BBC News
I'm linking this article just because of the last two sentences.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Friday, March 20, 2009
James Bond Music
So I got to thinking about the fact that every James Bond film has had a unique theme song. I decided to go through and find them all and pick out which ones were the best and the which were the worst. Turns out, most of them were pretty bad. Regardless, here are all the James Bond Theme songs ordered roughly by how much I liked them. I say roughly because I only listened to each song once and haphazardly added them to list vaguely where I thought they belonged.
Dr. No "James Bond Theme" This is the theme most associated with the bond films, first appearing in 1962 and in every James Bond movie since then. It would be a crime to not list it as number 1.
Live and Let Die Besides the "James Bond Theme", this is probably the most successful song written for James Bond. I didn't even know it was written for James Bond, despite knowing of the song and the movie of the same title.
Casino Royale If this song was in Eurovision, it would win hands down.
Goldfinger I get a feeling that I if I actually listened to the lyrics this wouldn't seem like a such a great song, but the trumpets and Shirley Bassey's voice work so well.
The World is not Enough James Bond hits another high note by having a different Shirley sing. Shirley Manson from Garbage, that is.
GoldenEye One of the few James Bond theme songs that actually sounds like it was written for an action movie.
View to a Kill Points for just being so typically '80's. The video is kind of interesting as it's filmed to make it look like Duran Duran is actually in the movie. Sure it's been done since then, but it was probably unique at the time.
The Man with the Golden Gun I rank this song higher in tribute to the guitar that died to give us this theme song.
You Only Live Twice Hard to go wrong with Nancy Sinatra. Not a bad theme song, but it doesn't seem like it could really stand on its own.
The Spy Who Loved Me I get the feeling that Carly Simon wasn't aware she was writing the theme to a James Bond movie.
Diamonds Are Forever Shirley Bassey fails to relive her success with "Goldfinger". Diamonds are ForeVVvvvEEEEERRRRR!
The Living Daylights More cheesy '80's than awesome '80's so doesn't get the same points that Duran Duran got.
Quatum of Solace The only duet to be made a James Bond theme. Too bad it's a really awkward pairing.
Moonraker Forget the song for a moment, is this video really the opening of Moonraker? Now back to the song, Shirley Bassey is brought back for another less than stellar song.
Tomorrow Never Dies Does Sheryl Crow seem like an odd choice to song the theme to a James Bond film to anyone else?
From Russia with Love Kind of a boring song, just sounds like they told the composer, write a song that says "from Russia with love" a lot.
For Your Eyes Only For some reason this song makes me thing of those entirely out of place j-pop ballads they like to play at the end of animes.
License to Kill Gladys Knight tries to ride off the success of "Goldfinger" by trying to turn it into a '80's love ballad. She succeeds, but that's not a good thing.
Die Another Day Exactly what the James Bond films needed, an electronica influenced theme song. Oh wait, no, that makes no sense at all.
Thunderball Just watch the video, even Tom Jones knows this song is ridiculous. Probably could have been a better song if anyone had any clue what a "thunderball" was.
Octopussy Unlike Tom Jones, Rita Coolidge doesn't even try to fit the ridiculous title of the movie into her song, even giving it a different name. Now all I can think is how much better having Tom Jones sing a song called "Octopussy" would have been.
On Her Majesty's Secret Service It's like whoever wrote it just thought they were supposed to be doing the original theme song, but at the the last minute were told to do a new song.
Dr. No "James Bond Theme" This is the theme most associated with the bond films, first appearing in 1962 and in every James Bond movie since then. It would be a crime to not list it as number 1.
Live and Let Die Besides the "James Bond Theme", this is probably the most successful song written for James Bond. I didn't even know it was written for James Bond, despite knowing of the song and the movie of the same title.
Casino Royale If this song was in Eurovision, it would win hands down.
Goldfinger I get a feeling that I if I actually listened to the lyrics this wouldn't seem like a such a great song, but the trumpets and Shirley Bassey's voice work so well.
The World is not Enough James Bond hits another high note by having a different Shirley sing. Shirley Manson from Garbage, that is.
GoldenEye One of the few James Bond theme songs that actually sounds like it was written for an action movie.
View to a Kill Points for just being so typically '80's. The video is kind of interesting as it's filmed to make it look like Duran Duran is actually in the movie. Sure it's been done since then, but it was probably unique at the time.
The Man with the Golden Gun I rank this song higher in tribute to the guitar that died to give us this theme song.
You Only Live Twice Hard to go wrong with Nancy Sinatra. Not a bad theme song, but it doesn't seem like it could really stand on its own.
The Spy Who Loved Me I get the feeling that Carly Simon wasn't aware she was writing the theme to a James Bond movie.
Diamonds Are Forever Shirley Bassey fails to relive her success with "Goldfinger". Diamonds are ForeVVvvvEEEEERRRRR!
The Living Daylights More cheesy '80's than awesome '80's so doesn't get the same points that Duran Duran got.
Quatum of Solace The only duet to be made a James Bond theme. Too bad it's a really awkward pairing.
Moonraker Forget the song for a moment, is this video really the opening of Moonraker? Now back to the song, Shirley Bassey is brought back for another less than stellar song.
Tomorrow Never Dies Does Sheryl Crow seem like an odd choice to song the theme to a James Bond film to anyone else?
From Russia with Love Kind of a boring song, just sounds like they told the composer, write a song that says "from Russia with love" a lot.
For Your Eyes Only For some reason this song makes me thing of those entirely out of place j-pop ballads they like to play at the end of animes.
License to Kill Gladys Knight tries to ride off the success of "Goldfinger" by trying to turn it into a '80's love ballad. She succeeds, but that's not a good thing.
Die Another Day Exactly what the James Bond films needed, an electronica influenced theme song. Oh wait, no, that makes no sense at all.
Thunderball Just watch the video, even Tom Jones knows this song is ridiculous. Probably could have been a better song if anyone had any clue what a "thunderball" was.
Octopussy Unlike Tom Jones, Rita Coolidge doesn't even try to fit the ridiculous title of the movie into her song, even giving it a different name. Now all I can think is how much better having Tom Jones sing a song called "Octopussy" would have been.
On Her Majesty's Secret Service It's like whoever wrote it just thought they were supposed to be doing the original theme song, but at the the last minute were told to do a new song.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Military Spending at its Best
CNN
The scientist that worked on anti-missile laser technology are now hoping to use the same technology to kill mosquitoes. The device would detect mosquitoes based on the sound they make as they fly and then fire a laser at them. So the laser would only fire if it hears a mosquitoes, meaning people near the device would likely not get hit by lasers.
It kind of sounds like a really expensive bug zapper, but then again, it only kills mosquitoes, nothing else. Seems pretty brilliant if someone is only looking to wipe out mosquitoes without harming anything else.
LA Times
The Pentagon has spent $400 million on developing spy blimps. The blimps would fly at 65,000 feet and could stay afloat up to 10 years. Seems like a lot to spend on what on the surface seems pretty low-tech, but considering it can cost up to $100 million to launch a single satellite, it's probably not a bad idea.
The scientist that worked on anti-missile laser technology are now hoping to use the same technology to kill mosquitoes. The device would detect mosquitoes based on the sound they make as they fly and then fire a laser at them. So the laser would only fire if it hears a mosquitoes, meaning people near the device would likely not get hit by lasers.
It kind of sounds like a really expensive bug zapper, but then again, it only kills mosquitoes, nothing else. Seems pretty brilliant if someone is only looking to wipe out mosquitoes without harming anything else.
LA Times
The Pentagon has spent $400 million on developing spy blimps. The blimps would fly at 65,000 feet and could stay afloat up to 10 years. Seems like a lot to spend on what on the surface seems pretty low-tech, but considering it can cost up to $100 million to launch a single satellite, it's probably not a bad idea.
Friday, February 06, 2009
Eurovision Selection
Some months ago the UK announced that they were changing their Eurovision selection process. Instead of letting the audience pick the act and song for their entrant, this year the audience will only pick the act and Andrew Lloyd Weber will write a song for the winning contestant. This left me wondering which national selection method had the best results at Eurovision. I looked at just how countries chose their final act and song in 2008. I didn't account for how they selected acts to participate or if they used multiple rounds in their selection, I only looked at the final selection.
I identified seven different selection methods, however all seven were characterized by two things, whether or not they allowed the audience to vote and/or used an internal jury. I then found the average number points countries got in the semi-final and final categorized by selection method.
Seems the UK is right in mixing up their selection process as their previous method of just having the audience vote has a poor record. What I find interesting is that, alone, neither audience voting nor internal jury have good results, but when they're somehow used together, results improve. There seems to be a kind of synergy between them. One thing to note is that all gimmick acts were chosen by audience voting only, so possibly juries keep obviously bad acts from getting through. On the other hand, having audience participation may lessen the chances of getting an unpopular act as the jury's selection has a lot more to do with the kind of people in the jury than the popularity of the acts. Juries may tend to pick the best quality act, but Eurovision is all about popularity.
Specifically, the most successful method of selection in 2008 was when the act was picked by an internal jury, but the final song was chosen by the audience. This method was used by Armenia, Israel, and Ukraine. This method netted an average Semi-Final score of 132 and Final score of 184. Why this method was so successful (even though none of those countries won), I can't say.
The least successful method was actually the exact opposite of the most successful method, having the act picked by the audience and the song picked later by an internal jury. Of course, only one country used this method, Montenegro. It got 23 points in the Semi-Final and did not participate in the Final. Unfortunately for the UK, this is similar to the method it plans to use this year.
Just some general information, of the 43 countries that participated last year, 17 used audience voting only in choosing their entry, 8 used only an internal jury, and 18 used a mix of both. Belgium probably has the oddest method in that on even-numbered years (2008, 2006, etc) it uses only audience voting, but on odd-numbered years (2009, 2007, etc) it uses only an internal jury. This is partially because they alternate between letting Flanders and Walloon pick their entry.
I identified seven different selection methods, however all seven were characterized by two things, whether or not they allowed the audience to vote and/or used an internal jury. I then found the average number points countries got in the semi-final and final categorized by selection method.
| Semi-Final Points | Final Points | |
| Average points regardless of selection method | 66 | 100 |
| Used both audience vote and internal jury | 82 | 139 |
| Internal jury involved | 70 | 131 |
| Audience vote involved | 71 | 100 |
| Internal jury only | 41 | 98 |
| Audience vote only | 58 | 53 |
Seems the UK is right in mixing up their selection process as their previous method of just having the audience vote has a poor record. What I find interesting is that, alone, neither audience voting nor internal jury have good results, but when they're somehow used together, results improve. There seems to be a kind of synergy between them. One thing to note is that all gimmick acts were chosen by audience voting only, so possibly juries keep obviously bad acts from getting through. On the other hand, having audience participation may lessen the chances of getting an unpopular act as the jury's selection has a lot more to do with the kind of people in the jury than the popularity of the acts. Juries may tend to pick the best quality act, but Eurovision is all about popularity.
Specifically, the most successful method of selection in 2008 was when the act was picked by an internal jury, but the final song was chosen by the audience. This method was used by Armenia, Israel, and Ukraine. This method netted an average Semi-Final score of 132 and Final score of 184. Why this method was so successful (even though none of those countries won), I can't say.
The least successful method was actually the exact opposite of the most successful method, having the act picked by the audience and the song picked later by an internal jury. Of course, only one country used this method, Montenegro. It got 23 points in the Semi-Final and did not participate in the Final. Unfortunately for the UK, this is similar to the method it plans to use this year.
Just some general information, of the 43 countries that participated last year, 17 used audience voting only in choosing their entry, 8 used only an internal jury, and 18 used a mix of both. Belgium probably has the oddest method in that on even-numbered years (2008, 2006, etc) it uses only audience voting, but on odd-numbered years (2009, 2007, etc) it uses only an internal jury. This is partially because they alternate between letting Flanders and Walloon pick their entry.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Regional Contention in Elections
I remember hearing from some people with more extreme political views that the election of Obama (or sometimes McCain) would lead to riot, civil strife, and possibly all out war between Red and Blue states. This seems partially due to the proliferation of the misconception since 2000 that Red states are totally Red, Blue states are totally Blue, and there's no middle ground between. If this view is accepted, then it's only a matter of time before one of these states gets fed up and decides to leave the Union.
Of course, just looking at election results reveals that elections in individual states tend to be close, it's just a matter of certain regions happen to have more voters of one party than the other, not that the entire region votes monolithically for one party. This observation, plus the fact that there really isn't a decisive issue being handled seems to negate the idea that the US is headed towards destruction. The problems facing the US right now are important, but they are not decisive problems like slavery and civil rights were.
That all said, there were times in the past where states did vote overwhelming in favor of one party, yet the US survived those periods, more often than not with no calls for secession or civil conflict.
Thinking about all this, I decided to make a formula to measure the level of regional division during an election to see how 2008 compared to past elections. The formula is based on the standard deviation of the votes for the two main candidates in each state. A high standard deviation indicates that support for a candidate was highly regional and a low standard deviation indicates that a candidate had level support throughout the country. I chose only to measure the two main candidates for simplicity and the fact that the impact of a third party candidate would still affect the results of the other candidates, particularly if it was a regional candidate.
Here are all election years after popular voting was introduced sorted by what I call their "regional contention score". A high score means that support for the candidates was highly regional and a low score means that the candidates had level support throughout the country.
Looking at this, 2008 was not at all unusual and was actually below the average and median scores. Although, it should be noted, it was the highest score in 40 years and the number has been rising fairly steadily since 1988. Of course, this is no indication it will continue to rise, as there are historically few rising or falling trends that last four or more election cycles.
Giving the levels of regionalized voting in the past, it seems that the US can survive much more than some people give it credit for. The only time civil war was started was when the electorate was so divided that there were essentially two elections taking place at once. Other moments of highly regional voting usually indicate a split within a party and not in the nation as a whole. The highest score for an election with only two main candidates was the 1904 election which Theodore Roosevelt won by a huge margin. Part of this could have been that while Theodore Roosevelt raised support in the North, few voters in the South were persuaded to vote for a Republican, thus raising the "regional contention score", but not really indicating an increase in political division.
Of course, just looking at election results reveals that elections in individual states tend to be close, it's just a matter of certain regions happen to have more voters of one party than the other, not that the entire region votes monolithically for one party. This observation, plus the fact that there really isn't a decisive issue being handled seems to negate the idea that the US is headed towards destruction. The problems facing the US right now are important, but they are not decisive problems like slavery and civil rights were.
That all said, there were times in the past where states did vote overwhelming in favor of one party, yet the US survived those periods, more often than not with no calls for secession or civil conflict.
Thinking about all this, I decided to make a formula to measure the level of regional division during an election to see how 2008 compared to past elections. The formula is based on the standard deviation of the votes for the two main candidates in each state. A high standard deviation indicates that support for a candidate was highly regional and a low standard deviation indicates that a candidate had level support throughout the country. I chose only to measure the two main candidates for simplicity and the fact that the impact of a third party candidate would still affect the results of the other candidates, particularly if it was a regional candidate.
Here are all election years after popular voting was introduced sorted by what I call their "regional contention score". A high score means that support for the candidates was highly regional and a low score means that the candidates had level support throughout the country.
| Election | RC Score | Notes |
| 1824 | 1.13 | First election with popular voting |
| 1860 | 0.78 | The election of Lincoln, two different regions each with its own candidates |
| 1856 | 0.57 | Collapse of the Whigs, appearance of Republicans in the North |
| 1828 | 0.57 | |
| 1832 | 0.50 | |
| 1836 | 0.44 | Whigs run three candidates hoping to force a draw in the Electoral College |
| 1924 | 0.44 | Democratic vote split between Davis in the South and LaFollette in the North |
| 1892 | 0.44 | Populists win votes in the West |
| 1904 | 0.41 | |
| 1912 | 0.37 | TR runs as a Progressive |
| 1896 | 0.37 | |
| 1920 | 0.35 | |
| 1908 | 0.32 | |
| 1916 | 0.30 | |
| 1900 | 0.29 | Average regional contention score |
| 1932 | 0.29 | |
| 1940 | 0.28 | |
| 1948 | 0.27 | Dixiecrats win votes in the South |
| 1936 | 0.26 | |
| 1964 | 0.25 | Johnson landslide, but didn't appear on the Alabama ballot |
| 1944 | 0.25 | |
| 1968 | 0.25 | Wallace wins votes in the South |
| 1928 | 0.25 | |
| 1868 | 0.23 | Reconstruction, median regional contention score |
| 1888 | 0.23 | |
| 2008 | 0.22 | Most Recent Election |
| 2000 | 0.22 | |
| 2004 | 0.21 | |
| 1864 | 0.21 | Only northern states voted |
| 1880 | 0.20 | |
| 1980 | 0.20 | |
| 1876 | 0.19 | |
| 1996 | 0.19 | |
| 1992 | 0.19 | Most successful third party campaign with widespread support |
| 1848 | 0.19 | |
| 1884 | 0.18 | |
| 1972 | 0.18 | Nixon landslide election |
| 1872 | 0.18 | |
| 1984 | 0.18 | Reagan landslide election |
| 1952 | 0.17 | |
| 1956 | 0.17 | |
| 1988 | 0.16 | |
| 1976 | 0.16 | |
| 1852 | 0.15 | |
| 1960 | 0.13 | |
| 1844 | 0.12 | |
| 1848 | 0.12 |
Looking at this, 2008 was not at all unusual and was actually below the average and median scores. Although, it should be noted, it was the highest score in 40 years and the number has been rising fairly steadily since 1988. Of course, this is no indication it will continue to rise, as there are historically few rising or falling trends that last four or more election cycles.
Giving the levels of regionalized voting in the past, it seems that the US can survive much more than some people give it credit for. The only time civil war was started was when the electorate was so divided that there were essentially two elections taking place at once. Other moments of highly regional voting usually indicate a split within a party and not in the nation as a whole. The highest score for an election with only two main candidates was the 1904 election which Theodore Roosevelt won by a huge margin. Part of this could have been that while Theodore Roosevelt raised support in the North, few voters in the South were persuaded to vote for a Republican, thus raising the "regional contention score", but not really indicating an increase in political division.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
You need more music
It's been awhile since I did a new music post. There's no real theme to this one, just new music I've found that I don't think too many other people have heard.
Ra Ra Riot - Apparently they've been getting a lot of play on college radio, but here they are in case you haven't heard of them. They fall into the genre of chamber pop because of their use of stringed instruments kind of like the Arcade Fire.
Chad VanGaalen - Before you click, let me warn you that the video is rather strange, however, I think the song is really captivating.
The Hoosiers - A British band that Welsh Dan introduced me to. So I've known about them for awhile, but I don't think I've shared them here. Their music is pretty entertaining.
Black Mountain - Rather outside my usual music, but I enjoy it. Kind of has a classic rock sound, but darker.
Those Dancing Days - This band is so Swedish it hurts.
Cut Copy - Electronica! Kind of a throw back to the early Nineties, but I love the singers voice. Also, the video for Hearts on Fire is kind of cute.
Amanda Palmer - Amanda Palmer from the Dresden Dolls released a solo album and it's fantastic. I saw her in concert recently and it was amazing.
The Builders and the Butchers - Unfortunately, this band doesn't have an actual music video yet, but for concert footage, the audio is pretty good. They were the opening act for Amanda Palmer and they put on a great show.
Cloud Cult - Some of you might remember the Princess Bride Song that they did some years ago. Basically everyone at WDCE just played that one song and ignored the rest of their stuff, but I kind of liked it in all it's quirkiness. Since then they've put out some really fantastic albums that deserve to be listened to.
Ra Ra Riot - Apparently they've been getting a lot of play on college radio, but here they are in case you haven't heard of them. They fall into the genre of chamber pop because of their use of stringed instruments kind of like the Arcade Fire.
Chad VanGaalen - Before you click, let me warn you that the video is rather strange, however, I think the song is really captivating.
The Hoosiers - A British band that Welsh Dan introduced me to. So I've known about them for awhile, but I don't think I've shared them here. Their music is pretty entertaining.
Black Mountain - Rather outside my usual music, but I enjoy it. Kind of has a classic rock sound, but darker.
Those Dancing Days - This band is so Swedish it hurts.
Cut Copy - Electronica! Kind of a throw back to the early Nineties, but I love the singers voice. Also, the video for Hearts on Fire is kind of cute.
Amanda Palmer - Amanda Palmer from the Dresden Dolls released a solo album and it's fantastic. I saw her in concert recently and it was amazing.
The Builders and the Butchers - Unfortunately, this band doesn't have an actual music video yet, but for concert footage, the audio is pretty good. They were the opening act for Amanda Palmer and they put on a great show.
Cloud Cult - Some of you might remember the Princess Bride Song that they did some years ago. Basically everyone at WDCE just played that one song and ignored the rest of their stuff, but I kind of liked it in all it's quirkiness. Since then they've put out some really fantastic albums that deserve to be listened to.
Friday, January 02, 2009
Euro Adoption, not just for Slovakians
The Local
Slovakia wasn't the only place to start using the Euro on January 1st, the Swedish town of Höganäs has decided to start using the Euro alongside the Swedish Krona. The town is a popular tourist destination, so being able to do business in Euros is a huge boost for them. It is not unusual for shops in tourist centers outside the Eurozone to accept Euros. What makes Höganäs unique is that people will be allowed to conduct all official business, such as paying bills and rent, in Euros and withdraw Euros from local ATMs.
Slovakia wasn't the only place to start using the Euro on January 1st, the Swedish town of Höganäs has decided to start using the Euro alongside the Swedish Krona. The town is a popular tourist destination, so being able to do business in Euros is a huge boost for them. It is not unusual for shops in tourist centers outside the Eurozone to accept Euros. What makes Höganäs unique is that people will be allowed to conduct all official business, such as paying bills and rent, in Euros and withdraw Euros from local ATMs.
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