A movement designed to bring together the optimistic and passionate people who want to change the world. From getting involved in environmentalism and politics, to promoting the music and art of people with a fire in their hearts. Together we are a force that can shape the future and save our planet. Together we are Wild Knights.
Today SpaceX opened its first-ever Hyperloop Pod Contest at Texas A&M University for thousands of engineering students, tech enthusiasts, and the rest of the world to see the marvelous new design ideas that are brought to the table! My positive thoughts and energy go to those bright minds converging and dreaming so that I may one day get NYC pizza and go to the San Diego Zoo all in the same day with time to see a good movie!
Also, Aecom is now officially tasked with constructing a test tube for Hyperloop Technology in Hawthorne, California. That makes THREE (squee!) test tracks that will tentatively begin testing this year!
Hello all! A day late on our blog posts, but I can happily blame snow and adorable dogs for distracting me. Hopefully everyone had a great week full of fun, food, or whatever floats your particular boat 🙂 Tonight’s post will be an addition to my artifact series in the form of Pandora’s Box, an artifact in Greek myth. In a set of epic poems by Hesiod, the Theogony and Works and Days, from the 7th Century B.C. The poems are about the creation of the first woman.
Like most Greek myths, the myth of Pandora’s Box shows how much of a jerk Zeus was. At some point in history, Zeus took fire from mankind, thinking they didn’t deserve it. Another god, named Prometheus, knew how important fire was to the humans, and decided to go against Zeus’ orders and shared the secret of fire with mankind. Outraged, Zeus chained Prometheus to a rock and cursed him to have his liver eaten by a bird every single day. Rude.
To continue his revenge, Zeus then ordered the god of forges and smiths, Hephaestus, to create a daughter for himself out of clay. Named Pandora (her name meaning “bearer of gifts”), she was showered with gifts by the Olympians; Athena clothed her, Aphrodite gave her beauty, and Apollo gave her musical ability. Zeus also secretly ordered Hermes to give her the power of speech, curiosity, and deceit.
Zeus then presented Pandora to
Epimetheus, the brother of Prometheus.
Epimetheus had been warned by his brother to never accept a gift from the gods, but
Epimetheus had fallen too deeply in love with Pandora to refuse. One day Zeus gave Pandora a box (or pithos jar in some myths), and said it contained many gifts from the gods, but she should never under any circumstance open it.
Driven by the insatiable curiosity granted by Hermes, Pandora couldn’t resist opening the box and out came all manner of evil things, such as illness, hate, greed, and hardship. Just before she managed to close the box, a small spirit escaped. The spirit’s name was Hope, and it made all the difference.
In some stories the spirit of Hope is kept inside away from mankind, but personally, I prefer the happy ending 😀 I feel like Pandora’s Box is a myth to blame woman for all the bad things in the world, very similar to the story of Eve in the Garden. I’m sure Donald Trump would have gotten along swell with the male chauvinists of that ancient time. Anyway, tootles and happy sailing from the Wild Knights!!!!!!!!
Greetings and Salivations my fellow adventurers!!!! Today’s slightly late post will try to look into the science of something called Qi (Also known as Chi or ki). In traditional Chinese culture, Qi is the life energy of all living things. Translated literally it means the “breathe” or “air”, and it is a main component to Chinese medicine and martial arts.
In regards to health, the unhindered flow of this life energy is supposedly what keeps you healthy and running at tip top shape. If your chi becomes blocked in a certain area, the flow is impeded and your body suffers. Acupuncture was actually designed to directly target areas of the body where Qi tends to build up, using precisely placed needles to open up the flow.
There are plenty of reasons to be skeptical, considering the amount of ridiculous videos and so called “masters” who claim that they can K.O. someone without touching them, or can blast a ball of energy out of their hands like a Dragonball Z character. The best way to approach learning about a topic this expansive and popular is to find the many different perspectives involved.
In science there are plenty of explanations. We all know the power of the Placebo Effect. Humans are capable of great feats using nothing but the power of the mind. Consider Qi as the potential energy in your body. When lifting a heavy object, we engage our muscles and our minds become focused on it’s task. Our muscle fibers have self imposed limits to keep us from hurting ourselves. Researchers believe that with mental training, Athletes can increase how much their are capable of by over 20%, be it weight lifting, running, or anything.
A man I mentioned on a previous post is a perfect example of mastering your own body: Wim Hof, The Iceman. Using meditation, Wim Hof has endured staying in a tank of ice in Hong Kong for 2 hours, swimming half the length of a football field under a sheet of ice in the Arctic, and making the Guinness record books for running a half-marathon barefoot in snow in subzero conditions. His method is quite similar to Tummo, a breathing practice by Tibetan monks that has been proven to allow them to change their body temperatures by up to 8 degrees Celsius.
Imagine that Qi is just a name for all the energy in your body, and that the cultivation and meditation that goes into mastering its use is simply just making your body use its full repertoire and become more efficient.
Sorry for the overload of information, it’s a pretty broad topic and I could probably write for hours and hours. Let me know what you think and if you have any topics you would like to see on here, just let me know! Happy sailing!!
Since I’m in a cheery mood, I decided to search up some beautiful abodes and landscapes that inspired some film makers in their creative processes! Let the fun begin!
If you love Disney you may already be aware of the vast amount of real models for places in their films (especially after John Lasseter became executive producer of the animation studio). Frozen was no exception here: Elsa’s icy palace was inspired by the Hôtel de Glace in Quebec.
image: Xavier Dachez
If you love the forests in Hayao Miyazaki’s Princess Mononoke as much as I, than maybe you should consider a visit to the island of Yakushima, which served to inspire the world of San and her pack of wolves.
image: JNTO (which part of the film does this photo resemble?? Tell me what you think!)
And speaking of Studio Ghibli (for the fans), do I even have to say which film this photo of Jiufen, Taiwan could resemble?
image: Qualia-Taito
For a different and slightly more sinister example, I happened across Centralia, Pennsylvania, which just so happens to have been used as a model or inspiration for many ghost towns in many films and books. This town has had a coal steam fire burning in coal mines under the surface since 1962, and is expected to continue for many years. The latest population information I could find about the town shows that only 7 live there, which is no surprise since sinkholes are common and there are areas where hot ash and lethal levels of carbon monoxide come in thick plumes from the ground.
However, not all is doomed: the internet has spawned another oddity in the form of a webpage full of people doing what people do best: making light of the strange by taking superfluous yet wonderful parody photos of themselves and sharing. http://www.centraliapa.org/weird-centralia/
image: flickr/nicksherman (is apparently having a tough time)
image: flickr/harvestcoyote Gotta love fur balls.
If by chance any of you know of a cool place that resembles Cape Suzette from TaleSpin, you should let me know because I’m searching for a home about as desperately as Paddington was. Feel free to shoot a suggestion at championsunchained@gmail.com
Good evening all! Been a busy week here, so I didn’t have much time to prepare an epic post. Instead this is more whimsical and interesting (at least to me :D) We have all heard of dragons, seen them in movies, read about them in books, etc. Tonight I wanna list some of the real life inspirations for the mythological masterpiece that is the Dragon!
Let’s start with the obvious first choice: The Komodo Dragon (Varanus komodoensis)
(picture I took of Blaze riding a Komodo Dragon statue at the zoo…..dork)
This is a massive lizard found in the Indonesian Islands of Komodo, Rinca, Flores, Gili Motang, and Padar. As the largest living lizard in the world, they can grow up to 10 feet long (3meters) and can weigh up to 150lbs! They may not be able to breathe fire, but they have two glands in their mouth that release toxic proteins and anticoagulants.
Next up is the Dragonsnake!(Xenodermus javanicus)
(Credit: Matthijs Kuijpers/Alamy)
These gorgeous beasties are native to Indonesia and Malaysia and grow up to 2 feet long. Unlike regular snakes, the dragonsnake has unique pointy black scales that run along its back like a ridge. Surprisingly there is only one known species of the dragonsnake.
Lastly for tonight…..the Bearded Dragon!
(Credit: Jurgen Freund/NPL)
These little buggers are popular as pets all over the world, but they originally come from central Australia. Their signature move, the puffy “beard” that they enjoy sticking out is done so to create an imposing mass of spiked scales. The beard also turns solid black during courtship or aggression.
Bit shorter than usual, but plenty more to come! Next week i’ll try to have a whopper of a post ready to go. Tell me what you think and have a great night 😀
Today I’ve been thinking about what’s important. If you want to take that literally, we need food, water, and a place to step out of the rain, but I’m thinking deeper. We need those things at least to get by, but life isn’t worth living without passion. We need fuel for our hearts, so what passions do most people have in common? Maybe love, friendship, a hobby that’s taken up with gusto, or a mission or purpose that encompasses part of who we are?
In the process of scraping my last post idea about five minutes before typing this up, I realized that scrappers and fighters really have it going on. I’ve got it going on and you do too, so turn up that funky music you love, wink at yourself in the mirror (Go on. Try it, you sexy thing), and remember what sets your spirit on fire. Because if you do what you feel, the world will be that much more colorful.
As we turn our backs on 2015 and look into the future, I think it’s important to take only wisdom and knowledge from the past to the future. Leaving behind all that has been bad and beginning anew is something the downhearted or weary could benefit from. That being said, I’ve been putting together a list of good things that happened in 2015, and some of these will blossom in the new year!
1. Have you heard of BioCarbon Engineering? They are attacking industrial scale deforestation with “industrial scale reforestation” by trying to achieve a goal of planting a billion trees a year using drones! Using a combination of new technologies will enable the cost to be cut dramatically and ensure a quick uptake of new growth to areas once desolate and barren. I’m going to go hug all the trees in my yard once I finish typing…
image: biocarbonengineering.com
2. Alan Eustace shared his journey to and from the top of the stratosphere in a TED conference earlier this year. Alan, with the help of a team, broke the world record for high-altitude jumps by ascending to 135,890 feet before an explosive device severed his connection to a helium balloon and he came back down, reaching a speed of 822 miles per hour before opening his parachute at 10,000 feet. Alan showed the world what vision, teamwork, and a daring spirit can accomplish, then gave the gift of sharing the experience as an artist might his or her latest piece of work. All I gotta say is that I have gotta sign up for more adventures!
3. Say whatever you like about Brad Bird or his films or even my taste, but I want to mention Tomorrowland as a massive achievement this year. This movie, despite what the critics say, took a brave, bold, and passionately executed step by sharing a view on society, the future of technology, and acknowledging the potential of any one of us and our dreams. If you haven’t seen it, I recommend it whole-heartedly as another avenue toward a well-rounded idea on how to take your next leap forward. I believe in all of you. (And speaking of Disney, I think it’s lovely that we got not just one but TWO Pixar films this year! Thank you John Lasseter, and thank you Disney for bringing creative, beautiful sparks of life into the universe.)
(Which wolf will you feed?)
4. We got a view into what compassion and love can do for someone struggling to get by from Prank It FWD when they gave a group of homeless people a day at the spa. I can’t help but be reminded that, despite all our flaws, humans are pretty damn cool.
On a more personal note, this year I experienced the widest range of circumstances, emotions, and progress than I have ever before. I worked at Yellowstone, took my first flight there, and spent my vacation before that listening to live music and wandering the streets and festivals at beautiful and fun Bozeman, Montana. I grew as an artist and took part in three theatrical productions in the local area. I have written more complex, beautiful music than ever and picked up an (antique) accordion (also during my stay in Bozeman. The antique store on Main Street is wonderful). I made friends from around the world, pushed myself farther than ever before, and even started sparring with Emrys (he uses two broad swords, and I am using a bo staff) (best sparring, blogging, singing friend a guy could ask for)
Emotionally, Physically, Spiritually, Musically, Dancily, I am going to face the New Year with an open mind, an open heart, and a spirit of adventure and innovation that I vow to enrich the world with. I love you all, and I can’t wait to begin fresh making the world our own TomorrowLand with you, your neighbors, your friends and partners-in-crime, and all the beautiful people you are going to meet on your journey. Tell me what you are going to do this year at championsunchained@gmail.com
Happy New Year!!! I hope you all had a great day and are up for another couple posts from the crazy people writing this blog! In tonight’s addition, I wanted to share something that I’ve decided to make part of my New Year’s resolution; Rewilding.
(photo by ME! Blaze looking out over the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone)
Heard of it? I definitely recommend looking into all the ideas involved. Daniel Vitalis is the creator of this plan to realign ourselves with nature. It’s sort of the idea that we as humans have domesticated ourselves. Like the dog that may be curled in your lap sometime tonight, our ancestors were fierce and strong. While our minds have progressed and made huge leaps forward in technology and science, our bodies have become a little less. Obesity is the norm in Tennessee where I am from, health comes from a pill bottle, and people avoid the outdoors like it’s merely the annoying space between the places they want to be.
Rewilding is about using all the muscles in our body that have fallen into disuse. Drinking water from natural sources. Fighting illness with a strong natural immune system rather than pills and antibiotics. Removing unnatural things from our diets and returning to the hunter-gatherer lifestyle to return our bodies natural rhythm.
I rather like the sound of that.
I used to be a very indoorsy type fellow. I would play video games and go to school, never really bothering with playing outside because the universe was at my fingertips thanks to my computer. Physically I wasn’t the best though. I was overweight, got sick like clockwork, had unpleasantly pale skin tone (for a ginger :P), and couldn’t do anything physical without feeling like my lungs and muscles were close to self destructing. Then I took a job at Yellowstone National Park. Despite the job itself kinda sucking, the experience was the best moment of my life. I hiked every day that I could. The fresh air was revitalizing. Pushing myself to new heights by going off trail and chasing some dangerous adventures was the highlight of my year. I improved my body sooo much in this short time, by losing weight, gaining tons of muscle, and my lungs felt like they could hold 10x more air. I think Rewilding is exactly what I need to continue that level of improvement.
(photo of my two closest friends, Adam and Blaze. Hiking near Yellowstone Lake)
To any of our nature fanatics or adventure enthusiasts out there, I vote that you check out Rewilding and some of the ideas around it. You don’t have to flip your entire lifestyle. Make small changes at first and see how you feel. Get more sunlight. Go walk through the woods. Enjoy everything that our planet has.
Wild Knights 