What Comes Next_
Thoughts on AI, predictive text, technological metaphors, and the string of thought.
🎤Auto-Tune and the cyborg embrace
Embracing the artifice of Auto-Tune can lead to innovative musical expressions, making it a fascinating tool in modern production.
🎥D.W. Griffith and the Watson Twins
I rented _Intolerance_ only to find a lackluster public domain cut, but I turned it into a unique experience with my own soundtrack.
😷Who was that masked man?
A reflection on the social impact of masks during the swine flu outbreak.
🙏Merci
A beautiful exploration of faith and gratitude captured in tiles at a Catholic shrine in France.
🦅No one here but us fanatics
Quoting Annie Dillard.
🌱Real simple
Exploring Wendell Berry's thoughts on complexity and simplicity reveals the deeper connections we must navigate in life.
🎨Whitman sampler
A delightful exploration of Walt Whitman's influence on poetry and art, featuring a discussion with three diverse poets.
🌍Forty-seven kinds of greens
Reflecting on the insights of Fran Osseo-Asare about the complexity of African cuisines and the risks of ethnocentrism.
🎶We’re gonna copy like it’s 1897
Music piracy has a long history, as evidenced by this 111-year-old New York Times article discussing the early challenges of copyright in the music industry.
🏠Case Study Home, by Peter Bialobrzeski
Exploring the unique blend of traditional architecture and impermanent structures in the Baseco compound, showcasing the resilience of community spirit.
🌍Playing for Change - Global street musicians cover “Stand By Me”
An exploration of global musical collaborations that create vibrant, diverse soundscapes.
☠️To arrr is human
Exploring our fascination with pirates reveals deeper existential themes about boundaries and identity.
🌱Our riches have buried our treasures
In times of economic struggle, we may discover the true value of relationships and gratitude.
🎶The slightly universal language?
A study reveals the nuanced relationship between music and emotion across cultures, highlighting its effectiveness in conveying feelings with some limitations.
🎭Instead of adoring eyes, a sea of lenses
An exploration of how technology impacts our experiences at high school performances, emphasizing the contrast between the roles of different types of videographers.
🚫Blue law blues
From Kat Long's exploration of the unintended consequences of New York City's attempts to regulate vice and morality.
🎶Some sweet, sweet South Indian song
A celebration of the soulful Carnatic music in the Malayalam film "Bharatham," featuring the captivating song "Gopangane."
🌐Babel undone
The transformative journey of a biblical story through many languages.
🌳Tapumes, by Henrique Oliveira
Brazilian artist Henrique Oliveira transforms discarded wood into vibrant sculptures in his latest installation, _Tapumes_.
🌸Painting with Adam’s palette
From Vivian Guroian, reflections on the divine nature of gardening.
📖Comforts and delights
I’ll be weighing in there with my thoughts about interesting cultural artifacts.
🎸Monastic fantastic
A look at the Monks, a groundbreaking band that fused punk music with monastic aesthetics in the '60s.
📚Astrid Stampe’s Picture Book, by Hans Christian Andersen
A glimpse into the charming world of Hans Christian Andersen's picture books for the young and imaginative.
🌊Ponte Vecchio 5, by Leigh Wen
Taiwanese-American artist Leigh Wen captures the essence of water in her stunning mural-size paintings, like "Ponte Vecchio 5."
🧠The brain, the body, and the world
A philosopher challenges the notion that our consciousness is solely determined by our brains.
🎨Sharp VII, by Frank Gonzales
I appreciate the unique blend of traditional and digital influences in Frank Gonzales' bird artworks.
🎶That Old-Time Religion
Quoting Al Sharpton.
📡Computer bites newspaper, 1981 edition
A retrospective look at a technology report predicting the future of print news distribution from 1981, highlighting the accuracy of past forecasts.
🎬Fridge logic
An exploration of TV-writer jargon that highlights the intricacies of scriptwriting with a humorous touch.
🚫Invest now in youth prevention!
An exploration of societal attitudes toward youth, featuring unconventional methods to deter teenagers from certain spaces.
🎨My Astronomical Romance
A fascinating exploration of how the aesthetics of Hubble Space Telescope images reflect cultural choices, blending art and science to inspire a sense of wonder about the cosmos.
🌍Everything, everywhere
Quoting Susan Sontag.
🌼S C Road, Gandhinagar, Bangalore, India
A look at the heart of the Kannada Film Industry as fans and producers gather for a film premiere.
🗑️Sign your work!
Yvonne Froud, a shopkeeper in Joys Green, Gloucestershire, has taken a creative approach to combat littering among local children by marking snack wrappers with their names and encouraging them to take responsibility for their waste.
🌐Babel bubbles
An exploration of linguistic expressions for incomprehensibility across different cultures, inspired by a question about the varying equivalents of "it's Greek to me."
🐣Applied semiotics
This amusing reflection on "American-style Easter" highlights the quirky blend of commercialism and tradition.
🌐Poking Facebook
The ease of social networking creates challenges for self-reinvention.
🤠These are a few of my favorite German country-western song titles
A humorous exploration of German Country music and its quirky celebration of Americana culture.
🎸All tomorrow’s parties
Quoting ... somebody famous.
🎶Bring the noise
Exploring the cultural significance of sound preferences, Stanford music professor Jonathan Berger discusses how MP3s resonate with modern listeners, revealing a fascinating shift in musical appreciation.
🍽️Tastes great, but is it art?
Exploring the debate on whether cooking can be classified as an art form raises intriguing questions about aesthetic experiences and cultural significance.
🐎Fujimori Festival
Calligraphy on horseback showcases an impressive skill, as highlighted in the traditional Fujimori Festival held at the Fujinomori Shrine.
🌍Making things that we can touch
An exploration of the intersection between technology, human interaction, and the essence of physical experience.
🎶A dirge revival
A reflection on the cultural decline and potential revival of traditional funeral dirges in the Volta region of northern Ghana.
📺Less is more
A reflection on how limiting technology can boost creativity, with a nod to the simplicity of a no-button remote.
🧪The Plastics Inventor
A fascinating exploration of how perceptions of plastic have shifted over time, particularly through the lens of Disney's animation in the 1940s.
🎶Talent is overrated, practice what you love
An exploration of the role of practice and passion in developing talent, as illustrated by young musicians and insights from Anders Ericsson's research.
✈️Descending like a dove
A fascinating visual representation of air traffic over Atlanta resembles the Holy Spirit's descent, prompting reflections on both art and geography.
✝️It comes from sacrifice
This piece explores the profound connection between forgiveness and the strength of Western values.
🥈They also ran
Canadian photographer Sandy Nicholson documents the competitors who are forgotten about and under-celebrated — the second-place finishers.