Pedrotec(l)a

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[pedrotecla]

Paris in the springtime: Expectation vs. Reality

Expectation: Ahh, the crisp mornings

Tulips!

Sometimes a bit cloudy, but that’s ok :D because it’s springtime in Paris!

Can’t take a picture without a fucking flower getting in the way

The Eiffel Tower

Notre-Dame de Paris

The Mona Lisa

Pesky flowers...

Reality: 

Pollution spike, just like last year

The Guardian reports a 9, but the level actually got to a 10/10 yesterday

It comes from a combination of sources, especially the resuting combination of ammonia from agriculture and road trafic emissions 

It’s hard to breathe

The area affected is huge, much larger than Paris! Particulate matter pollution index for march 18th and 19th and forecast for march 20th and 21st 2015 :

But it seems it’s much worse in some areas, like Paris and Île-de-France

Can’t wait for it to clear up

[fileunder]

[pedrotecla]

Shiroi Ishi (2001)

The Hilliard Ensemble Text and music by Ken Ueno Composed for the Hilliard Ensemble

TEXT:                                                 TRANSLATION: SHIro i   iSHI                                        White stone          

Tsukiyo  no  umi   ni  SHIzumu             Sinks into a moon-lit ocean

Sono toki hamon wa                             That moment, the ripples are

Nagare boSHI  no  kage                       shadows trailing a shooting star.

The first syllable "SHI" of the word "shiro" (white) has multiple meanings: 1): Four - for the number of performers. 2): Death. 3): Poetry.

This syllable acts as a link between the worlds of pitch and noise/timbre,

as well as word and sound.  Structurally, each successive occurrence of this syllableopens a window of evocation to previous occurrences - the white stone passing into another existence synchronistically being related to another transient moment, that of a shooting star. 

The relationship of the stone and the ripples (and the shooting star and its shadows) is akin to the relationship between consonants and vowels in the Japanese language.  The whole language is built upon five basic vowels (a, i, u, e, o) which are arranged with different consonants in front of the vowels (ex.: ka, ki, ku, ke, ko, ga, gi, gu, ge, go, etc.).  This means that the same five formants create meaning according to what noise elements (consonants) are affixed to the attack of the sound (every sound has three components: an attack, a middle, and a decay).  There is a modular quality to Japanese language since the phonological aspects are so limited.   In changing the rhythm of words and phrases, in stretching phrases, it is possible to derive or hear different meanings from one phrase.  Even without understanding the Japanese, it is hoped that one can follow the statistical prevalence of certain consonants as a way to following the text (as opposed to following melodic phrases).  It is some kind of common ground between Eastern incantation and modern electroacoustic sounds that I am seeking presently as a discourse in setting my text.

[pedrotecla]

The pill that might give you perfect pitch by altering your brain

Until now there have been "no known reports of adults acquiring absolute pitch" The drug could be used to help learn languages

[high-tech-low-fashion]

Thierry Mugler ‘Anatomique Computer’ Two-Piece Suit AW 1990-91

[pedrotecla]

袁莎 Yuan Sha plays 冥山 Ming Shan on the 古筝 guzheng

YouTube video description: Central Conservatory's Yuan Sha plays Wang Zhong Shan's Ming Shan, one of the pieces that brought her to the first prize of the 2002 International Chinese Instrumental Competition.

(via samuel wong)

[pedrotecla]

If Andromeda were brighter

(via imaginaryfriend on Observation Deck)

[pedrotecla]

Quantum Mechanics: Animation explaining quantum physics. (by Eugene Khutoryansky)

[pedrotecla]

Me acabo de dar cuenta de que no existe el verbo "compatir" :(

Es un galicismo, se dice "compadecer(-se)".

[pedrotecla]

Negotiations with the government shed a light on how Internet companies like Facebook and Google interact with the spy agencies that look to their vast trove of information.

Antoine Dodson's advice won't do this time D:

[the-science-llama]

[the-science-llama]

Jupiter Occultation

Maurice Toet - July 15, 2012

[discardingimages]

fishcat vs. spear rat  Pontifical of Guillaume Durand, Avignon, before 1390.

Paris, Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève, ms. 143, fol. 161v

[pedrotecla]

Francisco Repilado (Compay Segundo): Chan Chan - Entrevoces, Havana, Cuba (via DolfRabus)

I want to sing this!

YouTube video description:

12th International Chamber Choir Competition Marktoberdorf, Germany, www.modfestivals.org; June 10-15, 2011; Live recording; This is a service of Choral Festival Network www.choralfestivalnetwork.org; Concert Kaisersaal Kloster Füssen June 13

[pedrotecla]

Why Do We Feel Nostalgia? (by Vsauce)

Vsauce's Michael on nostalgia, identity, memory, the reminiscence bump, earworms, the ironic process theory, false memory, Longplayer...

Links in video description.

[pedrotecla]

Penderecki - Threnody (Animated Score) (by gerubach)

Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima (Tren ofiarom Hiroszimy in Polish) is a musical composition for 52 string instruments, composed in 1960 by Krzysztof Penderecki (b. 1933), which took third prize at the Grzegorz Fitelberg Composers' Competition in Katowice in 1960. The piece swiftly attracted interest around the world and made its young composer famous. (from english Wikipedia)

Description from YouTube video:

Performer & Album Info - 10:25 Don't know what these symbols mean? Click on this link: http://youtu.be/2DD7gzDYBgY

[captawesomesauce]

What do I do when I’m sick? I google “cat beards” on google images and here were some of the best. 

[promiseyoumore]

omfg

[the-science-llama]

Reflection and Emission Nebulas — Rho Ophiuchi Cloud Complex

Credit: Gerald Rhemann // Astrostudio

[pedrotecla]

The Sims - Build Theme No. 5 Sheet Music (by PseudoGFF)

A great transcription by Pseudo, IMHO one of the great transcribers of the time of social media, of "Now What?" by Jerry Martin, from the soundtrack of The Sims.

Description from YouTube video:

By popular demand, here's my transcription for Build Theme 5 from the The Sims. The full sheet music can be downloaded from http://sites.google.com/site/pseudomu... It's considerably longer and harder than any of the other "build" pieces but don't let that put you off learning it! Just to clarify, this is not me playing it! It's the original music from the game carefully synced up to my transcription playing in Sibelius.