A nexus of art and technology

Thank you Mr. Plass

Mini Fitz's Favorite - A Toy Robot in Space

 On occasion, one of my students will offer up a suggestion of something interesting to post.  

This one comes to us on recommendation from one of my favorite students.

Thank you Mr. Mini Fitz!

Cooperation and collaboration - what is possible when people work toward a common goal

I hope to see someone try this in the SAMS cafeteria some time soon.

You kids amaze me.

Science Connections for you to consider:

• Neurobiology
• Mirror Neurons
• Neural Pathways
• Sound transmission
• Neuromuscular synchronization
• Vocalization

Aside:  I've been following Kia Grannis for probably 5 years, when she was just a kid.  You ought to look up her Valentine song - click here.  Also, her cover of Rhianna's, Disturbia - click here - is also pretty neat.  And one of her first covers was Jason Mraz',  "I'm Yours"  - click here.  I am glad she is finally realizing the success she deserves.  Let's see if anyone reads this far...

Time Lapsed Photography

More Physics Anyone?

This is a variant on the Samoan Fire Knife Dance.  

I want you students to realize that there  is a world beyond Albuquerque.  It can be seen if you get yourselves a good education.  And, when you do see it, so much of it will make sense to you because of the investment you have made into your acquisition of knowledge - for the sake of learning.  

May all that you are learning become a contagion for everyone around you.  More than that, may you be filled with life-long curiosity and a deep sense of wonder because you are educated.

I hope you are sharing these posts with your family and friends.

Perception versus Reality: A Lesson

  
“No, I would not want to live in a world without dragons, as I would not want to live in a world without magic, for that is a world without mystery, and that is a world without faith.”  - R.A. Salvatore, Streams of Silver

 Sintel is an approximately fourteen minute short directed by a young man, Colin Levy.  It is a thought-provoking story filled with irony and a sense of continuity that makes me sad, and yet fills me with hope.  I suppose what is most touching to me is how people can come up with ideas for a story, and then bring it all together through imagery and music. 

Colin  has been making short films since he was a kid.  His blog states that he just got a 12 month residency position at PIXAR.

I think Mr. Levy is going to  be someone whose work we will see, on the big screen, in the not-so-distant future. 

If you want to follow this rising star's trajectory, bookmarking his blog might not be a bad idea.  Following this link will also give you the opportunity to see some of his earlier work.  Moreover, it will  give you a front seat to his video short called, "The Secret Number".  

Note: This video qualifies as a 5 point maximum extra credit paper for your semester's final Science grade - that's a half a grade added to your final grade.  

However, it must meet the following criteria:  1500 word minimum (to 10,000 words maximum) to include a summary of the video and an exposition that discusses a topic of your choice mentioned in the video.  Make sure it is copy edited, spell checked and set-up in a word document.  

Should you elect to take this challenge, your essay on this post ought to be fun, and rewarding for you.  If you take any other approach to it, or if it ceases to be fun, then you are doing something wrong.

Long Division Style...

A Glimpse into the Mind of a Poet - and our Future Generation

I watch my students working so hard everyday to master the materials they are presented with on their trek toward graduation.  Their accomplishments have come at a high price.  However, as we reach the half-way mark in the semester, the fruits of their investment is becoming manifest.  Such success could not have come to fruition without the support and sacrifices made by their families.  

I have seen discouragement turn to hope and dejection give way to pride.  Anyone who says that American youth go for the easy way out have not seen my students.  I have witnessed them meet their challenges, and their struggle to overcome the obstacles that awaited them when they elected to adopt a whole new approach to acquiring their education.  Thus far, their efforts have been rewarded.  I am awed by their dedication and persistence.

I have chosen to feature this video because it represents all that is good about our American youth.  I admire this young poet's message and her outlook.  Like my students, her message is filled with hope.  She reminds me of each and every one of my kids.  She is brilliant, forward looking, kind and thoughtful.    

Malcolm Gladwell distinguishes high achievers from their peers by ability to seize opportunities as they arise.  My students ambitious pursuit of a solid education is paying off.  This school, whose population numbers just about 300 dedicated, hard-working souls who prove by their actions every day, they have what it takes.  They understand that embedded in every failure is a learning opportunity.

I have every confidence they will be able to hold their own in this ever more competitive world.  To all those chicken-little types who fill our airwaves with doom and gloom, I say do not worry, because our kids are working harder than we ever did, and they are having fun doing it.  They are becoming life-long learners with twenty-first century learning skills. 

Sara Kay identifies her strategy for success with the following three outlooks;

1]  I can do this - Confidence

2]  I will do this - Persistence

3]  I have to be me - Faithfulness to self

Her generation's biggest obstacle will not be fiscal.  It will be overcoming the worst gift our generation has passed on to them; the inertia of pessimism and blind fealty to tribalism based on color, creed and class.

Always do your best, and keep your focus on your goals.  The race doesn't always go to the swiftest.

Dub Stepping = Art + Science

As I watch these dancers, I see the intersection between Art and Science.  There is so much Physics going on in here that it is mind blowing.*   You can click on the pictures below for greater detail.

Some physics and mathematical concepts in these dance steps include:

1]  center of mass

2]  gravity  

3]  levers and simple machines 

4]  rotational dynamics

5]  kinetic vs. potential energy

6]  Resolution of force vectors

7]  friction

Moreover, these performers moves would be greatly helpful for animators, engineers and robot designers.  The Human body is so complex, and what these guys are doing would take up lots of computer space to study and replicate. 

The two drawings of Break Dance moves posted above were created a by French artist, Florian Nicolle for Volnorez dance school.  Human movement is not easy explain and understand.  Using math, to explain the physics behind it however, it can be done.

 

This one is for Mr. C  

 

Photography at nearly the speed of Light - TED Video

For those of you with ambitions of heading to M.I.T after graduation, here is a glimpse of what they are doing...

Worried about how many megapixels on your cell phone has?  How about having a camera that is capable of looking around corners?  What do you think about video recording at the rate of 1 trillion frames per second, and seeing just what a photon does - or perhaps even observing what Einstein imagined when he thought about light behaving like a wave, and a particle?  

There is a reason for everything you are studying.  You just don't see it now.

Playing For Change - Stand By Me Videos

Stand By Me

The Producers of this video came up with the idea of creating a music compilation of music where they first recorded one street performer who lived in Santa Monica, California.  They took his song first to New Orleans and then around the world, and simply let other street performers listen to it and then add their contributions to the song.

Unlike the Piano Guys, these street performers never gathered in one place.  Instead, they just listened to the recordings through headphones and added in their pieces to the musical puzzle.  The result was creation of a richly flavored song by a virtual band of people who never met in person while the compilation was being made.

"Stand By Me," an old fifties song first recorded by Sam Cook, was the first song put together by the producers who called their innovative experiment, "Playing for Change." whose title has a double-meaning.  "Playing for Change" not only refers to what street musicians usually get paid; spare change, it also reflects the producers desire; to use music as a means of reaching across borders.  Their aim was to have people from various walks of life and different cultures who would otherwise never had the chance to meet, and create peace through the shared experience of music. 

As you watch this video, see if you can catch the New Mexico connection.  

Incidentally, the gentleman, Roger Ridley - click here to learn more about him - who introduces the song at the video's beginning - if I recall correctly, died of a heart attack on the day this video was released.  He never got a chance to see what his little performance in Santa Monica would become.

Notice also, how many times this video has been seen.

Next, is also a Playing for Change video of, "Chandamama". I have been told it is a popular folk song for children in India.  If any of you can verify, or add more to this conversation by translating the words for me, I would really appreciate it.

Enjoy!

Piano Guys - Michael Meets Mozart

The Piano Guys

This video, Called "Michael Meets Mozart," by The Piano Guys, two musicians who produced an entire song electronically through creating recorded loops and adding to them successively until they ended up with an entire musical composition.

Some of you mentioned that you would like to know more about how, "Michael Meets Mozart" was made.  Here is their behind-the-scenes video.

I have taken the liberty to set up this blog and have some fun and to use it as a forum where we can express ourselves in a positive way.  I expect your responses to be professional.  Furthermore, attacks and insults are not welcome here, and they will be not be approved when I review them for posting.

If you are a Star Wars Geek, you might find this video entertaining: