Kurt Vonnegut’s advice on how to write a good short story.

Un Chien Andalou, a collaboration between painter Salvador Dalí and a very young first-time filmmaker Luis Buñuel, as an “old dog with an endless supply of new tricks.” The short’s procession of seemingly absurd, unconnected images, he adds, does not follow the logic of narrative but rather the “logic of dreams.”

Source: Open Culture

Anthony Hopkins Reads Dylan Thomas

The great actor Sir Anthony Hopkins is well versed in the work of fellow Welshman Dylan Thomas — so much so he even directed the critically lauded film Dylan Thomas: The Return Journey in 2006. Here, he is reading one of Thomas’ best-known poems, “Do not go gentle into that good night.”

[Source: Open Culture]

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay, 
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Michio Kaku on The Universe Is a Symphony of Vibrating Strings:

I’m the co-founder of String Field Theory, one of the main branches of String Theory. The latest version of String Theory is called M-Theory, “M” for membrane. So we now realize that strings can coexist with membranes. So the subatomic particles we see in nature, the quartz, the electrons are nothing but musical notes on a tiny vibrating string.

What is physics? Physics is nothing but the laws of harmony that you can write on vibrating strings. What is chemistry? Chemistry is nothing but the melodies you can play on interacting vibrating strings. What is the universe? The universe is a symphony of vibrating strings. And then what is the mind of God that Albert Einstein eloquently wrote about for the last 30 years of his life? We now, for the first time in history have a candidate for the mind of God. It is, cosmic music resonating through 11 dimensional hyperspace.

So first of all, we are nothing but melodies. We are nothing but cosmic music played out on vibrating strings and membranes. Obeying the laws of physics, which is nothing but the laws of harmony of vibrating strings.

I’ve always asked the same question to myself, “What is outside the universe? I mean outside the Earth, there’s another planet, outside planets, there are millions of galaxies, outside galaxies, there’s universe, what’s outside the universe?”

Imagine our universe as a giant poster, difference is outside that poster, there’s a wall, but in universe, we have no idea what’s outside it. Cosmologists agreed that there’s 11 universes, or membranes, this theory is called M-Theory. Trust me, I’m not an expert in this subject but here’s what I get: Scientists were trying to mix The Big Bang Theory with String Theory to make a Theory of Everything (ToE), Einstein had been trying to do that before he passed away but he never came out with the formula.

Scientists thought they can come up with ToE if they combine Big Bang with String, but the more they thought and discussed it, the more they hit a dead end, they found out another thing: The Singularity, the theory to know what did exactly happen before Big Bang. String theory then fell apart into 5 theories, the probability of parallel universe. The various dimensions permit these theories to grow into 10 theories, plus 1 theory (super gravity theory), hence there’s 11 dimensions. The 11th dimension enable scientists to see that universe consists of membranes, instead of strings, because the strings stretched like a membrane. They also found out that there are other universes, very close to our universe, one of the scientists even proposed that the gravity that exists in our universe is weak because we have the gravity from other universe, the gravity in other universe is leaking to ours.

A cosmologist offered his theory on Singularity, that perhaps two rippling membranes were so violent that they ended up collide onto each other and voila, a big bang happened, that’s how we all got here. 

Still though, this only explains little to what’s going on out there. Why is there universe in the first place? If there’s a membrane, why is there a membrane in the first place? I’m still puzzled.

“A strange man builds a world using holographic tools for the woman he loves.

This award winning short was created by filmmaker Bruce Branit, widely known as the co-creator of ‘405’. World Builder was shot in a single day followed by about 2 years of post production. Branit is the owner of Branit VFX based in Kansas City.

More info, background and info on future releases can be at facebook.com/pages/World-Builder/73936485659 Become a fan and keep in touch.”

Claudine by Maksim Mrvica

Simply moving. Even more moving when my mom said, “Play me this song on my funeral, would you?” I didn’t react to her saying that, but thinking that one day my mother will pass away is too much to handle. I just hope I can make her happy before she closes her eyes for the last time.

Yes, Mom, I promise I will play this song on your funeral.