Foxes… dinosaurs… robots.
February 19, 2009
Science first today. Then we’ll get to the funny stuff.
In some really depressing news, the Space Shuttle Mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope one last time may be in serious jeopardy. That satellite collision last week, which you’ve undoubtedly heard about by now, was in the same general orbit level of Hubble, and the debris from the collision significantly increases the likelihood of a debris strike during the servicing mission to unacceptable odds. NASA estimates that the chance for a debris impact will be about 1 in 185, which is over their threshold of 1 in 200. Even a tiny piece of metal the size of a pea or even smaller could do serious damage to an astronaut’s space suit during a spacewalk, and since there were 5 spacewalks planned to service Hubble, well… you can see where this is going. The good news is, they’re pretty sure the International Space Station is not at much risk for impact from the debris, because its orbit is much lower than that of satellites. It’s just beyond the outer edges of earth’s atmosphere, which means there are just enough air molecules floating around to put a slight drag on any space junk at that orbit level, thus said space junk burns up relatively faster than junk at higher orbits. Thus, low earth orbit stays comparatively clear of debris.
Space.com reports on how the discovery of alien life could impact society. According to the article, a panel of scientists sponsored by the SETI Institute and the NASA Astrobiology Institute recently met over 3 days to discuss this and come up with a basic outline of what impacts they thought such discovery could have on human society.
Very good news for Hummer-haters (myself included!): The Tennessean reports that GM has announced that it will discontinue or sell the Hummer brand by March 31st. Let’s hope it’s the former, not the latter. In my opinion, there is no greater symbol of the wasteful and inefficient extravangance that helped get us into this economic shitstorm than the Hummer. Good riddance!
Remember my post about the movie Coraline from a week or two ago? At the time I was unclear as to the extent of They Might Be Giants’ contribution to the soundtrack. Well, turns out that 28-second jingle that plays through one of the TV trailers is it. Stereogum reports that they did some other material for the movie that got canned, because in the end it turned out not to be “dark” enough.
Dinosaurs fucking robots. Via iO9.
Foxes jumping on a trampoline. Via Yewknee.
Need I say anything else?
James Iha, Bun E. Carlos, Taylor Hansen, and Adam Schlesinger
February 18, 2009
They formed a band. It’s called Tinted Windows. I need not post anything else today. I’m still trying to wrap my head around this (especially the terrible name), and you don’t need to read anything else as you do the same. This is easily the biggest WTF?!?! of the year so far, other than this image:
V-day/Exploding eggs
February 13, 2009
This is the cover art for the new Yeah Yeah Yeah’s album, It’s Blitz! which is coming out sometime in April. I think this is pure genius. This has to be one of the best album covers I’ve seen in a long time. I don’t normally get REALLY excited about cover art, but this is AWESOME. (And not just because it’s a photograph and I’m a photographer.) I’ve never been good at explaining in words why I really like or dislike anything…. but YES. Click the image to see a larger version on the Stereogum post about it.
Your daily dose of WTF?!?… Two German gay men who worked in a metal factory decided it would be fun for one of them to poke an unloaded air rifle up the other one’s ass and pull the trigger. The result? His intestines exploded. Via Vice Magazine.
I’m officially ashamed of my state after hearing that FOUR state representatives from TN have agreed to be plaintiffs in a future lawsuit by a California man who is challenging Obama’s citizenship. Come on, people. We understand, you’re pissed off that you lost the election AND lost majorities in the Congress and Senate, but for fuck’s sake this is PATHETIC.
Scientists have mapped 60% of the Neanderthal genome, which will hopefully lead to a better understanding of the common ancestor of them and us moden humans, and why Neanderthals died out about 28,000 years ago. Via Clusterflock.
Speaking of DNA, scientists have also mapped DNA of the common cold (aka the human rhinovirus). This could finally lead to medications that treat the actual cause of the cold rather than just the symptoms. But it’ll still be a while, because there are 99 known strains of the virus, and if a person is infected with 2 strains at once, parts of the virus’ genetic code can get swapped out, resulting a new strain. So there are potentially HUNDREDS of different versions of this thing floating around out there.
I rarely post on weekends, so here’s an early treat for you from XKCD- a Sierpinski Valentine.
Trace Cyrus/the new stevecrossphotography.com
February 12, 2009
Totally tatts!
Like, TOTES OMG!
I think Hipster Runoff is my favorite new thing. I’ve linked to them a lot lately but it’s really worth it. Today they make fun of people obsessed with myspace, or “myspacers.” And who do they choose to pick on? None other than TRACE CYRUS. Let me explain why this is exceptionally hilarious for me. While in college I had a great friend named Blake Healy. We even lived together for a year. After graduation in the spring of 04, he moved to LA. A couple of years later, he joined this new band called Metro Station with, you guessed it, Trace Cyrus (and his friend Mason Musso). Now they’re getting pretty big. So yes, this is exceptionally funny because one of my best friends is in this guy’s band. They are becoming quite the synthpop tweenage sensation, and Trace is totally playing into that crowd with emo hair, tatoos, and being a “myspacer,” so I can’t really blame them. They know how to make make a lot of money and have fun and get famous while doing it. Wouldn’t we all love to be able to do that? Maybe not the famous part, but the money+fun.. hell yes!
More from the music world:
Ryan Adams is engaged to Mandy Moore. I didn’t even know they were dating. Shows you how much I care about Ryan Adams.
So we all know Conan is heading to LA to take over Jay Leno’s place on the Tonight Show. Pitchfork reports that he’s tapped his red & white buddies The White Stripes to play on his last edition of Late Night. Check the article, as they have a lot of good links to old WS performances on Conan.
I’m proud to announce the launch of my new photography website! The extremely talented Michael Eades (aka Yewknee) put it together for me. He also posted a blurb about it on his blog so make sure to head over and check that out, in addition to my website! www.stevecrossphotography.com
From the department of WTF?!? in the science world, apparently a breed of cattle exists in Belgium which has a mutation of the gene associated with Myostatin, a protein that limits muscle growth in some mammals, resulting in this:
Researchers are attempting to use this protein to treat muscular dystrophy. Via Kottke.org.
A U.S. communications satellite collided with a dead Russian military satellite yesterday, creating a huge debris field, further cluttering up the already dangerously crowded low-earth orbit sector of space. Scientists say that it shouldn’t pose a major threat to the International Space Station, and that the ISS can always execute evasive maneuvers to avoid a deadly impact. The military has sophisticated radar techniques that can track almost every little piece of space junk, so if the ISS or Space Shuttle is on a collision course with an object, they can let them know and the ship can avoid the object. You wouldn’t think tiny pieces of junk floating around would pose a major threat, but you have to remember that in order to be in orbit, that piece of debris has to be traveling at around 17,000 mph. That’s many, many times the speed of sound, and when even a piece of dust hits you at those speeds, it can cause serious damage. Thanks to Matt Sullivan for the tip.
O. The President…. and Star Wars yoga
January 21, 2009
Get the destop background here.
Even the Wikipedia page has been updated. I’m still in awe of the idea of liking my president. I just have this refreshing feeling… like I’ve been working underground in a hot coal mine, getting utterly filthy for the last 8 years, and now I’ve just taken a nice cool shower and come out totally clean, rested, and refreshed. Ok, maybe that was a cheesy analogy but I don’t care. Part of that feeling is pride… which is something I haven’t felt about my country in a looooong time. A year ago, if I were to go to a foreign country I would’ve been embarassed about my country, ashamed of what we’ve done for the last 8 years. But now I think if I were to go abroad, I would definitely not feel ashamed, and I would probably even brag about how our nation came to its senses and got its head out of its ass. Keep your optimism in check, however. He’s only one man. He’s now a very powerful man, but he’s still only one man. It remains to be seen just how much good he can do. We can’t expect him to perform miracles every day. He’s probably got the hardest job in the history of this nation. Good luck, Mr. President.
Here’s the image of the inauguration captured by the GeoEye-1 satellite: (click image to make it bigger) Via Universe Today.
TN’s own Those Darlins got blogged about AGAIN by Brooklynvegan. They must be doing something right…. or they’re just too darned cute…
Darlins get loved/Mars farts
January 19, 2009
Credit: Nathan Miller
Murfreesboro’s own Those Darlins are really starting to get some recognition, and are getting on some awesome gigs, many of which are in NYC. The photo links to a recent Brooklynvegan post about their show at Bowery Ballroom in NY with Langhorne Slim. I recommend scrolling down and reading the comments. Seems a few people are in love with lil’ Jessi darlin. Way to go darlins! TN is proud of you!
We Own This Town has been picking up again lately. Started by Doug Lehmann (of the Clutters), it started out in the wake of the demise of Nashville Zine, though Dough says he never intended it to replace the ‘Zine. Now Michael Eades (aka Yewknee) has all but taken it over, and added the help of Joe Baine Colvert, known for his work at Lake Fever Productions and for the Indie Ghetto, and Andrew J. Smithson, who I posted about recently regarding his new blog, indieocrity. Joe and Andrew are joining forces on WRVU 91.1 to start a new radio show which will complement the content of the website, much like Janet Timmons’ Out the Other. I look forward to seeing these guys bring this website back to life, as well as what they do with the radio show.
I found this really good footage of the US Airways plane crash in the Hudson river on Youtube. That pilot really does deserve the recognition he’s been given, because an engine-less jet airliner is basically like a tank with wings. Having always been interested in aviation (I WILL get my private pilot’s license one of these days), and also being the owner of a very realistic flight simulator on my computer (which allows you simulate a few different airliners and engine failures), I know how hard it is to glide one of these things into a safe landing without power.
Now for a little science. Lately there have been some news headlines claiming that we’ve found evidence of life on mars- methane in the atmosphere. In other words, mars farted and dumb newspapers got really excited about it. Those headlines are DEAD WRONG. At least about the life part… Yes we’ve been detecting methane in mars’ atmosphere since 2004. We also know that methane is quickly destroyed by UV radiation, and since there’s no comfy ozone layer in mars’ atmosphere to block it out, any methane on mars would be destroyed very soon after it was released from the surface. So, if we detect it, there must be constant source re-supplying it into the atmosphere. The source of the headlines is a press release saying that the source could be chemical, geological, or biological (life). Of course many news agencies jumped on that last one and made a really big to-do about it. It’s theoretically possible that current life could be the cause of the methane, but it’s only one of many. We still don’t have any conclusive evidence of life on mars. My personal opinion is that there is no life currently on mars, thus I don’t think that the methane is a result of such. I think it’s more likely that it’s coming from the polar regions- we’ve noticed that mars has little global warming of it’s own going on, and that warming is allowing methane trapped in the polar regions under layers of frozen CO2 to be released, much as the global warming occurring on earth has allowed methane under the shrinking permafrost to be released. My opinion is based on this blog post, btw. If it’s not that, I’d say the second best explanation would be some sort unseen geothermal activity. The Bad Astronomer does a really good job of explaining the facts related to this story, as always. Go check out his post if you want more details.
And finally… a serious dose of WTF?!?!?!?….. Joaquin Phoenix is becoming a rapper. Um… ok…
Eye-gasms and frozen tongues
January 16, 2009
Total eye-gasm. In fact… multiple eye-gasms. The Boston Globe’s “Big Picture” comes through as always with another set of amazing imagery. This is a collection of images from satellites. Click the image to get to the site.
Anamalia: Mikel Uribetxeberria. Not sure what country this guy is from, but his images are amazing. These images of different animals in completely odd places make me very happy and yet uneasy at the same time… and I’m not really sure how this was pulled off technically.
In music news, Devo is playing this year’s SXSW, and Pavement is heavliy rumored to be re-uniting to play ATP NY. I’m contemplating joining my friend and bandmate Seth on an adventure to SXSW this year. I’ve been talking about it for a few years now, and now it’s time to just DO IT.
Nashvillians are stupid sometimes. Metro schools are closed today because of the cold. Come on people, because of the cold? Seriously? Apparently a lot of kids walk to school… but why can’t you just bundle the hell up? Layers, people, it’s all about layers! You people are bunch of of pansies! Via Nashvillest.
Remember that scene in A Christmas Story where the kid is dared to put his tongue on a metal lightpost and ends up with his tongue frozen to it? Well, I guess kids still actually do that.
A tutorial video from a xhardcorex kid on how to do a xone-stepx and xtwo-stepx xwall flipx. That’s sooo xhardcorex dude.
A US Airways plane taking off from LaGuardia airport in NYC had to abort and land in the Hudson river yesterday, which I’m sure you’ve seen in the news by now. Apparently it was caused by a bird flying into one of the engines. Thankfully no one was hurt. A quick youtube search for water plane landings yielded this terrifying video of a plane barely missing some buildings near a beach, then landing in the water.
Microsoft songsmith=the apocalypse, and some vintage ads.
January 12, 2009
This image links to a great flickr set of vintage ads. Just take a minute to peruse through a few. You will enjoy it. Among my faves “Betty’s Gay with Midol“… “I cure women“… “The Miracle of Marlboro.”
Possibly one of the snarkiest local bloggers/writers/music critics is Andrew J. Smithson. He used to write for the Scene, but apparently didn’t like it very much and focused on his own blog. That original blog died, but now he has a new with an incredibly catchy and indicative name- indieocraty. I highly recommend checking it out.
You Ain’t No Picasso posted this new Microsoft ad about their new software Songsmith. Oh. My. God. According to YANP, this is, in fact, the real ad. Maybe Microsoft is trying to make fun of itself? No matter the intent… I too view this as a sign of the apocalypse.
Improv Everywhere is awesome. Check that link for coverage of their latest shenanigan- no pants day. Imagine being in NYC and seeing a bunch of people on the subway and on the streets just walking around with everything but pants on. I love the “freeze” events that they do as well. Nashville has a small group called the Dive-In Theater that does similar stuff. Megan and I participated in the “June Freeze” event in Hillsboro this past June. We met at the dragon park and walked over to Hillsboro Village, and with our phone alarms synced, we all froze up at the same moment, doing random things. It was hard to keep a striaght face while people looked at us curiously, wondering what the hell was going on. I highly suggest checking them out and participating in one of their events. It’s lots of fun.
Anyone who knows me probably knows that I like to do crazy shit like chase tornadoes, go hang-gliding, bungee-jumping (still on my to-do list), etc…. Well, I may have finally found something I wouldn’t do. I wouldn’t call myself an adrenaline junkie by any means… I don’t have the need to get out and do this kind of shit everyday… but I do love it. In my eyes these dudes are totally badass. I’ve actually seen this video once before… about a year ago. But my dad sent it to me today and I thought it would be worth posting. So what do you think? Are these guys totally badass or totally insane?
And finally, I must leave you with the metal band name flow chart: (click image to enlarge, then prepare to laugh histerically)
Merge Records- 20 years old!
January 9, 2009
From the department of AWESOME, Merge Records will be having a 20th anniversary festival in their hometown of Chapel Hill, NC this summer. I can’t wait to see the lineup! I’m really hoping that Spoon, M. Ward, Arcade Fire, and Camera Obscura are all involved. That would be well worth making the trip. Save the date- July 22nd through 26th. Also, for $199, you can subscribe to SCORE!, an exclusive series of releases, featuring content hand-picked by the curators of Merge’s back-catalog. Just go read about it, too much to explain here…
SXSW has announced the initial lineup for it’s 2009 festival, being held March 18-22nd in Austin, TX. I’m going to try to weasel my way into going this year.
Some Nashville songwriters/musicians decided that the Titans needed a fight song going into their big playoff game this saturday against the Baltimore Ravens. Apparently they finished it at about 4am this morning. Check out the story and hear a clip of it on the Tennessean’s website. Link via Nashvillest.
For you daily dose of WTF from the science world, check out this Universe Today article about entrepreneur Eric Knight’s ideas about what NASA should do with the Space Shuttles after they’re retired next year. He wants to use them to go to Mars. Not one, but two of them at once. Keep in mind while reading this article that his ideas were meant to be simply a thought exercise, not a technically sound and feasible plan.
Zooey Gibbard? Yep.
December 30, 2008
Photos: Jensen Sutta
I’m not one for celebrity gossip, but WTF?!?!?!?!?!? How did I miss out that Ben Gibbard and Zooey Deschanel were dating? Two of my top 25 or so musicians… and I hadn’t a clue. Well, according to Stereogum and several other sources, they’re engaged! Honestly, I can’t think of a better match. It’s a total indie rock cuteness-warm-fuzzy-gasm. They just need to write some songs together already! Ok ok… I know I’ve mentioned ZD in like, all of the last few posts… but she just keeps popping up on my radar… not that she’s ever really below it anyway. Yes, I have a girlfriend, but even SHE has a crush on ZD.
Not sure what to do in Nashville this New Year’s Eve? Here’s a list of some good things going on.
How I Became the Bomb, The Privates, And The Relatives @ the Basement, 21+
JEFF the Brotherhood, Meemaw, Turbo Fruits @ the End, 18+
Selloutpresents.com and Club Sportag present “Return to Whatever” @ the Warehouse, 901 6th Ave South, 21+
The Protomen, Makeup & Vanity Set, Beta Macks @ Springwater, 21+
Autovaughn, Cage the Elephant, Hollywood Kills, Gone City, and Leslie @ 12th and Porter, 21+
Charles Walker & the Dynamites @ Exit/In, 21+
There are some other things going on, but those are the biggest ones in my book. I haven’t seen JEFF or Meemaw since Next Big Nashville, so I’m guessing I’m due for another dose of Infinity Cat.
Science tidbits for the day:
Livescience’s top 5 incredible science discoveries of 2008.
The Obama administration will hopefully help to bring America back to the forefront of science and technology. Under the Bush administration’s morality-based politics, we’ve slowly lost our grip on being the world leader in these fields, and reality in general. Livescience talks about the optimistic new outlook for science and the democratization of knowledge.
steve cross loves music and science 