Discrete Eureka!
This is PD Oxter's blog for Discrete Eureka!A weekly 2 hour frequency modulation of electromagnetic radiation
The good-kind radio
Tuesdays 8-10pm on WHUS-Storrs Connecticut 91.7 fm
Listen online at http://whus.org/listen.html
Monday, May 22, 2006
A Lesson Is Learned..
This comic is always good, but the latest is a fine example:
A Lesson Is Learned But The Damage Is Irreversible
The name of the comic is taken from a Dinosaur Comic, but I forget which one..
A Lesson Is Learned But The Damage Is Irreversible
The name of the comic is taken from a Dinosaur Comic, but I forget which one..
Lawns and Moral Character
This article is from Counterpunch (hit-and-miss) about lawns.
- - - - - - - -
Among the industry's ever-proliferating lines of new-and-improved products, the most visible -- and audible -- are those that replace muscle power with fossil-fuel power. The lawn mower has undergone what is probably the most astounding metamorphosis, the larger commercial versions now resembling a hybrid between lunar rover and La-Z-Boy recliner.
Despite tightened regulations, mowers are still serious polluters. On average, 2006 lawnmower engines contribute 93 times more smog-forming emissions per gallon of fuel than do this year's cars, according to the California Air Resources Board. For homeowners, a little electric mower may seem clean, but its cord likely leads back to a coal-fired power plant that belches global-warming carbon dioxide.
And other gas and electric contraptions, like leaf blowers and string trimmers, have joined mowers to make Saturday afternoon in suburbia sound more like Monday morning in a sawmill.
Meanwhile, the nearly universal creed for weed and pest control has become Let us spray. The Environmental Protection Agency says pesticide use in the home-and-garden sector, once in decline, has grown by more than 25 percent since 1995. Herbicide use almost doubled between 1982 and 2001, and continues to grow.
Of the 30 most commonly used lawn pesticides, 29 are toxic to birds, fish, amphibians and/or bees . Environmental groups have raised the biggest clamor over the herbicide 2,4-D, which a growing number of studies show to be a possible contributor to non-Hodgkins lymphoma and other cancers.
Whether or not they use pesticides, homeowners know the only way to get a lawn as deep-green and uniform as a pool table is to pour on fertilizer and water. Much of that fertilizer washes right past the shallow roots of lawn grasses and into storm drains.
One Minnesota study showed that "lush lawns are more of a water quality problem than poorer turf lawns," because of phosphorus runoff. Some states and communities have restricted fertilizer use, and many others are considering it.
In a 2003 look at the lawn industry, Paul Robbins and Julie Sharp of Ohio State University cited studies showing that to homeowners, "property values are clearly associated with high-input green-lawn maintenance and use," so many Americans have "associated moral character and social responsibility with the condition of the lawn."
How can a patch of ground that delivers fertilizer-laden pollution into streams, greenhouse gases and a terrible racket into the atmosphere, and pesticide residues into the neighbor's dog -- and probably the neighbor -- come to embody "moral character and social responsibility"?
Last summer, my family and I removed our front lawn and replaced it with an edible landscape" of fruit trees, berry bushes, herbs and other plants as part of a project by our local art center and Los Angeles artist/architect Fritz Haeg.
We've been asked plenty of questions about this move, the two most common being, "What do your neighbors say?" and "Has the city fined you?"
Our answers: "They like it" and "No."
But fears like these still keep Americans from ditching their lawns.
Stan Cox, a plant breeder and senior scientist at the Land Institute, Salina, Kan., wrote this for the institute's Prairie Writers Circle. He can be reached at: mailto:t.stan@cox.net
- - - - - - - -
Now that May is here, perhaps you're looking out at your lawn and thinking it needs mowing. Instead, you might want to think about whether you need that lawn at all.
The problem isn't grass. Humans first lived on the grasslands of Africa, and until not so long ago, grasslands covered far greater swaths of North America than they do now.
But landscapes like those bear little resemblance to the classic American lawn -- an industrial, shocking-green carpet whose very survival depends on our polluting the environment and disturbing the peace.
Other kinds of home landscapes can grow pollution-free. A natural-yard movement is showing that combinations of rugged plants, including grasses, can be far more interesting than a standard lawn while requiring little mowing, no spraying or fertilizing, and even no irrigation.
By contrast, the "perfect lawn is a monotony of color and texture, yields no useful harvest, and may rarely even be trod upon. But for growing the lawn-care industry a crop of hard cash, the synthetic grasslands of suburbia are fertile ground indeed. To replace all of that high-maintenance turf with something more resilient -- to stow all that equipment and dispose of all those chemicals -- would cause a $35 billion industry to wither.Among the industry's ever-proliferating lines of new-and-improved products, the most visible -- and audible -- are those that replace muscle power with fossil-fuel power. The lawn mower has undergone what is probably the most astounding metamorphosis, the larger commercial versions now resembling a hybrid between lunar rover and La-Z-Boy recliner.
Despite tightened regulations, mowers are still serious polluters. On average, 2006 lawnmower engines contribute 93 times more smog-forming emissions per gallon of fuel than do this year's cars, according to the California Air Resources Board. For homeowners, a little electric mower may seem clean, but its cord likely leads back to a coal-fired power plant that belches global-warming carbon dioxide.
And other gas and electric contraptions, like leaf blowers and string trimmers, have joined mowers to make Saturday afternoon in suburbia sound more like Monday morning in a sawmill.
Meanwhile, the nearly universal creed for weed and pest control has become Let us spray. The Environmental Protection Agency says pesticide use in the home-and-garden sector, once in decline, has grown by more than 25 percent since 1995. Herbicide use almost doubled between 1982 and 2001, and continues to grow.
Of the 30 most commonly used lawn pesticides, 29 are toxic to birds, fish, amphibians and/or bees . Environmental groups have raised the biggest clamor over the herbicide 2,4-D, which a growing number of studies show to be a possible contributor to non-Hodgkins lymphoma and other cancers.
Whether or not they use pesticides, homeowners know the only way to get a lawn as deep-green and uniform as a pool table is to pour on fertilizer and water. Much of that fertilizer washes right past the shallow roots of lawn grasses and into storm drains.
One Minnesota study showed that "lush lawns are more of a water quality problem than poorer turf lawns," because of phosphorus runoff. Some states and communities have restricted fertilizer use, and many others are considering it.
In a 2003 look at the lawn industry, Paul Robbins and Julie Sharp of Ohio State University cited studies showing that to homeowners, "property values are clearly associated with high-input green-lawn maintenance and use," so many Americans have "associated moral character and social responsibility with the condition of the lawn."
How can a patch of ground that delivers fertilizer-laden pollution into streams, greenhouse gases and a terrible racket into the atmosphere, and pesticide residues into the neighbor's dog -- and probably the neighbor -- come to embody "moral character and social responsibility"?
Last summer, my family and I removed our front lawn and replaced it with an edible landscape" of fruit trees, berry bushes, herbs and other plants as part of a project by our local art center and Los Angeles artist/architect Fritz Haeg.
We've been asked plenty of questions about this move, the two most common being, "What do your neighbors say?" and "Has the city fined you?"
Our answers: "They like it" and "No."
But fears like these still keep Americans from ditching their lawns.
Stan Cox, a plant breeder and senior scientist at the Land Institute, Salina, Kan., wrote this for the institute's Prairie Writers Circle. He can be reached at: mailto:t.stan@cox.net
Friday, May 19, 2006
31th Show Playlist - May 19 2006
Lifeline - Keith Jarrett Trio - Changeless - ECM
African Skies - Michael Brecker - Tales from the Hudson - Grp Records
502 Blues (Drinkin' and Drivin') - Wayne Shorter - Adam's Apple - Blue Note
Sonic Traveler - DJ Krush - Zen - Red Ink
Freezer Burn/I Wanna Be Your Dog - Sonic Youth - Confusion is Sex/Kill Yr. Idols - Geffen
Starfield Road - Sonic Youth - Experimental Jet Set & No Trash - Geffen
Screaming Skull - Sonic Youth - Experimental Jet Set & No Trash - Geffen
Gharaviss Perrdoh - Ruins - Mandala 2000: Live at the Kichijoji Mandala II - Tzadik
Breed - Nirvana - Live in Palaghiaccio Rome
Come in Alone - My Bloody Valentine - Loveless - Sire
Herd Killing - Future Sound of London - Dead Cities - Astralwerks
Churn Maiden - Plaid - Rest Proof Clockwork - Nothing Records
Pimo Pomo - Plaid - Rest Proof Clockwork - Nothing Records
Rosie Won't You Please Come Home - The Kinks - Face to Face - Sanctuary UK
Rainy Day in June - The Kinks - Face to Face - Sanctuary UK
Good - Morphine - Good - Rykodisc
Highway 61 Revisited - Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited - Sony
Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues - Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited - Sony
Sara - Bob Dylan - Live 1975 - Columbia
Red Shift - Lois V Verk (Bang on a Can) - Classics - Cantaloupe
Misty Hymen - Claudia Quintet - I, Claudia - Cuneiform
Out There - Eric Dolphy - Out There - Prestige
Eclipse - Eric Dolphy - Out There - Prestige
Eamonn Andrews/All White - Soft Machine - BBC Radio 1967-1971 - Hux
African Skies - Michael Brecker - Tales from the Hudson - Grp Records
502 Blues (Drinkin' and Drivin') - Wayne Shorter - Adam's Apple - Blue Note
Sonic Traveler - DJ Krush - Zen - Red Ink
Freezer Burn/I Wanna Be Your Dog - Sonic Youth - Confusion is Sex/Kill Yr. Idols - Geffen
Starfield Road - Sonic Youth - Experimental Jet Set & No Trash - Geffen
Screaming Skull - Sonic Youth - Experimental Jet Set & No Trash - Geffen
Gharaviss Perrdoh - Ruins - Mandala 2000: Live at the Kichijoji Mandala II - Tzadik
Breed - Nirvana - Live in Palaghiaccio Rome
Come in Alone - My Bloody Valentine - Loveless - Sire
Herd Killing - Future Sound of London - Dead Cities - Astralwerks
Churn Maiden - Plaid - Rest Proof Clockwork - Nothing Records
Pimo Pomo - Plaid - Rest Proof Clockwork - Nothing Records
Rosie Won't You Please Come Home - The Kinks - Face to Face - Sanctuary UK
Rainy Day in June - The Kinks - Face to Face - Sanctuary UK
Good - Morphine - Good - Rykodisc
Highway 61 Revisited - Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited - Sony
Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues - Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited - Sony
Sara - Bob Dylan - Live 1975 - Columbia
Red Shift - Lois V Verk (Bang on a Can) - Classics - Cantaloupe
Misty Hymen - Claudia Quintet - I, Claudia - Cuneiform
Out There - Eric Dolphy - Out There - Prestige
Eclipse - Eric Dolphy - Out There - Prestige
Eamonn Andrews/All White - Soft Machine - BBC Radio 1967-1971 - Hux
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
New Summer Time: Fridays 8-10pm
Discrete Eureka! will now be from 8-10pm every Friday on WHUS 91.7
Remember to listen online at http://whus.org
Remember to listen online at http://whus.org
Monday, May 15, 2006
Bad News, Good News, Bad News
BN: Radiohead concert dates in North America sold out like hotcakes, and they weren't even that affordable.
GN: Thom Yorke is releasing an album by himself called The Eraser.
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/news/06-05/12.shtml
BN: The new Radiohead album was long predicted to come out this spring or summer, but will not be finished until the band finishes their current tour. That is to say, it will not be out until next year.
GN: Thom Yorke is releasing an album by himself called The Eraser.
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/news/06-05/12.shtml
BN: The new Radiohead album was long predicted to come out this spring or summer, but will not be finished until the band finishes their current tour. That is to say, it will not be out until next year.
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
30th Show Playlist - May 10 2006
When the Lights Go Out - The Black Keys - Rubber Factory - Fat Possum
Big Legged Woman - Freddie King - Live at the Electric Ballroom 1974 - Black Top
Sweet Home Chicago - Freddie King - Live at the Electric Ballroom 1974 - Black Top
Cocaine - Eric Clapton - Just One Night - RSO Records
10 A.M. Automatic - The Black Keys - Rubber Factory - Fat Possum
All Hands Against His Own - The Black Keys - Rubber Factory - Fat Possum
I Might Be Wrong - Radiohead - Amnesiac - Capitol
Love Rhymes With Hideous Car Wreck - Blood Brothers - Crimes - V2 Records
Yes Sir No Sir - The Kinks - Arthur - Reprise
Cinnamon Girl - Neil Young - Everybody Knows This is Nowhere - Reprise
Everybody Knows This is Nowhere - Neil Young - Everybody Knows This is Nowhere - Reprise
Saturday - Built to Spill - You in Reverse - Warner Brothers
Goin' Against Your Mind - Built to Spill - You in Reverse - Warner Brothers
Cure for Pain - Morphine - Cure for Pain - Rykodisc
Like Swimming - Morphine - Like Swimming - Dreamworks
Herd Killing - Future Sound of London - Dead Cities - Astralwerks
Kissing the Lipless - The Shins - Chutes Too Narrow - Sub Pop
I'm So Glad - Skip James - She Lyin' - Genes
The Desperate Man - The Black Keys - Rubber Factory - Fat Possum
Girl Is On My Mind - The Black Keys - Rubber Factory - Fat Possum
The Lengths - The Black Keys - Rubber Factory - Fat Possum
Grown So Ugly - The Black Keys - Rubber Factory - Fat Possum
Stack Shot Billy - The Black Keys - Rubber Factory - Fat Possum
Rollin' and Tumblin' - Elmore James - Shake Your Moneymaker - Buddha Records
Held My Baby Last Night - Elmore James - Shake Your Moneymaker - Buddha Records
I'm Worried - Elmore James - Shake Your Moneymaker - Buddha Records
Done Somebody Wrong - Elmore James - Shake Your Moneymaker - Buddha Records
Fine Little Mama - Elmore James - Shake Your Moneymaker - Buddha Records
Big Legged Woman - Freddie King - Live at the Electric Ballroom 1974 - Black Top
Sweet Home Chicago - Freddie King - Live at the Electric Ballroom 1974 - Black Top
Cocaine - Eric Clapton - Just One Night - RSO Records
10 A.M. Automatic - The Black Keys - Rubber Factory - Fat Possum
All Hands Against His Own - The Black Keys - Rubber Factory - Fat Possum
I Might Be Wrong - Radiohead - Amnesiac - Capitol
Love Rhymes With Hideous Car Wreck - Blood Brothers - Crimes - V2 Records
Yes Sir No Sir - The Kinks - Arthur - Reprise
Cinnamon Girl - Neil Young - Everybody Knows This is Nowhere - Reprise
Everybody Knows This is Nowhere - Neil Young - Everybody Knows This is Nowhere - Reprise
Saturday - Built to Spill - You in Reverse - Warner Brothers
Goin' Against Your Mind - Built to Spill - You in Reverse - Warner Brothers
Cure for Pain - Morphine - Cure for Pain - Rykodisc
Like Swimming - Morphine - Like Swimming - Dreamworks
Herd Killing - Future Sound of London - Dead Cities - Astralwerks
Kissing the Lipless - The Shins - Chutes Too Narrow - Sub Pop
I'm So Glad - Skip James - She Lyin' - Genes
The Desperate Man - The Black Keys - Rubber Factory - Fat Possum
Girl Is On My Mind - The Black Keys - Rubber Factory - Fat Possum
The Lengths - The Black Keys - Rubber Factory - Fat Possum
Grown So Ugly - The Black Keys - Rubber Factory - Fat Possum
Stack Shot Billy - The Black Keys - Rubber Factory - Fat Possum
Rollin' and Tumblin' - Elmore James - Shake Your Moneymaker - Buddha Records
Held My Baby Last Night - Elmore James - Shake Your Moneymaker - Buddha Records
I'm Worried - Elmore James - Shake Your Moneymaker - Buddha Records
Done Somebody Wrong - Elmore James - Shake Your Moneymaker - Buddha Records
Fine Little Mama - Elmore James - Shake Your Moneymaker - Buddha Records
Thursday, May 04, 2006
Free Sheet Music
This site offers free sheet music in PDF format, with a good list of composers to choose from.
Because of bandwidth, you can only download 2 files a day, which is still pretty good.
Recommended is the entire catalog on CD for 20$, which is a good deal.
And if you know how to make PDF files, you can submit sheet music of your own.
Alas, everything should be public domain..
Sheet Music Archive
Because of bandwidth, you can only download 2 files a day, which is still pretty good.
Recommended is the entire catalog on CD for 20$, which is a good deal.
And if you know how to make PDF files, you can submit sheet music of your own.
Alas, everything should be public domain..
Sheet Music Archive
29th Show Playlist - May 3rd 2006
Significant Ordering Was Lost Due To Electronic Failure.
The Following Songs Were Definitely Played, But Probably Not In This Order.
I Also May Be Missing A Few.
Lizard Point - Brian Eno - Ambient 4: On Land - Astralwerks
Letter B - John Adams - In the White Silence - New World Records
Section XIII - Steve Reich - Music for 18 Musicians - RCA
Section IX - Steve Reich - Music for 18 Musicians - RCA
Oraison - Olivier Messiaen - Ohm: Early Gurus of Electronic Music
Spiegel im Spiegel - Arvo Part - Alina
Numbers - Lusine - Iron City - Select-O-Hits, Inc.
Tsmindao Gherto - Evan Ziporyn (Bang on a Can) - Classics - Cantaloupe
Tal Coat - Brian Eno - Ambient 4: On Land - Astralwerks
Shadows - Brian Eno - Ambient 4: On Land - Astralwerks
Silver Surfer - Elliptical Ferns - Reminiscent of the Future
I Spring: The Sun Warms Everything - Carl Orff - Carmina Burana
Andante from Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 - J.S. Bach
Adagio from Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 - J.S. Bach
Air on a G String - J.S. Bach (Wendy Carlos) - Switched-On Bach - East Side Digital
Kord - Claudia Quintet - Semi-Formal - Cuneiform
Kontakte - Karlheinz Stockhausen - Ohm: The Early Gurus of Electronic Music
Gymnopedies 1, 2, 3 - Erik Satie (Varsano and Entremont) - Piano Works
Splask - Squarepusher - Budakhan Mindphone - Nothing Records
Blind - Lusine - Iron City - Select-O-Hits, Inc.
Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring - J.S. Bach (E. Power Biggs)
The Following Songs Were Definitely Played, But Probably Not In This Order.
I Also May Be Missing A Few.
Lizard Point - Brian Eno - Ambient 4: On Land - Astralwerks
Letter B - John Adams - In the White Silence - New World Records
Section XIII - Steve Reich - Music for 18 Musicians - RCA
Section IX - Steve Reich - Music for 18 Musicians - RCA
Oraison - Olivier Messiaen - Ohm: Early Gurus of Electronic Music
Spiegel im Spiegel - Arvo Part - Alina
Numbers - Lusine - Iron City - Select-O-Hits, Inc.
Tsmindao Gherto - Evan Ziporyn (Bang on a Can) - Classics - Cantaloupe
Tal Coat - Brian Eno - Ambient 4: On Land - Astralwerks
Shadows - Brian Eno - Ambient 4: On Land - Astralwerks
Silver Surfer - Elliptical Ferns - Reminiscent of the Future
I Spring: The Sun Warms Everything - Carl Orff - Carmina Burana
Andante from Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 - J.S. Bach
Adagio from Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 - J.S. Bach
Air on a G String - J.S. Bach (Wendy Carlos) - Switched-On Bach - East Side Digital
Kord - Claudia Quintet - Semi-Formal - Cuneiform
Kontakte - Karlheinz Stockhausen - Ohm: The Early Gurus of Electronic Music
Gymnopedies 1, 2, 3 - Erik Satie (Varsano and Entremont) - Piano Works
Splask - Squarepusher - Budakhan Mindphone - Nothing Records
Blind - Lusine - Iron City - Select-O-Hits, Inc.
Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring - J.S. Bach (E. Power Biggs)
Monday, May 01, 2006
Excellent Site on J.S. Bach
Timothy A. Smith has created an amazing site on Bach, full of analyses on canons, fugues, the Well-Tempered Clavier, Goldberg variations, and more.
Here is a snippet from information on the canons of the Goldberg variations:
- - - - - -
Canon 1: canone all' Unisuono
Structurally, the Goldberg Variations demonstrate the Baroque ideal of balance and internal coherence. Every third variation is a canon, of which this is the first. Canone all' Unisuono means "canon at the unison," implying that the canon leader and follower begin on the same pitch. This title suggests that subsequent canons might use other intervals as indeed they do.
- - - - - -
A lot of pages on the site feature Flash and Shockwave work that play musical bits from pieces to help illustrate certain points. Highly informative. Here is the main site on Bach.
Here is a snippet from information on the canons of the Goldberg variations:
- - - - - -
Canon 1: canone all' Unisuono
Structurally, the Goldberg Variations demonstrate the Baroque ideal of balance and internal coherence. Every third variation is a canon, of which this is the first. Canone all' Unisuono means "canon at the unison," implying that the canon leader and follower begin on the same pitch. This title suggests that subsequent canons might use other intervals as indeed they do.
 |
- - - - - -
A lot of pages on the site feature Flash and Shockwave work that play musical bits from pieces to help illustrate certain points. Highly informative. Here is the main site on Bach.
Stephen Colbert vs Bush
At this traditional, play-mocking dinner in D.C., Stephen Colbert (of the Colbert Report on Comedy Central) gave a speech that wasn't taken too kindly by the Bushes. Obviously the people behind the dinner are completely out of touch. Colbert is pretty right on, and he mocks Bush all the time. Supposedly Bush nodded at Colbert afterwards, in that grin-and-bear-it manner he must be used to by now.
One of the best quotes:
- - - - - -
But, listen, let's review the rules. Here's how it works. The president makes decisions, he’s the decider. The press secretary announces those decisions, and you people of the press type those decisions down. Make, announce, type. Put them through a spell check and go home. Get to know your family again. Make love to your wife. Write that novel you got kicking around in your head. You know, the one about the intrepid Washington reporter with the courage to stand up to the administration. You know, fiction.
Because really, what incentive do these people have to answer your questions, after all? I mean, nothing satisfies you. Everybody asks for personnel changes. So the white house has personnel changes. Then you write they're just rearranging the deck chairs on the titanic. First of all, that is a terrible metaphor. This ship's not sinking. This administration is soaring. If anything, they are rearranging the deck chairs on The Hindenburg...
- - - - - -
Here is a transcript, allbeit poorly done.
You can watch the first part here
Or download via torrent, or something.
One of the best quotes:
- - - - - -
But, listen, let's review the rules. Here's how it works. The president makes decisions, he’s the decider. The press secretary announces those decisions, and you people of the press type those decisions down. Make, announce, type. Put them through a spell check and go home. Get to know your family again. Make love to your wife. Write that novel you got kicking around in your head. You know, the one about the intrepid Washington reporter with the courage to stand up to the administration. You know, fiction.
Because really, what incentive do these people have to answer your questions, after all? I mean, nothing satisfies you. Everybody asks for personnel changes. So the white house has personnel changes. Then you write they're just rearranging the deck chairs on the titanic. First of all, that is a terrible metaphor. This ship's not sinking. This administration is soaring. If anything, they are rearranging the deck chairs on The Hindenburg...
- - - - - -
Here is a transcript, allbeit poorly done.
You can watch the first part here
Or download via torrent, or something.
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