From BBC Planet Earth

Lady Gaga

I feel like so much of the American culture of my generation has been devoted to "the underground". I feel I amongst many others have developed the allusion that the depth of a work's artistic vision is measured by its relative distance from mainstream culture. I do believe distancing one's creative process from the mainstream to be beneficial as it distances your creativity from business and the idea that your creations must be marketable. However, on the other hand feel I that this "underground complex" also diminishes the possibility of there being actual artistic beauty in the mainstream.

I have only heard Lady Gaga's music in passing; listening for only a few seconds before tossing her in the bin with the rest of the pop trash. The other day Lady Gaga made this appearance on a Japanese morning news show and was rather impressed. For perspective, I recommend listening to the original version of the song as well.

Memes and Temes

Have you ever felt that science and technology are in some way developing themselves beyond the will of humans? That its impossible to push the stop button on them? Well Susan Blackmore might have found a way to better explain this phenomenon. Amazing talk from ted.com