Another new mix from Deejay Rhiannon. She was over here at my home-studio less than two weeks ago, having her latest mix-set Suck My Tech mastered by me.
Deejay Rhiannon – “Suck My Tech”…
Artist: Deejay Rhiannon Title: Suck My Tech (DJ mix set) Year: 2010 Comment: Mastered by Hashmoder (Omar Hash)
(DJ Veronica) thinks this is “the most hilarious mix she’s ever heard.” And she’s heard some weird shit. I didn’t mean for it to be “funny” really, but quirky, ok sure. Perhaps this is my reverse-psychological reaction to the monotonous obnoxious drone that is mainstream music here in California where I recorded this recent mix. Ok, I shouldn’t generalize. There is plenty of great underground music to be found here. I just haven’t found it yet. At least not in LA; San Francisco, no problem. Perhaps that’s why I was intuitively more drawn to the Golden Gates than the Hollywood Hills. Speaking of which, I almost called this mix “Holly wood If She Could.” Why? Well maybe I feel like Holly, who would play funkier, heavier, more complex music in L.A. if she could; that is, if she didn’t fear being boo’d off the stage by a ravenous horde of Kanye West & Beyonce worshippers. Now don’t get me wrong, I like Beyonce and many other top 40 artists, but I also like AC Slater, Klaus Hill, and Bjork. Am I a freak of nature? Is it some special gift to have the capacity to appreciate more than one or two genres of music? Or is it that the majority of people have unwillingly let themselves be ear-fucked by the hypnotizing effect of excessively repetitious radio airwaves?
THE HASHMODER
Hashmoderhimself asked me to write a little something about what this mix means to me, and how I put it together, etc. The truth is that I actually never planned on making a new mix at the time; I was just testing out my Vestax CD-RW recorder to see if it survived the move. I warmed up after a few mixes and off I went. None of the tracks were put in order or play-listed together prior to recording the mix. For me, the magic happens when I get completely pulled into the music and let everything else go. At that point, I trust my intuition to lead me to the next track, and so on. Sometimes I select a song and for a split second think, “Crap! This is not going to work!!” — but I go for it anyway. More often than not I’m pleasantly surprised. In fact I discovered the live mash-up of Cicada’s “Things You Say” with Dubfire’s “Roadkill” while I was playing a gig in Mexico City. Ok, I have to make a side-note here: Mexicans PARTY. And they love good house music. Apparently the Governator is worried about the immense influx of Mexican immigrants to California. If this is the case, Please tell me where they are exactly so I can open up a club smack in the middle of their makeshift American Zocalo! I’ve yet to find their level of enthusiasm & passion for underground house music in California.
SUCK MY TECH
Self-explanatory really! Meant to be more humorous than anything. I admit there is a tad bit of “fuck you” in there somewhere… probably to all the people who give me appalling song requests. And to my dear old dad who hasn’t spoken to me since he heard the shocking news that I shot a Playboy centerfold(download PDF file) to advance my career. Come on pops, it was no secret! If you bothered to glance at your daughter’s website once a decade you might have had a heads-up! Anyway, the real truth is, “I’m just a lady bug.” ;) Thank you Larry Tee for explaining it so well. How this track relates: I love the entertainment industry and all the contrived glamour, name-dropping, and beautiful bullshit that comes with it, but it’s what I do, not who I am. It’s a character I play, and that I adore certainly, but I try to separate my exterior identity — the social identity that can be recognized, used, and altered by people you don’t even know — from my interior identity — the unique identity that is mine and mine only to share with whom I choose. And in this case my public identity is that which I’ve created for my career: Playmate, DJ, Lyricist, etc. My private identity, the person I am when I’m at home, is similar to the one described in that song (Lady Bug is the 6th track). Anyway, Eckhart Tolle explains this stuff far more eloquently than I.
23 TRACKS IN 63 MINUTES
Very telling of the new DJ culture I find myself in. I trained myself as a House Mouse DJ in Vancouver. Long, seamless mixing was the goal, averaging 4 minutes or more per track usually, creating a smooth, fun vibe on the dance-floor. Since being exposed to a far more hip hop-inclined DJ scene my sets have become progressively busier, more compact and faster-paced. It’s a new style from that which I’m used to, but I’m enjoying the challenge. Averaging less than 3 (sometimes 2) minutes per track, I can’t help but think this style is representative of the A.D.D. generation that we DJs are now serving. The film industry entertains the same public; and mainstream film producers continue to develop bigger/better/busier movies using technology, not to mention smoke-&-mirrors, to keep its audience’s attention and distract them from their nagging restlessness. I think us DJs are being faced with the same challenges, at least those of us that serve the mainstream crowds (unfortunately I am sometimes one of them). In this DJ culture quick-fingered Turntablists are gods. But I’m holding my own the best I can. ;) The little underground house DJ lost in Hollywood… .
I never got into depth about what each track or blend means to me. I suppose that’s because I didn’t release record this for myself. I did it for the pleasure of my friends and fans, like every other mix. I’ll use it for promotional purposes of course, but ultimately it was inspired by the simple desire to feel a certain way: funky, bouncy, dirty, fun, sexy, thoughtful… ? As long as it affects the people that listen to it in some way I’ve done my job. So ENJOY!! And finally, HUGE THANKS to Hashmoder for mastering this mix like Cesar Milan masters bad-ass bitches, with ease and prowess. Thank you Omar!!!!!
I cannot get enough of this South Park’s spoof of Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior. Trey Parker and Matt Stone are truly the funniest people on the planet. Watch the Mad-Max-2 clip first and read the subtitles. Then watch the SouthPark’s spoof-clip about the “Road Warrior” queef and read the script below the video, in order to compare the two by subject-matter and skewed context. Oh what comic relief! I am a religious follower of Matt and Trey’s comedy.
“Mad Max 2: Road Warrior” clip…
South Park “Road Warrior Queef” clip from episide-1304…
Nooo! We go iiin! We kiiill! No more talk! We kiiill! Soon, my dog of war, but we have to do it my way. [switches to another voice] Losers! Losers wait!
South Park’s take on Martha Stewart’s pretty queef…
I came across a YouTube video which shows a demonstration of various objects levitating by way of magnetic and sound frequencies generated from acoustic speakers. The video’s author, Dr. David Deak, gave the following information on the video and experiment:
This is an acoustic levitation chamber I designed and built in 1987 as a micro-gravity experiment for NASA related subject matter. The 12 inch cubed plexiglas Helmholtz Resonant Cavity has 3 speakers attached to the cube by aluminium acoustic waveguides. By applying a continuous resonant(600Hertz) sound wave, and by adjusting the amplitude and phase relationship amongst the 3 speakers; I was able to control levitation and movement in all 3 (x,y,z) axis of the ambient space. This research was used to show the effects of micro-gravity conditions that exist in the space shuttle environment in orbit, but done here on Earth in a lab. This is not “anti-gravity.” So don’t waste time arguing something pointless.
Unless you travel into the vacuum of space, sound is all around you every day. But most of the time, you probably don’t think of it as a physical presence. You hear sounds; you don’t touch them. The only exceptions may be loud nightclubs, cars with window-rattling speakers and ultrasound machines that pulverize kidney stones. But even then, you most likely don’t think of what you feel as sound itself, but as the vibrations that sound creates in other objects.
The idea that something so intangible can lift objects can seem unbelievable, but it’s a real phenomenon. Acoustic levitation takes advantage of the properties of sound to cause solids, liquids and heavy gases to float. The process can take place in normal or reduced gravity. In other words, sound can levitate objects on Earth or in gas-filled enclosures in space.
Photo courtesy Lloyd Smith Research Group Acoustic levitation allows small objects,
like droplets of liquid, to float.
To understand how acoustic levitation works, you first need to know a little about gravity, air and sound. First, gravity is a force that causes objects to attract one another. The simplest way to understand gravity is through Isaac Newton’s law of universal gravitation. This law states that every particle in the universe attracts every other particle. The more massive an object is, the more strongly it attracts other objects. The closer objects are, the more strongly they attract each other. An enormous object, like the Earth, easily attracts objects that are close to it, like apples hanging from trees. Scientists haven’t decided exactly what causes this attraction, but they believe it exists everywhere in the universe.
Second, air is a fluid that behaves essentially the same way liquids do. Like liquids, air is made of microscopic particles that move in relation to one another. Air also moves like water does — in fact, some aerodynamic tests take place underwater instead of in the air. The particles in gasses, like the ones that make up air, are simply farther apart and move faster than the particles in liquids.
Third, sound is a vibration that travels through a medium, like a gas, a liquid or a solid object. A sound’s source is an object that moves or changes shape very rapidly. For example, if you strike a bell, the bell vibrates in the air. As one side of the bell moves out, it pushes the air molecules next to it, increasing the pressure in that region of the air. This area of higher pressure is a compression. As the side of the bell moves back in, it pulls the molecules apart, creating a lower-pressure region called a rarefaction. The bell then repeats the process, creating a repeating series of compressions and rarefactions. Each repetition is one wavelength of the sound wave.
The sound wave travels as the moving molecules push and pull the molecules around them. Each molecule moves the one next to it in turn. Without this movement of molecules, the sound could not travel, which is why there is no sound in a vacuum. You can watch the following animation to learn more about the basics of sound.
Click the arrow to move on to the next slide.
Acoustic levitation uses sound traveling through a fluid — usually a gas — to balance the force of gravity. On Earth, this can cause objects and materials to hover unsupported in the air. In space, it can hold objects steady so they don’t move or drift.
The process relies on of the properties of sound waves, especially intense sound waves. We’ll look at how sound waves become capable of lifting objects in the next section.
The Physics of Sound Levitation
A basic acoustic levitator has two main parts — a transducer, which is a vibrating surface that makes sound, and a reflector. Often, the transducer and reflector have concave surfaces to help focus the sound. A sound wave travels away from the transducer and bounces off the reflector. Three basic properties of this traveling, reflecting wave help it to suspend objects in midair.
First, the wave, like all sound, is a longitudinal pressure wave. In a longitudinal wave, movement of the points in the wave is parallel to the direction the wave travels. It’s the kind of motion you’d see if you pushed and pulled one end of a stretched Slinky. Most illustrations, though, depict sound as atransverse wave, which is what you would see if you rapidly moved one end of the Slinky up and down. This is simply because transverse waves are easier to visualize than longitudinal waves.
Second, the wave can bounce off of surfaces. It follows the law of reflection, which states that the angle of incidence — the angle at which something strikes a surface — equals the angle of reflection — the angle at which it leaves the surface. In other words, a sound wave bounces off a surface at the same angle at which it hits the surface. A sound wave that hits a surface head-on at a 90 degree angle will reflect straight back off at the same angle. The easiest way to understand wave reflection is to imagine a Slinky that is attached to a surface at one end. If you picked up the free end of the Slinky and moved it rapidly up and then down, a wave would travel the length of the spring. Once it reached the fixed end of the spring, it would reflect off of the surface and travel back toward you. The same thing happens if you push and pull one end of the spring, creating a longitudinal wave.
Finally, when a sound wave reflects off of a surface, the interaction between its compressions and rarefactions causes interference. Compressions that meet other compressions amplify one another, and compressions that meet rarefactions balance one another out. Sometimes, the reflection and interference can combine to create a standing wave. Standing waves appear to shift back and forth or vibrate in segments rather than travel from place to place. This illusion of stillness is what gives standing waves their name.
Standing sound waves have defined nodes, or areas of minimum pressure, and antinodes, or areas of maximum pressure. A standing wave’s nodes are at the heart of acoustic levitation. Imagine a river with rocks and rapids. The water is calm in some parts of the river, and it is turbulent in others. Floating debris and foam collect in calm portions of the river. In order for a floating object to stay still in a fast-moving part of the river, it would need to be anchored or propelled against the flow of the water. This is essentially what an acoustic levitator does, using sound moving through a gas in place of water.
Acoustic levitation uses sound pressure to allow objects to float.
By placing a reflector the right distance away from a transducer, the acoustic levitator creates a standing wave. When the orientation of the wave is parallel to the pull of gravity, portions of the standing wave have a constant downward pressure and others have a constant upward pressure. The nodes have very little pressure.
In space, where there is little gravity, floating particles collect in the standing wave’s nodes, which are calm and still. On Earth, objects collect just below the nodes, where the acoustic radiation pressure, or the amount of pressure that a sound wave can exert on a surface, balances the pull of gravity.
Objects hover in a slightly different area within the sound field,
depending on the influence of gravity.
It takes more than just ordinary sound waves to supply this amount of pressure. We’ll look at what’s special about the sound waves in an acoustic levitator in the next section.
Nonlinear Sound and Acoustic Levitation
Ordinary standing waves can be relatively powerful. For example, a standing wave in an air duct can cause dust to collect in a pattern corresponding to the wave’s nodes. A standing wave reverberating through a room can cause objects in its path to vibrate. Low-frequency standing waves can also cause people to feel nervous or disoriented — in some cases, researchers find them in buildings people report to be haunted.
But these feats are small potatoes compared to acoustic levitation. It takes far less effort to influence where dust settles or to shatter a glass than it takes to lift objects from the ground. Ordinary sound waves are limited by their linear nature. Increasing the amplitude of the wave causes the sound to be louder, but it doesn’t affect the shape of the wave form or cause it to be much more physically powerful.
However, extremely intense sounds — like sounds that are physically painful to human ears — are usually nonlinear. They can cause disproportionately large responses in the substances they travel through. Some nonlinear affects include:
Distorted wave forms
Shock waves, like sonic booms
Acoustic streaming, or the constant flow of the fluid the wave travels through
Acoustic saturation, or the point at which the matter can no longer absorb any more energy from the sound wave
Nonlinear acoustics is a complex field, and the physical phenomena that cause these effects can be difficult to understand. But in general, nonlinear affects can combine to make an intense sound far more powerful than a quieter one. It is because of these affects that a wave’s acoustic radiation pressure can become strong enough to balance the pull of gravity. Intense sound is central to acoustic levitation — the transducers in many levitators produce sounds in excess of 150 decibels (dB). Ordinary conversation is about 60 dB, and a loud nightclub is closer to 110 dB.
Other Uses for Nonlinear Sound
Several medical procedures rely on nonlinear acoustics. For example, ultrasound imaging uses nonlinear effects to allow doctors to examine babies in the womb or view internal organs. High-intensity ultrasound waves can also pulverize kidney stones, cauterize internal injuries and destroy tumors.
Levitating objects with sound isn’t quite as simple as aiming a high-powered transducer at a reflector. Scientists also must use sounds of the correct frequency to create the desired standing wave. Any frequency can produce nonlinear effects at the right volume, but most systems use ultrasonic waves, which are too high-pitched for people to hear. In addition to the frequency and volume of the wave, researchers also must pay attention to a number of other factors:
The distance between the transducer and the reflector must be a multiple of half of the wavelength of the sound the transducer produces. This produces a wave with stable nodes and antinodes. Some waves can produce several usable nodes, but the ones nearest the transducer and reflector usually not suitable for levitating objects. This is because the waves create a pressure zone close to the reflective surfaces.
In a microgravity environment, such as outer space, the stable areas within the nodes must be large enough to support the floating object. OnEarth, the high-pressure areas just below the node must be large enough as well. For this reason, the object being levitated should measure between one third and half of the wavelength of the sound. Objects larger than two thirds of the sound’s wavelength are too large to be levitated — the field isn’t big enough to support them. The higher the frequency of the sound, the smaller the diameter of the objects it’s possible to levitate.
Objects that are the right size to levitate must also be of the right mass. In other words, scientists must evaluate the density of the object and determine whether the sound wave can produce enough pressure to counteract the pull of gravity on it.
Drops of liquid being levitated must have a suitable Bond number, which is a ratio that describes the liquid’s surface tension, density and size in the context of gravity and the surrounding fluid. If the Bond number is too low, the drop will burst.
The intensity of the sound must not overwhelm the surface tension of liquid droplets being levitated. If the sound field is too intense, the drop will flatten into a donut and then burst.
This might sound like a lot of work required to suspend small objects a few centimeters off of a surface. Levitating small objects — or even small animals — a short distance might also sound like a relatively useless practice. However, acoustic levitation has several uses, both on the ground and in outer space. Here are a few:
Manufacturing very small electronic devices and microchips often involves robots or complex machinery. Acoustic levitators can perform the same task by manipulating sound. For example, levitated molten materials will gradually cool and harden, and in a properly tuned field of sound, the resulting solid object is a perfect sphere. Similarly, a correctly shaped field can force plastics to deposit and harden only on the correct areas of a microchip.
Some materials are corrosive or otherwise react with ordinary containers used during chemical analysis. Researchers can suspend these materials in an acoustic field to study them without the risk of contamination from or destruction of containers.
The study of foam physics has a big obstacle – gravity. Gravity pulls the liquid downward from foam, drying and destroying it. Researchers can contain foam with in acoustic fields to study it in space, without the interference of gravity. This can lead to a better understanding of how foam performs tasks like cleaning ocean water.
Researchers continue to develop new setups for levitation systems and new applications for acoustic levitation. To learn more about their research, sound and related topics, check out the links on the next page.
Other Levitator Setups
Although a levitator with one transducer and one reflector can suspend objects, some setups can increase stability or allow movement. For example, some levitators have three pairs of transducers and reflectors, which are positioned along the X, Y and Z axes. Others have one large transmitter and one small, movable reflector; the suspended object moves when the reflector moves.
Alan B. Coppens, “Sound”, in AccessScience@McGraw-Hill, http://www.accessscience.com, DOI 10.1036/1097-8542.637200, last modified: August 26, 2005.
Anilkumar, A.V. et al. “Stability of an Acoustically Levitated and Flattened Drop: An Experimental Study.” Center for Microgravity Research and Applications, Vanderbilt University. 7/16/1993.
Choi, Charles. “Scientists Levitate Small Animals.” LiveScience. 11/29/2006.
Eastern Illinois Department of Physics: Acoustic Levitation
http://www.eiu.edu/~physics/acoustic.php
Fletcher, et al. U.S. Patent 3,882,732. “Material Suspension in an Acoustically Excited Resonant Chamber.” 5/13/1975.
Guigne, et al. U.S. Patent 5,500,493. “Acoustic Beam Levitation.” 5/19/1996.
Henry E. Bass, J. Brian Fowlkes, Veerle M. Keppens, “Ultrasonics”, in AccessScience@McGraw-Hill, http://www.accessscience.com, DOI 10.1036/1097-8542.719500, last modified: August 8, 2002.
Holt, Glynn and Greg McDaniel. “Using Acoustic Levitation to Float Foams in Space.” Acoustical Society of America 136th Meeting Lay Language Papers.
http://www.acoustics.org/press/136th/holt2.htm
Kenneth S. Suslick, “Sonochemistry”, in AccessScience@McGraw-Hill, http://www.accessscience.com, DOI 10.1036/1097-8542.637005, last modified: May 2, 2002.
Leo L. Beranek, “Wave motion”, in AccessScience@McGraw-Hill, http://www.accessscience.com, DOI 10.1036/1097-8542.740500, last modified: August 16, 2002.
Lierke, E.G. “The Ultrasonic Levitator – Space Technology for Terrestrial Applications.” European Space Agency.
Mark F. Hamilton, “Nonlinear acoustics”, in AccessScience@McGraw-Hill, http://www.accessscience.com, DOI 10.1036/1097-8542.455450, last modified: April 18, 2003.
Oran, et. al. U.S. Patent 4,218,921. “Method and Apparatus for Shaping and Enhancing Acoustical Levitation Forces.” 8/26/1980. USPTO.
Rey, Charles A. U.S. Patent 4,284,403. “Acoustic Levitation and Methods for Manipulating Levitated Objects.” 8/18/2001.
Robert E. Apfel, “Acoustic levitation”, in AccessScience@McGraw-Hill, http://www.accessscience.com, DOI 10.1036/1097-8542.005800, last modified: July 16, 2001.
Robert E. Apfel, “Acoustic radiation pressure”, in AccessScience@McGraw-Hill, http://www.accessscience.com, DOI 10.1036/1097-8542.006200, last modified: July 16, 2001.
Rudolf Tuckermann, Sigurd Bauerecker, “Ultrasonic trapping of gases”, in AccessScience@McGraw-Hill, http://www.accessscience.com, DOI 10.1036/1097-8542.YB041145, last modified: March 4, 2004.
Santesson, Sabina and Staffan Nilsson. “Airborne Chemistry: Acoustic Levitation in Chemical Analysis.” Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry. 2004.
Schmidt-Jones, Catherine. “What is a Standing Wave?” Connexions.
http://cnx.org/content/m12413/latest/
Strauss, Stephen. “Look Ma, No Hands.” Technology Review. August/September 1988.
University of Idaho: Acoustic Levitation http://www.webs1.uidaho.edu/fluidslab/Fluids/ AcousticLevitation/levitated_water_droplets.htm
William M. Carey, “Sound pressure”, in AccessScience@McGraw-Hill, http://www.accessscience.com, DOI 10.1036/1097-8542.637500, last modified: July 30, 2002.
Xie, W.J. and B. Wei. “Parametric Study of Single-Axis Acoustic Levitation.” Applied Physics Letters. 8/6/2001.
Monsieur Verdoux movie is one of my favorites of all time. I have watched it probably over 200 times in the past. This great Charlie Chaplin movie can now be seen in full, including two featurettes: (1) Introduction of Chaplin and Monsieur Verdoux, discussing the historical and cinematic context of the film; and (2) Documentary on Charlie Chaplin and his film based on a true story “Monsieur Verdoux” which was inspired by Orson Welles who originally gave the idea to Chaplin to make the movie.
According to Wikipedia: The film is about an unemployed banker, Henri Verdoux, and his sociopathic methods of attaining income. While being both loyal and competent in his work, Verdoux has been laid-off. To make money for his wife and child, he marries wealthy widows and then murders them. His crime spree eventually works against him when two particular widows break his normal routine. The film ends as Verdoux is being led to the guillotine in the prison courtyard after dismissing his killing of a few as no worse than the highly-praised killing of large numbers in war. The script for this film, the idea for it given by Orson Welles, was inspired by the case of serial killer Henri Désiré Landru. Welles sought to direct the film with Chaplin as star, but Chaplin backed out at the last minute, on the grounds that he’d never been directed in a full length film before and wasn’t willing to start. Instead, Chaplin bought the script from Welles and rewrote parts of it, crediting Welles only with the idea. The lead character kills to make money, hence he is not (in his eyes) a murderer.
The Manchurian Candidate (1962) by Richard Condon, is a political thriller novel about the son of a prominent US political family who has been brainwashed into being an unwitting assassin for the Communist Party.
Captain Bennett Marco, Sergeant Raymond Shaw, and the rest of their infantry platoon are kidnapped during the Korean War in 1952. They are taken to Manchuria, and are brainwashed to believe that Sgt. Shaw saved their lives in combat — for which the Army awards him the Medal of Honor. ————— Years after the war, Marco, now back in the United States working as an intelligence officer, begins suffering the recurring nightmare of Raymond Shaw murdering two of his comrades, all clinically observed by Chinese and Russian intelligence officials. When Marco learns that another soldier from the platoon also has been suffering the same nightmare, he sets to uncovering the mystery and its meaning. ————— It is revealed that the Communists have been using Raymond Shaw as a sleeper agent, a guiltless assassin subconsciously activated by seeing the “Queen of Diamonds” playing card while playing solitaire. As such, he obeys orders, which he then forgets. Raymond Shaw’s Soviet secret service controller is his domineering mother, Eleanor, a ruthless power broker working with the Communists to execute a “palace coup d’état” and quietly overthrow the U.S. Government with the “Manchurian Candidate”: her husband, McCarthy-esque Senator Johnny Iselin. – Wikipedia
Watch full-length movie…
Trivia Tid-Bits…
Iselin’s plane in real life was owned by Frank Sinatra.
One scene was filmed at the Bar and Grill that Frank Sinatra’s friend Jilly Rizzo owned in New York City.
Frank Sinatra broke one of his fingers when he hit the table, which was real and not a break-away prop, in the fight sequence with Henry Silva. Due to ongoing filming commitments, he could not rest or bandage his hand properly, causing the injury to heal incorrectly. It caused him chronic discomfort for the rest of his life.
Angela Lansbury was thirty-six at the time of filming, only three years older than Laurence Harvey, who played her son.
All the members of the platoon in Korea are named after cast and crew of “The Phil Silvers Show” (1955).
It took a full week to film the opening dream sequence. Director John Frankenheimer rushed a rough edit of the sequence to Frank Sinatra, then decided to keep the cut in the final movie unchanged.
In the scene where Frank Sinatra gives the all-queens deck of cards to Laurence Harvey, Sinatra is out of focus. He had trouble recreating his performance, so director John Frankenheimer left the footage as is. Audiences weren’t bothered; they interpreted it as Harvey’s blurred perspective.
Frank Sinatra wanted Lucille Ball for the role of Mrs. Iselin which was played by Angela Lansbury.
When Captain Marco is shown a photo of the Communist official Gomel (Reggie Nalder) at a child’s birthday party, the two children in the photo are actually the children of screenwriter George Axelrod.
The topic of the movie was considered politically so highly sensitive it was censored and prohibited just before its theatrical release in many of the former ‘Iron Curtain’ countries, such as Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria – and even in neutral countries such as Finland and Sweden. The theatrical premiere for most of those countries was held after the collapse of Soviet Union in 1993.
The scenes of the convention were filmed at the Old Madison Square Garden on 8th ave at 49th street. The last event ever held there was in Febuary 1968. It was torn down shortly after closing and today an office tower stands on the site.
Contrary to popular belief, the film was not pulled from circulation following the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy. It made its American television debut on The CBS Thursday Night Movies in September 1965 (source: Broadcasting magazine), and was repeated on that network later that season. Only when the rights reverted to Frank Sinatra in 1972 did the film disappear from view, although even then turning up for third and fourth network showings on NBC in spring 1974 (source: TV Guide) and summer 1975 (source: Variety). Sinatra’s neglect in keeping the film in distribution gave rise to the legend that it was suppressed because of its alleged role in Lee Harvey Oswald’s assassination of the 35th president. The legend was further perpetuated when Sinatra, in alliance with MGM/UA, re-released the film to theaters in 1988. When the rumor was debunked in an article in Films in Review, another myth, one claiming that Sinatra and UA had a dispute about the profits, took its place. The myth survives to this day, but it is pure fiction.
George Axelrod copied the lecture about hydrangeas verbatim from a seed catalogue.
A scene where Laurence Harvey jumps in Central Park lake was shot on the coldest day in 30 years. They had to break the foot-thick ice on the lake with a bulldozer before the scene could be shot.
One of the early uses of martial arts in a key fight sequence (between Frank Sinatra and Henry Silva, over a decade before the Kung Fu craze of the 1970s. Still earlier, however, is Blood on the Sun (1945), with its climactic judo bout involving James Cagney in Blood on the Sun (1945) And though Peter Lorre was using jujitsu in Mr. Moto movies as early as 1937, Harry Parke (as Parkyakarkus) mentions jujitsu in the Eddie Cantor movie Strike Me Pink (1936).
Prior to the commissioning of the book as a movie, Arthur Krim, then President of United Artists and Finance Chairman of the Democratic Party, is known to have felt uneasy about its subject matter. President John F. Kennedy, as a favor to his friend Frank Sinatra, called Krim to let him know that he had no objection to a film version being made.
Famous for his use of innovative camera angles, director John Frankenheimer was widely acclaimed for a shot that is slightly out of focus. John Frankenheimer said that rather than the shot being evidence of inspiration, it was an accident and merely the best take for actor Frank Sinatra.
The army psychiatrist in this movie was the first black actor cast in a part that wasn’t specified as a black character.
Rosie’s number, ELdorado 5-xxxx was once a telephone company test number that would always give anyone who calls it a busy signal. However, as of 2009, the number is active in at least one area code.
John Frankenheimer opted to direct this movie after plans to film author Richard Yates’s 1961 novel “Revolutionary Road” failed to materialize.
By his own admission Frank Sinatra’s best work always came in the first take. John Frankenheimer always liked the idea of using the freshness of a first take – so nearly all of the key scenes featuring Sinatra are first takes, unless a technical problem prevented them being used.
SPOILER: Frank Sinatra refers to Orestes and Clytemnestra when he is talking to Laurence Harvey. Clytemnestra was the wife of Agamemnon (King of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Mycenae) who, with her lover Aegisthus, murdered him and took over the throne. Orestes, the son of Clytemnestra, later killed them both.
SPOILER: On the copy of the New York Post announcing the slaying of Senator Jordan and his daughter, a small headline at the top reads: “VIOLENT HURRICANE SWEEPS MIDWEST; 20 DEAD, HUNDREDS HOMELESS”
SPOILER: In Richard Condon’s novel, the relationship between Mrs. Iselin and her son Raymond is more explicitly incestuous, complete with a bed scene. Director John Frankenheimer and screenwriter George Axelrod wanted to include that element, but reduced it to the less-than-motherly kiss that Mrs. Iselin plants on Raymond’s lips. To appease the censors, Frankenheimer instructed Angela Lansbury to put her hand between their mouths and the camera during the kiss to obscure what she was doing a bit. By time of the second remake on Condon’s book (the 2004 Jonathan Demme film), the incestuous content between the mother and son shown on screen had been reduced even more, so that the camera cuts away before she kisses her son on the lips, only leaving the implication of that relationship between them.
This film is a masterpiece. I love old classic movies, and this one is in my top-10 list of all-time favorites. The title of this film comes from the Book of Proverbs, 11:29: “He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind.” Based on the true events of the Scopes Monkey Trial which took place in Dayton, Tennessee in 1925. The story is very thought-provoking from both points of view — the evolutionist and the fundamental Christian. It’s a rare 1960 American classic that takes the grand clash of ideas. The presentation does justice by conveying effectively the sweaty claustrophobia of small town in Bible-belt America. Whether or not the hesitation in bringing out such a potentially controversial, expanded package is a matter of intelligent design or just random selection, the public will have to judge for itself. From here, a lot can still be seen happening today, all over the world, and in every kind of religion vs. other religion and/or ideologies.
Watch full-length movie…
Trivia Tid-Bits…
Was the first in-flight movie ever shown on Trans World Airlines.
When Stanley Kramer offered the role of E.K. Hornbeck to Gene Kelly, Kelly initially turned it down. Kramer told him that his co-stars would be Fredric March and Spencer Tracy, and Kelly changed his mind. This was a risky move on Kramer’s part, as he had not yet asked March or Tracy to participate.
Robert Vaughn was offered the role of E.K. Hornbeck, in case Gene Kelly turned it down. But he instead opted to make The Magnificent Seven.
To heighten the tension of Spencer Tracy’s final summation to the jury, the scene was filmed in a single take.
Writers Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee named the overzealous prosecutor “Matthew Brady”. When Roscoe ‘Fatty’ Arbuckle was tried for manslaughter three times in 1921/22, the real overzealous prosecuting San Francisco District Attorney was named Matthew Brady. Matthew Brady was also the name of the famous portrait and landscape photographer of the American Civil War.
When Drummond’s attempt to call scientific experts to the stand to testify in behalf of the defense is thwarted, Stanley Kramer adds a couple of elements from the actual Scopes Trial, combining the fiery closing of Clarence Darrow’s speech on the motion to quash the indictment with the change in which Judge Raulston cited Darrow for contempt.
The character Henry Drummond is based on real-life attorney Clarence Darrow. Matthew Harrison Brady is based on William Jennings Bryan. Schoolteacher Bertram T. Cates is based on schoolteacher John Thomas Scopes (hence “Scopes Monkey Trial”).
A young Burt Reynolds got to visit the set and watch some of the courtroom scenes being filmed because he was doing some TV work nearby and Spencer Tracy was one of his idols.
The character of E.K. Hornbeck was based on American journalist H.L. Mencken, who had notably covered the Scopes trial.
Fredric March and Spencer Tracy both played the dual roles of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in 1931 (Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde) and 1941 (Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde) respectively. March received an Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal.
The theatrical trailer, hosted by Stanley Kramer, shows Kramer, along with Gregory Peck and his wife Veronique Passani (aka Celia Peck), Jeff Chandler, Otto Preminger, Walter Wanger, and West Berlin Mayor Willy Brandt attending the Berlin Film Festival premiere, where Kramer receives an award presented by Harold Lloyd, who was on the festival committee.
In the scene where Drummond (Spencer Tracy) tells the story of his rocking horse “Golden Dancer” to Brady (Fredric March), they are sitting in rocking chairs on the porch of the boarding house. The actors are both rocking their chairs but are never in sync with each other to emphasize their differences of opinion.
The original Broadway production of “Inherit the Wind” by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee opened at the National Theater on 21 April 1955, ran for 806 performances and won two acting Tony Awards in 1956. The opening night cast included Paul Muni as Drummond (Melvyn Douglas later took over the role when Muni developed a cataract), Ed Begley as Brady and Tony Randall as Hornbeck. There has been 2 Broadway revivals; in 1996 with Charles Durning and George C. Scott and in 2007 with Brian Dennehy and Christopher Plummer.
The subplot concerning Cates’s engagement to the Rev. Brown’s daughter Rachel, and Brady’s manipulation of the girl to give damaging testimony at the trial, is entirely fictional. The real-life John Scopes had no known fiancee or girlfriend at the time of the trial.
Because of the criticism directed at producer Stanley Kramer by the American Legion for hiring Nedrick Young, who they considered subversive, Moss Hart as president of The Authors League of America sent Kramer a telegram: “The Authors League of America council, which has always unalterably opposed any form of blacklisting of writers, unanimously voted at a meeting today to commend and applaud you for your courageous stand in rejecting publicly the effort to interfere, on pseudo-patriotic grounds, with the right of writers to work.”
While the norm for most tracks go anywhere between 3:30 to 6:00 minutes in length, I prefer 15:00 minutes or longer, like the four seasons. Give me 4 long tracks to fill the hour, and I’ll be one very happy Iraqi. I love tracks that take me on long journeys through various movements. One of my all-time favorite synth-pop groups is PROPAGANDA from germany … who sound like twisted ABBA + Industrial + TechnoPop + Darkness. My favorite Proganda track is P:Machinery. I’ve taken two 12-inch vinyl versions of that track and conjoined them together as one … the way I want to listen to P:Machinery by:
Digitizing them into Protools; Spending two long months cleaning them up; Getting rid of every single scratch/pop/click; Restoring deteriorated sounds through various RE-SYNTHESIS processes and techniques; Splicing the tracks to separate clips; Re-arranging and layering clips to my taste; Throwing in my own synth-stabs, chops and other minor subtleties; Adding & automating series of chained top-notch effects throughout the mix, utilizing parameters some of you could not even pronounce ... thus resulting with more dynamic and reverberated DEPTH to the mix; Fattening the bottom-end; Widening overall stereo perception; and Mixing, engineering and mastering my version of P:Machinery the way I think it's supposed to be heard.
To my taste, P:Machinery sounds better than 'sick' ... more like master piece of shit which blasts sonically across the stereo-field ... not one element standing still but constantly moving all over the place.
Although he produced only a handful of tracks of renown and disappeared into obscurity almost as quickly as he had emerged from it, Manny ( Man ) Parrish is nonetheless one of the most important and influential figures in American electronic dance music. Helping to lay the foundation of electro, hip-hop, freestyle, and techno, as well as the dozens of subgenres to splinter off from those, Parrish introduced the aesthetic of European electronic pop to the American club scene by combining the plugged-in disco-funk of Giorgio Moroder and the man-machine music of Kraftwerk with the beefed-up rhythms and cut’n'mix approach of nascent hip-hop. As a result, tracks like “Hip-Hop Be Bop (Don’t Stop)” and “Boogie Down Bronx” were period-defining works that provided the basic genetic material for everyone from Run-DMC and the Beastie Boys to Autechre and Andrea Parker — and they remain undisputed classics of early hip-hop and electro to this day.
Man Parrish Boogie Down Bronx (dub version) PLAY TRACK
What made Trevor Horn’s productions stand out was his unique and genius production techniques and the heavy use of state-of-the-art pro-audio gear, which made him become the torch-bearer for the kind of technology-led pop music which was hip and incredibly disciplined. Trevor Horn’s 12-inch remixes were uniquely long (anywhere from 8 to 13 minutes in duration) and told stories which took the listeners through long instrumental journeys at the begenning of tracks until the climax is reached (around the 5/6 or 7 minute mark). After the climax, the original or alternate full vocal version of the track takes over from that point on to the end, lasting additional 3.5 to 5 minutes in length.
Frankie Goes To Hollywood Relax (12 inch Sex Mix) PLAY TRACK
Trevor Horn is the guy who produced and performed “Video Killed The Radio Star” world-wide smash-hit track. I did some major digging and discovered some fascinating, forgotten facts and hidden gem tracks from The Buggles. In 1980, the Buggles’ duo Geoffrey Downes (keyboards) and Trevor Horn (vocals) — who were coming off an international success with their new-wave album The Age of Plastic – to help out on a new YES album. Downes suddenly left Buggles when Trevor learned that YES’ keyboardist Rick Wakeman was leaving the band, and therefore snatched him as well as lead-vocalist Jon Anderson to work on the next Buggles album Adventures In Modern Recording. The Buggle’s second album was completed in 1981 but was never released or charted. The album was a gem masterpiece.
The Buggles I Am A Camera (12 inch version) PLAY TRACK
We’re joining our friends at Reddit, Tumblr, Wikipedia, Boing Boing, and Google today in raising awareness of SOPA/PIPA legislation in the US Congress. These bills aim to change the very structure of the internet by allowing corporations and the US government to block access to domain names, and they circumvent the DMCA provisions that have […]
Every Hype Machine Zeitgeist tabulates the best music of the year, as decided by music bloggers. This time, we thought it would be interesting to open the voting up to everybody and find out what albums everyone loved in 2011. We built an album picker stocked with all albums released in 2011 according to Discogs, […]
The Hype Machine Music Blog Zeitgeist 2011 is ALIVE! We will be revealing 10 of the year’s Top 50 artists and albums every day, with fresh mixes of the Top 50 tracks. Stick around till Monday to find out who made it to the Top 10. Here’s how this Zeitgeist was created: Top 50 Artists: […]
Anthony, founder of the Hype Machine here. Just wanted to say thanks for being with us this year. It’s our sixth year of running the site, the biggest yet. The list of things that have happened is long, but among them: • Reached 1 million registered users (that’s you!) • Made the site play on iPhone, Android & Windows phones […]
We are looking for awesome people to join our team in Greenpoint, Brooklyn NY to help us build the future of music culture on the web. Right now, we are looking for two: Versatile Front-end Developer You must have: Strong JS (+assorted frameworks)/CSS skills An eye for design and attention to the details of […]
We’re always making new stuff, but we frequently forget to tell you about it. Sorry :/ Here’s what we’ve been working on in addition to our site redesign: Zeitgeist: We’ve meticulously restored all four years of our Zeitgeists (2007-2010). Browse, remind yourself of some great music you may have forgotten, and sign up to be […]
We’ve been having a lot of fun with the site for the past few weeks, with a header paying tribute to Nine Inch Nails, and our earlier Halloween colors, but we’ve also been making some design changes, which you can now see! The update now live on the site streamlines the site player experience, makes […]
We make the site to keep everyone finding something new, and today we are testing a new revision to the Latest front page. Starting now, the front page (also accessible as “Latest“) will only show the most recently posted tracks that have never been blogged about before. This means that they are as fresh […]
We have something new for you today from the Hype Machine Labs. We call it Fast Forward. Fast Forward is a speedy, immersive way to explore new music being discussed by the world-class blogs we index at The Hype Machine. I mean it: it is really fast. We’ve been thinking about this idea since SXSW 2009, […]
SBTRKT is one of the most exciting artists to come out of London’s effervescent “bass music” scene over the past year. Following the release of his wicked debut album (which premiered right here on The Hype Machine), SBTRKT brings his LDN vibes to NYC this week. Along with our friends at TREEHOUSE, we’re stoked to co-host a special SBTRKT after-show par […]
Denroy Morgan is a Jamaican expat, moving to Brooklyn as a teenager. He is famous for his roots reggae sound but in the early eighties had a string of well known disco hits on Beckett records. He has apparently fathered over 30 children, 10 of which are either rotating in his backing band or gigging on the New York reggae scene. BeatElectric admires the viri […]
Here are a couple of cool cuts from 1984. 1984 was an interesting year for music. The boogie greatness of 1982 was fizzling out, electro was king, and house was just getting started. These tracks highlight where genres converged and coalesced into some strange hybrids.This first track by Zero Hour shows a lot of electro influence and can easily pass as a the […]
We've covered Maurizio Sangineto's productions before on this site. Firefly was a dance music group composed of fellow Italians and released four LPs during their career. This track was a big tune at the Garage. The uplifting vocals get me every time. I also really like the brave use of some dynamic range in this 12" mix. It is rare to hear ja […]
Carol Shinnette put records out on Oakland's 'Optune' label. Don't ever call the 415 number printed on the front of her 7" sleeves, as the gentleman on the other end of the line will threaten to kill you. This B.E have learned the hard way. Although the record is claiming our hometown, it turns out it was actually produced in Lake Ch […]
New Schit from Cut Copy’s bass player Ben Browning. BEN BROWNING – I CANT SAY by Cutters Records J. Crackinov Follow Me you Twi†Z!! √ Follow Schitz you Twi†Z!! √ Hear† Us on HYPE!! √ Like Us Facebook √ Share this on Facebook Tweet This! Share this on Tumblr Digg this! Share this on Reddit […]
Free download via Soundcloud. J. Crackinov Follow Me you Twi†Z!! √ Follow Schitz you Twi†Z!! √ Hear† Us on HYPE!! √ Like Us Facebook √ Share this on Facebook Tweet This! Share this on Tumblr Digg this! Share this on Reddit Share this on Technorati Stumble upon something good? Share it on StumbleUpon Email this […]
J. Crackinov Follow Me you Twi†Z!! √ Follow Schitz you Twi†Z!! √ Hear† Us on HYPE!! √ Like Us Facebook √ Share this on Facebook Tweet This! Share this on Tumblr Digg this! Share this on Reddit Share this on Technorati Stumble upon something good? Share it on StumbleUpon Email this via Gmail Add this […]
You listenin to disco in 2012 you got more problems than no gf…try updating your musical tastes into the future bass side of things. The ladies love future bass…not bell bottoms blud, ya get me ? Share this on Facebook Tweet This! Share this on Tumblr Digg this! Share this on Reddit Share this on […]
THA GUVNA
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Disclaimer
Mp3's on this site are for sampling and promotional purposes only and will only. Most of the mp3 tracks on this blog/site are remixes, extended and limited versions which are deleted, no longer available for purchase and would not be heard otherwise. However, please support these artists. If you are one of these artists and would like your music removed from this site, please notify me, and I will endeavor to remove them as soon as possible.
While the norm for most tracks go anywhere between 3:30 to 6:00 minutes in length, I prefer 15:00 minutes or longer, like the four seasons. Give me 4 long tracks to fill the hour, and I’ll be one very happy Iraqi. I love tracks that take me on long journeys through various movements. One of my all-time favorite synth-pop groups is PROPAGANDA from germany … who sound like twisted ABBA + Industrial + TechnoPop + Darkness. My favorite Proganda track is P:Machinery. I’ve taken two 12-inch vinyl versions of that track and conjoined them together as one … the way I want to listen to P:Machinery by:
Propaganda
Although he produced only a handful of tracks of renown and disappeared into obscurity almost as quickly as he had emerged from it, Manny ( Man ) Parrish is nonetheless one of the most important and influential figures in American electronic dance music. Helping to lay the foundation of electro, hip-hop, freestyle, and techno, as well as the dozens of subgenres to splinter off from those, Parrish introduced the aesthetic of European electronic pop to the American club scene by combining the plugged-in disco-funk of Giorgio Moroder and the man-machine music of Kraftwerk with the beefed-up rhythms and cut’n'mix approach of nascent hip-hop. As a result, tracks like “Hip-Hop Be Bop (Don’t Stop)” and “Boogie Down Bronx” were period-defining works that provided the basic genetic material for everyone from Run-DMC and the Beastie Boys to Autechre and Andrea Parker — and they remain undisputed classics of early hip-hop and electro to this day.
Man Parrish
What made Trevor Horn’s productions stand out was his unique and genius production techniques and the heavy use of state-of-the-art pro-audio gear, which made him become the torch-bearer for the kind of technology-led pop music which was hip and incredibly disciplined. Trevor Horn’s 12-inch remixes were uniquely long (anywhere from 8 to 13 minutes in duration) and told stories which took the listeners through long instrumental journeys at the begenning of tracks until the climax is reached (around the 5/6 or 7 minute mark). After the climax, the original or alternate full vocal version of the track takes over from that point on to the end, lasting additional 3.5 to 5 minutes in length.
Frankie Goes To Hollywood
Trevor Horn is the guy who produced and performed “
The Buggles
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