When I was in elementary and middle school, I listened to mostly adult contemporary songs (i.e., “soft rock”), mostly because I didn’t know any better. So watching the infomercial for Time-Life’s Classic Soft Rock collection was particularly trippy, because they showed that these songs were sung by real people! With bad hair and funny clothes! …
Category Archives: Art and music
The (not-so-latest) hits
Every once in a while, I’ll hear a song that catches my attention, and then I can’t resist going online to do some research. Like when I first heard Beyoncé’s “Crazy in Love” and then finding out a few weeks later it was built around a sample of the 1971 hit “Are You My Woman?“ …
ZeroOne
Last week San Jose hosted a huge digital art conference and exhibition called ZeroOne, held in association with the International Symposium of Electronic Art. I went on Tuesday with Francis and Simona to check out an art piece created by their friends called Acclair, a provocative piece on the intersection of profiling, security, and advertising. …
BayCHI April meeting on search
Time to plow through my backlog of stuff to post. Last month I went to the BayCHI meeting on Beyond Search: Social and Personal Ways of Finding Information, which was about social search and recommender systems. I got a few things out of that meeting. How do you recommend to someone that they'll like obscure …
Dueling juggling videos
Once upon a time there lived a comedian named Chris Bliss. Chris liked to tell jokes, and he also liked to juggle. One day he juggled to the tune of a Beatles song, and audiences were thrilled. The act was taped and posted on the web, and soon e-mail started flying through cyberspace. "You gotta …
Hip-hop gaining mainstream respect, Part 2
“For those of you keeping score at home, I just want to make something very clear: Martin Scorsese, zero Oscars; Three 6 Mafia, one.” — Jon Stewart Three 6 Mafia Steals Oscar Song Award • Washington Post Still-Stunned Three 6 Mafia Say Jamie Foxx Gave Them ‘Pimp’ Confidence • MTV
Hip-hop gaining mainstream respect
Once again, it’s pledge time on PBS, when they bring out all their special shows, including reunions of soul and doo-wop singers from the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s. Which means that when I’m in my 60s, I’m looking forward to a pledge special of hip-hop and R&B. Picture it now: a PBS special featuring Ice …
Visiting the art museums of the Bay Area
A couple of weeks ago I went with Norman to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. It was the first time I’ve been to SFMOMA. I particularly enjoyed the exhibits on Architectural Abstractions, the 1906 Earthquake, and the self portraits of Chuck Close. Next up, I plan to see After the Ruins, 1906 and …
De Young Museum
Today was the second day of the grand opening celebration at the de Young Museum, and it was in full swing. Ben and I planned to meet at 10 AM, but when I got there, I found no parking within the park and settled for the new parking garage underneath the Music Concourse. It ended …
12 Girls Band
Thanks to the San Jose Mercury News, I am tuned into the Asian music scene. Or something like that. Case in point: the 12 Girls Band (女子十二樂坊), a band of classically-trained 13 women (originally 12) from China who use classical Chinese instruments to play contemporary Chinese and Western songs, including a cover of Clocks by …