• Utne Reader – Music From Your Brain

• Pearls Before Breakfast – Can one of the nation’s great musicians cut through the fog of a D.C. rush hour?  Let’s find out.

Curiously, YouTube has disabled external links/embeds (??? I’m using a plug-in to turn links from videos into views from my site), so here’s the direct link to the video for Single Ladies.

I hope that SNL posts the skit from this past weekend with Beyonce, Paul Rudd (as video director), and Justin Timberlake as a one of the dancers for the video…priceless.

After reading up a bit more on the video (supposedly shot in one take…not 100% verified though because there are a few jump cuts), apparently it took some its inspiration from Gwen Verdon Fosse’s (wife of choreographer Bob Fosse) “Mexican Breakfast”:

So, if you know me (and by know I mean more than just we met once and/or we’ve communicated more than once since we were in highschool), have a look for me on Facebook.  Better yet, rather than pseudo-conversationalism through blogs, tweets, and the like, just pick up the phone and call.  Cheers.

Design of the Video
The Video consists of 4 autonomous modules.

The color of the background, the animation of the ornaments/flowers and the animation of the mask, that uncover the pictures are basic elements. They are always different but the basic animation is always there. Depending on the weather situation there are additional animations of snow, rain or pollen and clouds. All the visualisations are artistically and graphically composited. There is no intention to simulate reality.

All modules exist of dynamically replaceable objects, whose properties, like scale or position, change permanently. All movements are programmed; there is no static animation.

Anyway, this absolutely blew my mind, for it (and this was done in 2005 folks!) represents how online experiences can be beautiful creations in and of themselves, and distanced from the limitations inherent in broadcast television commercial production.

Looks like they sourced the digital playback from a company called Permission TV.

Mr. Urbain, a 40-year-old chemist by training, is the chief sacristan of the cathedral. As such, he is also the chief bell ringer. His role often brings mention of Quasimodo, Victor Hugo’s misshapen “Hunchback of Notre-Dame,” who as the bell ringer was deafened by the volume.

Mr. Urbain rejects the comparison. “I am a little musical,” he said, with characteristic understatement, receiving a visitor amid the robes and golden liturgical vessels of the sacristy. His musicality has led to a minor revolution in the way that the bells have been rung since he became the chief sacristan three years ago.

Read the full article here.

• Pulling the wrong strings
• Leon Fleisher: Dealing with Dystonia – an chapter from Oliver Sacks’ fascinating Musicophilia
• Dystonia Overview
• Focal Dystonia in Musicians: From phenomenology to therapy

Those who know me know that I have studied piano with Dwight Peltzer, a pianist (turned computer science expert) who enjoyed a successful international career until the early 80′s when his left hand was crippled by dystonia.