Smart People Are Smart

While reading about the early history of Walt Disney, I learned the name of Lee de Forest in relation to Disney's seminal Steamboat Willie. Going down that rabbit hole, I came across the following paragraph in Donald Crafton's 1999 book about early American sound cinema, The Talkies:

"Whether disc-based or photographically based, all successful motion-picture recording and reproduction systems used electrical amplification. But photographic systems -- that is, sound-on-film -- additionally required thermionic photoelectric cells. Recording sound on film depends on a highly controllable light source. Photoemissive cells, among many experimental uses, were gradually adapted for recording this kind of sound track. These gas-filled vacuum tubes transform the electric current produced by microphones into a pulsating light source which exposes photographic film stock in proportion to the intensity of the original sound. General Electric scientists working between 1911 and 1913 discovered that filling these tubes with heavy gases such as argon caused them to give off light when charged. Lee de Forest, probably influenced by this research, made a light cell he called the Photion, using a gas-filled tube. De Forest tried to adapt the instrument for recording sound on a photographic negative. The glowing light exposed the moving film, but the results were not very good. He then learned of an improved light emitter developed by Theodore Case and his collaborator Earl I. Sponable in which a quartz tube containing an oxide-coated wire, a metal plate, and helium gas glowed proportionately to the voltage supplied. Case had named his invention Aeo, the acronym for alkaline earth oxide. Unlike the filament of an ordinary light bulb or the Photion, the Aeo light’s short glow decay made possible more accurate recordings of higher sound frequencies. These tubes could be installed inside a camera to record picture and sound simultaneously (single system) or inside a separate “sound camera” which could be synchronized with the picture camera (double system). When the moving film stock was exposed by the pulsating intensity of the light, the result was a “variable density” photographic sound track. On 23 July 1926, after Case had broken with de Forest, he teamed up with the movie magnate William Fox to exploit the Aeo light in what would be called the Fox-Case Movietone system. The tube was replaced in 1929 by the Western Electric light valve (a nonthermionic device discussed later)."

I had sometimes wondered how sound was recorded onto film and played back. The genius and ingenuity of these pioneers is phenomenal.

Persistence Payoff

Hey folks. More than four years ago I backed a kickstarter for a documentary called Persistence of Vision, directed by Kevin Schreck, the story of master animator Richard Williams' struggle and ultimate failure to create a masterpiece. Now, today, I can say that I have received my backer's copy of the DVD, and I am more than pleased. Thanks, Mr. Schreck. I'm happy to have played a small part.

Persistence of Vision (Official Page)

Why do we eat chocolate at all?

I'm serious. I ate some unsweetened baker's chocolate today. Because I have eliminated sugar from my diet, and I missed chocolate. Guess what? Unsweetened chocolate tastes bad. It's bad. Why did prehistoric Mesoamericans cultivate it? I guess because it smells good. Maybe. I've never smelled a living cacao pod. Maybe it smells good. So it smells good, you figure it must taste good. So you taste it. Doesn't taste good. Tastes pretty bad. But you don't give up. You decide to try to MAKE it taste good. It's a lot of work, but it pays off, I guess? Do you know how involved the process is, to get something edible out of a cacao pod? You cut off a ripe cacao pod and scoop out the beans and pulp. You set the beans and pulp out in a pile and let it sit for a week, so it can ferment. Then you dry the beans in the sun for another week. Then you roast the beans. Then you shell the beans to extract the nibs. Then you grind and liquefy the nibs to get "chocolate liquor" (the term for fermented, dried, roasted, ground, liquefied cacao nibs). Then you process the chocolate liquor to separate it into cocoa solids and cocoa butter. Lastly you add sugar, vanilla, and maybe some milk, and you FINALLY have something that people actually want to eat. That's a LOT of work. Supposedly the Mesoamericans did not add refined sugar, but made a drink or a porridge with it, adding chili, maize, peanut butter, vanilla, or sometimes honey. To consume chocolate was a privilege of the elite. The Spaniards, when they encountered it, did not like it. They made it palatable by adding refined sugar and milk. Surprise! It's candy. I remain mystified. Can anyone with real knowledge of the subject enlighten me?

I'm seriously thinking about maybe raising some chickens

Gotta love Akira the Don, he's one of the best rap lyricists out there.

Check it out: Gonzales vs Akira the Don - Working Together (remix)

(2nd verse)
So I ain't got much money any more
but I got my honey bunny and a tummy that's full
And a free upgrade to a Blackberry Pearl so I'm
hooked up with the whole wide world
And every single day I cycle
'cause London transport takes the Michaels
I'm signed up with Hackney Freecycle
I got a free fishtank, it's delightful
An easel and a stereo to stick in the kitchen
I'm seriously thinking about maybe raising some chickens
Mummy she says she doesn't want me re-re-rearing a pig, she says
"We haven't got room for a pig" ya dig?
But screw complainin'
I got myself a damn fine dame an'
I reek from the head when it's rainin'
No one else we'll be blamin'
Use that. Say my name slightly
say it for the layman

04/06/14 - I've updated these lyrics now so they should be almost entirely correct.

Dreamfall: The Longest Journey

On hearing about the kickstarter for Dreamfall Chapters, the third game in the Longest Journey series of computer adventure games (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/redthread/dreamfall-chapters-the-longest-journey), I decided to catch up on the story so far. While I played and enjoyed the first game in the series, I just never got around to playing the second. As I expected, playthroughs of both games are available on youtube. If you have nine hours to kill (22 hours if you do both games), and you desire to immerse yourself in the Dreamfall story, then here is the place: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpEuk6LDyOo&list=PLA4A2E7C686A45BF1&fmt=22

Films to watch out for

Taking this space to enumerate some film projects I'm interested in:
La Carrera Panamericana (1950-1954) Documentary about the road race by Stephen Mitchell.
Manos: Hands of Fate classic bad film remastered in HD by Ben Solovey.
Persistence of Vision Documentary about the animator Richard Williams by Kevin Schreck.
The Search for Michael Rockefeller Documentary about the missing heir by Fraser C. Heston.
Jodorowsky's Dune Documentary about the famous failed Dune adapation by Frank Pavich. Sony Pictures Classics announced on July 11, 2013 that they had acquired the North American rights.
Beauty is Embarrassing Documentary about artist Wayne White by Neil Berkeley.
Galleons of Spice Documentary about the spice trail by Nomadic Films.
Milius Documentary about the filmmaker John Milius by Chop Shop Entertainment.
Hell & Back Stop-motion film by Human Giant almunus Tom Gianas.

Whither the 1988 Buick Roadmaster?

So I may be obsessed with Neal Stephenson. Recently I was reminded of a line from his 1996 novel The Cobweb, written under the pseudonym Stephen Bury. It's a fun read, I recommend it. Anyway, the part I'm thinking about concerns a supposed 1988 Buick Roadmaster that the main character purchases (actually trades his wife's Japanese car for) based on its high "throw weight", supposedly an indicator of crash safety. All well and good. / Here's my beef: Buick did not put out a Roadmaster for 1988. The nearest model year Roadmaster would be 1991. In 1988 the nearest Buick equivalent would be the Electra Estate. Also, as far as I can tell, throw weight as a measurement has to do with ballistic missile payloads and not passenger vehicles. / Maybe I've got too much time on my hands, but it seemed worth a mention. Don't ask Neal Stephenson about it, 'cause he's not interested.