Space Hotel/Neil deGrasse Tyson

Plans for a “space resort” have been in the books of many commercial aerospace corporations for years and years, but now it’s actually about to happen. Space.com reports that a European company based Barcelona, Spain plans to open the first space hotel in 2012. I must admit my doubts that it will actually be ready and operational by then, but it’s a pretty cool notion nonetheless. The company even reports that 43 paying guests have booked a stay. Don’t get your hopes up though, as a 3-night trip is currently carrying a price tag of $4.4 million. Even if they don’t hit the expected opening date in 2012, it will eventually happen, almost assuredly by 2020. It’s quite possible that space vacations could eventually come down in price enough that your average Joe might be able to afford one.

The well-known Drake Equation has long been used by scientists to approximate how many intelligent might exist elsewhere in our galaxy. A major problem exists with the numbers, though, because depending on your level of optimism and reasoning to arrive at certain variable within the equation, you can get a result ranging from millions of intelligent civlizations to almost none. That’s a HUGE variability and thus the Drake Equation really isn’t very effective, at least not until we can arrive at more concrete variables to plug into it. Some new research from astronomers at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette may actually give us a better idea of just how common life, and intelligent life, is in our galaxy. The research has found that Sun-like stars are the best places to look for planets with intelligent life. Not surprising at all, but what may surprise you is the fact that Sun-like stars are actually pretty rare. Our Sun is bigger and hotter than 93% of the stars in our galaxy (and presumably the universe), which means that the habitable zone around most stars is closer than the earth is to the Sun. Their research has also shown that bigger stars (like our Sun, or even bigger) are more likely to form small, rocky planets around them. Since bigger stars generally have shorter lifespans, you can see how there’s a sweet spot in star size where the star is big enough to be likely to have small, rocky planets, yet small enough that the overall lifespan of the star is longer than the time it takes for intelligent life to develop. (It took about 4.5 billion years for us to develop on earth.) We have a pretty good idea of how many stars are in the Milky Way, as well as the size distribution. That means about 10% of the stars in the Milky Way fall into that “sweet spot” category. Since there are over 100 billion stars in our galaxy overall, that means about 10 billion stars likely to have earth-like planets and live long enough for those planets to develop intelligent life. I’d say those are some pretty damn good odds of alien civilizations out there, and that’s just in our own little galaxy, which is one of BILLIONS. Most astronomers and astrobiologists agree there’s a pretty good chance we’re not alone. To me that is really exciting. (Via Astrobiology Magazine and Space.com)

Now that I’ve rambled way too much, enjoy this Time interview with one of my favorite “celebrity astronomers,” Neil deGrasse Tyson: (Via Snarkmarket)

And then enjoy watching Mythbusters’ Adam Savage give a vial containing one of his farts to Craig Ferguson as a gift. I could go on and on about how wonderful Mythbusters is. But I’ll spare you that rant. (Via Bad Astronomy)

 

Holly House tracks/Heypenny on Nashville music scene/Weezer review

Image Via Here On The Road

The small but very active local music collective known as Holly House recently participated in a project with American Songwriter Magazine called “On My Deathbed.” The gear contest asks a band or artist to pick the last song they’d want to hear if they were on their deathbed. Morbid, I know… but the results are pretty phenomenal. Each band/artist learned the song they chose and recorded them in Eli Beaird’s basement in a 7 hour session. Please head over the HH website and grab these free tracks. You won’t regret it. And The Relatives did Townes Van Zandt’s Be Here to Love Me, Caitlin Rose did Jimmie Davis’ You Are My Sunshine, Shoot The Mountain did Neutral Milk Hotel’s In An Aeroplane Over The Sea, Eureka Gold did The Kinks’ I Go to Sleep, and Tristen did Skeeter Davis’ On and On and On.

If you know me, then you know that Weezer basically saved my life as a teenager. I learned to play guitar by learning most of Blue and Pinkerton. Nerds everywhere owe their recent rise in popularity to Rivers Cuomo. Everyone also knows that everything they’ve done since Pinkerton has been an uncontrollable downward spiral. Amidst the ridiculous album cover and the even more ridiculous collaborations, their new album Raditude has some respectable songs in its tracklist. If Weezer lost 100 points with me over the past 4 albums, they’ve gained about 10 of them back with this album…. perhaps it’s the fact that they utilized the skills of a few outside songwriters. Oddly enough, the lead single (If You’re Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To is actually my favorite track. I found the A.V. Club’s review to agree almost 100% with my sentiments about the album.

You’ve probably already read about Heypenny’s Q&A session with the UK music magazine Q at the Nashville Cream by now (if not, check it out now), but I just want to point out how awesome it is that they talked so highly of our non-country music scene. Ben Elkins really went out of his way to cram as much praise as he could into the space he had, and I think that’s totally rad. I’ll be totally honest, they aren’t my favorite local band, but they’re damn good at what they do and they’re also damn good at being a positive force in a scene that can sometimes seem so snarky and apathetic that it may just self-implode. When I read stuff like this, I’m re-assured that’s never going to happen.

 

Features “Thursday” Lake Fever Session/new De Novo Dahl

It’s been FOREVER since we heard any activity from Nashville’s art-core pop-gasm quintet De Novo Dahl, and for good reason. They were simply burned out from all the stressful touring and getting dropped from their unlikely label, Roadrunner. The loss of label support was no fault of theirs, however. From my understanding it was due to changes in personnel at the label, and the person who supported them/signed them was no longer there. No matter what happened then, I’m glad to see that Joel has kept the project alive and is bringing DND out of hibernation to release a new album in 2010 on Theory 8. Three new tracks have surfaced on their new Bandcamp page, and I suggest you go grab them now. The material is much more laid-back than anything they’ve done to date, and that’s not a bad thing. It will only cost you an email address.

In other new music news, Spoon has an album due out this coming January. It includes the track “Got Nuffin” which appeared on an EP earlier this year. Let’s hope they can keep with their record of churning out quality music album-after-album. (Via You Ain’t No Picasso)

I’ll leave you with this video gem from my good friends at Lake Fever Productions. This is the previously unreleased extra from the Lake Fever Session that The Features did a month or so ago, and features a gaggle of random fans and musicians from other Nashville bands. This is the classic Features show-closer and it will never, ever get old. Watch below and also visit Lake Fever Sessions to see the rest of the Features’ session.

 

WOTT podcast/weekend stuff

First and foremost, I must plug my band’s show at the 5 Spot tonight. I know, there’s a lot of shit going on tonight… but we (as in all the bands playing) promise to make your attendance worthwhile. First of all, check out Patrick Rodgers’ description of Heartbeater in his critic’s pick this week. If that isn’t good enough for you, then let me personally attest to the awesomeness of Bad Cop. These dudes have a youthful stage energy that matches their raw, explosive brand of garage-punk quite well. The frontman is obviously channeling some Iggy Pop, and in a really REALLY good way. Hammertorch was originally also on this bill, but had to drop off at the last minute. So come on down to the 5 Spot tonight!

This All-Hallows Eve I will be doing the Generation Domination photobooth at the Nightmare in Music City party at Mercy Lounge/Cannery Ballroom. It promises to be a huge party, with DJ’s not only in those two rooms, but also in 4 large tents which will be in the parking lot. The party is sponsored by Hustler Hollywood, and since Halloween has long since devolved into nothing more than an excuse for girls to dress as slutty as possible, this party is sure to please those who applaud said devolution… and also those who like to make fun of it.

We Own This Town posted a new podcast earlier this week, so if you haven’t already, go grab it now. It features unreleased tunes from Eureka Gold, Tristen, Caitlin Rose, Glossary, and many more. Also, mucho thanks to Michael for plugging my photo exhibition on there as well.

Now for something just to make you smile. The unofficial Hey Jude flow chart, via Flux-Rad:

Have a great Halloween weekend, and please be safe: use a DD, use a condom, all that…

 

New Avatar trailer/net neutrality/photo exhibition

Image via Yewknee'd and a million other blogs...

This image has been making the interwebz rounds for the last couple of days, but it really deserves to be spread to as many eyes as possible. It’s the best way to sum up what will likely happen if internet neutrality is not enforced. The free and open flow of information is absolutely critical to a sustainable democracy like ours.

A new trailer was just released for James Cameron’s new masterpiece Avatar. It sheds a little more light on the storyline. Check it out at i09. Am I total geek to be excited about this movie? If so… I’m guilty as charged.

JEFF the Brotherhood just keeps getting love from all sorts of media outlets. The most recent I’ve discovered is in Nylon magazine. They played about 479 shows in NYC this past weekend between CMJ day parties and showcases, and it appears to have really given them a boost.

I took photos of KISS last night at Sommet Center. Too bad photographers can’t come back in after shooting the usual first 2-3 songs. I guess I could’ve bought a ticket, but whatevs. Check out the Spin review and my pics at Nashville Cream. Speaking of photos… I must take a moment to shamelessly self-promote and mention that I have a photography exhibition going up next week at Vanderbilt. It will be in the promenade area of Sarratt Student Center from Nov. 4th to Dec. 11th, and features select live music photos that I’ve taken over the past 3-ish years. Please do stop by and check it out. Directions and more info can be found here.

I don’t really post much about sports, but as well all know, the Titans are in the worst place they’ve been in years, and the speculation about Vince Young possibly starting this Sunday against Jacksonville is rampant. Supposedly an announcement regarding that will come today. As of posting this, the announcement hasn’t been made. Keep your eye on www.titansonline.com if you care.

 

Science tidbits: Mystery of the Pyramids/NASA gets Augustine report

In addition to being a totally awesome sight to behold, the famous pyramids of Giza in Egypt have also been a bit of a mystery. Scientists and archaeologists had a hard time explaining exactly how they were built given the technological limitations of the time period. The Pharaohs had a massive army of laborers at their disposal, but carving those massive blocks out of stone and moving them over miles of scorching desert would seem to be an insurmountable task even for an army of men. I was intrigued when I stumbled across the work of Dr. Joseph Davidovits, who claims that the stones were actually cast from a type of limestone concrete. This method would’ve require FAR less man-power and makes the pyramids’ construction seem much more reasonable. The seemingly impossible construction of the pyramids has fueled some ridiculous crackpot ideas that aliens helped build them. I was very glad to see that real science has actually explained the mystery of their construction quite well. Science wins. As always. Read more about his book Why the Pharaohs built the Pyramids with fake stones on the website of the Geopolymer institute.

This morning NASA attempted to launch the Ares I-X, the very first full-scale test version of their new Ares I rocket, which (if NASA proceeds on the current path) will replace the space shuttle as our primary means of transporting astronauts to low earth orbit. But a series of silly issues such as a probe cover getting stuck and a cargo ship accidentally entering the danger zone, combined with bad weather caused the launch to be delayed… possibly until tomorrow, maybe later.

Speaking of NASA… last week they got the full, detailed report from the Augustine Commission, which is a group of aerospace industry experts put together earlier this year by the Obama Administration to assess the state of manned spaceflight within NASA. Basically it’s a more fleshed-out, complete version of the preliminary report I mentioned several weeks ago on this blog. It’ll be interesting to see which solution NASA administrator Charles Bolden and the Obama Administration decide to go with. Personally, I’d like to see NASA get that additional 3 billion they need, but who knows? I can’t really summarize the options any better than Universe Today did last week when they reported on this, so I’ll just quote:

1. Maintain all programs as is, but extend the space shuttle program to 2011 and ISS to 2020. Without extra funding, the Ares rockets wouldn’t be ready until 2020 and there would never be enough money to go to the Moon.

2. Maintain current funding, scrap Ares I, develop an Ares V lite version (about 2/3 of Ares V heavy) and divert extra funds to ISS for extension to 2020. Buy commercial LEO human space flight. The Ares might be ready by 2025, and perhaps get to the Moon after 2030.

3. Add $3 billion per year and proceed with the Constellation program to return to the Moon. The ISS would have to be de-orbited in 2016 to allow a return to the Moon by about 2025.

4. Add $3 billion per year. Extend the ISS to 2020 and get to the Moon by about 2025. Use either Ares V Lite, or Shuttle-C for heavy lift.

5. Add $3 billion per year. Extend the shuttle program to 2011 and extend ISS to 2020. Instead of heading to land on the Moon, orbit the Moon, or go to Near Earth Objects and prepare to go to Mars. Use either Ares V Lite; a heavy Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicles (EELV) or, a shuttle-derivative.

So there you have it.

Yesterday some news outlets reported on a possible crater in Latvia left by a large meteorite impact. Well, it’s been confirmed as a FAKE, so don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Some Latvians must’ve had waaay too much time on their hands because after detailed inspection, shovel marks could be seen on the edge of the hole. I won’t spend too much time explaining all the obvious scientific inconsistencies because Dr. Phil Plait has done a thorough job of it at his blog Bad Astronomy. The biggest misconception about meteorites is that all of them cause a crater if they make it all the way to the ground- they don’t. In fact most that do hit the ground are less than a meter in diameter and actually are cold by the time they reach it. They also are traveling at normal terminal velocity and just hit with a non-crater-causing thud.

Finally, I’m really happy to see that the Large Hadron Collider repairs came along nicely and they’ve started inserting particles into loop. No actual collisions yet, but if all goes as planned they should be doing their first ones next month. Follow CERN on Twitter for updates.

 

BFF tonight/new Weezer video

Obviously my main top priority today is plugging my DJ/dance event BFF, which returns to Mad Donna’s tonight at 10pm. I’ll be spinning some hot jamz along with pals Potamus and Fats. They’re both rad DJs as well, so a good time is guaranteed. Fan Fiction is sitting this one out to celebrate his bday at another event, but he’ll be back in full force for the 3rd BFF, which is tentatively scheduled for Nov. 20th (my bday!) Some please do come out to the east side tonight and dance the night away. As if Fats isn’t reason enough to get there early, I’ll also buy a drink for the person who brings the biggest “posse” and arrives before 11pm. Seriously, I will honor that! Mad Donna’s is on Woodland, just a block past five points, and it’s FREE if you’re over 21, $3 if you’re 18-20. Also, if you haven’t heard any of my mixes before, I suggest you start with the October mix I did for Justin Kase’s blog, Blogging Is Serious Business.

Weezer has a new album coming out next week, and the first single (If You’re Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To also has a snazzy video which debuted yesterday at Babelgum. I’ll just link to it because I’m pretty sure it’s no embeddable on WordPress. But seriously, this is probably the best song they’ve released in several years (enough to make me buy the album… probably) and the video is actually quite entertaining. The styling is very visually pleasing, and it has a hilarious “bros before hos” storyline, not mention that it stars Odette Yustman. Check it out now. (Via Stereogum)

Now for some pure mindless entertainment. Why on Earth would you want to blow an anvil 200 feet into the air? Because it’s fucking awesome, that’s why. Meet Gay Wilkinson, world champion anvil shooter:

Have a great weekend, and hopefully I’ll see you tonight at BFF!

 

JEFF Nashville pics on BV/Cash Rich

Image via Brooklyn Vegan

Local Infinity Cat flagship band JEFF the Brotherhood got some blog love from Brooklyn Vegan today, and the pics are actually from a house show they played in Nashville on Oct. 13th. Turns out their photographer Paul Birman happened to be in town that day. Their new album Heavy Days is out now. They’re also playing a plethora of shows this week/weekend in NYC for the CMJ festival.

If you read this blog there’s a good chance you’ve already seen this Nashville Cream post, but I must mention the hilarity of the comments/jokes about a new restaurant called Pitchfork in Chicago. This is the restaurant’s website, so I haven’t a clue if it has anything to do with the music website we all love to hate… but it’s hilarious nonetheless. Just make sure you read the Cream comments, and props to Dave Paulson for winning best comment/zinger on Idolator.

Speaking of the Cream, they’ve teamed up with LimeWire to create a special Nashville edition of LimeWire’s “Ear To The Ground” series. It’s got all kinds of great local goodness spanning from How I Became the Bomb to Caitlin Rose to Jensen Sportag. Best of all: it’s FREE.

And The Relatives are the latest local band to join the ranks of Theory 8 Records, and their forthcoming release (apparently yet-to-be-titled) will be a joint effort between Theory 8 and yk records, one of many side projects for local web guru Yewknee. yk will be handling the artwork and packaging, while Theory 8 handles marketing and distribution. That’s a winning combination if I’ve ever seen one. Be sure to grab their last EP Animals for free at their Bandcamp. Read the official press release here.

As if his ugly tower-mansion/bar/travesty on Love Circle wasn’t bad enough, Nashville’s greatest embarrassment, John Rich, is reproducing. The kid’s name? Cash. Not that there’s anything wrong with having Cash as a first name, but his name will be Cash Rich. I feel so sorry for that child. Maybe his middle name is something he can go by and not be hated/made fun of in school. (Via Nashvillest)

 

Science-y tidbits: 32 new exoplanets/new theories on dinosaur extinction

The floodgates of exoplanet discovery just opened. The High-Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet Searcher (known as HARPS) discovered a batch of 32 new exoplanets, pushing the list of known exoplanets to over 400. Most of these are low-mass planets about the size of Neptune. Since HARPS (which is a spectrograph) works with a land-based telescope which has to put up with the distortions and aberrations of the Earth’s atmosphere, that’s a very impressive feat. It shows just how good astronomers are getting at planet-hunting, and with the recently-deployed Kepler space observatory working like a charm, it won’t be long before we find the jackpot of astronomy to date: an Earth-like planet orbiting a distant star. (Via Universe Today)

I’ve mentioned that new theories challenging the textbook theory of a massive asteroid impact in Mexico killing off the dinosaurs are gaining serious momentum in the field of paleontology. The main challenge to the impact theory is the one involving a massive, long-erupting supervolcano in India known as the Deccan Traps. India has coughed up yet another, 3rd challenge to the impact theory: an impact event of its own. Some researchers from Texas Tech University think that a huge depression that exists beneath part of the Indian Ocean is actually an impact crater, and that it’s the result of an asteroid that smacked into the earth near the time the dinosaurs went extinct. (In geologic terms “near” actually means within a few million years…) If this turns out to be a true crater, and not just the result of normal tectonic plate movements or volcanic activity, then I’d say it definitely had at least some effect on the dinosaurs, and probably some effect on the ongoing eruption of the Deccan Traps. (Also via Universe Today)

NASA rolled out the first full sized test vehicle for its new Constellation program earlier this week. The Ares I-X was rolled out to launch pad 39B for its scheduled test flight next week on Oct. 27th. This is a full-scale mock-up of the Ares I, which (if the current plan is adhered to) will replace the Space Shuttle as NASA’s method of delivering astronauts to and from low Earth orbit. The test flight, of course, will be unmanned. Here’s a pic via NASA’s website. Keep up with the test launch at the launch blog. The new rocket is 327 feet tall, over 100 feet taller than the Space Shuttle.

Click to enlarge

 

Headed to Portland, OR!

Hey kids, the GF and I are headed to Portland, OR today to visit our good friend Chris Freeman and just see the city we’ve heard everyone rave about so much. We’ll be back Monday afternoon. So this will be the last post till at least Tuesday. That being said, here are some tasty tidbits for your browsing pleasure:

Be sure to check out the results of this year’s Best Of Nashville reader’s poll in the Scene. I’m just happy The Features won best local band. Over Kings of Leon. Not that I have anything against KOL, it’s just cool that the readers appreciate all The Features’ hard work for the past ~15 years.

The official Next Big Nashville photogallery is up. It includes photos by me, Jonathan Kingsbury, Dylan Reyes, Jordan Jaquess, and Bradley Butcher. You can see the full galleries for Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, or you can view a more selective culling on the official NBN flickr photostream.

This may be old news to some, but Beck has started a pretty awesome new project on his website called Record Club. He’s bringing in various musicians from other bands to contribute to the recording of a full album in one day. They’re all cover albums and the musicians do not get a chance to rehearse together before the session. He also videotapes the whole thing and uploads one song per week to his website. The one currently up is Leonard Cohen’s Songs of Leonard Cohen featuring Devendra Banhart, members of MGMT, and many more. I think our own hometown hero Matt Mahaffey appears in at least 1 or 2 of the previous session videos, in which they covered The Velvet Underground’s The Velvet Underground & Nico. (Via Brooklyn Vegan)

Speaking of Matt Mahaffey, Rock Sellout did a cool interview with him last week.

Be sure to make it down to the Exit/In for Monotonix/Turbo Fruits/JEFF the Brotherhood tomorrow. Or if that’s not your thing, Drummer (side project of Black Keys drummer Patrick Carney) is playing at Mercy Lounge, along with the Royal Bangs.

But as I said we’ll be in Portland attending the Scion GarageFest, where 2 Nashville acts just happen to be playing: Cheap Time and Those Darlins.

That’s it for now folks. See you next week.