NPR Tiny Desk Concerts

Described as "intimate video performances recorded live" that pretty well sums it up. Bands big and small, famous and less well-known, come to perform in the offices of National Public Radio behind the desk of the host of All Songs Considered Bob Boilen. One of my favorites was the video of a more innocent Adele from February 2011.

Another great example is Common who performed at a special edition Tiny Desk in the Barack Obama White House in 2016.

Another weird example is The Blue Man Group, also from 2016.

Search the website for a performance that interests you: www.npr.org/series/tiny-desk-concerts/

The Periodic Table of Elements

Have you ever had to memorize parts or all of the Periodic Table of Elements? Here are not one but TWO songs about the periodic table complete with animation. I recommend turning on the subtitles.

The first was written by Tom Lehrer, an American singer-songwriter, satirist, and mathematician. He is famous for humorous songs he recorded in the 1950s and 60s.

 

The second song is by AsapSCIENCE, a Youtube channel created by Canadian YouTubers Mitchell Moffit and Gregory Brown. The channel produces weekly videos that touch on many different topics of science.

Click here to see more videos by AsapSCIENCE.

Do you want to live forever? Become a noun! - Eponyms

Do you know the word "sideburns"? The name comes from an American Civil War general Ambrose Burnside who was famous for his facial hair. "Sideburns" is therefore an eponym.

The people at Skunk Bear wrote this creative song to explain the eponym: a noun named after a person often the discoverer, inventor, etc. For example the saxophone family of instruments was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1840. Enjoy.

Skunk Bear has lots of great videos about science and other things. Click here to see their Youtube channel.

Star Wars : The Last Jedi - Becoming Rose & Last Jedi Training

How do you become an actor in a film like The Last Jedi? Who decides which actor gets to play which part?

This is an interesting video from the Star Wars Youtube channel about how the studio decided on American actress Kelly Marie Tran to play the part of Rose, hero of the resistance. Enjoy. (Select subtitles for English subtitles)

I also recommend this "featurette", a short video prepared by StarWars.com of actors Daisy Ridely (Rey), Gwendoline Christie (Phasma), John Boyega (Finn), and Adam Driver (Kylo Ren) and how they prepared the physical part of their roles in the film.

 
If you want to see more videos about Star Wars films, click here or go to StarWars.com

Dolores O'Riordan, The Cranberries singer, dead at 46

On January 15th, 2018 Dolores O'Riordan, lead singer of The Cranberries died. As yet, the cause of her death hasn't been revealed. The Cranberries were an Irish band that became world famous in the 1990s with hits like "Linger", "Dreams, and "Zombie". Click here to read the Rolling Stone Magazine article.

Ireland, with a population of just 4.76 million people, is proud of it's musical contribution to the world. U2 was the first Irish group to achieve massive global success and The Cranberries were the second. Suprisingly, the band came from Limrick (population 195,000) not from Dublin, Ireland's capital.

Click here to read an article on "the improbable rise of Ireland's biggest musical export since U2".

There is something special about music in the way that it can reach across the globe and touch people from cultures and countries very different from the singer. It is a special gift that O'Riordan gave to the world, but despite her death her music will live beyond her.

This is the video for the song "Zombie" from 1994, a song which is probably familiar to you all. It is a political song about a young child killed in a terror attack.

Click here to see an intimate performance by The Cranberries from March of 2012 as part of the NPR Tiny Desk Concert series.

Click here to see the blog post about the NPR Tiny Desk Concert series.

Ain't no man - song and video by the Avett Brothers

I think this is just an irresistable song with a positive message. Enjoy.

The Avett Brothers are an American folk rock band from Concord, North Carolina. The band is made up of two brothers, Scott Avett and Seth Avett along with Bob Crawford and Joe Kwon.

I recommend the NPR Tiny Desk Concert from 2009 for an intimate live performance to get a feel for the band.

Visit their website at  www.theavettbrothers.com.

Kid President - an inspiring kid

Robert Novak as Kid President

The concept of Kid President was created by Robert Novak's brother-in-law Brad Montague with the simple goal of uniting grown-ups and kids. There is a series of videos with Kid President created by Soul Pancake beginning in 2012. The message these videos express is that it is within our power to make the world a better place. Click here to see their Youtube channel.

Here is an example of Robert Novack as Kid President talking about things we should say more often.

Robert Novack is charming and his campaign inspiring, so much so that he was invited to The White House by Barack Obama in 2013.

Appearing in his videos are other famous people like Tom Hanks and Beyoncé. That's pretty impressive for a kid.

This is a Joyful Rebellion!

It's January and it's back to work. It's sometimes hard to be back and that's why I love this postive message from The Montague Workshop. They make all kinds of positive videos. Click here to see their Youtube channel.

Watch this and start your own joyful rebellion. The time is here and we need you!

Cool science experiment on the ISS : Water in zero gravity

ISS commander Chris Hadfield demonstrates what happens when you wring out a wet washcloth in zero gravity on the International Space Station.

For more from Chris Hadfield about space and life on the ISS check out his blog or his Youtube channel.

Here is another video with incredible images of how water behaves in zero gravity.