Not found in the club

Now that I'm thinking about music, I must admit I've been lazy about it. I've been passively listening to whatever the pop radio stations play. Which means I've been listening to a lot of LMFAO, Rihanna, Nicky Minaj and all them folk on repeat every time I'm in the car. I enjoy the music but what happened to mixing things up? I can't even find a classical station anymore.

When I DJed at the college radio station they had rules about the music we played.
While mainstream stations play:
* one genre of music all the time and
* the same new song about once every half hour,

We were required to play:
* at least three genres of music every hour (unless you had a genre-specific show)
* at least three new featured tracks every hour
* if you were playing off a mainstream cd, it is preferred to play the songs that weren't on the top 100 charts

My mixes were usually hip hop and show tunes with some classical, jazz or comedy thrown in.
(I would have played more comedy but it was tough censoring tracks on the spot. A fine from the FCC for one of the "seven dirty words" was enough to shut down the station. Better to be careful.)

So here's some songs from different genres I didn't discover on the radio or in the club that I like/really liked at some point. Enjoy!

Ratatat - Loud Pipes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64liF2VuLxI&feature=related

Edward Shearmur - Grand Central (KPAX soundtrack)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GUcoSENzF0

Holly Brook - What I Wouldn't Give
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fxuxfjWZKo
(now Skylar Grey)

Jake Shimabukuro - Crazy G
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEqzV3ysPEg
(ukelele master)

Dick Dale - Shake N Stomp
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiNFNnsH1Bo&NR=1
(surf music king)

Janis Joplin - Mercedes Benz
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-GFqhCq2HA

Ugly Girl
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6hcXEG4fpA

Manau - La tribu de dana
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDJ0McwKCwQ

Mi Alabanza Seguira
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3v6aHfahVZQ (in french)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcgYeFFpaog (in spanish)

Passing Strange - Keys
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y99GVfbx3Tw&NR=1

I'm trying to refrain from mentioning every musical I've ever seen, so I'll say most of the entire soundtracks to Rent, Spring Awakening, The Book of Mormon, Avenue Q, and Wicked.

That TAL song

This American Life plays this one song on their tv show quite a bit,
at least I feel that way because when I hear the song I automatically think of the show.

Besides some great reporting,
they pick out some great music.
(Yes, I think DO think the show great.)

I always wondered what song it was but never really looked into it.
One of those songs that plucks a heart string and awakens the soul.
How do musicians and songwriters do that?

In steps Pandora, right when I was about to turn you off too.

penguin cafe orchestra - perpetuum mobile
(fyi: the part they always use starts at 0:26)

Note: I think I usually only hear piano and strings, but I really like this version because I can pick out quite a bit of oboemabo. =)

Sami vs. Toy

Hi Everyone!

I'm feeling jumpy today. Dad said we had to go to get shots this morning. Cmi let me bring my green bone to keep me company. It's my favorite. (They tell me it's green, but I can't see color.) I just found out last week that if I bite it in just the right place she squeaks! Just when you think you know someone...

I was sitting in the trunk with my green bone. I don't like sitting in the trunk and usually try to climb over. I might haveMy green bone must have peed so I really didn't want to sit in the back. I climbed over the seats and sat in the backseats for a bit. But I missed my bone and climbed back to the trunk and squeaked her lots of times to let her know I forgave her for peeing and making it smelly.

When we arrived at the pet store there was a long line of dogs. All ages. Every size. I've never been around so many dogs before! Dad and cmi usually don't let me near other dogs because I don't have all my shots yet. The doctor said I couldn't get my vaccine shots because it was too close to my last set of shots and I'm still too young for my rabies shot. I hope I get all of my shots soon. This is kind of hurting my social life.



Cmi got me some fancy fishy dog treats, a teething bone and a new toy.

This is my new toy. I call it Ball-meanie.

It doesn't squeak and it isn't in the shape of a bone.
It was very interesting at first...

But then dad and cmi stuck some milk bones and fish treats inside and I couldn't stop trying to get it to share with me.

My ball is very stubborn and doesn't like sharing the treats with me. That's why its a Ball-meanie.

Surrender Ball-meanie!
I'm stubborn too. She eventually shared with me.  Thanks!
Maybe I will change your name to Ball-friend if you keep sharing with me. But I will have to talk this over with my green bone.

Thinking about gas

I watched a Chem1A webcast for old times sake. News changes everyday but basic chemistry tends to stay pretty consistent so I decided to skip my Morning Edition and brush up on exploding balloons. I must say, I enjoy this new chemistry teacher. He's just so... enthusiastic. Maybe it's that I've already taken the class or I'm not as sleep-deprived as my college days, but I found him pretty easy to understand.

watch here.

Plus, listening to his lecture something most peculiar occurred. I felt the rusted cogs in my brain begin to creak then move with a force that caused me to begin pondering things and questioning the world in a way that probably hasn't happened in years. Thinking feels weird.

Example, oxygen (O2, the stuff we breathe in, just a refresher) makes up approximately 20% of our air. The majority, approximately 80% is actually nitrogen (N2). Nitrogen (just N element in general) is very important for plants, that's why we dump heaps of fertilizer on anything that grows (Thanks to Fritz Haber!). But what about us? For every breath we intake, about 80% of it must actually be nitrogen, right? We grew up learning we breathe in O2 and release CO2. Do our lungs absorb the N2 as well? Our bodies need nitrogen too. Nitrogen is in amine groups, it's in all our proteins, it's in our urine!

Actually, most of what we inhale is also exhaled. Only a small percentage of oxygen inhaled is absorbed each breath and most animals (including humans) get most of our nitrogen from eating plants and other animals.

So plants breathe in nitrogen and share it with us? Mmmm, not really, N2 is pretty strongly bonded and doesn't like separating that easily. There are bacteria called diazotrophs (includes cyanobacteria and rhizobia- not the white cotton balls on your old strawberries, that's rhizopus) that convert nitrogen N2 gas into ammonia NH3 (called "nitrogen fixation"). Plants get their nitrogen (and other yummy goodness necessary for growing) from the soil. The Haber process (or Haber-Bosch process for extra props) is an artificial way (aka laboratory way) to convert N2 to ammonia using a catalyst and chemical reaction. That's how we make nitrate fertilizer (...and explosives).

And then I started thinking, what about nitrous oxide? You know, the inhaled anesthetic that makes people woozy and giggly before getting their wisdom teeth yanked out of your gums. I've never experienced it but we definitely inhale and absorb that stuff. What about that molecule makes it absorbent?

Actually, a lot of this wasn't in the lecture. Just the 20% oxygen and 80% nitrogen being in the air part. The rest came from wikipedia and my pondering. I sure hope wikipedia is telling the truth or a lot of what I think I know would be a lie.