An amazing thing happened through Twitter this week. Erykah Badu wanted to sample the Wings song “Arrow Through Me” in an song on her upcoming album. The catch? Only 9 hours to get ahold of Paul McCartney and get his permission. So she turned to Twitter to connect with Lenny Kravitz since he knows McCartney’s daughter Stella who could then put her in touch with the man himself.
Luckily artist Mathieu Bitton was able to come to the rescue and put her through to Lenny Kravitz. The result?
Mashable’s coverage notes:
As Tears for Fears’ Curt Smith talked about in our recent interview, usually this process involves lots of lawyers and in-betweens and can often be drawn out for weeks if not months of back and forth. In another excellent example of how social media can be used to disintermediate the music industry status quo, Twitter made sample clearance a collaborative and rapid process by putting two artists into direct contact.
And this might be the first time sampling has been cleared through Twitter. These are exciting times.
Everyone knows Darth Vader for his voice and everyone knows that it was dubbed over. So what did David Prowse really sound like when he was doing Vader’s lines? Check it out for yourself.
NYT reports that General Motors is shutting down its Hummer division after a deal to sell it to a Chinese manufacturer fell apart.
I’m sure no one will cry about there being one less brand of overpriced gas guzzlers for sale but I do feel bad for the people who will lose their jobs over this.
The Washington Post reported yesterday that US medical experts are recommending that some people taking a daily aspirin should stop.
Public-health officials are scaling back official recommendations for the painkiller to target a narrower group of patients who are at risk of a heart attack or stroke. The concern is that aspirin’s side effects, which can include bleeding ulcers, might outweigh the potential benefits when taken by many healthy or older people.
The guidelines, announced last year, suggest aspirin for certain men 45 to 79 years old with elevated heart-disease risk because of factors like cholesterol levels and smoking. For women, the guidelines don’t focus on heart risk. Instead, the task force recommends certain women should take aspirin regularly if they are 55 to 79 and are in danger of having an ischemic stroke, for reasons that could include high blood pressure and diabetes.
It doesn’t sound like there’s consensus across all experts though. Talk to your doctor and take it with caution.
The writers says “Now the take-away point here isn’t really “wow, you can play D&D on a touchscreen!” “, and I get his point about how the project really demonstrates how the Surface will be great for collaboration, whether it be games or other social activities. That aside, I still can’t stop thinking “Wow, you can play D&D on a touchscreen!”.
Check out the video. If you play D&D even semi-regularly, I dare you not to drool at the awesomeness.
The Telegraph is reporting that we may soon be able to compost plastic:
Researchers at Imperial College London have managed to transforms sugars found in fast growing trees and grasses into a large molecule, known as a polymer, that can be used to make plastic.
Although there are already plastics on the market made from natural materials like corn, these do not biodegrade quickly.
The new discovery would not only cut down on the use of oil, that is usually used to make plastic, but potentially enable people to compost plastic at home.
This is excellent news since current recycling processes are still energy-intensive.
MTV recently reported that the Watchmen and Christopher Nolan helmed Superman reboot rumours are just that–rumours.
Diane Nelson, DC President responded to the Superman reboot rumour with:
“We don’t have any plans about that, and as I’ve mentioned, in the coming months we’ll be making a lot of announcements about what our content plans will be,” she added. “But right now, that’s nothing but rumor — and we frankly don’t say a whole lot more about rumor than that, so…”
I’m hoping this rumour eventually turns into reality since Bryan Singer’s Superman was far too boring for me, but not at the expense of more great Batman movies.
As for the Watchmen 2 rumours that are about, Nelson says:
“No, that’s all rumor,” she said. “I’m not sure where it came from. We’ll be looking closely at our whole library and making sure we’re looking for opportunities to mine every property where it makes sense, and with integrity, but that’s just rumor.”
“No, there are no plans to do that,” she reiterated.
It’s for the best if Watchmen 2 stays a rumour forever. Whether you loved it or hated it, Zack Snyder did get all the story out in Watchmen, so it’s not like there’s story left to tell unless they want to make it up.
The Times Online is reporting that Sylvester McCoy, the actor who played the seventh Doctor, confirmed that The Happiness Patrol, a 3-part Doctor Who series, was intended to call attention to and undermine Margaret Thatcher.
“We were a group of politically motivated people and it seemed the right thing to do. At the time Doctor Who used satire to put political messages out there in the way they used to do in places like Czechoslovakia. Our feeling was that Margaret Thatcher was far more terrifying than any monster the Doctor had encountered. Those who wanted to see the messages saw them; others, including one producer, didn’t.”
Andrew Cartmel, a script editor from that period also confirms the story:
“My exact words [to John Nathan-Turner, the show's producer at the time] were: I’d like to overthrow the government,” said Cartmel. “I was a young firebrand and I wanted to answer honestly. I was very angry about the social injustice in Britain under Thatcher and I’m delighted that came into the show.”
They didn’t succeed due to a dwindling audience (not to mention its on-again, off-again status around that time).
An amazing thing happened through Twitter this week. Erykah Badu wanted to sample the Wings song “Arrow Through Me” in an song on her upcoming album. The catch? Only 9 hours to get ahold of Paul McCartney and get his permission. So she turned to Twitter to connect with Lenny Kravitz since he knows McCartney’s daughter Stella who could then put her in touch with the man himself.
