Seeing the sites (day 176)

bacterial update:  I think I nearly killed my kombucha scoby.  To brew the new batch I used the baby from the previous batch.  It may have been too thin when I put it in because when I looked at it on Thursday it was looking kinda strange (lots of tiny bubbles on the surface...kinda of like scoby acne) and the smell was intense, quite yeasty and vinegary at the same time.  Surfing a bit on the happyherbalist site I started  having a suspicion that the yeasts were taking over because there wasn't enough bacteria in my scoby to compete.  Luckily I had saved the momma.  Yesterday I did a switch.  Things seem much better now (for both of them).  Not sure what this means for the current brew or the new baby that will form.  Perhaps I'll keep brewing with the momma for a few batches until I build up two good-sized scobys. After things going so well the last time, I felt a bit brought back down to earth.
I offered some of my Pu-Erh kombucha to my brother and his brother-in-law (who brews his own beer and cider).  They both loved the taste but said the nose could use some help.  Perhaps the pH was a little too low because they both pointed to a slight vinegar smell.
And in other news,  I now have a few kombucha followers on twitter.  It's a little community forming.

It's hard to believe CODE Live closes tomorrow.  It's been such a huge success and I wish it would continue for another week (btw, I recommend seeing the CODE motion pictures online).  I did manage to get to the Vancouver Public Library CODE Live 3 site today finally.  I really loved it.   The video installation outside is a very interesting set up with low benches and logs and built-in speakers into a large wooden structure that also encompasses the screen.  Even though it was a bright sunny day I could still see the video and the sounds was excellent.  I watched about 20 minutes of fun quirky sport related videos before I went in to see the rest of the exhibition.  I had seen documentation of David Rokeby's piece 'Seen' but seeing it live was a completely different experience.  It was fascinating to see the patterns of movement and stillness in the library space.  To see the flow lines of people in and out even though it was really quiet when I was there.  I then went down to see 'Sacred Touch' by Ranjit Makkuni from India.  This may have been the most memorable experience I've had of CODE Live.  Maybe it was partially my state of mind or the fact that I was alone in the exhibit.   I was touched by the blend of spirituality and technology that was done in such a basic and grounded way.  Particularly charming was a rotating screen interface mounted on an embossed silver base.  As I walked around the post, rotating the screen,  a panorama of the Ganges was revealed with occasionally triggered snippets of text and video.  Having been to Nepal I was viscerally reminded of the prayer wheels and the ritualistic circumambulation of the temples.   The experience was varied enough on each turn that I did several full rotations.  There was another screen showing some textile and object interfaces to interactive media.  I loved the interfaces requiring prolonged touch of symbols embroidered or printed onto fabric.  There was also an egg-like object with buttons that was quite compelling.   The whole exhibit felt really embodied and I felt good as I left the Vancouver Public Library, as if I'd visited a new place.

Other highlights for today were seeing acrobat acts at the Quebec House, and going on a video bus ride as part of Paul Wong's 5 projects.  I'm still digesting the video bus ride a bit but the part that stood out the most was the juxtaposition of spectacles of real and imagined horror.  For example,  a mash-up of scene from "Snakes on a Plane" where Paul startles us with rubber snakes, followed by a news report of the horror of Tim McLean's death where Paul retroactively startles us by selling Nestea and toilet paper (the choice buys of the killer) before we got on the bus.  It ends with a video of the aftermath of a car crash with the sound of one of the car horns blaring for the duration -- a sort of anxiety inducing virtual rubber-necking.

A song for this post.