a little diddy on the wright brother flight day Kittyhawk. Well the day first recognized as the real date for the first heavier than air aircraft flight. In total Wilbur, the most rock and roll of the duo, flew for 57 seconds over a distance of 852 feet. In celebration DOA suggests that you jump of a high object and land on a relatively soft object. (Snow is a good crash pad)

Tuesday: Rock Band for PS2 Release Date

Seriously get it








From arguably the world leaders in musical video gamery Harmonix (Note: not Red Octane) comes the coolest and most ludicrously priced piece of sweetness to date. Yes well technically its already on 360 and what not now is the chance for you people without 500$ but with over 200$ of expendable income to purchase it for a last generation system and then alienate all your friends over who gets to play drums.

Wednesday: Criss Angels Birthday

Yeah he's pretty and would probably steal your girlfriend, whether he wanted to or not, in 4 seconds flat, but the dude is the definition of awesome. What if your job was getting run over by a steamroller while lying stomach down on a bed of glass, if you were me you would not be able to make a career out of it being that you would die. But not this guy nope far too awesome, in hindsight he probably has the force.


Thursday: Vespasian ascends to the throne of the Roman Empire

While this may not seem awesome I direct your attention to two points

1. The name Vespasian is cool, we're talking absolute zero cool

2. Vespasian began the construction of the coliseum







You can thank Vespasian for this one
its on the house.






Friday: A Full year in Space for Vladimir Georgievich Titov and Musa Manarov

Space, lots of spectacular stuff comes from space, it is a sea of most excellent objects and experiences. Between December 21st 1987 and December 21st 1988 Musa Manarov and Georgievich Titov were flotsam in that ocean of awesome aboard MIR. In addition Manarov had a kickin' mustache

Saturday: Global Orgasm Day / Solstice

This is a joint entry because while the obvious thing to recognize today is the fact that it is the first day of winter (in the north) or summer (in the south) both are exceptional things to celebrate but how to celebrate them?

Thats where Global Orgasm comes in they are a movement that is attempting to rid the world of negative energy with an influx of positive sexual energy. Nothing I could potentially say would do this justice check the site www.globalorgasm.org

Sunday The Discovery of a Coelacanth

Dateline December 23rd East London a trawler returns to port carrying a species of fish called the Coelacanth the oldest species of jawed fish and considered a living fossil almost unchanged from its prehistoric ancestors.



Ugly yes but its almost a dinosaur




While to find is cool and the fact that there are still living things that have been representing since the Paleozoic Era the real reason for this inclusion is the linkage without the Coelacanth we could never enjoy this classic Achewood gem


Next Week... Christmas!!! Maybe....

Awesome Adventures: Tobogganing

Nonfattening, Overburdening, Meningeal, Carpetbagging, Ingenious, these are just some of the words that spell check thinks of when I misspell tobogganing. All I can think of is awesome. Whether you beerboggan, cocktoggan or just plain toboggan, your pass time of choice has a long history of tantalizingness starting when the first Egyptian brewed beer and then rode a stone plinth down one of the great pyramids. This history continued today with the plethora of snow that has deigned to descend upon the great city of Barrie. Despite, or maybe because of, the forced Siberian death march across the plains of Sunnidale park, we ignited the hills with streaks of fire erupting from our "air thunder" snowboogie and collective magic carpets. Jumps, crashes and dogs wearing sweaters could not impede the velocity of these champions of the downhill head first assault. By ones and by thrice they came sputtering and rolling down the hill only to collectively shatter against the rocks of steadily declining kinetic energy.









Delight





As is inevitably the case we all anon back to the homestead to imbibe alcohol and hot beverages our pants soaking in the blood of our slain adversary ... SNOW!!!!

Special thanks to guest contributor Mandrew Chizoptiany

An Announcement

We have our first link, it comes courtesy of Joe over at Some Whole Wheat Words an awesome writing blog site with many a clever ramble and rife with magical realism and other things equally as awesome. Check it out you shan't be disappointed

http://wholewheatwords.wordpress.com/

Awesome Words: The Steam Punk Guide to the Apocalypse

Pop Quiz!! The world has been consumed by a tide of nuclear fire. Governements are struggling to maintain any semblance of order and general havoc is having its way with just about everything. Do you.

(A) Join the Militia and attempt to restore order to the mob rule that has taken hold.

(B) Retreat to your place of solitude and horde high technology

(C) Declare that this tragedy occurred due top use of perverse hyper technology and use this as an opportunity to topple the colonialist system once and for all and proclaim the glory of Victorian era holistic ( and on occasion incendiary) technologies

If choice C even remotely appeals to you DoA strongly suggests strongly suggests that you head on over to Steam Punk Magazine and check out their stunning little publication The Steam Punk's guide to the Apocalypse.

Verbose and intellectual yet eloquent, the Steam Punk triple threat.




a 31 page version is available freely, although a donation is appreciated, on the website in the downloads section, however the truly will note that they can spring for the physical book with its illustrations and paintings in all their Steam Punk meets teen girl squad glory. This is the kind of thing that that certain top hat and pocket watch some one with a fondness for automata would love to get in their stocking for Christmas although lets not delude ourselves after the blast the owners of these manuals will undoubtedly do away with such anachronistic holidays in favor of much more appropriate holidays such as Charles Babbage day which not coincidentally is actually the 26th of December.




P.S If you are unfamiliar on who Charles Babbage is give him a quick googling or check his wikipedia page here or surf over to the Charles Babbage Institute you won't be disappointed the dude has pre modern cool in spades.

T.Owesome: Chapter Eleven

Its December 11th. Lets face it we, especially us here in Toronto are stuck with some less than hospitable weather, unless you're into fridophilia ( a sexual complication that leads to a sexual attraction to the cold) which is unlikely because A) thats crazy and B) I'm pretty certain that I just made that up on the spot for comedic effect. Regardless if feeling cold is not your forte and drinking craft beer and sitting around a fire is well then Chapter Eleven at 577 Parliament Street is worth a look for you.








E-Cheers





Chapter Eleven is one of those joints where you can go and really unwind, unlike other bars where there are inevitably drunken rowdy idiots or if not that than a bunch of quiet creeps sitting around conversing with their alcohol of choice, Chapter won't mind if you're quiet and introspective at the window or with a troupe of friends indulging in a good laugh or playing any of the available board games by the fire place.

Whats this oh your one of those people who goes to an establishment for things other than the ambiance? Have no fear good sir Chapter Eleven has consumables of the highest quality. The full Mill .St brew line brewed scant kilometers away in the Distillery District, as well as various other micro-brews from around the region and abroad are all available on tap. Try their black and tan which is a departure from the traditional recipe and uses the local varieties for a very full taste, if your a fan of the domestic beers like Canadian and Coors look elsewhere.

Bottom line it may not be loud and boisterously awesome like explosions but when it comes down to it Chapter Eleven.. totally an awesome congregating spot, especially if you live in Cabbagetown.

Ambiguously Awesome: Robots!!!!

What better way to begin a blog about awesome things than with the thing that is probably the most awesome, Synthetic Sweetness thy name is Robot. Yes they may be the downfall of society as we head towards the technological singularity that will inevitably destroy mankind but god damn if we are going out we are going out with style




If we are going to be consumed in a fiery demise this is what I want it to be coming from not some "Super Volcano" as certain television specials and *scoff* Geologists would have us believe.






Don't forget that robots are not just awesome because of the impending robocalypse but also because they are really good at fighting and generally have lasers and stuff, and according to the latest polls weaponized lasers are in fact very awesome.


Get out there and try and be as awesome as robots, the optimal word being try.

Week of December 10th Reasons for Celebration

Monday: Nobel Peace Prize Day

This years Nobel Prize in Physics went to Albert Fert Peter Grünberg. They are two awesome blokes who discovered something called Giant Magnetoresistance. Umm its something to do with magnetic field changes under certain conditions but it means that we can cram more memory into our miniaturized hard drives. Basically we can have 50 gig I pods now
sort of...

Tuesday: The Anniversary of Unicef

Wednesday: Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe

According to Catholic accounts of the Guadalupan apparition, during a walk from his village to the city on December 9, 1531, Juan Diego saw a vision of a Virgin at the Hill of Tepeyac. Speaking in Nahuatl, Our Lady of Guadalupe said to build an abbey on the site, but when Juan Diego spoke to the Spanish bishop, Fray Juan de Zumárraga, the prelate asked for a miraculous sign. So the Virgin told Juan Diego to gather flowers from the hill, even though it was winter, when normally nothing bloomed. He found Spanish roses, gathered them on his tilma, and presented these to the bishop. According to tradition, when the roses fell from it the icon of the Virgin of Guadalupe appeared imprinted on the cloth.

Thursday: Its Steve Buscemi's Birthday Surely that reason enough to get a cake even if you don't know him personally








An awesome guy...





Friday: According to Japanese lore this is the day that the epic 47 ronin avenged their master after a year of planning to assassinate Kira Yoshinaka. You can read the Wikipedia article here the whole thing is awesome, you know why because its about a ton of samurai and whats more bad ass than one samurai? Yeah 47 samurai for you math whizzes thats like at least 5 times more samurai than you average Kurosawa film.

Saturday: James Naismith (A Canadian by the way) invents the first iteration basketball. This of course lays the way for the And1 Mixtapes and well the rest is history.

Sunday: This is the 2nd Sunday of the advent which means my family is going to have an awesome dinner and I'm going to partake after my long pilgrimage home for the holidays and feast until I feel sleepy.... and awesome

So thats this week in days that are most excellent I hope it makes you feel better as a person.