In Memory of Morten

The Walsh family lost a very near and dear friend last week. Morten, a cherished friend of my Father and Step Mother, who came in to your lives when he began to restore the wonderful church across the street will be missed deeply, by myself and my family. Rest in Peace Morten.

Morten Nyberg
Millsburg, NY

Morten Nyberg, of Millsburg, crossed over in loving hands August 28, 2008 after a one-and-a-half year struggle with an aggressive form of cancer.

Sixty-one years ago Morten was born in Oslo, Norway. He came to the United States at 17 to live with his father and finish high school. Morten returned to Norway to complete his service in the Norwegian Air Force and to train for the Olympics in the Flying Dutchmen event.

His anthroposophical studies brought him to Emerson College in England, and to his first career as a teacher of children with special needs in Switzerland and the United States.

As an artist, he worked as an illustrator and restorer of paintings. His talents extended into restoration of old buildings, enhancing their original character and beauty. His latest project was the historic church in Johnson, NY.

His spirituality transcended sectarianism and expressed itself in his deep connection to nature and missionary zeal for social justice.

He lived his entire life demonstrating a commitment to his values: as an advocate of fair treatment for all citizens and as a pacifist.

He loved to share his passions such as kayaking, hiking, cycling, cross country skiing and discussing politics in the company of his friends.

He was dedicated to his family and friends. He was a most appreciative, nurturing and generous husband and father.

He is deeply missed by his loving wife, Sabine; his stepson, Sascha; his loving sister, Anette; niece Anniken; great niece Anine; nephews, "Little" Morten and Markus; stepdaughters, Megan and Beryl, and Sabine's family in Austria,

Family will notify friends about a gathering in Morten's honor.

Let's take to heart Morten's favorite saying: "Live simply so others may simply live." -Ghandi

New Swarm of Angels Trailer

There's a new trailer for "The Unfold." I donated to the swarm a couple of years back. I'm not really sure I like the direction (note the wanky yet generic guitar track and general "comin'-at-cha"-ness) it's all going in, but it's really exciting to watch.



Worlds Will Shatter - The Unfold trailer from Nine Orders on Vimeo.

Changing the way we think

Interesting article on BBC about technology and evolution:

Carr believes that the style of searching and exploration of links encouraged by search engines such as Google is changing the way heavy users think, reflecting that "over the past few years I've had an uncomfortable sense that someone, or something, has been tinkering with my brain, remapping the neural circuitry, reprogramming the memory. My mind isn't going - so far as I can tell - but it's changing. I'm not thinking the way I used to think".

Beach House Videos

Pretty Great live recording of Beach House playing a personal favorite, Apple Orchard, on Pitchfork.tv.

"When I go to the keyboard, I feel holy, like an angel over my head."

AP story on CNN has some great interview bits from Brian Wilson about his upcoming album, That Old Lucky Sun. He speaks about his writing process:

"When I go to the keyboard, I feel holy, like an angel over my head. I feel very holy. When we did (the Beach Boys hit) 'God Only Knows,' I felt holy about that too. A godly something comes through me," Wilson says, motioning with his hands. "I'm always thinking about melodies. The melodies come from my brain, and my keyboards. I play a really pleasant keyboard. It sounds so pleasant it makes me want to write melodies."

Kooky article on Harmonic Structures in the Human Body

Reality Sandwich has a wonderfully crackpotted article on how the author, Richard Merrick, was lead to believe "entire body as a form of crystallized music." I don't exactly follow how he got there, but it's really wonderful anyways and would make for some amazing fiction fodder.


"As I pondered what this could mean, it occurred to me that the circle implied an inside-out resonance of cells in the body while the square represented an outside-in damping effect to contain the outward push of cellular resonance. Like the standing wave and ring models in my interference theory, it dawned on me that all organic life could be defined as energy exploding outward into space that is then pushed back inward into specific shapes, presumably depending on which harmonic proportions are emphasized by the DNA. Looking back on it, this was a very difficult thing for me to accept at first. Like every student, I had been taught from the earliest age that space was a complete and utter void. Yet, I simply could not resist the logic of life as a form of resonance and space as a kind of damping container."

Read Building a Religion.

Minister of Longitude

The Music Tapes have returned. I was a little taken aback by how focused this new album is in it's rendering of innocence v. everybody. Freeing Song for Reindeer is contrasted to with a previous 7" only favorite Freeing Song by Reindeer showing a new found wisdom for Mister Koster. This album transported your humble listener immediately back in the world of stop-motion Christmas shows intertwined with beloved, now departed family members. And, although I can say with all sincerity, I don't think the creators of this record intended anything but joy, I was driven most strangely and abruptly to tears.

Skittles?

duh

one of the things keeping from doing this, was timing – as in how long to go. I can’t believe I didn’t think of this before:

http://www.themiddleway.net/files/19minchime20Mins.mp3

Plays on your computer or MP3 player (like on an airplane). Plus iTunes will count how many times you “play” it to monitor your results.

See more progress on: meditate daily