Science Culture – Evolution Rap Wraps, Two Movies, Biophilia and a Comic
Posted by David Bruggeman on October 29, 2011
A few more odds and ends from the intersections of science, technology and culture.
From Baba Brinkman, some news on the in-person edition of Rap Guide to Evolution:
Only nine shows left of The Rap Guide to Evolution off-Broadway. Tell a friend!—
Baba Brinkman (@BabaBrinkman) October 28, 2011
By the time this posts, that number is down to seven. Brinkman will remain in New York City for a while, as he has a six-week run in the same theater for his interpretation of The Canterbury Tales. Brinkman came to science from the classics, so expect the same high-quality production from him and Mr. Simmonds, his DJ on Rap Guide to Evolution. Brinkman will still perform Rap Guide, but specific plans for other North America stops aren’t clear yet. (I hope the next USA Science and Engineering Festival is on the list.)
On the movie front, two films with science or technology content are making the rounds. I mentioned Connected before, when the director made a late night television appearance. The film focuses on the relationship between people and their technological devices. Another film that U.K. readers may already know is Perfect Sense. It’s appearing at a few festivals in the U.S. The movie stars Ewen McGregor, Eva Green and focuses on a scientist and a chef who fall in love amidst a global epidemic that affects sensory perception.
(I’m not sure if the new Justin Timberlake film In Time fits in this blog or not, but it is out now in the U.S. and deals with a world where time is literally money/wealth.)
I posted about Björk’s latest musical project, Biophilia, earlier this year. But this interview with her in The Atlantic does a better job of detailing the technological novelty of the project, which comes in an “app box” (Björk refers to it as an “app suite”) that Apple had to prepare new programming in order to distribute (you can get a CD edition, but the “app suite” has games and other additional content).
Finally, I’ve noted another entrant in that small group of misfits known as science comedians. Tim Lee is a biologist by training (Ph.D. work in population dynamics at UC-Davis) and makes his living telling jokes. Here’s a sample from his YouTube channel.
Lee’s manner is mellow, allowing the punchlines to sneak up. As I’ve seen Brian Malow addressing a science-oriented audience and Tim Lee’s clips are in a comedy club, comparisons of these two science comedians (the only two I’ve seen) really would be apples and oranges. As always with comedy, YMMV.
Science and Technology Guests on Late Night, Week of January 30 « Pasco Phronesis said
[...] on The Colbert Report will address her science-inspired collection Biophilia. As I noted last year, the collection is also put together in a very different way, making this a possibly entry tonight [...]