Vicsmuse

Friday, January 13, 2012

Samantha Garvey Semifinalists in the National Intel Science Search

Samantha Garvey

By Greg Cergol

NBCNewYork.com

The family of a Long Island homeless teen recently named one of the top science students in the nation will now have a home to call their own.

Samantha Garvey, 17, is among 61 Long Island teens designated as semifinalists in the National Intel Science Search.

The Garvey family was evicted from their home in December after the teen's parents were injured in a car crash. Samantha, along with her mom, dad and two siblings, moved into a homeless shelter in Bay Shore two weeks ago.

"My dad has always said, 'Pick your head up and keep on going,'" the Brentwood High School teen told NBC New York. "That's the mentality."

Local government officials and members of the community have rallied to help the family, and during a Friday news conference, Suffolk County officials offered the family a rent-subsidized home. County Executive Steve Bellone said Garvey and her family could move into the house in about 10 days.

Garvey said this was the second time the family had to move to a shelter. Being homeless "has always been a motivator for me," she said.

That motivation has driven Garvey to become an honors student applying for admission to Brown University, among others, even as she struggled to find the cash to pay for her application.

"You can sit around and mope, but what's that going to get you?" Garvey said.

The teen found relief in the 2½-year scientific study that culminated in her Intel entry.

The study focused on the effects of predators on mussels, and the work took her to a Long Island salt marsh and a research lab at Stony Brook University — all as she faced obstacles at home.

"Sam has the ability to focus amidst all of her troubles," said teacher Rebecca Grella. "Even in the darkness, she sees the light."

"I tell all my customers about her," said dad Leo Garvey, now working as a cab driver.

"We are so proud of her," said mom Olga Garvey, now working at a local hospital.

Samantha Garvey aspires to be a marine biologist. She hopes for more good news later this month, when Intel names its finalists for the competition's top prize of $100,000.

This report was updated by msnbc.com

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Also see

http://www.newsday.com/opinion/samantha-garvey-s-amazing-grit-1.3448636

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Two Works by Artist Katie Paterson

Katie Paterson

Streetlight Storm - Deal Pier

For one month on Deal Pier in Kent, during the hours of darkness, the pier lamps flicker in time with lightning strikes happening live in different parts of the world. Lightning signals from as far away as the North Pole or North Africa are received by an antenna on the pier and translated into light. As the pattern of lightning strikes changes, so the pier lights oscillate correspondingly.

"Standing on Deal Pier, sound of the sea crashing on the beach, pier lights flicker, sudden pools of light, messages from elsewhere. Katie Paterson has made another great work - strange, connected, beautiful and timeless." Andrew Nairne

http://katiepaterson.org/streetlightstorm/

Earth–Moon–Earth (Moonlight Sonata Reflected from the Surface of the Moon)

http://katiepaterson.org/eme/

More at:

http://katiepaterson.org/

Last Interview of Ken Saro-Wiwa

Ken Saro-Wiwa

Last interview - part one

Last interview - part two

Nigeria & Oil

More at:

http://remembersarowiwa.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Saro-Wiwa

http://platformlondon.org/nigeria/Counting_the_Cost.pdf

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Seven Quotes by Rachel Carson

Rachel Carson

“Over increasingly large areas of the United States, spring now comes unheralded by the return of the birds, and the early mornings are strangely silent where once they were filled with the beauty of bird song.”

“As crude a weapon as the cave man's club, the chemical barrage has been hurled against the fabric of life.”

“If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder without any such gift from the fairies, he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement and mystery of the world we live in.”

“Those who dwell among the beauties and mysteries of the earth are never alone or weary of life.”

“In every out-thrust headland, in every curving beach, in every grain of sand there is the story of the earth.”

“For the first time in the history of the world, every human being is now subjected to contact with dangerous chemicals, from the moment of conception until death.”

“In an age when man has forgotten his origins and is blind even to his most essential needs for survival, water along with other resources has become the victim of his indifference.”

More at:
http://www.rachelcarson.org/

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Eleven Folk Songs for the Accordion

Dark Eyes

Yablochka (Little Apple) Russian Sailor's Dance

Kalina Krasnaya

Uma Linda Valsa (A Beautiful Waltz)

Bella Ciao (The song Bella Ciao was sung by the left-wing anti-fascist resistance movement in Italy.)

O Emigrante

Valenki (traditional Russian felt winter boots)

"Mon Amant de St Jean"

Scottish (Le Canal en Octobre)

A Rosinha dos Limões

Milaya - A Russian Gypsy song

Friday, January 6, 2012

Maurice Ravel -Three Minuets

Maurice Ravel

Menuet sur le nom de Haydn (Composed 1909). Werner Haas, piano. Music is set to a scene from Girl Shy (1924), a silent film starring Harold Lloyd and Jobyna Ralston.