The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

This video from the Human Rights Action Centre is simple, but captivating.  The statements from the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights which scroll across the screen are beautiful, relevant and compelling.

We Are All Made Of Stars

"We are a way for the universe to know itself. Some part of our being knows this is where we came from. We long to return. And we can, because the cosmos is also within us. We're made of star stuff," – Carl Sagan.

The thought that I, as well as the rest of everything I can see and touch, is made up of the elements of long passed stars leaves me with a boundless sense of wonder. Before I ever heard of such a theory, I thought Moby’s We Are All Made Of Stars was just a metaphor. It is only now that I begin to understand and embrace such a captivating hypothesis.

As I perdure to escape the abating hold of childhood stories that speak of creation and methodical origins, science is consistently providing a much more realistic allegory. The thought that the elements that realize my existence are rooted in the cosmos and were birthed in what I can only imagine were glorious spectacles of light and colour provides a sense of almost universal connectedness.

Big stars, made up of hydrogen and helium, supernova when their hydrogen sources deplete. They essentially die in a burst of bright light, which results in a cloud of dust and gas that is blasted throughout the solar system. One of the resulting elements just happened to be carbon, and so, voilà! (But, of course, there's billions of years between exploding stars and the resulting thinking, walking, talking homo sapiens who yearn to understand everything.)

As Neil deGrasse Tyson puts it, “Recognize that the very molecules that make up your body, the atoms that construct the molecules, are traceable to the crucibles that were once the centers of high mass stars that exploded their chemically rich guts into the galaxy, enriching pristine gas clouds with the chemistry of life. So that we are all connected to each other biologically, to the earth chemically and to the rest of the universe atomically. That’s kinda cool! That makes me smile and I actually feel quite large at the end of that. It’s not that we are better than the universe, we are part of the universe. We are in the universe and the universe is in us.”

David Bowie Cool

I was a little late to the David Bowie fan club.

I became a big fan of British rock in the early 90s when I could explore outside my dad`s music collection. I was obsessed with Radiohead and Oasis in my teenage years, but remember when I picked up David Bowie's 'Earthling' in 1997. There was something about the album cover with Bowie in a Union Jack coat and songs titled 'Dead Man Walking' and 'I'm Afraid of Americans'. My dad didn't listen to Bowie, so I didn't know Earthling was another album in a long catalogue of music, nor did I give it much thought at the time.

In my teens, I lived in my parent's basement and would get stereo gear my dad passed down to me. He`s a bit of an audiophile, so I count myself fortunate. I remember using this monster Dynaco 400 watt amp that he built with its own pre-amp. I had two humongous tower speakers with 15" woofers and horn tweeters. It was like a concert downstairs, every day, and I was always looking for something new to play. Earthling was fast, loud, and perfect for turning the volume up. I would put it on once and a while, in rotation with my other favourites.

When I first went to college in 1998, I met Kris. We were both in the Electronics program at SAIT and shared interests in music and culture. We both dabbled in various instruments and I remember going to a friend's basement with him for a jam session. The song Starman was playing when we walked in. It wasn't immediate who was singing, but I remember Kris saying "Bowie."

Mind blown.

I went to the record store soon after, looked in the Bowie section and discovered a gold mine that I never knew existed before Earthling. Bowie got another adoring fan, a couple decades after the release of my now favourites, Space Oddity, Five Years and the Man Who Sold the World.

Bowie released a new album recently called The Next Day, his first studio album in a decade. The song The Stars (Are Out Tonight) is an honest interpretation of the role celebrities play in our culture and the video with Tilda Swinton is captivating. I like to think Bowie is revealing a small glimpse into his life with these songs and if you listen really closely, you might even make out a few secrets. Review and thoughts on this latest release aside, what is clear is that Bowie still carries the charisma, charm, creativity and genius that has been unambiguous since the days of Ziggy Stardust.

Lately, I've been thinking to myself, I hope I'm half as cool when I'm 66.