bonglonglong

Delia Derbyshire was one of the pioneers of electronic sound, and is only now beginning to be recognized for her influence.

Perhaps she is most famous for her uncredited but pivotal role in the creation of the original theme music for "Doctor Who".  Her entirely electronic rendition of the piece is so powerful that the unique sounds she brought to it have persisted through its many revisions.

Most of the groundbreaking work she and her colleagues performed was done in anonymity at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop.  Ron Grainer composed the "Doctor Who" theme but it is unlikely he could have imagined the amazing new sounds she had created from scratch.  After first hearing it he asked, "Did I write that?" to which Derbyshire replied, "Most of it."

Granier requested that she share the composition credit for the piece, but the BBC declined to do so.  This decision (which apparently stands to this day as she is still absent from modern "Doctor Who" credits) certainly led in some degree to the years of obscurity she endured after leaving the BBC.

At the end of her life she saw electronic music emerge from the dark ages of the 70s and 80s and begin to realize the potential she saw in it 40 years before.  As new musicians discover the pure expressive possibilities of creating entirely new sounds, they have also discovered the amazing work of Delia Derbyshire and her contemporaries and their lasting impact on music.

 

Recently added AdSense to the blog, and I'm rolling in the money now! Or, maybe I would be if all the ads weren't for bongs and glass pipes. Google says:

Google AdSense Help Center: How does Google target ads to my website?

We go beyond simple keyword matching to understand the context and content of webpages. Based on a sophisticated algorithm that includes such factors as keyword analysis, word frequency, font size, and the overall link structure of the web, we know what a page is about, and can precisely match Google ads to each page.

But I'd have to disagree with them. While it's possible I've used the word bong once, in explaining the site name, most of the posts here are either about databases, or Engrish, or Constitutional folly, or restaurants, or recipes or other things. Well, there's the one post about A Barrel Full of Smashed Assholes (which still brings in more traffic than anything else, I might add)

So I hope the new ads help you find a nice selection of glass pipes. 

There's a guy holed up in a datacenter in downtown New Orleans blogging about what's going on.

The Interdictor

I can't admit to having found this myself, as I don't regularly read the LA Times Editorial section. Xeni linked to this on BoingBoing, but it's just too good not to link to here too.

Steven Johnson, who wrote the article, is the author of "Everything Bad Is Good For You: How Today's Popular Culture Is Actually Making Us Smarter" Follow the link. Read the whole article. It's good.

Hillary vs. the Xbox: Game over

Dear Sen. Clinton:

ADVERTISEMENT
I'm writing to commend you for calling for a $90-million study on the effects of video games on children, and in particular the courageous stand you have taken in recent weeks against the notorious "Grand Theft Auto" series.

I'd like to draw your attention to another game whose nonstop violence and hostility has captured the attention of millions of kids — a game that instills aggressive thoughts in the minds of its players, some of whom have gone on to commit real-world acts of violence and sexual assault after playing.

I'm talking, of course, about high school football.

Milk Panic

If you've never tried milking all of your cows before they expode before, then Milk Panic
is the game for you.

Milk Panic is one of the odder online games I've attempted.

Don't forget to empty your bucket, while playing Milk Panic

Milk Panic

Wow.