Alice Walker
![Japan is bracing itself for bad times after scores of the usually rare, giant Oarfish have washed ashore and been caught in coastal fisherman’s nets.
The sightings started after the ‘quake in Chile and the 6.4 magnitude earthquake in Taiwan. The rash of tectonic shifting around the Pacific “Ring of Fire” is causing concern that Japan is next, and these gigantor fish aren’t helping.
The Oarfish is traditionally known as a messenger fish from the sea gods, and it’s tidings are usually grim. The fish can grow up to five metres in length and usually found at depths of 1, 000 ft. Long and slender with a dorsal fin that runs the length of it’s body, the fish resembles a kind of steam-rolled snake.
According to folklore, the fish will come ashore and beach itself to warn of an impending earthquake and there are scientific theories that bottom-dwelling fish may very well be susceptible to movements in seismic fault lines and act in uncharacteristic ways in advance of an earthquake – but experts here are placing more faith in their constant high-tech monitoring of the tectonic plates beneath the surface. [via.]
Dude, that thing is HUGE!](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kz3vonHqFX1qzpvhao1_500.jpg)
Japan is bracing itself for bad times after scores of the usually rare, giant Oarfish have washed ashore and been caught in coastal fisherman’s nets.
The sightings started after the ‘quake in Chile and the 6.4 magnitude earthquake in Taiwan. The rash of tectonic shifting around the Pacific “Ring of Fire” is causing concern that Japan is next, and these gigantor fish aren’t helping.
The Oarfish is traditionally known as a messenger fish from the sea gods, and it’s tidings are usually grim. The fish can grow up to five metres in length and usually found at depths of 1, 000 ft. Long and slender with a dorsal fin that runs the length of it’s body, the fish resembles a kind of steam-rolled snake.
According to folklore, the fish will come ashore and beach itself to warn of an impending earthquake and there are scientific theories that bottom-dwelling fish may very well be susceptible to movements in seismic fault lines and act in uncharacteristic ways in advance of an earthquake – but experts here are placing more faith in their constant high-tech monitoring of the tectonic plates beneath the surface. [via.]
Dude, that thing is HUGE!
![“Coink Piggy Bank” by Scott Henderson, allows the user to quickly empty their pockets of change and deposit them in one shot through the easy-fill funnel. Buy it here. [via.]
This is super simple, smart and most importantly, easy. I have a feeling I’d save a lot more of my change if I had this.](http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kz3lplDd9q1qzpvhao1_500.jpg)
“Coink Piggy Bank” by Scott Henderson, allows the user to quickly empty their pockets of change and deposit them in one shot through the easy-fill funnel. Buy it here. [via.]
This is super simple, smart and most importantly, easy. I have a feeling I’d save a lot more of my change if I had this.
Artificial Intelligence Brings Musicians Back From the Dead
Want to know what a jam session between Jack White and Stevie Ray Vaughan might have sounded like, or how Billie Holliday would interpret the latest dreck from Avril Lavigne? Advances in artificial intelligence are resurrecting musical legends of the past, tapping into old recordings to establish a musician’s style and personality, then applying those attributes to newer recordings of old songs, or even to songs the musician never played before.
Every generation has its musical heyday. Then, just as one era is about to give way to the next, the older generation declares that music is dead, claiming the greats of one small epoch in musical history will never be topped. This is why Kurt Cobain was never as good as Jimmy Page who couldn’t touch Lennon and McCartney who could never compare to Buddy Holly who owed a creative debt to Elvis who, as we all know, referred to Fats Domino as the real King of Rock and Roll. And so on.
New software, developed by North Carolina-based Zenph Sound Innovations, is something like a Pandora for live musical style; sophisticated software analyzes musicians based on how they sound on old, archaic recordings. The software can then reconstruct songs as they would have sounded if those musicians had recorded in a modern studio and on superior media.
But it doesn’t end there. Zenph is working on a means to not only recreate old performances, but to dissect a style to the point that it can manifest an artist’s personal touch into pieces he or she never performed in life. Meaning the software could potentially lift Jimmy Page out of Black Dog and replace him with, say, Jimi Hendrix, just so see how it sounds. Zenph has already created three “ghost” pianos that play the likes of Rachmaninoff to the exact stylistic specifications — supposedly — of Sergei himself. The company plans to explore all kinds of markets with the technology, like licensing clearer versions of old recordings to films and creating software that will let you Clapton-ize your own guitar riffs. It’s also working up virtual versions of more instruments, meaning it’s possible that in the future, the company could put together phantom all-star bands melding musicians across decades, or recreate the Beatles with virtual stand-ins for John and George. Wired’s Eliot van Buskirk points out that Zenph seems to be opening up a can of copyright worms that may be more trouble than its worth — the estate of Kurt Cobain, for instance, probably wouldn’t be thrilled to find out his musical style has been ripped by a piece of AI software and is currently touring the Midwest without permission. And previous efforts at creating music via AI haven’t necessarily received a warm welcome from some audiences either, with critics claiming that computers can’t put the heart into creative works like humans can, and that comes through in the sound. Then there’s the issue of nostalgia; a musician’s sound reflects his or her time and place in history, so do we really want to know what Fats Domino would’ve sounded like had he recorded in a modern studio, with some actual bass and a sound more indicative of his natural talent? Actually, on second thought, that sounds pretty amazing. [via.]
Norm Magnusson’s “Decorating Nature” is an ongoing body of work aimed at drawing attention to the natural beauty of nature by painting over it or something. Archival prints of varying sizes available for purchase. E-mail the artist for more info.
via thedailywhat
Kin Hubbard
Song of the day: “Stylo” by Gorillaz
I feel like giving up on this blog…
::sigh::
Edit: Since I wrote this, a ton of people have contacted me asking me to please continue and expressing their love for the site. I had no idea there was such love for H&H! So, thank you! Oh, and thank you to ’Raphael Buenaventura’ especially. Your words I found to be extra touching. With all that love, there’s no way I can stop now.
William Ellery Channing
