Archive for the ‘10th dan’ Category

Two-Headed Python

The RZA & The Heart of Perfect Wisdom

The RZA speaks on the Heart Sutra and Right Speech in an interview with the Shambhala Sun.

With his second book, The Tao of Wu, out this month, The RZA - leader of what is arguably the most important hip-hop group, The Wu-Tang Clan - recently spoke to the Shambhala Sun. Why? Well, the way of the RZA is one of embracing many religious practices and disciplines. A spiritual seeker, he first found real inspiration in the teachings of The Nation of Gods and Earths, but has since delved into Taoism, Christianity, Confucianism, and, yes, Buddhism - even visiting China’s famed Shaolin Temple.

In this Shambhala Sun Audio clip excerpted from a 45-minute conversation, the Wu-Tang mastermind speaks from his second home in California about Right Speech and how it might apply to rap, and expresses his admiration for Buddhism’s Heart Sutra.

.:via->Shambhala Sun

Spiders Help Weave a Golden Silk Tapestry

You may have stumbled on a post here at MNP by Black Ock, Collaborations of Kin and Kind, where he examines the delicate relationship between insects and man in creating new art. This time all the way from Madagascar, two textile magnates, Simon Peers and Nicholas Godley have teamed up to create an almost royal, one of a kind, tapestry completely woven using the silk from over a million golden orb-weaving spider’s webs (Nephila madagascariensis).

At a cost of over a half a million dollars, the American Museum of Natural History (follow this link for a great video) is hoping to cash in on exhibiting this truly unique piece of art. Eighty people over the course of four years dedicated their time to catching these spiders during the rainy season from the high reaches of telephone poles and then harnessed them to harvest this precious silk.

If you are interested in collaborating with Lamba, (the enterprise Simon Peers founded specializing in weaving, embroidery, and passementerie in Madagascar, working with architects and designers around the world) you can contact him through his LinkedIn profile.

Do they make hoodies out of this?- myninjaplease!

.::Listen to the NPR report here ->

MY NINJA PLEASE! 8.26.09: LED Sheep

If you ever wondered what a warehouse full of sheep and LED lights are capable of you have stumbled on the correct post. Sheep pong is just the beginning….my ninja please, this is just crazy- oh and Samsung sponsored this nonsense, but hey take what you can get right?

To Kill a Whale - Documentary

Caffeine Reverses Memory Impairment

Coffee drinkers may have another reason to pour that extra cup. When aged mice bred to develop symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease were given caffeine a€" the equivalent of five cups of coffee a day a€" their memory impairment was reversed, report University of South Florida researchers at the Florida Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center.

:: continue reading the article here ::

Ant mega-colony takes over world

A single mega-colony of ants has colonized much of the world, scientists have discovered.

Argentine ants living in vast numbers across Europe, the US and Japan belong to the same interrelated colony, and will refuse to fight one another.

The colony may be the largest of its type ever known for any insect species, and could rival humans in the scale of its world domination.

What’s more, people are unwittingly helping the mega-colony stick together.

Argentine ants (Linepithema humile) were once native to South America. But people have unintentionally introduced the ants to all continents except Antarctica.

These introduced Argentine ants are renowned for forming large colonies, and for becoming a significant pest, attacking native animals and crops.

In Europe, one vast colony of Argentine ants is thought to stretch for 6,000km (3,700 miles) along the Mediterranean coast, while another in the US, known as the ‘Californian large’, extends over 900km (560 miles) along the coast of California. A third huge colony exists on the west coast of Japan.

.::bbc->

MNP Bump: Rolcats

It’s not often that we return to a blog on which we previously posted, given the number of one hit wonders out here on the internets, but sometimes we do. One of our favorites has been "F*ck You, Penguin," which you may recall was posted here just at the end of last year. Part of what I like about it, I must admit, is that it constantly has new content.

The reason why I’m bringing them up is because they have apparently released an entire book of cute-animal-bashing hilarity. They’ve also got T-shirts and hoodies and stuff. All of this activity appears to have happened right after our initial post, and so shall henceforth be attributed to the "MNP bump." Anyway, this is a good segue into the point of this post.

Scrolling through the comments left on the site I found this cute little gem… a blog focused on translating the Eastern European versions of lolcats into capitalism-friendly consumer conscious English (see example below). This joint really had me lollerskating, and I’m betting Rolcats will have a similar effect on you. Check it out.

Commissar Markov has long been a loyal party member, but I fear his growing influence in state policy. Perhaps it is time to cash in a favor from my friends at the Kremlin.

Frozen Frogspawn

That sounds gross… doesn’t it? Ninjas, we already told you how to freeze snails, but, did you know that frogs can freeze too?

It is not recommended that you try this at home.