RobiNZ Personal Blog

'An Honest Liar’ - The Story of the Amazing James Randi

Sometime over the holiday break, one of those frequent rubbish days of a summer not to remember, I stumbled upon the documentary film ‘Being Elmo’ on a Sky channel. It was a fascinating look at Kevin Clash's life and career to as the man behind Elmo.

Although released a few weeks back I just heard an interview with ‘Being Elmo’ Editor Writer Justin Weinstein about his next project: 'An Honest Liar’ - The Story of the Amazing James Randi:

On James Randi’s An Honest Liar – Token Skeptic podcast Episode One Hundred And Eight

A first for the Token Skeptic podcast: an interview with Justin Weinstein and Tyler Measom, who are the directors/producers of the forthcoming documentary on James Randi, called An Honest Liar.

and more at

'An Honest Liar - Movies.com
You need to have a lot of gall or a lot of merit to call yourself "amazing." James Randi has both. In the late 1940s he began performing magic under the name of The Amazing Randi…

An Honest Liar - Work-in-Progress trailer from Justin Weinstein on Vimeo.

Me, the Fairlight CMI, Thomas Dolby and back to the Murrumbidgee River?

(Way) Back in the 80s I used to buy an Aussie technology magazine “Omni”, correction it was “Omega Science Digest”!. One issue had a card you could send off (with a few au$) to get the demo cassette for a remarkable new electronic instrument. Yes, that there was an analogue demo cassette for a digital instrument gives an idea of how long ago that was!

It had a bunch of different tracks, samples etc. all created with the Fairlight Computer Musical Instrument but one (complete unlike the others) was the most memorable. I found Claude Larson’s Murrumbidgee River on YouTube (below) but sadly it appears you can no longer buy it, or the album “Rivers” (via iTunes or Amazon at least).

I probably still have that cassette somewhere… (see UPDATE 2012-02-22 below) and wanted to hear it again after listening to an ABC Radio Podcast interview — Big Ideas - Blinded by Science — with Fairlight Inventor Peter Vogel and Thomas Dolby. It covers all sorts of aspects from the evolution of digital musical technology, its impact on music and composition, the inventive process and the business of creating/marketing new ideas. There is even the tale of the (not so ubiquitous as once was) default Nokia ringtone and mention of the Fairlight iPhone/iPad app (why Dolby was in Aus.) which runs on a device vastly more powerful than the original $100,000+ Fairlight CMI!

I never did get a CMI as $100k seemed a bit much for someone who never progressed much past Grade 1 Piano before discovering sailing seemed more fun in the weekends! Maybe if I get the iOS app that cassette will have justified its demo label!

 

Title	Big Ideas - Blinded by Science - 54 min - 24.97 mb http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/bigideas/blinded-by-science/3839938
	In 1979 two young men in Sydney invented a digital sampling synthesizer that sparked a worldwide musical revolution. It was called the Fairlight and for the first time musicians could play the sound of any instrument on a keyboard. It also allowed them to compose and perform compositions that would otherwise require a band or an orchestra to play. Those two men were 21 and their names were Kim Ryrie and Peter Vogel. Without the Fairlight you might not have the same sounds out of Thomas Dolby; who shot to prominence in this country with his 80s hit ‘She blinded me with Science’. Dolby had a boyhood obsession with music and technology and some two decades later his innovative computer music has greatly impacted on today’s popular music, games and mobile phones. Tonight they talk about music and technology then, now and in the future.
Published	February 20, 2012 10:05 PM
Copyright	Copyright 2012, Australian Broadcasting Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

* UPDATE 2012-02-22: The Just Fairlight Cassette Online

Peter found this post (which amazed me!) and commented that the cassette tracks are available on-line. Look for “Just Fairlight 3 A & 3 B” on his site: http://anerd.com/fairlight/audioarchives/index.htm

Skepticality, Packing for Mars

I first saw Mary on Colbert, a great interview, and have added her book to my wishlist to get next time I go Amazon shopping. I’m a bit behind with my Skepticality listening (but have them all saved to catch up) but jumped the list to hear this one!

Skepticality - The Official Podcast of Skeptic Magazine (Promoting Science and Critical Thinking)

This week on Skepticality, (episode 137), Swoopy talks with psychologist, journalist and bestselling author Mary Roach. Her new book Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void

Right Click Here to Download and Save

Flying with "Betty in the Sky with a Suitcase!"

If you fly, professionally or as a passenger, you’ll love this podcast. I’ve listened to it for years but the real & podcast worlds collided on a flight earlier this year.

It was in the middle of my never ending trek from Auckland, New Zealand, to New Orleans.

Leaving Auckland about 6pm Tuesday means arriving in L.A. about 13 hours later at 10am Tuesday (thanks to the dateline). I was heading for Dallas, then New Orleans but found my anticipated 4 hour stopover extended to 12 hours thanks to storms at Dallas. 

Then all flights through Dallas were cancelled. After a frantic call to American Airlines the only route that would get me to NOLA on time was from L.A. (about 10pm) to Miami, sit around there till 11am, then back to New Orleans landing about 1pm, 39 hours later.

On the Miami flight I’d finished my book and was listening to podcasts. There was an AA crew member sitting next to me who was transferring to Miami to start her shift the following evening. She’d never tried the Bose QC headphones I was using (yes I’m one of those recently teased by Betty ) and asked to try them. I happened to have Betty’s podcast playing at the time & she loved what she heard, took note of the URL to subscribe, and told the other crew on the flight. I like to think Betty gained a few listeners from that.

I don’t do many US flights but one day hope I’ll hear a familiar voice as I board the plane. It would neat to meet Betty “at work”. Until then I’ll just keep listening to the podcasts and looking for a flight attendant carrying a recorder...

Betty in the Sky with a Suitcase! – http://betty.libsyn.com/

Tags: Betty+in+the+Sky+with+a+Suitcase!

Pat Metheny Group Podcast

Seems like today is podcast discovery day as discovered the Pat Metheny Group podcast. The first discusses the re-mastered SONG X and there are iTunes and RSS subscriptions for future editions.

I have to admit I tried to like SONG X when it was released but never really got it. Perhaps it’s time for another attempt.

Pat Metheny Group Listener Network - Podcasts
Celebrating the Twentieth Anniversary of the historic recording SONG X featuring Pat Metheny, Ornette Coleman, Charlie Haden, Jack DeJohnette & Denardo Coleman

Scientific American are Podcasting

I just discovered Scientific American [Magazine] have a weekly Podcast! Episode One went out on Feb 8th but all are still available along with iTunes and RSS subscriptions.

Scientific American Podcast
Join host Steve Mirsky each week as he explores the latest developments in science and technology through interviews with leading scientists and journalists.

Which MP3 Player?

I’m thinking of getting a MP3 Player to replace my Minidisc Player but cant find one that:

• Has enough capacity to take a reasonable amount of stuff – 1 or 2 gb is fine
• Stores any kind of files – drag n drop – USB connection
• Has a long battery life – 30 hours –  or runs from replaceable batteries.
• Is rechargable independently – not carrying a computer to recharge a USB mp3 player!
• Has a radio tuner – when travelling I like listening to local radio
• Can record would be nice, not essential

I don’t care if it isn’t an iPod. The whole “iPod” thing is a bit lost on me, I don’t want to carry a trillion CD’s on a fragile hard-drive that I know I’ll drop.

So far the best bet is the Sony NWA608S MP3 Walkman (2GB with FM tuner) + some sort of recharger as it’s USB only. Have also thought of a combo mobile phone/player but my contract has a year to go and my provider doesn’t offer the Sony ones that look like the best bet here.

Any recommendations?

New Scientist Podcast

New Scientist have recently launched a 9 week podcast pilot, have a listen & tell them what you think.

New Scientist Podcast

Talking post test

This post is to test something new, will talk about it when I have figured it out

oddtodd does a 'tooncast

Hey! You wanna watch an TOON ANNOUNCEMENT thang!

oddtodd has announced a regular, well maybe not that regular, ‘tooncast.

The Tuesday Morning Coffay Show will be seen every, well most, ok perhaps some, tuesdays at oddtodd.com - Laid Off - No Nothing Productions. 

The first one is here and it’s great!

The Grand Prix Show Podcast

The Grand Prix Show is a Podcast about Formula One hosted by Ian Dixon & Jonathon Lyman . First show was yesterday and its off to a great start. Have a listen!

The Grand Prix Show #1 May 25th, 2005
Welcome to the first Grand Prix Show.
The fastest Podcast on the web!
The show for Formula One fans.
We are going to bring you race reviews, previews and the latest news.
As this is the first show we look back at the season so far, review Kimi Raikkonen Monaco win and look forward to this weekends race….

If you’re not familiar with term Podcast they are just an MP3 audio file you can download/listen with any MP3 player (inc Windows Media Player).