Vinyl+mp3s= success/Extrasolar Planets
November 14, 2008
CD’s are slowly becoming useless pieces of plastic, and good old vinyl records are making a comeback. I am sad to say that I only recently jumped on the vinyl bandwagon (at least for new releases). My vinyl collection really only consisted of the old records I will eventually inherit from my dad, plus a few other old Beach Boys records. I only recently started buying new releases on vinyl, but I’m totally in love with the idea of having a record at home, plus a digital version of the album for the trusty ol’ iPod. I think this is the future of music formats- embracing the greatness of the format of the past, while also embracing the format of the future. I think every release should be available on vinyl with a free download code inside the packaging. Normally the record label has the digital download on their website, but Insound is putting a new twist on this whole phenomenon by offering the albums for free download with a vinyl purchase, putting the digital end of the transaction in the hands of the online retailer, instead of the record label. Kudos.
Three exoplanets orbiting a young star 140 light years away are captured using Keck Observatory near-infrared adaptive optics. The planets are labeled and the two outer ones have arrows showing the size of their motion over a 4 year period.
The first-ever direct images of extrasolar planets have been released by NASA. This marks a major milestone in the search for that ever-elusive extrasolar “earth twin” that astronomers are looking for. Not only did they image one planet, they imaged three! I’m a huge fan of the effort to detect an earth-sized extrasolar planet, and I’ve eagerly awaiting the day that the science community announces such a discovery. Astronomers seem to mostly agree that there are earth-like planets lurking out there, it’s just that we haven’t been able to detect them yet. The smallest extrasolar planet detected thus-far is about 5 times bigger than earth. The vast majority of extrasolar planets are gigantic- several times the size of Jupiter, which makes them easy to detect through indirect methods. Earth-sized planets will be much harder to detect, and we just don’t have instruments or telescopes sensitve enough to detect them. Thus, I will probably have to wait until well after the launch of the new James Webb Space Telescope or the Kepler Observatory to get that exciting news.
Brian Wilson/Robert Schneider encounters
November 12, 2008
So the Brian Wilson record signing at Grimey’s was a bit anti-climatic, but it should be expected, I guess. We stood in line outside in the cold for about an hour to get in. To my dismay they’d just sold out of his new album on vinyl, so I had to get it on CD. (The deal was that you had to buy a copy of his new album there at Grimey’s in order to get him to sign it, and you could also bring 1 other item.) My other item was the awesome original mono version that Megan got me for Christmas last year. Mr. Wilson was robotic in his signing, to put it lightly. He didn’t even make eye contact with anyone.
But the man is lucky to be alive after going through all that he has- his father’s treatment of him, drug abuse, mental illness, losing his brothers, the tension between him and Mike Love… the list goes on and on. All that, and yet he still managed to be one of most profound and influential musicians/producers/composers of modern times. He is indeed the “Mozart of rock” as he was introduced on the stage monday night. This leads into my next item of interest- we ran into none than Robert Schneider of Apples in Stereo at the actual Brian Wilson show at the Ryman monday night. I saw him from behind and before I knew it, had blurted out “Robert Schneider!” He turned around and was very cool and friendly. I mentioned that I’d seen him perform as Marbles at the End opening for Of Montreal once and he was very appreciative. He seems to be in that sweet zone of moderate fame, where not too many people recognize him, but the ones that do aren’t obsessive about it, and it happens seldom enough that he’s appreciative and always willing to talk/take photos/etc… We took a photo with him and went on our separate ways. The show was nothing short of amazing, and from what I’ve heard from people who’d seen Brian before, it was actually better than other recent appearances. His band the Wondermints are absolutely phenomenal, and nailed every single note of the complex harmonies involved with both the Beach Boys material and Brian’s solo stuff. They recreated the sounds in the recordings (yes even the complex Pet Sounds material) with stunning aural accuracy, and the sound mix was almost flawless. I feel like it was worth every penny, and I got to photograph it for the Scene as well, which made it even better.
Frankly I’m a bit surprised this is public information, but as the article mentions, presedential codenames are a bit obsolete and unnecessary, given the strict security and hi-tech communications used by the secret service.
Barack Obama: Renegade
Michelle Obama: Renaissance
Malia: Radiance
Sasha: Rosebud
Diamonds made from tequila? Yes, indeed. If you told me that before I read this article I’d say you were full of shit, but it’s true.
The Phoenix Lander mission is officially over. They haven’t been able to communicate with it for a couple of days now, and the sunlight will only get dimmer and dimmer as the Martian winter sets in. This article seems to indicate that, while unlikely, the possibility does exist for Phoenix to re-awaken in October of 2009 when the Martian spring begins.
Real-life photoshop desktop/Girl Talk
November 10, 2008
This is to cool not to post:
15 of the creepiest/distasteful album covers of all time: Oddee.com (a few are slightly NSFW)
Slideshow of my Girl Talk photos at Nashville Scene’s website. I must say that this show was not nearly as enjoyable as the last time he performed at the Cannery. This time it was a sold-out crowd of mostly Vandy “prepsters” decked out in American Apparel leggings and drunk off their asses. They stormed the stage as usually happens at Girl Talk shows, but it was such an onslaught that the stage sustained some damage and it apparently broke a sprinkler pipe. As the owner said in a statement to the Tennessean, the audience was “younger and stupider” than last time. I have to agree whole-heartedly. These people were completely beyond control and most of them acted like total douches. It made it very difficult for me to do my job because I had to fight my way through a crowd of sweaty Vandy kids just to get remotely close enough to get a good shot. The article also mentions that the owners want to ban all DJ shows in the future. I really hope they don’t stick to that, because events like the Club Sportag parties and MSTRKRFT went totally fine and were quite successful, and I think Mercy is a good venue for those events.
Meteor shower Nov. 5-12/VOTE!
November 3, 2008
This year the Taurid meteor shower is expected to peak/be most viewable between Nov. 5th and Nov. 12th. This particular annual shower is sometimes referred to as “Halloween fireballs,” but this year the best time to view it will be a few days later. The moon will be waxing (more and more of it will be lit leading up to full moon), therefore the light interference from it will make it more difficult to see them going into mid-November. The Taurids are apparently known for being brighter and slower moving than average because the fragments are slightly larger than most other meteor shower fragments. (Though still much smaller than a pea, usually only the size of a grain of sand.) The Leonids will peak around Nov. 17th as always… though this year’s output is expected to be near the average of about 10-15 meteors per hour, which is pretty low. I may actually attempt to watch for the Taurids this year, as I’ve never actively watched for them before. Link: Space.com
NASA’s Phoenix lander (which landed in Mars’ northern polar region back in May) is starting to shut down its instruments as the Martian winter begins and the days (or sols as they’re called when referring to Mars) get shorter and shorter, resulting in less sunlight to power its heaters and computer. I’m not entirely sure if NASA plans to try to revive Phoenix when the Martian “spring” begins, or if it was even designed to do so, but let’s hope.
In the music world, the Jackson 5 will not be reuniting as Jermaine Jackson said last week. Micheal released a statement on Friday Oct. 31st saying that he was in the studio and would not be joining his brothers for a reunion. I seriously doubt a reunion would work without the support of Michael. Link: Billboard.com
Last but not least, if you do nothing else today, please GO VOTE! (You should have done it already, especially in TN where we don’t have to have a valid excuse to vote early!) Countless good men & women have died protecting our right to do so, and this election is by far the most important in many many decades. When compared to most of the world, we are blessed and lucky to even have the right to vote in the first place. Your voice in deciding who leads this country into the next 4 years is both a privilege and a responsibility. To relenquish that voice is a travesty.
HIBTB- new local release
November 2, 2008
First of all, thanks for the compliments, both here and in real life! Keep the feedback coming (both positive and negative), so that I know if what I’m doing here sucks or rules.
In some local music news, How I Became the Bomb is following the footsteps of both Glossary and Radiohead in that they’re shattering the traditions of how a band releases its music to its fans. They will be releasing their new material digitally in a series of 3 song chunks over the remainder of the year. The first of which, “Who Dares Wins,” will be available Nov. 5th for free download at www.howibecamethebomb.com. I had the pleasure of previewing the first track “Salvage Mission” last week when they released a special download code to the attendees of their free show at the rooftop venue/bar Aerial. (I wasn’t actually there but thanks to Lance Conzett for the code.) I must say I’m impressed by the production and look forward to hearing what the masterful John Baldwin at Lake Fever has done with them production-wise. They will also be releasing a video for the above track on Nov. 5th, and I from the still images I’ve seen from the shoot, it will be full of pure awesome. The artwork and web design are top-notch, though I would expect nothing less than that from Michael Eades of Yewknee.com, who assisted in both the release artwork and the website. The futuristic sci-fi/spacey theme is perfectly fitting of the new material and the overall vibe of the band in general, and I think these guys are creating a great marriage between sound and image that fits them perfectly.
In other not-quite-as-recent news, The Features have released their newest full-length “Some Kind of Salvation” on dual vinyl and it’s a masterpiece. I highly suggest you head over to Grimey’s and pick up a copy right now, or order it directly from the band online at www.thefeatures.com. The artwork and quality of the recording make it well worth the 20ish bones it’ll set you back. Not to mention that it comes with a digital download card that gives you access to the full album in DRM-free mp3 format. My interest in them had slightly waned over the past couple of years, but it has been fully renewed with this new album, and their awesome recent live shows. (Though they played a surprisingly short set at their album release show last week.)
One minor tidbit from the science world- Space Shuttle Endeavour has been approved for a Nov. 14th launch of mission STS-126 to the International Space Station. From nasa.gov:
“Endeavour’s main payload is a space-age moving van called Leonardo that is stuffed with new crew quarters and the other equipment needed to enlarge the station’s resident crew to six members. The equipment includes a filtering system designed to filter wastewater to make it potable.”
I like music and science
October 30, 2008
That is why this blog is coming into existence. I will try to make it fun and interesting so that you will want to come back on a regular basis. My main love in life is music. You will find various interesting things from the world of music (mostly indie rock and stuff related to the Nashville local music scene), a few mp3’s here and there, tidbits from the photography/art/design world, and random news from the world of modern science, especially space exploration. You will also find me debunking a few myths here and there, along the vein of the show Mythbusters. I’m somewhat of a skeptic, and am obsessed with getting to the core truth of any mystery or problem, which is the main reason for my passion with science. Please bear with me as I venture into the world of actually being a blogger, not just a blog reader. This site will get design upgrades soon hopefully, and eventually I hope to reach a lot of people with it. Stay tuned.
A few things of interest I’ve come across recently in the lovely interwebs:
If you haven’t seen the amazing literal version of the music video for “Take On Me” by A-ha, then you must be living under a rock. The guys who brought you that have done it again, and it’s honestly almost better than the first one.
Behold- “Head Over Heels” by Tears for Fears: The literal version
steve cross loves music and science 