SOUNDTRACK: LAURA BARRETT-“Deception Island Optimist Club” from Viva Piñata! (2008).
This is a musically simple song–it appears to be played entirely on, I gather, a thumb piano or kalimba.
The melody is complicated, however. And Barrett’s voice is beautifully naked. I especially like the way her voice doesn’t follow the musical melody exactly–she plays around with sounds and ideas a little bit.
I also just found out this neat little piece of information: Her first public performance was a cover of “Smells Like Nirvana” at a “Weird Al” Yankovic
kalimba
tribute concert. Okay, who even knew there were “Weird Al” tribute concerts?
I’m very much intrigued by this woman, and you can hear a whole bunch of her stuff at her CBC Radio 3 site.
Oh, and that Weird Al song? You can hear it (there’s no video) right here:
[READ: March 20, 2012] “Sea-Serpents and Scientists”
This was the second archived article that my company sent around for enjoyment.
I like any article about sea serpents, especially The Loch-Ness Monster. But I was really surprised at the attitude taken in this article. It actually seemed like it might be a joke, although upon further consideration, I believe it is entirely serious.
As the introductory line says, “The emergence of a fabulous monster in Loch Ness is greeted with debatable reserve by men of science.”
The first paragraph taught me something i did not know: The Loch Ness Monster’s name is Bobby! And while Wilson says he is not going to “offer a belated biography of Bobby, the sea serpent of Scotland, as he swims like a submarine in Loch Ness,” he is sure going to take scientists to task for not investigating him.
Wilson does not argue that Bobby exists, indeed he claims not to be an expert, “All my life I have abstained strictly from the alcoholic inducements which on these occasions are said to contribute to what around Loch Ness, is called ‘perfect visibility.'” Although I gather he does believe in him.
Rather, his point is that scientists have dropped the ball by not even looking into “by far the most interesting event in the modern annals of natural history.” (more…)
I Just Read About That... 