We’ve grown so accustom to computerized voices, or perfectly annunciated, accent-less voices, that stumbling across this in the middle of Brooklyn’s MetroTech made my day. Who is this guy? How did he end up the voice of this crosswalk on busy Jay Street?
Neighborhood Falcons
A pair of kestrels (small falcons, a little bigger than a dove, who eat rodents, bugs, and sparrows, which is why they are sometimes called sparrow hawks) has taken up residence in Carroll Gardens on the corner of Clinton and Sackett Streets. I first saw them last week when I was coming out of the public library and heard an unfamiliar call, definitely a raptor. Looking up I found them perched on an old TV aerial. Dr. Bob DeCandido, who knows a whole lot about kestrels, helped me confirm the ID. And this morning I got a decent recording of them (listen all the way to the end to hear a bicyclist bump into me).
Bird Prints
Amazing images uncovered by the mighty Atlas Obscura.
Headline Writer Unleashed
This tidbit from the NY Times archive caught my eye (as it was meant to):
Calling the wolf's death a suicide is a bit of a stretch. He escaped his cage and was chased by "trainers" carrying prods and ultimately ran off the side of the ship.
What did 17th century Manhattan sound like?
Somebody tried to recreate it on this very cool site.
Beastly Disc in the Works
I'm thrilled to be among an amazing group of artists who received 2017 MAAF grants from the New York State Council on the Arts and Wave Farm (who have been long time supporters of my work). The grant will go toward creating a physical release of my project, Bestiary. Here's the project description:
You can listen to Bestiary here. 10" vinyl pressing soon!
Nobody Loves Soundtracks
I just finished my first original score for a movie. This is something that I've wanted to do for a long time, and I'm very happy with how the music turned out. It's a short film about an endangered frog, a documentary by a directing team I respect a lot. I'll post more (and be less vague) when it's released.
Moog on Scott
My crew beats them all
Leave room for art
I have major problems with much of this piece, but I do agree that effacing humans from stories about the natural world is a real problem. I just can't get behind his call for a more didactic approach. Artistry seems to be anathema to this point of view, and it belies a lack of appreciation for the value of emotional impact. It's worth a read, though.
Being Human, There or Here
Very proud of this episode of the SC podcast. It was a challenge to pull together -- the important ones always are.
Lions of L.A.
As someone who grew up on the East Coast, the idea of lions -- actual lions -- inside a city limits is endlessly fascinating to me. Dana Goodyear's piece in the latest New Yorker is a great bit of writing about the intersection of humans and animals in an urban setting.
Lava Flow
This is incredibly beautiful and surreal: a lava spout running into the ocean from the cliffs on the island of Hawaii.
As if I needed another reason...
to love WFMU.
I was just parking the car and caught the last 10 minutes of Seven Second Delay. I found a spot quickly and then had to sit in the car until it was over.
Now, looking at the archive, it seems it was ONE WHOLE HOUR of a canned cha-cha track with Mac text to speech over it, and all the text came from live listener comments. You just have to listen.
There's no way to truly describe the pure joy I feel when I turn on the radio and catch something as strange and wonderful as this. Thank the heavens for live radio. Thanks WFMU for keeping it weird.
Coast to Third Coast
I'm just back from a quick trip to Chicago for the Third Coast Audio Festival. I've lost track of how many of these I've attended (the first was 2005), but this time felt very different.
It was enormous, with nearly 750 people attending. This is a very good thing for radio, especially because there are so many newcomers and we can always use a fresh injection of talent.
Perhaps because of this, TCF did something new on the first night called Late Night Provocations -- a series of challenges to us as producers, put forth by prominent people in radio and podcasting. I'm still thinking of Julie Shapiro's nudge to be original and especially Jay Allison's exhortation to stay true to mission and be odd.
And then there's the big question for journalists -- what now? This was the number one topic of conversation, but rather than come away depressed, I feel encouraged by the passion and intelligence that radio people are bringing to the problem. Now we put our heads down and work.
COMING SOON
Check back for updates on new recordings, performances, broadcasts, and top secret independent radio projects.