I've been on a bit of a Blondie kick lately, and in what has turned out to be a cover songs thread at Roy's place, made reference to Blondie's The Tide is High, which is a cover of a song by the The Paragons, one of Jamaica's most popular rocksteady combos:
The song was written and sung by John Holt, who passed away in London on October 19th. Before joining The Paragons, John Holt launched his singing career with the 1963 single Forever I'll Stay:
He followed this single up with Rum Bumpers, a duet with Alton Ellis:
After his stint with the Paragons, Mr Holt had a very successful solo career interpreting the popular songbook in the reggae idiom, scoring a hit with a version of The Temptations' I Want a Love:
In the 1970s, Mr Holt collaborated with producer Tony Ashfield, who added lush production values to Mr Holt's recordings, scoring hits with cover songs such as Help Me Make It Through The Night, written by Kris Kristofferson:
With the rich production values and romantic themes, John Holt paved the way for the lovers' rock subgenre.
After a conversion to Rastafarianism, Mr Holt took on more political themes in his songwriting, with Police in Helicopter addressing a crackdown on marijuana growing in Jamaica:
John Holt had a long, storied career which serves as a beautiful microcosm ofmultiple Jamaican popular musical styles of the late 20th century, ranging from ska to rocksteady to reggae, to lovers' rock. It's fitting that he collapsed onstage during a music festival in August of this year... that is the mark of a true music powerhouse.
Saturday, November 15, 2014
Friday, November 14, 2014
It is 100 Billion Hours Past Fucking Time They Made a Movie About Turing.
On Monday night, as a guest of the Secret Science Club, I attended a preview of the upcoming film about Alan Turing's efforts to crack the Nazi Enigma crytographic machine- The Imitation Game:
The movie is not a straight biopic, as it takes certain liberties to heighten the dramatic tension (notably, it turns Commander Alexander Denniston into an unimaginative, antagonistic martinet). The movie really is a mid-20th century techno-thriller, a boffins-versus-bombers espionage film. It is structured as a narrative within a narrative, with Turing, brought into a police station for interrogation, recounts his wartime service to a detective who is convinced that he is a Soviet spy. The film jumps back in forth in time, weaving together several story arcs concerning different times in Turing's life.
One of the arcs in the film involves Turing's days at the Sherborne School, where he is tormented by the majority of his classmates, with the exception of fellow mathematics whiz Christopher Morcom. In these scenes, Morcom is portrayed as a gallant savior, rescuing Turing from repellent hazing, and an inspiration, introducing Turing to cryptography, eventually leading to the two students passing encoded notes to each other during their overly simple mathematics classes. These scenes establish Turing's perennial outsider status, and lend an emotional depth to Benedict Cumberbatch's portrayal as the adult Turing, who is emotionally "tone-deaf".
The second story arc, the main one of the film, involves the cracking of the Enigma code, starting with the assembly of a team of cryptographers including Conel Hugh Donel Alexander (the married Alexander is played as a single cad in the film) and Joan Elisabeth Lowther Clarke, who was briefly engaged to be married to Turing. This particular arc not only portrays the race against time to crack the Enigma code, but the harrowing decisions that had to be made regarding reactions to Nazi attacks after the code had been broken- how many attacks could be thwarted without revealing to the Nazis that their encryption had been rendered useless?
The third story arc is set after the war, in the course of a police investigation after Turing's home had been ransacked. In the course of the investigation, a detective suspecting that Turing is a Soviet spy runs into obstacles such as sealed military records. The film is presented as Turing revealing the truth of his wartime service to the detective, with the horrific maltreatment of Turing by the government of the country he had helped to save.
Benedict Cumberbatch does a credible job portraying Turing. There is some humor to be found in his performance as literal-minded individual with no skill deciphering verbal or social ambiguity. He is a riveting screen presence, by turns intense, obtuse, and vulnerable. In a film in which the "action scenes" typically involve clacking wheels, the tension has to come from interpersonal relationships, and Cumberbatch's interpretation of Turing beautifully conveys a personality of a man who can be admired and pitied simultaneously from a distance, but who would undoubtedly be infuriating to associate with up close.
Keira Knightly, portraying Joan Clarke, lends the film some warmth to counteract Cumberbatch's icy matter-of-factness. The film conveys some of the patriarchal flaws of the contemporary culture- assurances have to be made to Clarke's parents that the environment at Bletchley Park is wholesome, and Turing's marriage proposal to Clarke is portrayed as an attempt to mollify Clarke's parents regarding their daughter's unmarried status. Ms. Knightley is not just a luminous presence in the film, she conveys a spirited intelligence and an empathy as well.
On the whole, the film is not without its flaws, but it is important nonetheless. The post title here was totally stolen from a comment made at Alicublog by Shakezula... Turing's role in WW2 and his role in the nascent field of computer science make him a central figure in mid-20th century history, albeit an unsung one. Besides bringing Alan Turing more centrally into the public awareness, the film does a wonderful job of publicizing the work of Joan Clarke. I would have preferred if the film had actually portrayed Turing's death (probably a suicide, possibly an accident involving cyanide), as it is, his cyanide poisoning is mentioned in a coda to the film which also mentions the persecution of tens of thousands of other gay men by the government of the U.K. As it is, Benedict Cumberbatch's performance as a weak, shaking shell of a man ravaged by chemical castration is pretty devastating, albeit too brief. Perhaps the production team didn't want to have such a jarring shift in tone... it's hard to have the "good guys" in the film become the "bad guys" in such short order.
I predict that the film is going to do extremely well come Oscar time. It's a WW2 film. It's about a man with a mental condition who is brilliant. It has a gorgeous young star playing a brainiac. That's all catnip for the Academy. I don't know if it will sweep, but I think it'll have a Best Picture nod, with a Best Leading Actor nomination for Benedict Cumberbatch and a Best Leading Actress nod for Keira Knightley.
The movie is not a straight biopic, as it takes certain liberties to heighten the dramatic tension (notably, it turns Commander Alexander Denniston into an unimaginative, antagonistic martinet). The movie really is a mid-20th century techno-thriller, a boffins-versus-bombers espionage film. It is structured as a narrative within a narrative, with Turing, brought into a police station for interrogation, recounts his wartime service to a detective who is convinced that he is a Soviet spy. The film jumps back in forth in time, weaving together several story arcs concerning different times in Turing's life.
One of the arcs in the film involves Turing's days at the Sherborne School, where he is tormented by the majority of his classmates, with the exception of fellow mathematics whiz Christopher Morcom. In these scenes, Morcom is portrayed as a gallant savior, rescuing Turing from repellent hazing, and an inspiration, introducing Turing to cryptography, eventually leading to the two students passing encoded notes to each other during their overly simple mathematics classes. These scenes establish Turing's perennial outsider status, and lend an emotional depth to Benedict Cumberbatch's portrayal as the adult Turing, who is emotionally "tone-deaf".
The second story arc, the main one of the film, involves the cracking of the Enigma code, starting with the assembly of a team of cryptographers including Conel Hugh Donel Alexander (the married Alexander is played as a single cad in the film) and Joan Elisabeth Lowther Clarke, who was briefly engaged to be married to Turing. This particular arc not only portrays the race against time to crack the Enigma code, but the harrowing decisions that had to be made regarding reactions to Nazi attacks after the code had been broken- how many attacks could be thwarted without revealing to the Nazis that their encryption had been rendered useless?
The third story arc is set after the war, in the course of a police investigation after Turing's home had been ransacked. In the course of the investigation, a detective suspecting that Turing is a Soviet spy runs into obstacles such as sealed military records. The film is presented as Turing revealing the truth of his wartime service to the detective, with the horrific maltreatment of Turing by the government of the country he had helped to save.
Benedict Cumberbatch does a credible job portraying Turing. There is some humor to be found in his performance as literal-minded individual with no skill deciphering verbal or social ambiguity. He is a riveting screen presence, by turns intense, obtuse, and vulnerable. In a film in which the "action scenes" typically involve clacking wheels, the tension has to come from interpersonal relationships, and Cumberbatch's interpretation of Turing beautifully conveys a personality of a man who can be admired and pitied simultaneously from a distance, but who would undoubtedly be infuriating to associate with up close.
Keira Knightly, portraying Joan Clarke, lends the film some warmth to counteract Cumberbatch's icy matter-of-factness. The film conveys some of the patriarchal flaws of the contemporary culture- assurances have to be made to Clarke's parents that the environment at Bletchley Park is wholesome, and Turing's marriage proposal to Clarke is portrayed as an attempt to mollify Clarke's parents regarding their daughter's unmarried status. Ms. Knightley is not just a luminous presence in the film, she conveys a spirited intelligence and an empathy as well.
On the whole, the film is not without its flaws, but it is important nonetheless. The post title here was totally stolen from a comment made at Alicublog by Shakezula... Turing's role in WW2 and his role in the nascent field of computer science make him a central figure in mid-20th century history, albeit an unsung one. Besides bringing Alan Turing more centrally into the public awareness, the film does a wonderful job of publicizing the work of Joan Clarke. I would have preferred if the film had actually portrayed Turing's death (probably a suicide, possibly an accident involving cyanide), as it is, his cyanide poisoning is mentioned in a coda to the film which also mentions the persecution of tens of thousands of other gay men by the government of the U.K. As it is, Benedict Cumberbatch's performance as a weak, shaking shell of a man ravaged by chemical castration is pretty devastating, albeit too brief. Perhaps the production team didn't want to have such a jarring shift in tone... it's hard to have the "good guys" in the film become the "bad guys" in such short order.
I predict that the film is going to do extremely well come Oscar time. It's a WW2 film. It's about a man with a mental condition who is brilliant. It has a gorgeous young star playing a brainiac. That's all catnip for the Academy. I don't know if it will sweep, but I think it'll have a Best Picture nod, with a Best Leading Actor nomination for Benedict Cumberbatch and a Best Leading Actress nod for Keira Knightley.
Thursday, November 13, 2014
Secret Science Stoop: Matt and Math(s)
On Tuesday, I took my beloved number 4 subway down to the Nevins St stop so I could visit the brilliant BRIC House to see math whiz, funnyman, Public Engagement in Mathematics Fellow at Queen Mary University of London, and all-around good guy Matt Parker perform his entertaining blend of mathematics and comedy in a joint presentation of the Secret Science Club and the BRIC Stoop Series. Matt has just released a book, Things to Make and Do in the Fourth Dimension: A Mathematician's Journey Through Narcissistic Numbers, Optimal Dating Algorithms, at Least Two Kinds of Infinity, and More.
One of Mr Parker's first displays of acumen involved asking the audience if anyone had a calculator (practically everybody did, because we had phones- one lady in the audience actually had a straight-up calculator, which impressed Matt), then asking everyone to pick a double-digit number and to cube that number- he then quickly solved the cube root problems that he solicited from the audience, perhaps by using this method. He then moved on to perform his barcode bit, and digressed about the difference between European and North American barcodes, which led to a bit about the need to encode information in such a way that the inaccurate lasers can be compensated for, which led to a bit about using a 3mm drill bit to make a hole in a Blu-Ray disc (preferably someone else's, he quipped) and ascertaining that there was enough data coded on the disc to compensate for damage to said disc.
One of the tours de force of Matt's presentation was his spreadsheet trick (which you can duplicate at the linked site, by which he illustrated that digital images can be likened to spreadsheets, each pixel being a "spreadsheet cell". He capped this by noting that anyone who relaxed after work by watching television was basically going over multiple spreadsheets per second.
A lot of Matt's presentation involved props, such as interlocked rolling discs and a plethora of Möbius strips. Mr Parker told us that the Möbius strip is his second favorite shape, and in the Q&A admitted that his favorite shape is the Klein bottle. He also proudly displayed a self-correcting binary scarf knitted by his mum, who is now working on a Klein bottle hat.
It was an entertaining night of mathematics, but enough of my yapping... how about some of Matt's mathematical musings? Here is a long bit about a computer constructed out of dominoes:
Here's a funny bit about the imperial measurement system:
Here is a nifty "Fractal Pterodactyl" pattern (hint: the pterosaurs depicted are Pteranodon longiceps:
Here's a review of Matt's book, which promises to be a fun series of activities. He'll be appearing in Seattle next week, so if you're in the area, he's a fun lecturer and a great person, so check out his event. If you're really serious (but not overly serious) about math(s), check out one of the mathsjam events in your area, and while you're engaging in mathematical activities, drink to Mr Parker's health.
One of Mr Parker's first displays of acumen involved asking the audience if anyone had a calculator (practically everybody did, because we had phones- one lady in the audience actually had a straight-up calculator, which impressed Matt), then asking everyone to pick a double-digit number and to cube that number- he then quickly solved the cube root problems that he solicited from the audience, perhaps by using this method. He then moved on to perform his barcode bit, and digressed about the difference between European and North American barcodes, which led to a bit about the need to encode information in such a way that the inaccurate lasers can be compensated for, which led to a bit about using a 3mm drill bit to make a hole in a Blu-Ray disc (preferably someone else's, he quipped) and ascertaining that there was enough data coded on the disc to compensate for damage to said disc.
One of the tours de force of Matt's presentation was his spreadsheet trick (which you can duplicate at the linked site, by which he illustrated that digital images can be likened to spreadsheets, each pixel being a "spreadsheet cell". He capped this by noting that anyone who relaxed after work by watching television was basically going over multiple spreadsheets per second.
A lot of Matt's presentation involved props, such as interlocked rolling discs and a plethora of Möbius strips. Mr Parker told us that the Möbius strip is his second favorite shape, and in the Q&A admitted that his favorite shape is the Klein bottle. He also proudly displayed a self-correcting binary scarf knitted by his mum, who is now working on a Klein bottle hat.
It was an entertaining night of mathematics, but enough of my yapping... how about some of Matt's mathematical musings? Here is a long bit about a computer constructed out of dominoes:
Here's a funny bit about the imperial measurement system:
Here is a nifty "Fractal Pterodactyl" pattern (hint: the pterosaurs depicted are Pteranodon longiceps:
Here's a review of Matt's book, which promises to be a fun series of activities. He'll be appearing in Seattle next week, so if you're in the area, he's a fun lecturer and a great person, so check out his event. If you're really serious (but not overly serious) about math(s), check out one of the mathsjam events in your area, and while you're engaging in mathematical activities, drink to Mr Parker's health.
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
A Sad Note in an Otherwise Great Week
This afternoon, I learned that my next door neighbor's mom passed away yesterday, in her sleep at the age of one-hundred and one. My letter carrier, who had heard from another neighbor on her route, informed me. I stopped by my neighbor's house to offer my condolences my neighbor and to reassure her that she had done everything in the best fashion, with regard to her mother. How many people are fortunate enough to peacefully go to sleep in their beds at a ripe old age and to simply not wake up? My neighbor told me that her mom had had a complete loss of appetite for a few days, but that she refused to go to the hospital, having a dislike of such places. Sometimes, it seems, people just know when they want to go... I think my Uncle Jim was like that, he also passed away in his sleep after spending the night with family, on the eve of a session to be poked and prodded by a doctor.
Now is the time when my neighbor's family is gathering for the funeral. There's a lot of paperwork involved, and trips to the airport to pick up arrivals from distant places, and other mundane tasks. I told my neighbor to ring the doorbell if she needs any assistance. I may work nights, but I'm almost always able to drag myself to the door, especially considering that this is an occasion which demands neighborliness.
Now is the time when my neighbor's family is gathering for the funeral. There's a lot of paperwork involved, and trips to the airport to pick up arrivals from distant places, and other mundane tasks. I told my neighbor to ring the doorbell if she needs any assistance. I may work nights, but I'm almost always able to drag myself to the door, especially considering that this is an occasion which demands neighborliness.
Tuesday, November 11, 2014
Banner Week for Secret Science
Wow, two Secret Science Club events on back-to-back nights. Whodathunkit? Tonight's venue is the BRIC House. The featured speaker is this gentleman:
Awww, I can picture you out there, shaking your heads that I didn't embed an appropriate song:
I'll make sure I do writeups for both events later in the week.
Awww, I can picture you out there, shaking your heads that I didn't embed an appropriate song:
I'll make sure I do writeups for both events later in the week.
Monday, November 10, 2014
An Uncharacteristic Movie Night
Longtime readers of this blog will know that I am, by no means, a cinephile. The last movie I saw in a theater was the 2010 remake of True Grit, which I saw in the theater because I am a huge fan of the book, which I want to ensure remains in print. Tonight, however, I will be attending a sneak preview of the film The Imitation Game, a film about the heroic code-breaking efforts of Alan Turing who helped to save Britain from the Nazis, only to be destroyed by the anti-LGBT bigotry of the government of the people he defended. The film stars Benedict Cumberbatch (is there a more Dickensian/JK Rowlingsish name in entertainment?) and Keira Knightley (whose film debut, Bend it Like Beckham was another one I saw in the theater).
Special thanks go out to my dear friends of the Secret Science Club, who were the recipients of the sneak preview tickets. They distributed the tickets to people on their e-mail list through a contest which, appropriately, involved solving a cryptogram:
P RDBEJITG LDJAS STHTGKT ID QT RPAATS XCITAAXVTCI XU XI RDJAS STRTXKT P WJBPC XCID QTAXTKXCV IWPI XI LPH WJBPC.
-PAPC IJGXCV
I was able to solve the puzzle in a few minutes, largely because I recalled a bit which I believe is from Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose, namely that the key to cracking a code is to have some idea of what the message is before you start out. I won't give out more of a hint than that, but I trust my smart readers to get this one pretty quickly.
Special thanks go out to my dear friends of the Secret Science Club, who were the recipients of the sneak preview tickets. They distributed the tickets to people on their e-mail list through a contest which, appropriately, involved solving a cryptogram:
P RDBEJITG LDJAS STHTGKT ID QT RPAATS XCITAAXVTCI XU XI RDJAS STRTXKT P WJBPC XCID QTAXTKXCV IWPI XI LPH WJBPC.
-PAPC IJGXCV
I was able to solve the puzzle in a few minutes, largely because I recalled a bit which I believe is from Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose, namely that the key to cracking a code is to have some idea of what the message is before you start out. I won't give out more of a hint than that, but I trust my smart readers to get this one pretty quickly.
Sunday, November 9, 2014
Season's End
Today was the last day of our regular tourist season of 2014. I arrived at work early in order to turn on some of the outside lights in our auxiliary parking lot. After escorting a lovely family to the lot (the path to the lot was a little dark, and mom wanted someone to walk with them, preferably bearing a light), I was able to lock the gates to the auxiliary lot, and they shall remain locked until April. When I got back to the visitors' center, I locked the doors and, after bidding a happy Thanskgiving, merry Christmas, and a happy New Year to the departing sales clerk, went down to the basement to shut off the water for the drinking fountain outside our front door. Things got real quiet all of a sudden, and so they shall remain until the spring.
There was one wrinkle, however. The Manager on Duty for the day discovered that his office door, the door that had never been locked for all of his sixteen years with the organization, was locked and that he didn't have the key. To compound matters, his personal keys (car and house) and his wallet were locked in the office. Furthermore, the key box for the building is, you got it, in the locked room. After making a few calls, he got in touch with one of the guys in our maintenance department, who told him that he had an old master key (all of the locks were changed a year and a half ago) which could possibly work. The maintenance guy was working at another site about eight miles north of my principle site, so I drove the M.O.D. up to get the old key, which thankfully worked, necessitating a call to a locksmith.
While it was a pain in the ass, things turned out well in the end, so this little kerfuffle will be something we joke about in the future. It's always the minor-but-majorly-annoying events that end up as the funniest anecdotes.
Now, my job enters the "cushy" part of the "cushy, except when it's not" phase, and cushy it'll remain but for bitter cold snaps and other beastly weather events. I'm cool with that, I think I've earned the peace and quiet.
There was one wrinkle, however. The Manager on Duty for the day discovered that his office door, the door that had never been locked for all of his sixteen years with the organization, was locked and that he didn't have the key. To compound matters, his personal keys (car and house) and his wallet were locked in the office. Furthermore, the key box for the building is, you got it, in the locked room. After making a few calls, he got in touch with one of the guys in our maintenance department, who told him that he had an old master key (all of the locks were changed a year and a half ago) which could possibly work. The maintenance guy was working at another site about eight miles north of my principle site, so I drove the M.O.D. up to get the old key, which thankfully worked, necessitating a call to a locksmith.
While it was a pain in the ass, things turned out well in the end, so this little kerfuffle will be something we joke about in the future. It's always the minor-but-majorly-annoying events that end up as the funniest anecdotes.
Now, my job enters the "cushy" part of the "cushy, except when it's not" phase, and cushy it'll remain but for bitter cold snaps and other beastly weather events. I'm cool with that, I think I've earned the peace and quiet.
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