The Download: what to expect from US Congress’s first AI meeting
This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. What to know about Congress’s inaugural AI meeting The US Congress is heading back into session, and they’re hitting the ground running on AI. We’re going to be hearing a lot about various…
https://www.technologyreview.com/2023/09/11/1079253/the-download-what-to-expect-from-us-congresss-first-ai-meeting/
"It has to be said that they have, sort of, approached this in a slightly different way. I think for the king it was important that he was seen to try and shut down any rumors about him being unwell after the procedure." ~ Rhiannon Mills, Sky News
As I said before, some royals understand the importance of proof of life, while others clearly do not.
(^ John and Gray, from an animation I did a few months ago)
I designed Gray with his... Insane amount of torture in mind. I feel like he wasn't scratched up enough in the show. 🤷♀️
(I've upgraded John's design a little since these two. His eyebrows were the wrong shape. 🙄)
John is designed to look similar to Jack, as they were fairly similar once upon a time. I also really love that someone noticed I made Jack's design a bobcat to make him stand out. I thought about Jack's design quite a lot, and the complexity of it also lends itself to the strangeness and confusion surrounding his timeline.
I've also got this fairly old design for Ianto's sister Rhiannon. Her design doesn't get used much but I loved the black and white patches so much it inspired my sona's design. 😍
I do have designs for Rhys, Rex, Suzie, and a couple other characters, but I haven't drawn them out properly in a very long time. 😳
You can certainly have a lined Rhys design and another random Jack drawing I did last year though! ;D
17 March 2016 | Prince William, Duke of Cambridge meets Guardsman Kenny Devon, his wife Rhiannon and daughter Sofia after the 1st Battalion Irish Guards for the St. Patrick's Day parade in London, United Kingdom. (c) Heathcliff O'Malley - WPA Pool/Getty Images
What a Big Ears Festival weekend! Thanks to everyone in Knoxville and to all the Nonesuch artists past, present, and future there making incredible music, conversation, and more, helping to celebrate the label's 60th anniversary: Mary Halvorson, Tyondai Braxton, Yasmin Williams, Hurray for the Riff Raff, Wayne Horvitz, Darcy James Argue's Secret Society, Brad Mehldau, Sam Amidon, Ringdown, Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway, Laurie Anderson, Rhiannon Giddens, Robin Holcomb, Kronos Quartet, and Davóne Tines. And to Michael Wilson for the exhibit of Nonesuch artist photos from the past 25 years (and for commemorating this year's festival). Here's to many more in the years to come!
Sound Bites Presents: the 2023 Live Music Year in Review
The year 2023 will go down in history as the year Sound Bites finally started seeing live music at something resembling a pre-pandemic clip.
In addition to attending Hardly Strictly Bluegrass in San Francisco, the blog - often accompanied by the long-suffering Mrs. Sound Bites - caught a slew of gigs by musicians he’d seen a couple of dozen times and many others for the first time. And as the years combine, Sound Bites realizes that soon he will be seeing more acts that are younger than him, rather than older.
But not yet. So here, then, is Sound Bites’ 2023 Live Music Year in Review presented in order from favorite to least-favorite gigs; all were in backward Oiho, unless otherwise indicated.
Los Lobos (22) at Midland Theatre, Newark, July 14 - Fifty years into their career, Los Lobos are still on any given night, the best live band in America. Review here.
Billy Strings (3) at Andrew J. Brady Music Center, Cincinnati, March 16 - Think rock-’n’-roll-bluegrass show. Review here.
Hawktail (1) at Holland Theatre, Bellefontaine, Jan. 21 - Hawktail is a genre as much as it is a musical group. Review here.
Rhiannon Giddens (3) with ProMusica Chamber Orchestra, Southern Theatre, Columbus, Jan. 19 - After 110 minutes and two sets, Giddens and the ProMusica Chamber Orchestra were out of songs. They’d given enough. Review here.
Robert Plant and Alison Krauss (2) at Rose Music Center at the Heights, Huber Heights, May 3 - Slightly less than flawless. Review here.
Tommy Emmanuel (3) with Jorma Kaukonen (6) at Southern Theatre, Columbus, Ohio, July 13 - “Damn, Tommy, I had to smoke a cigarette after that last song,” opener Kaukonen said at one point. He wasn’t the only one. Review here.
Eilen Jewell (1) at Natalie’s Grandview, Columbus, Sept. 10 - While Jewell makes good records, the self-described Queen of the Minor Key is at her best on stage. Review here.
Mighty Poplar (1) at Stuart’s Opera House, Nelsonville, Sept. 17 - They come from non-traditional places. But when they come together as Mighty Poplar, members of Watchhouse, Punch Brothers and Leftover Salmon embrace bluegrass tradition head on. Review here.
Los Lobos (23) at Hoover Auditorium, Lakeside, July 15 - Los Lobos treated the gated community of Lakeside to a swell, 1950s-themed dance party and the nearly 2,000 people who attended the gig responded in turn. Review here.
Darrell Scott (4) at King Arts Complex, Nicholson Auditorium, Columbus, May 13 - With a rare combination of musicianship and showmanship, coupled with a versatile voice that moves effortlessly from falsetto to baritone, Scott is a master solo tactician. Review here.
Blind Boys of Alabama (3) at Mershon Auditorium, Columbus, Nov. 15 - The voices change, but the Blind Boys of Alabama endure. And though the group that kicked off its tour in Columbus, Ohio, was different, one thing was the same: You always leave a Blind Boys show feeling better than you did upon arrival. Review here.
Lyle Lovett (6) and Leo Kottke (6) at Midland Theatre, Newark, Oct. 28, 2023 - Opposites attract for an engaging evening in Conversation and Song. Review here.
Yasmin Williams (1) Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, March 28 - Williams is the reason why the term see a concert - rather than hear a concert - remains in use. Review here.
Lyle Lovett (5) and His Large Band at Rose Music Center at the Heights, Huber Heights, July 26 - Lovett and his multi-genre band played comedic soul, ballroom balladry, blues, gospel and virtually every other style of American music as ragtime, Dixieland, bluegrass and more popped up across the band’s many improvisational interludes. Review here.
Dead & Company (13) at Rouff (Pronounced “Deer Creek”) Music Center, Noblesville, Ind., June 27 - The last - & best - Dead & Company show Sound Bites saw. Review here.
Toward the FUN(ds): A Concert Benefitting Camp Winnarainbow at Herbst Theatre, San Francisco, Calif., Sept. 28 - Seeing how they all were in town for separate appearances at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, Steve Earle, Rickie Lee Jones, Peter Rowan and John Craigie got together and donated some time to a guitar (and mandolin) pull to benefit Wavy Gravy’s Camp Winnarainbow. John Popper popped in, too. Review here.
Béla Fleck’s My Bluegrass Heart (2) at Midland Theatre, Newark, March 30 - This was music of flat picking, clipped chords, bowed bass and blazing solos. Everyone was in top form. Review here.
Jackson Browne (5) at Palace Theatre, Columbus, June 3 - Someone wanting to hear the records in a concert hall might say Browne is losing his edge. Someone out for the without-a-net experience might revel in the not-set-in-stone nature that led to myriad surprises. Review here.
Roger McGuinn (3) at Midland Theatre, Newark, Aug. 22 - There’s no need for McGuinn to write a book. His Songs and Stories With … tour is his autobiography. And hearing the man speak and sing about his incredible life and career is much more enjoyable than reading about it anyway. Review here.
Loudon Wainwright III (1) at Natalie’s Grandview, Grandview Heights, May 10 - With his shock of unkempt, white hair and his shirt collar askew, Wainwright resembled a mad lecturer as he spanned his vast songbook. Review here.
FERD (1) at Rambling House, Columbus, Nov. 11 - If you don’t know FERD, you don’t know modern, old-time music. Review here.
Hot Tuna (11) at Jorma Kaukonen’s Fur Peace Ranch, Pomeroy, April 22 - To the people facing the stage, it was music. But to the men on stage, it was the continuation of a conversation that’s been running 60 years now. Review here.
Weyes Blood (1) at Newport Music Hall, Columbus, Aug. 30 - With a knockout-gorgeous voice, a knack for writing what she calls “sad-ass” songs and a penchant for arrangements that harken to Pet Sounds-period Beach Boys and Mind Games-era John Lennon, Blood is, indeed, mellow. But she has a stage presence. Review here.
Tedeschi Trucks Band (12) at Palace Theatre, Columbus, March 21 - Comparing Tedeschi Trucks Band to other groups is unfair to other groups. Comparing Tedeschi Trucks Band to Tedeschi Trucks Band is similarly unfair to Tedeschi Trucks Band. Review here.
Dead & Company (12) at Riverbend Music Center, Cincinnati, June 13 - Not only did Company men outnumber Dead men on Dead & Company’s Final Tour, they also dominated the music. Review here.
Joan Osborne (4) at Memorial Hall OTR, Cincinnati, Nov. 18 - Joan Osborne the singer remains the centerpiece of everything Osborne the artist has to offer. Review here.
Tim O’Brien and Jan Fabricius (2) at Natalie’s Grandview, Columbus April 20 - Playing as a duo, O’Brien and Fabricius sounded like your uncle and aunt might if they entertained the family sitting around the campfire outside the cabin. Review here.
Tony Hagood Quartet (1) at Natalie’s Grandview, Columbus, Dec. 14 - Vince Guaraldi is long dead. But the Music of Vince Guaraldi is alive and swinging thanks in part to the Tony Hagood Quartet. Review here.
Southern Culture on the Skids (3) at Rumba Cafe, Columbus, Oct. 9 - Combining a love of rockabilly, surf music and straight rock ‘n’ roll with equal parts irreverence and earnestness, Southern Culture on the Skids is the rare band that can make such antics as inviting fans on stage to dance and toss fried chicken into the audience and delivering a no-jokes musicality entirely congruent. Review here.
Bruce Hornsby & the Noisemakers (11) at People’s Bank Theatre, Marietta, Sept. 14 - Hornsby and the band played a concert imbued with “strange stylistic pacing,” as Bruuuuuce put it. As it unfolded, the gig traversed peaks and valleys. Review here.
Steep Canyon Rangers (9) at Murphy Theatre, Wilmington, July 22 - Poor sound and rebuilding notwithstanding, the Rangers tapped into some of the old magic. Review here.
Buddy Guy (2) Christone “Kingfish” Ingram (1) and Ally Venable (1) at Rose Music Center at the Heights, Huber Heights, June 25 - Guy’s June 25 gig in a two-thirds-full Rose Music Center at the Heights was a torch passing of sorts as his 75-minute performance wrapped with the bluesman jamming alongside a pair of 24-year-old acolytes, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram and Ally Venable, who opened the evening with sets of 60 and 45 minutes, respectively. Review here.
Tim Heidecker & the Very Good Band (1) at Kemba Live!, Columbus , Aug. 14 - Comedian Tim Heidecker is a serious musician, a better musician than comic, in fact. Review here.
The String Cheese Incident (3) at Rose Music Center at the Heights, Huber Heights, Sept. 20 - With a night off from the Outlaw Music Festival, the veteran Colorado band rolled in to Southwest Ohio and proceeded to “expand a little bit.” Review here.
Chicago (14) at Rose Music Center at the Heights, Huber Heights, May 6 - Chicago has become a cover band. Review here.
WHo was Shakespeare's Dark Lady? If you are a writer, do you have a mystery muse? What mystery muses do you ponder about writer can no longer write new pages?
Black Lucy and the Bard, a ballet- with poetry from Caroline Randall Williams and score from Rhiannon Giddens, love the banjo. Check out her score. And Claudia Monja is the lead dancer.
The complete film is viewable at the link below.
https://aalbc.com/tc/profile/6477-richardmurray/?status=2098&type=status
#rmaalbc
Family Feud Nominations, Who is the Best Doctor Who Family
If I've missed a character out of one of the families let me know (within reason, I imagine all these families are massive in the EU, so prioritise tv or significant characters)
Currently, the only rule is no families may inculde anyone who is even ambiguously The Doctor, it'll get super complicated super fast imo
Any characters, eg River, who can link up multiple different families to create a single massive family unit will be treated on a case by case basis. If it is possible to pick one of the smaller family units that they are a part of to include them in while not including them in any of the others (in a way everyone will agree at least makes sense) they will be included in that family only, otherwise they will not be included
Please bare in mind when you are nominating that I am hoping to keep the number of nominations under 64 to run this as a mini-tournament. This is not a hard rule so if nominations do exceed 64 its not a big deal, just something I'd like everyone to bare in mind
Nominees
Foreman-Campbell (Susan, David, Alex)
Chesterton-Wright (Ian, Barbara, implied to be married after they leave)
McCrimmon (Jamie, Heather, V.M.McCrimmon, various others)
Waterfield (Victoria, Edward (father))
Lethbridge-Stewart (Kate, The Brigadier, Doris (Brig's wife in Battlefield), Archibald Hamish (TUAT), Gordon (Kate's son in Downtime))
Grant/Jones (Jo, Cliff, Santiago (Jo's grandson in Death of the Doctor))
Smith (Sarah-Jane, Lavinia (aunt), Brendan Richards, Luke, Sky, Mr Smith, K9 (they are her family and I will not be hearing otherwise), Barbara, Eddie (parents in Temptation of Sarah-Jane Smith))
Leela, Andred, Veega, Rayo
Adric and Varsh (brothers)
Nyssa, Tremas, and Kassia (daughter, father, step-mother)
Jovanka (Tegan, Vanessa (aunt in Logopolis), Colin (cousin in Arc of Infinity))
Turlough (Vislor, Malkon (brother in Planet of Fire))
Are these people for real? I guess the missed the part where William was caught with his pants down in Vegas....oh wait that was Harry, Rhiannon's hero.
Below the cut will be a masterlist of song based names. Each of the names listed are in titles of songs. I will also list the artist who sang the song next to them. There are 40 feminine names, 25 masculine names, and 16 gender neutral names. These are under a read more, because this got long.
Feminine Names.
Anna - Incubus.
Arabella. - Artic Monkeys.
Betty. - Taylor Swift.
Carolina. - Harry Styles.
Cassie - Flyleaf.
Cecelia. - Simon and Garfunkle.
Chloe. - Emblem3
Cornelia. - Taylor Swift.
Delilah. - Plain White T's.
Diana. - One Direction.
Dorothea. - Taylor Swift.
Eileen. - Dexys Midnight Runners.
Emma. - Taylor Swift.
Grace. - Taylor Swift.
Ivy. - Taylor Swift.
Jane. - Breaking Benjamin.
Jennifer. - Hole.
Jolene. - Dolly Parton.
Josie. - Blink 182.
Juliet. - We the Kings.
Lacy. - Olivia Rodrigo.
Lisa. - Panic! at the Disco.
Lucy. - The Beatles.
Lyra. - Breaking Benjamin.
Madison. - Demi Lovato.
Marjorie. - Taylor Swift.
Mary. - Taylor Swift.
Matilda. - Harry Styles.
Molly. - Incubus.
Mona. - Panic! at the Disco.
Polly. - Nirvana.
Olivia. - One Direction.
Rhiannon. - Fleetwood Mac.
Roxanne. - The Police.
Sally. - Amy Lee.
Stacy. - Fountains of Wade.
Tiffany. - Deep Blue Something.
Valerie. - Amy Winehouse.
Wendy. - Maisie Williams.
Willow. - Taylor Swift.
Masculine Names.
Aaron. - Lin Manuel Miranda.
Adam. - Blink 182.
Alejandro. - Lady Gaga.
Alexander. - Lin Manuel Miranda.
Alfred. - Eminem.
August. - Taylor Swift.
Brian. - Eminem.
Bruno. - Hop Along.
Buddy. - Weezer.
Denis. - Blondie.
Floyd. - Nirvana.
Hugh. - Demi Lovato.
Jack. - System of a Down.
James. - The Who.
Jeremy. - Pearl Jam.
Jimmy. - The Who, Eminem.
John. - Taylor Swift.
Johnny. - System of a Down.
Jones. - Counting Crows.
Ken. - Ryan Gosling.
Mike. - Eminem.
Ronan. - Taylor Swift.
Stan. - Eminem.
Stephen. - Taylor Swift.
Tim. - Taylor Swift.
Gender Neutral Names.
Angel. - Harry Styles, One Direction, Breaking Benjamin, Niall Horan.
Explore Shakespeare’s love life through the perspective of the “Dark Lady” in this work from Nashville Ballet based on poetry by Caroline Randall Williams and featuring an original score by GRAMMY winner Rhiannon Giddens.
🦘 Booklr Reads Australian - Authors on My Shelves 🐨
so, I’ve been trying to think of a way to recommend a lot of Australian authors really quickly for Booklr Reads Australian. what I came up with was just to give y’all a giant list of all the authors I have at home!
most of them are YA and/or fantasy authors, and I’ve marked my favourites with an asterisk (*) but if you have any questions, feel free to shoot me an ask 😊
1. Sarah Ayoub
2. Eugen Bacon
3. Shirley Barber *
4. AJ Betts
5. Danielle Binks *
6. Cally Black
7. Steph Bowe *
8. Alice Boyle
9. JC Burke
10. Meg Caddy *
11. Frances Chapman
12. Wai Chim *
13. Claire Christian
14. Lyndall Clipstone
15. Claire G Coleman
16. Katherine Collette
17. Harry Cook
18. Cath Crowley
19. Robyn Dennison
20. Cale Dietrich
21. Lauren Draper
22. CG Drews *
23. Michael Earp
24. Kate Emery
25. Sarah Epstein
26. Alison Evans *
27. Fleur Ferris
28. Carly Findlay
29. Helena Fox
30. Lisa Fuller
31. Emily Gale
32. Meg Gatland-Veness
33. Sophie Gonzales
34. Erin Gough *
35. Leanne Hall *
36. Pip Harry
37. Sonya Hartnett
38. Adam Hills
39. Simmone Howell
40. Megan Jacobson
41. Amie Kaufman
42. Melissa Keil
43. Nina Kenwood
44. Sharon Kernot
45. Kay Kerr *
46. Will Kostakis
47. Jay Kristoff
48. Ambelin Kwaymullina
49. Benjamin Law
50. Rebecca Lim
51. Gary Lonesborough *
52. Kathleen Loughnan
53. Miranda Luby
54. Tobias Madden
55. Melina Marchetta
56. Ellie Marney *
57. Freya Marske
58. Jodi McAlister *
59. Margot McGovern *
60. Nikki McWatters
61. Anna Morgan
62. Jaclyn Moriarty
63. Liane Moriarty
64. Garth Nix
65. Lynette Noni
66. Carly Nugent
67. Poppy Nwosu
68. Kate O’Donnell
69. Shivaun Plozza
70. Michael Pryor
71. Alice Pung
72. Emily Rodda *
73. Autumn Royal
74. Omar Sakr
75. Holden Sheppard
76. AG Slatter
77. Jo Spurrier
78. Krystal Sutherland *
79. Jared Thomas
80. Hayli Thompson
81. Gabrielle Tozer
82. Christos Tsiolkas
83. Alicia Tuckerman
84. Ellen van Neerven
85. Marlee Jane Ward
86. Vikki Wakefield
87. Lisa Walker
88. Jessica Watson *
89. Allayne L Webster
90. Anna Whateley *
91. Samantha Wheeler
92. Jen Wilde *
93. Rhiannon Wilde
94. Lili WIlkinson
95. Gabrielle Williams
96. Rhiannon Williams
97. Fiona Wood
98. Leanne Yong
99. Suzy Zail
100. Nevo Zisin
101. Markus Zusak