Brilliant Noise

The folks at semiconductor used NASA images to make a film. The sound is based on light intensity in the images. It's explained at their site. Reminds me of Eraserhead.

Brilliant Noise from Semiconductor on Vimeo.

Link to explanation to how the film was created.

Pomegranate

I'm not usually one for advertising but this is brilliant.
Link to the Pomegranate

patient

patient, originally uploaded by John Tyo.

Merlin showed up last week with a nasty gash on his toe on the left hind paw. The doc stitched him up but he's a bit miserable.

Adventure

Does anyone remember an adventure game for the TRS-80 that predated the adventure game from the mid-80's that was in real time? You had to eat elven cakes or you would die of starvation. The battles consisted of repeatedly hitting keys and watching text scroll as the hit points were tallied. A great game. My brother gave me a copy on a standard cassette so I never knew the company or who coded it. I'm afraid it's going to be lost to history and only the better-known adventure program will be remembered and referenced. That would be a shame as the one I was playing was far superior.

Girl

The Beatles versão Lego - Rubber Soul, originally uploaded by Tiago Celestino.

I was just listening to The Beatles' song Girl on Rubber Soul and decided to do some research on it. A quick look at Wikipedia opened my eyes a bit. According to the site, it was written by Lennon; the background singing gets a bit risque; there's a dig to the Catholic church and Lennon's song Woman on Double Fantasy was written around the same time as Girl and is the grown up version. Ah Girl... Girl.

Link

The 1844 House

Had a great meal recently at The 1844 House in Potsdam, NY. The prices are a bit steep but they have an early dinner special. The emphasis is on locally grown vegetables, honey, and dairy products. Found no fault with the wine, Mediterranean dip, beef entree, creme brulee, coffee, and even the water. Service was courteous and efficient. The butter was a honey blend that went will with the bread basket. The flat bread served with the Mediterranean dip(local feta) was light, flaky, and crisp. Felt nourished and satisfied at the end. Looking forward to my next meal there. Recommended.
Link.

Háry János, suite from the opera for orchestra Kozjatek/Intermezzo

Of the NPR Milestones of the Millennium series of CD's I think that the Nationalism one is my least favorite. Until today I've always thought that the most annoying instrument on track 9(Háry János, suite from the opera for orchestra Kozjatek/Intermezzo) is an annoying banjo but it's actually a bangy stringed instrument like a large dulcimer. You can hear the music and see the instrument in the above clip. Anyone know what that instrument is called?

Bird Diapers

I've posted before about my Cockatiel, McDonna. One of the problems of owning a bird is that they're rather indiscriminate in their voiding habits. Now there's a new product addressing that problem. Not sure McDonna would approve as she's an older bird now and set in her ways. Has anyone tried these?

Link. Via The Presurfer

Budweiser Chelada

Thanks Baltimike
It's no wonder that Anheuser-Busch is being sold after they introduced Chelada. Chelada is a can of bud or bud light mixed with Clamato. I think it's also supposed to have lime. There's plenty of salt. Clamato is a product from Mott containing reconstituted tomato juice, clam juice, and high fructose
corn syrup among other ingredients. Yes, they've found a way to put high fructose corn syrup in your beer. The taste is awful. As I live on the St. Lawrence Seaway I think a more natural version would be to toss some cans of beer in the St. Lawrence and let the zebra mussels work their magic.

So, blah blah blah What?

Thanks Daikrieg

While listening to the CBC radio show Quirks and Quarks, I noticed that many of the interviewees started their answers with "So, " and then the actual answer. I can sort of see why, it appears to allow the speaker to regain control of the conversation as a continuation of the speaker's thoughts. Now I'm hearing it more and more. It seems to have started in academia. Perhaps picked up from a beloved lecturer. Mere speculation. How new is it? Is it traceable to an earliest know occurrence? What is it? Idiom? It seems that it should have a name so we can discuss it with more ease. What would you call it?
Link to Quirks and Quarks.

McDonna

I have a cockatiel. It spent its first years of its life as King but we changed its name to McDonna (yes, that's McDonalds + Madonna) when we discovered it was female after putting it in a cage with a male. McDonna's plumage should have tipped me off but I was relatively new to the game at that time. She must be 15 or 16 years old by now. The male she lived with, Romeo, has recently died. He was a bit of a controller. Whenever she left the cage to explore he would sqwauk and raise a ruccous until she returned. Romeo also left a lasting impression on her by plucking the feathers from atop her head. He seemed to be very high strung and easily frightened. Much more vocal than McDonna, though. It was barely distinguishable but definite when it would say our dog's name. Romeo would also bark like the dog. Most often, though, it would whistle in a long rambling way.
Link to wikipedia on cockatiels.

Today is Arianna Huffington's Birthday

Thanks PeteWright

I've just started listening to podcasts and was catching up on Joe Frank stories. This morning I listened to one about Arianna Huffington and then heard on The Writer's Almanac that today is Arianna's birthday. Quite an impressive life. I always thought her accent was German but it turns out that it's Greek.
Link to the Joe Frank podcast.
Link to The Writer's Almanac.

Adirondack Origami

The July\August issue of Adirondack Life Magazine has an article on John Szinger. John does origami and his Adirondack models are featured. The online article even has instructions for his canoe that is complete with a seat and end covers. Link.

NPR Story Corps

Image courtesy of wfyurasko at flickr creative commons.
NPR has been hosting a great series called Story Corps to record the history and legends of people. The most disturbing one I've heard so far has to be this one. It describes an act of torture for a most mundane act. Thought at first that it must be legend but Noone states that she observed the deformed nails.

Giant Water Beetle

I was working in my garden and my cat ran up with something in its mouth. The something was sideways and wriggling. Thought, at first, that it was another mouse. When he dropped it I came over to have a look and saw a huge bug. After some coaxing, it made its way into a ziplock baggy so I could bring it in to research on the web.
Judging from the logo on the envelope I think it must have been a little over two inches from snout to tail. They're also called electric bugs because they are attracted to porch lights. Another name is giant toe biter since they have a nasty bite and are usually low enough to attack feet. I guess it's give and take since some people eat them. I'm told they may be dried and put in soup or fried with Thai seasonings. I was happy that my cat and I were not bitten and I let it go in the gully when the cat was looking the other way.

Picture post from email

Please bare with my learning curve. Here's a picture posted via email:


Actually... somewhere the braces were converted to < etc and I needed to go to the post on the page and convert them back. Must research further.

Posting from Email

I've learned that I can post via email which makes this blogging a lot easier when on the road. Not sure how to post an image, though. May need to use the HTML tags.

Potsdam Reunion

DSC_0057, originally uploaded by John Tyo.

Attended my friends' SUNY Potsdam Reunion last weekend and had a great time. Most graduated around 1987. More pics may be found here.

Alex on ESM Idol

My friend passed me this clip of his nephew singing in an American-Idol-style competition. I think Alex' performance is exceptionally charming.

The LoCATor

After the trauma losing my cat for 3 days-- he wandered into an empty house that was being worked on and was locked in -- I knew measures needed to be taken. Enter The LoCATor. It's a radio beacon that the cat wears on his collar and a receiver mounted on a pistol stock. It's fun finding his hiding spots and having peace of mind. It helps ameliorate the fear of letting the cat outside. -- Though yesterday he captured a giant water beetle and brought it near me. Until gps transmitters are smaller and the cost of tracking via the staellites comes down, I recommend The LoCATor.
link

Is the Cat House Will a Hoax?

I've been reading a book of interesting lists and the list for strange wills mentions Jonathan Jackson. He died around 1880 and supposedly left money to establish a house for cats. They could even listen to accordion music! Found another mention of him on the web here. It's nearly verbatim with the book's entry. Was the "cat house" ever established? What are the sources of the story? I suspect that this story may be a hoax given the scant evidence and repetitions of the story. If you have pertinent info to share about him please comment.

North Pole May be Ice Free for the First Time in History

Ok, I've read a little further in my Rule the Web and found that I broke a suggested rule in that I had more than one link in my post. Another rule is to try to have a post a day, excluding weekends. So here's today's.

National Geographic is reporting that the North Pole may be ice free for the first time in history this summer. If I'm reading the article correctly, it seems like areas around the north pole may retain ice. And...there'll probably still be ice in refrigerators there.

Link

Hello World!

This is the first entry in my first blog. Thanks to Mark Frauenfelder and his book Rule the Web. It's a very useful how-to book about the internet written by the founder of the most popular blog, boingboing. I don't know why the companion site isn't yet live.

It may be a while before I'm on a daily schedule with the postings. Please be patient.