Happy Halloween!

Porphyria! The Mystery of the Vampire Myth Explained 

TPG CLASSIC - REPOST from 31st October 2008.

Teeth lengthened by receding gums glow in the shaded valleys of the Carpathian basin. The genetic milieu of the Visigoths, Huns, Carpians, and Slavic peoples have swirled over centuries as granite crags pushed populations into shallow gene pools. A ghoulish thing of legend emerged from Transylvania and has since soaked literature and pop-culture with a reddish froth. Science and medicine have given us reason not to fear for our necks in a story that is truly stranger than fiction...

The glowing teeth mentioned earlier occur because of an accumulation of light sensitive molecules called porphyrins in victims of a rare genetic disease. Porphyria affects one of the steps in heme production. A heme is the chemical group that holds iron atoms in their proper position in hemoglobin (the protein of blood). The name "porphyria" came from the Greek words for purple and pigment. Victims of this disease have an uncanny similarity to historical descriptions of vampires and phenotypes of this disease have been suggested as possible explanation for the origin of vampire legends.

Mal-formed porphyrin molecules accumulate in affected people's skin and teeth. When activated by light these molecules activate oxygen molecules into destructive radicals that can wreak havoc on surrounding tissue. When exposed to light individuals appear to be burned with caustic lesions left on their skin. Enter: Nosferatu's pale countenance shrieking in terror as the sun rises.

Though no blood-lust is reported by sufferers some historians speculate that drinking the blood of animals may have been attempted as a folk remedy in treating the disease. It has since been proven that the heme molecule is in fact robust enough to survive digestion indicating that replenishing mal-formed blood molecules by drinking blood may indeed help those that happen to exhibit anemia in conjunction with porphyria. When watching vampire movies the whole garlic premise never made any sense to me. Why couldn't you use mushrooms, or cinnamon, or toothbrushes to scare away vampires? What was it about garlic. With the Porphyria hypothesis in mind it makes sense however. Garlic has vasso-dilator chemicals and is reported to exacerbate the affects of porphyria. Sufferers may have learned to avoid it indeed!

In the genetically secluded valleys of Transylvania it is not hard to imagine disorders like these occurring more than expected in a diverse population. Before the renaissance and the spread of the scientific revolution a vampire myth may have grown from accounts of these individuals with their glowing long teeth, aversion to sun and garlic, and maybe even sucking blood in the night!

Your Inner Fish

This interview is from 2008 and I just now discovered it after searching for some inspiration over at the Scientific American Blog Network. Thanks to Guilty Planet blog for showing me this fantastic interview with Neil Shubin, author of Your Inner Fish.

The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive

Obama Opens the Gates on American Education

I am in Munich, Germany at the moment. I've met people from all over Germany and the rest of Europe here at the Oktoberfest celebrations. I am constantly impressed with the number of languages all Europeans seem to speak with ease. Though I question the status and rigor of education in the United States I do not think we are at the point of no return. Watching President Obama make his address this week fills me with pride at the continued promise of America. There are many among my close friends who say "the American Dream is over." To them I say Nay, it is alive, changing, adapting. And education is portal to see the metamorphosis. Bully for you Obama!

Pleaching a Plant Palace... and a Meat House?

I like the idea of a "Pleached" plant matrix for the outer shell of the home. However, I'm not sure the meat house is scalable in the real world.

Post from Wakkerzeel, Belgium!

Where am I and What am I doing?  I am staying with good friends, Kristiaan and Mieke at their home in Wakerzeel, Belgium.

Kristiaan is a special person in my life as his name inspired my Mother to spell my name as she did – Kristopher. My mother met Kristiaan as he was one of the 17 children in the host family that took her in as she did a semester abroad in Antwerp, Belgium while at SUNY Fredonia in the 1960s. Fredonia happens to be my alma mater as well J.

What have we learned in one day here? On the way from the airport in Brussels to Wakkerzeel (the village of his lovely home) he explained how the roads were commissioned in 1750 by the Empress of Belgium, Maria Terezia to be very straight and aligned from church steeple to church steeple.  This was also the year that the first map of Belgium was completed – was a state secret as any army that obtained a copy could use it to invade – yet somehow Kristiaan has managed to obtain a copy of this map J Along the route home we stopped at “Bols” a wholesaler of mussels to buy 6 kilos of the delectibe shelfish . The young man scooping the mussels was quick to point out that the mussels we were about to enjoy originated in Holland.  When he announced this Kristiaan seemed surprised yet we enjoyed the mussels in all their flavorful glory nonetheless..  We also crossed a canal which Kristian said was also commissioned in 1750 we followed the road along the canal to Wakkerzeel through Haacht and a town named Wespellar - “where the wasps go.”  Here there is a huge walled grounds with a large arboretum that is opened once a year. This land is owned and operated by the family that originally owned Stella Artois.  Kristiaan seemed to think the family was not involved with the brewing any longer.  Speaking of brewing, while we passed through the town of Haacht we also observed a large and intricate set of new brick buildings – the Haacht Brewery.

When we arrived at the stand-alone row house of Kristiaan and Mieke we were greeted by Mieke who was busy with her daughter Saskia making preparations for the wedding of Kristiaan and Mieke on August  20th. Keep in mind that Kristiaan and Mieke are in their 60s and are getting married after 7 years living together as it will make things easier if anything were to happen to either one of them.  A wedding is a wonderful excuse to send out a quorum call to a family of 17 siblings anyhow. I am surely getting excited to experience this wedding as it will be an all day event at the local “feast hall” here in Wakkerzeel. 

Stay tuned for more stories from Flanders as they happen :) If you have any questions for this traveling disscussion please comment and I will query the Flemish perspectives.

Aldo Leopold Center

Speaking of permaculture... I visited the "shack" of Aldo Leopold today in Baraboo, Wisconsin. This site might be one of the first attempts at modern "permaculture."

It was a muggy mosquito-laden day biking through the oaks, chestnuts, and pines on the way to the birthplace of  A Sand County Almanac, a classic in conservation ecology. I had seen video footage of the site this past earth-day at a screening of Green Fire. being here in person I gained an appreciation of what a family-man Aldo Leopold was. Walking around the fire pit and reading circle, I saw how the proactive conservation at the shack was team-oriented, family-centered. They changed the once-cleared farmland back into a thriving Oak savannah. The variety of birds darting through these carefully spaced trees is dizzying. This family created a living legacy beyond written words they left their mark, their secular "spirit" in the physical plane, in the growing ecosystem that germinated decades ago, in their minds. Being there I sensed how this was a family of survivors. 

One of the most striking artifacts in the Center was a beautiful hand-crafted bow Leopld had made. Apparently, the entire Leopold family were accomplished archers. Aldo's wife Estella was the best shot as she won the state archery championship! A family of trained hunters does not go hungry :)

Here is a video clip from my pilgrimage. 

The river I speak of is the Baraboo River and the living daughter or Aldo and Estella Leopold is Estella B. Leopold - professor emeritus of botany at the University of Washington, Seattle.
 

Permaculture

I posted this interview with Mark Shepard of Forest Agriculture Enterprises a few months ago. With today's feature in the New York Times on the rise of "Permaculture" I thought it appropriate to revisit. I can not emphasize enough how empowering this video is for me. After watching in-depth I have been turned on to several new ideas, like producing food energy by planting perennial rather than annual crops. I am inspired to plant forest gardens filled with hazelnut trees! I highly encourage my readers to take the time to watch. And for those of you of the skeptical mindset I am right there with you. When something sounds to good to be true, it usually is. If you have counter arguments to Mark Shepard's philosophy please share.

106 Acre Profitable Permaculture Farm - Interview with Owner Mark Shepard from The Socio Capitalist on Vimeo.

Spirits of Iron - Creative metalwork

Passing through  Elbe, Washington on our nomadic adventures we came upon these metal sculptures.  Truck hitches as elk chins and monkey-wrenches as Moose legs, these random acts of creativity embody the DIY fronteir art mentality of this American west. Happy to see these spirits thriving. Hats off to the artist - Dan Klennert. Worth the stop.

Real-Time History from Dad

I see that someone from Endicott, New York is reading Tom Paine's Ghost.  I tell my father this and immediately he says.

Did you know IBM started there?

Also, Endicott-Johnson Shoe Company started there.

The things that you learn when you talk to Dad

Just a quick series of possibly-interconnected points from an early-morning conversation with my father.

My Dad opens the paper and says

"Do you like NASCAR? I don't see the appeal."

I say "No, seems like a boring way to spend our precious time."

Dad - "You know, the origin of race-cars in the US was guys trying to supe-up their cars in order to out-run the cops with bootleg booze."

Me - "Wow, I did not know that."

Dad - "Did you know that the term bootlegging came from smugglers who snuck booze around in hip flasks tied to their shins under high leather boots?"

Me - "I can't say that I did.."

Dad - "You know that smuggling alcohol has played a huge role in American History right from the start? George Washington had to deal with frontier-men from Western Pennsylvania in his administration as president. These people were upset with the first real federal tax - a whiskey tax - and were starting to get violent with the federal tax-man. Our first violent civil conflict was the Whiskey Rebellion."

Me (having just traveled to mount Vernon last week) - "Do you think George Washington ever seized the 'contraband' whiskey?"

Dad - "I don't know."

Me - "I only ask because I noticed at Mount Vernon a bit of information that may be applicable. One display pointed-out that George Washington would often enter a tavern and pay everyone's bar tab to gain political favor. I am wondering if Washington had a deal with the tavern-keepers to supply them barrels of whiskey if they made it appear as if he was being generous."

Dad - "I guess we'll never know ;)"