If you couldn’t tell, that is Justin Bieber’s U Smile slowed to less than an eighth of it’s original tempo (pitch remains unchanged). That’s right: It’s 35 minutes. And it sounds incredible. The ability to slow down recorded music has been around for a long time. All you had to do was spin the record or move the tape slower. But with computers it’s easier and it sounds better than ever before. Here’s something on the funnier side of the spectrum:
As you can see, the speed of the recording was changed and therefore the pitch was altered.
A federal judge in California has ruled that the state’s ban on same-sex marriage violates the Constitution’s guarantee of equal rights for all Americans.
The opinion, issued Wednesday afternoon by U.S. District Court Chief Judge Vaughn R. Walker, scuttles the state’s “Proposition 8,” a state Constitutional amendment barring such unions. The so-called “Prop 8” was approved by California voters in 2008, just months after state legislators legalized same-sex marriage – prompting more than 18,000 couples to converge on city halls across the state to marry.
And Vaughn, who was appointed by President George H. W. Bush, drew on history in defending the right of same-sex couples to legalize their committed relationships: Such relationships, he said, “are consistent with the core of the history, tradition and practice of marriage in the United States.”
Super. Thank you, President Bush, for appointing Hon. Vaughn! This isn’t the end of the road, though. The United States Supreme court is expected to hear this issue, but for now we can appreciate this small triumph.
I deactivated my Facebook a few days ago, for the third time. I’ve always found it difficult to justify the so-called possession of one because of the seen and unseen implications such social media might have. What do I mean? Well, perhaps an erosion of interpersonal skills. Perhaps a fascination with superficiality. I’ve never even liked the phrase “social media.” It brings to mind the ills of advertising and the notion that society can be packaged and marketed. That said, I’m in the minority, and I’m still finding it possible to interact with my friends in meaningful ways. Maybe even more meaningful ways. But who knows, maybe I’m just a contrarian.
I see the potential for social media, though, and I’d like to utilize it in a way that’s conducive to spreading the word about SuperForest. Yes, we have a Twitter account and a Facebook account, but very few ideas about how to use them. We need your help.
What would you like to see SuperForest do with these websites?
What do you like to see on an ideal Facebook page? On an ideal Twitter account?
Do you have any examples of great uses of such websites?
We’d love to hear the answers to these questions as well as any suggestions you may have. You, the SuperForest reader, are the intended market for these ideas we’re giving away for free.
If that’s not a good use of social media, I don’t know what is. Let the discussion begin.
Sputnik Sweetheart is a novel by Haruki Murakami. I found myself reading it on the train to San Diego, and I was very glad I brought it. It’s a charming book, really, and being a Murakami novel the surreal elements are most certainly present. This is definitely a tough one to frame as I’ve still been thinking, even after a few weeks, about the novel and its purpose. In Sputnik Sweetheart Murakami explores the nature of intimacy as it applies to our relationships, both romantic and not. The surreal elements certainly highlight the fact that we may never be as close as we hope or think, but I still see Sputnik Sweetheart as a largely positive piece of literature — and one that certainly warrants multiple readings.
Murakami has this excellent way of capturing our contemporary lifestyles, and Sputnik Sweetheart is no exception. It’s fun to read and to suspend our preconceptions concerning the nature of reality. Murakami has surprisingly few.
I’d never thought much about the work and thought that goes into the design of a book cover, which is partly justified, I’m sure. However, this miniature interview with a designer of said book covers (some of which I’ve read in the past) is fascinating and worth a watch.
Published in 2008, When We Were Romans is a charming and simultaneously haunting novel told from the perspective of Lawrence, a nine year old. Lawrence’s mom decides to abruptly leave their home in London in order to flee from the father of Lawrence and his even younger sister, Jemima, who she is convinced is out to harm them. I found myself thoroughly absorbed in Lawrence’s narrative — the novel is as much an exploration of childhood as it is an exploration of life itself. Both my eighteen and nine year old self could relate easily with Lawrence’s tribulations and experiences, or lack thereof.
Of course, the narrator’s perspective is narrow, and Kneale makes full use of Lawrence’s naïvety to explore the nature of the confusions and fears of childhood.
This is Ken Ilgunas. Inspired by Thoreau and a tight budget he lived in an ‘94 Econoline van for months in an attempt to save money for graduate school. He wrote a great piece about his experience in Salon:
Living on the cheap wasn’t merely a way to save money and stave off debt; I wanted to live adventurously. I wanted to test my limits. I wanted to find the line between my wants and my needs. I wanted, as Thoreau put it, “to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life … to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms.”
It wouldn’t be hard for me to remain frugal. After buying the van and making my first tuition payment, I was only a few dollars away from having to rummage through Dumpsters to find my next meal. I was — by conventional first-world definitions — poor. While I faced little risk of malnutrition or disease like the truly poor, I still I didn’t own an iPod, and I smelled sometimes.
I am not poor – no – but I am inspired by Ken’s act born out of adventure and necessity. Why? Because I relate to his desire to live life freely. I think that’s something everyone could relate to, especially in such tough economic times. Ken said it best: “While I was still leading an exciting, adventurous life, I knew I could never truly be free until my debt was gone.”
Why are there so many songs about rainbows? Here is your answer:
The rainbow is cool, yes, but this grown man’s reaction is even more interesting. This man has got to be happy! It’s different, sure. To be moved to tears by a natural phenomenon must be special, though.
The members of our team are scattered across several countries, all united in a journey toward exploring how to redefine "environmentalism" and "sustainability" to encompass all aspects of life.
Being so, everything you find on this website has been chosen to uplift and inspire one person: you.
(Click on a picture to read individual posts.)
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