California “missle launch” was likely only a jet contrail
November 10, 2010
Monday night must’ve been a slow news night in California, and everywhere really… but what most media has been calling a “mystery missle launch” was probably just a jet airliner contrail. It’s all a matter of perspective, really.
The footage came from a news helicopter that was flying off the coast of Orange County, CA, Monday night. The footage is shot looking westward and the object appears to be a rocket rising from the ocean. But if a jet airliner is flying directly toward you from over the horizon, and leaving a contrail behind it, it will look as though it is rising from the ground going straight up. If the atmospheric conditions are right, the contrail will quickly get widened by upper-level winds, and vortexes left by the plane’s wings can cause a spiral-like appearance. The bright light at the tip of the plume is only visible for a short time, which would indicate that it’s simply the glint of the setting sun reflecting off the plane’s underbelly. After some blog-reading I found that in fact, contrails have been mistaken for missles from this very same area before, and the culprits are planes traveling from Hawaii to Phoenix. There’s also a small possibility that it was a small target rocket from an island west of LA and used to test the military’s new airborne laser defense system, but the company that conducts those tests has said that it did not have any launches that day.
I think what we have here is a case of sensationalist media capitalizing on the mistake of a helicopter news team. Normal people probably see contrails from this same flight path almost every night and may think it’s interesting, but they forget about it and move on. Because it happened to be a news helicopter team who were fooled by the illusion this time, it instantly became a media blitz and got blown waaaay out of proportion. I’m saying I’m 100% sure it was a jet airliner contrail, but I’d be surprised if it wasn’t. More detailed info on this particular incident’s explanation can be found at NewScientist. Also, a detailed explanation and comparison of this incident to other contrail incidents can be found at the Contrail Science blog.
If Harry Underwood’s art came to life…
November 8, 2010
This is probably what it would look like:
(Via Yewknee’d)
If you don’t know who Harry Underwood is, you need to learn. Thank me later.
In other news, the latest We Own This Town podcast is out and it contains some tasty new treats from Nashville artists both new and old such as Jasmin Kaset, Fly Golden Eagle, Tristen, and Relax With Fiction.
Tex vs. Basil Marceaux dot com/weekend shows
November 5, 2010
First off, here’s what I think is good this weekend:
FRIDAY:
The Features, Tristen, Bows & Arrows @ 12th & Porter. 9pm. I swear I read somewhere that this is some kind of benefit show, but I can’t find any evidence of that now. Regardless this is an AMAZING lineup. I need not say a word about the Features- we all know they rule the universe. Tristen has gotten better and better every time I’ve seen her the past 3 years, and just when I think she couldn’t possibly be better, she is. Speaking of getting better- Bows & Arrows are now totally awesome as well. (Not that they weren’t before, but now they’re really awesome.) I saw them last Sat. night at Grand Palace in M’boro and they totally blew me away. They’ve got a batch of new songs and have been slowly chipping away at a debut full-length with Alex at GP’s recording studio.
OK Go, Those Darlins, Samuel @ Mercy Lounge. 9pm, $15. I’ve not a clue about Samuel, but I can promise you’ll hear almost all new material from Those Darlins (which I deemed fantastic while I was on tour w/ them for a week), and a fun, crowd-participatory experience from OK Go. I saw most of their set at Bonnaroo this past summer and while the last album or two hasn’t impressed me, they did put on a helluva live show.
SATURDAY:
Milktooth, XPIA, the Zut Alors, and Flashbulb Fires @ the 5 Spot. 9pm, $5.
Turbo Fruits, Big Surr, Deadbeat Beat, D. Watusi, Reid Magette @ Glen Danzig’s House, 7pm, $5.
SUNDAY:
Fang Island, Delicate Steve, Sleeper Agent, and Bad Cop @ The End. $10, 9pm.
And now here’s some footage of the one and only Tex Rambunctious interviewing the one and only Basil Marceaux dot com:
(Via Nashville Cream)
Pains of Being Pure at Heart sophomore album produced by Flood
November 4, 2010
Pains of Being Pure at Heart @ SXSW 2009
I’ve been a solid fan of the Pains of Being Pure at Heart ever since they burst onto the scene in late 2008/early 2009. I was pretty amazed when I read this article on Stereogum reporting that they’ve finished up their 2nd full-length with none other than Flood behind the faders. Knowing that a producer who was behind such huge massive sounds as U2, Depeche Mode, Smashing Pumpkins, etc… was working with POBPAH initially scared the hell out of me. Adam Gold of the Nashville Scene/Cream once told me “they rock about as hard as a cupcake” referring to POBPAH. And honestly that’s a pretty accurate statement, but I’m actually fond of several “cupcake” bands, so that is (in some ways) a very good thing in my mind. Such a “big sound” production style would certainly spell doom for the tenderness and teenage awkwardness that is part of the reason I loved their debut album so much. At least that was my initial reaction. The quotes in the article, however, quelled most of my pessimism about this second album. Quotes like “the loud parts are louder and the quieter parts are quieter — with a lot more variation between the two” really make me feel like Flood didn’t just come crashing through the walls and lay down the law while POBPAH cowered in the corner. The band actually developed a “good push-and-pull with him” and believes that he actually learned as much from them as they did from him. To me, a big part of what made their debut so good was the way it was mixed, and most specifically the guitar sounds. Honestly there were a few moments where I found myself wanting the guitar parts to come through a little clearer; that they were a little too awash in fuzz and re-verb. So when I read that they were going for “a guitar sound that hit you in the chest.” I’m all about that. So with slight hesitation, I look forward to hearing this new album. As I’ve said all along, I really think this band has some staying power.
A few random other notes:
Congrats to everyone involved with Make-Out With Violence, the locally shot and produced feature film is now officially out on DVD and On Demand. I mentioned before they’d finally found a distribution home with Factory 25, but now you can actually go order a copy for yourself. Go forth and buy! These dudes sunk a lot of their own cash into this movie and worked tirelessly for years- they deserve it! (Via Nashville Cream)
Just watch this amazing feat of choreography and lighting that happened in NYC for the Target 2010 fall fashion spectacular. Mind=blown. (Via Vitalic Noise)
Astrology=Myth
November 1, 2010
Time for some good old-fashioned debunking.
It seems like Astrology is one of those old myths that manages to pervade everyday language even with some of the most well-educated people. I hate to burst anyone’s bubble, but it simply is a load of crap. The biggest reason, and the only one I will spell out in this post, (you will get links to more thorough debunking articles later) is that the 12 “houses” of the zodiac are not constant. Our earth’s axis of rotation wobbles, just like a top’s axis of rotation slowly wobbles when you spin it on a table. This phenomenon, called precession, causes the zodiac to slowly change over many years. In fact, there are now 13 constellations that fall within the zodiac, not 12. The Babylonians created the 12 sign zodiac we’re all familiar with, but that was thousands of years ago. The zodiac has shifted so that there’s a good chance that when you were born, the sun was not in the constellation that corresponds with your astrological sign based on the calendar. Said calendar is based on how the Babylonians observed the sky thousands of years ago. It is not the same today!
Modern astrologers have turned this pseudo-science into a huge moneymaking scam that is no different than that of psychics and other scam artists that use misdirection and mentalism techniques to screw people out of their money. They use vague predictions that could be applied to almost anyone or anything, and they use the fact that people always remember the few things they get right, and not the many things they got wrong. The logic people use when they claim that an astrological prediction was right is appalling. “My horoscope said I’d come into money today, and I found a dollar on the ground! It was right!” The predictions made by astrologers have never EVER stood up to actual scientific research. They get no more predictions correct than a person making random chance guesses would.
One more point- the idea that the position of the planets and sun when we were born could have any effect on our personality is totally absurd. How? There are 4 forces in nature- electromagnetism, gravity, the strong nuclear force, and the weak nuclear force. None of them can affect you based on the positions of the planets/sun when you were born. This is scientifically proven fact.
I don’t have a degree in science, but I do consider myself an amateur scientist and a skeptic, and I follow the writings of extremely smart scientists who do have degrees in what they write about, and I can be damn sure that I can trust them. Go read their more thorough debunkings of astrology here, here, and here.
Halloween weekend rundown
October 29, 2010
Image via tenthousandknives
By now you’ve probably already pinned down your Halloween plans, but I’ll list off a few things going down this weekend just in case there’s a day that you haven’t quite figure out yet.
FRIDAY:
Freaky Friday Halloween Party at Mercy Lounge/Cannery Ballroom. Featuring a total nostalgia-gasm of Guilty Pleasures + My So-Called Band in the Cannery and Yacht Rock Revue + Glam Hammer in Mercy Lounge. If I were going, I’d stay upstairs not because of the bands, but because we all know Guilty Pleasures + Halloween = lots of cougars dressing up as a “sexy _____” and exposing things that no cougar should ever expose. It’s 21+ and $15 gets you a wristband with access to both venues.
Clem Snide & Mountain Man are at the Basement. 21+ $8 9pm
SATURDAY:
Mercy Lounge/Cannery Ballroom host their annual “Nightmare In Music City” party. Cannery Ballroom will be transformed into a giant dance party, Mercy will be an exclusive VIP area, and there will be a huge heated tent outside in the parking lot with more DJs and dancing. $15 GA, $50 VIP.
Mai and 12th & Porter present the 2nd annual “Haunted Valley” block party featuring DJ sets and performances by Ying Yang Twins, Chancellor Warhol, Majestico, Coach, Potamus, Brandon Wahl, Space Capone, Luna Halo, Rod Youree, Cal Ecker, Hands off Sam, and Slow Motion Centerfold. Not sure who’s playing in which venue, but GA tix are $25.
Ra Ra Riot, Villagers, and Givers are at Exit/In. 9pm $15.
There also may or may not be a secret show happening at a secret location that’s about a 40 minute drive down I-24. This secret location may or may not have a very strict capacity limit due to past events. The headlining band may or may not have been recording their debut album in this same secret location over the past few months.
SUNDAY:
Girl Talk at Mai. Outdoor party, rain or shine. Starts at 7pm!
That’s all I got. Have a good Halloween and keep it classy.
Weekend shows/Vandy announcement/I’m hipper than Rivers Cuomo
October 22, 2010
According to the Nashville Cream, I’m hipper than Rivers Cuomo. They also agreed with NME’s sentiments about Caitlin Rose being cooler than Cuomo. Caitlin is way cooler than me, though.
Tune In Music City tweeted the following yesterday: “Press conference at Vandy this Monday to announce a huge music event. ‘It’s been over 29 years’ they say. We’d like 2 know what. Wouldn’t U?” Well, that’s not obvious at all… just read Adam Gold’s Cream post about it if you’re still in the dark. I do know the answer to this question, but as an employee of Vanderbilt, I can neither officially confirm nor deny these rumors.
Now for some stuff to get into this weekend:
FRIDAY:
The 5. 6. 7. 8’s are at Third Man Records. 9pm, $5 (Yeah, it’s that band from Kill Bill and the Vonage commercials.)
Passion Pit, Snoop Dogg, and B.o.B. at Vanderbilt Memorial Gym. It’s the annual Commodore Quake. Doors at 6:30pm, tix $20-$50 for non-students.
SATURDAY:
I’ll be at Mercy Lounge snapping pics of Kurt Vile, who has support from The Soft Pack and Purling Hiss. 9pm, $10 adv. $12 dos.
The 1st annual Circuit Bender’s Ball at Open Lot. This is more than just a show. There are workshops for all ages from 2-6pm, where you can learn about circuit bending and how to make various electronic musical devices. Performances start at 6:30 and run till midnight. If you have no idea what circuit bending is, click here. Trust me, this will be an interesting and fun event.
One more thing- early voting is in full swing in TN! That means you can drop by and vote at any of the 9 early voting stations at your convenience (within the scheduled hours) up until next Thursday, Oct. 28th. If you were worried about long line at the polls on election day, worry no more because with early voting the lines are always much shorter. There’s simply no excuse- be a worthy citizen and do your part- VOTE.
Have a great weekend!
Hipster Runoff makes fun of Caitlin Rose’s NME mention
October 21, 2010
Ok, first of all, let’s be really proud of Nashville’s own Caitlin Rose, who got a spot on NME’s “The Cool List 2010.” Granted, she’s way down at #73, but that’s 2 spots above Rivers Cuomo, who came in dead last! So, way to go, Caitlin! It’s safe to say you’re officially a star in the UK. But sadly the way I found out about this was through my Hipster Runoff RSS feed. In this post from yesterday afternoon he makes fun of the NME cool list and describes Caitlin as “sounds like a girl who sad behind u in Algebra class who got preggers by senior year.” At first glance it’s a little insulting, but seriously, this is Hipster Runoff we’re talking about here. It’s kind of an honor to be made fun of by Carles. And if you take anything on that blog seriously you’re missing the point altogether. ❤ U Caitlin. U rule forevs.
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:
steve cross loves music and science 