Photo cliches/new Neko Case song
January 15, 2009
Photo cliches: a collection of the most common cliches in tourist photos. Included- the fake phallus, statue groping, the Lynndie England thumbs-up, snorting Coca Cola.
While we’re on the subject the phallus… might as well post a link to the Head O State Obama sex toy. You really have to read the “testimonials,” especially the one from Sarah Palin.
Ok, enough giggly sexual innuendo.
A new environmentally-minded general store is opening in the Sylvan Park neighborhood of west Nashville. That’s just around the corner from me, so I’ll probably be hitting it up pretty soon. Read all about it in that Nashvillest post. I’ll bet if it’s successful she’ll open another one in east Nashville. Those two communities seem to be the most likely locations for such a store.
Neko Case has released her newest single via free download at Brooklynvegan. For every blog that reposts this song, Neko and ANTIlabel will make a cash donation to the Best Friends Animal Society. So download it, and if you have a blog, REPOST!
Neko Case-People Got A Lotta Nerve.mp3
Here’s a really cool collection of How-To graphics and illustrations. Fun to just peruse through… if that sort of thing interests you.
And for a little science: Wired talks about the top 5 best bets for extraterrestrial life in our own solar system. The top choice might surprise you, depending on how closely you follow the latest astronomy news.
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.
Rivers Cuomo… YES, MAN!
December 29, 2008
One of the gifts I received for Christmas this year (in addition to my new Sony HDTV, Lost season premier party anyone?) was the new Rivers Cuomo solo compilation, Alone II: Home Recordings. I almost enjoy this album a little more than his first home recording compilation. I especially enjoyed reading the narrative liner notes he wrote for it, which go into the stories behind the songs and give a little more insight into his odd life. Weezer’s first two albums were a major part of my formative years and those songs will always resonate with me in a very awesome way. Even though their new material is… well… awful in comparison, I will always be interested in what Rivers is up to, and always keep an open mind to his new material. He is now happily married, though, thus I doubt that he’ll ever write anything good again. Too much contentment and happiness does not lend itself to good songs. With that, I give you this video I came across on You Ain’t No Picasso of Rivers doing an acapella version of the Beach Boys’ Don’t Worry Baby, with a group of backup vocalists. He included an early demo cover of this song on the new home recordings album as well.
While on Stereogum, I also found this video of Rivers in the studio doing a new song he co-wrote with Jermaine Dupri, (a different version of this also appears on Alone II).
Megan and I saw Yes Man yesterday, and it did not dissappoint. I was definitely in the mood for a more entertaining movie, and it really hit the spot. Don’t go into this movie expecting anything more than just pure entertainment… there are no deep meanings nor is there anything remotely intellectual about it. I must say that this is one of the best performances I’ve seen from Zooey Deschanel. Her looks and personally fit her character perfectly…. and I can’t think of anyone more perfect to fill that role. Jim Carrey is… well, Jim Carrey. I’ve enjoyed him in every movie of his that I’ve seen.
Just a tidbit of space news for you: NASA awarded contracts to SpaceX and Orbital Sciences Corp. through 2016 to fill the need to carry cargo to the Internation Space Station. This is the kind of thing NASA needs to keep doing- the future of space exploration lies in the combined efforts of goverment and the private sector. Link via Bad Astronomy.
I leave you with this:
Zooey Deschanel’s Privates on a paper airplane in space
December 10, 2008
If you know me, you know that I’m a huge Zooey Deschanel fan. In fact, she’s #1 on my celebrity crush list. Even though her upcoming movie with Jim Carrey Yes Man looks like nothing more than a re-working of his older film Liar Liar, I am still eager to see it. She offers her voice to some synthpop tracks for the film, and it’s… well… just listen. Let’s just say she needs to stick to quirky indie-folk. Her voice is beautiful no matter what, but it’s just not well-suited for synthesizers.
The Japanese space agency JAXA is planning to fly a paper airplane out of the International Space Station, to the earth. The planes will be made of a specially treated paper that can withstand extreme heat and water. Yes, even a little paper airplane will create significant heat upon re-entering the atmosphere. Remember that it’s being launched from the ISS, which is in orbit, meaning that it will be traveling at around 17,000 mph. If my knowledge of physics is correct, since it’s so light it will have less inertia, and thus slow down much faster than say, a spaceship or a meteor… so it shouldn’t have to withstand the heat for very long. My question is this- do they really expect it to be found? The vast majority of the planet is covered by water, so the chances are that it will land in the middle of the ocean and never seen again. Link via Kottke.org.
UPDATE: Apparently the launch has been scrubbed due to concerns that the planes might collide with a satellite or end up as space junk. Link. It was a cool idea!
In 1960 Joe Kittinger set records for highest jump (102,800 feet), fastest unpowered flight (he fell at 614 mph!), and several others. This guy is the definition of badass. I’m not sure about the speed, though, because if you listen during the video clip, the narrator says 400+ mph… but the caption says 614. Oh well. Badass nonetheless! Check out the video clip on LiveScience.
In Nashville music news- The Privates are apparently recording a new EP at Battletapes. This brings me great joy. The Privates don’t get to play much, or even record much, due to the fact that they’re essentially a “supergroup” and all of them (except Dave) are in other bands that tour, record, etc… way more than they do. I’m really interested to see how Jeremy’s production style will influence their sound. They’ve done everything in the past with Jason Bulluck over at Lake Fever Productions (not that that’s a bad thing at all!) so it’ll be nice to have a little change in their sound, production-wise. I leave you with this hilarious video from one of their recording sessions, via Nashville Cream.
Hubble, Mars, and Jones’ Big Ass Truck Rental And Storage
December 5, 2008
Hey WordPress! Kudos on the new dashboard design!
I don’t know what to say about this other than just watch it. Via Yewknee’s friday videos playlist.
Just in case you live under a rock and have never seen one of the amazing web comics on XKCD, just go read this one. Then bookmark it, add it to you RSS feed, whatever.
The mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope has been finally rescheduled for May 12, 2009. This is only a target date, but I’m glad they finally have some idea of when the mission will happen. The original date for the mission was back in early October, but a problem with one of Hubble’s main data relay units caused a full shutdown of its operations just a few weeks before the mission. This caused a delay of the mission so that engineers on the ground would have time to prepare a spare part that will be added to the mission’s payload. This will be the final servicing mission to Hubble, as it will be replaced in 2013 by the James Webb Space telescope. In other space news, NASA is delaying the next Mars mission, the Mars Science Laboratory, until 2011. It’s sad, but in the long run it will pay off, because the scientists and engineers need ample time to correct the issues. They’re really only a couple of months behind schedule, but due to Mars’ relative position to earth in its orbit, a launch window for Mars missions only occurs about every two years.
I promise I’ll have more music-related stuff coming soon. Stay tuned.
CNN regresses/Yellow is the color of 2009
December 4, 2008
No not really. But the dissolution of their science/space/technology division is just plain stupid. CNN, why did you do this? Yes, you say that your science coverage is being absorbed into the general editorial department, but in order to keep the same quality of science coverage we’ve enjoyed, you need a dedicated team to focus on it. I don’t see how that your science coverage won’t suffer as a result of this. I found this article via this post on Bad Astronomy, and I have to agree with Dr. Plait that right now is a time when we need more science and technology coverage in the mainstream media, not less. Miles O’Brien, I will miss your coverage of the shuttle launches. Best of luck in your future Endeavors. (pun intended)
Another trailer:
This is for the new David Fincher/Brad Pitt movie, the Curious Case of Benjamin Button. I’m pretty excited about it, I must say… not only because they used an Arcade Fire song in the trailer, but because I’m a fan of all movies involving that director/actor combination. Via You Ain’t No Picasso.
Richard Avedon’s portraits of power. I’ve always been a big fan of his work. I can’t really put my finger on why, I just have.
According to this AP article, yellow will be the color of 2009. The Pantone Color Institute says that yellow, specifically a vibrant shade of it called Mimosa, will represent the hope and optimism that will be pervasive in the public consciousness next year. The article quotes PCI director Leatrice Eiseman as saying, “It’s invariably connected to warmth, sunshine and cheer — all the good things we’re in dire need of right now.” I agree wholeheartedly.
Remember a few years ago when people were talking about that huge tower planned for downtown Nashville? The one that was gonna be taller than anything in Atlanta… and second only to New York and Chicago? Well, fahgettaboutit. This article on WRKN explains how the current economy has caused the tower to shrink… to being smaller than the batman building. Sadness… I had been looking forward to that building for a few years. I like tall buildings.
steve cross loves music and science 