Interstellar and the Cosmos

"The Cosmos is all that is or ever was or ever will be. Our feeblest contemplations of the Cosmos stirs us: there is a tingling in the spine, a catch in the voice, a faint sensation, as if a distant memory, of falling from a great height. We know we are approaching the greatest of mysteries."
- Carl Sagan, Cosmos

Lately, I've been developing this fascination of science-fiction, astronomy and the stars, and sciences that are outside of my science, Sociology. Cosmos (the book), Cosmos: A Space-Time Odyssey (hosted by Neil DeGrasse Tyson), and even the recent Interstellar film have challenged me, to learn and grow and think critically of what I know and what I want to know. 

While I do understand the basics of astronomy and some basic ideas of the complexity that is astrophysics, it's all so beyond me, incomprehensible, and I'm struggling to grasp these ideas. I'm not discouraged at all, but rather remorseful that I didn't develop an interest sooner. Maybe it's just me, but it seems like astronomy, astrophysics, robotics, engineering, with some form of biology (perhaps microbiology?) and chemistry (o-chem?) seem to be associated with one another, as though if you know one, you're bound to know the others. It feels like I missed out on an awesome, intellectual party of sorts. 

I think anything futuristic has my attention at the moment - steampunk in art, industrial/post-industrialism in music, and science-fiction, robotics, and industrialism in literature. It all seems so imaginative, extravagant, and conjure such unique worlds and circumstances that you can't help but want to explore and discover. 

In the end, I want to know as much as I can, so that I can impart my knowledge onto my children, when that time comes. I want to have a relationship with my kids the way Cooper has with his kids in Interstellar: he's not just a parent, but also a teacher, challenging his kids to think critically, learn new skills, and learn as much as humanly possible. It's an inspiration to be that kind of a father figure when the time comes.

"Hell Naw, B*tch, You Got a D*ick in Your Mouth!"

That's really one of the cool aspects of music: an artist can incorporate samples taken from movies (and such) and either incorporate them as part of the song (like Nine Inch Nails does in "The Becoming") or use that sample an element or introduction to a song. Additionally, it's through these songs that I've found some equally interesting and/or boring films that I've seen. Finally, seeing what samples are used kind of give you some idea as to what an artist finds interesting. It's like getting to know them as a person, rather than as a musician.

Here are some songs and the samples used that I've found along the way:

Nine Inch Nails, "The Becoming" (the screaming heard throughout the song, on a loop)
The looped scream comes from a scene in Robot Jox 

(The sampled screams come in at about 20 sec. into the clip)

Rob Zombie, "Hands of Death(Burn Baby Burn)
The shouts of "Hail Satan!" and "God is Dead!" come from the final scenes of Rosemary's Baby

(Crappy Lyrics Video, but listen for the clip from 2:40-2:50)

(Listen to the first few seconds of this clip and from 0:55-0:59 for "God is Dead!")

Rise Against, "Survivor Guilt"

The discussion of America's future come from Catch-22 (as hi-lighted in the lyrics video)

(The first clip is from 1:07-1:25; the second, about 3:20-3:25)

Dr. Dre, "Deez Nuts"

The second intro (after the phone call, starting at :35 seconds) comes from a bit called "Chestnuts" from Rudy Ray Moore.

(The original bit begins at 1:45)

Well, that's all I've got for now. I've know of some others, but if I included them all, it'd be an incredible long and tedious post. All in all, it's really interesting to see how artists really incorporate existing material (whether it's from a film, television, or even a stand up comedy bit) into their music and make something that can be either frightening or humorous. Until the next post, my fellow readers!

"Yesterday, I Woke Up Sucking a Lemon..."

Radiohead's "Everything In Its Right Place" was their first song I really listened to. I knew about "Creep" because of Rock Band, and I knew of "High and Dry" because of 50/50, but it wasn't until Vanilla Sky that the band caught my ears. The sound is so eclectic and the album, Kid A, as a whole is bizarre, but attractive. That song is what put them on my radar. Eventually, I confessed to my friend that I wanted to really dig into Radiohead's discography. His response? "That's some deep waters there, man." No doubt. 

I decided to begin with Pablo Honey and The Bends, their first two albums and from there, OK Computer, Kid A, and onwards. Some researched yielded that it was with Kid A that Radiohead became to be more artistic and eclectically esoteric with their music. So far though, I'm enjoying their crunchy Alt. Rock vibe and already have found some go-to songs ("Blow Out", "Anyone Can Play Guitar, "Planet Telex", "Just") from both albums. I can't wait to hear their shift from Alt. Rock to Art Rock in Kid A.

Like most of the other bands I listen to, Radiohead's been around for a cool minute, and I've just begun to really digest their music. And I'm fine with that: this is how I come about learning and discovering things at my pace. In some way, it lets me enjoy their on the premise that I want to, rather than giving them attention because they're "what's in" at the moment. I like it that way: I may be late to the party, but I make the most of it nonetheless.