Raven, by Edgar Allan Poe

While speaking with my girlfriend about a short-stories book I remembered one of the best pieces of English literature I know of, Raven from Edgar Allan Poe. I had read a translation to Catalan before and I really liked it, but after reading the original version I am speechless. The special use of alliterations and rhymes make a very musical yet powerful poem, one you have to read on a dark night with the only light of a candle when a thunderstorm is pounding outside the window. For those who have never read it or what to read it again here is a link to it and the first paragraph so you want to continue reading.

You can find the rest of it here: The Raven

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
`'Tis some visitor,' I muttered, `tapping at my chamber door -
Only this, and nothing more.'

Nintenband

In the US, is worth going to watch live sport -it doesn't matter if it is football, basketball or baseball- just to see the half-time shows, they are amazing. When I lived in Texas I went to see a NBA, a NFL and a MLB games, and the half time shows were very entertaining, but nothing like the video I want to share today. This is something else. Is the UC band playing a tribute to the most important games of Nintendo's history.

So everything makes more sense, keep in mind that the camera recording it is on the other side of field, the band looks at the opposite side, so you have to imagine it as being upside-down. This means the top of the figures is at the bottom of the screen.

And now the explanation of the figures for all the people not as nerd as me. It starts with the recreation of Pong, the first video game, then moves to Tetris, to Mortal Kombat, to Pokemon, to the Legend of Zelda (the arrow by the triforce is the sword), to Mario Bros. 3 1st stage, to Super Mario Bros. Boos stage, to Mario Bros. 3 end of stage. Amazing.

Goodbye mr. Clarke

Today, with 90 years of age, one of the most famous science-fiction drivers of all time has died. Together with Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke made a literary genre I love more popular and helped to introduce it to the popular culture. Of course his job wouldn't have been as successful without Stanley's Kubrick help, but even though his work has been vital to the history of Science-Fiction. His "2001: an space odyssey", both the film and the books are famous world wide and still a recurrent conversation theme. His personal live presents some shadows, like when he was accused of being a paedophile, but it was never really proved.

An one think not many people know is that he invented the concept of the geostationary artificial satellites and its uses to telecomunications. His paper "Extra-Terrestrial Realys— Can Rocket Stations Give Worldwide Radio Coverage?" published in Wireless World in 1945.

In any case, goodbye Mr. Clarke.

I wish Vermeer, Dalí or Durero where alive

Nowadays artists have a range of creative possibilities greater than ever before in history, and not only because of the bigger individual liberties, but because of the growing range of techniques available. I keep thinking that if the greatest painters of history where alive today they would be able to do even more amazing things than when they were alive. It's a pity they have already kicked the bucket, because I'm sure they would freak us out with their creations. Anyway, nowadays there magicians of the Photoshop, the Fash or even the Paint(!) who will amuse us with their creations, and thanks to computing they can record their creative process to our enjoyment.

I cannot avoid showing three of my favourite paintings of all time, the geographer of Vermeer, the Christ of Dalí (which I happily admired when I went to Glasgow)and the Rhino of Durero:

An here comes the techno-artits, in this order, a master of the Photoshop which shows us how to draw Spiderman 3, a master of Flash which animates a Scene from the movie 300 and a master of Paint that draws a Subaru Impreza: