song:
"Inhale. Exhale. Love!" by Roj from The Transactional Dharma Of Roj
Download 14 - Inhale. Exhale. Love!
meme (3):
Music
SotD 12-17
song:
"10 Mile Stereo" by Beach House from Teen Dream
meme (Nothing ((but trees))):
SotD 12-15
song:
"I Don't Intend to Spend Christwas Without You" by Margo Guryan from More Songs
Download 12 I Don't Intend To Spend Christmas With You
meme (word):
( a. The acquisition of the behavioural characteristics of a particular culture or group by a person, another culture, etc.; = ENCULTURATION n. Cf. SOCIALIZATION n. b. spec. The adaptation of Christian liturgy so as to accommodate the beliefs and practices of non-Christian cultures.inculturation, n.
ADDITIONS SERIES 1997 
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SotD 12-14
song:
"Yekte" by Zafer Dilek > Kono Samourai by Yamasuki > Hadd MonDJam El by Sarolta Zalatnay > Yama Yama by Yamasuki > Yaylalar by Selda
meme (unicode christmas tree):
✸ ✳ ✳✈✳ ✳☃ ✳♛✳☤ ✳ ☥ ✐✳☂ ✳ ✳ ☭✳☬ ✳⌛✳ ⎈❁ ✳ ❅❆❄ Unicode Holiday Xmas Tree is a web application that allows you to decorate, save, and send your own Unicode holiday Xmas tree as a holiday greeting. In December 2006, Britta Gustafson created a valid, semantic, and imageless tree from britta to you. In December 2007, Douglas Thrift started programming the interface for decorating the tree, but put the project on hold because the holiday season was ending. In December 2009, they dusted off the project and got it into working condition.
SotD 12-12-13
song:
"I Wonder Who We Are" by The Clientele from Bonfires on the Heath
Download 01 I Wonder Who We Are
meme (bowie's first American Fan Letter):
SotD 12-10
songs:
"Ain't No Chimneys in the Projects" by Sharon Jones & the Dapkings
"Jingle Bell Funk" by The Mistletones
meme (diagram about ((nothing (((but trees )))))):
SotD 12-8
song (top ten hints):
"Hardcore" by Micachu & the Shapes from some versions of Jewellry
meme (islanding):
Cartographic errors can persist for centuries, surviving even evidence to the contrary. One of the most famous examples is the curious case of California as an island. In 1533, the Spanish conquistador Hernando Cortes sent an expedition to the westernmost portion of the United States. His men landed on the southern tip of what is now Baja and promptly named this newly discovered territory the island of California—a direct reference to Las Sergas de Esplandian, a Spanish chivalric novel from 1510, describing "on the right hand of the Indies […] an island called California very close to the side of the Terrestrial Paradise; and it is peopled by black women, without any man among them, for they live in the manner of Amazons."
Baja, of course, is neither an Amazonian paradise nor an island. It's a peninsula—a fact that became obvious to the Spanish as early as 1539. But on contemporary maps, the erotic and exciting Las Sergas de Esplandian won out over boring topographic reality. Even as the true, "continental" version of California became the standard, the insular version surfaced occasionally well into the 18th century—like a bad habit, or maybe more accurately, a long-held wish for a more mystical, Las Sergas-like new world that mapmakers couldn't quite let go.
|
Johannes Vingboons: California as an Island (ca. 1650) from Wikimedia Commons / public domain. |
SotD 12-2
song:
Flashback SOTD from 2005 >
"Improv > Glory Box" by Massive Attack with Portishead from their live show in Brixton in 2005.
Download 06 Improvisation & Glory Box
meme (face ahoy):
View this photo
SotD 11-30
song:
"Hey That's No Way to Say Goodbye" by Leonard Cohen from Field Commander Cohen: Live '79.
Download 2-06 Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye
meme (death of uncool):
via Dom >
The death of uncool
It’s odd to think back on the time—not so long ago—when there were distinct stylistic trends, such as “this season’s colour” or “abstract expressionism” or “psychedelic music.” It seems we don’t think like that any more. There are just too many styles around, and they keep mutating too fast to assume that kind of dominance.
As an example, go into a record shop and look at the dividers used to separate music into different categories. There used to be about a dozen: rock, jazz, ethnic, and so on. Now there are almost as many dividers as there are records, and they keep proliferating. The category I had a hand in starting—ambient music—has split into a host of subcategories called things like “black ambient,” “ambient dub,” “ambient industrial,” “organic ambient” and 20 others last time I looked. A similar bifurcation has been happening in every other living musical genre (except for “classical” which remains, so far, simply “classical”), and it’s going on in painting, sculpture, cinema and dance.
We’re living in a stylistic tropics. There’s a whole generation of people able to access almost anything from almost anywhere, and they don’t have the same localised stylistic sense that my generation grew up with. It’s all alive, all “now,” in an ever-expanding present, be it Hildegard of Bingen or a Bollywood soundtrack. The idea that something is uncool because it’s old or foreign has left the collective consciousness.
I think this is good news. As people become increasingly comfortable with drawing their culture from a rich range of sources—cherry-picking whatever makes sense to them—it becomes more natural to do the same thing with their social, political and other cultural ideas. The sharing of art is a precursor to the sharing of other human experiences, for what is pleasurable in art becomes thinkable in life.
SotD 11-23
song:
"For Baby Oh" by Cymande from Henrik Schwarz, Ame & Dixon present: Grandfather Paradox
meme (coin ring):
How to make a coin ring
A guy named Don from Michigan posted how-to-pictures doing this with a spoon. I had better luck with a hammer.
Start with 1964 or earlier coins for 90% Silver. 50c piece makes a mens size. 
The tools. 
Steel block is just scrap. Use any smooth steel scrap you can find. 
Marking the center. 
Start by tapping the edge as you rotate the coin. 
After 5 min you will see the reeds fading away. 
15min reeding is gone... 
30min, getting fatter. 
After 45 min, quarter fits inside. Coins can be used to check roundness. 
I continued until the ring is smaller than a quarter. 
Step 1 done. I used a small hammer to finsh and smooth the coin. 
Drill a hole in the center. You can sand now or later. 
Clamp coin in soft jaws and bore out center. I use a uni-bit. 
Wrap a nut driver with tape and spin the ring in a drill. Sand and polish. 
You can use dremel sanding drums to make adjustments. 
Polish the inside with dremel polishing wheels. 
Done. "1964-Liberty-Half Dollar-United States of America" can be read inside. 
Before - After 
Finish can be smooth or hammered.
For hammered, skip sanding step.
A half men's and a quarter women's.
SotD 11-21-22
song:
"Jealous Enemies" by Dark Captain Light Captain from Jealous Enemies/Mid-Session Interval
meme (icon):
SotD 11-18
song:
"Embryo" by Pink Floyd from a performance in DC in the early 70s.
meme (beetles on the ceiling):
SotD 11-10
song:
"I'm Gonna Be Your Elevator" by The Fresh and Only from Grey-Eyed Girls
Download 10 I'm Gonna Be Your Elevator
meme (empty la):
SotD 11-8
song:
"Them a Laugh and a Kiki" by The Soulmates from Tighten Up - Trojan Reggae Classics 68-74 (Disc 1)
Download 1-18 Them A Laugh And A
meme (social networking as a drug):
is a bottle of wine A quiet night in with a couple friends, and a couple of their friends. Spilling nostalgic stories, flipping through photo albums, singing favorite songs, aiming for poignancy, and occasionally stumbling onto it. Emotions flow freely and without thought.
is crack cocaine
Fucking ANYONE is your friend. Yuppies do it on their iPhone. Cheap. Short. Fruitless.
is shots of tequila
"Just ONE" to humor your friend quickly turns into 4 or 5. Anything and everything becomes wildly entertaining. A fun way to waste some time you won't really remember the details of. Probably for the best.
is a tab of good acid
Everyone here is pretty nice and pretty chill. You'll witness some truly beautiful things. Sometimes emotional, visits can be long or short, but you'll leave amazed, and with a better understanding of the world.
is a vodka cranberry
Social lubricant used to enhance still developing social etiquette. You're aware of your uninhibited actions, but comforted by the built in safety net of excuses.
is huffing spray paint
Destroys any chance of looking credible. You will be perceived as having the mindset of a middle schooler, and probably do.
is bong hits of weed
Sensationalist political and religious talk. Plans of overthrowing mass media fall prey to collective laziness. Obsess over some "mind blowing" HDR photography.
is caffeine pills
Great for a quick pick me up to stimulate productivity, but ultimately leaves you exhausted and relying on it.
SotD 11-7
song:
"How Much is That Doggie in the Window" by Patti Page from Pink Flamingoes
Download 12 (How Much Is) That Doggie In The Window
meme (said dog, taken):
SotD 11-6
song:
"Change my Life" by The Rosebuds from the PEarls: Demos and Outtakes CD
Download 01 Change My Life (Spoon cover)
http://faceahoy.wordpress.com/
Submitted by Sasha
from → Buildings
:)
2009 NOVEMBER 19
Submitted by Bobby http://kitsunenoir.com/blog
from → Vehicles
Submitted by Sophie & Barry
SotD 11-5
song:
"Don't You Do Me Dirty" by Billy Lee Riley from Hillbilly Rockin' Man
Download 06 don't you do me dirty
meme (lovecrafting):
Lovecraft 101: Get To Know The Master of Scifi-Horror. For more detailed insights into each of Lovecraft's tales in publication order you might want to follow the H.P.Lovecraft Literary Podcast. For another story-by-story guide to Lovecraft you might want to check out Kenneth Hite's Tour De Lovecraft (also available in expanded form as a book). China Mieville on Lovecraft and racism and a lecture at Treadwells by Archaeologist James Holloway which delves deep into Lovecraft and identity. The making of the Call of Cthulhu RPG. The making of Cthulhu(Hipsters! Ego! Madness!). Happy Halloween with H.P. Lovecraft!
SotD 11-3
song:
"I Found the F" by Broadcast from Warp20 (Recreated)
meme (kobelkoff)
Kobelkoff
Year: 1900
This rare documentary puts us in a troubling situation of voyeurism by having us attend the exhibition of trunk man Nikolaï Kobelkoff, born in Siberia, without limbs. Kobelkoff uses his unique stump with incredible dexterity: he drinks, eats, shoots with a rifle, paints, winds his watch and lifts a dumbbell! In 1932, this extraordinary character was film director Tod Browning's inspiration for the famous film Freaks.
Director: Anonymous
Nationality: French
Length: 1' 23"
Genre: documentary
Sound: silent with soundtrack
Original elements: black & white
Producer: Eric Le Guen
SotD 10-30
song:
"Lordy" by Low & Dirty Three from their In the Tank session.
meme (Pynchon, Parabolas and Quadritic Writing):
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"Pynchon, postmodern author, is commonly said to have a non-linear narrative style. No one seems to have taken seriously the possibility, to be explored in this essay, that his narrative style might in fact be quadratic." Number theorist Michael Harris on Pynchon and conic sections.
SotD 10-28
song:
"Periodically Double or Triple (Demo)" by Yo La Tengo
Download Periodically Double or Triple (Demo)
Dave Goelz
Muppet Performer
4.) Where do you get ideas when designing new Muppets?
Jim Henson designed many of the original "classic" Muppets. Having studied graphic design in college, Jim had a natural sense for creating visual interest by combining simple shapes with bright, colorful fabrics and materials. Muppet eyes are a combination of Jim's use of ping-pong balls (the original Kermit had eyes made of ping-pong balls) with solid black dots for pupils, a puppet design feature which became a trademark of the "Muppet style."
When designing new Muppets we follow much the same process that Jim did. There is an initial conceptualizing phase where quick, rough sketches are generated, usually in pencil or marker, to explore a wide range of possible forms and visual directions for the new character. This can be the most fun part of the design process, since anything goes and inspiration can come from anywhere. There is a natural tendency to follow Jim's lead by selecting simple forms. (Ernie's head is a horizontal football shape, Bert is a similar shape but vertically positioned and compressed. Big Bird's head is a simple circle with a long cone-shaped beak attached. Bunsen's head shape is also a simple circle, while his partner Beaker is a long thin cylinder.) By using basic shapes as a basis for the design, we develop a character that is simple, visually appealing and very often the most effective design. Other characters (pigs, cows or other animals) are simply exaggerated "Muppetized" views of existing creatures.
After a character's head and face have been selected, a body type tends to naturally follow along the same lines. From there it's simply a matter of refining the design and developing a costume that further reflects the nature of the character.
Edward C. Eyth
Director/Designer,
Creative Services
The Jim Henson Company
5.) If it's not easy being green, how does Gonzo cope with being blue?
Gonzo likes being blue, although he occasionally visits an ice cream stand in Bombay and has himself dipped in rainbow sprinkles and curry just to spice things up.
Jim Lewis
Writer/Muppet Genius
8.) How much of what we see of the Muppets is scripted, and how much is ad-libbed?
Our Muppet productions are collaborative in the best and truest sense of the word. What you see is always carefully scripted, but then embellished, garnished and improved upon when the performers get hold of it. In setting up a scene, the performers will inevitably come up with some comic physical business or with unique character moments that add to mirth and mayhem. However, we almost always have a writer on the stage (lying down on the floor is my favorite spot) to make sure that what's been ad-libbed and invented by the performers works with the piece as a whole.
Jim Lewis
Writer/Muppet Genius,
Creative Services, The Jim Henson Company
9.) What is the strangest thing you have in The Jim Henson Company Archives?
While I would call it more uncommon than strange, we have a Kermit repair kit in the Archives. It was carried by Jim Henson (and crew) when he made appearances on talk shows in the late 1980s. It is a black gym bag containing Kermit fleece, sewing equipment, eyeballs, and a mike. On the stranger side, we have empty packages of Community Coffee (used by Jim in the 1960s to make commercials.) Until recently, we had actual cereal in the collection (Cröonchy Stars, the Swedish Chef's cereal marketed by Post), but decided to "deaccession" it to avoid getting bugs in the stacks!
Karen Falk
Archivist
The Jim Henson Company
41.) Where did Jim Henson get the idea for Fraggle Rock?
Fraggle Rock was Jim's idea for a children's show that would help achieve world peace. The different character groups were supposed to be an example of how all living things are interdependent and that not only do we need to remember that to live together in harmony but also we need to realize that our environments are interdependent. When the Fraggles decided to stop eating Doozer radish structures to be nice to the Doozers, the Doozers got overrun with structures and had to stop working - which went against their nature - so, they asked the Fraggles to resume eating.
Jim wanted people and all living things to think about and respect others and live with an understanding that what each person does effects everyone else.
Karen Falk
Archivist, The Jim Henson Company
42.) Who is the oldest muppet? I have a bet with a friend that Kermit is the oldest.
Kermit was one of the earliest Muppets (built in early 1955), but the oldest Muppet would have to be Pierre. Jim built Pierre the summer after high school (1954) and tried him out on a short lived Saturday morning show on WTOP in Washington. In 1955, Pierre became a regular cast member of "Sam & Friends", Jim's show on WRC in Washington. Pierre pretty much retired after "Sam & Friends" ended in 1961, but we still have the puppet in our Archives.
Karen Falk
Archivist, The Jim Henson Company
45.) Was there ever a muppet named Yorek?
There was a Muppet called Yorick (as in Hamlet). He was the first of Jim Henson's monster characters and looked something like a talking skull (hence the Shakespeare allusion). Yorick was one of the core group of characters that appeared on Jim's first TV series from 1955-1961, Sam and Friends. Yorick was later used for appearances on variety shows like The Tonight Show and the Ed Sullivan Show. Now, Yorick appears in museum exhibits about the Muppets!
Karen Falk
Archivist, The Jim Henson Company
86.) Who was Jim Henson's favorite Muppet?
In most interviews, when asked, Jim Henson said that his favorite Muppet - the one he felt closest to - was Kermit. He was the character most like Jim. Jim did on many occasions discuss other characters the he really enjoyed performing. These included Rowlf, Guy Smiley, and the Swedish Chef.
Karen Falk
Archivist
The Jim Henson Company
SotD 10-20
song:
"You and Your Sister" by Chris Bell from Thanks for Listening
Download 43 You And Your Sister
