The Conduction Band (For the Nerds)

Somehow, I came across the site of The Conduction Band, which as my most savvy readers will guess, a band of physicists out of my alma mater's (older and prettier) sister school, UIUC.

Although I haven't actually listened to any of their songs, they seem to be modified covers with physics grad school lyrics. To wit, their version of Stayin Alive

You can tell by the way I brush my hair.
I'm a physics grad. I just don't care.
Rolling out of bed, I throw on my clothes.
I don't bother to wash. I just hold my nose.

It's all right. It's okay. We all smell here anyway.
Please don't try to understand. We take data all we can.

Whether you're a theorist or whether you'll be jobless
You'll be stayin' alive, stayin' alive
See the first years bailing, everybody emailing
Yeah, we're stayin' alive, stayin' alive

I also appreciated their Take Qual an' Fail

Back in my physics days, we had a theoretical band called "Green-Go", which never made it passed theory.

There's also the hilarious (and extremely nerdy) MC Hawking.

Finally, I've always wanted to become a rapper named MC Squared. Oh, to sleep, perchance to dream....

Phillies: The Real Loveable Losers

The Phillies have the muddy honour of losing the most games of any sports franchise. Freaky. I'll always look down on them, as my Jays dismantled them back in '93. John Kruk, anyone?!?

This year looks different though. The team has been flying under the radar for most of the season, but they're this close to making the playoffs. I hope they do, as their long suffering fans deserve it. They'll be destroyed by any American League team, but I digress.

A large part of their success this season can be attributed to Ryan Howard, who burst into the spotlight by winning the Homerun Derby at the All Star game. Dave Perkins has a nice piece on how Howard, who is approaching 61 homers going into the final games of the season, could break that record sans drugs.

I don't share the idea that Howard hitting 61, is more important that Sosa, McGwire or Bonds recent accomplishments. I still think Bonds is the greatest homerun hitter of all time.

The Day I Met a Legend

Bud and Ian4.jpg
Originally uploaded by subatomicfilms.

A few nights ago, NYU hosted a screening of On the Waterfront, the landmark film from the 50's with Marlon Brando. It pretty much swept the Oscars, and changed the face of American cinema.

So, it was a real treat to see the screenwriter, Budd Schulberg there too.
He told some awesome stories about Brando, Kazan and the production, that they said would never amount to anything.

It was also very inspiring to see this 93 year old man, still going strong, and still writing.

On a more personal note, when I first started to get into movies back in high school, I kept on telling my dad to see a whole bunch of films. Most of which, he didn't like. One day he said, "why don't you bring home On the Waterfront", now that's a real movie".

I said "PSHT!" in my mind, I mean, how great could a black and white movie from the 50's be. Of course, I was wrong. It ushered in a new scope in my personal voyage through the cinema. Thanks Dad!

Nothin' But Pride

With the Blue Jays and White Sox both eliminated from the post-season, there's nothing left to play for but pride.

When I was last in Toronto, they had this awesome billboard up for the local sportsnetwork: Follow the Jays in their quest to not finish third.

As of yesterday, they are 2nd. Go Jays Go!

Pass me my little guy!

I was going to call this post The Science of Sleep, but I'll spare my loyal readers.

Nature has an article about research that suggests that the more social you are, the more sleep you need. The experiment, performed with fruit flies, had 2 groups of our favorite drosophs, 1 set of them being born and thrown into groups of other flies, the other set all being isolated.

They found that they all slept the same amount of time at night. However, during the day, the isolated ones had 15min power naps, whilst the more social ones would nap for about an hour.

I don't see the big deal, as everyday experience would tell us that the more social you are, the more running around you're doing, and the more tired you're gonna be.

Luckily, the nerds heard my objection, and instituted a control group: "the researchers also tested flies deprived of their sight and sense of smell. In these flies, which still flew around but could not socialize, there was no difference in sleep patterns between socialized and loner groups."

So they think that all of this goes back to how we store memories, and what the real need for sleep is all about.

More Gondry

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Originally uploaded by subatomicfilms.

Forgive me for all the Michel Gondry love as of late, but I went to his show "The Science of Sleep" at the Deitch Gallery in SoHo during my lunch break today.

It pretty much consisted of props and production design from his new film, which I haven't seen. I can't say that it added up to much, except to build hype for the movie.

The place opened at noon, and by 12:30pm, it was overrun by hipsters.

The Greatest Young Director?

The film that I've anticipated most this year is about to open on Friday...The Science of Sleep.

Michel Gondry's films and videos show the true vision of a genius. What's most incredible is that a lot of his visual trickery is not computer based, but done all in camera. Whenever I see his films, I am constantly in awe of his creativity and individuality.

Unlike the much other directors that Michel is sometimes clumped in with (Sophia Coppola, Wes Anderson etc...), Gondry brings his A-Game, and is constantly pushing boundaries.

The Times had a great profile of him on the weekend. If you don't read the stuff I usually post, this is one time to finally click on the link.

The Day Spike Lee Wrote a Big Cheque

IMG_6199.jpg, originally uploaded by subatomicfilms.

Yesterday at school, the main poster-boy himself, Spike Lee had his regular class, and then dropped off a big cheque for $325K to the school.

I think that was pretty cool, as the interest from the cash goes towards two $10K production funds, which are sorely needed.

A few dignitaries showed up, but by and large it was just film folks. Perhaps the best part, was the nice spread after the presentation. Can't go wrong with free food.

World Trade (Copy) Center?

I don't pretend to know architecture, but as the saying goes, I know what I like. And what I don't like is the complete boringness of the World Trade Center redevelopment site.

Is it just me, or are two of the towers a complete rip-off of two already-famous towers in Chicago (the real star of global architecture), like the John Hancock Center, and the Smurfit-Stone Building?




Anyways, I feel that the new WTC should represent a new beginning, a new age and something bold. The new buildings are none of these.

My Big Break

Casting call for the UK production of the Tdot failed Lord of the Rings show. I think this is the part I was born to play:
-Male or Female: Check
-between 16 and 35: Check
-"less than five-seven in bare feet": Check (I think?)
-"hairy toes and feet are a distinct advantage": DOUBLE CHECK!

Seeya on Drury Lane, haters.

I can Feel the Stink Waves

I'm all up for alternative, hardcore politics. However, even I feel these people should be put away.

Sweet smelling friends, meet our enemy: Body Odor Rights Activists

Another Bay Ridge Post

IMG_6132.jpg,
originally uploaded by subatomicfilms.

Yesterday, me and my spies went for a jaunt through the neighborhood and wound up going through the Botanical Gardens on our way to the Bay Ridge Pier.

We came upon this weird pond with fishies, and froggies and flora (which I don't know the name of). Of course, the Pier is also home to wonderful views of Lower Manhattan and of the VNB.

Eat your heart out, Park Slope.

It's Niiiiice

My spies tell me that one of the most buzzed about films at Toronto this year is Sacha Baron Cohen's awesome wicked Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan which gets a full US release in November. I can't wait.

Sure he's offensive, but like most great satirists, there's something more going on below the surface. He's able to send up all of the lunacy in Western culture so brilliantly. I think time shall tell that Cohen is one of the great comedians of our time.

For a great lark, check out Borat's website, in all of it's dated cheesy glory. I love the flaming "wow".

Hypnotic

If you've been in the Loop in Chicago anytime in the past few years, you've probably heard some awesome jazz coming from a group of guys with really crappy instruments. Always forming a crowd, The Hypnotic Brass Ensemble were a sight for ears and eyes. Their tunes were always incredibly melodious and so damn catchy. Looking around at the crowd, everyone usually had a smile on their face.

As it turns out, the group of guys have made their way to NYC and are now playing on these streets. I've seen them at Washington Square, Union Square and Times Square (reliable place to catch them). The Times has an interesting video piece on them, which you can find here. Not surprisingly, they've come from good pedigree. The Chicago Reader did a nice piece on them a couple of years ago.

An Announcement

A Salt and Battery,
originally uploaded by subatomicfilms.

One of my guilty culinary delights, is good ole Fish N' Chips. I'm gonna go out on a limb, and I will catch some fire for it, but I don't think Americans really know a good Fish N' Chips.

There was some great places in Toronto (The Queensway), including hipster upstart Chippy's.

Halifax, Nova Scotia had some great choices too. I found the places in London, England to be way too greasy (even for Fish N' Chips standards). With that being said, I imagine there are some great places that I just couldn't find.

Chicago was awful. Couldn't find a single place deserving mention.

NYC. The joint called A Salt and Battery (ZING!) came on a few recommendations. So I checked it out today. Halibut wasn't on the menu, so I got the Haddock. It was great. Nice batter, and just the right amount. Fresh fries. The kicker was the fried Mars bar. I'm here to tell you that there's something inherently wrong about deep frying a Mars bar, but friends, it's ok with me. I can feel my teeth rotting though.

At about $12 for lunch, it's a bit steep. However, whenever I get a craving for the F&C, I know there's a place not too far away that gets it right.

Apollo on Steroids?

NASA has announced that it gave Lockheed Martin the job of building the next new spaceship. BILLIONS of dollars, people. BILLIONS. That's ten to the nine!

As most people know, I'm vehemently opposed to most of NASA's space exploration program, as I feel it takes away much needed money from legitimate science based research. Most of the experiments on board these missions are usually trivial, and basically there for PR.

What also bothers me is that Lockheed Martin is one of the biggest arms makers in the world.

With a lot of good science research getting slashed by the NSF, and the state of particle physics (and other fields) in a complete shambles it kind of sickens me to know that PR really does rule the world.