Breakfast cereal club/Texas has balls of fire…
February 16, 2009
Via Ironic Sans. Click the image to go directly to the post.
The official SXSW music schedule has been released. It’s pretty user-friendly, as you can sort by day or by alphabetical listing. As with any festival, it’s gonna be a game of saying, “ok, who do I really care the most about seeing?”
Two great links from Kottke.org, as always:
I’m officially going to attempt having people over to watch LOST and play the official LOST drinking game. Please, if you watch the show, go read this. And then do it on wednesday. Preferably at my apt. My favorite: take a drink whenever “The island jungle scenes look as if they were shot in someone’s backyard, or the oversize potted plant section of an Office Max.”
Some really cool chemistry experiment videos. HORRIBLE WEB DESIGN ALERT! Warning- this website looks like something straight out of 1997. But the videos are pretty cool nonetheless.
I saw a story on CNN.com yesterday about a fireball and corresponding sonic boom heard/seen over Texas sunday morning. While the story doesn’t say specifically that the fireball was falling debris from the satellite collision last week, it does seem to hint at it. But the Bad Astronomer doesn’t think so, mainly becuase the debris appeared to be moving too quickly. It’s more likely that it was indeed a large meteor that just happened to hit the atmosphere a few days after the satellite collision. But as you can see in the BA post, nothing is for certain just yet. It’ll be interesting to see what comes of this…
Finally, an interesting clip on the Daily Galaxy from an interview with astronomer Neil Degrasse Tyson on why the world will not end in 2012. I would embed the video here, but as far as I can tell, you can only embed YouTube and Google videos on WordPress blogs. Grr.
New comet/Fairey arrested
February 9, 2009
Science first today, people.
A new comet has been discovered and will be visible at least with binoculars and maybe even the naked eye for people in rural areas over the next few weeks. It was discovered by a 19 year-old student named Quanzhi Ye at the Lulin Observatory in Nantou, Taiwan on July 11, 2007. Be on the lookout for it over the next few weeks. I’m sure Universe Today or Bad Astronomy will post something about the exact location in the night sky, and when they do I’ll be sure to post it here. Via Live Science.
Space Shuttle Discovery’s launch has been pushed back again, to no earlier than Feb. 22nd. Engineers are still testing those new hydrogen flow valves to make sure they’re safe.
Do you own a cat? Do you know if it’s plotting to kill you in your sleep? Here’s a quick quiz to find out…
Shepard Fairey has been arrested for tagging property with graffiti. He was on his way to a kickoff event for his first solo exhibition. Shitty timing!
Did you you know the grammys were this past weekend? Yeah, me niether. I actually did know, I just forgot about them. They seem to be pretty forgettable these days. Brooklynvegan has a listing of all the awards.
Various people in London decided to use the opportunity nature gave them in the form of recent snowfall to make a bunch of giant snow-penises around town. Reminds me of a few years ago when Nashville got a few inches of snow and some Vandy kids made several snow phalli around campus. The final button in the dailogue box to post a photo on this blog is “insert into post.” Huh… huh huh…. Via Vice Magazine blog. (I promise I’m not really this immature…)
Black Lips escape India/Annular eclipse photos
January 27, 2009
Credit: M.R. Taufik
Yesterday a relatively rare phenomenon occurred over parts of the Pacific Ocean, southeast Asia and Australia- an annular solar eclipse. Solar eclipses aren’t that common to begin with, but what makes it an annular solar eclipse is the fact that the moon’s occultation of the sun coincided with its furthest point from earth in its orbit. In other words, the moon’s orbit is elliptical, so it’s not always the same distance from earth. IF the point at which the moon is farthest from earth in said elliptical orbit happens to coincide with a solar eclipse, the moon’s disc doesn’t fully cover the sun, and it results in a ring of light showing around the black disc of the moon. Pretty cool, and definitely something I’d like to see before I die. For now though, we can just enjoy the photos linked to on the Universe Today post about it.
So I read the stories yesterday about everyone’s favorite Atlanta troublemakers Black Lips getting chased around India on their tour, but I decided to wait until the full story surfaced to post about it. Pitchfork is totally gay for them so I knew they’d post an update the very minute they heard anything. I was right. But the full story can be found on their label Vice’s blog. It’s an interview with the drummer… and it turns out they weren’t actually chased by the cops, and the only people really after them were their tour manager and his production company. Now they’re in Germany hanging out with King Khan, who I can’t wait to see with the Shrines at the Exit/In in March.
Speaking of rock n roll, thanks so much to everyone who came out to my 8 off 8th last night. Unfortunately my band Tigers Con Queso couldn’t play because Seth came down with a serious case of the flu earlier in the day, so it was a 7 off 8th, but it was awesome nonetheless, and people seemed to really enjoy it. Everything was on time and the last band didn’t end up getting screwed & having to play at 1am on a monday. The official door count was 157 people. I also wore this insane sweater that my mom got for my dad back in the 70’s, and apparently it’s the most amazing thing anyone has ever seen, because people were flipping out over it all night. Thanks mom! (You just have to see it to understand.)
The Nashville Cream reported yesterday that guitarist Denis Deck will be leaving How I Became the Bomb soon. The split was amicable, and Deck will continue to play with them until temporary replacement Russell Hanberry from Stories That Live can take over.
Turns out even babies know how to rock out. My mom always said she knew I’d be a drummer even before I was born because I apparently pounded the inner walls of her uterus incessantly.
I have a theory about Microsoft’s Songsmith software. If you haven’t read this blog in a while, read the last couple of posts, which mention this new software and how awful it is. Click the links, watch the ad, hear the David Lee Roth’s Runnin’ with the Devil run through it, then come back. Ok… I think that Microsoft intentionally made the software sound so cheesy, and the ad so ridiculous and un-ironic, that people like me (and most real musicians) would want to take their dry vocal tracks and run them through it as a joke, just to see how ridiculous it would sound. Just go read the comments in the Nashville Cream post about it. See how everyone is saying, “hey run this song through it!!!” ??? You know I’m right….. Just wait. In a few months some band will re-release a whole album “Songsmith’d.” I can see it now… Metallica’s Master of Puppets… SONGSMITH’D!
Credit: USAF
Obama has asked retired USAF Maj. Gen. Scott Gration to be the new NASA administrator. As mentioned a few posts back, current administrator Michael Griffin will be stepping down on Jan. 20th, as will the rest of the Bush-appointed NASA positions. I learned this from a Space.com post today, and the info contained in that article is all I know about the guy. He’s a decorated fighter pilot, and does have some experience working with NASA, but he’s mostly an outsider. Apparently many former NASA administrators have been outsiders, though, so this is really nothing new. What NASA needs is someone with good leadership skills and who can manage an organization that large and important. He also needs to be very good at managing budgets, as NASA will likely see further budget cuts due to the economic crisis and monstrous national debt.
3 2 1 Contact!
January 8, 2009
I don’t think I really need to say anything about this video…. other than the fact that you have to be at least 23 or so years old to appreciate it.
Hippies, get ready to do your happy little hippie dance- Phish has officially revealed their full reunion tour. And yes, you read that right, they’re strongly rumored to be headlining Bonnaroo… *groan*
In case you didn’t know, I’ve started doing some DJ gigs as DJ Burgers. I started a myspace profile for it. Get on it and add me if you haven’t already. Pardon the ridiculous flashing logos, but it’s all part of the gimmick, ya know? My next gig for it will be a party on Jan. 24th at 3609 Pilcher Ave. in west Nashville, featuring Jensen Sportag, Makeup & Vanity Set, and my bandmate Seth’s new solo project, Home Keys[asdfjkl;]. I’ll be DJing between bands and after. Come and dance. Or maybe vice-versa?
Now for some nerdy space stuff-
Since the first discovery of a planet orbiting a star outside our own solar system, the holy grail of astronomy has been discovering an earth-like planet outside our solar system. As in, roughly the same size, mass, and density of earth, and also with a stable atmosphere, and orbiting within that star’s “habitable zone.” A star’s habitable zone is a region of distance from the star in which water can easily exist in a liquid state on the surface of a planet- not too hot and not too cold. Now that astronomers have found literally 100’s of huge, Jupiter-like, gaseous exoplanets, they’ve started finding what are called “super-earths,” or solid, rocky planets roughly 5-10 times the size of earth. The few of these we’ve seen were discovered through the transit method- they passed across in front of their parent star, and we detected the slight dimming of the star due to that transit. This Universe Today article talks about how astronomers are taking it one step further, by attempting to determine the composition of those super-earth’s atmospheres. They do this by subtracting the chemical signature when the planet passes behind the partent star. We’re so close, EVER so close to detecting an earth-like planet. It will only be a few more years, once the Kepler mission and the James Webb Space Telescope get into orbit and operation, until we find one. This is one of my greatest hopes in life. I look forward to the discovery of an earth twin orbiting a distant star like an Emperor penguin looks forward to spring in Antarctica. Crazy analogy, I know… just go with it.
In other NASA news, it looks like NASA chief Michael Griffin will step down, along with the rest of the presidentially-appointed staff under him. This Space.com article also lists some likely candidates on Obama’s shortlist to replace him. I don’t know how I feel about this. I kind of feel like that right now what NASA needs is continuity rather than change. But who knows?
“I hardly know her” flickr viewer
January 5, 2009
So the guy who brought us Muxtape is at it again. This time he’s created a online tool to view anyone’s flickr photostream in a much simpler format. Just enter http://ihardlyknowher.com/ into your browser and type the person’s flickr username at the end. For instance, mine would be http://ihardlyknowher.com/simplysteve and Megan’s would be http://ihardlyknowher.com/mwoolfolk. A good way to just be able to focus on the images without all the clutter. BTW, I suggest reading the story on his Muxtape page via the link above. It tells his story about the legal issues and all that he went through. It’s long… I didn’t get to read it all, but what I did read was pretty interesting. I’m anxious to see how he relaunches it. I never was a part of it in the first place. Maybe I didn’t fully understand the process, but I’m an extreme audiophile… and from what I can understand, people who were members uploaded some mp3s to create a playlist that others could stream (not download, just stream). That was what turned me off- almost all streaming audio is at something like 96 kb/s or 128 kb/s, which is just low enough quality to be irritating to my ears. But maybe he found a way around that… maybe it did in fact stream at a better sound quality, I don’t know. But to me, any mp3 with a bitrate less than 192 kb/s is low quality… and anything less than 128 is utterly unlistenable. At least with music.
How I Became the Bomb have released the 2nd free installment of their digital release series, called “Foremost Sentinel.” I suggest you go get it now.
Some science links of interest:
Space.com’s highlights on what to look for in the night skies in 2009.
Yet another good story on how Obama’s picks for science advisors and the Dept. of Energy are making scientists…. and smart people in general… VERY happy.
Exomoons, ice, and an avian dance party
December 16, 2008
Score one for the weather forecasters. This morning on my way out the door I inspected my surroundings to find a thin glaze of ice on almost everything except the road (THANKFULLY!). We were under a freezing rain advisory and freezing rain is indeed what we had. It’s rare, but it’s kinda cool to see when it happens. When it hits you on the hand, it’s wet, yet when it hits anything else, it freezes! But I really don’t think any roads had problems as they were just a little too warm for anything to freeze on them. I also found this cool slideshow on the Tennessean’s website showing snow photos over the past several years.
Ok, enough nerdy weather science. Back to the usual links of interest:
Since I’ll be flying to NYC this Wed. with Megan, I thought it appropriate to post this video showing the astounding number of flights world wide over a 24 hour period.
Apparently astronomers are already tired of discovering exoplanets. Now they’re onto discovering exomoons around exoplanets! David Kipping at the University College London is working on a method of measuring the wobble of planets around other stars. So, we look at a distant star and observe its wobble caused by the tug of a large planet orbiting it. Then we directly image that planet with Hubble or even some ground-based telescope, and observe its own wobble, caused by it’s moon(s). Obviously this can only be done (at least for now) with very large planets (think Jupiter-sized or even bigger) that are close enough to be directly imaged, but still… AMAZING. Read the rest of the the story at Universe Today.
Finally, I give you Snowball, the Dancing Cockatoo:
steve cross loves music and science 