November 21, 2006
March 06, 2005
Smithsonian Global Sound

As Boing Boing says, this is iTunes for worldmusic. Yes, I'll pay for these cuts! Smart.

Smithsonian Global Sound

Posted by Dave at 09:13 PM
November 25, 2004
Turmeric, Pygmies and Piracy

Yes, that's the title of a fascinating post following the course of a New Guinea field recording as it was ripped and adapted into Western "World Music" and commercials.

Ethan Zuckerman's Weblog : Ethan's Weblog - My blog is in Cambridge, but my heart's in Accra

Posted by Dave at 02:51 PM
July 29, 2004
Jazz Festival in San Cristobal

There are great players and nightlife in San Cristobal, so this makes sense. Hot music in the oldest colonial city in the hemisphere. That's right - founded in 1528.

mural.com --- Crean Festival de Jazz en Chiapas

Posted by Dave at 03:53 PM
June 08, 2004
iDrum for GarageBand

As a recovering drummer I may have to get this.

iDrum - The Drum Machine for Mac OS X

Posted by Dave at 01:54 PM
May 22, 2004
GarageBand Soundfonts

Latest Apple update to GarageBand apparently has an undocumented feature - you can use instruments in the Soundfonts format. Instructions and links to free sounds on the web can be found here:

MacJams.com - GarageBand 1.1 and SoundFont/DLS Support

Posted by Dave at 10:20 AM
May 17, 2004
Modernist Prefab

Modernist prefab dwellings. Just jumpstarted my brain. I needed that. Not sure I need another house. Thanks to Boing Boing.

fabprefab

Also from Boing Boing:

Eye-Contact Sensing Glasses and eyeBlog. Creepy.

Posted by Dave at 06:53 PM
December 12, 2003
September 21, 2003
Escher in Lego

That's right, Escher in Lego. Via Electrolite

Escher's "Relativity" in LEGO

Posted by Dave at 04:59 PM
June 23, 2003
Online recordings - Berkeley

A remarkable collection of online audio and video recordings. I found it while searching for Gary Snyder reading his poems.

Online Media: UC Berkeley Lectures and Events

Posted by Dave at 12:35 AM
October 30, 2002
October 11, 2002
Monk's Birthday

monk.jpegHappy Birthday: Thelonious Sphere Monk, 1917-1982.

Thanks to Patrick Nielsen Hayden

Posted by Dave at 02:13 PM
September 22, 2002
Maya Textile Museum

The NewsMexico.com site has an article about a new home for the Pellizzi collection of Maya textiles that our friend Chip Morris started assembling over 25 years ago.

Chiapas museum to display pre-Columbian Mayan textiles

It's great that the collection finally has a home, but I'll have to ask Chip for more of the story. I think there are factual and copy editing mistakes in this article. The weaving cooperative mentioned (which Chip helped organize) is called Sna Jolobil, house of the weaver, not San Jolobil. And the headline refers to pre-Columbian Mayan textiles. While some designs are that old, to my knowledge there are no surviving textiles from that period, although paintings, carvings and clay impressions do exist. Is that right, Chip?

UPDATE 9/23 Chip has added a comment:
There are surviving pre-columbian maya textiles but none in the Pellizzi Collection. The Museum project is stalled and the collection is now being housed in Funerales del Centro.

Posted by Dave at 10:05 AM
September 04, 2002
Nanotech news

I was a nut about this stuff a few years ago (just ask my oldest son, now a microbiologist) but it seems to be moving out of the gee-whiz stage into practical applications. Not yet the world-changing and possibly dangerous force that it may become, nanotechnology gets a lucid and still astonishing treatment by Paul Preuss in the Berkeley Lab Research Review Fall 2001.

Posted by Dave at 05:24 PM
August 07, 2002
Free software, free music

freepro.jpgWhat am I doing that I have so much time to write in this weblog? I'm laying over audio tracks to tape, last stage thank god in making the "deliverables" for my latest editing job. If I wasn't here 10 hours a day I might have time to play with this free ProTools audio editing software. Before TV, I was a rock and roller. Mid-TV I scored some shows in a home studio. Now there are millions of guys with studios in their closets. Great fun, but how do you make a living in the music business now?

For starters, here's the millionth link to Janis Ian's ideas on the subject.

Posted by Dave at 06:26 PM
July 24, 2002
Temple XIX Headband - Chip Morris

Chip Morris has analyzed the carving on the throne, found at Temple XIX in Palenque, with an eye to the weaving in the garments. Here is his graphic explanation. Click on the thumbnail to see a full-size image.

Chip will be posting more information about his analysis.

Posted by Dave at 04:48 PM