inside the actors studio

At a USO sponsored event, I got the opportunity to see the accomplished actor and director Bryan Cranston—of Malcolm and the Middle and Breaking Bad fame—give a motivation talk about his career and the importance of seizing on one’s good fortunes.
Though only subjects adjacent to the discussion and not brought up at large, it was interesting to discover that Cranston, in addition to the numerous credits to his name, was also the vocal artist behind some of the monstrous villains of the American adaption of Mighty Morphing Power Rangers—and made such an impression on the cast, the Blue Ranger was retroactively named Billy Cranston in the actor’s honour and that this autumn Cranston will be starring in a London stage adaptation of the film Network, playing the role of Howard Beale. We’ve been fans of his performances and agree that he’d be perfect for this new part too.

sine, cosine

We are really mesmerised by these sleek animations by Frédéric Vayssouze-Faure that illustrate complex geometric and trigonometric functions by re-combining elements of minimalism and multitude. The source code that regulates these oscillations and harmonic motion plus many more examples can be found at the artist’s website, Wavegrower.

double-détendre

Writing for The Atlantic, correspondent and former member of the US National Security Council Jan M Lodal recalls a pledge shared between Soviet Premier Leonid Brezhnev and Gerald Ford (who as Nixon’s second vice-president took office once Nixon resigned in lieu of impeachment and served out the term until the next election—also having the pleasure of exonerating Nixon of all wrong doing by pardoning him) of the USSR’s support to ensure Ford’s re-election. The exchange took place during the Helsinki Accords—the formal settlement that marked peace in Europe after World War II and helped to limn the rules of engagement for the Cold War—in 1975 during a private moment with only the interpreter present. Some snooping and quick thinking on the part of Lodal, who was part of the presidential entourage during the summit, confirmed that this promise was extended—though the expressed outcome didn’t materialise with the election of Jimmy Carter.

7x7

master of the pan-flute: Tedium looks at those compilation albums and other musical genres hocked on late-night television commercials

goldwater rule: the American Psychiatric Association is relaxing its tradition against making comments on the mental stability of public figures

pet sounds: there’s a German-based internet radio stationed designed to keep canine companions company whilst their humans are away

disenchantment: Simpsons’ creator developing new animated series set in medieval times, including elves, wizards and demons

algebraic topography: neuroscientists determine that the brain can cogitate in mental frameworks of up to eleven dimensions

openluchtrecreatie: experimental tiny shelters spring up in Amsterdam

memphis group: an exhibition of Ettore Sottsass’ designs placed in context beside the artefacts the pieces reference or inspired

shutter-bug

Researchers have trained a neural network to scour Google Street View (which of course is not limited to urban environs) and frame what it believes to be æsthetic scenes, applying algorithms on cropping, lighting and composition that its acquired in the learning process. The coda to this experiment was to subject the photographs to a sort of human-juried “Turing test.” The judges were not told that a machine had selected and perfected the images and rated nearly half of them to be the work of a professional. Chew more of the scenery over at Twisted Sifter at the link up top and learn more about the exercise in deep learning and wonder about its implications.