Longitude and latitude are so last century. With what3words, any three-meter squared plot of land on the planet can be addressed with a unique combination of three words. For example, angers.class.wakes.
In other music news, jazz fusion band Brand-X will start a reunion tour later this year.
Ever wonder where your favorite food originated? Use this interactive map to find out.
I think I posted a version of this before but it's still cool. An interactive world map of lightning strikes, with a little audible click for each strike. I suppose this is for weather geeks only.
Favorite quote from this article: "Every week that Donald Trump remains the Republican nominee, the party comes closer to removing itself from the presidential gene pool." Trump is repugnant.
Star Wars geeks: it's confirmed that James Earl Jones will voice Darth Vader in Rogue One.
Bluegrass, with his 10 foot horns, may soon be coming to the Fort Worth herd.
Cheese.com is the self-proclaimed greatest cheese resource. Let's see, mimolette? Yep.
Swiss Army Man is like a virtual "Weekend at Bernie's." But if you watch the trailer for this movie, it gets even weirder.
From the Department of Misleading Titles comes "There's a Mysterious Sound Coming From The Carribean That's So Loud It Can Be Heard From Space."
It's not a mystery. It's the Rossby Whistle caused by planetary waves pushing east to west across the ocean that build up and resonate when they reach the partially Carribean.
They can't actually be heard because they're below the threshold of human hearing.
In outer space, the phenomenon is detected as gravity field oscillations.
...as the man who is indignant. ~Friedrich Nietzsche (This explains teh interwebs, realm of self-righteous indignation.)
One is tempted to think, "What is old is new again." The Security Project is a group of performers who revisit the early solo music of Peter Gabriel. These musicians have the maturity to freshen the music without scrubbing it raw. And they have the musicality to authentically and delightfully enhance the songs.
The Security Project consists of Jerry Marotta (drums) - from Gabriel's original touring band - Trey Gunn (guitar), Michael Cozzi (guitar) (do not go to his website as it appears to have been hacked), and David Jameson (keyboards). The band is fronted by Brian Cummins whose vocal similarity to Gabriel is uncanny and to a large extent one might say that it's Cummins' performances that are central to making this whole thing work. Without him you might end up with re-interpretations of Gabriel's songs which takes you down and entirely different path. (A friend who walked into my office while Live 1 was playing asked which Peter Gabriel album I was listening to.)
The Live 1 album consists of twelve tracks.
Lay Your Hands on Me (from Gabriel's 4th album, aka Security)
I Don't Remember (from Gabriel's 3rd album, aka Melt)
No Self Control (from Melt)
The Family and the Fishing Net (from Security)
I Have the Touch (from Security)
Intruder (from Melt)
The Rhythm of the Heat (from Security)
San Jacinto (from Security)
Games Without Frontiers / Of These, Hope (from Melt)
Here Comes the Flood (from Gabriel's 1st album, aka Car)
Back in N.Y.C. (from the Genesis album The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway)
Biko (from Melt)
Let the music speak for itself.
My personal history with Gabriel's music goes back to his time with Genesis. But it wasn't until his third solo album (Melt) that he really came into his own (in my opinion). But his fourth solo album (Security) really felt intimate to me. Which gave me a good feeling about Live 1 because a lot of the material is from albums three and four.
The first thing I'll note is the fact that despite being recorded and named "live," this album sounds as though it was recorded in the studio. While there's some audience clapping between tracks, I couldn't detect any of other the typical artifacts you get in a live recording. This speaks to the band's high level of musicianship and the quality of the engineering and production of the album.
Second, the band's individual and collective performances of each track are done with vast spaciousness, where each part has the opportunity to be heard and shine on its own with a sonic separation from the other parts that doesn't compromise the whole. To my ear, Steely Dan's music has a similar quality (e.g. Aja). Another analogy is Steven Wilson's remastering of some of King Crimson's work. Either way, the end result is fantastic.
Here Comes the Flood, one of my favorite Gabriel songs, deserves special mention here due to Trey Gunn's superb guitar work.
The Security Project's Live 1 is a tribute to the music of Peter Gabriel that doesn't suffer the flaws of many tributes, a live recording that doesn't suffer the flaws of many live recordings, and a musical performance that doesn't suffer from high purpose and self-importance. Live 1 is a musically fresh and impeccably recorded performance of really good music.
The good news is that Live 2 is due for release in October 2016. What I'd really like to hear is The Security Project's version of White Shadow from Gabriel's second solo album (aka Scratch). I've always felt that song had potential that wasn't fully realized. (15 minutes after writing that sentence I find a video on YouTube of The Security Project performing White Shadow in concert. I therefore pray it makes it onto Live 2.)
The second album from trio Tony Levin (bass), Marco Minnemann (drums) and Jordan Rudess (keyboards) is now available for pre-order for release in mid-July. Here's a preview on Soundcloud. You can pre-order here.
I'm not quite certain of the value, but Predominantly let's you find albums by the predominant color of their cover.
Less silly than most, this periodic table documents societal issues.
This is an amazing, brief story of two B-17s in WWII that got stuck together: piggyback hero.
Who or what is Mr. Trash Wheel? Seems like a good guy to me cuz he keeps the waterway clean.
Very cool animated map showing the history of urbanization, as cities appear around the globe from 3700 BC to 2000 AD.
Related to the picture above is this quote from Tim O'Reilly: "Pursue something so important that even if you fail, the world is better off with you having tried."
People ask, "Why do you have a fish? It's not like a dog or cat with which you can have a true relationship." Science to the rescue. Fish can recognize human faces. My fish knows me.
Here's the first of a multi-part series of videos in which Bill Evans talks about the creative process. While his focus is music, the ideas can be applied to virtually anything.
Philip Guston, Position I, 1965. This article describes how Guston found the sublime as he re-introduced figuration into his abstraction. Honestly, I prefer his pure abstractions over his later figurative works.
This blog reflects my personality as it is childish and immature, self-aggrandizing and ego-maniacal, a rambling stream of consciousness devoid of forethought and consideration of consequence. Therefore, it's perfect for the internet.
Things you'll see here: computational fluid dynamics (CFD), social media and internet, animation art, coin collecting, popular culture, progressive rock music, abstract expressionist art, poop and flatulence humor, computer science geekery, and miscellaneous internet detritus.
