80 songs from the 80s, performed by members of Magnetic Fields, TMBG, and more

Image provided courtesy of Michael Hearst

This week, musician Michael Hearst launched an ambitious new project: 80 covers of 80 songs from the 1980s, with a new one released every week.

Over the next 80 weeks (!!), 80 From The 80s will feature guest appearances by an impressively wide range of musicians—including Stephin Merritt and Claudia Gonson of Magnetic Fields; John Linnell of They Might Be Giants; Tanya Donelly of, well, Tanya Donelly (also Breeders and throwing Muses); John Cameron Mitchell, creator of Hedwig & the Angry Inch; Amanda Palmer of Dresden Dolls and Neil Gaiman's Divorce; and of course, Jonathan Coulton. — Read the rest

Celebrate the 18th anniversary of downgrading Pluto to a "dwarf planet"

I grew up when Pluto was a planet. But, as you no doubt know, 18 years ago, on August 24, 2006, poor Pluto was downgraded from a regular ol' planet planet to a dwarf planet. KCRA explains that:

the International Astronomical Union voted to strictly define a planet, which ultimately downgraded Pluto from the ninth planet from the sun to a dwarf planet — causing controversy both scientifically and culturally.

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High school senior wins Tetris World Championship

EricICX has won the 2022 Tetris World Championship, beating competitor Fractal in the final match. Game 3 (of 4 in the match) was really the highlight. Tetris Interest describes the action, which was made even better with Jonathan Coulton's song "Still Alive" from Portal playing in the background:

The crowd applauded in Game 3 when Fractal applied lotion to his hands in the middle of his game.

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What creeps us out and why?

Knox College psychologist Frank T McAndrew was curious about the nature of creepiness so he and student Sara Koehnke surveyed 1,300 people to identify "the building blocks of creepiness."

Talking CASH Music with Maggie Vail and Jesse von Doom (New Disruptors Episode 73)

Maggie Vail and Jesse von Doom are the co-executive directors of CASH Music (Coalition of Artists and Stakeholders) a non-profit organization that brings an open-source approach to music distribution and production. CASH focuses on educating around those ideas through online resources, stakeholder events, and face-to-face workshops, as well as offering a software platform. — Read the rest

New Disruptors 64: Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves with The Doubleclicks

Angela and Aubrey Webber are the musical group The Doubleclicks, bringing geeky music to nerdy folk. The sisters never intended to form a band, but when Aubrey joined her sister Angela in Portland a few years ago, her cello coupled with Angela's singing caused enough of a stir for them to join forces and write songs about Dungeons & Dungeons, the Curiosity rover, and not dissing the geek girl. — Read the rest

Geeky tornado relief fundraisers

Alan sez, "Two items here on the same theme:
Ruben Bolling, comic author of Tom The Dancing Bug, contributor to JoCo Funnies, etc. has a raffle posted on his blog. If you donate to the American National Red Cross through a page he has set up, you will be entered into a drawing for a personal comic from Bolling;

Greg Pak, creator of the 'Code Monkey Save World' visuals and co-conspirator in the recent Kickstarter with Jonathan Coulton is offering free CMSW stickers to people who make a donation to any recognized organization helping tornado victims."

The Princess Can Save Herself, Thank You


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