Here’s another great interview with Tom Waits: the Pitchfork Interview With Tom Waits.

Among the other snippets, I learned the following:

• his 21-year-old son (who is taller than Waits) tours with him, playing drums
• he loves the music of Missy Elliott
• before he met his wife, Kathleen Brennan, he didn’t care for his records properly (“most of my records were out of their sleeves and in a drawer somewhere”)
• his favourite sound in the world is bacon frying (“it sounds like the pops and cracks on an old 33 1/3 recording”)

He also talks about the media and privacy, his voice, songwriting, and much more. Make sure you read right through to the end—it’s a great way to end an interview.

Via Bookshelves of Doom.

Posted by Amy as Music at 1:03 AM EST

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Every now and again a site comes along that helps put life in perspective. When you feel out of sorts because the computer ate your report or the fax is down yet again, check out The Worst Christmas Jobs in History.

The site breaks history down into historical time periods (e.g. Anglo-Saxon, Medieval, Stuart) and gives examples of distasteful jobs from each of the eras.

Here are a couple:

• in Georgian times, kelp collectors were needed “to venture out and drag up the stinking slimy seaweed at low tides.” Why? “Collect 20 tons of the stuff and it can be boiled down to make one ton of soda, the magical chemical that will keep the linen tablecloths underneath all that Christmas fare whiter than white.”
• in Victorian times, you could have been the back end of a pantomime cow: “Nobody will actually see you as you’ll be constantly bent double, gripping the belt loops of the actor in the front end.”

I’m glad that I’ve never had to do these jobs, or one of the worst jobs in Roman times. “House servant” sounds relatively innocuous, but check out the job description.

Via Quiddity.

Posted by Amy as History, Holidays at 1:02 AM EST

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For anyone who’s interested in Star Trek trivia, here’s a site on an often overlooked topic: Space: The Wino Frontier.

This site considers the attitudes of the Enterprise crew to the various alcohol. Compare Mr. Spock’s attitude to Dr. McCoy’s, for example:

• “Vulcans are the designated drivers of the Universe”
• “Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy thought so little of the potent alien liquors he administered them as cough syrup”

There’s a review of the different episodes from the Original Series where alcohol is featured prominently, and then for those of you who’d like to brush up on your knowledge of alien booze, there’s info on Klingon Blood Wine, Saurian Brandy, and many more.

Finally, don’t miss the Top 10 Signs Your Starship Captain Is a Drunkard.

Via SF Signal.

Posted by Amy as Popular Culture, Television & Movies at 1:03 AM EST

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M.C. Escher is well known for his artwork that features experiments with perspective.

Here’s a webpage that looks at the mathematical aspects of his work: The Mathematical Art of M.C. Escher.

The creator of the site says, “For me it remains an open question whether [this work] pertains to the realm of mathematics or to that of art.”

Although the page tackles such matters as tessellations and polyhedra—topics that weren’t part of high school algebra when I studied it—non-math people can follow the explanations easily.

It’s a good page for those who are interested in either Escher or mathematics.

Via Plep.

Posted by Amy as Arts & Culture, Math at 5:22 AM EST

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Roddy Lumsden at Vitamin Q has an entertaining post called “Songbook”.

This post lists some genuine titles of folk songs. They include the following:

• “Gonna Keep My Skillet Greasy”
• “He Went to Sleep—The Hogs Ate Him”
• “Let Simon’s Beard Alone”
• “The Squid-Jigging Ground”

Definitely check this one out—it’s worth a smile.

Posted by Amy as Music at 7:46 AM EST

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Barbara Stanwyck You scored 38% grit, 19% wit, 47% flair, and 16% class!

You’re a tough dame, a bit of a spitfire, and you can even be a little dangerous, but you do it with such flair that almost all is forgiven (and even when it’s not, you’re still the most interesting woman in the room). You can be witty and charming, all right, but you have a tough streak that keeps you focused and sometimes deadly. You’ve had quite a climb to get where you are, but you’re a hard worker and you mostly deserve all you get…and then some. You might end up destroying everything around you, but you must admit…you’ve got style. Your leading men include Henry Fonda, Fred MacMurray, and when you forget yourself, Gary Cooper. Find out what kind of classic leading man you’d make by taking the Classic Leading Man Test.

Via Centre of the Universe.

Posted by Amy as Fluffy Stuff at 1:39 AM EST

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In the past I’ve linked to sites that warn you to be on guard against fake science.

I’ve just found another page like this that expands on this concept: The Woo Woo Credo: How To Be an Internet Woo-Woo.

As you might imagine from the name, the information is presented in a light-hearted manner. Here are a few samples of advice to take if you want to be considered knowledgeable and credible while presenting theories that are . . . dubious:

• Don’t accept mainstream science unless it’s something you’ve believed in for years (like gravity).
• Quote Einstein, and do so often. Quote things he said if possible, but Einstein has been dead for ages now and so it’s permissible to bring him up to date. Change the odd word here and there to make it clear that Einstein would have supported your argument if only he knew what you know. Act as if any arbitrary Einstein quote supports your position.
• One word: “Hyperdimensional.”
• Dig out one reference that supports your position. Complain when someone presents a reference that refutes yours. Say that this means they can’t think for themselves and your reference proves it. Ignore all queries on why you hold this hypocritical position.

This is a fun read.

Via The Presurfer.

Posted by Amy as Science & Nature at 12:01 AM EST

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SF Signal has a fun post right now: Who Are Your Favorite Science Fiction Characters From TV/Film?

Hmm. There are so many great characters to choose from.

Here’s a stab at it, though:

• Anya
• G’Kar
• Londo Mollari
• Quark
• Spike
• Willow
• Worf
• Zathras

If I could only pick one, it would be Zathras.

Posted by Amy as Television & Movies at 1:31 AM EST

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If you’re starting to think about doing your Christmas decorating, and if you share your house with any animals, you might appreciate A Cat’s Christmas.

Iris and Fern are two cats who believe in taking part whole-heartedly in the “getting ready for Christmas” preparations.

People who have lived with cats will recognise at least some of these antics.

On a serious note, I want to second the warning here about tinsel and thin ribbons–please remember that this can be dangerous for a cat to ingest (it can cause an intestinal blockage and require a vet’s attention). Keep a close eye on your cat to see if she’s wanting to eat the tinsel.

Via Information Junk.

Posted by Amy as Animals, Holidays at 1:43 AM EST

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Tom Waits has a new album out: Orphans.

It’s a 3 CD set, and it’s available for sale starting today.

Probably as part of the pre-release promo, Waits gave an interview to the Guardian. The article is called ”Off beat,” and it’s a great read. It tells us a little bit about Waits (that he’s been sober and in AA for over 10 years) and a little bit about the album.

Waits continues to try different things with his music with each album, and this one is no different. Imagine him singing “Heigh-ho” from Snow White. Apparently he does—with his own quirky take on it, of course.

He also has written a song about the Middle East conflict. This is definitely new territory.

For more information about Waits, his music, and his acting, check out the Official Tom Waits Web Site.

Via idiolect.org.uk/notes.

Posted by Amy as Music at 1:35 AM EST

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It’s another “best-of” list. Time has compiled The All-Time 100 Albums.

There are some interesting choices; consider the following picks:

• Dolly Parton’s Coat of Many Colours
• Prince’s Purple Rain
• The Rolling Stones’ Exile On Main Street
• Kanye West’s The College Dropout
• U2’s The Joshua Tree
• Carole King’s Tapestry
• Eminem’s The Marshall Mathers LP

These are nothing if not diverse.

Each selection has a brief explanation giving the reason for its inclusion (click on the name of the album to see it).

Via Yahoo! Picks.

Posted by Amy as Music at 1:46 AM EST

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You Are Impressionism

You think the world is quite beautiful, especially if you look at it in new and interesting ways. You tend to focus on color and movement in art. For you, seeing the big picture is much more important than recording every little detail. You can find inspiration anywhere… especially from nature.

Posted by Amy as Fluffy Stuff at 4:09 AM EST

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It’s always interesting to see what various artists ask for in their concert riders (the part of the contract that stipulates the conditions the the artist requires, from technical matters to hospitality).

Here are a few samples of such requests:

• Sinead O’Connor wants a masseur
• Hootie and the Blowfish ask for assorted incense and burner, matches, and Visine or Clear Eyes
• the Cowboy Junkies want one whole grapefruit, one whole lemon, one whole orange, and 1 whole quart of fresh strawberries—but only on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays

Now Popbitch.com has highlighted one that we can read to brighten our day: Lust For Laughs: Iggy Pop’s Concert Rider Funniest In Rock History?

Even the technical requirements are light-hearted here. For example, after specifiying the need for an X Korg 2000 Digital Rack Tuner, the rider says, “Digital in the sense that it works via an electronically generated number system, not digital because it only works if someone holds it together with their fingers.”

There’s also the section that reads, “Oh, and during the show, could you just catch his eye and mouth ‘I love you’? Thanks.”

Don’t overlook the “cauliflower/broccoli cut into individual florets and thrown immedieately into the garbage.”

For a good collection of concert riders, see The Smoking Gun: Backstage Pass.

Posted by Amy as Music at 8:25 AM EST

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Many of us have heard of the inkblot test.

Now there are some inkblots online; you can look at them and submit a response telling the site owner what you think the images resemble. You can also see what others have to say about them.

You may have your response posted (your permission will be asked first).

Via OpticalPoptitude.com.

Posted by Amy as Psychology at 5:36 AM EST

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There’s a lot of misinformation floating around out there masquerading as fact, but fortunately we have sites like The Most Popular Myths In Science to help set us straight.

This site debunks 20 frequently-heard assertions such as the following:

• lightning never strikes the same place twice
• humans only use 10% of their brains
• hair and fingernails continue growing after death
• a dog’s mouth is cleaner than a human’s

The explanations are a little shorter than I would like to see, but it’s still a good start.

Posted by Amy as Science & Nature at 1:40 AM EST

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Here’s a nifty site that allows you to see how well the computer program can analyse you: Photos You LikeBetter: You Are What You Like.

The program works on the theory that the images you are drawn to reflects something about yourself. It calculates what you are like based on the photos you pick.

The instructions are simple. Two photos are presented. Click on the one you like better. A new set of photos will load. Eventually the image of the brain at the bottom of the screen will turn pink. At that point, click to find out what the program has to say about you.

You can keep on repeating the process for a very long time. Here’s what the program told me about myself before I quit:

• you have pets
• you are not a prankster
• you live in a single-family home
• creativity is not your area of expertise
• you would describe yourself as not very wealthy
• you don’t enjoy meeting lots of new people
• you enjoy sarcasm
• you read books voraciously

I would say that the computer scored 6.5 out of 8. I’ll let you guess where it lost marks!

Via Weblog Wannabe

Posted by Amy as Psychology at 1:09 AM EST

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And now, to brighten your day, here is a list of Interesting Facts.

Some of my favourites:

• Cats have over one hundred vocal sounds, while dogs only have about ten.
• February 1865 is the only month in recorded history not to have a full moon.
• Isaac Asimov is the only author to have a book in every Dewey-decimal category.

I did not know any of this.

Via The Presurfer.

Posted by Amy as General at 1:07 AM EST

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Here’s a spoof on the earnest articles such as “100 Uses For Vinegar”: 2000 Uses For Peanut Butter . . . And Then Some.

This site is entirely tongue-in-cheek. Not all the attempts at humour are funny, but quite a few of them are.

Here are a few I like:

• “make Cream of Peanut Butter Soup”
• “Mix it with a large amount of brown sugar. Form into small spheres. Set on cookie sheet and leave on counter as if cooling.”
• “Two words: eye shadow.”
• “Knock on it for good luck if there is no wood around.”

Kids, definitely don’t try most of these at home.

Via Weblog V2.

Posted by Amy as Humour at 7:20 AM EST

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Bessie Smith was a hugely influential blues singer whose life was tragically cut short in a car accident.

There’s a good brief bio and discography at Red Hot Jazz; it starts off as follows:

Bessie Smith was a rough, crude, violent woman. She was also the greatest of the classic Blues singers of the 1920s.

The article Reflections of 1920’s and 30’s Street Life in the Music of Bessie Smith gives some interesting details to support this take on Smith’s character:

On one occasion, at a party in 1925 following an appearance in her home town of Chattanooga, Tennessee, she knocked down a large male who was bothering her and a couple of friends. Later, when the man retaliated by stabbing her in the side with a knife, she chased him down the street until she dropped from the strain of the wound.

In 1937, after the car she and her lover were in rear-ended another vehicle, Smith died from blood loss. Rumours spread that she died because she had been refused treatment in a white hospital. This was not true, but it served as the basis for a one-act play by Edward Albee called The Death of Bessie Smith.

What was both true and shocking is that for years she lay in an unmarked grave; this remained the case until Janis Joplin raised money for the headstone.

You can see photos of Smith and the headstone here.

Her music will live forever; my favourites are “Down Hearted Blues” and “Aggravatin’ Papa.”

Posted by Amy as Music at 6:46 AM EST

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Today is Remembrance Day, a day that Canadians observe with the wearing of poppies, a two-minute silence, and, of course, recitations/publications of various writings, especially the Ode of Remembrance and In Flanders Fields.

Veterans Affairs Canada has a very good website to help in the observances: A Day of Remembrance.

The site answers the following questions:

• why remember?
• whom do we remember?
• what should we remember?
• how do we remember?

This site also has information on the history of Canadian involvement in wars (as well as its current peacekeeping work), interviews with veterans from the wars, audio files of songs popular during the First World War, Canadian Orders, Medals, and Decorations, a digitised book of remembrance, and much, much more.

Lest we forget . . .

Posted by Amy as History, Holidays at 7:28 AM EST

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The U.S. National Library of Medicine has put up an interesting online exhibition called Dream Anatomy.

This exhibition catalogues the visions that those in the middle ages (and earlier) had of our anatomy—not just the reality that could be seen, but the imagination that was applied to it.

Here’s the explanation for the exhibition from the opening page:

The interior of our bodies is hidden to us. What happens beneath the skin is mysterious, fearful, amazing. In antiquity, the body’s internal structure was the subject of speculation, fantasy, and some study, but there were few efforts to represent it in pictures. The invention of the printing press in the 15th century-and the cascade of print technologies that followed-helped to inspire a new spectacular science of anatomy, and new spectacular visions of the body. Anatomical imagery proliferated, detailed and informative but also whimsical, surreal, beautiful, and grotesque — a dream anatomy that reveals as much about the outer world as it does the inner self.

This exhibition is imaginative and varied, ranging from a discussion of fine art and anatomy to a mention of bodysnatching to the introduction of the X-Ray.

Posted by Amy as Death, Science & Nature at 5:13 AM EST

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I like lists. I like music. I even like hair (what’s not to like?).

And when you combine the three, you get a List of Songs About Hair.

I hadn’t realised there were enough songs to make a list of them. If you’d asked me, I’d only have been able to list the song “Hair” from the musical of the same name.

But that’s just the beginning, apparently. Here are a few of the others:

• “I Think I’m Going Bald” (Rush)
• “More Than a Haircut” (The Waifs)
• “Black Is The Colour of My True Love’s Hair” (Nina Simone)

There are lots more.

Via Boing Boing.

Posted by Amy as Music at 5:21 AM EST

2 Comments »

Five years ago in Missouri a cave was found that dated back at least 830,000 years. It may be as old as 1 million years.

The cave had been sealed off by rocks and mud 55,000 years ago, and there it lay until it was discovered by a crew building a road. The first major exploration of it (after years of preliminary work) is set to start soon.

CNN.com’s article Cave An Ice Age Time Capsule is full of interesting details about the cave. It has an unimaginable number of things for scientists to learn from—there were “5,000 microfossils in just one 1-foot by 2-foot block of clay.”

And let’s not forget the claw mark of the bear. The claw mark itself was three feet long.

Unfortunately, the cave is closed to the public. Unbelievably, vandals have already caused damage.

Via dangerousmeta!

Posted by Amy as Science & Nature at 6:11 AM EST

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You Are Red Orange

You are a very genuine person, although it takes a while for you to show the true you. A bit introverted, you desire respect and affection from those close to you. You are quite empathetic, and you have a true concern for the well being of others. Many people have warm, heartfelt memories of you - even if you don’t remember them well.

Posted by Amy as Fluffy Stuff at 2:12 AM EST

2 Comments »

I was taught about cube roots some time in high school, and I haven’t thought about them since.

But some people love math and love thinking about numbers. If you’re one of these people, you’ll probably enjoy this page: How To Do Cube Roots of 9 Digit Numbers In Your Head.

If you are willing to do a little bit of memorisation (plus exert yourself to do some math), you will apparently soon be able to tell me–without resorting to a calculator–that the cube root of 283593393 is 657.

Good luck with it! Mental arithmetic at this level just makes me tired, so I’ll content myself with applauding anyone else’s efforts.

Via dangerousmeta!

Posted by Amy as Math at 5:04 AM EST

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If you’d like to find out how well you understand the nuances of an earlier era—specifically the Victorian time, check out The Victorian Period.

This site is an interactive one set up as a game. We are presented with various scenarios and asked to see if we know the answers to various questions.

Here’s the explanation from the site:

Are you a ‘civilized’ person, suited to the Victorian period?

To find out, select the role of a man or woman by clicking on one of the two portraits over the fireplace.

Then use the game board on the table to move from one situation to another.

You can visit five different places. In each, you will have to choose the appropriate type of clothing to wear, or determine which is the best way to react.

You win or lose points depending on your answers.

Although I was able to pick an appropriate ballgown, I didn’t know that men should not escort their wives in to dinner when the family is entertaining–that would make the meal seem too much like a family gathering.

This is a fun way to learn about a period that, in superficial matters at least, was so different from our own.

Via Weblog V2.

Posted by Amy as Etiquette, History at 4:16 AM EST

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If you’re a fan of volcanoes, then How Volcanoes Work is the site for you.

This site has a significant amount of information on volcanoes, from those that are currently active to historical ones. Here are a couple of the facts I learned:

• “There are on average about ten volcanoes erupting on earth on any given day. “
• “Since 1800, there have been 19 eruptions on earth in which a thousand or more people have died”

There’s information about volcanoes on the moon and other planets, and there even a crossword featuring nothing but terms from volcanoes (with clues such as “finest pyroclast” or “2.54 cm, or Highland loch).”

There’s also an extensive list of links.

Definitely check this site out!

Via Ursi’s Blog.

Posted by Amy as Science & Nature at 10:52 AM EST

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Laura Goodwin is a Star Trek fan, and she’s tired of the allegations that the women on the original Star Trek were only there for window dressing.

So she’s created a site called The Women of Star Trek where she has write-ups about each of the women who appeared in the original series, including minor characters.

On these pages she makes her case that the women are not just bimbos. She argues that they may not all be heroines, but neither are they the stereotypical weak, helpless, foolish women that was so often the fate of women characters on television shows of the time.

Via Reality Carnival.

Posted by Amy as Television & Movies at 10:42 AM EST

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A while back Rolling Stone magazine apparently put together a special collectors issue called the The RS 500 Greatest Songs Of All Time.

Somehow I missed that, but luckily for me it’s online.

Like all lists, there are some choices here that are surprising. For example, two of the top 15 songs I’d never heard of (“What’d I Say” by Ray Charles and “A Change is Gonna Come” by Sam Cooke). Also, I just don’t think that “Tutti-Frutti” belongs on a “best of” list.

Still, it’s a fun browse and a good review of many of the highlights of rock/pop music.

Posted by Amy as Music at 5:25 AM EST

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The Library of Congress has an interesting exhibition: Fifty Years of Coca-Cola Television Advertisements.

Do you remember the commercial featuring “I’d Like To Buy The World a Coke”? Or the polar bear commercials? They’re here, along with many others.

Via Ancarett’s Abode.

Posted by Amy as Popular Culture at 2:22 AM EST

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