21st Century Misfit

If you haven’t seen William Shatner perform Elton John’s ‘Rocket Man,’ you haven’t experienced true song butchery. First, listen to, and appreciate John’s version. Listen a couple times if you haven’t heard it before. Then, when you’re ready, steel yourself, then douse yourself in the lighter fluid and flames that is Shatner singing.

Yes, this is the same version covered by Stewie Griffin on Family Guy.

For something truly amazing, check out this version by Todd Taylor. He also does a version of ‘Stairway to Heaven.’

I recently stumbled across the cargo bike community and was amazed at the number of options for folks who want to dump their cars. Clearly, 10-speed commuter bikes have been around for years, but people who want to get groceries or take their kids to daycare have an increasing number of options.

I was really impressed with the cargo carrying capacity of the Xtracycle and Mundo bike, which are extended-length frames with cargo space behind the rider. The efforts of WorldBike to make something like the Big Boda available to entrepreneurs in developing countries are awesome. To take the cake, the Bakfiet is an incredible feat of engineering which can replace the family car.

Interestingly, the German city of Muenster has an extensive system to encourage cycling. Gilbert Hanson visited the city in 2000 and has an impressive array of information on bicycle promotion there.

To sum things up, watch a cool video from ‘global cooler’ kipchoge.

I’ve long considered the 70’s to be a time of stunted musical growth. To my mind, a lot of poor quality music was produced, especially the type of mellow, string-backed soul such as “The Games People Play” and tunes like “Color My World” from Chicago. Ack.

However, after surveying the music, I was reminded of some awesome music that came out of the 70’s. While Chicago’s later stuff makes me want to drown myself, their early stuff, like “25 or 6 to 4,” and especially the funky “I’m a Man” are well worth a listen.

I am constantly on the hunt for new musical discoveries, so I’d almost forgotten about groups like The Moody Blue and Emerson, Lake and Palmer. “Days of Future Passed” is a great album to listen to with headphones, in the dark. So are any of the early albums by Yes. The thing I really like about these groups is that, given the dreck we’re normally fed as music, these guys turned out fresh, unpredictable material that is still excellent.

There were a couple new discoveries as well, about which I’m excited. King Crimson had always been a familiar name, but I could name or hum one of their tunes. I’ve got one of their CDs on hold from the library; sadly there is only one copy with 50 holds on it. Mahavishnu Orchestra also piqued my interest. Their stuff sounds reminiscent of Frank Zappa (guess it was that early 70s jazz vibe going around).

It goes without saying that the hard rock foundation laid in the 60’s was soundly built upon during the 70’s. Groups such as Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, and others continued to produce great material. So, while there was a lot of sucky music during the 70’s, it should not be written off as a loss.

If you want to sample some of these tunes, plug the titles into Seeqpod. It’s a great way to get a taste of a wide variety of music without attracting the wrath of the RIAA.

Greg Craven, from Corvallis, Oregon, has created a wonderfully well-done video on global climate destabilization. The neat thing is, he doesn’t try to convince; he tries to get you to think. It’s a risk management issue, he says.

This is a must-watch for everyone, especially for those who remain on the fence. Inform yourself and your neighbors; the stakes are too big.

Oh, and he’s a Ze Frank fan too.

I just stumbled across a great music blog. Music for Maniacs reviews all sorts of off-the-wall stuff and usually includes links to mp3s, so you actually get to listen as well.

There is a fascinating entry on LemurBots, which actually create and play music.

Marvin Minsky, a researcher in artificial intelligence, has an interesting theory on love. He says that love is a reaction that convinces you to do something that is not in your best interest. It taxes your resources and ties you down, possibly for years at a time. It is for the good of the species, though; that’s why it’s a behavior that’s been allowed by evolution to continue.

Listen to his BBC interview on this topic and more.

After reading an article in Wired (U.S. Policies Under the Spotlight) about the ever-increasing amount of classified information held by the U.S. government, I realized that this is the ultimate form of downplaying. If your critics, your customers, your constituents don’t know what you’re really doing, it’s simple to downplay. Even hiding partial bits of information about an event by classifying it helps to minimize damage to a politician or party.

When I was dealing with classified information in the late 90’s, there was a big push to minimize the amount we created and held, due sheerly to massive cost of maintaining it (billions of $ a year). There’s apparently been a big 180 on the practice of minimizing.

BTW, the state secrecy defense is a favorite against human rights abuses.

Ever notice that things don’t last as long as they used to? It’s a concept called “Planned Obsolescence” which was promoted in the 1950’s by Brooks Stevens. Where does our stuff come from? Where does it go?

Check out this awesome video; it’s only 20 minutes long. There is some great info included on planned obsolescence and sustainability.

It’s really thought provoking when you think about the ever bigger and badder computers that are marketed to us. They try to sell us the latest and “greatest” versions of Windows and Office 200x, which of course require a new computer to run them. It makes me truly realize the benefits of Open Source software and computer reuse.

I just finished watching The Night They Raided Minsky’s. As the film toggled between B&W and color at the beginning, I realized that black and white film introduces a clarity that is not there with color. Each object, each person is distinct. Color muddies the images and makes the objects and people run together. With black and white, there is little or no confusion about where things are, which causes less brain power to be used for recognition functions and allows it to be used elsewhere.

Additionally, color causes distraction. I was distracted by colors and patterns more with the color film, while B&W allowed me to concentrate on people’s faces and actions.

Coincidentally, you can tell when the film was made based on some of the camera shots and angles. The scene where Jacob Schpitendavel enters the Lower East Side reminds me, oddly enough, of Enter the Dragon, which was made a few years later.

Interesting article at www.performingsongwriter.com/vault/special_89.pdf

The gist is that payola was not just an isolated problem in the 50s & 60s.