February 2012
19 posts
Construction firm aims at space elevator in 2050 →
unexpectedtech:
It may be possible to travel to space in an elevator as early as 2050, a major construction company has announced.
Obayashi Corp., headquartered in Tokyo, on Monday unveiled a project to build a gigantic elevator that would transport passengers to a station 36,000 kilometers above the Earth.
For the envisaged project, the company would utilize carbon nanotubes, which are 20...
The Wonderful and Terrible Habit of Buying Too... →
bibliofeminista:
There are just too many books to read. And while one might make the very good point that you could just wait to buy them when you have more room, there’s something about putting them in a row with other books, read and unread, that creates the cumulative impression of your reading self. Because, when it comes to reading, there will always be more book that you haven’t read than...
Stowe Boyd: Some notable dates in the far future →
intothecontinuum:
Compiled below is a selection of estimated dates for some events given certain assumptions in the evolution of Earth, the Solar System, and the Universe. Most events are of an astronomical and cosmological nature though some are geological. A more complete list from which…
My mind was just blown.
Are we at Peak Telecom? →
futuresagency:
Martin Geddes says we’re at ‘Peak Telecom’ — the maximum point of expansion of telecom companies, just before the Internet gobbles them up and changes the economics drastically, commoditizing them into pipe:
Peak Telecoms by Martin Geddes
We’re at “Peak Telecoms”
The telco voice and…
“The classic register—I borrow the term from a fine forthcoming book by Michael...”
– Richard Taruskin (The New Republic, 2007 — I warn you, the article is an unformatted block of text)
Alive again after 32,000 years →
This is so fascinating.
Creative Loafing gives Echo Ono 4 Stars →
With nine releases in seven years, Pontiak has established itself as one of the most prolific, genre-proof and original bands on the American rock scene. With Echo Ono, they only up the ante. Nine songs over 33 minutes and change. All analog. No bullshit. Just organic heaviness cobbled out of guitar, bass, drums, subtle washes of keyboard and droning vocals. This music is performed, not...
“It’s an altogether different sound to all their previous output, yet is...”
– http://sonicmasala.blogspot.com/2012/02/ono-pontiak.html
January 2012
20 posts
“He has a very special way of playing drums, as if he were guzzling something...”
– Kid Millions’ New Solo Album Has Maximum Drumming - NYTimes.com (via cmonchemicals)
WatchIncredible colors tonight. Right outside my living room.
“Downloaders are making a moral calculation and coming to the conclusion that the...”
– Brad Burnham’s astute take on digital media was originally intended as an entry in the SOPA debate but is now even more relevant in the wake of the Megaupload shutdown.
I’ve never been shy about extolling the widespread benefits [to everyone but a narrow group of rights holders] arising from the...
: The Wild Geese, Wendell Berry →
stillgreen:
The Wild Geese Wendell Berry Horseback on Sunday morning, harvest over, we taste persimmon and wild grape, sharp sweet of summer’s end. In time’s maze over fall fields, we name names that went west from here, names that rest on graves. We open a persimmon seed to find the tree that stands in…
WatchMy nightly routine of getting the fire started to heat the house to about 60. Sometimes I can see my breath inside when I get home. One of the things I most like about this is that it makes me stop and slow down and think about what I’m doing. When I am on the road I often think about these moments and it makes me feel good.
WatchIt’s so quiet. I love it.
Getting Choked →
I got a text this morning from AT&T who said I had been using too much bandwidth on my phone. They said if I don’t slow down they’ll choke my network speed. I am one of those who got the unlimited plan when it was available. But if I can’t use unlimited what am I paying for?
WatchOur new video for “Lions of Least” has been premiered by Stereogum.
WatchPreview video for Echo Ono
Echo Ono and Tours →
Our new album Echo Ono will be coming out February 20 in the UK and February 21 in the EU and US. We are very excited about it! Also, we have a ton of European dates announced:
2/22/2012 CZ Usti Nad Labem @ Mumie
2/23/2012 CZ Prague @ Klub007
2/24/2012 CZ Hradec @ Kralove Central
2/25/2012 CZ Brno @ Boro
2/26/2012 CZ Ceske Budejovice @ Velbloud
2/27/2012 AT Vienna @ Arena
2/29/2012 IT Ravenna @...
June 2011
1 post
Pontiak : Comecrudos Out Today →
Our latest EP is released today. Some nice words and links.
March 2011
4 posts
More Pontiak SXSW shows announced! →
Check it out.
Pontiak : New showcase announcement! →
More SXSW appearances for Pontiak.
Pontiak updates →
As the band gets ready to hit the road for a series of shows this month and the next, we have two nice interviews with AOL’s music front - Spinner, and also with a local RVA blog Revolt of the Apes about our upcoming spot at the Austin Psych Fest.
February 2011
9 posts
In the Garden - Jefferson’s Vegetable Garden Still... →
With the days getting a bit warmer, my attention is quickly turning to my garden for this year. I especially loved this article about Jefferson last summer when I read it. Maybe I will make a trip down to Monticello soon. (It’s only an hour and a half away.)
TEDxManhattan 2011 | Changing the Way We Eat →
What a wonderful event today. I felt a little left out for not being in NYC (not really) - more jealous than anything else. The more I see and the more I hear, the less I think I actually know about things. But that is also a wonderful thing because I love to learn. The next step is taking what I learned today and focusing it into something positive.
Brian Jacques, Writer of Redwall Series, Dies at... →
I remember when my mom gave me Jacques’ first book “Redwall” when I was 8 or 9. RIP.
“China has been essentially self-sufficient in grain for decades for national...”
– U.N. Food Agency Issues Warning on China Drought - NYTimes.com
It's all relative. →
I saw this article in the Times today and was immediately struck with this quote:
Mr. Thompson, who has been struggling to succeed for more than a decade (he turns 35 on Feb. 19), has enjoyed only marginal success in the United States — his average record sales are 21,000 — and is acutely aware of his dwindling shelf life in a business with a rapid turnover of talent.
So 21,000 albums?...
Weather and jobs
Though I did pull that last quote out of context from the Times, it is interesting to think about the cost of having to respond to climate-related emergencies, rather than building in preventative and sustainable measures. Here is an interesting report released by a public/private partnership from the University of Oregon on the economic impacts of Climate Change and the cost of not doing...