Someone should pay me to have ideas

I saw an article on Slashdot about a prize for creating a real medical tricorder. . . which got me thinking. We totally already have all the tools necessary as a human race to do that, but just need someone to figure out how.

There are people employed by the CIC (formerlly the CIA) who wear body suits that are essentially one big computer collecting data on everything around them. It is simply the person's job to walk around and let the suit record everything. So theoretically, we already have a life size version of a tricorder as far as collecting data and 'scanning' are concerned.

Secondly, we have Google, and it's all about database ordering, which if you've noticed they're pretty good at. I and query a search term, and probably come up with both a) suggestions on what I'm looking for and b) relevant results that might actually be worth clicking on.

So with a simple interface similar to many iPad applications, or something like the amazon kindle - all we need is a satellite or Internet connection and the medical officer in the field has Gray's Anatomy (the medical text - not the show) and whammo, you have a tricorder. Now as far as interfaces go, that would be up to developers to create something that after scanning allowed the operator to put in visual observations that only a 'human' can see leading to a more accurate diagnosis.

It really is too bad that I don't know how to program because that would be a pretty great prize. Here's the link though if you're interested in reading more about the contest. Invent the medical tricorder-win 10 million dollars

I'll also say right up front there are some issues that my version doesn't address - yet.
A) In military zones, there's a good chance that Internet/satellite access wouldn't be available.
B) The contest doesn't say whether the tricorder is for diagnosis and treatment, or for treatment only. They do however compare it to star trek, in which case, I chose to go with The Original Series - which is a diagnostic tool only and the Doctor carries around a med kit anyway. The criteria do state that it would need to be as good as a 'panel of experts'. I think I've covered that by using an ordered database, and the ability to put in human observations. Also - even a panel can be wrong so the job statistically of my device would be to hold up to human error (in a truly mathmatical and statistical way)
C) This also touches on cloud computing as storing that amount of data on one device would be ridiculously hard - especially if non-western medicines are incorporated.

Anyhow. I want someone to pay me to just come up with the ideas, and the database ordering - which I'm totally capable of on an analytical level. Now, I just need a programmer.

Close to my Heart

I have to share this, simply because it is one of the kindest things I have seen done in a very long time.

My brother is getting married this July, and I'll be honored to sing at their wedding, which will mark my first public (ish) performance for a very long time. I had a dream about the song, so I'm singing "From this Moment" which is completely fitting of my brother and his wonderful wife to be Jamie.

This weekend, they had her bridal shower, and social (in true Manitoba style) in the middle of a blizzard, with half of the roads closed in Manitoba - to a great, heart-warming turn-out. Rather than raise money for themselves, they raised money to donate for a great cause, near to to many of our hearts. The money they raised last night will be donated to suicide awareness.

It hasn't been a great week. There were any number of things that went wrong - my tires got slashed, the other tire went flat, my windshield cracked for no apparent reason etc. etc. etc. I missed going to the social because of the weather, and my brother lost one of his groomsmen. His funeral was on Thursday, and rather than dwell on the sadness, they both chose to turn a really awful situation in to something more positive.

For a long time, I've followed and been a  member of To write love on her arms which is a suicide awareness/prevention non-profit organization. You can check it out at the link I've provided.

Thanks guys - for bringing more awareness to a really important cause.

Happy Beltane!

Well,

Here it is the first of May - and I've been a little lazy. I've also been busy (no excuses though).

It's -1 the first of May, and there's now a foot of snow on the ground. I drove to get coffee this morning from Tim's and was not surprised to see a mile of semi's two lanes long - blocking traffic on the Trans-Canada highway between 1st and 18th Street. So, I'm choosing to spend the day in-doors. (There wasn't really any choice involved :P).

As for the purpose of this post....I've been working on a cover for a cook book for the Brandon Cancer Relay for Life. It's reminded me again why I like designing :). So here below are some of the covers I've created as mock up's as possibilities for them.

Anyhow, I'm safe and warm - house sitting two lovely felines and reading to refresh my memory about Beltane (May day) Here's the wikipedia link - History of Beltane according to Wikipedia and here's an alternative article explaining it's history as a worker's holiday from the Marxists :)  worker's holiday in May

Happy reading!

Time to catch up...

ARGGGGGHHHHH

Well - that was a major fail. I hate it when things don't do what they say. This blog post, took me about 10 minutes to write - I clicked to publish it, and ERROR. BAH.

Not only that, but the draft didn't auto save. I expect more from Google. I do NOT expect more from Facebook. I have learned that it is pretty much required to copy whatever I've written before hitting post because more than half of the time, it disappears miraculously and I have to retype it ALLLLLL over again. This has a) a little to do with using opera as a web browser and b) more to do with the fact that the programming for facebook and the scripts they use just don't always work. It's a massive site, I give them credit - but cripes does it make me angry at times.

This post was originally about images and being picky enough to re-do two that are on my wordpress blog, which is specifically dedicated to the artistic endeavors I've been pursuing.  Also, it bothers me enough that google doesn't recognize Canadian/British spelling that I default to American just to get rid of the red lines. I really do prefer 'ou' to 'o' though. By American rules thogh would look really stupid in my opinion.

So, Image a) Eternal

It needs some work - and is literally rough around the edges. So, now that I have working software again, and a tablet that will give me more subtle control, I can fix it. I reluctantly put it up at the time because someone really wanted to see it.

Image b) cosmo-porn

It's fine as a stand alone piece - but I have this really great 'found' poetry audio that needs to go with it, and a pile of windmill  pictures that make some short times lapse. That's this week's project.

Now then, Google damned well better work this time.

Photography

I recently had Photos of Europe add me on Twitter...they can be found here if you're interested, and they tweet quite a few interesting story links like this one about "The Enigma of Capturing Light", which I found very interesting.

Reading that article immediately reminded me that I too have been known to photograph things. Specifically the outdoors. I'm not much for people, and tend to like to photography anything and everything but. For a while now, I've had a flickr page which is 'sort of' up to date, and most of the photos are labled, there's a lot of back log to go through though, and editing photos takes a lot of time.

That said, most of those photos aren't digitally altered. I tend to correct the light balance only slightly, and never over do anything. Sometimes I straighten pictures, but that's really about it. Unless I'm using a photo for a photo/poetry combination I do very little besides make the photo what the original intention of taking it was.

Like this one: Zero alterations. Captured the light and the prairies exactly like I wanted. :) Check out the rest of my photos with little to no alterations, or my poetry/photos for more!

This time maybe I'll get it right

This time maybe I'll get it right...

I've tried a number of angles, and a number of themes to this blog. I do it mainly to keep my writing skills up, and to supplement my more creative side over at http://naimeless.wordpress.com. This time though, I think I'll settle for letting you all in on my plans for new creative ideas. My goal is to post about once a week, and to also keep doing the occasional music review.

After being an Area Head for the folk festival here in town (Brandon MB), a few more jobs, and recently surgery, I finally settled into life at Christies Office Plus. Christies is a locally owned company which supplies not only offices but many of the school divisions in both Manitoba and western Canada. It has turned out to be the ideal place for someone creative like me to work... Not only is the staff discount amazing, but I'm constantly bombarded with new ideas, new stock and any number of customers and staff to discuss things with.

 My current project is to finish the poetry 'mobile' I've started creating. Eventually I'll get to the point of filming it and putting it up on the web. I've just started working with Final Cut Pro and Vegas, and have a great teacher (also creative partner and life partner) to help me through all the button clicking. Picture for now, a mobile attached to a ceiling fan, which reads one poem when spinning one way and an entirely different one (using the same words) when spun the other way. It's set to music, and has some pretty amusing play on words in it.

Here's to new goals, and hopefully a new future of many creative projects to come.

Call it folk and I`m good.

So, the whole music blog went down the drain with the business of being an area head at Brandon`s Folk, Music & Art Festival this summer - which was a blast by the way.

From time to time, I may review albums I find particularily enchanting, but for now, back to the blog world of self-serving entries which I hope you may find useful.

That being said, if you`d like me to review something, I`ll gladly listen. I have very wide tastes in music, though my ability to review country music may be lacking - call it folk and I`m good.


This work by Naomi Leadbeater is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 2.5 Canada License.

Music in the Trees: Nathan

“I like to walk around my dark house” ... so do I. While I am a perpetual night owl myself, I like walking around it much better with some good music. I put on Nathan last night, when I was cooking myself supper at 10pm.

While much more of a country influence than I generally listen to, I am a sucker for good lyrics, and these songwriters definitely have a gift for quirky smooth, free running lines that are easy to sing with, and catchy at the same time.

Winnipeg's music scene has for a very long time been vibrant and creative, so it was no surprise to learn that the band thrives in the flat prairies which, as they say on their own page are “full of hidden caves, impossibly high mountains and murky oceans.”

The band is comprised of singer/writer/guitarist/thereminist Keri Latimer (formerly McTighe, she got hitched), singer/writer/accordionist/banjo-ist Shelley Marshall (formerly Bilewitch, she got hitched first), Bassist Devin Latimer, drummer Damon Mitchell, and a rotating cast of tubas, pedal steels and trumpets. (from http://www.myspace.com/nathanband)

It is the kind of music that everyone will undoubtedly get up and dance to at this year's folk festival. Nathan headlines on Saturday night and I would encourage anyone who can make it out to come dance in the dark with Nathan and experience the magical lyrics and beautifully rhythmic accompaniment which will entice you to join with them. Until then, have a listen at: http://www.myspace.com/nathanband  

Music in the Trees: Christa Couture

I fell in love about two chords in to the song “I don't play piano”. Now, I'm not sure if that's because I do play the piano, and might be slightly biased so I'll be up front on that account.

Couture comes from a musical background, and her blend of folk and what I might call rock scream with personality and charm. Her mother sang in a folk trio in the sixites called “The Cellar Dwellers” and her father performed Native-American ceremonial music his whole life. Her first release was in 2002 after which she moved to England and returned to Canada a year later overflowing with inspiration and began recording again. For more about her albums and music and life, visit http://www.christacouture.com/news.html?pageid=VISCAM

Back to the music – clearly the thing of which I am obsessed. There is something both charmingly innocent and sultry about her voice. Personally, I find the vocal lines both crisp and clear (in terms of tangibility and the ability to discern the lyrics) as well as smooth and lyric. For example, I have never in my life heard someone sing “You're just fucking my ghost.” in quite such a sweet way. Which in the grand scheme of the lyrics of that particular song “The Net” is incredibly brilliant and will make most listeners do a double take upon hearing it the first time.

I also am enormously appreciative of the harmonies between keyboard and string instruments which are not your regular run of the mill I - IV - V progressions, but much more melodic and linear. Something else which impresses me about Coultre is the dynamic range of her recordings which unlike mainstream music – actually HAVE a dynamic range.

What can I say, it was love at first listen, and I'm so looking forward to the live performance at the Brandon Folk, Music and Art Festival in July. If you're in town, or passing through, or hell, it's even worth making the trip just for the awesome amount of musicians. Check out this link for more info on the festival. www.brandonfolkfestival.ca


This work by Naomi Leadbeater is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 2.5 Canada License.

Music in the Trees

Summer brings about or should bring about sunshine, warm breezes the occasional thunderstorm and most of all music. While these reviews will be largely Brandon based for the time being, they will eventually branch out into bands that I have personal contacts with as well as those I meet online, and friends of friends of friends.

Brandon Mb, is an intimate performing venue and hosts many small performances for beginning artists during the year as well as attracting larger acts and more famed performers such as Buffy Sainte Marie and Randy Bachman. Coming up in the near future is the Brandon Folk, Music and Art Festival which now in its 26th year has grown astronomically in the last few years. Buffy Sainte Marie is this year's big name, and as well as perform, she will be hosting workshops with talented artists who are just at the beginning of their artistic paths.

So, what follows is the beginning of my reviews, of some very fantastic artists and musicians who will be part of the Brandon Folk Festival this year. While it's only my opinion, I believe strongly in the folk festival and its commitment both to the artists and our community. I hope these reviews are helpful, give you some new information and encourage you to form your own.


This work by Naomi Leadbeater is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 2.5 Canada License.

I am not

I am not.

Not a girl

Not a woman, not a man

Not the abuse victim,

Not the abuser

I am Human

Living, Breathing, Walking, Being

Human

Loss Limitless

Loss Limitless

Broken pieces of human lore
Facing each day with memories
Once close - within my arms
Ripped out and burried.

Stripped to innocence
Immaculate yet unclean
Underneath your grasp

Spiraling candent angels
Screaming with lifeless children in their arms
Scratching at the walls -
Clawing at your coat tails
Justification?

Motionless in motion
Carried each day
Backlash and pride
All suffered
Human at last.

Haven't written for a while, here's some poems.

The world spins apart when I look in your eyes.

My mind falls away and you leave me behind.

Every night I see you, I run away.

Every time I leave you, I wish I had stayed.

Much more than that, I wish we had played.

Dream big my friend and you will lose me

Dream in tiny bursts and you might stand me

The freedom I seek can’t live beside you

The love I shy from is coming from you.

Find me alone and you get nothing but walls,

Discover my pain and those walls will rebuild

Enter my fortress and you’re never coming back

Stand at the door and I won’t let you look back

You tear my apart when you smile down at me

I can’t seem to speak the words that I long each day to say

I’m more frightened of love than I am rejection

Weird Foods

Having not blogged for a while, since there was little time in general, and a lack of interesting things to say...here goes.

I do not normally have a weird penchant for strange foods. I am kinda a plain person when it comes to that. I don't even get cravings all that often. If I do, they're not hard core, and most often its a Whopper, cuz everyone misses the smell of that after working at BK for 5 years plus (not. ick. sick.)

The last few days however, I've had a desire and craving specifically for strange foods.

Meal number one: Stir fry... on its own not weird. put some tofu in it, every green veggie i could find, mushrooms...and MANGOS. Delicious. The sauce was teryaki and ranch salad dressing mixed together.

Rice noodles with spinich (hot and boiled together) Served with Balsalmic Vinegrette dressing cold. Interesting, not bad.

So far, these are not so weird. It gets better.

Kraft dinner, with black olives and bbq sauce, and lots of pepper. I love pepper. (I specifically craved all of those things mixed together btw.)

Latest meal: Fried eggs, becuase I failed at hard boiling them. (they cracked) mixed with mayo paprika and salt and pepper....and Strawberry Banana yogurt.

Now then, I think I'll go try pickles in pasta.

A whack of lyrics

Okay, so the past few weeks have resulted in a plethora of many, many lyrics. Partly due to stress, and also, its a great way to wind down after a long day. As well, in those manic phases of writing, the obviously tends to be a lot. :P.


Lets start cheesy.
I don't know how to break your heart, you mean so much to me. I'm not sure why you're still here after all this time. I hope you hear these words years from now and know how much you meant to me, because I know it will never be the same again.

My beer is salty and I can't stop sobbing. Breaking your soul has broken my mind. I miss you already and you're not even gone. I can't see the walls with out you on them and it hurts me deep down inside.

This cheesy kitsch love song makes me thing of all those times with you when we were making fun of everyone else. Now i've realized that you are better than any love song could ever be and more reliable than any lover i've ever had.

I am not that nice person you make me out to be, and I am broken and don't know how to fix me. You make me feel like its okay that i'm broken, and you make me hate myself the other half of the time. I still love you for being my friend, and I want you back.

This manic-depressive world you make me live in has gone to hell.

Next song is about creepy band camp guy 2.

I lied. but its still worth reading. (even if its not a band camp guy song)

Mo anam cara

What once was loved, now lost and still lingers.

The anger and the bitterness lull away

Beauty and vivid snapshots remain

Once loved and never forgotten, another day 

passes. my soul lists away. (clearly the chorus)

Morbid longevity, lonely pillows and too soft sheets.

Empty hear and swallowed up mind

remaining for another to find.

Knowing that kindness, reliving that touch.

Constant squalloring and searching for another 

to fill this heartless void.

Once loved, always remembered. Once given 

looks away. Once kissed never repaired

once soul bound dead.

Standard

The good...sharing words of wisdom, lost in your energy. Beauty in sleep. Languishing hours in footed tubs. Streams of hair gently blowing. Holding your hand for no reason. Knowing that you cared as much as you could.

Dark twisted dreams, angels with dead babies, a foretelling of the future. Deceit, fowl and anger. Leave me to another who would do even worse.

Was there good? Was nothing better? Self delusion and denial. Trying to meet unrelenting ever changing standards. 

Quickly dying inside only to be reborn a painful youthful awkward death. Emotions walled off and untapped - now untrained and un-conforming.

The treasure hunt along this path. Filled with little tricks, loneliness and hidden resent. Crying for someone to wake up to and run away with. Some days, the truck calls out California, but the gas just isn't enough.

The Great Portender

Jealous, hateful eyes. Disappointed

mourning over something never truly held.

a closed door means so much more. Not everything about me,  but everything 

you do affecting me.

Are you listening to my eyes? Can you see me

one heart? Binding words frighten you away and spiteful games make me wait for

you behind a closed door that means little more.

I love you, but not in essence. I abhor you 

and your presence and respect your boundaries, but 

I am me and I'm not you.l I am 

Soulful and ever giving and open.

Don't want your touch, embrace or kisses.

Can't be that ideal woman. want your eyes

forgiven, need your heart in one full piece.

If you understand how you can hurt me, 

why do you keep on doing it again?

Something somehow, you once was

Something jealous, something hateful. Something 

confused and something spiteful. Number one you will always

somehow be.

Somehow forlorn, somehow longing, somehow

sorrowful and somehow spawning. Number two I 

need you now.

You were abusive, you were reclusive, you were

resentful and you were baseless.

Minus one you broke me up.

Once sweet, once deceitful, once the jokester

and once spriteful. My first you were

memorable.

Was I sinful? Was I honest? Was I both

and was that upon us? Left with only myself I turn the light out. 

Some say soon I will forget my promise.

Foretell my lies

Timing is off, my warp drive is sound

Revealing your inner Vulcan

Superseding my lines.

You anticipate, recreate and correct my 

minds. You singulate, co-ordinate 

and foretell my lies.

Attraction is three-fold, my tries are not in vain,

yet never do you 

submit. My cries of furry remain

Knowledge of culmination one day in

the future. Willingness to be all that

you wanted and still myself.

questioning your motives, manipulations 

and eyes. Disregarding for the first time

logic and prospering in the beauty of your

illogical mind.

Give comments, smile, make other people happy :)

The ultimate question

This blog may go no further than a simple question. I require feedback.
Do I have to choose between love and a relationship and school?
Here is the background information you need to know to answer properly this stupid question.
I am a difficult person to live with and be with, I'd say at times, but realistically, most of the time I am difficult. I am moody, and excitable, and sometimes loud. I am creative, and I don't sleep a lot, and I tend to come and go as I please. Having said that, the coming and going is mostly because there is no one to keep me in bed.
I am a creative person, and sometimes this means questionable behaviour. I make no appologies, and I like to experiment with various organic substances. I have weird thought patterns, and do not understand people.
I may never have children of my own. I want children someday. I want to adopt. Thus, in my 29 years of wisdom, I am not averse, or opposed to the idea of raising someone else's children or child as my own. I know even saying that is out there, but I do believe that children should have love and support. I have that to give, even in a 'non-traditional' situation. I have a huge heart.
Sometimes, I require protection from myself. My good friends know this. I have close friendships that mirror relationships without sex. They mean a lot to me, and I will always have them. This does not mean that I am incapable of having a relationship with someone else. Those people are protective of me, and they will always be wary of new 'men' in my life.

Enough about me personally.

Academically, I am smart, I know I am good enough to do grad school and get a PhD. I am transient by nature, and like to travel. I do not put down roots, and I get very wrapped up in learning and studying. So wrapped up that the entire rest of the world does not matter at times.

So given all that; Is it possible to have both? Do I have to choose?

If ever I did stand up comedy

If ever I do stand up comedy, this is what the first bit will sound like...its a drive-by shooting of my life. (I also plan to turn this into a song.)

Band camp boy meets band camp girl, well not really, it was creative writing camp, but the band kids were cooler. Girl pre-pubescent, guy not really interested, go home for summer.
Band camp girl and band camp boy meet next summer at drama camp again. Wait, creative writing, yeah, that's it. Band camp girl clearly hit puberty, has large breasts, band camp boy wants to get on that. First sexual experience, he gets poison ivy, she does not.
Girl goes home, first relationship a long distance one, goes to his grad (she's only six years younger than him) Five days of bliss and drugs and rock and roll (and part of every day). He slips her acid, she would have said yes anyways, wakes up on dead author's grave, runs down hill in bare feet, steps on nesting live duck. Ducks have teeth, duck chases band camp girl, no where to go but water, water pacifies duck. QUACK.
Girl discovers band camp guy sociopath, when he phones from the 'hospital' and she wonders why there are people screaming in the background. Girl meets guy at Halloween party, dumps crazy sociopath, and gets married years later. Has many missed opportunities in university, and regrets not taking them at the time.
Girl leaves guy years later by taking his advice 'the only way I'll never take you back is if you sleep with someone else.' So she does, it was someone she worked with, at an undisclosed location.
Band camp girl wants to move on, leaves guy from work, moves in with new roommate who conveniently has the same name as ex-husband. Girl learns at summer job that ex-husband and band camp guy 'hooked' up and certain things make much more sense now.
Band camp girl takes job at local newspaper, working with roommate, and meets people who used to work there too. Has party one night, discovers band camp guy lived in newspaper office after getting kicked out of residence for stalking someone. . . GUESS WHOOOOO!!!!
Girl driving around downtown, past cemetery with creepy security guy with large flashlight, and wonders who the fuck does that job?
Turns out it's Band camp guy. And so the story goes, that if one day you decide to let someone on an acid trip end up on a grave, years later you will end up as a guard at the local cemetery. On her end, you end up sleeping at the newspaper office yourself in the same room as he did years later, and wonder if his spirit is still in the building.

Slow

Blowing Kisses down the jet stream
Loveless nights and lonely moats
Phallic exploits and streaming polariods

Blankets woe and ceiling dreams
All woken down and plywood teams

That is the beginning of another strange yet wonderful song. Has an intrinsically folk feel to it, and probably just a guitar.

Other random thoughts and reminders.
- must write review for Georddie...failing on this one
- must finish essay, however, might want extension
- i am slow, and require blunt force trauma to make me clue into things sometimes

pod cast of beer/wings night out. good idea. someone do this.

Not good with, for, or by the people

I had an epiphany.

I am not good with people. I should be locked in a room only allowed to have books, and in true medieval style, someone should shove me food through a hole in the wall. I do, however, require modern plumbing.

So, I've figured out that I am not mildly intellectual, but I am so aggressively intellectual that I am not good with people. I am that person who other people look and and think "wow, she's really weird, and kinda strange." I'm okay with this, but I'm still human. I like the occasional contact with humans, and unfortunately I have not given up on the idea of meeting someone just as off-kilter as I am to share my life with.

Part of my life. No one will ever get it all. While at times I am social and out-going, much more I am the recluse and anti-social maniac in their room writing. So, as a result, I'm a disaster at inter-personal relationships, taking hints, and knowing when to shut up. I do things out of character, and appear to be fucking crazy most of the time.

So I did this facebook quiz... I know kinda lame. "Are you a playah or a lovah." Turns out I sit on the fence. Sounds a lot like me. I would also admit to being willing to jump to either side as long as I can get back on as soon as I want.

So, after a string of strange experiences, and the odd realization that it doesn't matter what you say when you're an intellectual, you can get away with it. I have decided that I should come with a roll of masking tape. Masking tape and condoms. The masking tape is for my mouth.

Sorrow and Awe

Yawning perpetually at the world,

both in sorrow and in awe

Seeking lies to cover up and truths to under veil

Dreaming in a distance, in an eclipse and within the mile

Sighing under moons and dancing under the sun

Yawning perpetually at the world, 

both in sorrow and in awe

Climbing in the sea and scaling oceans wide

Crossing prairie skies with little more than clouds for gas

Lazing in an office requiring more from the outside

Yawning perpetually at the world, 

both in sorrow and in awe

Painting a hyperbolic picture both with intent and schism in mind

Requiring less from with in and leaning backwards through time

Rising with a wave and wind to push beyond

Yawning perpetually at the world, 

hoping one day awe will inspire more than sorrow.