Auditions for voice-overs, and film and tv, coming up. Send out good vibes for me.
Sometimes I wonder what it would be like, to NOT feel the need to act, or write.
And despite being very imaginative, it's truly difficult to imagine being without that drive.I recall a wonderful Professor (renowned British film and stage actor,Paul Massie) saying to us eager college-students, waaaay back-in-the-day(University of South Florida, where I went to school) that "....if you can do something else, do it....You should only act if you HAVE to do it."
It's true.
This business is immensely rewarding in terms of self-expression, the relationships you form, and the discoveries you make about yourself--and other human beings, through the creative process, is amazing....but unfortunately, much of society rates a human being's worth in terms of the dollars and cents they make from their profession. It is sometimes depressing, to work so hard, and receive so little money.
Of course, plenty of A-List actors make a fortune, but the rest of us working actors feel fortunate that we just get paid.
We've all acted, or written poems, or written plays, for little or nothing, just to get to do it.
Most of us also work at a "job-job" (or two), my term for a non-acting or non-writing-gig, in order to pay bills, and/or save money for classes or workshops, etc.
So, I'm curious:
Any of you out there, who would be willing to do your chosen profession--whatever it is--for little or no money?
Showing posts with label Artists. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Artists. Show all posts
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Thursday, July 30, 2009
MATTER OF FACT.
MATTER OF FACT.
Buried beneath the minutae of Michael Jackson's "mysterious" death, tucked behind the updates on who's calling who a racist in the Professor Gates/Cambridge police officer/President Obama incident/aftermath, and the moment-by-moment developments in the Octomom's new reality-tv series, I found a piece of something genuinely surprising, and uplifting:
REAL NEWS! Read what I found at the wonderful website, LiveScience, below:
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Scientists Claim New State of Matter Created
LiveScience Staff
LiveScience.com livescience Staff
Scientists claim to have created a form of aluminum that's nearly transparent to extreme ultraviolet radiation and which is a new state of matter.
It's an idea straight out of science fiction, featured in the movie "Star Trek IV."
The work is detailed in the journal Nature Physics.
The normal states of matter are solid, liquid and gas, and a fourth state, called plasma, is a superheated gas considered more exotic. Other experiments have created strange states of matter for brief periods. This one, too, existed only briefly.
To create the new, even more exotic stuff, a short pulse from a laser "knocked out" a core electron from every aluminum atom in a sample without disrupting the metal's crystalline structure, the researchers explain.
''What we have created is a completely new state of matter nobody has seen before," said professor Justin Wark of Oxford University's Department of Physics.
"Transparent aluminum is just the start," Wark said. "The physical properties of the matter we are creating are relevant to the conditions inside large planets, and we also hope that by studying it we can gain a greater understanding of what is going on during the creation of 'miniature stars' created by high-power laser implosions, which may one day allow the power of nuclear fusion to be harnessed here on Earth."
Fusion is a dream of scientists who would create cheap and plentiful power by fusing atoms together, as opposed to nuclear fission that generates electricity today.
The discovery was made possible with a high-powered synchrotron radiation generator called the FLASH laser, based in Hamburg, Germany. It produces extremely brief pulses of soft X-ray light, each of which is more powerful than the output of a power plant that provides electricity to a whole city.
The Oxford team, along with their international colleagues, focused all this power down into a spot with a diameter less than a twentieth of the width of a human hair. At such high intensities the aluminum turned transparent.
While the invisible effect lasted for only an extremely brief period - an estimated 40 femtoseconds - it demonstrates that such an exotic state of matter can be created using very high power X-ray sources.
"What is particularly remarkable about our experiment is that we have turned ordinary aluminum into this exotic new material in a single step by using this very powerful laser," Wark said. "For a brief period the sample looks and behaves in every way like a new form of matter. In certain respects, the way it reacts is as though we had changed every aluminum atom into silicon: it's almost as surprising as finding that you can turn lead into gold with light."
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
How remarkable that this is possible! If we can create a new state of matter, we can create a new state of being(which means World Peace is not only possible one day, but likely).
Peace, kids.
Buried beneath the minutae of Michael Jackson's "mysterious" death, tucked behind the updates on who's calling who a racist in the Professor Gates/Cambridge police officer/President Obama incident/aftermath, and the moment-by-moment developments in the Octomom's new reality-tv series, I found a piece of something genuinely surprising, and uplifting:
REAL NEWS! Read what I found at the wonderful website, LiveScience, below:
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Scientists Claim New State of Matter Created
LiveScience Staff
LiveScience.com livescience Staff
Scientists claim to have created a form of aluminum that's nearly transparent to extreme ultraviolet radiation and which is a new state of matter.
It's an idea straight out of science fiction, featured in the movie "Star Trek IV."
The work is detailed in the journal Nature Physics.
The normal states of matter are solid, liquid and gas, and a fourth state, called plasma, is a superheated gas considered more exotic. Other experiments have created strange states of matter for brief periods. This one, too, existed only briefly.
To create the new, even more exotic stuff, a short pulse from a laser "knocked out" a core electron from every aluminum atom in a sample without disrupting the metal's crystalline structure, the researchers explain.
''What we have created is a completely new state of matter nobody has seen before," said professor Justin Wark of Oxford University's Department of Physics.
"Transparent aluminum is just the start," Wark said. "The physical properties of the matter we are creating are relevant to the conditions inside large planets, and we also hope that by studying it we can gain a greater understanding of what is going on during the creation of 'miniature stars' created by high-power laser implosions, which may one day allow the power of nuclear fusion to be harnessed here on Earth."
Fusion is a dream of scientists who would create cheap and plentiful power by fusing atoms together, as opposed to nuclear fission that generates electricity today.
The discovery was made possible with a high-powered synchrotron radiation generator called the FLASH laser, based in Hamburg, Germany. It produces extremely brief pulses of soft X-ray light, each of which is more powerful than the output of a power plant that provides electricity to a whole city.
The Oxford team, along with their international colleagues, focused all this power down into a spot with a diameter less than a twentieth of the width of a human hair. At such high intensities the aluminum turned transparent.
While the invisible effect lasted for only an extremely brief period - an estimated 40 femtoseconds - it demonstrates that such an exotic state of matter can be created using very high power X-ray sources.
"What is particularly remarkable about our experiment is that we have turned ordinary aluminum into this exotic new material in a single step by using this very powerful laser," Wark said. "For a brief period the sample looks and behaves in every way like a new form of matter. In certain respects, the way it reacts is as though we had changed every aluminum atom into silicon: it's almost as surprising as finding that you can turn lead into gold with light."
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
How remarkable that this is possible! If we can create a new state of matter, we can create a new state of being(which means World Peace is not only possible one day, but likely).
Peace, kids.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Does Everyone Really Want To Be An Artist? I Don't Think So.
Here's an entertaining essay from Garrison Keillor, of Salon.com.
You may know Mr. Keillor from his many books, or (I just love it!)NPR's "Prarie Home Companion".Enjoy, and be sure to read all the letters posted!
http://www.salon.com/opinion/keillor/2009/03/25/spring/index.html
Peace, kids.
You may know Mr. Keillor from his many books, or (I just love it!)NPR's "Prarie Home Companion".Enjoy, and be sure to read all the letters posted!
http://www.salon.com/opinion/keillor/2009/03/25/spring/index.html
Peace, kids.
Monday, February 16, 2009
25 Random Things About Me.
Okay, just now getting to this.I've been tagged at Facebook, to do this.
So........
25 Random Things About Me
1) I used to be very very shy. In fact, I had tremendous difficulty speaking in front of class.Even in college, I was unable to do this, though I loved performing onstage.I suppose when I'm in "the skin of someone else", it's easier than just li'l ol' me standing up there. But poetry(reading it aloud) has helped me immeasurably!
2) I've always wanted to be Irish/Celtic, and I discovered recently that I do indeed have that in my Allender-background.
3) I have a secret fantasy where I am a glass-blower.(in the unbelieveable-irony-category, there is someone named Lisa Allender who is a ceramicist and also blows glass. She lives in UK. I guess she's the Lisa Allender, who gets to do that!)
4)I never had a burning desire for babies, but I would consider adopting an older child/children.So many kids have no home.
5)When I was growing up, we had dozens of dogs, as my parents raised German Shepherds. I used to think "dog-people"(my definition was anyone who raised and spent gobs of time with dogs,and/or showed dogs to win prizes or awards) were weird. Now, I'm older, and love dogs. And dog-people. I don't care about prizes or awards, though.
6) I am survivor of several types of violence in my life. And I believe that much-quoted statistic which claims that 1 out of 4 girls is molested by a friend of the family, or an(extended)relative.In fact, almost every woman I've ever asked, has said they were molested, or raped, at least once in their life. Really.
7) Regarding #6, I still have a bright, optimistic view of mostly all of humanity, and I have completely forgiven those who did harm to me. I figure, they must've been incredibly damaged, to commit awful acts, on others.
8)I love dancing, and once danced, NON-STOP, for nearly 7 hours(I was drinking water while dancing).
9)I think it's incredibly sexy to hear a woman/man read her/his own poetry.(No wonder I spend so much time, listening to poets!)
10)I am a very good cook. I love making pasta dishes, vegetarian dishes, and baking-- cakes, cupcakes, pies, cobblers--is my favorite!
11) A huge disappointment to me was not getting to complete the Team-in-Training Leukemia & Lymphoma Walk/Run of November, 2007(my doctor would not give permission for me to finish). I'm going to try again, though!
12) I used to read all about serial killers. I read so much about Ted Bundy, that I feel like I met him!(excellent books on him: "The Only Living Witness", by, uh, Hugh Aynesworth and his cop-partner, whose name escapes me right now(that book was given to me by a concerned boyfriend, who worried I'm too friendly(true) and would attract bad people(sometimes true)), "The Stranger Beside Me", by famed author, Ann Rule.)
13)I have held over 50 different jobs in my life.All were legal, though some of the jobs had me compromising a few things, but I do not regret any job I've held. Among the jobs:
*dee-jay at a night-club during college(I was 20 years old, and it was during the Disco-Years)
* a planter at a swelteringly hot, humid, seed plant in Ruskin, Florida.It was a summer-job. The folks who owned it were "religious", which meant I had to wear long-sleeved shirt(no bare arms!), with a bra underneath and long pants(no bare legs!)--in a 120 degree(yes, you read that right) greenhouse. In June, July, August. In Florida.
*Barista(before anyone in the US called us that) at Atlanta's Lenox Mall's Macy's Cellar Cafe'. We were "Sales Associates", but were trained to make cappucino's, lattes, etc. there. First espresso/cappucino machine in all of Atlanta, it was from Italy, and very expensive. I loved that job, because of the lovely people I worked with(I discovered, 10 years later--one gentleman I worked with was the uncle of a man I am now very close with!!).
*Actor. In numerous plays, and a few commercials/tv/film. I love acting, but may enjoy writing even more!
*Writer. I've interviewed many famous authors(including Oprah Book Club pick, Elizabeth Berg)and always love learning what they hold dear.
*Director of a musical, at a children's theater.I assisted at a well-known theater, in Ybor City, Tampa, Florida. It was crazy-making, but very fun. The show was "Oliver!"
* Undercover detective. I was hired to report on suspected drug/alcohol use at companies, while posing as a secretary there.(gain the employees' trust, then report on them.)It felt VERY immoral/unethical, but no one ever lost their job on account of my job. All were offered drug/alcohol counseling. I guess that makes me feel a little better.
* Nightclub work. I held several different jobs, in a variety of nightclubs. Use your imagination.
* House/Pet-sitter. Love this work, as it's lots of fun. I did this, off and on, for four years.
*Voice-Over Actor. Really fun job(Anime' voices, commercial work). Pays really well, for very little time invested. But you should have an acting background. It IS acting!
* Waitress.Of course. Too many venues to mention(see also, nightclub work)
Those are just a few of the jobs that I've held.
14) Whenever I worked a job NOT connected to acting, or writing, I dubbed it a "job-job".
15) I used to catch colds, all the time. Because I do meditation, I haven't had a cold in over 9 years.(I believe meditation "centers" me, and so I am "shored-up" when bacteria or viruses near me). The average adult in the US catches 4 colds per year.
16) I love working as a volunteer, and am sad since I've been ill(the past several months, with Diverticular disease/pre-surgery/surgery/recovery) that I have not been able to volunteer with the schoolchildren through BookPALS, help out at theatres, or feed the hungry at the homeless shelter, downtown. I don't understand why more people don't volunteer. Even an hour or two a week, can help!
17)I miss doing retail work. I am very interested in jewelry, and especially, Gemology.I think working for Tiffany's would be a hoot.
18)Although I was raised Catholic, I lost all faith in any god, by 1987. In late 2003, however, and early 2004, I had an "awakening"(way too many things happening--and happening "perfectly"--that I could not explain in any rational way) to faith. I'd call myself a Catholic-Christian, but I'm VERY progressive.I'm much more spiritual, than religious. My way "in" to faith, was through the marvelous Peace & Social Justice group, Pax Christi.
www.paxchristiusa.org
19)When I was very young, I wanted to be a nun.
20) I first had strong urges/crushes on women, when I was 17. I did not seriously(I kissed a few women, that's all) act on those urges, until I was 27.My first woman was only 19--and she definitely seduced me(she was very experienced, etc.).
21)The second man I had sex with, in my life, Bobby, was exclusively gay. We were great friends, and worked together, briefly, at "Penrod's". He came over one evening, we watched t.v., and talked, and I tried marijuana(I'd only tried it once before,I don't usually use drugs)with him. And we joked about a pretty hostess we both knew. I said I thought she'd be a good kisser. He asked "How would you kiss her?" I showed him, and, well, one thing led to another. He was two hours late, picking his boyfriend up from work. I knew his boyfriend, and in fact, we were all good friends. Two days later, his boyfriend came storming over to my apartment, and pounded on the door, threatening to kill me. I hid in my tiny bathroom, and did not answer the door.
A few weeks later, Bobby showed up where I served food at a rib-restaurant, and tried to give me a ring(!). Said his parents and family(in Tennessee) would "just love you, Lisa." I explained I still had feelings for my first boyfriend, that what happened was once-only, etc. I told him I believed he, Bobby, was gay, that it was just an experiment for him. He said no, that he wanted me to marry him.I asked him to please leave. I never heard from him, again.
22)I have few regrets. Except I feel really bad about hurting lovers in my life. I was not always faithful, and loving, as a person in a relationship, should aim to be.
23)If I could live in any other country, I think I'd pick Greece.
24)My niece is top priority with me. Her health, well-being, self-expression, happiness.Young people have all that bright, open promise!
25) I was one of 12--count 'em--12 students, in 1976, in "College Republicans".Within two years,however,I was an Independent. I'm a registered Libertarian(since 1998), but beginning in 1984(in 1980, I voted Independent, just as I did in 1976),
I have voted in national elections, Democrat, all the way!
26) Because I sometimes am naughty--I'm adding a 26th thing:
I think friends really are "the family you choose". I do have a great, strong family-of-origin/family I've married into, both of which I am grateful for, but I'd be lost without my loving, creative, politically-aware, blogging, selfless, inclusive friends!
Peace, kids.
So........
25 Random Things About Me
1) I used to be very very shy. In fact, I had tremendous difficulty speaking in front of class.Even in college, I was unable to do this, though I loved performing onstage.I suppose when I'm in "the skin of someone else", it's easier than just li'l ol' me standing up there. But poetry(reading it aloud) has helped me immeasurably!
2) I've always wanted to be Irish/Celtic, and I discovered recently that I do indeed have that in my Allender-background.
3) I have a secret fantasy where I am a glass-blower.(in the unbelieveable-irony-category, there is someone named Lisa Allender who is a ceramicist and also blows glass. She lives in UK. I guess she's the Lisa Allender, who gets to do that!)
4)I never had a burning desire for babies, but I would consider adopting an older child/children.So many kids have no home.
5)When I was growing up, we had dozens of dogs, as my parents raised German Shepherds. I used to think "dog-people"(my definition was anyone who raised and spent gobs of time with dogs,and/or showed dogs to win prizes or awards) were weird. Now, I'm older, and love dogs. And dog-people. I don't care about prizes or awards, though.
6) I am survivor of several types of violence in my life. And I believe that much-quoted statistic which claims that 1 out of 4 girls is molested by a friend of the family, or an(extended)relative.In fact, almost every woman I've ever asked, has said they were molested, or raped, at least once in their life. Really.
7) Regarding #6, I still have a bright, optimistic view of mostly all of humanity, and I have completely forgiven those who did harm to me. I figure, they must've been incredibly damaged, to commit awful acts, on others.
8)I love dancing, and once danced, NON-STOP, for nearly 7 hours(I was drinking water while dancing).
9)I think it's incredibly sexy to hear a woman/man read her/his own poetry.(No wonder I spend so much time, listening to poets!)
10)I am a very good cook. I love making pasta dishes, vegetarian dishes, and baking-- cakes, cupcakes, pies, cobblers--is my favorite!
11) A huge disappointment to me was not getting to complete the Team-in-Training Leukemia & Lymphoma Walk/Run of November, 2007(my doctor would not give permission for me to finish). I'm going to try again, though!
12) I used to read all about serial killers. I read so much about Ted Bundy, that I feel like I met him!(excellent books on him: "The Only Living Witness", by, uh, Hugh Aynesworth and his cop-partner, whose name escapes me right now(that book was given to me by a concerned boyfriend, who worried I'm too friendly(true) and would attract bad people(sometimes true)), "The Stranger Beside Me", by famed author, Ann Rule.)
13)I have held over 50 different jobs in my life.All were legal, though some of the jobs had me compromising a few things, but I do not regret any job I've held. Among the jobs:
*dee-jay at a night-club during college(I was 20 years old, and it was during the Disco-Years)
* a planter at a swelteringly hot, humid, seed plant in Ruskin, Florida.It was a summer-job. The folks who owned it were "religious", which meant I had to wear long-sleeved shirt(no bare arms!), with a bra underneath and long pants(no bare legs!)--in a 120 degree(yes, you read that right) greenhouse. In June, July, August. In Florida.
*Barista(before anyone in the US called us that) at Atlanta's Lenox Mall's Macy's Cellar Cafe'. We were "Sales Associates", but were trained to make cappucino's, lattes, etc. there. First espresso/cappucino machine in all of Atlanta, it was from Italy, and very expensive. I loved that job, because of the lovely people I worked with(I discovered, 10 years later--one gentleman I worked with was the uncle of a man I am now very close with!!).
*Actor. In numerous plays, and a few commercials/tv/film. I love acting, but may enjoy writing even more!
*Writer. I've interviewed many famous authors(including Oprah Book Club pick, Elizabeth Berg)and always love learning what they hold dear.
*Director of a musical, at a children's theater.I assisted at a well-known theater, in Ybor City, Tampa, Florida. It was crazy-making, but very fun. The show was "Oliver!"
* Undercover detective. I was hired to report on suspected drug/alcohol use at companies, while posing as a secretary there.(gain the employees' trust, then report on them.)It felt VERY immoral/unethical, but no one ever lost their job on account of my job. All were offered drug/alcohol counseling. I guess that makes me feel a little better.
* Nightclub work. I held several different jobs, in a variety of nightclubs. Use your imagination.
* House/Pet-sitter. Love this work, as it's lots of fun. I did this, off and on, for four years.
*Voice-Over Actor. Really fun job(Anime' voices, commercial work). Pays really well, for very little time invested. But you should have an acting background. It IS acting!
* Waitress.Of course. Too many venues to mention(see also, nightclub work)
Those are just a few of the jobs that I've held.
14) Whenever I worked a job NOT connected to acting, or writing, I dubbed it a "job-job".
15) I used to catch colds, all the time. Because I do meditation, I haven't had a cold in over 9 years.(I believe meditation "centers" me, and so I am "shored-up" when bacteria or viruses near me). The average adult in the US catches 4 colds per year.
16) I love working as a volunteer, and am sad since I've been ill(the past several months, with Diverticular disease/pre-surgery/surgery/recovery) that I have not been able to volunteer with the schoolchildren through BookPALS, help out at theatres, or feed the hungry at the homeless shelter, downtown. I don't understand why more people don't volunteer. Even an hour or two a week, can help!
17)I miss doing retail work. I am very interested in jewelry, and especially, Gemology.I think working for Tiffany's would be a hoot.
18)Although I was raised Catholic, I lost all faith in any god, by 1987. In late 2003, however, and early 2004, I had an "awakening"(way too many things happening--and happening "perfectly"--that I could not explain in any rational way) to faith. I'd call myself a Catholic-Christian, but I'm VERY progressive.I'm much more spiritual, than religious. My way "in" to faith, was through the marvelous Peace & Social Justice group, Pax Christi.
www.paxchristiusa.org
19)When I was very young, I wanted to be a nun.
20) I first had strong urges/crushes on women, when I was 17. I did not seriously(I kissed a few women, that's all) act on those urges, until I was 27.My first woman was only 19--and she definitely seduced me(she was very experienced, etc.).
21)The second man I had sex with, in my life, Bobby, was exclusively gay. We were great friends, and worked together, briefly, at "Penrod's". He came over one evening, we watched t.v., and talked, and I tried marijuana(I'd only tried it once before,I don't usually use drugs)with him. And we joked about a pretty hostess we both knew. I said I thought she'd be a good kisser. He asked "How would you kiss her?" I showed him, and, well, one thing led to another. He was two hours late, picking his boyfriend up from work. I knew his boyfriend, and in fact, we were all good friends. Two days later, his boyfriend came storming over to my apartment, and pounded on the door, threatening to kill me. I hid in my tiny bathroom, and did not answer the door.
A few weeks later, Bobby showed up where I served food at a rib-restaurant, and tried to give me a ring(!). Said his parents and family(in Tennessee) would "just love you, Lisa." I explained I still had feelings for my first boyfriend, that what happened was once-only, etc. I told him I believed he, Bobby, was gay, that it was just an experiment for him. He said no, that he wanted me to marry him.I asked him to please leave. I never heard from him, again.
22)I have few regrets. Except I feel really bad about hurting lovers in my life. I was not always faithful, and loving, as a person in a relationship, should aim to be.
23)If I could live in any other country, I think I'd pick Greece.
24)My niece is top priority with me. Her health, well-being, self-expression, happiness.Young people have all that bright, open promise!
25) I was one of 12--count 'em--12 students, in 1976, in "College Republicans".Within two years,however,I was an Independent. I'm a registered Libertarian(since 1998), but beginning in 1984(in 1980, I voted Independent, just as I did in 1976),
I have voted in national elections, Democrat, all the way!
26) Because I sometimes am naughty--I'm adding a 26th thing:
I think friends really are "the family you choose". I do have a great, strong family-of-origin/family I've married into, both of which I am grateful for, but I'd be lost without my loving, creative, politically-aware, blogging, selfless, inclusive friends!
Peace, kids.
Friday, January 16, 2009
More on Art--A Secretary of The Arts, to be exact!!
I've posted already today, on painter Andrew Wyeth's passing.
I've been thinking about how we are quite primitive in our support for the arts. Read how we can become a much more civilized society, with true support for the arts--and artists--by clicking on to sign the petition(sent to me by eternal friend, Jeanne Adams)below.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________
Quincy Jones has started a petition to ask President-Elect Obama to appoint a Secretary of the Arts. While many other countries have had Ministers of Art or Culture for centuries, The United States has never created such a position. We in the arts need this and the country needs the arts--now more than ever. Please take a moment to sign this important petition and then pass it on to your friends and colleagues.
www.petitiononline.com/esnyc/petition.html
Happy New Year!
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Peace, kids.
I've been thinking about how we are quite primitive in our support for the arts. Read how we can become a much more civilized society, with true support for the arts--and artists--by clicking on to sign the petition(sent to me by eternal friend, Jeanne Adams)below.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________
Quincy Jones has started a petition to ask President-Elect Obama to appoint a Secretary of the Arts. While many other countries have had Ministers of Art or Culture for centuries, The United States has never created such a position. We in the arts need this and the country needs the arts--now more than ever. Please take a moment to sign this important petition and then pass it on to your friends and colleagues.
www.petitiononline.com/esnyc/petition.html
Happy New Year!
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Peace, kids.
Monday, September 08, 2008
THE UNIVERSE IS AMAZING ENOUGH FOR THE BIG BANG, AND FOR GOD.
Read about a breathtaking experiment which is ongoing. A climax of sorts will occur this coming Wednesday!
___________________________________________________
CERN fires up new atom smasher to near Big Bang
By ALEXANDER G. HIGGINS, Associated Press Writer GENEVA - It has been called an Alice in Wonderland investigation into the makeup of the universe — or dangerous tampering with nature that could spell doomsday.
Whatever the case, the most powerful atom-smasher ever built comes online Wednesday, eagerly anticipated by scientists worldwide who have awaited this moment for two decades.
The multibillion-dollar Large Hadron Collider will explore the tiniest particles and come ever closer to re-enacting the big bang, the theory that a colossal explosion created the universe.
The machine at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, promises scientists a closer look at the makeup of matter, filling in gaps in knowledge or possibly reshaping theories.
The first beams of protons will be fired around the 17-mile tunnel to test the controlling strength of the world's largest superconducting magnets. It will still be about a month before beams traveling in opposite directions are brought together in collisions that some skeptics fear could create micro "black holes" and endanger the planet.
The project has attracted researchers of 80 nationalities, some 1,200 of them from the United States, which contributed $531 million of the project's price tag of nearly $4 billion.
"This only happens once a generation," said Katie Yurkewicz, spokeswoman for the U.S. contingent at the CERN project. "People are certainly very excited."
The collider at Fermilab outside Chicago could beat CERN to some discoveries, but the Geneva equipment, generating seven times more energy than Fermilab, will give it big advantages.
The CERN collider is designed to push the proton beam close to the speed of light, whizzing 11,000 times a second around the tunnel 150 to 500 feet under the bucolic countryside on the French-Swiss border.
Once the beam is successfully fired counterclockwise, a clockwise test will follow. Then the scientists will aim the beams at each other so that protons collide, shattering into fragments and releasing energy under the gaze of detectors filling cathedral-sized caverns at points along the tunnel.
CERN dismisses the risk of micro black holes, subatomic versions of collapsed stars whose gravity is so strong they can suck in planets and other stars.
But the skeptics have filed suit in U.S. District Court in Hawaii and in the European Court of Human Rights to stop the project. They unsuccessfully mounted a similar action in 1999 to block the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider at the Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York state.
CERN's collider has been under construction since 2003, financed mostly by its 20 European member states. The United States and Japan are major contributors with observer status in CERN.
Scientists started colliding subatomic particles decades ago. As the machines grew more powerful, the experiments revealed that protons and neutrons — previously thought to be the smallest components of an atom — were made of still smaller quarks and gluons.
CERN hopes to recreate conditions in the laboratory a split-second after the big bang, teaching them more about "dark matter," antimatter and possibly hidden dimensions of space and time.
Meanwhile, scientists have found innovative ways to explain the concept in layman's terms.
The team working on one of the four major installations in the tunnel — the ALICE, or "A Large Ion Collider Experiment" — produced a comic book featuring Carlo the physicist and a girl called Alice to explain the machine's investigation of matter a split second after the Big Bang.
"We create mini Big Bangs by bumping two nuclei into each other," Carlo explains to Alice, who has just followed a rabbit down one of the hole-like shafts at CERN.
"This releases an enormous amount of energy that liberates thousands of quarks and gluons normally imprisoned inside the nucleus. Quarks and gluons then form a kind of thick soup that we call the quark-gluon plasma."
The soup cools quickly and the quarks and gluons stick together to form protons and neutrons, the building blocks of matter.
That will enable scientists to look for still missing pieces to the puzzle — or lead to the formulation of a new theory on the makeup of matter.
Kate McAlpine, 23, a Michigan State University graduate at CERN, has produced the Large Hadron Rap, a video clip that has attracted more than a million views on YouTube.
"The things that it discovers will rock you in the head," McAlpine raps as she dances in the tunnel and caverns.
CERN spokesman James Gillies said the lyrics are "absolutely scientifically spot on."
"It's quite brilliant," Gillies said.
___
On the Net:
CERN: http://www.cern.ch
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory: http://www.fnal.gov
The U.S. at the LHC: http://www.uslhc.us/
Large Hadron Rap: http://www.youtube.com/watch?vf6aU-wFSqt0
______________________________________________
________
Once again, the art of physics has taken my breath away. The truth is, there is probably at least an element of art in nearly every single subject, though we often don't immediately see it. I remember hearing the ping-ping-ping of cash registers in a department store and thinking it had a strange musicality to it. I found myself picturing actors onstage, running in a back-and-forth motion, lights scanning them vertically, the words of Elmer Rice's The Adding Machine running through my head(The Adding Machine is an Expressionist piece of theatre--the play was written in uh, 1923-ish I believe). I never thought about producing that play before, but suddenly, ideas came crackling through, all because of a ping-ping-ping sound that elicited something in me. It simply rang "true". I think scientists most likely work in a similar way. Something strikes them, reminds them of something, and suddenly, they leap to another thought, and suddenly "see" a production, an equation's answer, even before it's fully formed. The intuition that it takes for an artist to create, often informs that creator of another sort: the scientist. Poets and playwrights often see what's happening long before anyone else. Our minds conjure, our hearts hear. And so we write.
The scientist observes using his eyes, but his intuition kicks in at some moment(if he's good at his work) and the leap from strong feeling to hypothesis, is made.
I think the mystics among us, the saints, the visionairies, probably have both the qualities of a scientist(acute awareness of reality, AND tremendous objectivity) and the qualities of an artist (acute awareness of reality AND the unique ability to synthesize their experiences into another form, imbued with meaning). These would include Gandhi, Mother Theresa, Father John Dear, Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, Eastern Rite priest, Fr. Charles McCarthy, The Dalia Lama, Sister Helen Prejean, to a name a few that leap immediately to mind.
Any thoughts about this? Gee, I'm rambling.....
The past two weeks this blog has been saturated with politics and occasionally, peace. Get ready for a "boatload"--as we say in these parts-- of poetry, over the next several days. I've been reading the current issue of The Chattahoochee Review (I have a subscription) and have become so enamored of a particular poet and one of his poems, that just today, I've re-read it ten times. Once I gain permission, I'll post that poem here at my blog. In the meantime, pick up a copy and read over the poems. Take a guess at who it is who has me swooning. I'll even give you a hint: The poem manages to incorporate several losses by connecting all of them to one earlier loss.
And I'll be posting about poets I love, books I'm looking forward to: Sandra Beasley of chicks dig poetry, click below
http://sbeasley.blogspot.com/
has Theories of Falling (it won the 2007 New Issues Poetry Prize; the judge was Marie Howe).
Cecilia Woloch ( Georgia Author of the Year for Poetry in 2005, for Late)will be brandishing her Narcissus here in Atlanta soon.
I'll be posting at least one of my own poems that's brand-new, right here at Lisa Allender Writes in the next day or so, and asking for comments, kids.
There's never going to be enough time to read everything I want to read. And I know there'll never be enough time to write all these feelings down, let all the poems out, turn them loose. Like those pinwheels I used to buy at the state fair, the feelings swirl in so many colors, and the leaves of the pinwheels spin and spin, such that I am dizzy.
Peace, kids.
Read about a breathtaking experiment which is ongoing. A climax of sorts will occur this coming Wednesday!
___________________________________________________
CERN fires up new atom smasher to near Big Bang
By ALEXANDER G. HIGGINS, Associated Press Writer GENEVA - It has been called an Alice in Wonderland investigation into the makeup of the universe — or dangerous tampering with nature that could spell doomsday.
Whatever the case, the most powerful atom-smasher ever built comes online Wednesday, eagerly anticipated by scientists worldwide who have awaited this moment for two decades.
The multibillion-dollar Large Hadron Collider will explore the tiniest particles and come ever closer to re-enacting the big bang, the theory that a colossal explosion created the universe.
The machine at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, promises scientists a closer look at the makeup of matter, filling in gaps in knowledge or possibly reshaping theories.
The first beams of protons will be fired around the 17-mile tunnel to test the controlling strength of the world's largest superconducting magnets. It will still be about a month before beams traveling in opposite directions are brought together in collisions that some skeptics fear could create micro "black holes" and endanger the planet.
The project has attracted researchers of 80 nationalities, some 1,200 of them from the United States, which contributed $531 million of the project's price tag of nearly $4 billion.
"This only happens once a generation," said Katie Yurkewicz, spokeswoman for the U.S. contingent at the CERN project. "People are certainly very excited."
The collider at Fermilab outside Chicago could beat CERN to some discoveries, but the Geneva equipment, generating seven times more energy than Fermilab, will give it big advantages.
The CERN collider is designed to push the proton beam close to the speed of light, whizzing 11,000 times a second around the tunnel 150 to 500 feet under the bucolic countryside on the French-Swiss border.
Once the beam is successfully fired counterclockwise, a clockwise test will follow. Then the scientists will aim the beams at each other so that protons collide, shattering into fragments and releasing energy under the gaze of detectors filling cathedral-sized caverns at points along the tunnel.
CERN dismisses the risk of micro black holes, subatomic versions of collapsed stars whose gravity is so strong they can suck in planets and other stars.
But the skeptics have filed suit in U.S. District Court in Hawaii and in the European Court of Human Rights to stop the project. They unsuccessfully mounted a similar action in 1999 to block the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider at the Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York state.
CERN's collider has been under construction since 2003, financed mostly by its 20 European member states. The United States and Japan are major contributors with observer status in CERN.
Scientists started colliding subatomic particles decades ago. As the machines grew more powerful, the experiments revealed that protons and neutrons — previously thought to be the smallest components of an atom — were made of still smaller quarks and gluons.
CERN hopes to recreate conditions in the laboratory a split-second after the big bang, teaching them more about "dark matter," antimatter and possibly hidden dimensions of space and time.
Meanwhile, scientists have found innovative ways to explain the concept in layman's terms.
The team working on one of the four major installations in the tunnel — the ALICE, or "A Large Ion Collider Experiment" — produced a comic book featuring Carlo the physicist and a girl called Alice to explain the machine's investigation of matter a split second after the Big Bang.
"We create mini Big Bangs by bumping two nuclei into each other," Carlo explains to Alice, who has just followed a rabbit down one of the hole-like shafts at CERN.
"This releases an enormous amount of energy that liberates thousands of quarks and gluons normally imprisoned inside the nucleus. Quarks and gluons then form a kind of thick soup that we call the quark-gluon plasma."
The soup cools quickly and the quarks and gluons stick together to form protons and neutrons, the building blocks of matter.
That will enable scientists to look for still missing pieces to the puzzle — or lead to the formulation of a new theory on the makeup of matter.
Kate McAlpine, 23, a Michigan State University graduate at CERN, has produced the Large Hadron Rap, a video clip that has attracted more than a million views on YouTube.
"The things that it discovers will rock you in the head," McAlpine raps as she dances in the tunnel and caverns.
CERN spokesman James Gillies said the lyrics are "absolutely scientifically spot on."
"It's quite brilliant," Gillies said.
___
On the Net:
CERN: http://www.cern.ch
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory: http://www.fnal.gov
The U.S. at the LHC: http://www.uslhc.us/
Large Hadron Rap: http://www.youtube.com/watch?vf6aU-wFSqt0
______________________________________________
________
Once again, the art of physics has taken my breath away. The truth is, there is probably at least an element of art in nearly every single subject, though we often don't immediately see it. I remember hearing the ping-ping-ping of cash registers in a department store and thinking it had a strange musicality to it. I found myself picturing actors onstage, running in a back-and-forth motion, lights scanning them vertically, the words of Elmer Rice's The Adding Machine running through my head(The Adding Machine is an Expressionist piece of theatre--the play was written in uh, 1923-ish I believe). I never thought about producing that play before, but suddenly, ideas came crackling through, all because of a ping-ping-ping sound that elicited something in me. It simply rang "true". I think scientists most likely work in a similar way. Something strikes them, reminds them of something, and suddenly, they leap to another thought, and suddenly "see" a production, an equation's answer, even before it's fully formed. The intuition that it takes for an artist to create, often informs that creator of another sort: the scientist. Poets and playwrights often see what's happening long before anyone else. Our minds conjure, our hearts hear. And so we write.
The scientist observes using his eyes, but his intuition kicks in at some moment(if he's good at his work) and the leap from strong feeling to hypothesis, is made.
I think the mystics among us, the saints, the visionairies, probably have both the qualities of a scientist(acute awareness of reality, AND tremendous objectivity) and the qualities of an artist (acute awareness of reality AND the unique ability to synthesize their experiences into another form, imbued with meaning). These would include Gandhi, Mother Theresa, Father John Dear, Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, Eastern Rite priest, Fr. Charles McCarthy, The Dalia Lama, Sister Helen Prejean, to a name a few that leap immediately to mind.
Any thoughts about this? Gee, I'm rambling.....
The past two weeks this blog has been saturated with politics and occasionally, peace. Get ready for a "boatload"--as we say in these parts-- of poetry, over the next several days. I've been reading the current issue of The Chattahoochee Review (I have a subscription) and have become so enamored of a particular poet and one of his poems, that just today, I've re-read it ten times. Once I gain permission, I'll post that poem here at my blog. In the meantime, pick up a copy and read over the poems. Take a guess at who it is who has me swooning. I'll even give you a hint: The poem manages to incorporate several losses by connecting all of them to one earlier loss.
And I'll be posting about poets I love, books I'm looking forward to: Sandra Beasley of chicks dig poetry, click below
http://sbeasley.blogspot.com/
has Theories of Falling (it won the 2007 New Issues Poetry Prize; the judge was Marie Howe).
Cecilia Woloch ( Georgia Author of the Year for Poetry in 2005, for Late)will be brandishing her Narcissus here in Atlanta soon.
I'll be posting at least one of my own poems that's brand-new, right here at Lisa Allender Writes in the next day or so, and asking for comments, kids.
There's never going to be enough time to read everything I want to read. And I know there'll never be enough time to write all these feelings down, let all the poems out, turn them loose. Like those pinwheels I used to buy at the state fair, the feelings swirl in so many colors, and the leaves of the pinwheels spin and spin, such that I am dizzy.
Peace, kids.
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