March 13, 2016
Hilary Putnam (1926-2016)
Hilary Putnam, one of the most important analytic philosophers of the last hundred years, died today from mesothelioma. [more inside]
"When You're Accustomed to Privilege, Equality Feels Like Oppression"
A guy walks into another guy, and examines privilege ... and the rage when it is denied. All this anger we see from people screaming “All Lives Matter” in response to black protesters at rallies… All this anger we see from people insisting that THEIR “religious freedom” is being infringed because a gay couple wants to get married… All these people angry about immigrants, angry about Muslims, angry about “Happy Holidays,” angry about not being able to say bigoted things without being called a bigot… [more inside]
"Who's Out There?"
Orson Welles, sitting in a dark library and smoking a cigar, narrates the 1975 28-minute long NASA documentary "Who's Out There" on the subjects of Mars, and the possibility of extraterrestrial life and civilizations. Also featuring Carl Sagan.
Party like it's Strasbourg 1518
Medieval Music - 'Hardcore' Party Mix -- "The most rhythmic, upbeat, party medieval music out there, put together in a mix." If you need something to cool down after that 40 minute set, YouTuber VacnaPaul also put together a two hour "daydream mix" of fantasy music, from the video game scores by Jeremy Soule.
Paramount Drops Release of "The Little Prince" One Week Before Release
“All grown-ups were once children... but only few of them remember it.” Variety reports that Paramount has decided to not release the film adaptation of the beautiful and classic "Le Petit Prince" in the U.S. despite glowing reviews and a very successful overseas release. The film features the voices of Jeff Bridges, Rachel McAdams, James Franco, Marion Cotillard and Benicio Del Toro .No reason was given for the decision to drop the U.S. release however the film’s director, Mark Osborne, noted that the film will be released later in 2016, with a new distributor: [more inside]
Chrome Music Lab
Google’s Chrome Music Lab [Chrome recommended, not sure if it is required] is a collection of Chrome “experiments,” all featuring Web technologies like WebGL that run inside the Google Chrome browser. Google said that it created the experiments as part of Music In Our Schools month, but the experience should appeal to adults and kids alike: It’s like a Web-based Exploratorium for sound.
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From Television To '10 Cloverfield Lane', A Composer Plays With Surprise - "When a film starts, 'you have anywhere from two to 10 seconds to get the audience's attention', score writer Bear McCreary says. He gained this and other advice from his mentor [Elmer Bernstein: 1,2 (previously)], whom he met by chance." (previously: 1,2)
From the guns of babes
Toddlers were responsible for more gun deaths than terrorists in the US in 2015. Gun rights advocate Jamie Gilt was recently shot in the back by her 4 year-old son, who used a loaded gun she'd left with him in the backseat of the car. These numbers don't seem to include deaths from older children, like the 11 year-old who shot and killed an 8 year-old last year, because she wouldn't let him play with her puppy.
Womanhood is a culture held together through our physical pain
After Neil deGrasse Tyson made a tweet claiming that any species with painful sex would have gone extinct, other scientists chimed in with examples of animals with particularly torturous sex. Most poignant, though, was this response by Abby Norman about dyspareunia, a medical condition involving painful vaginal penetration, as well as the pressures on women to satisfy their male partner over their own needs and health. (Warning: Abby Norman's piece has some possibly-graphic medical photography.)
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