Harry Potter

Virtual Choir

American composer and conductor Eric Whitacre spliced together nearly 250 submitted YouTube videos to form an online choir performing “Lux Arumque,” and then posted the assembled piece on YouTube.

Whitacre and producer Scott Haines used social media — his blog, a Facebook page and YouTube — to assemble and audition singers for his piece. He sent the sheet music out so people could submit videos featuring them singing individual parts. He then sifted through the videos and edited the audio parts together to form a very professional-sounding choir.

For the video, he visualized the choir in a 3D, virtual array of living rooms and bedrooms, with him standing in the middle conducting. You probably haven’t seen anything quite like it before.

Check out the amazing video:




Info from http://mashable.com

Give Me the Comb

What is with the wretched, horrible, disgusting, ridiculous-looking wig sitting on top of Jake Gyllenhaal's doofus head in the new movie Prince of Persia? Is his pet raccoon who, sadly, has died of heat stroke and Jake's character thinks it has just settled on for a nap?

Really, I have a hard time telling these two apart - which one is Jake?

Does Anyone Like Tom Cruise?

I keep seeing this commercial for Knight and Day, which is, first of all, a stupid name for a movie (or a book ~ I hate it when they try to make characters interesting by giving them stupid names like that) and seeing Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz running around being all adventurous and listening to that horrible cheesy music that I think is supposed to be part of the soundtrack but sounds like something from the early 1980s (maybe Footloose?) and I can't help but wonder ~ does anyone still like Tom Cruise?

For me, I think he peaked with Mission Impossible ~ the first one. I never saw Top Gun. I went to see Days of Thunder because it was a double feature with Ghost, which is the movie I really wanted to see all along. I will admit I did like Born on the Fourth of July, and The Firm was fun. But I was already starting to become annoyed by that shiny thing he does with his eyes to express strong emotion. I did not go see The Last Samurai because he was in it, and I still think it would have been that much better with someone else in the lead role.

But he's still making beaucoup bucks, so there must be lots of people out there who disagree with me. Opinions?

Place Your Bets

I am seriously considering putting together a spreadsheet to keep track of celebrity couples and place bets on when they will break up.Not necessarily for money, just bragging rights, you understand.

This comes on the heels of the announcement, as yet unconfirmed, that Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt have split. It's shocking, quite shocking, I know.

Is anyone with me?

I'm Still Doing the Happy Dance

Several hours later and my joy has not dimmed.

Overheard at a school visit I was doing this afternoon:

Woman 1 - Did you hear about Souder?
Woman 2 - I laughed so hard I nearly pee'd my pants!

So I am not the only one feeling the joy.

I have an article from the Washington Post. I have indicated my favorite parts:

Indiana congressman Mark Souder (R) decided to resign his seat after anonymous tipsters began calling aides in his office and his opponents in a Republican primary, claiming he was having an affair with a part-time staffer, according to three sources familiar with the calls.

Last week, after he won the primary, Souder admitted the allegations to his chief of staff, Renee Howell, who confronted the conservative Christian congressman about the rumors that he was having an extra-marital affair with Tracey Meadows Jackson, according to a source in the office. ...

The affair began after Jackson was hired in a part-time role in 2004, according to a source knowledgeable about the relationship. Jackson, who is married, was hired to play guest host with Souder for a daily radio spot he recorded for WFCV, a Christian radio station in Ft. Wayne. The spots were taped once a week and aired daily. Jackson played host, asking Souder questions about what he was working on in Washington for his constituents. ...

Jackson was also hired to play host for a local cable access show Souder had at one point. The show served as a platform for Souder to discuss conservative issues dear to him. Jackson has also helped produce numerous videos of Souder's speeches and positions, including one in which they discussed his strong support for teen abstinence.

Less than a week before the Republican primary election, anonymous callers phoned some of the Republican candidates running against Souder, with allegations that he was regularly meeting a girlfriend for romantic trysts in state parks. One alleged that he and a staffer went together late at night to the remote and heavily-forested Robinson Lake boat launch in Whitley County. ...

The public revelations about Souder come two weeks after he survived a serious primary challenge from car dealer Bob Thomas, who spent considerable sums of his own money on the race. Souder won the primary with less than 50 percent of the vote. Thomas and another candidates trailed far behind.

* * *

Okay. I love that he was nearly beaten by a "car dealer." Not to offend any car dealers out there. It just strikes me as funny.

I love that he was having romantic trysts in state parks. For one thing, could he not have found a state park outside his own district? Like somewhere in Pennsylvania where no one would have recognized him? The second thought I had was, how cheap is this guy? He won't even spring for a hotel room? I don't think that is sending a good message to the teens he wants to remain abstinent. Or maybe he got the idea while on a school visit? The mind boggles.

SOUDER IS OUT!

Is it wrong of me to be happy at the expense of someone else? Does it count if the someone else is Mark Souder?