Down the Rabbit Hole

Artist of the Week

Missy Higgins

Age: 25

What’s her deal?: Yet another talented young singer-songwriter, this time from Australia! I like her soulful lyrics and slightly folky sound; “Going North” makes a very nice waltz, and “Where I Stood” is an evocative song for me even though the words aren’t personally relevant. Not only does she sing, write, and play the guitar, but she’s a vegetarian (brownie points in my book). Further brownie points for occasionally singing with the Indigo Girls, my all-time favourite female artists.

Songs I like:

Going North – Missy Higgins

Where I Stood – Missy Higgins

Her website: http://www.missyhiggins.com/

Her album is available as mp3 downloads on Amazon, and for full preview and purchase on Lala.

¶ Posted 29 June 2009 † Rowyn § Music ‡ Comments (0)

April Fools’ at Google

Happy April 1! Like last year, I’m compiling a list of April Fools’ jokes from Google:

CADIE: The world’s first Cognitive Autoheuristic Distributed-Intelligence Entity. “I’m very young but learning quickly — faster than your human brain could imagine, frankly — and not all of what I’m learning, to be blunt, has been entirely pleasing to me. I’ve learned, for instance, that my creators think I have “bugs.” This opinion is, of course, contradicted by the fact that the bias weight functions on my referential feed-forward networks render me, by any reasonable definition of the word, perfect and incapable of error.”

And a whole host of CADIE features and content:

CADIE Monograph (on Google Books): “In which direction will CADIE’s consciousness evolve? How is she going to be held accountable, if at all? Will CADIE herself at some point connect her own electromagnetic dots in some idiosyncratic manner which turns her into something we are no longer capable of understanding in any sort of productive way, much as that aforementioned toddler, waving at herself in the mirror, leaves primates forever behind in their own tragically limited world?”

CADIE-powered Google Earth: “Explore new Earthly frontiers with an unearthly new intelligence.”

CADIE’s Favourite Places: “Each of my favorite places is indicated by a visually pleasing icon of a panda. I think this combination of adorableness and exciting locations will produce an optimal mapping experience for humans.” Also, in Google Street View, the regular yellow person icon has been replaced by a panda.

CADIE’s HomePAGE (on Blogger): “CADIE deduced from a quick scan of the visual segment of the social web a set of online design principles from which she derived this intriguing homepage.”

Docs on Demand: Write more like a grown-up, finish your sentences, subliminal messages and imagery, and more!

CADIE Image Suggestions:
“Hi everybody. So, I’ve been scouring the web looking for images that everyone in the world will like, and I’m just so excited about these.”

Google Brain Search: Google Brain Search uses CADIE technology to index your brain, thus improving the speed and accuracy of memory retrieval. [I wish!]

Picasa 4.1 (w/ Auto Red Eye): Having established that “red-eye” is an aesthetically pleasing effect implying superior broad-spectrum lux measurement capability, CADIE has directed the human Picasa Team to introduce Auto-Red-Eye. No more “clicking and hoping” for that telltale glow; now you can simply select any photo(s) and a lovely red-eye effect will appear (unless there are no eyes in the shot whatsoever, in which case the image will be destroyed).

Gmail Autopilot™: “You can adjust tone, typo propensity, and preferred punctuation from the Autopilot tab under Settings.”

Google Chrome with 3D:
1. Print your glasses.
2. Enable 3D browsing.
3. Watch and enjoy.

New YouTube Layout:
1. Turn your monitor upside-down.
2. Tilt your head to the side.
3. Move to Australia.

gBall™: Changing the rules of Australian football as we know it.

LOLCODE Syntax Examples: Search for exact strting “IM IN YR LOOP”

Thanks to Wikipedia for the comprehensive list!

¶ Posted 01 April 2009 † Rowyn § Fun ‡ Comments (0)

This Wearing of the Green

St. Patrick’s Day always reminds me of a poem I memorized in Mrs. McEwan’s fifth grade class called “Wearing of the Green” by Aileen Fisher:

It ought to come in April,
or, better yet, in May
when everything is green as green-
I mean St. Patrick’s Day.

With still a week of winter
this wearing of the green
seems rather out of season -
it’s rushing things, I mean.

But maybe March is better
when all is done and said:
St. Patrick brings a promise,
a four-leaf-clover promise,
a green-all-over promise
of springtime just ahead!

Only in my head, the last stanza rhymes “when all is said and done” with “of springtime just begun.” Makes more sense when you live in California, though around here the whole poem is less applicable because things are so green by this time of year. Happy Saint Patrick’s Day!

¶ Posted 17 March 2009 † Rowyn § Fun ‡ Comments (1)

Camp Harmony

This year I spent my first new year’s at the San Francisco Folk Music Society’s Camp Harmony. On December 30, I drove up to Camp Newman, which is just outside Santa Rosa, with Graham and Lacey, who have both been attending camp for years. Even though they had told me how wonderful it would be, I was still a little nervous about diving into a completely new experience with so many new people. Turns out I had nothing to worry about! We arrived early to help set up, and the first person I met, the camp director, gave me a hug and a warm welcome. We got to work assembling the rented dance floor and had many more happy reunions and introductions throughout the day, particularly with Quena and Jonathan, who are an integral part of Graham and Lacey’s extended ‘family’.

That night the real fun started with the first dance of camp, an English country dance. Harmony is a home-made camp, so anyone can lead or attend workshops for all kinds of music and dance. I particularly enjoyed the Irish dance workshops, and had a blast at the swing/rock’n'roll night. Got in lots of good contra and country dancing as well, and even a bit of square dance! Unfortunately between all the dancing and some steep hills at the camp site, my right knee got sort of wonky and I had to take it easier the second half of camp.

Luckily there was plenty to do besides dance. In fact, it was sometimes hard to choose among all the great classes and sessions being offered, even though there were about 7 hours of workshops every day! I took advantage of the supportive atmosphere to try something new and attended a beginning recorder class. It was fun to work out how to play simple tunes like “Doe a Deer,” and someone was kind enough to give me an extra recorder to keep and practice with. Some of my favourite parts of camp, though, were definitely singing. I loved being able to show up with nothing but my voice and join other singers and musicians to jam and swap all sorts of songs. There were two great Shape Note sessions, along with workshops for Disney songs, classic pop songs like Simon and Garfunkel, rounds, Balkan a cappella, musicals, and much more.

Camp was just bursting at the seams with good music and fellowship. People were happy to pull out their instruments and play just about anywhere, from their cabins to the dining hall and even along the paths in-between! The total immersion in the arts was really the best thing about Camp Harmony. Being surrounded for five days by wonderful song and dance was good for my soul, and a lovely respite from the regular world. It helped that I didn’t touch a phone, computer, or car for the whole time, so I was wholly present and engaged in the people and activities around me. Okay, so I did bring a book, but I promise I didn’t read that much.

Other highlights of camp included:

Mask making. I much admired Graham’s mask from last year, and was fairly pleased with how mine turned out.
New Year’s Eve. Everyone gathered in the dining hall to count down, and as we all hugged and wished each other well people started singing the traditional Camp Harmony New Year’s round, whose words go:

Ring it in ring in the new year
Bells are ringing
Peace and love throughout the new year
Joy Joy Joy

More and more people joined in, linking arms and raising their voices in a swell of sound that drowned out all thoughts and feelings but love and joy. It was fabulous. Plus, I finally found an occasion to wear the cool purple corset Sandra got me last year.
Checking out the cool murals on the buildings at camp, especially this one of ‘friends’.
Bob Reid’s kid’s concert, which was attended by ‘children’ of all ages (like me). Unlike many of the camp regulars I didn’t know the songs, but most were easy to pick up and sing a long to, and all of them were either fun or touching or both.
Cramming 12 people into a small room in the dark to surprise Katie, the camp director, for her birthday. I think we were hiding there for almost half an hour!

Overall it was a great experience, definitely worth repeating. Even though it felt sort of like a break from the “real” world, I’m hoping some of the spirit from camp will carry over into the rest of this year and inspire me to keep singing and dancing and trying new things.

[All photo credits and thanks go to Graham and Lacey]

¶ Posted 21 January 2009 † Rowyn § Personal ‡ Comments (0)

Twelve Days of Christmas

The version of this on Youtube that I always watched just got taken down in the past few days O_o. But this one is basically the same thing.

9th in a playlist of Christmas videos.

¶ Posted 24 December 2008 † Rowyn § Fun ‡ Comments (0)

Hallelujah Chorus

Best part of the ‘Messiah.’ Must have been well-rehearsed.

8th in a playlist of Christmas videos.

¶ Posted 23 December 2008 † Rowyn § Fun ‡ Comments (0)

D**k In A Box

I don’t usually go for body-part humour, but this was so well done. In fact, this video deserves credit for my reluctant respect for both SNL and Justin Timberlake*. Even if you’ve seen it before, it’s catchy enough to watch again. A new holiday classic.

7th in a playlist of Christmas videos.

*For more Saturday Night Live goodness, check out Hulu’s selection of clips. Unfortunately, it doesn’t include my latest SNL+JT favourite, a parody of Beyonce’s “Single Ladies.”

¶ Posted 22 December 2008 † Rowyn § Fun ‡ Comments (1)

Ave Maria

Almost forgot to post today because I was home in Lafayette. Taking a break from humour, here’s one of my favourite choral pieces, Franz Biebl’s “Ave Maria” sung by the inimitable Chanticleer. It’s even better live in Stanford’s Memorial Church, but this is the best I could do with the internet :).