The Simple Life

I went to bed late but woke up at 7:30 to the sound of flapping. I thought it might have been a bug trapped between the window screen and curtain, but curiosity overcoming sleepiness, I pulled my curtain aside to see three mourning doves sitting on the railing of my fire escape. I think it might have been a family because at one point, one of the doves held the second dove’s beak in its own beak and then shook it, as if it were regurgitating food. Then again, it was early and I might have imagined seeing that. I went back to sleep, but before I did, I thought how being woken by doves must be one of the more pleasant ways to wake up in the city.

Tonight, I took the train back late with a friend, and we happened to board an empty car. I excitedly said that we could run up and down the car screaming, and no one would care. My friend then pointed out a guy in an adjacent car. This guy was apparently the only one in his car. Through the narrow windows in the car doors, we saw him run toward then grab one of the metal support poles. He threw his weight onto the pole and spun around it with his feet in the air. It made me happy to see him having fun, like a child would have done without fear of embarrassment or self-consciousness.

Booooo Hoo

Sad Ghost Lamp, Marcel Dzama, $150

I wants it. Who could not love a crying ghost?

Kidney for Sale! Kidney for Sale!

Not exactly a new story but I still found “Human Kidneys for Sale” to be interesting. It aired on public radio and was filed from India by filmmaker Samantha Grant. What I found especially disturbing was Grant’s observation that

“India’s Ministry of Tourism is promoting what’s being called Transplant Tourism, aimed at drawing wealthy foreigners in search of a cheap medical fix. Its website even has a page called ‘high-tech healing’ and boasts that a ‘kidney transplant package’ in India would cost only $7,000, a fraction of what it costs in the developed world.”

(The Web site she’s referring to is Incredible India. According to the site, India also offers wellness services such as bone marrow transplants, joint replacement surgery, and, of course, yoga.)

Grant’s documentary on the same subject can be viewed online at PBS FRONTLINEt/World. I haven’t had a chance yet to check it out, but it’s only about 11 mins. long. (Though the ending probably won’t be as satisfying as that of Dirty Pretty Things, the Stephen Frears-directed film about the human organ trade. It’s excellent!–I highly recommend it.)

Where Science Meets Culture

Jesse recommended I check out Phylotaxis. Pretty.

World Jump Day

World Jump Day is fast approaching! On Thursday, July 20, be one of the 600 million jumpers needed to help change the Earth’s orbit to stop global warming. Check out the official Web site for local jump times. (Or just check out this article, which explains the premise of the project.)