Will this work?

The World Changing blog has a scheme (Help us Hack the Publishing System) to raise the profile of their new book Worldchanging: A Users Guide for the 21st Century [by Alex Steffen, Al Gore (Foreword), Bruce Sterling (Introduction)], involving a mob purchase at Amazon at 11:11 (PST) on 1 November. I was havering about purchase myself, but this plot brings me to the brink. $22.50 to stick it to …erm… the publishing world? Probably worth it for the warm fuzzy feeling, and who knows? Maybe the blurb is right:

Worldchanging is poised to be the Whole Earth Catalog for this millennium. Written by leading new thinkers who believe that the means for building a better future lie all around us, Worldchanging is packed with the information, resources, reviews, and ideas that give readers the tools they need to make a difference…

on Tom Waits

Today’s Guardian/Observer has a fine piece on Tom, one of my favorite musicians, by Sean O’Hagan. Two inducements to read its entirety:

‘I didn’t just marry a beautiful woman,’ he says, ‘I married a record collection.’

‘It was like, “Am I genuinely eccentric? Or am I just wearing a funny hat?” All the big questions come up when you get sober. “What am I made of? What’s left when you drain the pool?”‘

YouTube music

If I was still teaching Cross-Cultural Studies in Music I’d do it quite differently, thanks to YouTube and other elements in the video revolution. Just take the example of Rajrupa Sen’s sarod (6:37 YouTube performance), and a second example (6:06) with even clearer view of technique. Or Ismail Tuncbilek’s saz and Husnu Senlendirici’s clarinet (6:34, with appreciative live audience), and a studio setting (5:51) for another view that concentrates more on the interaction among the players (and is pretty jazzy too). Or try Ram Narayan’s sarangi (5:15 –less than optimal video, but gives a clear view of a master at work). Or Michalis Tzouganakis’ laouto (2:15) or a less traditional example, Pali-Pali (5:05) …and/or this one, with dancers.
To see such performances makes such a difference in understanding and appreciation, and we can confidently expect more and more diversity of musical styles, and more experimentation. This cuatro example (1:55) is the tip of a potential iceberg of videos made by people practicing their instruments. I, for one, welcome our new musical overlords.

Trying TagLoops

In not much more than an hour I was able to put together the beginnings of a version of the Joe Wilner saga using TagLoops. I can think of lots of refinements to incorporate as I add more content, and some editing features I’d like to see in future versions of the utility, but these few minutes give a good idea of basic functionality, and lead me to all sorts of Grand Thoughts for other projects.

Try it out (probably takes a minute or two to load).