Loquacious Music

Of all the things I’m excited about in the land of movies, I’m the most excited about this. (NSFW; it’s the red-band trailer.) I mean, can you believe it? George Clooney, Fran McDormand, Brad Pitt, John Malkovich, Tilda Swinton, and J.K. Simmons? With Burwell scoring? It’s like my dream movie.

Rest in peace, my friend.

We’ll keep using your seven dirty words here on Earth.

I’ve been grooving on this song the past week. The sound quality of the YouTube video doesn’t do it justice. I like how Roman has Matthew playing all the instruments, as he did in the song (except, of course, for the solo):

In the comments to that video, someone mentioned Fanclub’s “Starsign.”  What a great power pop song that was, too:

If you’re coming here from my TBI Computer training class, you can click on this link to download some of my music!

It’s here! I ordered on Sunday night, late, and the package arrived today. I can’t recommend Peter’s creation enough. It’s absolutely beautiful. These photographs don’t do it justice. (You’ll notice that its place of honor is right next to my Harmony touchscreen remote; I like a little anachronism here and there.)  If you click on the picture and then click again, you’ll get a huge picture; just hit the back button twice to get back to the post.

Bridgeport, Connecticut, 10:56 A.M., Tuesday, June 10, 2008. The number on the left (underneath the sun) is the outside temperature. The number on the right is the inside temperature. And it isn’t even noon yet.

UPDATE: 11:18 A.M., 111.2°F.

Let’s review all the things I have done so far to try to make this house as green as possible:

1) Every lightbulb in the house has been replaced with an energy efficient CFL.
2) The computer’s surge protector will be replaced with APC’s SurgeArrest power strip by the end of the month.
3) The household thermostat was replaced with a programmable thermostat; the entire HVAC unit was serviced and recharged at the beginning of the summer. A/C runs at 74° 72°, and heat ran at between 66° and 68° for the entire winter.
4) The temperature on the refrigerator and freezer was turned to “energy saver.”
5) The washing machine is set to “quick wash” and the drier is set to “quick dry”; the dishwasher runs its drying cycle without heat.

All of these changes, though, pale in comparison to tonight’s decision. As of July 1st, all of my electricity will come from 100% renewable resources. Yes, it costs a little more, but as my brother pointed out tonight, I am paying for research and development as much as I am paying for the energy itself.

So goodbye, coal. Goodbye, nuclear. Goodbye, natural gas. Hello, 50% windpower and 50% low-impact hydroelectric!

Any other green suggestions would be appreciated. (And by the way: I ordered the clock.)

Those of you who know me well know that I love clocks, watches, and other timepieces. Tonight, I was watching Brian De Palma’s 1980 thriller Dressed to Kill when I spotted a clock unlike any I had ever seen. You can click on the picture for a closer look:

Here’s a better picture of the entire clock (it’s in the lower left-hand corner of the screen).

It looks like those L.E.D.s are suspended in that plastic case. I have no facility with electronics, but do you think it would be easy to make one of these? It’s one of the coolest clocks I’ve ever witnessed.

UPDATE: We have an answer, from Doug!

Hi Ben, Those numerals were created using nixie tubes. Nixie tubes were used before LEDs popped up. They are vacuum tubes with segments that are controlled by applying electricity to each segment that needs to be lit. Nixie tubes can get quite warm.

Here’s a whole website on nixie tube clocks. Thanks, Doug!

Here’s a video of a nixie tube clock.  I’m just fascinated.

This is kind of fun!

Look for the “Live from the iSight Studio” rendition as soon as I learn the song!

Here’s a fun thing to try this month!