World’s best geeky songs

Now that I am using a text editor that colour codes things based on which programming language you are using, I feel free to unleash a bit of geekishness upon you all.

In that spirit, what verse from a song can compete with the following? (Naturally, it is sung to the tune of “I am the Very Model of a Modern Major General.”)

There’s antimony, arsenic, aluminum, selenium,
And hydrogen and oxygen and nitrogen and rhenium
And nickel, neodymium, neptunium, germanium,
And iron, americium, ruthenium, uranium,
Europium, zirconium, lutetium, vanadium
And lanthanum and osmium and astatine and radium
And gold, protactinium and indium and gallium
And iodine and thorium and thulium and thallium.

That is from Tom Lehrer’s “Element Song” which, unfortunately, is no longer up to date. Readers who prefer their science delivered in musical format should also try to find copies of the following:

“Photosynthesis” by Moxy Fruvous

I will be the first to admit that this is not the most musical song in the world (though it is a far cry better than the Monty Python “Oliver Cromwell” song). That said, it will probably teach you something about the most essential chemical process for the maintenance of life as we know it on earth. Not something you can say about Bach or Britney Spears.

“The Galaxy Song” by Monty Python

Can’t remember the rate at which the outer spiral arm of the Milky Way which contains our sun rotates the galactic core? This song is for you. A shame that none of the measurements given are in metric.

“The Transcendental Deduction” by Paul L. Fine

Not scientific, per se, but decidedly educational. How can anyone deny the merit of a song that fits in the lyric: “Now, reason gives us concepts which are true but tautological; sensation gives us images whose content is phenomenal?”

“Doppler Shifting” by The Chromatics, from the album Astro Cappella

Unambiguously, the finest a cappella song about the Doppler Shift, this song will increase your understanding of highway speed traps, the nature of the universe, and much else besides.

Can you name a geekier song? If so, please leave a comment. Even better, send me a copy.

Christmas in Oxford

Given that I have no plans whatsoever for Christmas Eve or Christmas Day (aside from a short reception with the Warden’s family in Wadham on the 25th), I am looking for something interesting to do in Oxford during that period, aside from making calls through Skype to as many scattered friends as I can come up with phone numbers for. People have suggested to me that there are probably concerts ongoing, as well as curious and uniquely British forms of theatre. Last year, I just sat around as one of the two isolated residents of the college.

Does anyone know of anything interesting – and preferably distinctive to Oxford – that is happening on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day? It would be a shame to break my excellent streak of finding things other than the thesis on which to spend time.

Amadeus

Curry in Oxford

I watched Amadeus with Claire tonight, and the film is really quite spectacular. It is impossible to walk home after seeing it and not get caught up in some of Mozart’s more dramatic musical moments. As with most very successful films, this one manages to offset drama and passion with comedy, in a way that heightens both.

I know almost nothing about Mozart’s life, so I can make no comment as to the accuracy of this portrayal. The film has made me determined that I should actually see an opera. Opera, botany, and classical history are three things that I have specifically decided to learn a great deal about in old age, when the acquisition of useful knowledge is no longer at such a premium.

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A friend on the air

Alison Benjamin, a media savvy friend of mine who I’ve known for more than a decade and a half, is dıscussed extensively in this article in UBC Reports. She is the president of CıTR, the student-run independent campus radio station at the University of British Columbia, and the article is about the role the station played. 2007 will be the 25th anniversary of the station. Those outside the standard transmission range can still benefit from the free web content including podcasts. A station that “helped launch Neko Case” is surely worthy of respect; I have been enjoying her latest album almost daily for months.

My thanks to Meghan Mathieson for bringing the article to my attention.

And don’t lift up my head ’till the the twelve bells at noon

I am glad to see that Spirit of the West has been gaining in worldwide popularity. Almost every hour, for the last few days, I have seen people finding my site by searching for lyrics from their classing song “Home for a Rest.”

People tend to remember the chorus:

You’ll have to excuse me, I’m not at my best
I’ve been gone for a week
I’ve been drunk since I left
And these so-called vacations
Will soon be my death
I’m so sick from the drink
I need home for a rest
Take me home….

The song is great fun, and a Canadian pub favourite. I was lucky enough to see Spirit of the West live on my nineteenth birthday, at the infamous Pit Pub, at the University of British Columbia.

More on Mica’s videos

Mica’s ‘Jock Rock’ video came first in the sixth Google Idol pop music video competition. Previously, his video for ‘Walk Idiot Walk’ won their first rock video competition.

Right now, his video for ‘I Bet That You Look Good on the Dance Floor’ is in the grand final of the 4th rock video competition. Please take a minute and go vote. The competition ends on the 17th and, when last I heard, he was trailing behind the other competitor.

Google Idol seems to have changed their name to ‘bopsta’ because of the rather problematic fact that they didn’t have permission to use ‘Google’ or ‘Idol’ in their name. It’s true that people did often incorrectly assume that they actually had something to do with Google, other than using their video service for free hosting.

Relevant links:

Merton Chapel and Fauré’s Requiem

Merton College Chapel, Oxford

Happy Birthday Lindi Cassel

I went to Merton tonight, to see Claire sing in Fauré’s Requiem. This was the first time I had been inside the Merton Chapel, and I was thoroughly impressed by the architecture. I particularly like the transept, with its unadorned arches, illuminated from below so as to enhance the sense of depth. Not for the first time, I found myself somewhat regretful that I followed Sarah P’s suggestion, rather than her example, in choosing a college.

Despite having been here for more than a year, there must be dozens of such amazing buildings in Oxford that I have never seen from within. Over the course of the next few months, I shall try to see more. Having never seen the inside of anything at Christ Church or Magdalen, those would probably be good places to start. Are there any other essential Oxford edifices I have been missing?

The music itself was very beautiful, complimenting the otherwise unfamiliar setting. Despite the apparent fame of the piece, it is not something that I can recall hearing before, though I certainly recognized the short Bach piece that a cellist played during the service.

All told, it was enormously more enjoyable than my last Guy Fawkes night, which I spent on a cold and fruitless search for somewhere where I could actually watch the fireworks, instead of just hearing them explode in all directions.

March of the iPods

Today, iPod the Fifth arrived. They are packed much more compactly now than in earlier days. I suspect Apple is cutting costs in anticipation of having to compete with Microsoft’s Zune player, though, as always, it remains to be seen how successful that product will be. Everyone remembers the spectacular failure of the ‘rokr’ iTunes phone.

As regards iPod the Fifth, I hope it lasts as long as the previous four put together did.

In other news, the heating in our flat has suddenly been turned on. It hit my like a tropical blast as soon as I opened my door. I probably will no longer be sleeping in the woolen toque that Sarah P gave me.

PS. For some reason, iTunes 7.0.1 lacks the option to “only update checked songs” to the iPod. Since I was using that feature to keep a collection of songs small enough for the 20GB version updated, it will now not update at all, because the overall library is too big. I have come up with a crude hack (creating a smart playlist that includes all checked songs and having the iPod only update that), but doing so causes the device to only list that playlist, with none of my other smart or normal listings visible. Trying to add them all (even though they are the same songs as the ‘checked only’ list, causes a ‘not enough space’ error. Any ideas?

Yet another one bites the dust

Back in mid-March, the third iPod that I owned began to fail. It was already the replacement for the replacement of the original one, which I purchased in October 2004. The device is the 20GB version of the fourth generation ‘Click Wheel’ iPod. I have rarely done anything wiser than buying the three year extended warranty. Now, the replacement that I got for the third iPod has itself failed: another toasted hard drive, ticking away and unable to be read or written to properly. Not even the program that is meant to restore it to factory settings will work. I suppose anything with moving parts is bound to fail sooner rather than later, but this is getting absurd. The fact that when they replace an iPod, they send you a refurbished one may explain why the failure rate on replacements is so high. Ironically, if the reliability of this iPod had been higher, I would probably be strongly considering buying a new one by now; since it has been so problematic, I am holding off and investigating other options.

People have frequently pointed out that my gadgets tend to fail surprisingly often. In response, I can offer some justifications:

  1. I have more gadgets than most people.
  2. In some cases, I have more finicky gadgets than other people.
  3. The gadgets I have, I use very often.
  4. The environments in which I live are wet.
  5. I am generally aware of exactly how the gadgets I use should work, and it catches my attention immediately when they do not do so.
  6. When I find a fault, I will almost always have it corrected – especially if the gear is under warranty.

While that does explain the frequency of dispatches, somewhat, it remains infuriating to live amidst a stream of little plastic boxes moving towards me and then away again by courier. As long as I have the real essentials: a computer, internet access, and a camera, I cannot really complain.

PS. My parents’ house is surrounded by weird wireless networks. At various times, we though they were coming from our own router, so we named and configured them all. Now there are always at least a couple of networks that look like they are ours, but where we cannot access the configuration page due to a password change. Why would people re-take the networks we accidentally configured, but then keep our esoteric names for them?