Impact

THE IMPACT OF PI & COMFORT OF PIE

Courtesy of Mens Amplio. Mens Amplio Instillation, powered by Raspberry pie.

We’ve been enjoying the beauty of Pi and Pie all this week and today, our last day of the Beautiful Pie series, we are admiring both cutting edge high tech and old-fashioned low tech creations.

MENS AMPLIO

Mens Amplio, is a giant 15-foot high steel mesh sculpture of a partially buried human head.

It’s brain is made of a multitude of Endlighten acrylic rods, making up its neuron branches. They diffuse light from the series LED studs, which are controlled by a volunteer subject’s brainwaves.

Each thought transmits energy via an EEG headset. The colors and shapes of these thoughts are interpreted by Raspberry Pi, a credit-card-sized single-board computer, developed in the UK, by the Raspberry Pi Foundation, with the intention of promoting the teaching of basic computer science in schools.

Raspberry Pi is especially beautiful because it is so inexpensive, practically everyone in the world can have access to computer power.

The piece was created as an Indiegogo project, designed by Don Cain, and put together for the Burning Man 2013 festival. The team included doctors, welders, graphic designers, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s researchers, electronics engineers, brain imaging specialists, aka kinetic fire artists.

RIght now, Raspberry Pi is rocking it with their Custom Oreo Vending Machine at SXSW, for a totally different kind of Pi art. Watch the video. This Pi makes beautiful things happen in very cool ways right now.

SWEET POTATO PIE WITH A DASH OF SOUL

The more time we spend with technology, the more we need an occasional down home comfort fix. The first thing we think of is soul and pie.

The Sweet Potato Pie from A Dash of Soul, is from blogger Lauren’s mom’s kitchen. It is the perfect pie to curl up with. It hugs you on the inside.

MOM”S SWEET POTATO PIE

Ingredients:

2 unbaked pie crusts
5 c. roasted, mashed sweet potatoes
2 c. sugar
3 eggs, beaten
1 c. heavy cream
1 c. butter, melted and cooled
1 T. vanilla extract
½ t. cinnamon
½ t. nutmeg
1 t. salt

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400.
In the bowl of a mixer, whip the mashed sweet potatoes until they are smooth.
Add the sugar and mix to combine.
In a small bowl, whisk together the cream and eggs. Add this mixture to the sweet potatoes and continue to mix until smooth.
Add in the butter, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt, and mix on medium speed until the mixture is smooth and all ingredients are well incorporated.
Prepare two pie pans with pie crust.
Pour the batter equally into the two pie pans.
Bake pies for about 15 minutes at 400, then lower the temperature to 375 and cook for an additional 30 minutes (or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean).
Cool for at least 2 hours before slicing and serving. Store in the refrigerator.