While lying with his owner’s lap, this French bulldog is having problems figuring out how to eat slippery penne pasta noodles. The struggle is real.
https://youtu.be/RIJ6N1nsNFY
The US military is funding robots that play jazz
The US military’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is funding a new project to develop musical robots that can improvise a solo when playing with human jazz musicians. A collaboration between new media researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and musicians at the University of Arizona, the goal of the MUSICA (Musical Improvising Collaborative Agent) project is to explore non-traditional “languages” for people and computers to interact. From Scientific American:
“There is definitely a desire for more natural kinds of communications with computational systems as they grow in their ability to be intelligent,” Ben Grosser, an assistant professor of new media at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, told Live Science. “A lot of us are familiar with various methods of interacting with computers, such as text-based and touch-based interfaces, but language-based interfaces such as Siri or Google Now are extremely limited in their capabilities….”
To develop a machine capable of playing improvisational jazz, the researchers will create a database of jazz solos from a variety of musicians and have computers analyze the recordings to figure out the various processes that come into play when a musician improvises. The researchers will then develop a performance system to analyze the components of human jazz performances, including the beat, pitch, harmony and rhythm. The system will also consider what it has learned about jazz solos to communicate and respond musically in real time….
“Let’s face it—trying to develop a system that can play jazz is a crazy idea,” Grosser said. “It’s not going to be Miles Davis. I think if we can make this thing play like a high schooler, we’ll really have done our job.”
Ultimately, Grosser hoped this research could shed light on the nature of the creative process. “By finding the limits of computational creativity, we can get a different understanding of human creativity, on our own creative processes,” Grosser said.
Roger Daltrey: The Who Wouldn’t Exist Without Skiffle
Roger Daltry, The Who singer speaking in a recent edition of MOJO ’60s explains that though they may have been worlds apart in terms of volume, the band owe their existence to the skiffle explosion.
“Every young person could make music – even people with no melody in them, no sense of pitch – could make some kind of noise with a washboard, a tea chest and a broomstick for a bass,” he explains of the original DIY genre in Volume 4 of our decade-spanning spin-off magazine.
“Music became very communal and every street would have a skiffle group. The original nucleus of The Who grew out of Percy Road in Shepherd’s Bush. We used to pretend we were Johnny Kidd And The Pirates. We were a substitute for other guys. That was our purpose. They couldn’t see the real deal but they’d come and see us doing it.”
While You’re Waiting For That New Radiohead…Here’s Thom Yorke Singing On New Song From Mark Pritchard
– Yesterday Mark Pritchard premiered on BBC Radio1, “Beautiful People”, the latest track from his upcoming album Under The Sun. Following the previously released “Sad Alron”, the hauntingly gorgeous song features a vocal collaboration from Thom Yorke, and demonstrates the producers ability for sonic storytelling.
Pritchard says “The original instrumental to Beautiful People is a personal song about loss, hopelessness and chaos, but ultimately the message is love and hope. Thom’s contribution to this collaboration captured perfectly what the piece is about. I will be forever grateful to have worked with such a immense talent.”
Pritchard will also be participating in this year’s RBMA NYC, showcasing the new album with an immersive audiovisual installation in collaboration with visual artist Jonathan Zawada.
Tracklist:
1.?
2. Give It Your Choir (feat. Bibio)
3. Infrared
4. Falling
5. Beautiful People (feat. Thom Yorke)
6. Where Do They Go, The Butterflies
7. Sad Alron
8. You Wash My Soul (feat. Linda Perhacs)
9. Cycles Of 9
10. Hi Red
11. Ems
12. The Blinds Cage (feat. Beans)
13. Dawn Of The North
14. Khufu
15. Rebel Angels
16. Under The Sun
If You Wanted To Wear Contact Lenses Back In 1948, You Wouldn’t Want To Wear Contact Lenses
Fashion and comfort aren’t in play here if you wanted to wear contact lenses back in 1948. This video shows several shots show the complete process of making the contact lenses. Australia’s only contact lens maker, Penrhyn Thomas, inserts an impression cup containing material for taking a cast of the eyeball over the woman’s eye (which has been anaesthetised). The substance sets (looks awful, when the woman moves her eyeball the whole cup moves too!) and the cup and cast are removed. Several shots of Penrhyn moulding the lens from the cast and the plastic lens being ground, checked and buffed.
He then fits it into the woman’s eye, using a buffer solution, and dabs the eye with a towel. He checks they are in the correct position. Yikes.
Backup Dancer Has A Seizure On Stage…So, Yeah, The Others Ignore Her
Yes, the show must go on, but really? The producers and back-up dancers should have immediately stopped this concert, as one of their own members has an epileptic seizure. So, what did they do? Carry on lip-syncing like nothing happened and nary a distraction among them.
Kevin Pollak as Liam Neeson, Jason Statham, Albert Brooks and Peter Falk will have you in stitches
Kevin Pollak was a guest on Unmasked with Ron Bennington to promote his new documentary Misery Loves Comedy. He also shared some of his amazing impressions including a one word impression of Liam Neeson, a six word two syllable Jason Statham impression, and his infamous Albert Brooks and Peter Falk impressions.
Bryan Cranston gives amazing advice to actors
At last year’s Academy new member reception, Bryan Cranston shared his advice to aspiring actors. Actually, it’s a pretty good rule for us all.
Heavy Metal Drummer Goes Nuts To “I’m A Little Teapot”
Port Dover, Ontario heavy metal drummer Joey Muha recently rocked out on his drum set while playing along to the classic children’s song, “I’m a Little Teapot.” Because he can, that’s why!