Signifying nothing

249/365: In need of a porch & a coldrank Originally uploaded by Theorris

50/365: Stop Requested Originally uploaded by Theorris Clear the Air! I've already achieved 60 car-free trips. How about you?

It's Summertime Originally uploaded by Theorris Finally.

I regreted this moment Originally uploaded by Theorris

A poem by Walt Whitman criticizing science, of all things. Imagine that, poetry not getting along with science:

Here is a poem of moral turpitude by 19th century American poet Julia Ward Howe read, dramatically I might add, by yours truly:

Work took me to the midwest this weekend. I was in the middle of Illinois. The corn in Illinois was barely an inch out of the ground. When I commented how strange that seemed, the driver taking me from the airport to the hotel scoffed. "It has been so wet and cold here I'm surprised it is up at all." The farmers, it would seem, are worried. They are uncertain that they will get much of a crop this year. Compound this with the economic decline, and you can imagine that people's spirits are as low as their corn seedlings. It was overcast and while not exactly cold, it wasn't exactly warm my entire time in Illinois. Like much of the country, there is a great deal of concern about where the country is going economically. The housing market is in the tank, and even farms are being effected badly. If you don't know, many farmers run their businesses off big seed loans (literally) from banks. The bank loans the farmer enough money to plant a crop, and the...

Editor's note:  this post was originally uploaded by Snyder to a now defunct "Silence Project."  I keep it here for archive purposes. Here is one from a few days ago recorded late at night. Nice little bit of wind, then a car ruined it. So it goes. Here is another from tonight's rain and thunder. I do have to say, Theorris' thunder/rain contribution from earlier tonight is far more epic. Still, here you go.

Well there is no silence: several cars swooshed by. The thunder is still good, however:

I commute via mass transit and walk daily to the bus stop. The following recording is just 30 seconds of a 5 minute walk:

221/365: Self-portait Originally uploaded by Theorris I just got a Carson zPix 200. While I'm sure it is not the greatest microscope by any means, it is still interesting to mess around with. This is my eye close up. Do not try this at home.

The following link is not a recording, but I suppose this blog's mission could be expanded to discuss all aspects of sound pollution and natural soundscapes: Western Soundscapes Archive .

Editor's note:  this entry was originally published by Snyder on a now defunct "Silence Project" blog.  I post it here for archival purposes. Here are two failed attempts. Bah, car ruined it. Bah, Birds. It is hard to escape noise. So I gave up for today, I'll try again later. ... As long as I've given up for the day, here is some of tonight's rain. That is all.

Diptych of Spring: One Can Only Hope Originally uploaded by Theorris

Diptych of Spring: It is easy to forget Originally uploaded by Theorris

Think you know silence? Come prove it at The Silence Project !

I was listening to a Sierra Club podcast today on a very noisy bus about One Square Inch of Silence . It is about a man's quest to preserve non-manmade noise from one square inch of the Olympic National Park in Washington state (U.S.A.) The podcast made me consider how noisy the world is. The mission, therefore, of this blog, is to present audio files of what we think is silence. Perhaps we may find some. Perhaps it is impossible. I don't know. If you want to join, email me at gardnecl@gmail.com. Put "The Silence Project" in the subject line of your email. You'll have to have a blogger.com account. The rules are simple: record less than 20 seconds of what you think is silence, post it to whatever file service you choose (I suggest the Internet Archive ), and sit back and enjoy the silence. In any case, here is my first prototype for The Silence Project:

Remember the magic of getting a new Yellow Pages ? I recall as a kid when this device of great potential would show up on our door step. Nearly as good as a new J.C. Penney catalog for fantasizing about exotic (but of course very mundane things), the new Yellow Pages offered insight into the stores and services in exotic parts of Salt Lake City that our family never or rarely ventured to. After perusing the book for hours, I would ask my mother if we could visit a certain toy store, for example, usually to be shot down with "there's no reason to drive all the way over there!" We'd then end up at K-Mart, and as everyone knows there is precious-little magic in K-Mart (aside from the blue light, that is.) There was only one time when my cajoling my mother to go to a toy store found in the Yellow Pages actually worked, and that was for a store that used to be in Salt Lake's Trolley Square. I'm not sure why my mother agreed to go--perhaps she just wanted t...

Ineffable Originally uploaded by Theorris It seems to be about circles lately.

Dear Mayor, Signifying nothing can indeed help you with your problem of marauding banditos terrorizing your once-idyllic village! Believe it or not, it is rather common for villages and small towns all over the Old West to be regularly raided by bands of ne'er-do-wells and ruffians. They regularly rob banks, start saloon fights, gun down unsuspecting and innocent farmers, and dare to impinge upon the sacred honor of womenfolk. Rest assured, my dear Mayor, the experts from Hollywood, California have long been working on this problem and have come up with a solution! Mr. Mayor, your only salvation is to go out and find a lone gunman, who, while seeming to be despondent and angry on the outside, is willing to take on the bad guys preferably in a single-minded showdown where he will expertly pick every single one of them off until he gets to the leader who will die a suitable and often ironic death. This lone gunman must necessarily have his wife and small children killed off by ...