Not exactly “backmasking” or even reverse speech, but I loved the feeling this creative prose evoked when it started to go backwards.
[Lost Generation – YouTube]
I Love the Whole World Discovery Channel Ad
Something to brighten your day.
[Discovery Channel: I Love the World – YouTube]
It’s a shame the program planners don’t put more science based shows on the Discovery Channel (TLC). I mean, the house renovation/tattoo parlour/chop shop shows might get high ratings, but they don’t come close to making me sing.
(via)
Thinking About Teaching
About a week ago when I was in Medicine Hat visiting my family I went over to an old Pronghorn teammate’s place to see how he is settling into teaching at my old high school.
He mentioned that the principal couldn’t find anyone qualified to teach the drafting/design class that they used to offer when I went there. It got me (once again) pondering the idea that perhaps I would enjoy teaching New Media at the high school level. I really enjoyed teaching the New Media Movie Making Camps a couple of years ago. I would be a very good teacher and I’d really enjoy it. I figured that since I already have B.F.A. getting the B.ED wouldn’t take THAT much more time. So, I looked into it.
What I learned irks me, but it does explain why there are so few qualified New Media people going into education. The Faculty of Education at the U of L only gives its B.F.A. students three choices for a combined degree:
- B.F.A. (Art)/B.Ed.
- B.F.A. (Dramatic Arts)/B.Ed.
- B.Mus./B.Ed.
Notice the conspicuous absence of B.F.A. (New Media). The U of C and U of A seem to have similar options. Now don’t get me wrong. I don’t think it’s entirely absurd that they don’t offer it, after all New Media is still pretty new, however, I hope that the principals of schools within the region make it known to the ATA and local universities about the need for such a program. It would be nice to know they are at least thinking about it.
As for me, without drastically changing the world first, in order to be able to teach New Media I’ve got to go back and take at least two more semesters of Art before I could even start on the year and a half of classes and practicums that I would need for the B.Ed. It seems like a long haul with a giant debt attached to it.
I haven’t yet decided if it’s completely out of the question.
Update: I went back to school, and in the time since I’ve finished, the U of L now offers a B.Ed. New Media degree.
Trapped for 41 Hours
Can you imagine being trapped in an elevator for 41 hours? The New Yorker just published a brilliant article, Up and then Down: the lives of elevators which features the story of Nick White, a man trapped for 41 hours in a New York City elevator. Their site includes a must-see time-lapse security cam video of the ordeal that changed Nick forever.
The Stroop Effect
The Stroop Effect, named after J. Ridley Stroop who published the effect in 1935, is a demonstration of interference in the reaction time of a task. For example, when a word signifying a colour such as “red” is printed in blue a reader’s reaction time processing the word’s colour, leads to slower test reaction times and an increase in mistakes.
Try out one of my favourite demonstrations of this effect by saying the colours of the words below:
(For example if the word “blue” is printed in green, you would say the word green)
red blue orange yellow purple green blue yellow red blue orange purple yellow green blue red green orange purple
yellow orange red green blue green red green blue yellow orange purple green blue yellow red orange purple green
If naming the first group of colours is easier and quicker than the second, then your performance exhibits the Stroop effect.
The Stroop effect illustrates important principles about how the brain works, particularly for mental tasks involving attention, automatic processing, and response selection. It also can be used to examine the subtle effects of adverse conditions on the brain, such as lack of sleep, fatigue, or the effects of high altitudes.
The coloured word test above is only one kind kind of automatic processing that can be studied.
Check out Harvard University’s site in which they continually collects data with their Implicit Association Tests, many of which have fascinating social and political implications.
In the Boston Globe
An article in the Boston Globe published today highlighted my backmasking page.
Remember that guy in high school who was always trying to tell you about the satanic messages hidden in “Stairway to Heaven” by Led Zeppelin (below) if you played it backward? Turns out he was right. Or so says Jeff Milner, a graphic designer from Alberta, Canada, who has not only posted snippets of the song, and several others, in reverse, but also transcribed the alleged backward lyrics. His findings: “If there’s a bustle in your hedgerow don’t be alarmed now, it’s just a spring clean for the May queen” translates to “Oh here’s to my sweet Satan. The one whose little path would make me sad, whose power is Satan.” The message is surprisingly clear on “Stairway,” but less so on songs like “Baby One More Time.”
See the full article.
Test Your Awareness
How many passes does the team in white make? An experiment in awareness.
[Test your awareness – YouTube]
Grass Fire
A grass fire near Lethbridge’s English Oaks subdivision broke out around 4:45pm yesterday. When firefighters arrived, vinyl siding on the southern-most home was warping under the heat of flames that were about seven metres from the residence. Firefighters ran their hoses through the inside of one of the homes nearby to put down the blaze.
The southern-most residence was the only home with direct fire damage.
Here is a set of my photos from the scene.
Elephant Self Portrait
This elephant is simply incredible! I wonder if he came up with the design himself or if he was taught it and that’s all he does. Either way, WOW.
[Elephant Painting – YouTube]
This particular “artist” appears to be an elephant called Hong who lives at the Maetaman Elephant Camp in Chiang Mai, Thailand. An article about Hong published on The Asian Elephant Art & Conservation Project (AEACP) website notes:
Two years ago, Hong began painting with her mahout, Noi Rakchang, and has steadily developed her skills. After learning how to paint flowers, she moved on to more advanced paintings. She now has two specialties. One is an elephant holding flowers with her trunk, and the other is the Thai flag. An elephant with so much control and dexterity is capable of amazing work. Just for clarification, with these realistic figural works, the elephant is still the only one making the marks on the paper but the paintings are learned series of brushstrokes not Hong painting a still life on her own.
We are sure that as Hong continues to investigate her artistic side, her paintings will become even more beautiful.
Richard Hortness is Going to the Olympics!
I found out yesterday that my former teammate (and old roommate), Richard Hortness, is going to China for the 2008 Olympics. He placed third in prelims with a personal best time of 49.42 in the 100 metre freestyle and his fifth place finish in finals makes him one of the five swimmers who will make up the Canadian Mens 4 x 100 freestyle relay team.
Technically, Richard is the alternate, but will likely swim preliminary heats at Beijing.
Today he will be trying to win or come second in the 50 free. If he comes second and makes the FINA A time standard he will also compete in that event in Beijing.
Congratulations Richard, and good luck today!
Medicine Hat News Article Scan
Update: Richard won the 50 Free this afternoon too! Way to go Richard; good luck in Beijing.