Post-SXSW laziness/photos
March 23, 2011
As predicted, I haven’t felt like blogging about much of anything these past few days post-SXSW. That festival/conference is literally one of the most draining things I’ve ever experienced. It takes me a good week to feel like going out or seeing shows again. That being said, I did have a blast and took a lot of photos for both the Nashville Scene and LEO Weekly. Check those out here and here, respectively. We also stayed at the same awesome little house that we’ve had the past 2 years, in the Travis Heights area just south of downtown. The laws regarding odd pets are pretty lax in Austin, and the dude who owns the house takes advantage of it. The first year he had a few chickens in the back, which was interesting enough. Last year he had nothing. But this year, he had chickens and GOATS. I believe he said they are Norwegian pygmy goats. Behold:
Also of interest- photographer Ryan Muir took some interest on-the-spot portraits of various bands at SXSW this year, all of which can be seen on Stereogum.
No posts for a few days: I’m gonna be at SXSW
March 15, 2011
It’s that time of year again. It’s time for my 3rd annual trip to SXSW in Austin, TX, so posting will mostly likely not resume until next tuesday or wednesday, depending on how exhausted I am afterward. Please do keep an eye on the Nashville Cream as my photos and my fellow-Creamers’ stories from our adventures will be posted daily.
Gliese 581g: the controversy
January 19, 2011
The controversy over the existence Gliese 581g, the exoplanet that made waves in the media back in September, is far from over. I’ve been watching Phil Plait’s Bad Astronomy blog for updates on this situation, as he’s one of the most level-headed and honest science bloggers out there. He spoke, so now I speak: the controversy rolls on, but hopefully there’ll be a solution soon. Basically, different teams of astronomers have used different methods and computer models to process the telescopic observations that led to the initial discovery. Some show the planet exists, some don’t, and apparently it has a lot to do with how ellipticalness (yes that’s a word) of the orbit of the other planets in the system. I encourage you to learn more of the specifics by reading the Bad Astronomy post.
In other news, I saw and photographed Wanda Jackson last night with the Third Man House Band, at Third Man Records. Please head over to the Nashville Cream if you haven’t yet, and read the write-up and check out my pics. It was truly something special- she’s a legend and this was by far the best band she’s played with in recent years.
If you’re a Nashvillian you no doubt know about the massive snowball fight that occurred in Centennial Park Monday night. Snow is somewhat of rarity around here, so the young (and the young at heart) never miss the chance to enjoy it. Luckily technology has advanced to the point that it’s quite easy to make gorgeous imagery, both still photography and film, even in such low-light conditions. Behold this awesome slo-mo video created by Winston Hearn. I know, I know, using a Jonsi song is so obvious for slo-mo footage of hipsters throwing snowballs… but it really hits the perfect mood and sometimes you have to throw the snark out window and enjoy something for what it is.
I must also mention the great set of photos from the event taken by Lance Conzett over on Dixie Downturn.
In other news, local indie rock/punk staple club The End has finally joined the 21st century and gotten a website. You can also pre-order tickets to some select shows. As much as we Nashville rock promoters/musicians love owner Bruce Fitzpatrick, the guy is very old-school. The venue has been around for 30 some years, and as far as I know, he’s been the owner the whole time. (Someone correct me if I’m wrong about that.) I’m just happy that it’s now relatively easy to see who’s playing there and when. (Via the Cream)
Nashville’s Dead became a bonafide record label a few months ago, and their first two releases are now up on the webstore. They are both 7″ singles, one by Useless Eaters and the other by The Paperhead (formerly known as The Looking Glass). (Via Nashville’s Dead)
Turkey break
November 24, 2010
It’s that time of year again where everyone eats way too much and visits their families. That’s what I’m doing today so don’t expect to see anything on this blog for a few days at least. I do have a review of the new And The Relatives record coming down the pipe, so stay tuned for that.
In the meantime, go have an eyegasm while looking at these selected photos from National Geographic’s photography contest.
Eye-gasm: virtual tour of Space Shuttle launchpad
November 2, 2010
Screenshot from NASA Tech virtual tour
So yesterday’s post was a bit of a downer… in some ways. Let me now point you in the direction of something totally awesome: a virtual tour of Space Shuttle Discovery on launch pad 39A. With the final liftoff of Discovery scheduled for tomorrow, I thought it perfect today to share this website I discovered via Universe Today. NASA’s Jim O’Connor runs the NASA Tech website and does 360 degree hi-resolution photographic virtual tours, and they’re nothing short of amazing. While virtual tours are nothing new, getting this kind of view (and from as many viewpoints) of a space shuttle is as close as most of us will ever get to actually seeing the full assembly up-close and in-person. It really helps you grasp how big the whole thing is… as much as one can without actually being there. Right now there are several different views of the space shuttle, all of which can be rotated a full 360 degrees. While the website itself is rather hideously designed, the awesome views offered by the virtual tours make up for it. I’d say my favorite is the one from under the orange external fuel tank.
In other news: GET OFF YOUR ASS AND VOTE TODAY!
Mayan calendar end disputed/Big Pics of NIF
October 19, 2010
It’s been a while since I got on my soapbox of how the 2012 Mayan calendar doomsday myth is, well… a myth. Let me begin by saying that there is no reason to believe that anything exceptional will happen when the Mayan long count calendar ends. Anyone that tells you otherwise is either totally full of shit, or is very gullible to fluff and hype (generated by the former). The descendants of the Mayans themselves have even said that the doomsday myth is bullshit. So, this thing is already completely blown out of the water by real science and reason, but just in case you needed another reason not to believe the doomsday hype, now the actual date of the end of the long count calendar is in question. The methods used to convert the Mayan calendar into our own Gregorian years has been shown to be unreliable, and this could throw off the date conversion by as much as 50 to 100 years. So in reality, the Mayan calendar might have already ended (and thus simply started over again)! I’ll keep an eye out for any updates and clarifications to this story, but let’s face it- the Mayan calendar doomsday hype is nothing more than fear-mongering and utter ignorance. (Via LiveScience)
Image via Wikipedia
I know I link to this blog all the time, but the Boston Globe’s Big Picture blog continually showcases some of the most amazing imagery you’ll find anywhere, and what’s best about it is the content. This particular series involves the National Ignition Facility in California. This massive experiment could literally solve all the world’s energy problems. What they’re attempting to do here is essentially create a miniature star right here on earth. Just recently they completed a successful test in which they fired 192 lasers simultaneously into one tiny frozen target capsule containing deuterium and tritium (isotopes of hydrogen). The ultimate goal is to create a nuclear fusion reaction- the same process taking place in the center of our Sun. As you can easily deduce, this would release enormous amounts of energy that is completely clean- the only by-product is helium, which is the element formed when hydrogen atoms fuse. The only hurdle is that it already requires a massive amount of energy to power the lasers that start the reaction in the first place, so the reactor must produce significantly more energy than it consumes in order to truly be a viable solution to the energy crisis. Another issue could be safety. With a reaction as powerful as nuclear fusion, things can get dangerous very quickly. Thankfully though, if an explosion were to occur, it wouldn’t involve the radioactive fallout danger associated with current nuclear reactors which use a different process- nuclear fission. (AKA the reaction used in the atomic bomb.) Click here to learn more about the NIF.
New And The Relatives/Big Pics from Chile
October 14, 2010
File this one in the “what could have been” folder. Local classic indie rock (yes I’m using “classic” with “indie rock”) trio And The Relatives have sadly reached the end of their career… for the forseeable future, at least. I hate to say that, but it’s true. I won’t go into explicit details but a member of the band rather unexpectedly made the decision to move to California. That being said, they ARE releasing the debut album Green Machinery which they’ve been working on for the past few years; it will be out very soon on vinyl via a joint effort between Michael Eades’ YK Records and Theory 8. It will also be available digitally via their Bandcamp. You can actually go there now and preview a couple of the tracks. I’ve watched this band develop over the past few years, and it’s rather amazing how far they’ve come. I also must mention the eye candy that is the artwork and new website, designed by Eades and Kyle Scudder. I’d like to hope they will eventually reunite at least to play a show here and there, or even just to work on new recorded material… similar to the Hotpipes’ situation.
Some more random links/tidbits of interest:
The Boston Globe’s Big Picture blog has a series of beautiful and moving photographs from the Chilean mine rescue. I can’t imagine being trapped underground for 2 months with 32 other men, and no doubt the full psychological effects have yet to be seen. Regardless, these photographs are incredible.
T.I. apparently talked a guy out of committing suicide Wednesday afternoon in Atlanta, just a few days before he’s scheduled to go to trial on a probation violation. Good job, T.I.! Maybe the judge will go a little easier on you?
The Village Voice did a pretty cool interview with Duck Sauce (a.k.a. A-Trak and Armand Van Helden). Just go read it, and be sure to check out their new single “Barbara Streisand” for which they did this awesome came0-packed video:
I’m back, here are some cool links
September 21, 2010
Eating lunch with the Darlins in the Bronx.
So I’m back! It was a blast and I’d do it all again in heartbeat. I don’t have time to give a full rundown, but quite possibly the most memorable moment was realizing that a tornado was hitting Brooklyn while Those Darlins were soundchecking in Bowery Ballroom. Here’s the official weather report from the NWS. Needless to say, tornadoes are pretty rare in NYC. Thankfully we were in Manhattan while all this was happening. Those Darlins have some great new songs on their new record, and their setlist for this tour is mostly those new songs, peppered with the favs from their debut, and the free single “Nightjogger” which you can download at the Nashville Cream. Basically they’ve taken on a bit more of a pure rock & roll character, and drummer “Sheriff” Linwood Regansburg has taken on a much more prominent role in the songwriting, and even sings on one of the new songs, though they’re not yet playing that song live. Stay tuned for more on them and more on the results of my photo documentary project.
Meanwhile, here are some awesome things I came across while catching up on all my RSS feeds:
Vaccines absolutely, beyond a shadow of a doubt, do NOT cause autism. A new study explored every possible way that thimerosal containing vaccines (TCVs) could be linked to autism and there was none. Absolutely no connection whatsoever; the same findings as the many other studies that have been done to investigate the claims of the anti-vax crowd. In fact, the result hinted that the administration of TCVs between birth and 7 months may actually reduce the risk of autism. It’s very simple, get your kids vaccinated! If you don’t, you are a threat to public health. Vaccines are one of mankind’s greatest scientific breakthroughs and have saved countless lives. There will always be a miniscule (and utterly negligible) risk of a bizarre allergic reaction or other complication, as there is with any medication or vaccine, but that risk is far, far, FAR outweighed by the benefits. And those risks have now been proven once and for all NOT to include autism.
A pair of astronomers have made an official prediction that the discovery of the first truly earth-like exoplanet will happen in less than a year– May of 2011. They used a well-known methodology called Scientometrics to make this prediction. I’d venture to say that to me, nothing in the field of astronomy, or even science in general, is more exciting than the very likely possibility of life on other planets. The discovery of the first true earth twin is a major step in that path. I really hope this prediction comes true.
Five awesome facts about NASA’s next robotic mission to Mars, the Mars Science Laboratory (a.k.a. Curiosity) which will launch in late 2011.
23 amazing photographs from the 1940s and 50s of nuclear bomb tests conducted by the US Military. This New York Times photos series is utterly fascinating, mainly because of images 5 through 7. Most of us have seen plenty of images of the mushroom clouds created by nuclear blasts, but those 3 images are unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. They were taken with a super high-speed camera and literally captured the blast at the very instant the explosion began. If I saw this image out of context I would probably think it was a microscope image of some sort of virus. The amazing irony here is that both a virus and an atomic bomb are incredibly destructive, yet in such completely different ways.
The actual scale of the observable universe, from the smallest possible thing the largest possible thing, is utterly impossible for the human mind to comprehend. Mathematicians came up with the concept of “orders of magnitude” to help with this, but I say it’s still impossible for any human to really grasp. But this fun little interactive Flash animation is pretty cool way of displaying the concept. (Via Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson’s Twitter)
First, I must point you to the official Next BIG Nashville schedule. It’s up, and it will probably change, but it’s there so start planning which sacrifices to make. Planning your schedule at these types of music festivals is always a delicate balance between seeing people you know and like, and branching out to see some new acts you might not get to see otherwise.
Secondly, I have some exciting news that some people know about, but others don’t. I will be doing a photo documentary project with Those Darlins next week; joining them on a week-long leg of their tour with Strange Boys and Gentleman Jesse & His Men. I got the idea after the death of famous rock photographer Jim Marshall last year. News of his death got me thinking about his photographs, and how a lot of the truly iconic shots are very casual, candid, off-beat images taken off the stage. I thought about how I could do more of that type of behind-the-scenes work (not that my images will ever be as iconic as Marshall’s shots of Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, and the like), and I thought of Those Darlins. I’ve known them for years, they’re some of the best people I know, they have room in their van, and after some discussions with their awesome manager John “JT” Turner, this idea is now becoming a reality. They’re what most would consider a mid-level act, but they’re headed for higher places and I think it’s the right time to do this type of project with a band like them. Those Darlins know how to party, and I think the results of this little experiment will be interesting. So, if you’re in Chapel Hill, D.C., New York, Cambridge, or Brooklyn, I hope to see you at one of the shows! Obviously, I may not be posting much next week…
My other news is simply that Miami Horror is awesome and you should go buy their album now. Seriously, I’ve been seeing mp3’s from these guys popping up in the blogosphere for a few months and I kept thinking “oh, this is an awesome track… nice…” But just yesterday I saw my friend Joseph’s review of their debut album on his blog Nashville Nights and it finally clicked in my head that these guys were different than your average “3 or 4 singles a year” DJs/producers. I urge you to checkout the quality interview Joseph did with them as well… I totally agree with his sentiment that it’s hard to find a good, quality dance floor album these days. There really are no sleepers or filler on this album- pure quality all the way through. Honestly this material is exactly what I personally want out of electronic/dance music: it’s got a great disco-ey, funky groove to it, smooth bass lines, and most of all the songs are songs, not just a bunch of loops layered together that build and fade (via trancewave). If you like Cut Copy, AIR, or Neon Indian, you will love this record. This is the best thing to come out of Australia since Silverchair. J/K J/K J/K
Miami Horror-I Look To You (Ft. Kimbra)
Oh, and the link to buy the album goes to Amazon. Fuck iTunes and their non-mp3/non-DJable formats. And while I’m at it, fuck their new ugly skin/layout for iTunes 10, too.
steve cross loves music and science 