Saturday, February 11, 2006

Rome

[The guileless Octavia and her mother, the Leona Helmsley-like Atia]

Lisa and I have been watching the 12 episodes of the first season of "Rome", series shown in the United States on HBO. It reminds me of "Six Feet Under" or "The Sopranos", although it has more sex and violence than the latter.

I can't judge how historically accurate "Rome" is, but it made a better impression on me than "Gladiator". The series's attempt to recreate the seedy reality of Roman life is illustrated in the title sequence, during which the camera darts through crowded city streets, glimpsing animated graffiti scrawled on the walls - some of it grotesque or pornographic, like the real Graffiti found on the walls of Pompey.

 Posted by Picasa

Tenori-On


Toshio Iwai's "Tenori-On" is meant to be a musical instrument for non-musicians. When I first saw mention of it on a Something Awful thread, I thought "Ok, yea...". A video demonstration of the Tenori-On here, however, is most impressive. A description can't do it justice, except to say that the device allows one to assemble minimalist-style music with the multiple layers and fugue effects one expects to hear in pieces by Steve Reich and John Adams. I want one.  Posted by Picasa


Click Here