The Gentleman Graffitist

Music writer, player, lover. Any music that you can name but classical and film music are what I listen to the most. I'm about bowties (wear one every day!), cinema, music, and art.

Permalink
Permalink nevver: “I am I, and I wish I weren’t.” ― Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
Permalink
Permalink
Permalink smartercities: IBM Turns Ads Into Useful Urban Furniture | Fast Company Did you ever need a ramp for your luggage (or bike), or a shelter from a sudden downpour, or a place to sit down and tie your shoe? IBM believes that city life can be awfully inconvenient—and that cities should be designed with the needs of ordinary citizens in mind.
Permalink ikenbot: Cygnus Constellation The image depicts part of Cygnus, a northern constellation lying on the plane of the Milky Way. Cygnus is one of the most recognizable constellations of the northern summer and autumn, featuring a prominent asterism known as the Northern Cross (in contrast to the Southern Cross), dominated by Deneb (Alfa Cygni), a blue-white supergiant star of visual magnitude 1.3, very bright despite its distance of some 3,200 light years from Earth. [**] — Davide De Martin; Data credit: Caltech, Palomar Observatory, Digitized Sky Survey From Astrophotographer Davide De Martin: “There is no way to properly present a 2.5 gigapixel image on a computer screen (I am talking about 2.5 billion pixel, or 2500 megapixel, one thousand times higher than a modern digital camera, which can take pictures containing around 20-25 megapixel). For this reason,I thought a videoclip could do a better work showing how much there is in the image. My advise is to watch it with quality set at 720p or 1080p and on full-screen.”
Permalink
Permalink supersonicelectronic: Mathieu Tremblin. Creative street art by Mathieu Tremblin: Read More
Permalink sagansense: Hubble Space Telescope will have two chances in the next few years to hunt for Earth-sized planets by using a special alignment with Proxima Centauri. There have been previous attempts before but were unsuccessful. Proxima Centauri is the closest star to our Sun and is known as a red dwarf. Since red dwarf’s are smaller than our own and they are also the most common, 10 for every 1 sun of ours, they are a candidate most likely harboring Earth-sized planets. The rare alignment that will happen in October 2014 and February 2016 is when Proxima Centauri will pass in front of two stars. This will allow astronomers to look for a microlensing effect during the rare alignment. Microlensing will allow astronomers to precisely measure the mass, temperature, diameter, intrinsic brightness, and longevity. Furthermore, they can measure the mass by looking at the background stars and see how much they offset from their real positions in the sky. The offset is a result of the gravitational field warping space and since Proxmia Centauri is the closest star to Earth the area in the sky where we can see this gravitational warping is the larger than distant stars. This will be exciting to see what planets may be hiding around Proxima Centauri! http://www.penny4nasa.org/take-action/ via penny4nasa
Permalink I finally found the first opera I saw! My introduction to opera was a strange experience. One Saturday night, I was channel surfing, completely bored. I stopped on WETA and saw a woman clothed in red, singing in a dark, stone tower- a set of course. I found myself drawn to the screen. I had never seen or heard anything like this. I wanted more. I sat there mesmerized by her voice, the music, the expression. I couldn’t tear myself away. But eventually it ended. She took a long jump into a pool at the bottom of the tower, screaming on the way down. I sat there for a minute, taken aback. This was something amazing and I wanted part of it. I began to record the program religiously, watching the operas whenever I could. The Marriage of Figaro, Aida, Don Giovanni all found there way to my ears. Last Christmas, I received Tristan und Isolde (my first in what hopefully will become a huge collection) but I never found out the name of the opera that sparked it all - until now. Thank you.