Via BrowBeat.◼
Tag Archives: music
You’re the top!
So, this has been in my running/fiddling with code/writing playlist for a while.
Naturally that’s got me thinking I should take a crack at the challenge proposed by Ask Me Another, and update those highly period-specific lyrics:
You’re the top!
You’re a Pixar feature.
You’re the top!
You’re a Whedon creature.
You’re a two-page endnote in a D.F. Wallace tome.
You’re a NASA rover,
A four-leaf clover,
You’re the microbiome.
You’re a dream,
You’re mid-cent’ry style,
You’re the gleam in Don Draper’s smile.
I’m the nominee for the G.O.P.—flip flop!
But if, baby, I’m the bottom, you’re the top!
Yeah, okay, that probably still needs some work. If you can do better, show me in the comments.◼
Nothing in Biology Makes Sense: Music, evolved?
Music. Photo by Andy Buscemi.Over at the collaborative science blog Nothing in Biology Makes Sense!, guest contributor James Gaines writes about the evolutionary context of music-making.
Music is one of the few social constructs that truly permeates human culture, and reasons for this have fascinated scientists and philosophers for centuries. Even Darwin himself wrote on the subject, speculating about whether and how natural selection could explain it. Today, there seem to be three major ideas behind why music evolved.
For a breakdown of those three evolutionary hypotheses, go read the whole thing.◼
Best. Flash mob. Ever.
I especially like the little girl who climbs up onto a lamp post to conduct.
Fun facts about this movement from Beethoven’s Ninth: the lyrics are based on an eighteenth-century German poem that appropriates religious language for Enlightenment ideals; and it’s the anthem of the European Union, which maybe explains why folks are singing along in the video?
Via Jen Graves at Slog.◼
Music for starting that eight-mile run you’re not all that excited about until you see the sun’s finally coming out and the trees are all leafy and actually this sidewalk is heading downhill
You’re welcome.◼
Cheers
Oh, hey, the guy who who did the Public Radio rap sings about other things, including important biological information that will come in handy if you have plans tonight. Or, at least, explain your headache tomorrow morning.
(Via pretty much the entire Internet. I do not personally celebrate the feast of St. Patrick, but this almost counts as a religious connection, right? So I will probably be having a beer or two, thank you.) ◼
“Andrew in Drag”
I’ve resisted the urge to post the video for “Andrew in Drag,” the headline song from the Magnetic Fields’ new album, mainly because it’s NSFW (butts! boobies!). But I’ve heard it several times now, including on the radio this morning, and it just gets better every time.
Also, it’s pretty ear-wormy. So now you, too, can listen to Stephen Merritt’s dolorous singing voice all day, inside your head. ◼
Getting into the spirit
There’s nothing like purchasing a grocery bag full of sugar and butter and dark rum and downloading a new Pink Martini holiday album to put me in that Saturnalian spirit. Happy holidays.
“There was a boy …”
The theme to “Mad Men” paired with lyrics from Nat King Cole’s “Nature Boy.” Totally awesome. (Via Paul and Storm.)
I have writing to do
And not for this venue. I will, however, take the time to note that the works of Leroy Anderson seem to be unusually good at maintaining my concentration while I work. Exempli gratia:
Please feel free to use the comments to tell me what a profoundly boring person I am.