Another weblog » Films

Libera

Micah John — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 00:34:39 +0000

Libera is amazing! Libera is an English not-for-profit boys’ choir directed by the genius Robert Prizeman, who writes a lot of their music and arranges almost all the rest. I found out about their music last summer through iTunes shopping cart recommendations, and I immediately loved their songs Far Away and Sanctus. […]

Self-control

Micah John — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 15:56:15 +0000

Speaking of email addiction, I think the topic can be extended just a bit. I enjoyed this clip from Joshua Harris speaking on the subject. […]

Flying penguins

Micah John — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 00:00:38 +0000

So easy with online

Micah John — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 22:58:44 +0000

Many people seem to use Mac or Linux because those operating systems are ‘more secure’ or ‘don’t get viruses’. And I have nothing against that—I want my next computer to be a Mac. But that’s not the problem. […]

‘The instrument you don’t touch’

Micah John — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 21:09:07 +0000

The theremin is an instrument that you don’t touch. Really.

It’s an electic instrument, invented in 1920 by the Russian inventor Léon Theremin (born Лев Сергеевич Термен Lev Sergeyevich Termen) when he was twenty-four. He was a scientist, working on proximity sensors, when he got the idea for a musical instrument. A vertical antenna affects pitch—the closer an object is to it, the higher the pitch. A looped antenna affects volume—the closer an object is to it, the softer the volume. The only time you touch it is when you don’t want it to make a sound. […]

Uilleann pipes

Micah John — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 23:32:17 +0000

The uilleann pipes are traditional bagpipes from Ireland. Most people know about the Great Highland Bagpipes, the instrument used in the Scottish military and now in marching bands (the Irish equivalent of these are the Great Irish Warpipes). But the uilleann pipes are quite unlike the GHBs. The latter were used outdoors, with the player standing up or marching, and for martial purposes; the uilleann pipes are a social instrument—they are softer and are played indoors (such as in public houses) with the player sitting down. One can actually hear talking and other instruments when the uilleann pipes are being played! […]

A little composer

Micah John — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 01:11:00 +0000

From The Rebelution blog I saw a video of Emily Bear, who is a little pianist and composer. She is around eight years old now, but at age seven she had already won the ASCAP Foundation Morton Gould Young Composer Award. […]

Twenty-one accents

Micah John — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 14:51:00 +0000

This is an interesting video I first saw yesterday of Seattle-born actress Amy Walker speaking in twenty-one different accents. Part of what her aim is is to replicate not only the consonant and vowel sounds of the people who live in the region, but also the tone and mannerisms. […]

Clarke and Dawe

Micah John — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 17:32:00 +0000

A while ago I was sent a video of Australian comedians John Clarke and Bryan Dawe. It was about an incident involving an oil spill at sea, and Clarke and Dawe created a parody around it: These two have done many other parodies, and among the ones I thought funny there are these:

Big toccata and fugue

Micah John — Wed, 20 May 2009 04:12:00 +0000

My grandfather in Belgium emailed this to me this week. I especially like the cadence before the fugue. […]

Emil i Lönneberga

Micah John — Wed, 13 May 2009 20:21:00 +0000

A long time ago, someone showed to us the books by the Swedish children’s author Astrid Lindgren about the little urchin Emil of Lönneberga. The stories are about an angelic-looking but prank-playing little boy. He plays pranks all the time, including once hoisting his little sister up a flagpole—although he claims no blame for them. “You don’t make up pranks, they just happen,” he says.

Every time Emil plays a prank, he locks himself in a tool shed to escape his father. He doesn’t mind this, though; he enjoys sitting there and whittling a wooden figure each time. Eventually he accumulates 369 little figures (although his mother buries one of them because it looks too much like the country minister). […]

Richard Dawkins a bit confused

Micah John — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 12:57:00 +0000

Note how he doesn’t answer the question. […]