Harmonic Resonance: The Cure for Cancer

So, remember those cartoons in which they'd have an opera singer's voice breaking mirrors? And then remember how, in high school physics class, you discovered how that could actually happen? How you could hit a mirror or piece of glass at just the right frequency so as to match the vibrations of its own molecules and make it shatter? Okay, now that you're with me, what if I told you this could be the cure for cancer?

A man named Jonathan Brody went to college to study music. Then he went back to study oncology. Natural transition, right? He proceeds to collaborate with his old music teacher, Anthony Holland, on his medical study. Well, out of this comes his crazy idea that you can hit single-celled organisms with certain frequencies of vibrations to make them lyse (explode). If you can do it with Euglena, why not a cancer cell? And if each kind of cell requires a customized frequency, perhaps you could lyse all the cancer cells with a customized vibration, while leaving normal cells unharmed.

You can listen to this "So Crazy it Just Might Work" story at ThisAmericanLife.org.

Why didn't I think of that? Oboe players make the best closet cancer researchers.

The Great Animal Orchestra: My summer reading report

Worth a read for any audiophile, ecologist, conservationist, Cage enthusiast or generally curious mind. My expert comments: "super-cool."

P.S. The author, Bernie Krause, became the lead guitarist for the Weavers folk band when Peter Seeger left. Just another reason to check it out.

Moby Dick on the Web

Not directly Cage related, but well worth a listen anyway.

Cage at 100

Happy 100th birthday to John Cage! Thomas More college students enrolled in my philosophy of music  class performed 4'33" this morning at 8:30 am in our sculpture garden in-progress, "Madonna's Meadow." The performance was part of Global 4'33", a worldwide celebration of Cage and his legacy organized by the World Listening Project.

 A random draw from Silence in commemoration of Cage:

"We bake a cake  and it turns out that the sugar was not sugar but salt. I no sooner start to work than the telephone rings."

John Cage

Mariachi 4'33", Mexico City 2012

Vox Arcana Tour

Here is the tour poster for Chicago experimental band Vox Arcana. The tour begins on September 25th in Crestview Hills, Kentucky.

John Cage Almond Cookie Recipe

John Cage is best known as a composer, of course, but he was also a painter, a filmmaker, an expert on mushrooms, and an inspired macrobiotic cook. Here is his recipe for almond cookies, courtesy of the Walker Art Center website. 

THE RECIPE:

 Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a food processor, grind:
1 c. raw almonds
1 c. raw oats
Combine almonds and oats in a large bowl.  Stir in:
1 c. whole wheat flour or brown rice flour (if you want a gluten free option, you may need to add slightly more than the 1 c. brown rice flour, so that you are later able to form balls with the dough)
Add ground cinnamon to the dry mixture.
To the dry mixture, add:
1/2 c. almond oil (other nut oils work as well)
1/2 c. real maple syrup (no Aunt Jemima!)

Stir mixture until you are able to form one-inch balls.  Place on ungreased cookie sheet.  Flatten slightly, and press a small dollop of your favorite jam or preserves (jelly is too thin) into the center of each cookie.  Bake for 15-20 minutes, turning the pan once, halfway through the baking process.  Cookies are done when light golden brown.  They store well in the fridge.