World Rap Championships Finals – trailer
US wins World Rap Championship in October 2006, Las Vegas, NV. Shout out to the RapDogs crew.
Greeks Build First Computer in 3rd Century BC
Antikythera page for related discussions.
The ancient Greeks had built an analog computer in the 3rd century BC. Many agree that for a thousand years afterward no mechanical device was built more sophisticated than this. The destruction of the Library of Alexandria is also still a hot topic with debates about who was responsible, and how much it’s destruction contributed to the Dark Ages and the apparent halt of scientific discovery. Read background on the Wikipedia Byzantine Empire.
This discovery was made back in 1902. In 2006 new x-ray studies revealed increased sophistication of the device and more text on the outer casing available for translation.
An ancient astronomical calculator, built around the end of the second century BC, was unexpectedly sophisticated, a study in this week’s Nature suggests. Mike G. Edmunds and colleagues used imaging and high-resolution X-ray tomography to study fragments of the Antikythera Mechanism, a bronze mechanical analog computer thought to calculate astronomical positions.
The Greek device contains a complicated arrangement of at least 30 precision, hand-cut bronze gears housed inside a wooden case covered in inscriptions. But the device is fragmented, so its specific functions have remained controversial. The team were able to reconstruct the gear function and double the number of deciphered inscriptions on the computer’s casing. The device, they say, is technically more complex than any known device for at least a millennium afterwards. The text is astronomical with many numbers that could be related to planetary motions, and the gears are a mechanical representation of a second century theory that explained the irregularities of the Moon’s motion across the sky caused by its elliptical orbit.
Antikythera Greek Mechanism Page
Federal Way, WA School Blocks Al Gore Film
Excerpt: This week in Federal Way schools, it got a lot more inconvenient to show one of the top-grossing documentaries in U.S. history, the global-warming alert “An Inconvenient Truth.”
After a parent who supports the teaching of creationism and opposes sex education complained about the film, the Federal Way School Board on Tuesday placed what it labeled a moratorium on showing the film. The movie consists largely of a computer presentation by former Vice President Al Gore recounting scientists’ findings.
Read the Seattle PI Article on Blocking An Inconvenient Truth.
Winter in Mount Vernon Washington
This is a Winter 2006 photo of the Mount Vernon Presbyterian Church in Mount Vernon, Washington. Click on image for full size photo.
High School Musical Conductor Question
Hi,
I’m doing HS Musical at Irvington Town Hall Theater in a little over a week. I’m playing and conducting and my old Mx8 midi patchbay has just died. Would you recommend a replacement to control my synth rig, either standalone or computer based is fine? What do you use?
Thank You,
Julius Petty
Hi Julius, I only use a midi patchbay in the studio, not live. When performing live I use 4-5 keyboards to cover different sounds, so no need for a patchbay. (Keyboards used are dedicated weighted piano, Hammmond B3 clone, Synth controlling laptop with virtual keyboard I use for custom FX, and two utility boards for synth, strings etc. ) You can usually daisy-chain up to three midi units together without an audible delay. Off the top of my head I think delay per midi daisy chain “through” is around 3-7 milliseconds. Audible delay usually occurs somewhere around 20 milliseconds for most people. So, you can hook up to three units together before you reach a delay that’s audible. Do you need to link together more than three modules per board?
Hope that helps. We’re just starting to rehearse our production, so let me know if you have any super-duper secret insider tips or errata info on the scores.
Conrad
Martin Luther King Jr Mountaintop Speech
Martin Luther King’s final speech. Memphis April 3 1968 “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop”. He had a fever that night and had cancelled his speech, but so many people showed up that they called him and said “You HAVE to speak tonight”. They covered for him so he would only have to speak a couple minutes, but he got on a roll, and here you go.
Martin Luther King
August 28, 1963. Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech at the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Washington D.C.
Clarification on Isaac Asimov Quote
Here is an Isaac Asimov quote I was a little unclear on, and a following explanation from a member at one of my forums. It came up during an evolution-creation debate. More info on oblate spheroids.
When people thought the earth was flat, they were wrong. When people thought the earth was spherical, they were wrong. But if you think that thinking the earth is spherical is just as wrong as thinking the earth is flat, then your view is wronger than both of them put together.
Isaac Asimov, 1988.
My statement: Please clarify, I thought the earth was an oblate spheroid.
Answer:
An oblate spheriod, and slightly pear-shaped, to boot. So yes, it’s not a sphere. But it’s much closer to being a sphere than it is to being flat. More importantly, the determination that the Earth was a sphere was done by observation and experimentation. It is incorrect only due to the limitations of the observational equipment.
The Earth being flat is quite obviously wrong with the smallest amount of investigation. The Earth being spherical is wrong when examined quite carefully and precisely. There is a quantitive difference in the “wrongness” of those two positions.
It’s like Newtonian mechanics is wrong, but still useful for terrestrial movement. A spherical earth is a useful simplification for navigational purposes. A flat Earth is not a useful model for anything much.
Augsburg Fortress 2007 Seattle Church Music Workshop
 Augsburg Fortress is hosting a Winter 2007 Music Clinic on Saturday, January 13 at Plymouth Congregational Church, 1217 6th Avenue, Seattle, WA led by choral director and organist Douglas Cleveland. Sign up for free registration at http://www.augsburgfortress.org/events or visit the Augsburg Fortress music website.
Augsburg Fortress is the Publishing House of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Workshop runs from 8:30am to 3pm and includes two choral sessions, a pipe organ workshop and Musikgarten presentation for reaching younger children with music in a church setting. A music store will be on location with the latest liturgical and sacred choral arrangements from Augsburg Fortress.
Douglas Cleveland is acclaimed as one of America’s finest concert organists and currently maintains a full recital calendar while serving as Music Director at Plymouth Congregational Church in Seattle, Washington. He holds degrees from The Eastman School of Music, as well as Indiana University, and served as Assistant Professor of Organ and Church Music at Northwestern University.
Rumor Mill – Brigadoon is NOT Pre-Cast
Rumor mills in theater are nothing new. I wanted to clear the air and let people know that the Lyric Light Opera of the Northwest production of Brigadoon is NOT pre-cast. At this point all roles are open and will be decided at auditions.
We do have a Scottish choir rehearsing for a concert, but this is not a casting of the Brigadoon chorus. It’s a sort of Brigadoon preamble and I appreciate the opportunity to get better versed on Scottish music styles.
Just had our first rehearsal for our Scottish choir in preparation for performing at the Celtic Arts Foundation January 20th Lincoln Theater (Mount Vernon, WA) event. The sound was incredibly beautiful, I think we were all pleasantly surprised. If this is any indication of the quality of music we will have for the show then I can reasonably predict that this production of Brigadoon will be a very professional presentation that any trained singer would be proud to be a part of.
There is talk of a first run of auditions to happen in January with later auditions in April – this is still up in the air so please visit the Lyric Light Opera of the Northwest website for audition updates. If there is a first run of auditions before April it is strongly suggested you make those if interested in being part of the Brigadoon cast. This show will run at McIntyre Hall and at Kirkland Performance Center in July and September 2007.
This show is BIG. I will make it rock to the best of my abilities.