Disney pulling ABC off Time-Warner cable just seems…odd. Sadly I don’t really watch ABC that much anymore. Wouldn’t it just be ironic if no one cared?? I’m sure a lot of people will or they wouldn’t have done it. Here’s a link to the NY Times article about it. Remember also that AOL and Time-Warner are merging. Negotiation hijinks in the new media economy: good or bad for us consumers?

Blue Man Group, which I heard about from Seth years ago, has opened a production in Las Vegas at the Luxor (that’s the neato pyramid one). I saw them in Boston a year ago (coincidentally on the same day I saw the little blue penguins from New Zealand at the aquarium :-). It is a very difficult show to describe; I just tell people to go see it when I know they will be near it. It is part performance art, part percussive music, part art criticism, and definitely hilarious. There is audience participation and an energizing finale. I love the fake ads they ran. They are edging ever closer to the west coast — I hope the Bay Area will be next on their expansion list. If you have the chance, go see them.

Mirabella’s gone bye bye. I wish I had known Mirabella was meant to be a “smart woman’s magazine”. “It’s just sad that a smart women’s magazine can’t find its place in the world” said an editor there. I figured it was just like all the others so I never picked it up. Of course, I’m not sure exactly what they mean by “smart woman”. I don’t typically pick up women’s magazines for brain food. It’s more like escapism for me. I looked through a copy of Jane which someone had left on the Stairmaster and was impressed by their irreverence. They had Whitney Houston on the cover and in the inside back page they reproduced a list of the food she and her entourage had requested for the photo shoot. It was lengthy and very specific — down to the exact type of bottled water she wanted to drink. The magazine reminded me a bit of (sigh) Sassy.

Aardman Animations‘ trailer for Chicken Run is being shown in theatres now. Unfortunately, I picked that exact time to visit the ladies’ room and only got to see trailers for obvious flops. I’ll have to watch it online instead.

Is the commentary track of The Matrix DVD worth sitting through? Tell me what you think if you’ve heard it. The movie’s long, I’ve seen it so many times now and the commentary sadly is not by the Wachowski Bros, so I’m skeptical about allocating time to hear it. Update 5/2:Consensus is that it’s not terribly enlightening; Carrie Moss has some interesting things to say; there are quite a few long stretches of silence. So I think I may play it as background noise one day when I’m primarily occupied on something else.

Bird on a Wire’s mention of Lucasfilm suing Dr Dre for using their THX sound dredged up an old memory of Harley-Davidson trying to take action against another motorcycle manufacturer who had developed a bike with that signature Harley sound. Harley-Davidson decided to apply to trademark their engine’s distinctively loud putt putt, which this WSJ article describes as “syncopated” and “like saying ‘potato-potato-potato'”. MGM’s lion roar and NBC’s three tone bongs have been trademarked. The trademark search database has a listing for Harley-Davidson’s application, which reads “The mark consists of the exhaust sound of applicant’s motorcycles, produced by V-Twin, common crankpin motorcycle engines when the goods are in use.” Its current status: “An opposition is now pending at the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board.” I suppose that other motorcycle maker is asserting their right to also add to our landscape’s sound pollution.

Here’s a list of unusual items that UPS has shipped. I don’t think “Rock band equipment for world tours” is particularly unusual, but I suppose it’s got that celebrity cachet. I’m sure people have shipped more unusual items than this via UPS — corporate just didn’t know about those ;-). (found indirectly while catching up on Turlyming)

You know those programmers who have mirrors on their monitors so you can’t sneak up on them? You know those arrogantly bright programmers who don’t enjoy answering questions from seemingly unintelligent co-workers and therefore adopt highly condescending attitudes? Let’s just say there happens to be a cross-section of those two groups. I’d like to slap a sticker onto their mirrors which reads: “Objects in mirror are smarter than they appear.”

Many of you probably already know about these sites, but they may be a helpful resource to some. I’ve recommended them to a few acquaintances recently who I thought should already know about them, but didn’t. If you are looking for cell phones and wireless rates, visit cellmania.com. And if you’re looking into getting DSL and need to figure out how far away you are from your central office or check out various ISPs, take a look at dslreports.com.

Science News has a wonderful article on the convergences between birdsongs and composed human music. The field of biomusicology, which studies what music is and how it evolved, has biologists and musicologists examining the patterns and musicality found in the songs of birds and humpback whales. Mozart was very fond of his pet starling, apparently borrowing the style and alterations of his winged friend’s skilled compositions and mimicry. The article includes a link to a wav file of the white-breasted wood wren singing, whether by coincidence or not, the very familiar four note opening to Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. The important commonality for all composers, human, bird, or whale, is that variations on established themes create and hold interest in the composition. Animals are attracted to novelty, within a comfortable framework. So it’s no wonder we end up with similar patterns in our beautiful method of communicating emotions. (article via Robot Wisdom)