Publications, Film & Artistic Programs

Feliks, J. 2012. Five constants from an Acheulian compound line. Aplimat - Journal of Applied Mathematics 5 (1): 69-74.

Also available at the Pleistocene Coalition main page: http://pleistocenecoalition.com/feliks/Feliks_Five-constants-from-an-Acheulian-compound-line_Aplimat_2012.pdf

Also available at the Aplimat 2012 website, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering - Slovak University of Technology in Bratislavia (6th down): http://web.archive.org/web/20130814081318/http://aplimat.com/volume_5_2012/General_Information/number_1.html
Feliks, J. 2011. The golden flute of Geissenklosterle: Mathematical evidence for a continuity of human intelligence as opposed to evolutionary change through time. Aplimat - Journal of Applied Mathematics 4 (4): 157-62.

Also available online at the Aplimat 2011 website, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering - Slovak University of Technology in Bratislavia (13th down): http://web.archive.org/web/20130814080052/http://aplimat.com/volume_4_2011/General_Information/number_4.html
Feliks, J. 2010 (in press). The graphics of Bilzingsleben: Sophistication and subtlety in the mind of Homo erectus. Proceedings of the XV UISPP World Congress (Lisbon, 4-9 September 2006), British Archaeological Reports International Series, Oxford. Scientific censorship began within one week of the Congress. Click on the link; Find out what it is that the European, Australian, and U.S. scientific communities are so afraid of that they are willing to risk losing public trust in order to hold back empirical geometric data.

"Absolutely outstanding and stunning. You have single-handedly demonstrated that the cognition and intellect of these hominins may have been of an order entirely unexpected by all of us ...breathtaking." -Robert G. Bednarik
Feliks, J. 2010. Phi-based conceptual units: Pushing math origins back to the Acheulian age. [Internet]. Available on SCIENAR at: http:/www.scienar.eu/network/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=170:phi-based-conceptual-units
-pushing-math-origins-back-to-the-acheulian-age&catid=4:general-contents&Itemid=62.
Feliks, J. 2010. Ardi: How to create a science myth. Pleistocene Coalition NewsVol. 2 (Issue 1): 1-3.

It is going to be a difficult road for those who have long trusted that all proclamations of science were based on fact; but one way or another discerning readers and researchers are gradually going to realize that they have not been taught squarely by the evolutionary anthropology community. Forcing ideas on the public through techniques of persuasion while simultaneously blocking conflicting evidence from publication are not the ways of real science but they have been par-for-the-course in evolutionary anthropology as the field is quite unable to provide the testable evidence which is uncompromisingly-required of all other sciences. If the factual reporting of Ardipithecus and what has been hyped as the "Scientific Breakthrough of 2009" are important to you and you are inclined to think for yourself then you must absolutely read this article.

PDF version
HTML version
Feliks, J. 2009. The handaxe shape in microliths. Comment on "Is a hand ax really a hand ax," by Michael Balter. Origins: a history of beginnings [Internet]. Available at: http://blogs.sciencemag.org/origins/2009/02/is-a-handax-really-a-handax.html.
Feliks, J. 2009. A Lot of Gold in the Mix: Review of Fragment from a Nonfiction Reader. Pre-publication review of the debut science thriller by Warren Fahy. (See quotation of this review on the author's review page, Warren Fahy: FRAGMENT: Reviews).

Additional note: My interest in Fragment has very little to do with the popular action sequences but rather with intriguing aspects that other reviewers usually do not mention. For instance, apart from well-thought-out and innovative scientific ideas (such as the origins of sexual reproduction), Fahy's Fragment, like some of my own work, was inspired by invertebrate fossils.

"When presenting Harryhausen with a special Academy Award, actor Tom Hanks told Harryhausen 'Lots of people say Casablanca or Citizen Kane is the greatest film of all time... no way, it's Jason and the Argonauts!'" -Wikipedia

"In April 2004, Empire magazine ranked Talos [the 100-foot tall bronze titan in Jason and the Argonauts] as the second best movie monster of all time, after King Kong." -Wikipedia

DISCLAIMER: In the above two articles, I was thinking more in philosophical terms rather than only about filmstocks and was encouraging filmmakers to be open to new things rather than always following a standard routine. As far as the filmstocks themselves, I was promoting the use of lesser-known Super 8 filmstocks most of which had to be special-ordered such as b&w stocks and those that featured either noticeable grain or subdued pastel-like colors. The idea was that awareness of the filmstock itself would effect the writing, composition and editing choices of a film early on. I was especially encouraging the use of a color stock called SM7244 because of its ethereal or dreamlike quality, as well as high-grain b&w stocks. These were influences from my studies of experimental film and impressionism in music and painting. Unfortunately, one compromise that the Starlog editor made to fit Life Beyond Kodachrome 40 into three pages was to remove my philosophical Introduction in which I compared filmstock choice to equivalent choices in paint mediums (e.g., water color, oil, acrylic, pastels, etc.) explaining why I felt filmmakers should experiment with filmstocks they may have never used, and replace it with a quick paragraph that actually made the opposite statement (i.e. the equivalent of, "wait till the last minute to choose a filmstock"). But since the article was already on its way to press wonderfully laid out and formatted by the editor, I could see how all the extra philosophy wouldn't fit, and had to accept the opening paragraph as it was published.

Feliks, J. registered ©1994. From Milan to the Horsehead Nebula: How Leonardo has impacted my life. A personal paper about following the non-specialist path in life, written for an inspirational Art History class.
"This joyous labor is clearly above my capacity to comment upon. I feel ill-equipped to indicate anything beyond telling I enjoyed it immensely! Thoughtful, courageous, highly esthetic, informed, informative, sweet, warm, colorful, sad, insightful, tender, cathartic, wonderful, revealing, Paul Simonesque, Bob Dylan, Dylan Thomas, Tom Waits. The Kandinsky Kannection would/might less intimidating. Thanks for selecting this. Paul Klee might have been ... Bucky Fuller " " " ... 4.0+"
Feliks, J. registered ©1992, 1993, 1994. The Tao of Bach: J. S. Bach, mysticism, and ancient Chinese philosophy.* Pp. 1–53, unpublished though widely-circulated thesis providing an entirely new impression of the mind of J. S. Bach, written for an inspirational Music History class conducted by an expert in the choral music of Johann Sebastian Bach.

"Your paper, without a doubt, was the best I have read in my 100 years of teaching... I have read masters thesis & doctoral dissertations that have not been this well written and insightful. This has sparked some serious thought on my part... I started to make small corrective marks on your writing style, but then stopped due to fascination."

SCAN: TABLE B. The Mystical Bond Between J. S. Bach and Ancient China: a Genealogy of Philosophy from The Tao of Bach (research, concept and design: J. Feliks; final computer rendition: S. Errington). Click on image for zoomable enlargement.

*SEEKING PUBLISHER FOR THIS WELL-RESEARCHED, THOUGH AGAINST-THE-STANDARD-WESTERN-GRAIN, BACH THESIS.
Feliks, J. registered ©1991. Scandale Fantastique: Romantic composers and their secret affairs with the guitar. Unpublished thesis written just prior to The Tao of Bach and for the same inspirational Music History class.

"A terrific paper...and one which could easily be expanded into a masters thesis."

Sojournus Antiquitus: Paleolithic Journeys through Time, Mind, and Space Registered ©1996. J. Feliks, composer, librettist, and artistic director. Musical director and conductor, Bradley Bloom. Theatrical director, choreographer, and stage director, the late Jim Posante. Live-performance multimedia production about early human life situations, religion, and cognitive development from the end of the Lower Palaeolithic to the end of the Upper Palaeolithic. Schoolcraft College, Livonia, MI. May 15, 16, & 17, 1996.

Sojournus Antiquitus involved over 50 faculty, staff, and students from most of the larger universities and colleges in Southeast Michigan and neighboring Canada (institutions represented included Schoolcraft College; University of Michigan; Cranbrook Institute of Science; University of Windsor, Canada; Central Michigan University; Eastern Michigan University; Wayne State University; and Greenhills School of Ann Arbor).

Positive Artists Coalition. 1985-1987. J. Feliks, Founder. A venue for artists, musicians, poets, and filmmakers to encourage one another in their creative efforts. The Positive Artists Coalition culminated in a live-performance multimedia program called Nature's Final Cry, produced by the coalition members for Wayne State University's Environmental Studies program (June 20, 1987). Nature's Final Cry was presented at the Belle Isle Nature Center, and included original songs & instrumentals, projected films, slides, and poetry, all created by the coalition's members.

The city of Detroit has had difficulty maintaining its unique cultural heritage such as Belle Isle. Not only has it closed the Nature Center on the island but it even closed the famous Belle Isle Aquarium which was "the oldest continuously operating public aquarium in North America." Belle Isle has been an inspirational part of my own life since early childhood. Here is a link to the Friends of Belle Isle Aquarium website and another to the Friends of Belle Isle website.

Troika Image Arts, Inc. 1981-1982. Co-founder, composer, guitarist. Troika Image Arts (Hosain Mosavat, Pietro Di Giorgio, John Feliks) was a unique multimedia live performance trio featuring original poetry and music synchronized and performed live to projected original b&w photography. Troika Image Arts promoted public awareness of the grandeur and beauty of nature and its preservation. PHOTO: Spirit Island, Jasper, British Columbia, by Hosain Mosavat (student of Ansel Adams), which is in the permanent collection of the Chicago Museum of Art. Troika Image Arts did performances around the Detroit/Ann Arbor area. [Coming later, mp3s of original poetry and music by Di Giorgio and Feliks.] A few highlight performances:

On Stage #7, Garden City (1981)
Detroit Sierra Club Annual Banquet (1981)
Ann Arbor Sierra Club Fund Raiser (1982)

Kadjrel & Rahglen 1986, Registered ©1987. Experimental symbolic fantasy short spanning 583 million years beginning in the primordial Precambrian and Cambrian seas then jumping to the European Neolithic and Copper ages, c. 6000 years ago.

Kadjrel & Rahglen featured a broad eclectic mix of paleontology, evolution; influences from Plato, Pythagoras, Hinduism, Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism, and Taoism; and the underpinnings behind these seemingly disparate elements - all in the medium of an epic transcendental love story. Included in the film is an "underwater" sequence filmed at the University of Michigan's Exhibit Museum of Natural History of it's Paleozoic seafloor dioramas. Kadjrel & Raghlen has been in the process of being reworked as a multimedia theatrical performance. SCAN: Final drawing board designs for Kadjrel and Rahglen as primordial sea creatures (1984). PHOTO: Actors in the original title roles (1984). Notice Kadjrel's armband and Rahglen's pendant.

Responses to this film were across the board, from near ecstatic to near rage. I made the mistake of submitting this piece to a traditional film festival imagining that they would appreciate its uniqueness, innovation and subtleties. This was surely a mistake when it comes to encouraging experimental film. Some of the judges' responses were, "The main theme of the film somewhat lost in the special effects," "I did not get the message," and, "Your object escapes me." But this is just the nature of experimental film. Kadjrel & Rahglen was specifically written to be transcendental and intuitive and not instantly grasped rationally. This, of course, is contrary to how most films are made and is equally contrary to the expectations of most audiences. In fact, anticipating this problem, during production I was also working on a study guide called The Kadjrel & Rahglen Companion.
Fossilosophy 1985. Short poetry film featuring intimate portraits of fossils on a backdrop of original classical guitar music and philosophical musings. Images of the fossils, which were part of the author's collection of trilobites, brachiopods, and bryozoans, were interspersed with closeup shots of the guitar part as performed and recorded for the film. Left photo: Camera setup for filming the top view guitar parts; from top to bottom are the Super 8mm Canon 1014xl-s camera, tripod, microphone, guitar and headphones. Playing the guitar part (an impressionistic piece inspired by Brahms and Debussy piano music) through the tripod legs was a bit of a challenge. Right photo: Actual stills from the film: trilobites Calymene celebra (Silurian age, 420 million years old) from Grafton, Illinois; and Flexicalymene meeki (Ordovician age, 450 million years old), from Covington, Kentucky.

Fossilosophy, Kadjrel & Rahglen, and similar projects eventually led to the The Impact of Fossils thesis paper and Sojournus Antiquitus live-performance multimedia theatrical production.
Oasis 1984 (Finding peace of mind in a chaotic world). Short interlude film featuring the poetry of Pietro Di Giorgio and original guitar music of John Feliks. The film received a Bronze Medal in the 1984 Photographic Society of America International Film Festival. PHOTO: Actual still of the "Mirror Shot" sequence from Oasis featuring actor and poet, Pietro Di Giorgio. Filmed, scored, and edited by John Feliks; Impressionistic direction, John Feliks; Poetry by Pietro Di Giorgio; Artistic consultant, Sharlet Di Giorgio.
Caress of Change 1983 (Musings on nature, urbanization, and how one's frame of mind changes with time). Short interlude film featuring the poetry of Pietro Di Giorgio and the original guitar music of John Feliks. The film won 1st Place and Best of Show honors in the 1984 Michigan Council of Amateur Movie Clubs Film Festival. PHOTOS: Actual stills from the film. The middle picture is Di Giorgio, the only actor in the film. Filmed, edited, and scored by John Feliks; Impressionistic direction, John Feliks; Poetry by Pietro Di Giorgio; Artistic consultant, Sharlet Di Giorgio. (Mp3 of Di Giorgio and Feliks poetry and guitar soundtrack will be offered later.)

1984. Central theme song and two short instrumentals for award-winning 16mm film, Popcorn Man, by David Zaremba: 1985 Council of International Non-Theatrical Events (Golden Eagle Award), 1986 Melbourne International Film Festival (Gold Cineman), 1986 Hiroshima International Film Festival (Foreign Minister's Prize). Edited by Grace Garland Janisz. (Mp3 of song, Men Dream, will be offered later.)
1980-1983. Various comedy shorts such as Divorce Invitation, Ralph Austin: The $600 Man, and The Legend of Guru Looney, which I wrote, directed, filmed and edited (usually within a couple of weeks or months turnaround) for a local tri-yearly entertainment series called On Stage. The films were made specifically for the On Stage series for which my other responsibilities included being the series' founder, skit regular, and recruiter for the musical acts.

In addition to original films, On Stage featured a wide variety of musical acts from rock and country to classical and flamenco; multimedia programs such as the debut performance of Troika Image Arts (see above); and original live comedy skits written by the series' own comedy troupe. Among the now well-known musicians who appeared at On Stage were world-class classical guitarist, Scott Tennant, founding member of the Grammy-winning (2005) Los Angeles Guitar Quartet (the LAGQ was founded in 1980, the same year Mr. Tennant performed at On Stage); and multi-talented guitarist and percussionist, Mario Resto, who later did music for the Super Bowl and who currently records with brother and Oscar-winner, Luis Resto (2002, music for rapper Eminem's film, 8 Mile). In 1980 shortly after the series began, On Stage received a Certificate of Appreciation for Outstanding Service Rendered to the City of Garden City, from the city's mayor.

1982. Co-producer, program director, fine arts host, and broadcast mix technician for Starting Point, a 13-week half-hour radio series featuring guest musicians and filmmakers. Sponsored by a grant from Kmart Corporation. One highlight was an interview with multi-talented guitarist/vocalist Mario Resto. The interview included pre-contract radio play for Mario and keyboardist brother, Luis Resto. Mario later recorded with artists such as Patti Smith and Earl Klugh. Luis later became producer and co-songwriter with rapper Eminem and received the Oscar for their song, "Lose Yourself," which is featured in Eminem's 2002 film, 8 Mile.

EARLY SONGS & INSTRUMENTALS

1971-2001. Here are some early songs and instrumental pieces which I've written and recorded over the years. It is only a selection. Other songs from this early time will be posted later on. They are all home-recordings and are offered here for whatever qualities one might find in them and for whatever reasons one might enjoy them. Except for the MIDI piano pieces and Marble Palace, most represent straight-through takes recorded on my simple Airline 2-track reel-to-reel. One important clarification is that these are primarily 'guitar songs' where I was usually experimenting with techniques or acrobatics (e.g., Autumn Exodus, Tower of Babel, The Storm, Reading What the Sky Says, Gotta Find You Out). Lyrics were never quite my forte and I didn't usually spend a lot of time on them which is why they often have an unusual quality (e.g., Pretty Lente, Born in the Morning); they were often added so as just to have something to sing while playing the guitar parts (e.g., Born in the Morning, which is actually a classical guitar composition inspired by J.S. Bach's Allegro from Prelude, Fugue, and Allegro in Eb Major for Lute and Prelude in C Major from the Well-Tempered Clavier). My music work the past ten years also includes many songs and instrumentals most of which are being written with hopeful stage productions in mind; they are not included here. Where indicated, clicking on the links below will bring up info boxes for the songs while also playing the mp3's. The info boxes include what inspired the songs as well as technical details such as how they were written, played or recorded. SCAN: Page 8 from the original Tower of Babel handwritten score for three classical guitars.1969-2001.

1. Discovery in the Minimal Zone	©2001 (2:15)	Detroit, c. 1996	piano 4-hands (composed on guitar)	instrumental
2. The Cycles of Siluria (aka, Day-Night Cycle)	©2001 (2:48)		piano & synthesizer (composed on guitar)	instrumental
3. Autumn Exodus	©1992 (3:20)		MIDI piano vers. composed on guitar	instrumental
4. Tower of Babel	©1991 (4:12)		3 classical guitars, 2 voices	environmental song
5. Marble Palace	©1988 (4:17)	War Eagle, Arkansas, c. 1988	classical guitar, bass, vocals	love song
6. Men Dream	©1984 (2:06)		guitar, synthesizers, voice	life change song
7. Spirit Island (near bottom of external page)	©1981, 1982 (2:13)	Poetry, Pietro DiGiorgio; Guitar, John Feliks	classical guitar & poetry	environmental theme
8. Caress of Change	©1981, 1982 (3:02)	Poetry, Pietro DiGiorgio; Guitar, John Feliks	classical guitar & poetry	environmental theme
9. Dawn of Purity (external page)	©1981, 1982 (1:48)	Poetry, Pietro DiGiorgio; Guitar, John Feliks	steel-string guitar & poetry	environmental theme
10. Eye of a Hurricane (click link for story of this Tullish song)	©1981, 1982 (2:42)	Kentucky, 1981	two acoustic guitars, 2 voices	heavy wood song
11. I Know Ya From Someplace (click link for story)	©1979, 1982 (3:17)		classical guitar & 2 voices	love song
12. The Storm	©1978, 1980 (4:07)		live classical guitar & voice	storm theme song
13. Pretty Lente	©1971, 1973 (3:27)		two guitars, 2 voices	love song
14. Reading What the Sky Says	©1981 (2:56)		two guitars, 2 voices	mystical song in 5/4
15. 4-Note Canon/Piano Solo 1	©1977, 2001 (2:48)		two guitar solos transcribed to piano	instrumental
16. Born in the Morning	©1975, 1977 (2:40)	Austin, Texas, Central Park, May 1974	classical guitar, 2 voices	Bach-inspired guitar piece, this version post-personal trauma lyrics

2002. Original pre-recorded music for live stage production, Lascaux: The Dawn of Art, by director, Michael Lee (master-level student of renowned mime, Marcel Marceau). Pieces included: "When the World Was New," "Thoughts in a Painter's Mind," and "Dreaming Bulls of the Subterranean," all ©John Feliks 2002. Chelsea, Michigan.

ARTISTIC ENVIRONMENTAL WORK

1989. Co-founder, Michigan Divers for the Preservation of Inland Waters. MDPIW, which grew out of an informal snorkeling club, was created specifically to make a formal presentation to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) for the purpose of preventing a small public lake (originally a large gravel pit many years prior) in a relatively secluded setting from being developed.

The group was concerned about having safe lakes (no boats or jet skis) with good underwater visibility within short driving distance. An elaborate research and proposal package was put together for the DNR presentation as well as a large 32" x 40" photo-display panel and a 24" x 32" cross-section graphic of the lake. Our idea was, "Michigan's first inland underwater park." SCAN: A Representative Cross Section of Trout Lake, Depicting a Portion of Its Unique Underwater Terrain (concept, design and layout, J. Feliks; final artistic rendition, S. Errington). There were approximately 10 members in the group. The presentation was successful and the construction project was effectively postponed. PHOTO: Fish picture similar to those used on the DNR presentation photo-display panel though taken at a different inland diving location (photo using underwater camera, © J. Feliks 1989).
Update on Trout Lake: In September, 2012, a couple of friends invited me for an afternoon out to the recreation area. They were heading out there for a casual 10-mile run. Well, it's been more years than I care to count that I might even have considered a casual 10-mile run so I opted instead for a roundabout two-mile hike through some northern trails and then over to Trout Lake. I was very pleased to discover that it has not changed at all. It is still a little lake with next to no one there. All of the surrounding landscape was left exactly as it was when we fought to block the campground development way back in 1989. There are plenty of manicured campgrounds in the state. But how many boatless public lakes are there where you can hike, swim, or just hang around on little undeveloped beaches, look across the lake and imagine what such a place might have been like 10,000 years ago without buildings or vehicles? It is something worth preserving.

ABOUT THIS WEBPAGE

In lieu of my homepage and another primary page, which have each been in process on-and-off for a couple of years but never posted, I have simply been adding interlinked pages in whatever way they can somehow fit together, beginning with those related to anthropology. Like the other pages in this interlinked series, this one is new and in the process of tweaking, so please be patient as it goes through changes in content, wording and layout. I am hoping to get the main site up and running soon. It will offer many things that are not science or even fine art-related, lots of surprising and, hopefully, entertaining things, as well as current projects and future plans.

Publications, Film & Artistic Programs

By John Feliks