weapons of massdistraction

Wow, Japan. I don’t even know what to say. And on top of the earthquake/tsunamis they’ve got a volcano erupting. This on-the-ground, up close video of the Japanese tsunami is the craziest I’ve seen yet. And you can listen to the earthquakes off the coast of Japan. According to Dangerous Minds, this is what they sounded like. Especially eerie at the 1:20, 1:50, 3:00, and 5:20 points.

Audio sonification of the incredible seismic activity off the coast of Honshu, Japan - Friday March 11th. Tectonic is a realtime seismic analysis and sound synthesis system. Sound is created in realtime by earthquakes as they occur across the globe. A tightly integrated system between Max/MSP, Google Earth and Symbolic Sound’s Kyma processes earthquake data that is translated into sound synthesis parameters.”

How about a shift of focus to five good things?

• Friday night we stopped by the beautiful MPLS Photo Center. It was the opening night for the Woman As Photographer exhibit (I totally missed the call for entries, oops), which features the work of a few photographers I know. All of it was stunning work and the place was packed. I may need to go back to spend some more time with the photos, when it’s not quite so crowded.
• “If you lived by… …you’d be home by now” - Sketchbook Project 2011 - the Hand-Drawn Book is being shown in Austin TX
• Congratulations to Chef Wadi voted best chef in the Twin Cities. Love that the write-up tells his Palestinian story as a backdrop to his success.
• I hadn’t realized that Stephin Merritt of the Magnetic Fields wrote for Time Out NY. There is an archive of his articles available here. Neat.
• The antidote to natural disaster footage…a sexy “Careless Whisper” saxophone assault. I’m never gonna dance again. Guilty feet have got no rhythm…

Compared to the natural disasters and political strife in the world today my personal problems seem even more trivial than usual. But uncertainty hangs in the air. I’ve nearly gotten used to it though I’d rather not. I’ve gotten a nibble from a potential roommate (definitely not getting my hopes up there). The boy’s school will be closed for Spring break and this is the first year we can’t afford to travel anywhere at all. Instead I’m trying to plan my work schedule and activities around his time off so he won’t be completely bored out of his mind. But I know he’ll be less than thrilled by his a) annual physical b) tagging along with me to the accountant’s when I have my taxes done and c) driving out to the burbs to have the car serviced. But these things are necessary and doing what needs to be done makes us appreciate the happy fun times even more.