I just used my latest Amazon gift card (the only perk of spending a lot on tuition) to order three items: The Hold Steady’s Stay Positive, Byrne & Eno’s Everything That Happens Will Happen Today, and Oliver Sacks’s Musicophilia.
I don’t really need to write a whole lot about either CD, do I? Both made all the usual best-of-2008 lists, both are major releases from consistently awesome artists, etc. But do you know about Oliver Sacks? If you’ve read either of my prior posts about Radiolab, I bet you’ve heard his voice: he’s the reedy Englishman that Jad and Robert love to visit. In the last episode of Radiolab’s latest season, “Yellow Fluff and Other Curious Encounters,” we visit Dr. Sacks’s house, where he talks about his use, as an awkward teenager, of the Periodic Table of the Elements as a hopeful analogue for his own lack of close peer relationships.
I think Dr. Sacks’s segments on Radiolab are my favorite parts of the show. There’s something so, well, sciency about the guy that I always pay more attention to him than, dare I say it, to Jad and Robert. I’m working on fleshing out an idea for a novel–finally–and I think Dr. Sacks’s work is going to play a large part in it. It’s going to involve Alzheimer’s on one end and a character who uses a cell phone as a portable remembering/content remixing device (I know I read something about that recently, but I’ll be damned if I can find the link–a little help, anyone?).
It’s not just Sacks, obviously, but he is a wonderful example of how a brainy guy can also be entertaining. I’ve been fascinated by science since I was a pre-schooler correcting my dad’s pronunciation of dinosaur names, and I’m always looking for new, readable works to rekindle my interest.
In other news, I’m feeling pretty crappy. Maybe self-imposed downtime this vacation will actually help me get started on this new project.
Filed under: Matters Scientific, Thing of the Day
Musicophilia is a great read. I read it over out last vacation to Jamaica. I want to get struck my lightning! And that Eno/Byrne record has been my jam since the fall! See them on tour!
You’re not kidding about the Eno/Byrne…my lord, is that a great record. They’re in NYC really soon; I might be able to score a ticket.
It’s that Elmer Fudd thing in his voice I love about Sacks.
I just found that you quit edublogging and I’m reading here. Wow….
Heh…nice…yeah, Edublogs was helling me with all their ads, and I also don’t really care enough about edtech stuff to keep up with it. I’d rather do this.
Well, cool.
You know the part I like the best is the stuff not so ed.
Just fascinated by your blog.