All Recommendations

I have two handmade concertinas from the Button box. The sound is great, perfectly tuned. The bellows are so carefully made it's a joy to work them. The Cherry ends are perfectly finished with a rich transparent lacquer that shows all the beauty of the wood.

The Button Box also has carefully selected sheet music and recordings, sells and repairs accordions, and accessories. Their website is great with photos and descriptions of all the current inventory. You can learn a lot just from browsing their site. If you're in the market for a squeezbox of any sort, you ought to check out what they have to offer. The Button Box.

Based on the diary of one of the survivors and featuring personal accounts of many of the survivors living today, this documentary showcases how one individual, Francisca Halamajowa, and two families with insurmountable will power endured World War II. The film has won many awards at competition and is beautifully filmed and structured. The film left me with a feeling that I can and should do things to change the world. Go to the website.

If you happen to notice the maps in the film, I helped out with these. They are a combination of inkwash and digital manipulation.

This book is a valiant and successful effort to demonstrate the interconnectedness of all branches of knowledge, from physics, to biology, to psychology, and art. Although interdisciplinary is a buzz-word on campuses today, in practice means geochemists speaking to biogeochemists or artists talking to designers. Wilson spreads his wings here and brings current knowledge back to its roots in Classical and Renaissance thought. A definite must read for all academe.

Pencil is a remarkably simple FREE program that you use to create classic flip-book type animation. It has easy to use brush and color tools and a simple time-line tool. It's a tool to introduce anyone to digital time-based media. Simple enough for elementary school kids to use with some guidance, it is also used in college film programs.

Blender.org is a community of artists and software engineers who use and develop one amazing software package. Whether you are interested in digital animation, games, or making 3D models, Blender can help you. It can be complicated to use, but that's because it is so versatile. I recommend the website, too because it is full of helpful tutorials and examples. There is another forum for helping with Blender use, http://wwww.blenderartists.org The p.rogram can be downloaded from Blender.org. Make certain that you get the newer version, 2.5 or greater. Blender is as powerful as similar software programs like Z-brush and Maya, but it is entirely free. It also runs on mac and PC. My biggest tip is to learn the keyboard shortcuts. I have made summary sheets of the keyboard and mouse shortcuts that you can download ShortCuts.pdf . Above is a mesh that I built from the ground up using Blender.

I also have some free blender lessons that introduce the the complicated program in small steps, suitable for teens or methodical adults.

Ever notice that your dog has a knee and an "elbow" on his/her back leg? Curious about you have in common with segmented worms? This is a fantastic book that brings home the fact that we are connected in an integral way to all life on earth. I strongly recommend this book for anyone who has ever looked at biological structures with amazement. The book is written for a non-scientific audience, but has plenty of insights and surprising facts for the scientist, too.

The Brights are an organization that promotes the idea that all truths are derived from a universe that follows natural principle. The Brights include folks like you and me, but also an impressive listing of brilliant and controversial individuals like Richard Dawkins, Penn & Teller, Leo Igwe and Daniel Dennett to name only a few. If you're having difficulties coming to terms with theology, you're not alone. Check out The Brights.

Non Zero is one of my favorite reads over the past few years. It discusses the sustainable merits of positive interactions among social entities. The book has effectively shaped my approach of working with others and continues to provide insight into many social phenomena.