Rhizoboy

I know no one reads this except me.

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 06:06:16 -0500

Next week I leave for Mozambique, my task; to discuss sustainable agriculture with African agronomists. Africa is a continent with numerous countries each with their own share of social and economic struggles. Perhaps this is due to numerous incursions by Muslims and Europeans over the last 500 years inhibiting the establishment of a stable government or social construct… I don’t know.

I find myself asking why am I doing this? Why should this insignificant westerner think that he has anything that these peoples would find useful … perhaps I don’t. Maybe the answer lies within my complete disdain for Australian indulgence and ignorance. So many people here are content to indulge in a superficial lifestyle, or have I been without excessive wealth for so long that I have become jaded?

I do not judge. People often confuse my confrontational nature as arrogant and rude, it is not. I simply feel that in a country as fortunate as Australia, we have an obligation to distribute that good fortune to those who have no access to it.

I have a 5 week course of anti malaria medication, it cost me $100. In countries riddled with malaria your only chance of survival is a mutation leading to heterogeneous sickle cell anaemia… I’m so lucky!

My new favourite chillout song.

Wed, 28 Mar 2012 14:52:00 -0400

My new favourite chillout song.

n-a-s-a: Aurora Over Iceland Image Credit & Copyright:...

Wed, 28 Mar 2012 14:50:08 -0400

n-a-s-a:

Aurora Over Iceland Image

Credit & Copyright: Daniel Lopez

Stunning!

n-a-s-a: A Hole in Mars Credit: NASA, JPL, U....

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 12:34:15 -0400

n-a-s-a:

A Hole in Mars

Credit: NASA, JPL, U. Arizona

Explanation: Black spots have been discovered on Mars that are so dark that nothing inside can be seen. Quite possibly, the spots are entrances to deep underground caves capable of protecting Martian life, were it to exist. The unusual hole pictured above was found on the slopes of the giant Martian volcano Arsia Mons.

I want to explore here, I may find my brethren.

n-a-s-a: Jupiter and Venus from Earth Image Credit: Marek...

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 12:32:16 -0400

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Jupiter and Venus from Earth

Image Credit: Marek Nikodem (PPSAE)

That faint rapid sound is a woodpecker taken in the botanical...

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 18:11:11 -0400

That faint rapid sound is a woodpecker taken in the botanical gardens at UCLA.

Black Mountain

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 20:27:00 -0400

My trip to the United States of America was always going to be full of new experiences. So having absorbed a lot of Los Angeles since landing, I decided to explore what some Angelenos never experience, “summiting”. I found an outdoor adventure group at UCLA, and I quickly booked into the “Idyllwild Camp and Explore” activity. Idyllwild is around 2.5 hours outside of LA, a rocky mountain range full of pine trees and boulders.

Twelve others and myself met at 7pm at UCLA and board our mini busses and depart in the dark of night towards a destination, the furtherest east I’ve ever been in the USA. It was a fantastic drive, the 405 had a clear run and for the most part so did the 10, once we were outside of LA city limits the roads become steeper and we gradually began our ascent into the mountains skirting the city. As the city lights fade, so to does our conversations and we were left in our own thoughts, pondering the weekend ahead.

We arrive! Idyllwild is like a small country town with log cabins lining the streets and many pickups parked outside the various buildings and stores. The camp ground has a few piles of residual ice from the previous snowfall. We set up camp discuss the following days proceedings and wrap up in our 0 degree rated sleeping bags tired from a long journey. A few of us including myself decided to sleep on the ground without a tent under what can only be described as a sky full of alien stars, with patterns and constellations I’ve heard about, but never witnessed. Slowly one by one the conversations become a whisper and eventually the silence and cold dark night settle in around us.

Morning and we are awoken by our camp coordinators to a breakfast of scrambled eggs and quesadilla. I quickly pack my CamelBack with the necessary items for the day, pull on my snow pants and UCLA sweater, tie the laces of my new hiking boots and pull my beanie over my head - we are ready. While our guides prepare, I quickly run through a few sun salutations and yoga poses with the group to warm us up. We pile into the vans and depart for Black Mountain summit trail. Arriving at the trail we check we are all present set up point and look at the trail, we are already at 4480 ft altitude and our hike will take us to 7772 ft. There is a feeling that I cannot describe, perhaps if I was a child it would be easy as children show enthusiasm with ease, in my head I knew that I was about to see and feel for the first time that beautiful crystalline water - snow!

Our group consists of two Japanese, four chinese, four Americans (two sorority girls who were just adorable), our three American guides and one solitary Aussie (me). We begin our trek, there are patches of ice scattered along the side of the trail, the dirt is grey and full of fine pebbles, the trees are all pine and the smaller bushes display a stunning iron coloured bark. Very quickly people begin to form groups based on ethnicity and ability, I pair up with a young American guy named Sloan who is majoring in Biology with an interest in fitness. We got along really well and spent the remainder of the weekend together.

After about 45 mins we take a small break, which gives the group a chance to look up and around instead of down at our feet. It is breathtaking, a mountain terrain covered with pine and boulders, snow still covers the peaks of many mountains and there is a fine mist in the air which blurs the distant mountain slopes out of view. We resume our climb and within 10 minutes we see a large patch of snow, still fluffy. We stop and begin to throw snowballs at each other. Paul our guide, decides to strip down to just his pants and shoes and jump belly first into the snow, sliding down 10 minutes to the path. I decide to give it a go, after of course making my snow angel imprint in the snow, I jump head first into the freezing snow and slide on my hands and belly finishing in the dirt, hands covered in grit, bleeding, my belly crazed cold and wet, but full of such excitement that all I notice is the cheers of the group.

After another hour of walking, people are fatiguing, we stop for lunch and set up a tarp nestled amongst some large boulders. A lunch of turkey and cheese sandwiches and people are resting, but my excitement takes me away from the group to scale a nearby boulder (almost stacking it on more than one occasion) to the top. I am rewarded with the most stunning panoramic view of the mountain range. Above me an eagle gracefully soars, woodpeckers can be heard digging out grubs from the trees and all around me there is a stillness that absorbs thought leaving me feeling humble and full of awe.

So close to the summit, the snow has increased so much so that now we are walking through it, the crunching sound the occasional loss of leg deep into a patch of dense snow laughing as we are pulled free, it is like nothing I could have prepared myself for, no matter how much you see things on a small screen, the reality is always different. The summit is in sight, exhausted we fumble forward, turning a corner to see it, the summit of Black Mountain! One more effort, one more breath and we arrive cheering and taking in a view 7772 ft above the roaring oceans. After taking photos and describing what each of us see and feel when we look out from the top of a mountain, we leave. The journey back is much easier for the body, but much harder on the feet and toes, I feel as if my big toe has been squished into jelly by the time we reach the starting point.

Back at camp, we light a fire, warm up and talk about the day. Some people had never camped before, let alone summited, there is a real sense of camaraderie and accomplishment. The night progresses and the Milky Way reveals itself again, this time unobscured by the light of the Moon. I point out some of the constellations draw peoples eyes to the numerous satellites and we count the shooting stars. After a while it’s dinner time and yet again we are treated to tantalising food. Dessert does not disappoint with a peach cobbler (I was quickly corrected when I asked with surprise “we are having fish for dessert?!”), a delicious bread and crumble dish from the mid west followed by smores! A smore is chocolate and melted marshmallow sandwiched between two Graham crackers (taste like milk arrowroot biscuits) and is an American camping tradition. We talk long into the night, mostly with Sloan, the other two American girls and Atsuko, a Japanese girl whose smile is contagious, before exhaustion finally leads us to our slumber under the stars.

Sunday morning and the sound of a woodpecker’s rapid tapping from the tree above wakes me from my sleep. We take our fill on french toast and coffee and start the day with a gentle hike through a nearby trail before spending the afternoon eating pizza bagels alongside a small lake brimming with trout. Most decide to nap, our guides decide to take a dive into the icey waters, much to the dismay of the locals attempting fishing. I take a walk around the lake and spend some time looking at the little things like the reeds along the lakeside with the puffy tops seen in every single cartoon depiction of a lake. I decide to nap the remainder of the afternoon away (people who know me well, know I don’t nap)… it lasted 10 minutes before boredom took me and I got up to explored the lakeside some more.

Heading home we exchange stories about were we come from and recite the new words that we’ve learned. My new American friends love “heaps”, “stacked it” and “bugger”, all said with, what I would describe as, a terrible british accent, never mind an Australian one. My attempts at an American accent attracted many giggles as I clumsily claim “this weekend was super dope”.

I’m sitting now in the lounge room of my LA apartment, reflecting on the opportunity afforded me by studying at UCLA. Coming from a small city and moving to such a fast past, colourful and vibrant city, surrounded by stunning mountains, amazing weather and beaches that welcome you with warm sand and a gentle breeze, I find myself captivated. I want to learn more to explore more and to appreciate the chance I have been given to be part of life here and to be part of a scientific team surrounded by bright minds and that enthusiasm America is famous for.

n-a-s-a: Carina Nebula Panorama from Hubble Credit: NASA, ESA,...

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 16:55:44 -0400

n-a-s-a:

Carina Nebula Panorama from Hubble

Credit: NASA, ESA, N. Smith (U. California, Berkeley) et al., and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)

The Brain

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 18:46:28 -0500

Rambling is something I do well. It starts at the frontal lobe and quickly makes its way towards the mouth. The path it follows has little to no obstruction resulting in a swift expression of thought.
Yesterday I sat in a crammed lecture hall, people spilling over the floor and seats to listen to a presentation by Prof. Eric Kandel, a Nobel Laureate in medicine. What followed was a presentation by the sharpest 84 year old mind I believe I have (and will) ever experienced. Explaining with his whimsical charm the path that long
term memory follows to become engrained in our mind. He explained how an experience so intense, such as love or heartbreak, activates genetic transcription to create a memory. Our memories, your first heartbreak, your first kiss, the feeling of holding your first born child, are the result of something so magnificent (or terrible) it affects our DNA at a molecular level.
When we explore our memories, we begin to discover patterns. The first few things that come to mind are usually random, but focus and you start to see images, experience past feelings and hear songs and sounds. Eventually we start to see how our physical brain prioritises memory and perhaps we can start to understand ourselves more intimately.
For me, I remember seeing things in nature from such a young age, the first time a magpie swooped me, a centipede 20cm long, the dazzling stars seen far from city lights, the fun we had as kids running through the bush, water, swimming, the beach my mind begins to overflow! Then as I move forward I see school, a solemn time filled with confusion, my first kiss (haha to a girl) and the first man I fell in love with. Memories so vivid that they tell a story of how my brain functions as an organ and how my soul finds a home in those many synapses.

"A mind that sits idle will eventually succumb to the same chaos that drives destruction. Only..."

Tue, 06 Mar 2012 20:15:00 -0500

“A mind that sits idle will eventually succumb to the same chaos that drives destruction. Only through the pursuit of knowledge will a mind avoid putrefaction.”

- Robert Walker

Check out the plant I work with, Mimosa pudica. It responds to...

Mon, 27 Feb 2012 17:15:00 -0500

Check out the plant I work with, Mimosa pudica. It responds to touch also know as seismonasty. This is the same mechanism that allows the venus fly trap to catch its prey.

This is the Viper. Three loops and a pretzel, not the most...

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 23:31:47 -0500

This is the Viper. Three loops and a pretzel, not the most extreme but not for the faint hearted either.

Three pillars of union.

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 13:29:00 -0500

I’m not one to usually write about dreams but a dream I had last night was so vivid, it won’t leave my thoughts.

After a night of dancing where I met several new friends we took a bus home. A strange bus mind you, full of gays getting back to the suburbs. Upon arriving we turn on the TV and they are televising Australia’s first big gay marriage. It was beautiful, a large altar covered with satin, the grooms standing hand in hand, one in grey one in beige (I know right, but looked ok) and a celebrant, who looked more like a circus conductor, dressed in white with a black vest. There were three gorgeous male models on the altar, one lying down seductively with shorts and a very beautiful singlet, representing desire. Another standing in the middle just off to the side of the grooms, wearing a casual outfit of jeans and white shirt representing companionship. The third was on what looked like a cross, but not a crucifix, instead it was more like a pillar. He was dressed with the most amazing costume I’ve ever seen (how my mind created it I’m not sure). Draped in a white loose fitting shirt that was decorated with iridescence, black leather pants embroided with a pattern that danced up his legs but the best feature was a mask. A masquerade mask, with a long nose, encrusted with diamonds and jewels, the eyes were visible covered in dark eye liner, his gaze was held to the floor his legs were crossed and his arms open. He represented mystery, the great unknown, the challenge of navigating a union between two souls for eternity. To end the ceremony, each groom sprinkled white feathers over each model signifying their commitment to each other and to what each pillar stood for.

That’s how I want to get married. I hope Australia has the courage and strength to move out of oppression and move into a modern dynamic culture where everyone is truly equal.

Autopilot

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 20:02:00 -0500

Ever get that feeling that you’re living inside a body that is on autopilot? The feeling that although sometimes you’re in control, for the most part you’re simply along for the ride?

The come down from moving here was hard hitting from the months of planning, restless sleep broken with late night phone calls, tears as I was held close and told that this is something I have to do… and saying goodbye to possibilities. I find myself running beside a force that is pulling me through this experience, like I am a small fleck of iron in the grip of a powerful magnet, nothing can break the connection, except breaking the laws of the universe itself.

I love it here, I love the people, the city, the chaos and confusion amidst the underlying order. This city has a brutal honesty, it has a way of staring you in the soul and asking you “why are you here, are you ready for this?”. Complete submission, the loss of control of what’s outside gives you the strength to finally see what’s inside, what has been there all along… a steering wheel.

If you only ever look up close you’ll miss the beauty of...

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 17:41:56 -0500

If you only ever look up close you’ll miss the beauty of the whole.

This explains both how I love and how I learn.

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 17:18:06 -0500

This explains both how I love and how I learn.

afternoonsnoozebutton: This explains so much.

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:31:01 -0500

afternoonsnoozebutton:

This explains so much.

Stars in my soul

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:23:20 -0500

I reflect, I study, for now… I rest.

When life outside is spinning I look to the stars to ground me.

I sit, I breath, for now… I understand that things must be this way.

I give my mind freely to its purpose.

I wonder, I grieve, for now… I simply sigh.

My heart, the mast that guides the vessel of my soul, is splintered.

I cry, I stumble, for now… I try and remember.

My love is precious, I gave it to those who abused it, why?

I look, I blink, for now… I lift my gaze to the stars.

My mind is powerful, my heart is mended, for now… and always… I love myself.

Brooke Fraser - Scarlet. Words are so true tonight.

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 00:19:20 -0500

Brooke Fraser - Scarlet. Words are so true tonight.

Sunset over Los Angeles from Griffith Observatory.

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 01:32:36 -0500

Sunset over Los Angeles from Griffith Observatory.