More “Making Ring from Coin” Stuff
More “Making Ring from Coin” Stuff - This one seems easier than the last one I posted.
Trying to Control Depth of Field
More “Making Ring from Coin” Stuff - This one seems easier than the last one I posted.
Dear Iron and Wine,
Vis a vis your cover of The Postal Service’s “Such Great Heights,” I’d like to say that, I get it. When you strip away the (albeit magnificent) electronic(a) going on in the background of the original, your acoustic version cuts closer to the heart … it has fewer things to get in the way as it slices into one’s inner sanctum. And yes, I know you guys licensed the song to Mars, Inc. for an M&M commercial, and you know what? That’s ok. Fine by me. The song is still great, even with the goofy kaleidescopic imagery that goes along with it in the commercial (which, in and of itself is not bad; the constrast between music and video is striking). In fact, that delectable clip on the commercial is what reminded me again of your cover, which I had only given 10 seconds of playing time in the past. The track of which I speak is spinning right now: I think I understand what you were thinking when you sang this, and what Ben Gibbard of the Postal Service was thinking when he, surely in a moment of inspired poetry, penned the words.
Also, I am sure you are proud to have Dntel in your company, as musicians who work closely with Mr. Gibbard on the scene. Incidentally, Dntel is responsible for a truly magnificent song called “Umbrella.” (Listen to it On Amazon.com, though the sample doesn’t quite do it justice). Anyhow, I’d like to thank you all for writing music that blows one’s socks off, but only if one lets it. Incidentally, are you aware of this little factoid about Dntel?
Dntel is pronounced din-tell. Tamborello admitted that the name was not intended to mean anything. When asked to create a meaning for it, he quoted it as a shortened version of “Don’t Tell.” He admits that this meaning is a bit of a stretch.
And that’s where I end my letter. Poor Iron and Wine, they will never receive it. Anyhow, I was just thinking how much I would like to play like the pianist Benny Green. His pure technical skill has been described as “busy,” though I hear it as an intesely focussed jazz attack. Plus, he certainly is capable of slower ballads. All in all, his command of jazz styles is quite breathtaking. Care for a musical sample? “No, thanks,” I hear you say. Well, you’re in luck because the album “The Place to Be” of which I speak is massively out of print and audio samples are available absolutely nowhere … but here’s a rather entertaining link where you can buy the CD for nigh seventy-five crappin’ dollars.
Record label: Found - Sometimes, and quite surprisingly, it’s hard to track down information about things. So, I’ve done it for you. Here’s Feist’s record label!
Also, if you can spend any time napping in a field on a summer day when you are younger — do so. That can be the place you visit in your mind when you’re standing on a crowded subway, stooped with back pain, sweating like your pores are water-piks, while a beggar in stained and drooping sweatpants yells in your ear.
— Paul Ford
Brilliant Way to Preserve Snowflakes - Cold runny superglue and some microscope slides will preserve snowflakes indefinitely. This is so cool. Will try next winter. Remind me.
I was going to write a post about how I thought the headline “orange juice futures looking promising” from the Wall Street Journal was funny … but the paper has since gone out for recycling; and when I think about it (like many posts), it really was not the greatest idea. That said, there were a couple of other things that made me laugh the past couple of days. If I could only remember one …
I mostly escaped into Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which was stupendous. As is the case with most of the Harry Potter books, it is entertaining and engaging in the beginning, building to “my hand is stuck to the book with peanut butter and bubble gum” level at the end. I thoroughly enjoy an escape into the world of Harry Potter, though I’m not an “ohmygoshI’mincollegebutlovethisbook” sort of fan. Like many things, it ignites an intense interest in me which I generally choose to keep to myself. Not that I won’t debate my theories about the ending with you, if you ask. Oh no, I’ll talk if prompted.
Now for my next trick: a couple of my occasional tips on popular music for you all. Prince’s “3121” is supposed to be phenomenal (I need to listen to it). Also, judging from the songs I have heard on Drive 105, these two albums could be quite good:
That said, track 12 from 3121 just started playing my stereo … this is pure funk genius. My music critiquing experience is severely limited, so I apologize for failing to say anything meaningful about these albums. Try ‘em out on iTunes (though, you can’t find Blue October on iTunes) and go from there; I think you won’t be disappointed.
And now (cue the jazz piano), time for some Jamie Cullum lyrics … because this has become one of those random, form-be-darned journal entries:
Just one local call and you’ll see
A happy path through life not for free
A little bit fat you can’t get a girl
Short on cash I’ll change your world
The only way now is straight up
Your deepest despair I’ll make it stop
Just 19.95 all major credit cards
And you’ll stay alive and you’ll go farIn just seven short days
You’ll change your life
All of your innocence found
You’ll even lose a few pounds
See yourself making a mint
Quality time with your kids
Send me your money and I’ll change your life
Thing is, that song sounds exactly like a jazz love ballad … yet the critique of late-night infomercials is spot on. Typical Jamie Cullum: a synthesis of the modern and classic resulting in something compeltely new.
And beacuse I feel guilty for a failure to write this very well … here is a quote from a recent article I read, which I enjoyed: “Well, anyway, I didn’t go to Mix 06, so I have lost untold thousands of pundit karma points. But this morning I read Hippos Go Berserk! to my kid. And even though we have read that book together at least 562 times, she found it fresh and exciting and new. And so did I.” Read more here.
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