Wednesday, December 29, 2004
- What's for lunch today? Vietnamese instant rice porridge, 4 for a buck at my local Asian grocery. Tasty, soothing winter-type food that's a change of pace from the ol' ramen noodles. Not spicy, but salty with a hint of cilantro; comes in chicken, fish and miso flavors.
- Paper of the day: The Cortical Topography of Tonal Structures Underlying Western Music, by Petr Janata, et al. "Music is a Doughnut." Do you ever notice how different musical notes or chords evoke different "moods" or "feelings"? There may be a neurological reason - varying tones stimulate different areas of the brain.
- The results of the Ultravox Covers Competition are in at the Ultravox Forum...and the winners are (as judged by founding band member Warren Cann)...drumroll, please...the exact same two songs I liked!!! Warren named "Extreme Voice" by Mike Lyden a Best Original, and "Mystère X" by Mehdi Touzani w/Fleur Lairet the Best Remix. Cool.
- Chicagoist has a story on local connections to the Asian earthquake-tsunami disaster; grasping the enormity of the tragedy is difficult, as the roll of the dead increases by leaps and bounds daily. Some estimates say the total number of fatalities from the event itself may top 100,000, and many additional future deaths from disease and malnutrition.
- From IMDb: a feature film based of the story of the West Memphis Three is in the works; slated stars include Michael Pitt [Murder by Numbers, Hedwig and the Angry Inch], Doug Hutchison [who played liver-eating mutant "Eugene Victor Tooms" on The X-Files, and currently portrays Sebastian Hulce on Guiding Light], Michael Madsen [Kill Bill Vol. 1 and 2], Gina Gershon and Sophie B. Hawkins (who oddly enough is almost always credited as "herself" in TV and movie appearances).
- While I really enjoy Winamp's eclectic selection of free audio/video streams, recently I've discovered iTunes free radio, too - most of the selections aren't as outré or deliciously amateurish as Winamp's, but I dig the sheer number of ambient, IDM and jazz streams I can pipe at my desk. Oh - and iTunes has Jersey City's wild and wacky freeform WFMU on tap, as well! Now, as long as I can resist the draw of instant 99-cent song downloads, I'll be okay. I'm miserly when it comes to buying music these days.
- But not as miserly when it comes to DVD's. Doom-a-riffic! MillenniuM: The Complete Second Season hits store shelves next Tuesday, January 4th.
- This comes a tad late in the holiday season, but all of wintertime is a great season for latkes. Check out Rob Eshman's "In Search of the Perfect Latke," which delves into the roots and colorful present of this humble-but-delicious treat.
farkleberries Links du Jour 41
