Dark Side of the 8-bit Moon

Hit play and you should automatically cruise through all six parts of this 8-bit tribute to Pink Floyd's Dark Side Of The Moon.

Le Wrath di Kahn

The latest episode of Robot Chicken came up with (what IMHO is) perhaps the finest tribute to Ricardo Montalbán. It brought tears to my eyes. So brilliant.

I suspect Robot Chicken saved their best segments for this single episode (past handful of episodes have been remarkably unfunny). In addition to Le Wrath di Kahn were Clash of the Titans, Speed Racer and Wizard of Oz parodies. All worth watching.

Meeting The Walrus

I've traditionally stayed away from most things having to do with The Beatles -- partially because I always thought they were a bit too corny too often, and partially because I felt they already had more fans than they needed -- but this is one of the few exceptions: I Met The Walrus. The video's description does it more justice that I would do in paraphrasing...

In 1969, a 14-year-old Beatle fanatic named Jerry Levitan, armed with a reel-to-reel tape deck, snuck into John Lennon's hotel room in Toronto and convinced John to do an interview about peace. 38 years later, Jerry has produced a film about it.

I can't imagine what it's like for Jerry Levitan to see this interview animated and go on to an Oscar nomination for best short. The animation is brilliant, but I'm sure the subject matter has a little to do with the over-flow of attention as well.

"On To Something" Coming Soon

Music Thing links to a trailer for the new Raymond Scott documentary On To Something, produced by Scott's only son, Academy Award winning cameraman and editor Stan Warnow.


Documentary Trailer for RAYMOND SCOTT: ON TO SOMETHING from Stan Warnow on Vimeo.

If you're not familiar with the innovative genius that is Raymond Scott, odds are you'll recognize his music - courtesy of one cartoon or another. If you've had the pleasure / displeasure of living with me in the last ten years or so, you know that the only way I can watch professional sports for any duration is with the broadcast's sound turned down and Reckless Nights & Turkish Delights playing loudly instead. (Try it; it's especially great with basketball.)

See also:
Manhattan Research - Book / 2-CD set detailing Scott's early, hand-made electronic instruments - which he often used in commercial work. This collection includes a collaboration with pre-Muppets Jim Henson and notes about the room-sized computer Scott used to essentially generate a click track.

Soothing Sounds For Baby - a three-part series of tone-poems designed to lull your little ones to relaxation, using instruments Scott created himself (in the lab featured in Manhattan Research, no less). Minimal, ambient music with a pop sensibility, years before Brian Eno or Kraftwerk.

R.I.P. Albert Hofmann, LSD Inventor

Albert Hoffman Autograph, originally uploaded by strikerr.

What's left to say about this man that isn't already being said by the likes of BoingBoing and Wired? His research was influential on a lot of people who were influential on me. Especially during my college years. Nuff said.

Hoffman was 102 when he died, just ten days after the 45th anniversary of Bicycle Day. While those numbers will surely inspire fits of numerology amongst fans of psychedelics, I'm inspired to pick up a copy of LSD: My Problem Child in his honor.

Dr. Hofmann Stencil, a graffiti tribute spotted in Lisbon last year by yours truly.

Orchestral Meltdown

I never find out about these things with enough time to coordinate a trip to see them. But this sounds cool. Massive Attack and the 45-piece Heritage Orchestra are recreating Vangelis' original soundtrack for a rare one-off screening of Blade Runner: The Final Cut.

Incidentally, a slimmed down 35-piece Heritage Orchestra is playing a show of Amon Tobin covers on May 3. Tobin protege Bonobo DJs as part of the 180-minute event, too. Judging from the preview tracks on the orchestra's site, it's going to kick major orchestral ass.

If any of you attend either of these events, kindly return here to share the details.

Suspiring Over Spires & Spindles

Sigh. What is it with pointy structures around here? As one goes up, another is set to be taken down. Neither effort seems to do much for the local culture.

First, the sad news: Sun-Times and Tribune report that the Berwyn Spindle is up for auction. As a former resident of Berwyn, I have to say that this is a sad moment for the small city. Not sure what Berwyn would have going for it otherwise, frankly, save for a few Son of Svengoolie mentions, the Houby Day Parade (I have yet to see a single mushroom in Berwyn), and bungalows. If you want to help save this historic piece of Berwyn, visit SaveTheSpindle.com. (The Spindle will be there for at least a few more months, but get on it now.)

Secondly, the not-sure-if-it's-good-or-bad news: The Chicago Spire isn't for Chicago, it's just being built here. When some co-workers wondered out loud last week about who would buy all the condos in the Chicago Spire, I quipped "Japanese investors." I was closer than I thought. Turns out there's strong Malaysian interest in the 'Spire properties.

The Spire condos aren't remotely affordable for the vast majority of Chicagoans. (Compare the price of the Berwyn Spindle auction to the price of a single unit in The Chicago Spire, and think about the relatively small expense to nurture local culture versus the exorbitant expense put into making Chicago more like NYC or London. Consider our ridiculous new sales tax, the highest sales tax in the entire country. We're selling out in the hope of attracting the Olympic Games, tickets to which none of us will be able to afford by 2016. What fun!)

The lesson we can all learn here is, don't get rid of pointy structures you already have - they define your character more than another Walgreen's store ever could. But if you're building a new pointy structure, don't make it too expensive for the city in which you're building.

Spindle photo by Andrew Westel. Rendering of spire by Shelbourne Development Group.

Untooned

Pixeloo does an awesome job of untooning animated characters. Here's his rendition of Homer Simpson, and his follow-up post on the source material used to make it. Click the image to view larger.

[via BoingBoing]

R.I.P. Sir Arthur C. Clarke

His influence has had an effect on all of us in one way or another, whether we realize it or not. So rather than tip your proverbial forty, just drop a little science today for the recently departed Arthur C. Clarke.

Below is a clip of Clarke's latest reflections, recorded on his 90th birthday.

Lucky Enough

My grandfather, perpetually representing the Irish side of the family, used to tell us:

"If you're lucky enough to be Irish,
you're lucky enough."

That's the approach I've always taken toward St. Patrick's Day. I'm dealing with Irish blood running through my veins every day of my life - I don't feel the need to make an obscene novelty of my heritage for one day every year.

[I don't run around with the Polish flag tied to my back like a superhero's cape on Pulaski Day, either. Nor do I do anything particularly German during Oktoberfest.]

A lot of St. Patty's Day tradition is distorted anyway. Did you know that blue was the color originally associated with St. Patrick? Only through the phrase "wearing of the green" did the common practice of wearing green (instead of a Shamrock) become the tradition.

Color is not the only bastardization of tradition on St. Patrick's Day. A properly poured Guinness, not cheap beer dyed green, is the appropriate drink. Or a good Irish whiskey. Think about that before you help support the "drunk Irish" stereotype this evening.

If you're lucky enough to be Irish at all.

Blinded With Science

The last time I participated in a science fair, my project was withheld by the teacher. See, she didn't actually read my proposal to subject white mice to small amounts of microwave radiation and study the effects -- but she gave it the okay for me to proceed. I was one of the top students in that class, and I suspect she figured whatever I'd do would be fine. She didn't realize that I wanted to help demonstrate how the massive power lines running over a nearby park might be slowly cooking the kids. Or that I was going to show this by putting a pair of white mice in the microwave oven for one second, on low, every two days (another pair got one second every four days, and one pair was "control" with no exposure).

When I brought the project in, complete with photographic records of what happened to the mice after two weeks, the teacher was horrified. This was a Catholic school, mind you, and I had less than three weeks left of eighth grade. Though a top student, I was already an outcast for suggesting that I didn't want to or need to go through with confirmation (I did, only to renounce Christianity entirely within a few years). My science project was doomed to hide in the closet until after the science fair, when I would be graded separately, with a parent present. My mom came in, I aced science that year, and I ultimately lost a little respect for some of my teachers. (Yes, I'm talking about you, Mrs. Chic.)

With that story out of the way, you can understand why I am so charmed and delighted by 41 Hilarious Science Projects. Enjoy.

R.I.P. Paul Tilley

The first work we presented together was work that went on to win at Cannes. It was my big break, so to speak. Paul led the traditional side, and I led the digital side. We became fast friends around the whole thing. I'll never forget how Paul invited me to the podium at an agency meeting and said "I'm a little bit country, and he's..." (motioning to me)

"A little bit rock and roll."

I didn't even think about it before I said it. We enjoyed playing off each other's wit, whether we had an audience or not. The smart-assed remarks were almost lyrical at times. You don't get that from people who aren't passionate about what they do. That's what made him a friend to me, more than anything else. We just happened to work on some of the same projects.

Sadly, Paul took his own life this past weekend. You can read reports of the tragic incident yourself here, here and here.

If you're a religious type, please say a prayer for his two daughters. I can't imagine the loss they're feeling and will feel growing up, having had such a big personality for a father. If you can make a donation, the family has asked that donations be made to District 39 Education Foundation, Music Education Fund, 615 Locust Road, Wilmette, IL. 60091-1968.

Throughout Through Death*

Pioneering avant-garde composer Karlheinz Stockhausen died Wednesday, according to a press release posted yesterday by the Stockhausen Foundation. While neither a household name nor always the easiest to listen to, his work still was a profound influence. From Aphex Twin to Frank Zappa, The Beatles and Pink Floyd to Sonic Youth and Björk, musicians of all disciplines cite Stockhausen as a critical reference point.

Let's all tip a sip for Karlheinz tonight.

* Post title taken from a Stockhausen quote, listed in his Memorial Booklet [PDF].

Judge of Character

When I was in high school, my mom routinely told me I was not a good judge of character. Why, I'm not sure. One friend of mine had a tattoo. I tended to get along with older kids, too, which made the mom nervous. My mom didn't care for the then-alternative and sometimes gothic or punk dress worn by several of my acquaintances at the time. High school is a time for experimenting with clothes and haircuts, which makes them terrible indications of character. Their haircuts weren't what made them friends.

But as for their character, this is what made them friends. My mom knew virtually none of them personally, and only assumed what their respective characters were. Her insistance that she could judge these people by their clothes or haircuts signaled to me that maybe she wasn't such a good judge of character herself. And maybe she was afraid that I'd inherit that lack of judgment from her.

In the long-run, she (perhaps inadvertently) instilled in me the challenge to be a good judge of character, if only (at first) to prove her wrong.

I thought about the days when the mom would scold me about being a good judge of character today, when I read GearBits' "Is President Bush A Good Judge Of Character?" Read it. You already know the answer, but it's validating to have all the evidence in front of you. And I'd like to point out that, if there's a bigger conclusion to reach, it's that America is a terrible judge of character for electing this imbecile into office.

If only Mom had seen that the act of questioning the majority's herd mentality was an indication that I was a better judge of character than I got credit for, it might not have been such a big deal to have goth, punk, skater and stoner friends in high school.

Remember to get your mom something for Mother's Day.

Kurt Vonnegut, RIP

Kurt Vonnegut died at age 84.
His "profound pessimism" and sharp wit were inspirational to me.

RIP, RAW

Robert Anton Wilson has gone off the grid for good.

Author of the longest book I ever read cover-to-cover, RAW was a unique individual who quite optimistically tied the worlds of philosophy, religion, folklore, paranoia, conspiracy and counter-culture together with remarkable wit. A self-described "model agnostic", RAW did a lot more of influence than I can begin to detail here... check his Wikipedia entry for more.

From his site:

January 11, 2007

Robert Anton Wilson Defies Medical Experts and leaves his body @4:50 AM on binary date 01/11.

All Hail Eris!

On behalf of his children and those who cared for him, deepest love and gratitude for the tremendous support and lovingness bestowed upon us.

(that's it from Bob's bedside at his fnord by the sea)

RAW Memorial February 07
date to be announced

I've gleaned a lot from the works of RAW, and while I'm sad to hear of his passing I'm also glad to know his influential mix of optimism and anger will live on for years and years to come. In fact, my interest in his favorite subjects is renewed with his passing. For those of you who don't know who RAW is, check this video.



Hail Eris, all hail Discordia.

Jet Blue Flight 292, via Caural

I just found out that my friend Zachary (aka Caural) was on that flight. He's blogged his account of it here. Glad to know he made it safely, and that he appears to be taking this all in stride. What a good sport! I'm interested to hear what new music of his this event inspires. Here's a quote from his account, which is very surreal (blogging about appearing on the media, where you were talking about how you watched your plane make an emergency landing on TV - while you were still on the plane):

As I was exiting the plane I was talking with Take. Watching the news, he informed me they were filming everyone walking down the ramp and to the tarmac. So when I got to the door, he recognized me and told me to wave. We both started to laugh, and I was waving around my hand- holding the cell phone- saying hi to him through the news cameras. That is the story behind the photo so many of you have seen on what made front page of the LA Times and other publications.
...
Soon, a producer for CBS' Early Show named Alan approached me to interview the next morning, and I even turned down Good Morning America! This was the ultimate in surreal. I was driven to the Beverly Hilton where I stayed in a beautiful room on CBS' tab, and we relaxed for about 10 minutes while taking care of some more logistics with the network. We flipped through the channels, and I did double-takes seeing the footage of the interviews I had just done on the flat-screen TV. I had made CNN, Fox, NBC, CBS, and local stations like KTLA. Huh? I just wanted to eat- we went for sushi and Sapporo on La Cienega and Wilshire.

Cheers, Zach! Get to Chicago safely for your next gig, will you? (Would rather see you there than on MSNBC or CBS News [w/pic, video].)

Shadow Percussion Project

I have to agree with Music Thing: this is amazing. Two tracks from DJ Shadow's Entroducing performed by an after-school percussion ensemble in Minnesota, under the direction of Brian Udelhofen. The Internet Archive this .WMV of the performance.

Music collaged from samples, recreated with live percussion. Brilliant.

Dance me to the end of funds

There's apparently a lot that Leonard Cohen has been trying to keep from the public. This article calls it "a sordid tale involving allegations of extortion, SWAT teams, forcible confinement, tax troubles and betrayal."

The first thing I thought was, this is much too juicy for pander-happy cable networks to pass up. I am going so far as to predict a Lifetime Original, based on Cohen's former manager's perspective, to go into production any minute now... And this tale of a Tibetan Buddhist suing a Zen Buddhist would no doubt be sponsored by shampoo and cosmetics, department stores, quick-serve restaurants and the fad diets to which QSR customers resort, plus superfluous prescription medications that promise all kinds of "pharmaceutical enlightenment" that include dozens of unhealthy side effects. Perhaps I am more predicting that the premise of disambiguation will be sold (as it already is) through strict employment of ambiguity.

The next thing I thought was, this seems like the kind of thing that only could happen to Leonard Cohen. However ironic they may appear, these are rather epic, poetic circumstances - even for someone of Cohen's outlook. If my hunch is right, maybe he'll get to pick who plays him in the movie.

R.I.P. Bob Moog

Musical inventor and luminary Bob Moog died yesterday. Music Thing has the details I would have only retyped here.

But let me refer you to the recent Moog documentary. My favorite scene shows us a man who saw little fundamental difference between the circuits in a machine and the plants in his garden; his view of the world imparts the wisdom with which he invented and inspired so many musical innovations.

I think I'm going to watch the documentary again tonight, then make a donation to the Bob Moog Foundation.