What if you had an idea that you believed could change the world? How would you convince people that your idea could become a reality? A Canadian inventor named Louis Michaud has spent decades building a machine—a tornado machine—that he thinks could solve the world’s energy problems. According to Michaud, his “Atmospheric Vortex Engine” may someday generate mile-high columns of warm air, heated by the sun or waste heat from power plants, which could turn turbines and produce power. Lots of power, he believes. All he has to do is prove it.
The Agency Group Promotes Rob Zifarelli To Senior Vice President
The Agency Group, the world’s leading live music booking agency, is proud to announce that Rob Zifarelli has recently been promoted to Senior Vice President.
Fostered in 1996 by Neil Warnock (Founder & Worldwide President), Ralph James (CEO, The Agency Group Canada), and Jack Ross (President, The Agency Group Canada), The Agency Group Canada office represents some of the most recognizable, influential and successful names in the entertainment industry across all music genres.
“After many successful years at The Agency Group, Rob has shown himself to be a man of integrity, professionalism and flair, always putting his artists first,” says Gavin O’Reilly, Group CEO. “I am delighted to recognize his ongoing and vital contribution to The Agency Group and look forward to working with him in further expanding Canada’s largest and most innovative live music agency.”
Ralph James says, “Zif is incredibly focused, with an astute eye for talent. He has developed an extraordinary roster of artists – and I think he’s just getting started! We welcome Zif to the role of Senior Vice President and look forward to his continued success.”
A music industry executive veteran for more than 20 years, Zifarelli has been with The Agency Group for over a decade. During that time he has helped to develop and build the domestic and international touring careers for acclaimed artists such as City and Colour, Feist, Broken Social Scene, Bahamas, Stars, K-OS, Dan Mangan, Dinosaur Jr, Bombay Bicycle Club, Hawksley Workman, James Vincent McMorrow, and many more.
In addition to his work in Canada, Zifarelli is one of the country’s leading international booking agents representing an extensive roster and sharing his clients with colleagues in London, New York, Nashville, Los Angeles and Malmo. He personally books North and South America, Japan, Southeast Asia and Australia, where he proudly represents some of that countries most acclaimed artists including Vance Joy, Xavier Rudd, 360, The Cat Empire, The Jezabels, Boy & Bear, The Paper Kites, Airbourne, Holy Holy, Glass Towers, Violent Soho, and Washington.
Randall Munroe Gets It Right On Asking Questions
Millions of people visit xkcd.com each week to read Randall Munroe’s iconic webcomic. His stick-figure drawings about science, technology, language, and love have a large and passionate following.
Fans of xkcd ask Munroe a lot of strange questions. What if you tried to hit a baseball pitched at 90 percent the speed of light? How fast can you hit a speed bump while driving and live? If there was a robot apocalypse, how long would humanity last?
In pursuit of answers, Munroe runs computer simulations, pores over stacks of declassified military research memos, solves differential equations, and consults with nuclear reactor operators. His responses are masterpieces of clarity and hilarity, complemented by signature xkcd comics. They often predict the complete annihilation of humankind, or at least a really big explosion.
He wrote a great introduction in his What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions that left me reading the same page more than a few times at its brilliance:
I’ve been using math to try to answer weird questions for as long as I can remember. When I was five years old, my mother had a conversation with me that she wrote down and saved in a photo album. When she heard I was writing this book, she found the transcript and sent it to me. Here it is, reproduced verbatim from her 25-year-old sheet of paper:
Randall: Are there more soft things or hard things in our house?
Julie: I don’t know.
Randall: How about in the world?
Julie: I don’t know.
Randall: Well, each house has three or four pillows, right?
Julie: Right.
Randall: And each house has about 15 magnets, right?
Julie: I guess.
Randall: So 15 plus 3 or 4, let’s say 4, is 19, right?
Julie: Right.
Randall: So there are probably about 3 billion soft things, and . . . 5 billion hard things. Well, which one wins?
Julie: I guess hard things.
To this day I have no idea where I got “3 billion” and “5 billion” from. Clearly, I didn’t really get how numbers worked.
My math has gotten a little better over the years, but my reason for doing math is the same as it was when I was five: I want to answer questions.
They say there are no stupid questions. That’s obviously wrong; I think my question about hard and soft things, for example, is pretty stupid. But it turns out that trying to thoroughly answer a stupid question can take you to some pretty interesting places.
Randall Munroe, What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions
Video: David Bowie’s Earliest Appearance As Ziggy Stardust, 1972
Taken from David Bowie’s 1972 Aylesbury gigs, this marked a key moment in Bowie’s life and photographer Mick Rock filmed it all on 16mm. This was one of his earliest appearances as Ziggy Stardust, one facet of a career marked by continual reinvention, musical innovation and striking visual presentation. Ziggy was a melding of the persona of Iggy Pop with the music of Lou Reed (his two best friends at the time), producing “the ultimate pop idol.”
Track listing: “Hang On to Yourself,” “Ziggy Stardust,” “Queen Bitch,” “Song for Bob Dylan,” “Starman,” “Five Years,” “Waiting for the the Man.”
The color footage is believed to be from the July 15th gig at the Friar’s Club.
http://youtu.be/VPCTI8tJLhM
Humans Account for Less Than Half of Global Web Traffic
Global web traffic has increased sharply over the past few years. However, the majority of today’s website traffic is not actually human traffic. According to Incapsula’s Global Bot Traffic Report, 56% of website traffic can be traced back to bots that automatically browse websites for different purposes. Roughly half of all automated traffic comes from good bots, e.g. search engine crawlers that index a website’s content. The other half of automated traffic is malicious though, caused by impersonators, content scrapers or other hacking tools that are used to steal data, spam websites or simply bring them down.
You will find more statistics at Statista
Video: Charlie Rose interviews Bud Selig
Bud Selig, Commissioner Emeritus of Major League Baseball, discusses his career, revolutionizing the economics of baseball and the challenges of players using steroids and other performance enhancing drugs.
Synth-Rock Duo Dear Rouge Announce March 30th Major Label Debut “Black To Gold”
Canadian indie-alternative synth-rockers Dear Rouge, who signed a major label deal last year with Universal Music Canada, the country’s leading music company, announced today the March 30th digital release and March 31st physical release of their anticipated debut album “Black To Gold”. The Vancouver duo announced the album release in addition to a 12-date Canadian tour as direct and sole support for Hamilton rockers and JUNO Award nominees The Arkells. Earlier this month, Danielle and Drew McTaggart revealed they will perform during the 2015 Canada Winter Games Opening Ceremonies in Prince George, BC on February 13th.
“Black To Gold” is available for pre-order on iTunes February 10th and will feature “I Heard I Had” and “Best Look Lately”, along with the brand new title track and #1 added single at Alternative Rock Radio this week, “Black To Gold”. The new album is the realization of an artistic vision that spans more than two years in the making, helmed by Drew McTaggart and producer/engineer Ryan Worsley, with input and influence from Howard Redekopp (Tegan and Sara, Mother Mother) and Gavin Brown (Metric, Billy Talent). In addition to previously released tracks, fans that pre-order the album will receive an instant download of the three featured singles, as well as two extra new songs prior to album release.
The iTunes exclusive version will include ten songs plus 1 exclusive bonus track, while the Spotify exclusive version will also feature 10 songs plus 2 exclusive bonus tracks.
With Danielle McTaggart’s unmistakable powerhouse vocals punctuated by the groups instantly recognizable blend of dynamic guitar hooks and uplifting synth layers, “Black To Gold” showcases the development and maturation of the husband and wife duo and is bolstered by the success of their introductory singles, “Best Look Lately” and “I Heard I Had” – the latter staking musical territory as the #3 most-played song at alternative radio in 2014 (behind only Kongos and Arctic Monkeys). Heading into 2015 it’s easy to see why CBCMusic named “Black To Gold” one of the 15 most anticipated Canadian indie albums of the year.
In less than two years Dear Rouge has crossed the country multiple times, sharing the stage with the likes of the Kongos, Phantogram, Dragonette and Lorde among other notable acts. With an undeniable chemistry both on and off stage, the group formed in 2012 and has since released two EP’s to increasingly enthusiastic acclaim.
Fans can expect Dear Rouge to deliver their impressive live show with the same palpable energy and fervor they’ve become known for when they embark on a 12-date Canadian tour with The Arkells. The tour kicks off in Vancouver on February 20th.
That song’s Canadian? Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame honour global hits with Covered Classics
As a long-standing advocate for Canadian music, the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame (CSHF) is proud to announce Covered Classics, a new element in its song induction program. The first song inducted through this series is “To Sir With Love” co-written by Don Black and Canada’s own, Mark London.
“We wanted to find new ways to increase the profile and visibility of Canadian songwriters and honour their contributions to our nation’s rich music history,” said CSHF manager Lisa Gaglia. “Covered Classics allows us to showcase Canada’s best in the music industry throughout the year.”
A collaboration between the CSHF and CBC/Radio-Canada, Covered Classics celebrates Canadian songs by inviting our country’s brightest musical talent to perform their own rendition of an inducted song. This provides an opportunity to honour the past and introduce a new generation of music lovers to these classic songs. The new covers, filmed at CBC studios in Toronto and Montreal, will be featured on CSHF and CBC/Radio-Canada platforms.
Bringing the first of the Covered Classics to life is Canadian jazz-pop singer-songwriter, Nikki Yanofsky, and guitarist Dan Kanter. Nikki is best known for her vocals on the theme song for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games on CTV, “I Believe”, and Dan is the musical director and lead guitarist for Justin Bieber. The collaboration between Nikki and Dan is available to view at cshf.ca andcbcmusic.ca.
“There is a lot of remarkable talent here in Canada and I am honoured to be recognized for my contributions to our nation’s music history,” said Mark London. “Creating this song was a labour of love and I am thrilled to see younger Canadian artists bring To Sir With Love to life for a new generation.”
“To Sir With Love” is the theme song from the 1967 film of the same name. Starring in this British drama was Sidney Poitier as teacher Mark Thackeray. The film traces his students’ transformation to maturity under his guidance amid social and racial tensions of an inner school in the slums of London’s East End. Pop singer Lulu, who played tough high-school girl Barbara Pegg, sang “To Sir With Love” at the year-end dance as the students’ gift to their teacher. Lulu’s single reigned at number one on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart for five weeks in the fall of 1967, and was ultimately the Billboard Year End No. 1 single. It was Canada’s number two record for 1967, beating The Beatles’ “All You Need Is Love”.
A classic with staying power, “To Sir With Love” appeared on various Lulu albums and has been covered by musical greats, such as Chaka Khan and Jann Arden. The song has also been featured in numerous television shows and movies, most recently including Glee and Sons of Anarchy.
Jimmy Fallon, The Roots, and Music Superstars Sing “We Are The Champions”
In honor of the Super Bowl, Jimmy Fallon and the Roots join Carrie Underwood, Sam Smith, Ariana Grande, Blake Shelton, Usher, Meghan Trainor, One Direction and Christina Aguilera for an a cappella version of “We Are The Champions.”
http://youtu.be/KHHqPTQDIlo