Well, it's been a busy week for this blogger, but while Sunday might be a day of rest for others, it is a day of catching up for me! Here are a few of the things I've stumbled upon in the recent past, an opinion or two, and hopefully in the midst of it all will be something perfect for you!
- Au Clair de la Lune -
http://www.firstsounds.org/sounds/1860-Scott-Au-Clair-de-la-Lune.mp3
If you're having trouble figuring out what that sound is, let me help you: It is what is now being called the oldest recording of a human voice. According to Wikipedia, the recording by Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville "was a ten-second snippet of a singer, probably a daughter of the inventor, performing the French folk song 'Au Clair de la Lune.' This phonautograph recording is now the earliest known recording of a human voice and the earliest known recording of music in existence, predating the longest surviving Edison phonographic recording of a Handel chorus, made in 1888 twenty-eight years later."
Exciting news for the worlds of both music and science! You can read about the event at these sites, among others:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23835160/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89douard-L%C3%A9on_Scott_de_Martinville
- The Face of CGI -
It's hard to look at
this face and not feel confused. It is so lifelike in appearance, and yet so unnatural in its movement. It is,
according to BoingBoing, CGI. If that's true and from start to finish, this thing was made by a computer, that's pretty exciting and creepy. The link for more information links to a site that is in Brazilian, so I can't figure out anything more than what I've said here.
The comments on the aforementioned BoingBoing post seem to share some of the incredulity that I have. But the thing is cool either way.
- Earth Hour -
Yesterday was an historic day, as the first annual "
Earth Hour" took place all across the world. In recognition of the huge impact that the use of electricity has on global climate change, from the hours of eight to nine p.m. people all over the world turned off their electrical appliances and lights to call attention to the need for change. What a fantastic event! If you missed it, don't worry, because I have two bits of great news:
1) EVERY time you turn off electrical appliances, whether they're being used or not, you are helping to cut down on your environmental impact!
2) There will be another Earth Hour at the same time and date next year! The site even has a handy-dandy counter to keep you informed on how much time there is until the next one.
So keep on saving the planet, people, because we kind of don't have a choice!
- Strand -
In my search for used books in New York, I have stumbled upon Strand Bookstore, the only remaining bookstore on New York City's former "Book Row." It's 15,000 square feet of used and cheaply-new books!! I will be going there this afternoon to wallow in its excellence and to pick up a book to turn into a
gift for a friend's approaching birthday.
- K.R. -
If you really keep up with things here at the 'Copter, you watched a mini battle royale this past week over remarks made about world famous lead actor from (among other films) The Matrix, K.R. In fact, March 25 saw a record 13 VIEWERS! The most ever in one day
"But wait, you just said his initials. Why, Sam, why aren't you saying his full name? Especially if he got so many more people to look at your fantastic blog?!"
Well, these are great questions. As you may have noted in the previous posts, I think his acting is funny at best, but funny in that "I'm not supposed to be funny, I'm being serious" kind of way. I love the Matrix, but in general his performances are phoned in from a parallel universe - a badass one, perhaps, but one nonetheless. What you may ALSO have noticed in the past week is that a few funny comments made about K.R.'s acting and his newest film, "S. K.," got me into some deep doodoo with the K.R. occult. It seems his minions patrol the internet 24/7 looking for bad press of any kind, even from a "nobody" like me, and shoot it down, hard (their tactics seem similar to those of Scientology, in that respect). They even went as far as posting on another site's comment board and use my site as an "example" of what could happen if that blogger didn't watch his lip (you can read his post and the dastardly comment-in-question
here.)
At any rate, I've picked up a lot of flack from all this K.R. junk, and defending myself only forced more oil down my throat. So, it is the official proclamation of the IMOCOPTER blog that the name "K. R." shall never be spoken again. The ill-conceived sludge-fest that has been my comments board in past days has caused anguish and anger that is completely unnecessary. So, while I may continue to fling doodoo back at K.R. and his clearly insane followers, I will never speak his name here again, largely because this has ceased to have anything to do with the actor himself. The "K.R.-be-gone!" spell has been cast upon this fair blog!!
Labels: roundup
