Moons: ours and Saturn’s/Weekend stuff
June 5, 2009
Not much time today, but here’s the skinny for the weekend:
Tonight the Armed Forces play the first installment of the Poolapalooza series at the Opryland Hotel. This could be an interesting one… but I’ll be heading to Exit/In to photograph Black Moth Super Rainbow. I love the band name, but I’m honestly not that familiar with them. Also, How I Became the Bomb will be releasing the last installment of their 3-song digital EP series called Through Adversity to the Stars! at Mercy Lounge. They’ll be joined by Chattanooga’s Coral Castles and Pineapple Explode. Wait… what? Yes I agree, P.E. is by far the odd-man-out on the bill. But I’m really glad those guys/girl are getting to play for such a big crowd as opposed their usual basement shows.
Tomorrow I’m photographing Coldplay/Snow Patrol at the Sommet Center. Whatevs on the bands…. it’s always fun to shoot big stadium sized tours though. Snow Patrol is also doing a free in-store show at Grimey’s at 2pm. Sorry Grimey’s but I won’t be anywhere near your store tomorrow. I have a feeling the resulting clusterfuck on 8th Ave will rival that of Record Store Day.
Be sure to pick up a copy of the Scene before next week’s edition hits the stands and read Tracy Moore’s feature article “Almost Famous.” The article follows the story of 4 local-ish bands/artists who essentially got ground up and quickly spit back out of the major label music industry, and it’s damn good. Bands beware indeed. I honestly hadn’t a clue that Eureka Gold had come so close to a major record deal. Makes sense they kept it kinda quiet though.
I’m somewhat excited about a new sci-fi movie coming out called Moon. It’s set in the future where humans have a mining outpost on the Moon to extract Helium-3, which will solve the answer to earth’s energy crisis. The mining base is run by one solitary man, and the film follows him through his last 2 weeks of a 3-year stint working on the base. For a more detailed synopsis, check out the IMDB page. I’m not quite convinced it’ll really all that good, but it certainly shows promise. It comes out July 17th.
Speaking of moons, I came across this article on the Daily Galaxy about Saturn’s moon Titan. Astronomers are very interested in Titan because it’s one of the few places in the solar system that has the potential for life. The others being Mars, Saturn’s moon Enceladus, and Jupiter’s moon Europa. Titan is basically a much colder analog of earth. It has oceans, land, clouds, mountains, and even a nitrogen-rich atmosphere. The difference is the temperature. Obviously it’s much colder than earth because it’s so much farther away from the Sun, which means the oceans and clouds are mostly made of liquid methane, not water. But still, even with the extreme cold and all the methane/nitrogen, it still could harbor microbial life. We even have a few pictures of the surface of Titan, thanks to the Huygens probe which was part of the Cassini mission. I highly suggest reading the Daily Galaxy article. The surface of Titan:
Have a great weekend!
Woodstock movie/Hulu/photobooth madness
May 29, 2009
I discovered via Brooklyn Vegan that a new Woodstock movie is on the way starring Dimitri Martin. And apparently Ang Lee is directing it? Interesting. It’s called Taking Woodstock. You can view the trailer in the Brooklyn Vegan post, as well as find lots of other 40th anniversary stuff. I’m liking the idea of Dimitri Martin in a movie about Woodstock…
Stereogum is streaming the first new Mew track from their forthcoming, poem-titled album No More Stories Are Told Today I’m Sorry They Washed Away No More Stories the World Is Grey I’m Tired Let’s Wash Away. I like it. A lot.
Hulu has launched a new standalone desktop application for viewing all you favorite TV shows online. I’ve been loving Hulu, and this just makes me love it/them even more. I haven’t tried it yet (all my shows had their season finales a few weeks ago!) but I’ve read about it in a few different places and everyone seems to agree that it works well, even though it’s just a Beta version.
Somehow the photobooth Gods have struck me with a vengence and I’ve ended up with 3, yes three, photobooths on my plate this weekend. First I’ll be running the booth at the Happy Valley DJ/dance party tonight at Aerial (on the roof of Paradise Park/Big Bang downtown). Jonathon Kingsbury normally does this, but he’s teamed up with Happy Valley’s promoter Jim O’Shea to start taking the Generation Domination photobooth other places, which is why they’ve tapped my resources to take over Happy Valley. For tonight at least. Then on Saturday I’ll be doing another photobooth at 12th South Taproom (or somewhere nearby) for the Bike For Branches afterparty from 4-7pm. THEN, I’ll be doing another booth later that night at the Moustache May wrap party at Mercy Lounge (featuring Ghostfinger, And The Relatives, and Unkle Skeleton). Phew! I’m gonna be one tired man by the end of Saturday night.
Speaking of party photos, Nashville has its own theCobraSnake. Your Money Shot is run by Dylan Reyes, and this guy knows party photography. The washed-out contrast/cool toning effect he uses on most of them give a slightly vintage feel and is probably how most of the party-goers remember their night… if they remember it at all. This city’s DJ/electro/party scene needed a good roving party photographer and Dylan is it, and he does it quite well. If you’ve ever been to the Noise Fridays series at 12th & Porter, or basically anything where Justin Kase DJed, you’re probably in a few of his shots.
Have a great & safe weekend! I leave you with yet another hilarious comic from XKCD. Only design nerds will get this one:
I came across this intriguing blog called Movies in Frames via Kottke.org today. It has a plethora of various movies that the contributors have summed up (or at least attempted to sum up) in 4 frames. Some are not very effective, but some are. More visually-oriented films such as Heima, Little Miss Sunshine, and Darjeeling Limited work well. The one you see above is Stand By Me, which reminds me that I need to see this movie agian.
Tonight is the night! The Camera Obscura show is finally happening. To my knowledge, they’ve never played Nashville before, and it’s LOOOONG overdue. I can’t wait. If you like melancholy yet catchy twee pop… or if you like Scottish accents… by all means come to this show! You won’t regret it. Their show a couple years ago at the 40 Watt in Athens was one of the best shows I’ve ever seen. Mercy is no 40 Watt (sorry Drew/Bruton), but this is probably the best venue for them to play in town. They’ve also been tweeting about Nashville since they arrived yesterday. Follow them.
The Opryland Hotel started a new summer weekly event last year Friday nights called “Poolapalooza” featuring local bands, the Cascades pool, and a good bar. It went over pretty well from what I’ve heard (I never attended one), and I certainly hope Megan & I can make it out to one this summer. Check Nashvillest or the Gaylord Website for the full lineup/dates. Each event is free, 21+ all-ages (thx to Morgan for catching my error), and starts at 7pm. That means you can get wet, drink some margaritas, hear some rock, and be done in time to hit up another show later in the evening!
Nashville Cream reports that 3 local fashion designers are finalists to be on the show Project Runway. As with most posts on there, there’s plenty of bickering in the comments. But it just wouldn’t be the Cream without them. I know Shea and Amanda, but I don’t know Shannon at all. What I do know is that everyone I’ve met involved with Local Honey and the local fashion scene is super-nice and very down-to-earth. I sincerely hope to see one of them on the show soon!
Oh yeah… Meg White married Jackson Smith and “little” Jack Lawrence married Jo McCaughey in a double-wedding in Jack White’s backyard on Friday. Obviously Jack & Jo didn’t immediately embark on their honeymoon because we saw him at Fido on Monday.
My only science-y bit today is to tell you to go sign the petition on the website for Space Exploration Day. This is an attempt to get the government to recognize July 20th as National Space Exploration Day. This July 20th will mark the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. I whole-heartedly agree that this should be an officially-recognized holiday. Supposedly it will be on same level as Flag Day.
Today I leave you with this hilarious little cartoon found at dontstaylong’s tumblr.
Obviously the most important thing for me to do today is promote my band’s show tonight at the 5 Spot. TCQ is playing with Mean Tambourines and Dixie Whiskey, and it’s guaranteed to be the best way to start off your Memorial Day weekend! Please do come out for the show around 930… and don’t be alarmed if there’s some other band you’ve never seen playing, because there’s an earlier separate show that will be ending around 9 or 930.
JEFF the Brotherhood got another good mention on Brooklyn Vegan yesterday, as they’re heading back to NYC for another round of shows this weekend along with Turbo Fruits. I also learned in that blog that Turbo Fruits have signed with Fat Possum Records, also home to Andrew Bird, Crocodiles, and WAVVES. Pretty damn cool! I forsee them opening for WAVVES in the near future.
This Nashville Cream post really makes me feel old. It’s crazy to think that some of the shows mentioned on there happened 5 years ago. Of Montreal at the End (both times) were amazing.
We’ll obviously be at the 5 Spot tonight, but as far as other weekend activities, I’ll be shooting the Alcohol Stuntband show Saturday at the Basement, and I have no idea what we’re doing Sunday & Monday. Anyone having a pool party? I really just want to hang out by a pool and have a margarita.
RunPee.com tells you the best times during recent movies to run to the bathroom, and what you missed. They even scramble the part that tells what you missed, in case you’re just checking out the site, but don’t want any spoilers. Hilarious. Be sure to stay there long enough to watch the animation of the type-graphic at the top of the page. Via Kottke.org.
The Atlantis astronauts get an extra day to hang out in space due to bad weather in Florida. They were originally scheduled to land today at 10am, but it’s now been delayed to tomorrow. If I were an astronaut that would be music to my ears. I’d want to spend as much time up there as possible. Speaking of space, I found another awesome image from the mission:
Click to enlarge. Credit: NASA
Have a great extended weekend!
Two good updates from space via Space.com:
Ever since last November, astronauts on the International Space Station have been working out glitches in their new urine/wastewater recycling system. Yesterday they finally were able to successfully test it and drink water made from their own urine. It’s a bit uncomfortable to think about drinking the water from your own urine, but it may eventually be necessary for people even here on Earth if the population keeps expanding exponentially. The problem isn’t that water itself is in short supply, it’s that the vast majority of it is either undrinkably saline (the oceans) or located too far away from the people who need it. So far there’s not an energy-efficient or cost-effective method of desalinization of ocean water.
The astronauts onboard Space Shuttle Atlantis are scheduled to land tomorrow at Kennedy Space Center at 10:01 AM EDT. They’ve been given the all-clear on the heat shield inspection and are currently getting the shuttle ready for re-entry. As always, nasa.gov will have live coverage and video of the landing.
In other space-related news, former astronaut Scott Parazynski finally reached the summit of Mount Everest yesterday. He’s been at it for a few years now, and last year an injury forced him to delay his climb. This time he made it, and brought along some “moon rocks and remembrances of fallen astronauts.” He was also doing research and collecting samples for various other scientific endeavors. Read more at this Universe Today article.
Turbo Fruits: NBN showcase at SXSW 2009.
The Next Big Nashville website is still the 2008 version, but according to this post on Nashville Cream (which is about sonicbids, not NBN), NBN 2009 will feature a Friday evening of events that will take over the honky-tonks on lower Broadway, as well as an outdoor event on Saturday. This is all good news because those bars are all conveniently located close to each other, much like the bars/venues in Austin for SXSW. It makes it much easier to hop between shows, especially if bands you want to see are playing at nearly the same time, but different venues. I would hope the outdoor event on Saturday is the grand finale throwdown, like the one at Cannery last year.
Please do yourself a favor and go browse through Photos that Changed the World. These are truly magnificent images. Some are very graphic and difficult to look at, but everyone needs to see these photographs. Via Kottke.org.
So Heypenny was the final band to win the “Road to Bonnaroo” series at Mercy Lounge last night. I’m sure you’ve already read this in 5 different places by now. What’s interesting is the apparent bitterness about the whole thing as evidenced by the commentary at the Nashville Cream thread. As I say in my comment, I don’t really see how their gimmick/flair is any different from that of the Protomen… or De Novo Dahl for that matter. It’s really just a good marriage of the right image/branding with their music. The pastel marching outfits and slightly theatrical stage presence compliments their sound well. They certainly aren’t my new favorite band or anything (last night was the first time I’d seen them), but I don’t think their winning was in any way tragic or unjustified. Honestly I think every single band that played last night deserved to go to Bonnaroo. Well… I have my hesitations about Elle Macho. They’re all great musicians in their own right, but there’s absolutely nothing memorable or interesting about their songs in my opinion. I’m just really REALLY happy that the promoters of Bonnaroo were awesome enough to do this, and I sincerely hope it becomes a yearly tradition. Kudos to A.C. Entertainment and Superfly Productions.
Good news from the Obama Administration on the environmental front- by 2016 all new vehicles will be required to have an average of 35.5 MPG. I take this to mean that each car company’s fleet will have to average 35.5 MPG. This is great news, as hopefully it will quell some states’ desires to set their own, higher fuel economy standards. I think there should be one federal standard because it will make it easier for the car companies to comply. Why make it more complicated than it needs to be? The only catch is that the federal standard has to be high. I think 35.5 will do for now, though. Via Live Science.
The STS-125 astronauts released Hubble this morning and are now drifting away from it while doing more inspections of Atlantis’ heat shield. Keep up to speed at NASA TV.
I don’t know whether to be happy or depressed about the new Sherlock Holmes movie. It stars Robert Downey, Jr. and Jude Law… so it can’t be that bad. But still… one must be careful when doing re-makes these days as so many of them turn out to be horrible. The trailer in HD:
Road to Bonnaroo tonight/New Mew/Pregnant Mythbuster
May 18, 2009
The last “Road to Bonnaroo” 8 off 8th is happening tonight at Mercy Lounge. I definitely think this one will be tough to call, and could be a very close race, much like the first one in which The Features won by 1 fan vote. So be sure to come out to Mercy tonight and cast your vote. You never know, it could be the deciding vote! Nashville Cream has more on the lineup/order, etc…
Speaking of local music, the Magic Wands got another mention on RCRD LBL, this time for a Crystal Fighters remix of their breakthrough single “Black Magic.”
Remember that epic Danish band Mew from 2006? Well, they’re back in action, and I’m anxiously awaiting the release of their next album on August 25th. Leave it to them to use a whole effin’ poem as their album title… You ready? Here it is:
No more stories
Are told today
I’m sorry
They washed awayNo more stories
The world is grey
I’m tired
Let’s wash away
Yep, that’s it. A whole poem. More deets at Stereogum.
Credit: NASA
The astronauts of STS-125 have been hard at work repairing/upgrading the Hubble Space Telescope, doing a spacewalk every day since Thursday, and today was their last. Click the image or here to see more eye candy from the mission at Universe Today.
Speaking of great photography, the New York Times started a new photography & video blog called LENS. It has a great interface and allows you browse through several photo essays and great video clips.
I did a short preview of Wolfram:Alpha on here once before, and now it’s actually here. Head on over to check it out, but be sure to read about how to phrase your input before you just start typing in questions. We’re not quite to the point of a computer simply being able to correctly answer any question regardless of phrasing/syntax. But this is a damn good start… Is it better than Google? You tell me.
It should be no secret that I’m a HUGE Mythbusters fan. (In fact, the only good thing about LOST being over with is the fact that I now get to watch new episodes of Mythbusters.) Apparently I’m the last one to know this but Kari Byron, the red-headed geek-girl of the cast, is pregnant! It should also be no secret that I have a huge celebrity-crush on her (as does just about every male fan of the show). I didn’t even know she was married! What’s really cool about the whole thing is that she’s taking this opportunity to bust some common pregancy myths. She did an interview with Pregnancy Magazine in which she busts the top 5. Go Kari! Via Bad Astronomy. Also- watch this unedited clip on Discovery.com of her subtly announcing the news.
I noticed this post on Largehearted Boy today. It contains an mp3 from the Features’ latest album Some Kind of Salvation. What’s odd is it says the album is being released June 9, 2009. It also links to this Amazon.com page which says the same thing about the release. I’m confused. This album came out last fall… Did it get picked up by a label for a larger re-release? Anyone?
Here are a couple more mp3s from bands on my 8 off 8th this coming Monday. First up is The Nobility. I’ve loved this band ever since they started out as Jetpack, and they’ve evolved quite a bit since then. The Mezzanine, their debut album under the new name “The Nobility,” is my favorite of their’s to date. The songwriting and production is impeccable and lands somewhere between Elvis Costello and The Kinks. Here’s the title track from that album.
Here’s a track by Kelly Kerr & the Distractions. Kelly is an old friend and has been playing around Murfreesboro for at least 5 years now. He played in a Cure tribute band called the Lovecats… and used to have a band called Ghostflower. Then he played some solo shows as Kinky Briefcase… then it becamer Kerrific, and now it’s Kelly Kerr & the Distractions. The latest incarnation just released Whimsical In Reverse, a somewhat lo-fi approach to his quirky and intelligent songs. Here’s a fun track called “Alone (On the Makeout Couch).”
Kelly Kerr & the Distractions- Alone (On the Makeout Couch)
Not much else today, except that in his relentless effort to get his name permanently etched into history, Stephen Colbert has somehow gotten a new beetle named after him. Agaporomorphus colberti was named by Quentin Wheeler at Arizona State University and Kelly Miller at the University of New Mexico. These are the same people responsible for naming other beetles after Darth Vader and Roy Orbison. I’ll try to forget about the fact that they also named beetles after George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and Donald Rumsfeld. Via Science Daily.
Image: Arizona State University
Cinco de Drunko/DJ party friday/Apple tablet
May 5, 2009
Cinco De Drunko is today. Ryan Bruce has put together a fun show at La Paz Mexican restaurant in Green Hills for tonight’s festivities, including performances by How I Became the Bomb, Jensen Sportag, Coral Castles (from Chattanooga), Mean Tambourines, Heypenny, and many more. Word on the street is that bands start at 4pm, have 35 minute sets, and 20 min. breaks between. Janet from Out the Other has a good preview of the show, and will have HIBTB on her show tonight.
Speaking of La Paz, they’re also having a late-night dance party this Friday night, for which I’m DJing as DJ Burgers. From what I’ve been told, it’s me and DJ Hippopotamus (who doesn’t seem to have a myspace…). But there could be others. I’d post a flier but I don’t have one yet, and that’s probably because Mr. Bruce is understandably consumed with tonight’s festivities. I’ll post more info as soon as I have it. But please do come out Friday night. It’s a later gig, supposedly not starting till 11 and going till at least 2am.
Speaking of DJ’s, Ultimo & Disco is bringing the legendary Steve Aoki of Dim Mak to Play Dance Bar on June 10th. Check out Blogging Is Serious Business for more info/flier. It’s amazing that they’re getting Aoki here. Who would’ve ever thought a big-name L.A. DJ would play in Nashville? Kudos to U&D for putting this together.
Don’t forget- my 2nd 8 off 8th is happening next Monday May 11th, and it will feature The Nobility, Mean Tambourines, Codaphonic, Kelly Kerr & the Distractions, Carter Administration, Paper Navy, Cuttlefish, and the Only Sons. I will be posting mp3s from each band over the next few posts.
Remember back when Wayne Coyne dissed the Arcade Fire? Well now he’s apologizing… kinda.
You’ve probably already seen this website by now, but if you haven’t, go see it now. Texts From Last Night. Endlessly entertaining.
There have been increasing rumors floating around about a possible new product line to be unveiled by Apple this fall. Supposedly they will be releasing a new tablet computer that runs full OS X but the input is entirely touchscreen-based. Basically it’s going to be a huge iPhone that runs OS X…. but isn’t a phone. Read more about it at this ZDnet article. I have a feeling it will be pretty pricey, though, as is most Apple stuff. I really look forward to playing with one at the Apple Store, though….
While reading this article on Universe Today, I realized that I don’t post enough space/science-related stuff on here about he European Space Agency and what they’re up to. So for more info on that just check out ESA’s website. Probably the biggest thing on their horizon is the ExoMars rover, which is tentatively scheduled for launch in 2016. Let’s hope this lander doesn’t suffer the same fate as the Beagle lander, ESA’s last attempt at a Martian landing.
Via dontstaylong
It’s that glorious time of year again. Moustache May is in full swing! If you have a stache, sign up! If you want to grow a stache and document the progess, sign up! *Update: as of ~12:45pm registration is already closed… ya snooze ya looze!* Or just bookmark it and check often for the always clever theme-days. I did it last year and it was fun, but I think I’m gonna lay low on the stache this year… It took at least 2 weeks for mine to grow enough so that I no longer looked like a creepy child molester.
Tonight I’ll be at a party, but a lot of you will probably be seeing Junior Boys & Max Tundra @ Mercy Lounge.
Also, The Rabbit Release party is going down at the Dirty Eye Warehouse (100 Talyor St.) Featuring Caitlin Rose, Heypenny, and others.
Tomorrow is also looking to be a good night for show-going:
The Pains of Being Pure At Heart @ the End w/ Zaza, Mother Father, and Bows & Arrows. Mother Father are locals… I have no clue about the other 2. I’ve blogged about POBPAH on here before. Obviously this is where I’ll be.
Also Saturday- Pico vs. Island Trees/Butterfly Boucher/The Bridges @ the Basement.
Do I really need to mention the Death Cab shows Sunday and Monday at the Ryman? We’ll be there Monday- I got Megan tickets for her birthday.
The world’s fastest camera can take 6.1 million photos per second. Needless to say, this device is only for scientific purposes. I mean, who else would ever want to take that many photos in a second? It also doesn’t use the conventional CCD or CMOS sensors that regular digital cameras use. Those sensors aren’t capable of anything even close to 6 million frames per second. The technology is explained fairly well in the article, so just go read it if you’re interested.
Universe Today has a story that sheds some much needed light on the confusion over the recent buzz about NASA’s plans for the shuttle fleet, the Constellation program, what we’ll be doing on the moon, etc… In a nutshell, congress is prepared to shell over the dough needed to extend the space shuttle program past 2010 (if needed), NASA still doesn’t have an administrator, and nobody’s really sure just what we’ll be doing on the moon in 2020.
Lastly, I give you the iSnort app:
Have a great weekend!
steve cross loves music and science 