Category: Song of the Week

Celebrating the 60th Anniversary of the first Rock and Roll show with…biological classification and Guided by Voices? [Repost]

Marie-Claire is going to be very busy over the next month educating the youth of Canada. Too busy to even listen to music, which is about her favorite thing to do, after educating the youth of Canada. In the meantime, we will be reposting some of our favorite Song of the Week posts…

Nearly 20, 000 people were beating on the doors of a venue that would hold less than 10, 000 shouting “Let us in!” Tickets for the  second night had all been printed with the same date as the first. The police waded into the crowd and ordered the opening act, Paul “Huckerbuckers” Williams to stop shortly after he began. A man was stabbed as the confused crowd dispersed. On the surface, The Moondog Coronation Ball, March 21, 1952 in Cleveland, was a total disaster. Continue reading “Celebrating the 60th Anniversary of the first Rock and Roll show with…biological classification and Guided by Voices? [Repost]”

Unwind after your holiday party with Bill Callahan and a science drink

It not often that kids science classes and Holiday parties have much in common, but thanks to the delights of carbonated beverages there is at least one similarity: everyone loves watching dried fruit bob up and down in glass. Whether it’s champagne and dried cranberries to ring in the New Year, or raisins in a plastic cup of ginger ale on a school desk, this one is a classic. Continue reading “Unwind after your holiday party with Bill Callahan and a science drink”

Andrew Bird’s Lazy Projector decribes science learning too

It’s all in the hands of a lazy projector
That forgetting, embellishing, lying machine

With Lazy Projector, singer-songwriter/violinist Andrew Bird turns his insightful, poetic and more-than-a-little-heartbreaking lens to the topic of our brains. When we look back on a fractured relationship, all we can rely on is a  version our minds create, and our mind’s eye is not known for its objectivity. I’ve always thought of him as a classically influenced multi-instrumentalist Leonard Cohen with a silkier voice (and much more whistling), but this one struck me even more strongly than most. Continue reading “Andrew Bird’s Lazy Projector decribes science learning too”

Ben Folds Five + Fraggles: Reminding Me of the Virtues of a Large Sample Size


I have a soft spot for Muppets and for the Ben Folds Five. The Muppets require no explanation. Ben Folds Five might do1.

The Ben Folds Five played the “Last Day of Classes” event at Duke University my freshman year (1998)2. I was having a good day (was named captain of the rugby team) and they rocked. At the time, the combination of good music and sun dresses convinced me that the “Last Day of Classes” was a day of eternal magic. Being a mere freshman, I had not yet learned that music selections by university entertainment committees are almost universally horrible3. The choice of Ben Folds Five was a statistical aberration that gave me an inaccurate expectation for the next year’s festivities due to the small sample size.

Looking back, the next three years of disappointment were well worth it to have that statistical lesson tattooed on my soul.

NOTES
1. For the metaphorical Philistines amongst you.
2. Having been college, these dates may or may not be accurate.
3. They also managed to bring in Kevin Nealon to do stand-up comedy when I visited the campus as a high school senior – an event that certainly influenced my choice of higher education institution. Vanderbilt’s dean of admissions mocking Nashville’s storied country music history may have also helped.

Apologizing for mocking hair metal, Laika is my peace offering

Listening to music with friends can bring shared laughter and the pleasure of  giving and receiving new musical treasures. Sometimes it leads to disgruntled listening to hair metal bands. Last night was a case of the latter. Continue reading “Apologizing for mocking hair metal, Laika is my peace offering”