The Sandman - Vertigo Comics

The Sandman is a comic book series written by Neil Gaiman and published by DC Comics. Beginning with issue #47, it was placed under the imprint Vertigo. It chronicles the adventures of Dream of The Endless, who rules over the world of dreams, in 75 issues. It was published from 1989 until 1996. Gaiman's contract stipulated that the series would end when he left it.

The Sandman was one of Vertigo's flagship titles, and is available as a series of ten trade paperbacks. It has also been reprinted in a recolored four-volume Absolute hardcover edition with slipcase. Critically acclaimed, The Sandman was the only comic to ever win the World Fantasy Award, and is one of the few comic books ever to be on the New York Times Best Seller list, along with Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns. It was one of five comics to make Entertainment Weekly's "100 best reads from 1983 to 2008", ranking at 46. Norman Mailer described the series as "a comic book for intellectuals."

The Sandman's main character is Dream, the Lord of Dreams, who is essentially the anthropomorphic personification of dreams. The storylines primarily take place in the Dreaming, Morpheus's realm, and the waking world, with occasional visits to other domains, such as Hell, Faerie, Asgard, and the domains of the other Endless. 

The Sandman was initially published as a monthly serial, in 32-page comic books (with some exceptions to this pattern). As the series quickly increased in popularity, DC Comics began to reprint them in hardcover and paperback editions, each representing either a complete novel or a collection of related short stories.

DC first published "The Doll's House" storyline in a collection called simply The Sandman. Shortly thereafter, the first three volumes were published and named independently and also collected in an eponymous boxed set.

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Seasons of Mists

The issues in the collection first appeared in 1990 and 1991. The collection first appeared in paperback and hardback in 1992. The title is the opening phrase of John Keats' "Ode to Autumn".

It introduces Endless siblings Destiny and Delirium, and features Thor, Odin and Loki from Norse mythology; Anubis and Bast from Egyptian mythology; Susanoo-no-mikoto from Japanese mythology; Lucifer and the Angels Duma and Remiel from Christianity; Shivering Jemmy, a Lord of Chaos with the body of a child and the mind of a monster; Kilderkin, a Lord of Order who takes the form of a cardboard box, and the fairies Cluracan and Nuala, who will play important roles in later stories. Season of Mists marks the introduction of the Norse gods for the first time in the series.

Season of Mists is the first appearance of one of the central themes of the series, that of rules and responsibilities and whether we can lay them down. The gathering of the Endless family which opens the book makes the second reference to the "prodigal", an Endless sibling who abandoned his realm and responsibilities. The family gathering leads to Dream deciding that he must return to the underworld to right a wrong he committed, an event which triggers a major plot arc throughout the series.

Morpheus leaves his realm to travel to the underworld, where he imprisoned his former lover Nada, to release her. Having previously departed the realm with it very angry with him (in the first collection, Preludes and Nocturnes), Morpheus is apprehensive about the task. He sets about it, wanting to do what is right, but prepared for a confrontation which he knows he may lose.

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Vertigo - DC Comics

Vertigo is an imprint of the American comic-book publisher DC Comics. Its books are marketed to a late-teen and adult audience, and may contain graphic violence, substance abuse, frank (but not explicit) depictions of sexuality, profanity, and controversial subjects. Although many of its releases are in the horror and fantasy genres, it also publishes works dealing with crime, social satire, speculative fiction, and biography. Each issue's cover carries the advisory label "Suggested for mature readers" (regardless of a specific issue's content). As of 2010, Karen Berger is the executive editor of the imprint, and has overseen it since its inception in 1993.

Vertigo comics series have won the comics industry's Eisner Award, including the Best Continuing Series of various years (Sandman, Preacher, 100 Bullets and Fables). Several of its publications have been adapted to film, including Hellblazer, A History of Violence, Stardust, and V for Vendetta.

 

Long-running titles

Hellblazer (274 issues to date)

Swamp Thing Vol.2 (171 issues)

100 Bullets (100 issues)

Fables (100 issues to date)

Animal Man (89 issues)

Doom Patrol Vol.2 (87 issues)

The Sandman (75 issues)

The Books of Magic (75 issues plus sequel series)

Lucifer (75 issues)

Sandman Mystery Theatre (70 issues)

Shade, the Changing Man (70 issues)

Preacher (66 issues plus tie-ins)

Transmetropolitan (60 issues)

The Dreaming (60 issues)

Y: The Last Man (60 issues)

DMZ (comics) (60 issues)

The Invisibles (59 issues over three volumes)

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"I'm not blessed, or merciful. I'm just me. I've got a job to do, and I do it. Listen: even as we're talking, I'm there for old and young, innocent and guilty, those who die together and those who die alone. I'm in cars and boats and planes; in hospitals and forests and abbatoirs. For some folks death is a release, and for others death is an abomination, a terrible thing. But in the end, I'm there for all of them."
Death, talking about herself, in Dream Country.

Kanye West: Runaway [My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy]

Kanye West
My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Rolling Stone - 5 Stars

"My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is his most maniacally inspired music yet, coasting on heroic levels of dementia, pimping on top of Mount Olympus."

Runaway
Runaway is a 35-minute long, short film directed by Kanye West. It serves as the music video for the song of the same name. The film depicts a romantic relationship between a man and a half-woman, half-phoenix, and is set to music by Kanye West, most of which is from his album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.

It was filmed in Prague over the period of four days in the summer of 2010. West describes the video as an "overall representation of what he dreams and a parallel to his music career". According to model Selita Ebanks, who co-stars in the video, the moral is, "the world doesn't accept, or they try to change, what is different, instead of trying to understand it." On a personal note, I totally agree with that sentiment. Bill

The Pacific Century (1992)

The Pacific Century was a 1992 PBS Emmy Award winning ten part documentary series narrated by Peter Coyote about the rise of the Pacific Rim economies. Alex Gibney was the writer for the series, and Frank Gibney, his father, wrote the companion volume, The Pacific Century: America and Asia in a Changing World. The series was a co-production of the Pacific Basin Institute and KCTS-TV in Seattle.

Episodes:

1. The Two Coasts of China: Asia and the Challenge of the West
2. The Meiji Revolution
3. From the Barrel of a Gun
4. Writers and Revolutionaries
5. Reinventing Japan
6. Inside Japan, Inc.
7. Big Business and the Ghost of Confucius
8. The Fight for Democracy
9. Sentimental Imperialists: America in Asia
10. The Pacific Century: The Future of the Pacific Basin

Frontline: God In America

Frontline: God In America, 6 hours over 3 nights, Oct 11-13, 2010

Since the days when the Puritan "city on a hill" beckoned on the horizon of the New World, religious faith and belief have forged America's ideals, molded its identity and shaped its sense of mission at home and abroad.

For the first time on television, God in America explores the tumultuous 400-year history of the intersection of religion and public life in America, from the first European settlements to the 2008 presidential election. A co-production of AMERICAN EXPERIENCE and FRONTLINE, this six-hour series examines how religious dissidents helped shape the American concept of religious liberty and the controversial evolution of that ideal in the nation's courts and political arena; how religious freedom and waves of new immigrants and religious revivals fueled competition in the religious marketplace; how movements for social reform -- from abolition to civil rights -- galvanized men and women to put their faith into political action; and how religious faith influenced conflicts from the American Revolution to the Cold War.

Watch the full episode. See more FRONTLINE.

IMAX Cosmic Voyage

From the IMAX Film Powers of Ten. This part seems inspired by the film Powers of Ten by Charles & Ray Eames.

BBC Planet Earth

Planet Earth is a 2006 television series produced by the BBC Natural History Unit narrated by David Attenborough. Five years in the making, it was the most expensive nature documentary series by the BBC, and also the first to be filmed in high definition. The series was co-produced by the Discovery Channel and NHK in association with CBC, and was described by its makers as "the definitive look at the diversity of our planet".

Planet Earth was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One in March 2006, and premiered one year later in the USA on the Discovery Channel. By June 2007, it had been shown in 130 countries worldwide. For Discovery Sigourney Weaver's voiceover replaced Attenborough.

The series comprises eleven episodes, each of which features a global overview of a different habitat on Earth.

Episodes

1. From Pole to Pole

2. Mountains

3. Fresh Water

4. Caves

5. Deserts

6. Ice Worlds

7. Great Plains

8. Jungles

9. Shallow Seas

10. Seasonal Forests

11. Ocean Deep

BBC Yellowstone

Yellowstone is a BBC nature documentary series broadcast from 15 March 2009. Narrated by Peter Firth, the series takes a look at a year in the life of Yellowstone National Park, examining how its wildlife adapts to living in one of the harshest wildernesses on Earth.

Episodes:

1. "Winter"

2. "Summer"

3. "Autumn"

Its been described the series as "amazingly shot" and a "work of art". The Times gave it five out of five, and TV Scoop described it as "majestic yet understated and consistently surprising". At the 2009 Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival, Yellowstone gained the Best Series Award, and "Winter" gained the Best Wildlife Habitat Program award. It was also a finalist in the Best Cinematography category. At the 2009 International Wildlife Film Festival Awards, the series won the Best Cinematography and Best Ecosystem awards, and gained Merit Awards for Editing and Sound Design. 

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Cosmos: Evolution

Carl Sagan's Cosmos: Evolution

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Carl Sagan 1934 - 1996

WGBH Forum Network: Origin and Evolution of Life on Earth I

Origin and Evolution of Life on Earth I
WGBH Forum Network
October 5, 2005
Lynn Rothschild astrobiologist, NASA

Japanese Language: Kanji, Hiragana, Katakana

The Japanese writing system uses three main types of characters, the Kanji, Hiragana and Katakana.

The Kanji: traditional symbolic characters that originated in China.

Kyōiku Kanji

The Kyōiku kanji ("education kanji") are 1006 characters that Japanese children learn in elementary school. The number was 881 until 1981.

Jōyō Kanji

The Jōyō kanji are 1,945 characters consisting of all the Kyōiku kanji, plus an additional 939 kanji taught in junior high and high school. The Jōyō kanji were introduced in 1981. They replaced an older list of 1,850 characters known as the General-use kanji (tōyō kanji) introduced in 1946.

The Kanas:

Each kana is either a vowel such as "a" (あ); a consonant followed by a vowel such as "ka" (か); or "n" (ん).

Hiragana: 46 phonetic syllables used for native Japanese words.

Hiragana (read top down right to left, starting on the top right with 'A')

Katakana: 46 phonetic syllables used for foreign words.

Katakana (read top down right to left, starting on the top right with 'A')

I've lived in Japan for about 13 years, and the nice things about Japanese is that it is a phonetic language and easy to pronounce. It was quite easy to learn Hiragana and Katakana very quickly from the beginning. Kanji took quite a bit longer and never will be good enough, but makes a lot of sense after all this time. Kanji is mostly used for nouns and the root of verbs. Hiragana is used for particles, the suffix of nouns, verbs, adverbs and adjectives. Katakana although used for foreign words can be difficult because you can't assume the language from which the word was derived from. For example the Japanese word for bread パン (pan in Katakana) is actually the French word for bread.

To get a decent grasp of Japanese grammer, both colloquial and literal Japanese need a lot of practical usage. Below are some good books I've used as guides to help me along the way.  

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Study References: (Although these are Kodansha books, I'm not promoting Kodansha, but these are the ones that have been most useful and practical for me over the years)

Kodansha’s Furigana Japanese-English Dictionary

This is an excellent dictionary. It has Kanji and Furigana. Romanized (Alphabet) dictionaries in alphabetical order (vs. the Japanese order that the Kanas are listed in) may be easy from a western perspective, but doesn't help much in getting used to the order of the kanas and the kanji in the same way Japanese do. In short dictionary uses their order, not ours.

Furigana refers to the small kana that are printed above or alongside kanji to show the pronunciation of the Chinese characters. They are common in children's books and comics to assist them as they learn the kanji. With furigana superscripts, the beginner who is familiar with hiragana and katakana is able to read even the most difficult and obscure kanji at a glance. Most books provide little or no guide to kanji readings or romanize some or all the Japanese words and sentences. This book also has full sentence examples to support the word definitions provided (also in Furigana).

The Handbook of Japanese Adjectives and Adverbs

One thing I've struggled with is verbs, adverbs and adjectives. Unlike English there aren't many irregular verbs. If you know the root verb, then it is quite easy to conjugate it appropriately. So the challenge is not in the conjugation but the broader sentence structure. It took a while to grasp this and the book as well, but it includes an addendum that show the many sentence compounds along with the meaning they convey.

For any beginner of Japanese, adjectives and adverbs are bound to present a challenge. Unlike English adjectives, Japanese ones conjugate, meaning that you must memorize their various forms before being able to build sentences of any complexity. Adverbs do not conjugate, but make use of particles to show their grammatical relationship to other words, and some have very subtle shades of meaning that are difficult to grasp. Moreover, many adverbs do not translate into English adverbs. The role these parts of speech play in adding flavor to the Japanese language is invaluable. This handy reference manual introduces the basic (and basics of) adjectives and adverbs in a clear and sensible way.

A Dictionary of Japanese Particles

As I mentioned earlier, hiragana is used as particles within a sentence. This book is invaluable to how to communicate clear and concisely. It would be like trying to speak English without 'the, a, an, or, at, on, of...' Japanese as a phonetic language has many more particles than English. Although phonetically and literally simplistic, it is the particles that give the Japanese language flexibility, expressiveness, and depth.

For English-speaking students of Japanese, particles are perhaps the most difficult aspect of the language to learn. It would be no exaggeration to say that, for most people, they can never be completely mastered. Thus, the study of particles is a lifetime undertaking, and students need a lifelong companion to help them along the way. This dictionary covers over 100 particles in alphabetical order, explains the meanings of each (most have more than one), and gives sample sentences for each meaning.

The Devil's Dictionary

The Devil's Dictionary, by Ambrose Bierce, is a satirical book published in 1911. It offers reinterpretations of terms in the English language.

My favorite examples:

AMBITION, n. An overmastering desire to be vilified by enemies while living and made ridiculous by friends when dead.

AMNESTY, n. The state's magnanimity to those offenders whom it would be too expensive to punish.

BEAUTY, n. The power by which a woman charms a lover and terrifies a husband.

BORE, n. A person who talks when you wish him to listen.

LOVE, n. A temporary insanity curable by marriage or by removal of the patient from the influences under which he incurred the disorder.

MISFORTUNE, n. The kind of fortune that never misses.

MONEY, n. A blessing that is of no advantage to us excepting when we part with it.

Gall–Peters projection

The Gall–Peters Projection shows countries in proportion to their relative sizes . It is based upon Arno Peter's decimal grid which divides the surface of the earth into 100 longitudinal fields of equal width and 1000 laditudinal fields of equal height. It treats rectangles around the equator as squares and builds the other rectangles onto these in proportion to the areas they represent. The zero meridian on this system is combined with a proposed new international date line.

The traditional maps distorts the world to the advantage of The North, in actual fact is only half as large as The South, and on Mercator maps to be much larger. On the Mercator Map Europe appears larger than South America, and shows Alaska three times larger than Mexico even though Mexico is much larger. Russia appears twice as large as Africa, even though Africa is much larger. Greenland appears larger than China, even though China is four times as large. Scandanavia appears larger than India even though India is three times as large.

Miniature City 2 - Tokyo

miniature city 2 - featuring vividblaze - from mockmoon on Vimeo.

MLK: A Call to Conscience

Tavis Smiley Reports MLK: A Call to Conscience (view online)

Tavis Smiley Reports examines Martin Luther King, Jr.'s stand against the Vietnam War and the influence of his legacy today. Tavis speaks with scholars and friends of King, including Cornel West, Vincent Harding and Susannah Heschel.

Full Beyond Vietnam Speech Text
New York City Riverside Church
April 4, 1967

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Interviews:

Talk of the Nation: The Story Of King's 'Beyond Vietnam' Speech
March 30, 2010



Democracy Now: As Obama Visits Afghanistan, Tavis Smiley on Rev. Martin Luther King and His Opposition to the Vietnam War
March 29, 2010

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"An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind"

Mahatma Gandhi

FRONTLINE: The Quake

The Quake

On air and online Tuesday, March 30, 2010 at 9:00pm (check local listings)

Watch the full episode. See more FRONTLINE.

On January 12, 2010, one of the most devastating earthquakes in recorded history leveled Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Those responsible for handling the catastrophe, including the Haitian government and the United Nations, were amongst the victims and struggled to respond. FRONTLINE correspondent Martin Smith bears witness to the scale of the disaster and examines the ill-coordinated relief efforts. Drawing on interviews with key officials and humanitarian experts from Port-au-Prince to Washington, The Quake asks whether the world can do better. And how?

PBS: Faces of America with Henry Louis Gates Jr.

PBS: Faces of America

With Henry Louis Gates Jr.

What made America? What makes us? These two questions are at the heart of the new PBS series Faces of America with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. The Harvard scholar turns to the latest tools of genealogy and genetics to explore the family histories of 12 renowned Americans — professor and poet Elizabeth Alexander, chef Mario Batali, comedian Stephen Colbert, novelist Louise Erdrich, journalist Malcolm Gladwell, actress Eva Longoria, musician Yo-Yo Ma, director Mike Nichols, Her Majesty Queen Noor, television host/heart surgeon Dr. Mehmet Oz, actress Meryl Streep, and figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi.

Episode One, Our American Stories

Episode Two, Becoming American

Episode Three, Making America

Episode Four, Know Thyself

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NPR

Henry Louis Gates Uncovers 'Faces Of America'

NPR: Henry Louis Gates Uncovers 'Faces of America'

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WGBH Forum Network

Using genetics to explore family history

WGBH Forum Network: Using genetics to explore family history

Faces of America with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. executive producer William R. Grant and producer Stephen Ives discuss the series with Dr. David Altshuler, a clinical endocrinologist and human geneticist from the Broad Institute. In the Harvard professor’s latest production, Gates uses genealogy and genetics to explore family histories of 12 renowned Americans and their immigrant pasts.

All In Love Is Fair

All is fair in love
Love's a crazy game
Two people vow to stay
In love as one they say
But all is changed with time
The future no one can see
The road you leave behind
Ahead lies mystery
But all is fair in love
I had to go away
A writer takes his pen
To write the words again
That all in love is fair

All of fate's a chance
It's either good or bad
I tossed my coin to say
In love with me you'd stay
But all in war is so cold
You either win or lose
When all is put away
The loosing side I'll play
But all is fair in love

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Stevie Wonder
"All In Love Is Fair"

A People's History of the United States

A People's History of the United States is a 1980 non-fiction book by American historian and political scientist Howard Zinn. In the book, Zinn seeks to present American history through the eyes of those rarely heard in mainstream histories. A People's History has become a major success and was a runner-up in 1980 for the National Book Award. It has been adopted for reading in some high schools and colleges across the United States and has been frequently revised, with the most recent edition covering events through 2003. In 2003, Zinn was awarded the Prix des Amis du Monde Diplomatique for the French version of this book, Une histoire populaire des Etats-Unis. Over one million copies have been sold.

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Howard Zinn 1922-2010

FRONTLINE: digital nation - life on the virtual frontier

Digital Nation

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Watch the full episode. See more FRONTLINE.

Over a single generation, the Web and digital media have remade nearly every aspect of modern culture, transforming the way we work, learn and connect in ways that we’re only beginning to understand. FRONTLINE producer Rachel Dretzin (Growing Up Online) teams up with one of the leading thinkers of the digital age, Douglas Rushkoff (The Persuaders, Merchants of Cool), to continue to explore life on the virtual frontier. The film is the product of a unique collaboration with visitors to the Digital Nation Web site, who for the past year have been able to react to the work in progress and post their own stories online. Dretzin and her team report from the front lines of digital culture -- from love affairs blossoming in virtual worlds, to the thoroughly wired classrooms of the future, to military bases where the Air Force is fighting a new form of digital warfare. Along the way, they begin to map the critical ways that technology is transforming us -- and what we may be learning about ourselves in the process.

New Technologies in a Sustainable Energy Economy

MIT World
The Role of New Technologies in a Sustainable Energy Economy
Angela Belcher
Daniel Nocera
October 25, 2006

Japanese Onsens

A Japanese onsen is a natural hot spring for bathing. Also an onsen is used to describe the bathing facilities and inns around such hot springs.

Japan is a volcanically active country, and has thousands of onsens scattered across the archipelago. Onsen by definition use naturally hot water from geothermally heated springs. Note: An onsen should be considered different from Japanese sentos, which are just indoor public bath houses where the baths are filled with heated tap water.

Major onsen resort hotels often feature a wide variety of themed spa baths and artificial waterfalls in the bathing area. Onsens come in many types and shapes, including outdoor and indoor baths. Baths may be either public run by a local city, or private run as part of a hotel, ryokan or Bed and Breakfast.

Historically, traditional onsen were located outdoors. A large number of inns have now built indoor bathing facilities as well. Onsen water is believed to have healing powers derived from its mineral content. A particular onsen may feature several different baths, each with water with a different mineral composition, at different temperatures.

The outdoor bath tubs are most often made from Japanese cypress, marble or granite, while indoor tubs may be made with tile, acrylic glass or stainless steel. Many onsens boast about their unique water and mineral compositions, plus what healing properties these may contain. Other spa services like massages are often offered.

Traditionally, men and women bathed together at the onsen and sentō but single-sex bathing has become the norm since Japan opened to the West during the Meiji period in the late 1800's. Mixed-sex (named konyoku) bathing still exists at many onsens in the rural areas of Japan, which usually provide the option of separate "women-only" baths or different hours for the two sexes. Children of either sex may be seen in both the men's and the women's baths.

Foreign Affairs: The Dollar and the Deficits

Foreign Affairs
November/December 2009
Volume 88, Number 6

The Dollar and the Deficits: How Washington Can Prevent the Next Crisis
by C. Fred Bergsten, Peterson Institute for International Economics

iie.com - Peterson Institute of International Ecomomics

Tufts.edu (pdf)

Frontline: The Card Game

The Credit Card Game
Tuesday, November 24, 2009, at 9 P.M. ET on PBS

As credit card companies face rising public anger, new regulation from Washington and staggering new rates of default and bankruptcy, FRONTLINE correspondent Lowell Bergman investigates the future of the massive consumer loan industry and its impact on a fragile national economy.

Watch the full episode. See more FRONTLINE.

In The Card Game, a follow-up to the Secret History of the Credit Card and a joint project with The New York Times airing Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2009, at 9 P.M. ET on PBS (check local listings), Bergman and the Times talk to industry insiders, lobbyists, politicians and consumer advocates as they square off over attempts to reform the way the industry has done business for decades.

"The card issuers could do anything they want," Robert McKinley, CEO of CardWeb.com, tells FRONTLINE of the industry's unchecked power over consumers. "They could change your interest rate. They could impose an annual fee. They could close your account." High interest rates along with more and more penalty fees drove up profits for the industry, Bergman finds, as the banks followed the lead of an aggressive upstart: Providian Bank. In an exclusive interview with FRONTLINE, former Providian CEO Shailesh Mehta tells Bergman how his company successfully targeted vulnerable low-income customers whom Providian called "the unbanked."

"They're lower-income people-bad credits, bankrupts, young credits, no credits," Mehta says. Providian also innovated by offering "free" credit cards that carried heavy hidden fees. "I used to use the word 'penalty pricing' or 'stealth pricing,'" Mehta tells FRONTLINE. "When people make the buying decision, they don't look at the penalty fees because they never believe they'll be late. They never believe they'll be over limit, right? ... Our business took off. ... We were making a billion dollars a year."

Harvest for the World

All babies together, everyone a seed
Half of us are satisfied, half of us in need
Love's bountiful in us, tarnished by our greed
Oh, When will there be a harvest for the world

A nation planted, so concerned with gain
As the seasons come and go, greater grows the pain
And far too many, feelin' the strain
Oh, When will there be a harvest for the world

Gather every man, gather every woman
Celebrate your lives, give thanks for your children
Gather everyone, gather all together
Overlooking none, hopin' life gets better for the world

Dress me up for battle, when all I want is peace
Those of us who pay the price, come home with the least
And nation after nation, turning into beast
Oh, When will there be a harvest for the world

Yeah, yeah
When will there be
I wanna know now now
When will there be a harvest for the world
A harvest for the world

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Frontline: Obama's War

Obama's War
Tuesday, October 13, 2009, at 9 P.M. ET on PBS

Frontline examines U.S. counterinsurgency strategy in Afghanistan and Pakistan

Watch the full episode. See more FRONTLINE.

Tens of thousands of fresh American troops are now on the move in Afghanistan, led by a new commander and armed with a counterinsurgency plan that builds on the lessons of Iraq. But can U.S. forces succeed in a land long known as the "graveyard of empires"? And can the U.S. stop the Taliban in neighboring Pakistan, where U.S. troops are not allowed and the government is weak?

In FRONTLINE's season premiere, Obama's War, airing Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2009, at 9 P.M. ET on PBS, veteran correspondent Martin Smith travels across Afghanistan and Pakistan to see firsthand how the president's new strategy is taking shape, delivering vivid, on-the-ground reporting from this war's many fronts. Through interviews with top generals, diplomats and government officials, Smith also reports the internal debates over President Obama's grand attempt to combat terrorism at its roots.

The National Parks: America's Best Idea by Ken Burns

The National Parks: America's Best Idea is a six-episode series directed by Ken Burns and written and co-produced by Dayton Duncan. Filmed over the course of more than six years at some of nature's most spectacular locales – from Acadia to Yosemite, Yellowstone to the Grand Canyon, the Everglades of Florida to the Gates of the Arctic in Alaska.

Full Episodes Online September 28th - October 9th, 2009

NPR: How Tiny Nanoparticles Are Transforming Technology

How Tiny Nanoparticles Are Transforming Technology
NPR Talk of the Nation Science Friday, September 4, 2009

From cancer treatments to self-cleaning windows and clear solar panels, nanotechnology is revolutionizing medicine, renewable energy and computing. Chemists Mark Ratner and James Gimzewski discuss what's special about nanoscale particles, and how they may shape the future.

The Human Family Tree

The Human Family Tree: Tracing the Human Journey Through Time

Airs on National Geographic Channel Sunday, August 30, 2009, 9pm

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The Genographic Project is creating a picture of when and where ancient humans moved around the world by mapping the genetic markers in modern peoples. These great migrations eventually led the descendants of a small group of Africans to occupy even the farthest reaches of the earth.

200,000 – 150,000 years ago: The genetic journey of everyone alive today began with one woman — “Scientific Eve” — who lived in Africa and passed along her DNA through special cell structures called mitochondria, which only women pass down to further generations.

195,000 years ago: No one knows when modern humans first appeared, but the oldest skulls and bones of anatomically modern humans were found in Ethiopia’s Omo River Valley by paleoanthropologist Richard Leakey in 1967. Our ancient homo sapien ancestors remained in Africa for as long as three-quarters of our history as a species.

150,000 years ago: The first branch point on our human family tree is marked by the earliest major movement of humans: One group headed to southern Africa and the other to eastern Africa — and later, to the rest of the world.

Aomori Japan

Aomori is the capital city of Aomori Prefecture, the Northernmost state of Japan's Tohoku region North of Akita, Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures. The city faces the Tsugaru Strait via Mutsu Bay to the North and the Hakkoda Mountains to the South. It has the biggest seaport in the prefecture. Aomori ”青森” literally means blue/green forest. Snow and cold weather characterize the winter climate in Aomori. The city and its surrounding area is renowned for its heavy snowfall, which is said to be the heaviest among all Japanese cities. In 1981 the city recorded a maximum snow cover of 196 cm. Aomori is especially famous for its apple orchards.

The Seikan Tunnel is a 53.85 km (33.46 mi) railway tunnel in Japan, with a 23.3-kilometre (14.5 mi) long portion under the seabed. It is the longest undersea tunnel in the world. It travels beneath the Tsugaru Strait — connecting Aomori Prefecture on the Japanese island of Honshū and the island of Hokkaidō. Before the Seikan Tunnel opened, Aomori's port connected the city via ferry to Hakodate in Hokkaidō, serving as the main entrance to Honshū for passengers and cargo to and from Hokkaidō.

Lake Towada, a beautiful caldera, lies on the boundary between Akita and Aomori Prefectures. The Oirase river drains Lake Towada; in the summer it is refreshing and in the autumn the leaves are breathtaking. It is the largest caldera lake in Honshū island, Japan. Located on the border between Aomori and Akita prefectures, it lies 400 meters (1,800 ft) above sea level and is 327.0m (1,073 ft) depth,. With a surface area of 62.2 km², Towada is Japan's 12th largest lake, its bright blue color due to its depth.

The Oirase mountain stream is the only stream that has Lake Towada as its source, and the upper reach of the stream runs for 14 km. The area around the stream is famous for its splendid landscape and the beauty of the colorful autumn leaves.

Tsugaru ben is one of the local dialects spoken in Northern Japan. It is not well understood by most Japanese people outside of Aomori.

The Tsugaru clan was a Japanese samurai clan originating in northern Japan, Mutsu Province. A branch of the local Nanbu clan, the Tsugaru rose to power during the Azuchi-Momoyama period. It was on the winning side of the Battle of Sekigahara, and entered the Edo period as a family of lords (daimyo) ruling the Hirosaki Domain. A second branch of the family was later established, which ruled the Kuroishi Domain. The Tsugaru survived as a daimyo family until the Meiji Restoration, when Tsugaru Tsuguakira of Hirosaki and Tsugaru Tsugumichi of Kuroishi were relieved of office. Their extended family then became part of the new nobility in the Meiji era.

Nebuta Festival

The Nebuta Festival is a weeklong Japanese summer festival that takes place in Aomori City, Japan. The festival attracts the most tourists of any of the country's nebuta festivals, and is counted among the three largest festivals in Northern region. The festival was designated an important part of the country's folk culture in 1980. "Nebuta" refers to the float of a brave warrior-figure which is carried through the center of the city, while dancers wearing a unique type of costume called haneto and dance chanting "Rassera".

Nebuta floats are made of a wood base, carefully covered with this same Japanese paper, beautifully clolred, and lighted from the inner part with hundreds of light bulbs. In early August the colorful floats are pulled through the streets accompanied by people dancing in native Nebuta costumes, playing tunes on flutes and drums. One of the reasons for the popularity of the Nebuta festival is the free participation of the public. The sounds of the Nebuta drums and bamboo flutes inspire people to prepare costumes and begin practice of the Nebuta dances. The festival is held every year from August 2 to August 7, where the float is carried through the city during the evening from August 2-6, and during the daytime on August 7. A fireworks show is held on the evening of the final day while the float is carried into the sea.