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Human Nature Review 2005 Volume 5: 66-86 ( 31 December )
URL of this document http://human-nature.com/nibbs/05/wlbenzon.html
Book Review
Synch, Song, and Society
The Singing Neanderthals: The Origins of Music, Language, Mind and Body
By Steven Mithen
Weidenfeld & Nicholson, 2005
Reviewed by William L. Benzon, 708 Jersey Avenue, 2A, Jersey City, NJ 07302, USA.
There are at least two reasons why an intellectual specialist writes for a general audience, including intellectual specialists from other disciplines. One is to contribute to civic life by explaining difficult but important subjects in a way that makes them accessible to the citizen who is curious about the world. Steven Pinker's The Language Instinct is a distinguished recent example of such a book. But a specialist in some discipline may also seek a broader canvas than is available within the guiding principles of the specialized journal article or professional monograph. Here I think of Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs and Steel. When done well, a book of this type has a value for the specialist that the unadorned popularization, no matter how well done, does not have.
There are important problems that cannot be handled within confines of a single intellectual discipline. The origins of humankind is one of these problems. No matter which facet of that problem interests you, you inevitably find yourself looking at everything - or so it seems. Is music an offshoot of language or did a music-like activity evolve prior to language? In principle we could answer this question by traveling back in time and making direct observations. Unfortunately, that particular principle cannot be realized in the world as we know it, so we must instead approach human origins indirectly by gathering evidence from a wide variety of disciplines - archeology, physical and cultural anthropology, cognitive psychology, developmental psychology, and the neurosciences - and piecing it together. Such work entails a level of speculation that is incompatible with the publication demands of the specialist literature. It also demands a breadth of knowledge that is all but impossible. When done well, however, such a book contributes to specialist investigations by establishing a framework within which more detailed work can be done.
Steven Mithen's current book, The Singing Neanderthals, is in this vein. He presents a wide range of evidence and ideas in clear and accessible prose that argues convincingly that the evolution of language was preceded by something that is neither language nor music as we now know them. Mithen has coined two neologisms for this, Hmmmm (Holistic, multi-modal, manipulative, and musical) and Hmmmmm (Holistic, multi-modal, manipulative, musical, and mimetic). While the full expansions of Mithen's neologisms give you a pretty good idea of what he is talking about, the neologisms themselves are too cutesy for my taste and simply do not work well as words. I prefer a different neologism, Christopher Small's (1998) musicking, from "to music." This neologism is not so cute and means music and/or dance or both and anything deeply connect with them. Words with roughly that meaning are common enough, but not in our culture. Björn Merker (2000, 320) has noted that the Greek mousiké encompasses melody, dance, and poetry, while the Bantu ngoma covers drumming, singing, dancing and festivity and the Blackfoot saapup covers singing, dancing, and ceremony. Where specificity is important and context alone is not sufficient to convey my meaning, I will supply appropriate qualifiers.
After an introductory chapter, Mithen has six chapters that are more or less about music and the brain. The second part of the book consists of ten chapters starting with a review of primate communication and then presenting Mithen's speculative reconstruction of the steps leading through the origins and elaboration of musicking to its final differentiation into language and music. All of these chapters contain useful information and intelligent synthesis that is well and cleanly presented to a cumulatively brilliant effect. Rather than attempt to review all of this material I will only cover the topics that, for better or worse, I found interesting. I will then offer some speculations of my own on music and sociality and conclude with some general remarks.
Before picking up Mithen's argument in the sixth chapter, "Talking and singing to baby," I will briefly characterize the first five. The first chapter introduces the book and notes that music has been unfairly neglected by evolutionary scholars. The second chapter compares and contrasts music with language and introduces the idea of a common evolutionary precursor to both. The third and fourth chapters focus on the neural underpinnings and behavioral expression of music and language, respectively, considering the effects of brain damage that diminishes one or the other, but not both.
Opening chapter five with the work of Isabelle Peretz (pp. 62 ff.), Mithen summarizes what is known about music and language in the brain, making the point that they share some circuits, while other circuits seem specialized to each. As music processing is widely distributed in the brain, it makes no sense to talk of a music module. Rather, if one is to talk of modules, one should talk of modules for specific functions, e.g. interval analysis, rhythm analysis, and vocal plan formation.
Note that, in the preceding paragraph, I cited Isabelle Peretz without indicating a specific source. I did that because Mithen discussed her work at some length. In the following discussions I cite with other researchers in same way.
Infants and Affect
In chapter six, "Talking and singing to baby," Mithen examines mother-infant interaction, developing a theme from Colin Trevarthen, that mother and infant interact in an exquisitely timed multi-modal dance that is a necessary foundation for successful social interaction. Mithen begins with "infant-directed speech" (IDS), also-known-as baby talk or motherese, in which the musical elements of speech are exaggerated: wider pitch range, longer vowels, exaggerated pauses, and more repetition. Adults and children automatically adopt IDS when interacting with infants, who much prefer it to normal speech. He cites the work of Anne Fernald who has found that IDS progresses through four stages. In the first three stages IDS helps the mother to maintain contact with the infant, to modulate arousal and emotion, and to convey feelings and intentions to the infant. It is only in the fourth stage that IDS is explicitly directed at facilitating language learning. IDS appears to be universal, with some variations to accommodate languages, such as Chinese, where pitch is phonemically meaningful.
Singing to infants is universal as well, and is even more emotionally potent, a fact that Mithen will evoke later on when he offers Ellen Dissanayake's argument that singing evolved to enhance mother-infant interactions as infants were born earlier in the life cycle. Consequently they required even more care and that care was required for a longer period of time. Music strengthened the relationship between mother an child and contributed to the child's enculturation. Singing would also have allowed mothers to attend to infants who had been put down while mother attended to other tasks - an hypothesis argued by Dean Falk.
These discussions lead naturally to chapter seven, on music and emotion, where Mithen reviews the position advocated by Keith Oatley and Philip Johnson-Laird, "that emotions guide action in situations of imperfect knowledge and multiple, conflicting goals" (87), a position, incidentally, that bears comparison with Warren McCulloch's model of the reticular activating system (Kilmer, Mculloch, and Blum 1969). Since "the social world provides the greatest cognitive challenge to humans beings" it follows that "our more complex emotions relate directly to our social relationships" (87). Mithen presents experimental evidence that music accurately conveys emotions such as happiness, sadness, and anger. In experimental settings people with no particular musical training judged such matters as reliably as trained musicians, and women did slightly better than men (93). Mithen then reviews work on music therapy, experiments by Alice Isen showing that "happiness enables people to think more creatively" (98) and a study by Rona Fried and Leonard Berkowitz showing that people who had listened to soothing music were more helpful than controls and than people who had listened to exciting music or sad music (99-100).
Walking and Rhythm
To my mind, perhaps the most critical issue in understanding music and its evolution is that of rhythm, for rhythm sets the terms through which the actions of individuals become mutually coupled when they are musicking (Benzon 2001, 23-68, 116-142). Mithen argues that our rhythmic capacities fell into place roughly 1.8 million years ago with the emergence of full bipedalism in Homo ergaster. Following Leslie Aielio he points out that "Standing or walking on two legs requires that the center of gravity is constantly monitored and small groups of muscles frequently recruited and changed to correct its position; the movement of the legs has to be integrated with that of the arms, hands, and trunk in order to maintain a dynamic balance" (146). This would have required greater rhythmic coordination among muscle groups and hence a larger brain to manage that coordination.
In support of this emphasis, Mithen cites the work of Michael Thaut, who has been investigating the value of rhythmic sound in treating patients with Parkinson's disease, which typically disturbs motor control. Taut discovered that patients who received "gait-training" sessions that involved rhythmic auditory cues did better than those whose training did not involve auditory cueing; they, in turn, did no better than those who received no training at all. Somehow - the mechanism is not known - rhythmic sound is able to substitute for endogenous rhythm lost through disease. (The results of the training, however, disappeared after five weeks with no training at all.)
Mimetic Culture and Holistic Utterance
In chapter eleven, "Imitating nature," Mithen introduces Merlin Donald's (1991) influential concept of mimetic culture as an intermediate form between the episodic culture of apes and the mythic culture of modern humans. As the name suggests, mimetic culture is based on the ability to imitate and allowed Homo ergaster, Homo erectus, and Homo heidelbergensis "to create new types of tools, colonize new landscapes, use fire and engage in big-game hunting" (Mithen 167). Mimetic humans would have been able to mime the vocalizations of animals and other humans for their play and amusement, for ritual, and for practical communication as well.
These early humans would have had a large repertoire of holistic utterances, each functioning as a complete message - a point argued by Alison Wray. They would not have been able to segment these messages into components and then recombine the components into new utterances with new meanings - as we do with words - but the individual messages would have considerably larger and richer than that of the call systems of apes. (Note that Mithen has thus explicitly rejected the arguments of Derek Bickerton, who imagines proto-language to have been combinatorial in nature, but operating from a restricted range of works and syntax.) Because each holistic phrase would have been long and complex, it would have been difficult to introduce new phrases. Hence this system would have "been dominated by utterances descriptive of frequent and quite general events" and have been quite conservative.
Obviously we have no record of these utterances, but the archeological record does have indications of cultural conservatism. The repertoire of stone tools was both limited and unchanged between 1.8 and 0.25 million years ago; Mithen gives particular emphasis to the constant form of hand-axes (164). Mithen suggests that, because their finely wrought form exceeds the practical demands of butchery, wood-working, and cutting plants, these hand-axes may have been fitness indicators in the sort of sexual selection regime Geoffrey Miller has advocated.
Beyond this, I note that Ralph Holloway (1969, 1981) long ago suggested that strongly-conserved hand-axe form was an indicator of social norms. Those forms could not be conserved from one generation to the next unless there was a deliberate intention to do so. One has to note the significant features of an existing axe and discipline one's knapping motions to produce that result. That is considerably more exacting than simply producing an axe with a sharp edge and appropriate heft. The motivation behind such exacting form, then, is not practical. Nor can it be merely aesthetic, which would allow for considerable individual variation. That leaves us with a desire to conform to social norms. Given the importance of such norms, that may in itself be a sufficient motivation for their form, to serve as a visible token of social solidarity. In any event, Holloway's observation does not contradict Miller's, and now Mithen's hypothesis. Norms are norms, regardless of their specific purpose and norms that serve multiple ends are likely to be particularly strong.
Groups and Music
Mithen begins developing his argument about music in groups with a variation on Miller's argument about sexual selection. Perhaps, argues Björn Merker, males in one group would band together in choral musicking to attract lone females wandering away from their groups. He rejects the idea, however, on the grounds that such musicking would also attract predators. He does suggest, however, that such activity might well build trust among the males, and females as well. From there he discusses the ideas of historian William McNeill (1995), who emphasizes the value of dance and drill in creating cohesion within the group and talks as well how group musicking leads to a blurring of personal boundaries and a consequent sense of merging with the group.
Mithen then takes up a discussion of Robert Axelrod's classic work on the prisoner's dilemma, which shows the value of cooperation, but also the difficulties of achieving it in a world where people's interests are neither completely consonant nor opposed and where it is difficult to know one another's intentions. Mithen (214) suggests that
music-making is a cheap and easy form of interaction than can demonstrate a willingness to cooperate and hence may promote future cooperation when there are substantial gains to be made ... It can be thought of as the first move of a 'TIT for TAT' strategy that is to always cooperate, one that can be undertaken at no risk because there is nothing to lose if the other members defect - that is, if they do not join in the song or dance.
The problem with this, Mithen notes, is that, because the costs are low and the benefits are high, such musicking could easily be exploited by free-riders. To the extent, however, that musicking leads to a merging of self with the group - McNeill's argument - this problem may be dissolved (215):
Those who make music together will mould their own minds and bodies into a shared emotional state, and with that will come a loss of self-identity and a concomitant increase in the ability to cooperate with others. In fact, 'cooperate' is not quite correct, because as identities are merged there is no 'other' with whom to cooperate, just one group making decisions about how to behave.
Thus musicking leads to the formation of a group identity within the scope of which individuals will be strongly inclined toward cooperation to their mutual benefit.
With this argument behind him, Mithen takes up the case of the singing Neanderthals (chapter 15), reprising his 1996 argument that, while quite intelligent, their intelligence was domain-specific. They could not make connections between knowledge of the natural world, physical materials, and social interaction (232). He feels, however, that this is not adequate to account for their large brains. Just why Mithen believes this is not at all clear since he has not made a quantitative argument about the relationship between brain size and intelligence. Nonetheless he goes on to argue that, while Neanderthals did not have language, they would most likely have had a rich repertoire of holistic utterances of the sort advocated by Alison Wray (234):
The Neanderthals would have had a larger number of holistic phrases than previous species of Homo, phrases with greater semantic complexity for use in a wider range of more specific situations. It think it is also likely that some of these were used in conjunction with each other to create simple narratives.
Noting that life was difficult for the Neanderthals, with few living beyond the age of 35, Mithen (236) suggests that there "is unlikely ever to have been a population of humans - modern, Neanderthal or otherwise - for whom the creation of social identity to override that of the individual was more important. For that, music is likely to have been essential." This is certainly the case for modern humans. When times are tough, we make music, which enables social bonding and thus facilitates mutual support.
Mithen then takes up, in order, discussions of mimesis and hunting, stone tools and mating, infants, burial, performance spaces, and a flute-like artifact discovered in Slovenia, which he suggests is not a flute. He concludes by suggesting that, in comparison to us, the Neanderthals were linguistically challenged but musically advanced, an argument he bolsters by an assertion and two anecdotes. The assertion is that "the evolution of language has inhibited the musical abilities inherited from the common ancestor we share with Homo neanderthalenis" (245). As for the anecdotes, one is about a particularly radiant ballet performance he had attended and another about walking with a musical savant he had discussed early in the book.
Mithen's belief that language evolution inhibits music seems to be based on evidence he presented earlier (76-79) that we are born with absolute pitch, though the vast majority of us loose it subsequent to language acquisition. But Mithen presents no evidence that absolute pitch is important in musical ability. Though musicians are more likely to have absolute pitch, most lack it. Nor, so far as I can tell, is there good reason to think it an important component of musical skill (Sloboda 1985, 176-178). As for Mithen's anecdotes, they are just that, anecdotes; and they have an air of romanticism about them, about how certain exotic Others - Neanderthals, savants - are more deeply in touch with the sensory world than "we" are.
Still, my skepticism about this matter - which would seem to be the justification for the book's title - does not arise from any specific reason to doubt that Neanderthals had advanced musical abilities. I simply do not know. I keep wondering what "our" musical abilities would be if we had to make our own music instead of being able so easily to listen to recordings and broadcasts. For me that question simply "washes out" Mithen's speculations about Neanderthal musical superiority.
But these are relatively minor quibbles about what is, in the full scope of the book, a relatively minor point. Whether or not the Neanderthals were musically superior to Homo sapiens, Mithen's arguments are important.
In his penultimate chapter (16) Mithen discusses the final emergence of biologically modern language, and with it, cognitive fluidity - the ability to integrate ideas and information across the physical material, natural, and social domains. The final chapter (17) covers the dispersal of humankind around the globe, the remains of holistic speech within music and segmented language, and reviews the cultural uses of music.
These are interesting chapters and I recommend them; but I see little need to review these arguments. Most of Mithen's work has been done by the end of the Neanderthal chapter. What Mithen has established by that point is that Early Humans - Neanderthals as well as others - would have developed a relatively rich and complex culture prior to the final emergence of biologically modern man and culture. Just how rich is not, of course, certain. Mithen denies that Neanderthals were capable of symbolic behavior; I am not so sure and will shortly suggest that group musicking would have led to symbolic behavior in groups that did it - including, of course, the Neanderthals.
It is clear, however, that Mithen's argument requires the development of segmented language in the final stage of the evolutionary trajectory leading to Homo sapiens. That final evolutionary step may also require the development of syntax and of semantics depends on one's theory of language. Exactly what is required is at issue in the debate initiated by Hauser, Chomsky, and Fitch (2002) in which a distinction is made between a broadly constructed language faculty and a narrowly construed one. Hauser, Chomsky, and Fitch argue that recursion is the only feature of the narrowly construed faculty and is most likely the only one unique to humankind.
Given that late pre-humans had a rich repertoire of holistic utterances, I suspect that segmentation may have been the major requirement and that syntax and semantics would have followed from that segmentation (cf. Benzon and Hays 1988). I adhere to a view - often associated with cognitive linguistics - that regards semantics as being grounded in a highly structured repertoire of cognitive and sensorimotor schemas. Given segmentation, and the association of specific segments with specific perceptual or cognitive schemas, the job of syntax is to arrange segments in sequential order. In this view syntactic structure is, in fact, driven by cognitive or semantic structure.
Whatever the case may be, this is not the place to engage in that debate, which is not about music. Mithen has gathered an impressive array of evidence, phylogenetic, ontogenetic, behavioral, and anatomical, both body and brain. While I find his argument impressive, I am strongly biased in his favor. Those who give priority to language, and argue that music is one of its by products, may not be convinced. Mithen's argument is built on speculative interpretations of bones, artifacts, and site topographies each of which can be replaced by alternative interpretations. None of these speculations, Mithen's or alternatives, is an adequate substitute for direct observation of behavior, which is not available to us.
This does not necessarily mean that we will never be able to resolve the question: Which came first, music or language? More evidence will be found and some of it may well favor one line of speculation over others. I think, however, we need a different kind of argument, one that is more deeply grounded in the intrinsic properties of the nervous system.
This kind of argument is about the evolutionary trajectory leading from the episodic intelligence that Merlin Donald (1991) has attributed to apes to the mythic intelligence he attributes to biologically modern humans. Is the nature of the nervous system such that that evolutionary trajectory must go though musicking on the way to language?
It is by no means clear to me that we are ready to address this question in any detail. But I want to outline such an argument in the next two sections. First, following Walter Freeman, I will argue that the critical factor is getting two or more individuals into the same intentional framework; without that, one cannot learn language from the another or use language to communicate. Then I will sketch out an evolutionary trajectory, building on Mithen's work and on my own work (Benzon 2001), and show how musicking can give rise to awareness of the group as such and to simple symbols. The argument needs to be elaborated in greater technical detail than I can provide here. But if I am correct in this outline, then the evolutionary trajectory from ape behavior to human behavior must pass through musicking before it arrives at biologically modern language.
In this discussion I will assume that the nervous system operates as a self-organizing dynamical system as, for example, Walter Freeman (1995, 1999, 2000b) has argued. Using Freeman's work as a starting point, I have previously argued that, when individuals are musicking with one another, their nervous systems are physically coupled with one another for the duration of that musicking (Benzon 2001, 47-68). There is no need for any symbolic processing to interpret what one hears or so that one can generate a response that is tightly entrained to the actions of one's fellows.
My earlier arguments were developed using the concept of coupled oscillators. The phenomenon was first reported by the Dutch physicist Christian Huygens in the seventeenth century (Klarreich 2002). He noticed that pairs of pendulum clocks mounted to the same wall would, over time, become synchronized as they influenced one another through vibrations in the wall on which they were. In this case we have a purely physical system in which the coupling is direct and completely mechanical.
In this century the concept of coupled oscillation was applied to the phenomenon of synchronized blinking by fireflies (Strogatz and Steward 1993). Fireflies are, of course, living systems. Here we have energy transduction on input (detecting other blinks) and output (generating blinks) and some amplification in between. In this case we can say that the coupling is mediated by some process that operates on the input to generate output. In the human case both the transduction and amplification steps are considerably more complex. Coupling between humans is certainly mediated. In fact, I will go so far as to say that it is mediated in a particular way: each individual is comparing their perceptions of their own output with their perceptions of the output of others. Let us call this intentional synchrony.
Further, this is a completely voluntary activity (cf. Merker 2000, 319-319). Individuals give up considerable freedom of activity when they agree to synchronize with others. Such tightly synchronized activity, I argued (Benzon 2001), is a critical defining characteristic of human musicking. What musicking does is bring all participants into a temporal framework where the physical actions - whether dance or vocalization - of different individuals are synchronized on the same time scale as that of neural impulses, that of milliseconds. Within that shared intentional framework the group can develop and refine its culture. Everyone cooperates to create sounds and movements they hold in common.
There is no reason whatever to believe that one day fireflies will develop language. But we know that human beings have already done so. I believe that, given the way nervous systems operate, musicking is a necessary precursor to the development of language. A variety of evidence and reasoning suggests that talking individuals must be within the same intentional framework.
Consider an observation that Mithen offers early in his book (p. 17). He cites work by Peter Auer who, along with his colleagues, has analyzed the temporal structure of conversation. They discovered that, when a conversation starts, the first speaker establishes a rhythm to which the other speakers time their turn-taking. That is, even though they are only listening, other parties are actively attuned to the rhythm of the speaker's utterance (cf. Condon 1986). What if this were necessary to conversation, and not just an incidental feature of it?
Let us recall some passages from Eric Lenneberg's landmark review and synthesis, The Biological Foundations of Language (1967). While he does not address the issue of conversational turn-taking, he does devote the better part of chapter three to timing issues. He was particularly interested in problems arising from the fact that neural impulses travel relatively slowly and that the recurrent nerve, innervating the larynx, is over three times as long as the trigeminal branch innervating the one of the jaw muscles. It also has a smaller diameter, which means that impulses travel more slowly in it than in the trigeminal. The upshot, observes Lenneberg, is that "innervation time for intrinsic laryngeal muscles may easily be up to 30 msec longer than innervation time for muscles in and around the oral cavity." He goes on to observe: "Considering now that some articulatory events may last as short a period as 20 mesc, it becomes a reasonable assumption that the firing order in the brain stem may at times be different from the order of events at the periphery" (96). It is on the basis of such considerations, which he discusses in some detail, that Lenneberg concludes: "rhythm is … the timing mechanism which should make the ordering phenomenon physically possible" (119).
It follows from this that, if you wish your utterances to smoothly intercalate with those of others, you need to share their rhythms; that is the only way your conversational entrances will be appropriately timed. Still, this might merely be a conversational convenience, not a necessity. So, let us consider the problem of speech perception.
We know that, while we tend to hear speech as a string of discrete sounds, that is something of an illusion. Sonograms do not show the segmentation that we hear so easily (Lenneberg 93-94). The brain is doing some sophisticated analysis of the sound stream. Though I am not aware that anyone has investigated this, I can imagine that it would be very useful if the listener operated within the same temporal framework as the speaker. This might help with the segmentation. If this is so, rhythmic synchronization is no longer simply a feature of how the nervous system happens to operate. It becomes essential to being able to treat the speech stream as a string of phonemes; it is necessary to linguistic communication.
Let us push the argument a step further. For the last decade or so there has been considerable interest in the notion that people acquire a so-called theory of mind (TOM) early in maturation and that this TOM is critical to interpersonal interaction (see e.g. Baron-Cohen 1995). Gaze following is one behavior implicated in TOM. Humans beyond a relatively early age will follow the direction of one another's gaze. I would like to suggest that we notice gaze direction in people with whom we synchronize, but not otherwise.
Think about the perceptual requirements of noticing and tracking gaze direction. Even at conversational distance, another person's eyes are small in relation to the whole visual scene; thus the visual cues for gaze direction will also be small. Further, people in conversation are likely to be in constant relative motion with respect to one another. The motions may not be large - head turns and gestures, trunk motion - but they will be compounded by the fact that one's eyes are in constant saccadic motion. Synchronization would eliminate one component of relative motion between people and therefore simplify the process of picking up the minute cues signalling gaze direction. But if one cannot properly synchronize with others, then those cues will be more difficult to notice and track. Thus the capacity for interpersonal synchrony may be a prerequisite for the proper functioning of TOM circuitry.
In this light let us now consider Paul Bloom's (2000) recent work on language acquisition. He has demonstrated that young children do more than merely associate the words they hear with the objects and events to which they refer. Such associations are not sufficient. Rather children make inferences about speaker's intentions when listening to them and learning the meanings of words they use. In the current parlance, children use a so-called theory of mind (TOM) to infer what, of many immediate possibilities, the speaker's words refer to. Inferring another's intentions also plays a large role in Quine's (1960, 26 ff.) classic argument about radical translation.
The current evidence is that monkeys lack this TOM, while the behavior in which chimpanzees seen to deceive their fellows suggests that they may have it in some measure (Mithen 117-118). Sophisticated discussions of TOM (e.g. Baron-Cohen 1995) talk of component skills and separate, though linked, neural circuits. Until the specialists have this sorted out, I will proceed on the assumption that whatever it is that allows chimpanzees to deceive one another, it is not of a kind that supports intuition about the intention behind another's utterance.
In any event, Bloom's discussion is about ontogeny, not phylogeny. The phylogenetic case is even more behaviorally demanding. Human children acquire language in a world where they are surrounded by proficient speakers who take pains to make themselves understood and work hard to understand the child. When language first originated there would have been no mature speakers at all. But, if we follow Mithen, those speakers would have been proficient in a proto-language having a rich repertoire of holistic phrases.
By that time, however, Early Humans would also have been walking upright and thus would have had - again following Mithen - the precise rhythmic control necessary for tight interpersonal synchronization. And that - tight synchronization through music - Freeman argues, is what puts two humans in the same intentional framework. As Freeman (1995, 131) says music:
is wordless, illogical, deeply emotional, and selfless in its actualization of transient and then lasting harmony between intentional structures. It works in the action-reafference-perception cycle that provides for all human understanding, and it constructs the sense of trust and predictability in each member of the community on which social interactions are based.
Freeman suggests that "the techniques for working matter into useful forms must have required the prior existence of channels for communication to support the social interactions. These channels are intentional and not logical in nature." Thus the emergence of biologically modern language must have been preceded by musicking, for language depends on the capacity for interpersonal synchrony that musicking engenders.
Let us now take an informal look at how musicking can give rise to the ability to symbolize the group as such. In the following paragraphs I will use four simple diagrams to present the argument.
Consider Figure 1, which represents the mind of a single individual, A. The nodes c and b are the neural representations of other individuals whom A knows while the ego node (epsilon e) represents A's neural self (Damasio 1994).
Figure 1: Mind of Individual A
Now examine Figure 2, representing three individuals interacting with one another in any fashion. We have A in the upper left and then B and C as well. Notice that both B and C have neural representations of the other two, just like A, and that they too have neural selves.
Figure 2: Three Individuals Interacting
Notice that I have used dotted lines to indicate corresponding neural representations. Thus A's epsilon node is associated with B's neural representation of A (that is, a) and to C's neural representation of A (that is, a). And so for B and C as well. Interactions among these individuals must necessarily be mediated by their sense of themselves and their sense of one another.
Let us imagine these individuals musicking together. C's own activity (dancing, gesturing, vocalizing, rattle-shaking, and so forth), for example, would be associated with C's epsilon node while the activities of the A and B would be associated with their representations in C. These would, in fact, be highly complex and distributed networks of neural activity. Each individual would have audio and visual activity representing what the other two are doing, but also his or her own activity (you can hear yourself and see your limbs and torso). Additionally, there would be motor and kinesthetic activity for only oneself - you cannot move another's muscles, nor experience movement in their joints. But if the group is synched up in a nice groove, then all of this neural activity, in all the sensory and motor channels, will have the same rhythmic pattern in common. If that rhythm came to be perceived as an entity in itself, that would be the grain of cognitive irritant around which individuals could construct the pearl of group awareness.
Consider the Figure 3, representing a group engaged in well-synchronized musicking:
Figure 3: Synchronized Group
Here we have individuals A, B, and C. Each has neural self (e), and they also have representations of one another (not depicted). The S nodes represent audio-motor networks used to create synchronized sound (by, e.g. clapping, foot stamping, whatever).
Now those S nodes are distinct neural entities within each individual. They are not identical to ego, nor to representations of one another. To be sure, they do not correspond to some object or symbol one can see and touch (e.g. a totemic statue); nor do they correspond to a name that can be uttered. Rather, they correspond to an activity that one can do, and do collectively. In a sense, the S nodes represent the collective activity of the group. They are the beginnings of individuals being able to conceptualize the group as such, which is more sophisticated than simply recognizing other individuals as group members and, on that account, according them appropriate treatment.
Now consider Figure 4:
Figure 4: Awareness of the group as such
Figure 4 depicts B's mind as it represents the relationship between A, C, and ego (that is, B), on the one hand, and the act of synchronized musicking on the other. This need not represent B's mind during musicking - indeed, if B is deeply absorbed, he or she might not be aware of anything but the music that is the joint product of everyone's activity - but rather could represent B's recollection of or anticipation of musicking. Walter Freeman (2000a) has speculated that intense musicking induces Hebbian learning; perhaps that S node is the result of such learning.
Freeman's hypothesis, which Mithen discusses (216-217) is more specific than mere learning. It is about bonding. Freeman (2000a, 420) says:
What is at issue is the extent to which feelings of bonding and formation of a neural basis for social cooperation might be engendered by the same neurochemical mechanisms that evolved to support sexual reproduction in altricial species like ourselves, and that might mediate religious, political, and social conversions, involving commitment of the self to a person as in transference, fraternity, military group, sports team, corporation, nation, or new deity. The common feature is formation of allegiance and trust.
Freeman does not clearly distinguish between the mutual bonding of participants one to the other and the bonding of participants to some entity that somehow symbolizes the group. These are not, of course, mutually exclusive and, in fact, one can imagine that a process that starts in mutual bonding will, over time - which may be measured in weeks, years, or generations - result in bonding to a more abstract entity. This is what that S node is. That is to say, the biological mechanisms which bond infant to parent are now bonding individuals to symbolic representation of the group, a possibility that has been recognized in the attachment literature (Marris 1982).
It is not clear just how such a symbol would arise, how S becomes reified and conceptualized. Mithen discusses a site in Bilzingsleben in southern Germany dating roughly 400,000 years ago, for example, that is suggestive on this point. The site has "a vast quantity of animal bones, plant remains and stone artefacts, along with a few fragments of Early Humans" (178) and three circular arrangements of bones. Following Clive Gamble, Mithen suggests that setting up the anvil - a large stone or piece of wood used in manufacturing bone implements - was a major social act and that the circular sites were work and performance spaces. Proto-humans gathered around an anvil to make tools, butcher meat, and to eat. This activity would involve rhythmic striking and pounding and also, Mithen suggests, quasi-musical vocalizations, gestures, and dance moves. To the extent that all this activity centers around an anvil, it might become the material "anchor" for S, the neural reflex of the synchronized group activity taking place around it. In discussing the Neanderthals he mentions a site at Bruniquel in southern France that may served a similar ceremonial purpose (242). At this point we are on a cultural evolutionary track that leads to religion (cf. Benzon 2001, 195-199).
Note that we are now considering dynamics on two levels; 1) that of individual nervous systems coupled in musicking, and 2) that of the entire life of the group. In the first case I am interested only in what happens between the beginning and conclusion of a session of musicking. In the second case I am thinking of the ongoing life of the group, both musicking and otherwise. From this point of view what we see is the group gathering together to engage in musicking and then dispersing as they go about their daily lives.
Considering the group as a dynamic system, these intervals of collective musicking are attractors in the life of the group (Benzon 2001, 154, 192-194). On these occasions the group members affirm their loyalty to the group; they constitute the group's psychological home base. As such this larger self-organizing dynamic is at the heart of the group's culture. This is the dynamic through which they together learn the central symbols and values of that culture. It is this larger cycle, for example, that affirms the importance and value of producing hand-axes to match the cultural standard, as Holloway has argued.
It is time to return where we began: the general audience. Mithen's book speaks to the assumptions behind a long-entrenched intellectual culture that has privileged intellection over artistic expression and the individual over the group. While there has always been romantic opposition to the web of ideas woven on those assumptions, that opposition has recently begun to base its arguments on evidence from the neurosciences (e.g. Damasio 1996) and behavioral economics (e.g. Gintis and Bowles, et. al. 2005). That opposition need no longer trade on romanticism to advance its arguments. While the conventional wisdom is still dominant, it is beginning to look more and more like a deep-seated cultural bias rather than like conclusions to a well-reasoned argument based on solid empirical evidence.
When Steven Pinker wrote the final chapter of How the Mind Works, he assumed that conventional wisdom and argued that the arts are mental cheesecake (525): sweet, filling, flavorful, but of no adaptive value, however much cultural prestige they may have. That metaphor - mental cheesecake - set off a minor intellectual firestorm among humanists, especially musicologists and literary critics. Mithen obviously disagrees with Pinker with respect to music - the title of his second chapter, "More than cheesecake?" takes aim at Pinker - and Mithen's is by far the stronger argument. Joseph Carroll (1998, 2002) has made the argument on behalf of literature's adaptive value. Only time will tell how this argument is going to fare.
But it may well be that more than purely conceptual matters are at issue. While I was researching my book on music I decided to read Russell A. Barkley's review and synthesis of the ADHD literature, ADHD and the Nature of Self-Control (1997). Self-control was one of the topics that interested me both generally and in connection with music, and the book had been well-reviewed in Science. Barkley argued that ADHD does not involve inattention as much it involves poor self-control, which is a failure of some central executive function. In turn, Barkley asserts that the
. . . nature of this central executive . . . is time. More specifically, it is the conjecturing of the future that arises out of reconstruction of the past and the goal-directed behaviors that are predicated on these activities. Such activities . . . permit self-regulation relative to time. (p, 202)
Barkley goes on to point out that "time is an integral, inseparable part of the physical world" (p. 204), that "our will, therefore is . . . at time's beck and call" (p. 205) and thus that "time, timing, and timeliness . . . become important concepts in understanding . . . goal-directed behavior and in determining it" (p. 209).
Yet nowhere does Barkley talk about music nor about music therapy. That is not particularly surprising, as the concern about ADHD is mostly about the ability of children to absorb the intellectual material taught in school. That, so the conventional wisdom has it, bears no relationship to music. Music is about feeling, about play, about fun, not about reasoning and intellect. The conventional wisdom would not lead one to think about music in connection with research directed toward improving school performance.
If Mithen and Trevarthen and McNeil and Dissanayake and a growing list of others are correct, however, then dance and music are deeply rooted in human evolutionary history. They belong to our biological nature. And we are now a century into a world where live musicking has largely been replaced by recorded and broadcast sound. What if the lack of sufficient active musicking at an early age is a causal factor in ADHD? If Barkley is correct, that timing is the problem in ADHD, then that possibility should investigated. If the brain does NOT get sufficient musicking at a young age, then perhaps further maturation unfolds with timing difficulties built-in to its microstructure as a result of synaptic pruning in that music-poor environment.
I do not know whether or not this is true. What bothers me, however, is that, so far as I know, the matter is not being investigated. Conventional wisdom stands in the way of even considering the hypothesis, much less seriously investigating it.
This particular component of conventional wisdom may be costly. A recent NIH consensus panel estimated that ADHD cost public schools in the United States over $3 billion in 1995, noting that "ADHD, often in conjunction with coexisting conduct disorders, contributes to societal problems such as violent crime and teenage pregnancy" (National Institutes of Mental Health 1998, p. 9). The cost of ADHD is high and we do not know, in the end, whether our treatment regimes are more efficacious than not. How much would it cost to investigate possible relationships between music, music therapy, and ADHD?
The case for musicking, and for the arts as well, has even more general implications. It goes to the heart of how we see ourselves, our society, and our place in the natural world. The argument is important for all of us.
The conventional view places a gulf between humankind and the natural world. We are rational, it is unthinking, and society is but a precariously ordered collection of selfish breeders. What if that is not so? What if society is the natural life-form for clever apes who learned to sing and dance before they learned to analyze and rationalize? Is it time for us to reconsider our nature, our relationships with one another, and our place in the world?
I would like to thank Walter Freeman, Ralph Holloway, Charlie Keil, and Tim Perper for their discussion of these issues. I take responsibility for remaining errors.
Barkley, R. A. (1997). ADHD and the Nature of Self Control. New York, The Guilford Press.
Baron-Cohen, S. (1995). Mindblindness. Cambridge, MA, MIT Press.
Benzon, W. L. and D. G. Hays (1988). "Principles and Development of Natural Intelligence." Journal of Social and Biological Structures 11: 293-322.
Benzon, W. L. (2001). Beethoven's Anvil: Music in Mind and Culture. New York, Basic Books.
Bloom, P. (2000). How Children Learn the Meanings of Words. Cambridge, MIT Press.
Carroll, J. (1998). "Steven Pinker's Cheesecake for the Mind." Philosophy and Literature 22: 478-485.
Carroll, J. (2002). "Adaptationist Literary Study: An Emerging Research Program." Style 36: 596-617.
Condon, W. S. (1986). Communication: Rhythm and Structure. Rhythm in Psychological, Linguistic and Musical Processes. J. R. Evans and M. Clynes. Springfield, Illinois, Charles C Thomas • Publisher: 55-78.
Damasio, A. (1994). Descartes' Error: Emotion, Reason, and the Human Brain. New York, Avon Books.
Donald, M. (1991). Origins of the Modern Mind: Three Stages in the Evolution of Culture and Cognition. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press.
Freeman, W. J. (1995). Societies of Brains: A Study in the Neuroscience of Love and Hate. Hillsdale, NJ, Lawrence Erlbaum.
Freeman, W. J. (1999). How Brains Make Up Their Minds. London, Weidenfeld and Nicholson.
Freeman, W. J. (2000a). A Neurobiological Role of Music in Social Bonding. The Origins of Music. N. L. Wallin, B. Merker and S. Brown. Cambridge, MA, MIT Press: 411-424.
Freeman, W. J. (2000b). Neurodynamics: An Exploration in Mesoscopic Brain Dynamics. London, Springer-Verlag.
Gintis, H., S. Bowles, et al. (2005). Moral Sentiments and Material Interests: On the Foundations of Cooperation in Economic Life. Cambridge, MIT Press.
Hauser, M. D., N. Chomsky and W. T. Fitch (2002). "The Faculty of Language: What is It, Who Has it, and How Did It Evolve?" Science 298(5598): 1569-1579.
Halloway, R. L. (1981). Culture, Symbols, and Human Brain Evolution: A Synthesis. Dialectical Anthropology 5: 287-303.
Halloway, R. L. (1969). Culture: A Human Domain. Current Anthropology 10(4): 395-407.
Kilmer, W. L., W. S. McCulloch and J. Blum (1969). "A Model of the Vertebrate Central Command System." International Journal of Man-Machine Studies 1: 279-309.
Klarreich, E. (2002). "Huygens's Clocks Revisited." American Scientist 90(4). http://www.americanscientist.org/Issues/Sciobs02/02-07sciobsclocks.html
Lenneberg, E. (1967). The Biological Foundations of Language. New York, John Wiley & Sons. Inc.
Marris, P. (1982). Attachment and Society. The Place of Attachment in Human Behavior. C. M. Parkes and J. Stevenson-Hinde. New York, Basic Books: 185-201.
McNeill, W. H. (1995). Keeping Together in Time: Dance and Drill in Human History. Cambridge, Harvard University Press.
Merker, B. (2000). Synchronous Chorusing and Human Origins. The Origins of Music. N. L. Wallin, B. Merker and S. Brown. Cambridge, MA, MIT Press: 315-327.
National Institutes of Mental Health (1998). Diagnosis and Treatment of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). NIH Consensus Statement 16(2): 1-37.
Quine, W. V. (1960). Word and Object. Cambridge, MIT Press.
Small, C. (1998). Musicking. Hanover and London, Wesleyan University Press.
Sloboda, J. (1985). The Musical Mind. Oxford, Oxford University Press.
Strogatz, S. H. and I. Stewart (1993). "Coupled Oscillators and Biological Synchronization." Scientific American(December): 102-109.
© William Benzon.
Benzon, W. L. (2005). Synch, Song, and Society. A review of The Singing Neanderthals: The Origins of Music, Language, Mind and Body by Steven Mithen. Human Nature Review. 5: 66-86.


text:
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Grass Roots Landscaping
Grass Roots Landscaping was after a web site that could be used to describe the company's services and display images of their stonework and landscape design. The owner wished to be able to make frequent updates to the site while managing cost. Studio4 Technologies developed a Drupal content management system application that allowed company employees to edit and add to the site using a web interface.

subset: commoncrawl


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'Last dog standing' after adoption marathon gets new home, new parents
This couple made sure Madeline was not the only dog that got left behind at an adoption marathon
Arizona: After a marathon weekend adoption event at the Arizona Humane Society, hundreds of animals found new forever homes. But, when the event ended and the cages at the shelter were emptied, one dog remained. Madeline, a four-year-old pit bull was the only dog that was not adopted during the two-day event. She had been left at the shelter after her owner became ill and could no longer take care of her.
Kim and Eli Beckman rushed to the adoption centre after learning about Madeline on a TV show
But, the adorable pup wasn't alone for long. A local TV channel produced a story about 'the last dog standing.' At the show, a worker at the centre said, "She's just been a complete angel; now a staff favorite. We just want to see her end up in a good home before she ends up in one of our homes." The show attracted the attention of Kim and Eli Beckman, who rushed to the shelter the next morning to meet Madeline.
"I told my fiancé, 'let's go up there and take a shot at trying to adopt her,'" Eli Beckman said to reporters. "I mean, how would you feel if you got left out in the cold?" The Beckmans officially adopted Madeline into their family and brought her home. Now, the pit bull has the chance to love a whole new family and get lots of love in return.
The animal shelter at Arizona Humane Society is already beginning to fill up again with pets in need of homes. During the two-day event, held from May 31 to June 1, 1,346 dogs and 647 cats were adopted at animal shelters in the state. The free adoption weekend —Maddie's Pet Adoption Days — is held each year around the country in order find shelter homes for shelter pets.


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June11Eleven.com: "The Courtship"
Aw, yes, the story of how the Travis's got to Moscow. Well, to start with, the brakes on all four of the travel trailer wheels had to be completely rewired. That took the first day out of the weekend. They didn't even leave Fallon until they were supposed to be in Moscow, which is about 12 hours away. So, I was told that they would leave anyway and find a hotel along the way. I woke up the next morning and called them to see where they had stayed and. . . .


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City Guides >
Female MC, Brooke Candy will make an appearance at One Night in Austin. The party is set to take place march 16. This event is sure to become legendary as this MC is on the rise. Candy will be among an impressive list of performers so don't miss out on a night of fun.
Brooke Candy in da house!!!!!!!!!!!!
Our favoritest new female MC is the latest performer we are stoked to announce will be taking the stage at our huge One Night In Austin party on March 16th!
Don't know Brooke Candy yet? Get familiar above!
She will be joining collaborator and friend Charli XCX on our lineup, as well as Paloma Faith and Stooshe - as well as many other hot acts we have yet to announce.
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Where life is easy.
We all have a comfort zone. It's that place where everything just feels right. You know what I mean. It's a place where you know what to do. It's a place where you know what to expect. It's a place where nothing threatens your security or well-being. You wake up singing. Each day promises more of the same.
That's the way life is supposed to be. Right?
It's your goal for each day to make sure that you stay right in the center of your comfort zone.
If your life focus keeps you in the comfort zone, you forfeit any possibility that you will fulfill your potential. You will never become the best you possible and you may actually become worse.
When in your life did you grow and thrive?
Think about the times in your life when you were definitely not in your comfort zone. They were probably the most exhilarating times and the ones in which you stretched the limits of your abilities and became better and stronger. You may have hated them at the time but now you remember them fondly. Life was exhilarating. Maybe it was going away for college. Maybe it was a new job. Maybe it was a new relationship or a commitment like marriage. Maybe you volunteered for something without thinking about how you could get it done. Or maybe you got pushed out of your comfort zone by forces that you couldn't control and you coped, grew and thrived.
Struggle makes everyone grow.
When you are stretching, nothing is comfortable and familiar. You improvise experiment and flounder. You learn. You improve. You rethink. And all the while you are changing and growing, even when you may not accomplish the original objective or feel like a success. The problem is that we are programmed for comfort and we will do whatever it takes to get back into a comfort zone, either the one we left or a new one we create at the new level we achieve. Either way it is a continuing struggle to move away from a comfort zone and into the unknown.
The Comfort Zone is a dead end!
My point with this observation is that when we are feeling comfortable and secure, we are going nowhere and maybe actually backing away from somewhere. We are accepting no challenge to the status quo, changing nothing in our lives, learning nothing new and taking no chances. Yet it feels so uncomfortable to do something new and it is so hard to stop changing course back to what feels good.
The problem with accepting your comfort zone is that it is only comfortable in the present. It will not take you to the level you need in the future and it may result in a future that is quite uncomfortable.
It's a hard job to push yourself into new and uncomfortable territory when life is so comfortable where you are. When have you pushed yourself out of a comfort zone? And how did you grow as a result?


text:
Dave Barnes
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David Barnes, 20 June 1978, North Carolina, USA. Raised in Mississippi and Tennessee, singer-songwriter Barnes showed an early interest in writing songs but was a reluctant performer. He became more confident while studying Recording Industry Management at Middle Tennessee State University, and after graduation embraced the live circuit with passion, basing himself in Nashville and quickly building up a cult following with his witty and passionate stage presence. Having built up a stockpile of original material, Barnes recorded the acoustic EP 3 4 at the start of 2002. Two tracks from the EP (Graces Amazing Hands and Nothing Fancy) were re-recorded in a full band format for the full-length Brother, Bring The Sun, released by the Columbia Records subsidiary Aware in 2004. The albums soulful brand of pop rock was similar in style to mainstream artists such as John Mayer and Gavin DeGraw, while the spiritual searching...
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text: These are my new Lavender Snakeskin Fire Tail guppies. I purchased the line from Mysteryguy on Aquabid on April 25. Here is a link to the auction and here is a link to a photogallery dedicated to the line photoshop. My plan is first to cross one of the Lavender Snakeskin males with a group of my Goleta Darts females. If I like the outcome I plan to cross a F1 male back into the purebred Lavender Snakeskin line. At this point, I'm expecting the first generation of hybrids to drop any day.


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This product will be discontinued once supplies run out.Pricing Above Reflects 40% off.Large Bags (5" x 6"): These cute little bags are made from a natural jute fiber and come with an even cuter draw string. They have an earthy look and smell- perfect for packaging your Eco Chic Soaps.
I am a newbie to the "soap making/fizzy world" but before I gave them as gifts (and sell), I did my research on packaging and wasn't thrilled on what I saw simply because it wasn't "me". So when I came across these burlap bags, this was it - they spoke to me. Earthy is the word I proudly use to describe myself and earthy are these bags. They aren't flashy but they are unique. If folks can't remember my name, they'll look for the girl that uses the cool burlap bags! They of course have that burlap scent BUT once I inserted my 8oz. Grease Monkey Soap bar scented w/Shave and a Haircut, that's all you smelled. The burlap allows the soap to breathe therefore the soap doesn't sweat.
With my fizzies, I used a sheet of tissue paper to wrap them with & carefully inserted them into the bags and they fit! The bags closed beautifully! I want to experiment with the smaller bags too. Thanks Bramble Berry!!!
Personally, I don't like these bags for a couple of reasons: First and foremost, they STINK like a petroleum based chemical, not a natural fiber at all. I washed them to try to get the smell out, and it helped a little, but not enough. Then of course I had to iron them (but that's not BB's fault). Secondly, in the picture, they look "loose" and rather thinly woven - just right for some sachets or potpourri, but they're thick, heavy and more tightly woven than the photo implies; not at all good for a potpourri in my opinion. Sorry, Brambleberry. I normally love everything I receive from you, but not this time.
Reply from Bramble Berry Hi Leigh! I'm sorry this product wasn't your favorite. Our jute bags are made with burlap, which does have a distinct smell that can be surprising if you've never smelled it before. To get rid of this smell, you can leave your bags outside in the sun or sprinkle some baking soda inside. Let that sit for several days, then shake it out. We've found these bags work great for holding soap, as seen in this Orange Slice Soaps tutorial. You may also like our organza bags. Organza bags were used in this Spicy Holiday Potpourri tutorial. I'll be emailing you personally to discuss this!
We're a friendly group who love social media. See you 'round the web!
Quantity: 1


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|Rediff India Abroad Home | All the sections
J&K: 17 injured in grenade blast
Mukhtar Ahmad In Srinagar | May 17, 2006 19:42 IST
Seventeen persons including some Bharatiya Janata Party activists were injured in a powerful hand grenade explosion late Wednesday afternoon at Doda in Jammu region.
Police said militants exploded a powerful hand grenade at village Tunwa on the outskirts of hilly Doda district where BJP activists had gathered in connection with the party meeting.
The injured were rushed to hospital for treatment. A police bus carrying school children was also passing the area at the time of the explosion whose windowpanes were smashed and luckily no childen were injured.
BJP workers in Doda have been holding meetings and rallies to protest against the massacre of 35 Hindu villagers in Doda and neighbouring Udhampur districts early in May.


text:
What my SIL said to me...
I am so glad my son is older now (11months) because now I only have to use like 3 diapers a day.
Me: Oh wow, that's really crazy, how does that work, I change my daughter 8-10 times a day (4 months)
Her: oh the diapers he is in will hold 12hours worth of stuff so I only have to change him a few times.
:banghead: Do other people really think this is ok?
Re: What my SIL said to me...
only time I go that long is through the night. But even then I don't always. I'm assuming she uses sposies..?? Even when I use them..they actually leak through the night compared to my cloth :dunno: but..on the rare occasion I use sposies with DS..I change at least every 3 hours. But I guess to each their own? :dunno:
Re: What my SIL said to me...
The look on my face would have said it all if I had been you. Yuck.
Re: What my SIL said to me...
yucky...I hate to even go 4 hours without a change...even when DS was in sposies
Re: What my SIL said to me...
So gross!
Sent from my SGH-T959 using DS Forum
Wow, I wonder if her son has rashes all of the time.
Re: What my SIL said to me...
he did not have one during the week they were visiting but she does slather on the rash cream with each change so idk
Re: What my SIL said to me...
Wow! My jaw would have dropped on that one!
Re: What my SIL said to me...
umm EWW. My 1yo wore some disposables recently and his morning one was literally
SOAKING wet. We had tons of leaks even with changing him every 2-3 hours, I cannot imagine going that long. That is just plain gross. I would be afraid my kid would smell! :yuck:
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Be honest
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Be authentic
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I believe in authenticity, in being yourself. I believe that when you communicate honestly, people listen. And when you show authenticity, people are inspired.
My work allows my clients to speak honestly and effectively, through powerful photography and compelling video.
Are you ready to tell your story?
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text: Smeg's laundry appliances use heat pump technology which conserves and re-uses hot air. This is better for the environment and makes it cheaper to run. Since it uses an energy efficient heat exchange system, the air temperature inside the drum is considerably lower than conventional dryers, which offers better protection for your clothes.


text:
Living a healthy life has become the talk of the century. These days people are more concerned about what they eat rather than just eating anything that they are served with. It is for this reason that probably you are going through this critique trying to find out whether the broccoli you are planning to shop for is of benefit to your health. Well, certainly broccoli is very important to the body as it offers a wide array of nutrients to ensure that you are healthy and happy. Below are some of the most important benefits that broccoli would have on your health.
Prevention of cancer
Broccoli is well known to contain glucoraphanin. This compound is normally processed by the body to form sulforaphane which is a compound that helps in prevention of cancer in the body. Sulforaphane ensures that the body gets rid of H. pylori as this bacterium would only lead to gastric cancer. Medics also argue that broccoli is rich in indole-3-carbinol. This is an ati-carcinogen and also an antioxidant that helps in prevention of several types of cancer including: breast cancer, prostate cancer and cervical cancer. This ability of fight cancer in the body is also evident in other vegetables e.g. Brussels sprouts, cabbage and cauliflower. Read more


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PHILADELPHIA – In a bullpen fraught with mistakes this year, Jonathan Papelbon has been a constant.
Just a month ago, many bemoaned Papelbon's decline in performance and velocity. Papelbon responded angrily, blowing off velocity as if it meant nothing. In the meantime, diminished velocity and all, Papelbon has been the Phillies' best reliever, and one of the best closers in the game this season.
He pitched a clean ninth inning in Sunday's 1-0 win against the Nationals, his ninth save of the season and 11th straight scoreless appearance. The Phillies are 11-0 in those games.
Story: Hernandez a solid fill-in for Phils
"I think his stuff has gotten better. He's got a good fastball right now," Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg said. "That makes everything else better with him. He does have a good breaking pitch and a split that he throws. I think I've seen an improved fastball since opening dDay."
Eleven games ago, Papelbon blew a save in the Phillies' opening series of the season, allowing three runs to the Rangers in a series the Phillies probably should've swept. He has been nearly perfect since, something Sandberg attributes to that fastball.
The nine saves are tied for fourth in the majors.
"He's been on a roll," Sandberg said.
Sandberg has an interesting trip to the ballpark
Streets were closed for a large portion of the afternoon Sunday in Philadelphia, as the annual Broad Street run was held. The Phillies even pushed back the start of Sundays' game to 3:05 p.m. from its usual 1:35 p.m. slot to allow traffic to subside.
The team gave all players and coaches alternate routes to the stadium. Unfortunately, Sandberg's cab struggled with the change.
The cab ended up missing an exit off I-95, ended up at the airport, then got caught in heavy traffic west of the stadium. Sandberg, frustrated, got out of the cab and walked about a mile toward the stadium before running into a Broad Street full of runners.
"No gaps," he said. "I talked to the policeman, 'I got to get to the stadium.' Got my briefcase and everything. He goes, 'well, you want to risk it, kind of get with the runners and get across.' So I actually ran about 50 feet with the runners."
Martin set for rehab assignment
For a couple weeks now, the Phillies have said injured pitcher Ethan Martin was to begin a rehab assignment soon. Sunday, it became official.
Single-A Clearwater announced Sunday afternoon that Martin had been added to its roster for the assignment. The Phillies have yet to confirm the move.
Martin, who came to the organization at the trade deadline in 2012 from the Dodgers in the Shane Victorino trade, was projected to be a starter for most of his career, but the Phillies have recently labeled him a bullpen arm. Martin struggled as a starter in his eight starts (6.54 ERA) at the major league level last season, but excelled in his seven relief appearances (3.86 ERA).
He was considered a prime candidate in spring training to make the major league bullpen, but was shut down March 1 after experiencing significant shoulder soreness. He took three weeks off from throwing, and has been building up ever since.
Extra innings
Ben Revere tripled in the third inning Sunday, his second extra-base hit of the season and his first since Apr. 8...Rollins' triple in the first inning is the 109th of his career, good for third-most among active players. Carl Crawford leads active players with 118 ... Chase Utley has reached base in 12 straight games.
Contact Chris Branch at firstname.lastname@example.com.


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This thread began at CTRN in July of 2011.
This is also called a hypnotic, psychopathic stare, from stargods.org:
The first time I saw this, I pulled back from the screen, it was so shocking, yet it almost draws you in if you're not careful. It can even be seductive if one is not on guard.
More MK'd people:
This stare as seen in these photos are what is called the psychopathic stare and or reptilian stare in psychiatry. These pictures are to give one an idea of what the actual stare looks like. Some pictures here are the real deal. Jim Morrison called himself the Lizard King (even though this actual picture is a drawing).
John and Yoko with reptilian or "psychopathic" stare:
She was probably a child abductee, put through many rituals. One can only wonder.
Ritualized, programmed, traumatized, abused
"Dr. Robert Hare wrote in his book Without Conscience that psychopaths often make very intense eye contact, or have unusually piercing eyes. Other researchers have also mentioned the "reptilian gaze" of the psychopath, resembling that of a predator about to consume his or her prey. Victims of the psychopath also often refer to the "laser beam" stare. Strangely enough, women often confuse this gaze with sexuality, and find it attractive. Many films depicting seductive yet immoral creatures such as vampires, often depict the vampire as having a very strong, psychopathic stare. Some psychologists have compared the psychopath to the vampire, or state that the psychopath has a "vampiric personality" or lifestyle, as well as being parasitic."
In the world of the occult the Reptilians are what we call psychopathic. Here is a list of traits from the same link above.
1. Superficial charm and good intelligence
2. Shallow emotions and lack of empathy, guilt, or remorse
3. Behaviours indicative of little life plan or order
4. Failure to learn from experience and absence of anxiety
5. Unreliability, insincerity, and untruthfulness
The bottom line is that there is no difference that can be found between a Reptilian and a Psychopath. The occult label for these people is Reptilian and the psychiatric term is Psychopathic. If some one you know gives you this look, then walk away! More examples below. These people may or may not be reptilians, but are offered as examples of what the "stare" looks like. It is an empty hypnotic look.
Source of stare photos: http://stargods.org/ReptilianStare.htm


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JRicochet is a simple puzzle game. It consists of a 10x10 grid which contains 5 invisible blocks. From each side, a player can shoot probes into the grid. The goal is to use a few shots as possible to find the blocks by the pattern of the probes as they ricochet.
Initial Announcement.
URL: SourceForge.net: JRicochet


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ATHENS, GREECE--(Marketwire - Nov 20, 2012) - Globus Maritime Limited ("Globus" or the "Company") (
The Company's management team will host a conference call and simultaneous internet webcast to discuss these results on Wednesday, November 28, 2012, at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time.
Conference Call Details:
Investors may access the webcast by visiting the Company's website at www.globusmaritime.gr and clicking on the webcast link. Participants may also dial into the call 10 minutes prior to the scheduled time using the following numbers: 0800-953-0329 (from the UK), 1-866-819-7111 (from the US), 00800-4413-1378 (from Greece), or +44(0)1452-542-301 (all other callers). Please quote "Globus Maritime."
A replay of the conference call will also be available until December 5, 2012 by dialing 1-866-247-4222 (from the US), 0800-953-1533 (from the UK), or +44(0)1452-550-000 (all other callers). Access Code: 36407079# In addition, a replay of the webcast will be available on the Company's website at www.globusmaritime.gr.
About Globus Maritime Limited
Globus is an integrated dry bulk shipping company that provides marine transportation services worldwide and presently owns, operates and manages a fleet of dry bulk vessels that transport iron ore, coal, grain, steel products, cement, alumina and other dry bulk cargoes internationally. Globus' subsidiaries own seven vessels with a total carrying capacity of 452,886 DWT and a weighted average age of 5.8 years as of September 30, 2012.


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Rob Snow - Founder - 2013
Executive Director, Treasurer, and Founder
Rob Snow is a native Ohioan, and graduated from Miami University in 1995. He moved to Chicago and began his comedy career in the late 90s while training at the famed Second City Theatre in Chicago, performing at comedy clubs and colleges throughout the Midwest. After three years of toiling in comedy, he decided to try his hand in the "real" world. He got the real job, real wife, and started a real family. After a 10 year hiatus from comedy, and a move back to Ohio, he decided to get back on stage in 2009. He quickly regained his comedy footing and began featuring at clubs again.
Another life changing moment happened to Rob and his family in 2009 – they had their second son Henry. Henry was born with Down Syndrome. The Snow family soon realized how amazing this little boy was, and that their lives were now moving in a different, but more exciting and fulfilling direction. Rob began using his comedy background to create a show called "We Need A Sign", which talks about the oftentimes humorous commonalities parents share in raising a child with special needs, and the obstacles we overcome to help us navigate this journey. Rob performed his first show in October 2011, and has been entertaining various special needs organizations, high schools, corporate groups and other audiences since then. He has also created two other shows based on his experiences called "Minimize The Mountain" and "How Bout...Just Treat Each Other Right." In 2014, Rob wrote a book called "What I Should Have Said" providing his wishful responses to the "interesting" things people say to those in the special needs community. On top of performing the shows and still doing some comedy, Rob is a National Account Executive for GENEX Services, Inc.
Ellen Snow - Founder - 2013
Major Events Director
Ellen grew up in the Chicago area and graduated with a BA in Public Relations in 1995 from University of Dayton. She married Rob Snow in 2000 and has two children: Charlie (born in 2004) and Henry (born in 2009). She specialized in Law Firm Malpractice in the insurance brokerage industry working at both Aon Risk Services and Marsh McLennan where she held the rank of Vice President before retiring to raise her family and move to Ohio in 2008. She also was President of a local insurance association for 8 years where she focused on marketing and networking opportunities for approximately 350 Chicago area professionals. Ellen and Rob learned of Henry's diagnosis of Down Syndrome at his birth. For the first year, Ellen focused on learning and understanding the vast maze of public services and insurance issues for individuals with special needs along with the coordination of Henry's Early Intervention services and various therapies.
She also became involved in fundraising through the Upside of Downs, a Northeast Ohio support and educational group. By 2011, Henry was thriving and Ellen graduated from Partners in Policymaking, which teaches parents and self-advocates various ways to advocate within local and federal government in an effort to change the way people with disabilities are supported, viewed, taught, live and work. She is excited to continue her advocacy and fundraising within the Down syndrome and Special Needs community as a co-founder and Board Member of Stand Up for Downs. Ellen knows that life with Henry will not always be easy, but will always be worth it.
Jay Freund - 2014
Jay Freund spent most of his life growing up in the Midwest. In 1999, Jay and his wife, Susan, settled in the Cleveland area in connection with a new professional opportunity. Susan and Jay have four kids: Nick, Katie, Michael, and Emily. Michael was born in January 2003 and immediately was diagnosed with Down Syndrome. Shortly after his birth and just before his tenth week of life, Michael had major open heart surgery. Fortunately, the health care resources in the Cleveland area are unsurpassed relative to the rest of the United States, and Michaels' surgeon was a world leader in the procedure that repaired his heart. Today, Michael is doing great and always has time to "mix it up" with his three siblings.
Jay is a graduate of Ohio Northern University (B.S.) and the Krannert Graduate School of Management at Purdue University (MBA). Jay began his career as an investment banker and has been in private equity investing for the past 18 years. The Freund's reside in Brecksville, OH and usually can be found at an athletic field or court watching their kids participating in a sporting event (that includes Michael). The Freund's have been looking for an organization that is unique within the Down Syndrome community. Stand Up For Downs is the perfect mix of passion, energy, and fun that will make a difference in the lives of many families.
Kim Bergmann - 2015
Kim was born and raised in Northeastern Ohio and graduated with her bachelor's degree from The University of Akron. She offers nineteen years of sales and marketing and has literally grown up in the healthcare industry, as her mother spent forty-five years of her career in nursing and hospital administration. Kim's career in healthcare started as the Community Relations Director for an Assisted Living and Memory Care community. In this position she planned all the marketing and sales efforts by expanding referral source base to positively impact census.
In addition to her role as the Regional Marketing Director with Generations Healthcare, Kim has been heavily involved in many healthcare associations. Kim currently serves on Westside Healthcare Organizations (WHO) and UH Bedford Senior Network and Board of Directors, Co-Chair of UH Bedford Golf Outing from 2011 – 2013 and Membership Committee 2014. She is an active member of the Parma Resource Network and Eldercare Professionals of Ohio and throughout her career has won multiple awards in healthcare marketing, including the Cleveland Clinic's Community Development Award (2010) and the Positive Impressions Award (2011).
Kim's life was touched by Down syndrome in 1997 when her niece Kendall was born with Down syndrome. Their family was filled with so many emotions as well as the initial shock and uncertainty that many families experience. However a simple fact remained that through any ups and downs, this little girl would be loved and supported by the entire family. Kendall is now 17 years old and is becoming a beautiful young woman that touches everyone she encounters. Kim is excited to be the newest board member of Stand Up for Downs and fundraising for the Down syndrome community.
In her free time, she loves being active with her family at sporting events, skiing and traveling. She values her time with her husband Mike and her two beautiful children that they adopted from Guatemala, Madison, 10 and Mason, 8 and of course cannot forget the family dog a 4 lb. Chihuahua Charlie.
Jennifer Johnson Palmer - 2016
Past Board Members
We'd like to extend a huge thank you to all of our past board members for helping us get where we are today. Without your support, passion, skills, and efforts we would not be the organization we have become. We know you will continue to better this world in many different and profound ways.
Shon Christy 2013-2014
Jennifer Towell 2013-2014
Josh Womack 2013-2014
Cody Heeney 2013-2015


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January 2017
What if you could play your university-aged kids at their own game and enjoy a gap year style adventure of your own? Travel writer Chris Beanland has scoured the globe to find the bucket list trips worth taking.
Explore otherworldly landscapes in Chile
South America's longest country stretches hundreds of miles down the continent's west coast and packs a real punch for the adventurous. Spy llamas, lizards, canyons and copper mines in the inhospitable Atacama Desert, then explore the sweeping spaces of Patagonia, where the weather is colder and sea birds flock as you near the bottom of South America and the sea. From Punta Arenas, Chile's furthest outpost, the intrepid can join a week-long cruise into the heart of Antarctica, or fly to the South Pole – truly the ultimate journey of a lifetime.
City of Gold
On the outskirts of the city of excess, there are thrills to be had. Book a Dubai desert safari and jump aboard a mammoth 4x4 hurtling down cliffs of golden dunes, skidding on the sand – it's not for the faint hearted.Book a trip to Dubai
Instagram-worthy snap on the Hollywood Hills
Pit stopping in Los Angeles or there for a far-flung adventure? Whatever the reason, earn serious Insta-envy with a hike up the Hollywood Hills. Spot celebrities, get some fresh air, indulge in breath-taking views or take the opportunity for that perfect picture.Explore Los Angeles
Living on the edge
Head to Capilano Suspension Bridge Park where you can take a hair-raising walk on a thin bridge 140m long and 70m above the river skimming the tops of fir trees with snow-capped mountains of the Canadian Rockies in the distance.Discover Canada
Prepare for adventure in South Africa
Majestic South Africa will bring your senses to life. Cape Town is the place to start your adventure with a four-hour hike up Table Mountain. Then head to Cape Point and the very edge of the world, via Boulder Beach, with its comical waddling penguins. Stellenbosch is nearby, and is perfect for a wine tasting weekend. Add an Avis car to your booking and follow the famous Garden Route up the coast towards Port Elizabeth. No African adventure would be complete without a safari. Pilanesburg National Park is our tip, thanks to its compact size – so you see more game – and how easy it is to reach from cosmopolitan Johannesburg by car.
Anticipate sensory thrills in Japan
The sights, sounds and smells of Tokyo are unlike anything else in the world. This throbbing metropolis is the perfect start to a Japanese thrill ride. Indulge in karaoke, shopping, and a Lost In Translation whisky in the bar at the skyscraper of the Park Hyatt Tokyo Then take the world-famous bullet train, with its Pinocchio-esque nose, white paint job and sacrosanct timetabling. Osaka is dominated by historic buildings, including its castle, while Kyoto is home to some of the most sumptuous temples in Japan. The bullet train continues to Hiroshima, and its sobering dome preserved from the ruins of the atomic attack of 1945.
Did you know? Our partnership with Japan Airlines, Finnair and Iberia means that we have more flights to more destinations in Japan. Fly to Tokyo direct and take advantage of free connections on destinations across Japan with Japan Airlines.
Go large in the land of the free
Everything's bigger in California, from the burgers to the sunsets. Add an Avis car to your booking and get a feel for this sublime state on a coastal journey starting from San Diego running north to San Francisco Bay and the Golden Gate Bridge. Stop off at Los Angeles and embrace the glamour of the movies with tours of the Warner Brothers Studios backlot and the homes of the stars in the Hollywood Hills. Follow Highway 101 up through Oxnard's wine country and the laidback surfer hangout of Big Sur. Cut through Silicon Valley, where a new future is being created, before finishing up in San Francisco, with a boat cruise to Alcatraz Island.
Fog City
California is one of the top road tripping destinations in the US. The Golden Gate Bridge, in San Francisco, is 1.7 miles long with six driving lanes and is often obscured with fog due to hot inland air meeting cold ocean air at the Golden Gate passage into the Bay area.Fly to San Francisco
Go into the wild in Canada
While the Rocky Mountains stare down at you before you've even left Vancouver, it's worth lingering in this hip city to explore historic Gastown or test your nerve on the Capilano Suspension Bridge. If you're craving bigger thrills, add an Avis hire car to your booking and set off eastwards, thinking about the early settlers coming the other way as you traverse the immense Rockies. Follow Highway 1 through the incredible scenery of Kamloops and Banff – a great place to stop for a few nights of hiking (summer) or skiing (winter) – and you'll eventually come to the up-and-coming cowboy city of Calgary.
Happy Valley
The Uco valley's wineries are situated at a high altitude, producing an elegant taste that attracts many wine enthusiasts – their interpretations of the Malbec grape is Uco's number one attraction. It's well regarded as the most unspoilt wine region.Explore Buenos Aires
Birds of a feather
African penguins at Cape Rock, South Africa, are the only penguins found on the African continent, and they attract around 60,000 visitors a year to Boulder's Beach. There were once one and a half million birds in the region but today they're an endangered species, with only 26,000 breeding pairs.Book flights to Cape Town
Bloomin' lovely
Cherry blossom season sees millions of visitors flock to Japan to see the otherworldly, sakura provide a carpet of pink and white petals on the streets. Osaka castle dates back to 1597 and is one of the most popular places to see the blossom, with the building seeming to float on a cloud of petals.Things to do in Tokyo
Satisfy your stomach in South America
Start in Buenos Aires with a night of tapas and tango in the riotous capital of Argentina, the city that author Borges called home and which inspired dozens of artists, writers and even footballers. For a real taste of Argentina, head west into the winelands around Mendoza and the Uco Valley. Many wineries let you stay the night, like super modern Bodegas Salentein, which also boasts the Killka Gallery by architects Bórmida & Yanzón. It's essential, of course, to eat bife de chorizo roasted on an asado grill, and drink a glass of ruby-red Malbec at a place like Club Tapiz as you watch a million stars crowd the cloudless sky.
Conquer the desert in sand city
Dubai is more than just a collection of skyscrapers in the desert. This city has malls, waterparks, a brand new Design District, countless luxury hotels and even history around its old creek and souk. If you want to some of the real Arabia why not join a Dubai Desert Hummer Adventure where you can get out of the city and see the rolling sand dunes up close and personal. The day ends with a selection of barbecued meats. For fans of cars and art, tag on a trip to Abu Dhabi, with its new Louvre (opening in 2017) and Ferrari World theme park.


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Former Chairman of Pennsylvania Investment Banking Firm Pleads Guilty in Manhattan Federal Court to Insider Trading
|U.S. Attorney's Office February 10, 2011
PREET BHARARA, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that RICHARD A. HANSEN, a former chairman of The Keystone Equities Group ("Keystone Equities"), pled guilty yesterday in Manhattan federal court to conspiracy and securities fraud charges in connection with his participation in an insider trading scheme. HANSEN pled guilty before U.S. District Judge PAUL A. CROTTY.
According to the information previously filed and the statements made during the guilty plea proceeding:
From June 2006 through September 2006, while he was chairman of Keystone Equities, HANSEN made stock purchases based on material, non-public information ("Inside Information"). HANSEN received the Inside Information from an individual named DONNA MURDOCH, who in turn obtained the Inside Information from JAMES GANSMAN. GANSMAN had access to the Inside Information because of his employment as a partner at the accounting firm Ernst & Young.
On June 20, 2006, GANSMAN informed MURDOCH that he had learned that Advanced Microdevices, Inc. ("AMD") and ATI Technologies ("ATI") were in discussions concerning AMD's potential acquisition of ATI. MURDOCH thereafter tipped HANSEN about the impending acquisition and informed HANSEN that GANSMAN was working on the transaction. On June 23, 2006, HANSEN purchased or caused to be purchased 1,000 shares of ATI in two brokerage firm accounts in his daughters' names. On July 24, 2006, ATI and AMD jointly announced that an AMD subsidiary would acquire all of ATI's outstanding common stock. On that same day, ATI's stock price climbed to a 52-week high of $19.69 before closing at $19.67—up nearly 19 percent from its previous day's close. HANSEN thereafter sold or caused to be sold the ATI stock in his daughters' accounts, realizing profits of almost $10,000.
Additionally, on June 23, 2006, GANSMAN learned that Ernst & Young had been retained by the Blackstone Group in connection with a possible acquisition of Freescale Semiconductor Corporation. Between June 23, 2006, and July 18, 2006, GANSMAN gave information to MURDOCH concerning this impending transaction. MURDOCH then tipped HANSEN about the Freescale deal, including that GANSMAN was working on it. On July 18, 2006, HANSEN purchased Freescale stock through two brokerage firm accounts held in his daughters' names. On September 11, 2006, a wire service reported that Freescale would be acquired by an investment consortium led by Ernst & Young client Blackstone, and Freescale publicly announced it was "in discussions with parties relating to a possible business transaction." That day, Freescale's stock price rose to a 52-week high of $37.18 before closing at $37.06, up 20.5 percent from its previous trading day's close of $30.75. Approximately four days later, Freescale announced that it had entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by a private equity consortium led by Blackstone. Shortly after the acquisition announcement, HANSEN sold or caused to be sold the Freescale shares he had purchased in his daughters' accounts, realizing a profit of over $20,000.
* * *
HANSEN, 71, of Pennsylvania, faces a statutory maximum sentence of 25 years in prison.
MURDOCH previously pled guilty to securities fraud and other crimes pursuant. Her sentence is pending. GANSMAN was convicted by a jury of six counts of securities fraud and was sentenced to one year and one day in prison.
Mr. BHARARA praised the work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and thanked the SEC for its assistance in the investigation of this case.
This case was brought in coordination with President BARACK OBAMA's Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force, on which Mr. BHARARA serves as a co-chair of the Securities and Commodities Fraud Working Group. President OBAMA established the interagency Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force to wage an aggressive, coordinated, and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. The task force includes representatives from a broad range of federal agencies, regulatory authorities, inspectors general, and state and local law enforcement who, working together, bring to bear a powerful array of criminal and civil enforcement resources. The task force is working to improve efforts across the federal executive branch, and with state and local partners, to investigate and prosecute significant financial crimes, ensure just and effective punishment for those who perpetrate financial crimes, combat discrimination in the lending and financial markets, and recover proceeds for victims of financial crimes.
Assistant U.S. Attorney VIRGINIA CHAVEZ ROMANO is in charge of the prosecution.


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- Age / Gender:
- 30, Female
- Location:
- Las Vegas, NV
- Joined:
- 8/10/07
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User Statshot
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Level 15 Musician
Normal Whistle
Ranked as Civilian
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I Did Went To Go Rated 3.7400 Stars It is a green man going through the intestines, only to run into an eyeball. Experimental Dear Bear Rated 4.3000 Stars Two bears send each other letters through a chimney. Stop motion. Drama PSI Boogie Rated 3.6300 Stars Dance the night away! Music Video Technical Dave-Art School Rated 4.1600 Stars An ongoing telling of my life in art school. Comedy - Original
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Nodiatis Rated 3.4800 Stars 2D MMORPG w/ Classes, Clans, PvP, Crafting, Trading, Arenas Adventure - RPG A Dance of Fire and Ice Rated 4.1800 Stars The second hardest one-button rhythm game you will ever play. Rhythm Folds -- Origami Game Rated 4.2000 Stars Folds is an origami puzzle game with a relaxing theme. Puzzles - Other Deep Sea Hunter Rated 4.0900 Stars You're in charge of a submarine on it's quest to reach the deepest ends of the ocean. Action - Other
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Being generous! 5 Points Give John some money. Medal Stats.
IRON 5 Points Find iron. Medal Stats.
COAL 5 Points Find coal. Medal Stats.
Start off your adventure! 5 Points Enter Utopia. Medal Stats.
Total Medals Earned: 4 (From 1 different game.)