Archive for the ‘Culture’ Category

May the Fourth: Star Wars Day

When I was a kid, I wanted to be a Jedi from Star Wars when I grew up.

I practiced my lightsaber moves with empty wrapping paper rolls.

I imagined using the Force to move my Legos.

For Christmas one year, we got the Star Wars trilogy on VHS, and it was one of the greatest gifts ever.

I studied it, memorizing lines and facial expressions, mimicking fight scenes and flight patterns of the Millennium Falcon.

After all these years of watching, re-watching, and watching again, I’m no closer to my Jedi dreams. Sure, I still imagine using the Force to change a stoplight to green.

Star Wars will always be a huge part of my life, as it is for so many other people.

It inspires me, and gives me hope.

To celebrate the day, I’ve released a brand new Star Wars themed song.

It’s called “Lightsaber.” It’s a 1950’s style ballad sung by Darth Vader to his lightsaber lamenting his decision to join the dark side.

Enjoy! And May the Fourth be with you.

Download “Lightsaber” here.

The Mixtape, The Great American Art Form

At some point in your life, you’ve probably either given or received a mixtape. Most likely you’ve given and received a mixtape. You probably know what it’s like to spend hours selecting songs, the perfect mix of new favorites, timeless classics, recently discovered, and familiar, know-every-word songs that go together just right and tell that certain someone exactly how they make you feel.

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Ready, Cassette, Go!

I’ll never forget my first cassette player. It was a giant red thing, with a belt clip and cheap headphones. I took it with me almost everywhere. That and a stack of tapes.

My Grandmother used to make me mixed tapes from my Dad’s old records. I’m sure she put lots of songs on there, but the ones that I remember most that were always on her mixed tapes were “Sweet Caroline,” “Smoke on the Water,” and “Strawberry Fields Forever.” My Dad was a huge Beatles fan, so there was always lots of their songs on them.

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The Jump Suits Are Neat Though

This. So good.

Music Composed For Cats

A new study in Applied Animal Behavior Science shows that cats prefer “species-specific” music. What they say that means is that, cats responded better to music which contained frequencies that cats use in their communication.

To us, it doesn’t really sound like music. But the cat’s seemed to respond well to it. You can listen to some samples here.

I’m not going to lie, I definitely rounded up my two cats to play them some new tunes when I read this article. The first song got their attention a little bit. They turned their heads in the general direction of the computer. But didn’t really let on as to whether they were enjoying it or not.

The second song seemed to really interest them. It had some bird chirping sounds. But, again, they just kind of shrugged, like, “Oh yeah, we’ve been listening to bird chirps since before it was cool to put them in ‘music.'”

By the third song, they’d totally lost interest. I guess I’ve got hipster cats.

B-b-b-Burns! A Simpson’s Musical

photo 3February went by really fast! And there was a lot going on, as usual. But one of the really cool things that I got to be a part of last month, was Theatre 502’s production of Mr. Burns. It was a post-apocalyptic play that ended in a Simpson’s musical. Yes, a Simpson’s musical.

Do you remember the Cape Fear episode of the Simpson’s? How well do you remember it? That’s exactly how Mr. Burns begins. Well, I mean, in a way. I guess technically it began with an apocalyptic event.

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