Here’s a quick and short Dragon Day 2011 video. Missing is the confrontation with the Engineers’ Phoenix, but I was engaged in conversation at the time. Nothing much happened in any case. This year was notable in two respects: Rem Koolhaas’s Milstein Hall, under construction, is in the background as the Dragon takes off from Rand Hall; and the Dragon itself is made of metal — so no big fire to end this year’s festivities.
I wrote and recorded a new song, sort of country (not being a connoisseur of such music, I have to say “sort of country,” leaving it to others more into the genre to verify whether it is or isn’t). As usual, there’s a YouTube video and other production notes. I’m singing all the vocals, and playing all instruments (some of which, especially drums and bass, are played on a midi keyboard using GarageBand digital sounds). The video is shot with my low-resolution Flip camcorder and edited with Final Cut Express. Remixed Sept. 2, 2019.
Architecture Studio Presentations at Cornell were held Jan. 24, 2011 from 12:30 – 4:30 p.m. in the James Law Auditorium, Schurman Hall (at the Vet School). All students and faculty were required to attend. It’s interesting to watch how our modern students pay attention in classrooms and lecture halls these days: a view from above would reveal hundreds of iPhones, smart phones, tablets, and other electronic devices connecting students (and possibly faculty…) with their email, their games, and with who knows what else.
I shot this video from the back of the lecture hall; some faces are blocked out to protect the digitally addicted.
I collaborated with Dan Smullyan to write a new Rollo song. As of now, it has turned into something which could be called I Stare Into the Mirror’s Eyes. I’m still hoping it can be recorded by Rollo; for now, here is my live demo version.
I recorded this song a couple of years ago, but never made a video. Jennie wrote the lyrics, and I wrote the music. Never quite happy with my GarageBand “trumpet” solo, I finally got brother Kurt to add some lead guitar (he also helped out on the new GarageBand mix). Here is the Youtube video along with lyrics and production notes. Remixed Sept. 1, 2019.
I have been shooting video with my low-resolution Flip camcorder to document the construction of Paul Milstein Hall at Cornell University. Two new segments have been put online; links can be found here.
I’ve just posted the first of a series of informal “construction” videos showing how Paul Milstein Hall (OMA/Rem Koolhaas) at Cornell University is being built. The homepage for the anticipated video series is here. Ultimately, I hope to add additional short videos dealing in turn with substructure, superstructure, and enclosure systems.
The first video, “Getting Ready,” shows some of the preliminary site work and underpinning of adjacent buildings that occurred prior to the actual start of foundation work.
These videos are purely educational and informative in nature: after all, in spite of the numerous problems that this building has, some of which I have discussed elsewhere on this blog (also here), it’s construction is actually quite interesting and in many ways unusual.
Given my prior and continuing criticism of the Milstein Hall design, I would like to acknowledge the support for this video project by the College of Architecture, Art & Planning (Dean Kent Kleinman) and the Construction Manager (Welliver McGuire). Of course, there is a contractual stipulation that some form of educational outreach must be provided along with the actual construction of the building — so my video project proposal, having little if any competition from other faculty initiatives, may have been viewed as a necessity to fulfill this contractual obligation. In any case, I appreciate the support I’ve been given. Disclaimer: Any views or opinions expressed on these videos are entirely my own (except where views or opinions are expressed directly by other people appearing in the videos), and are not necessarily the views of Cornell University, OMA, or any of the consultants, subcontractors, or construction managers involved in the construction of Paul Milstein Hall
Note: links to other Milstein posts updated May 5, 2011.
I’ve just made a new video for a song I wrote in 2003 and recorded in 2008. Included is some Flip video footage from the 2009 World Series in which C.C. Sabathia waves off the curve ball and instead throws an unfortunate two-strike fast ball to Chase Utley — cheerleader “Rudy” Giuliani is watching from the stands and Tim McCarver is telling the world how difficult it is to get a two-strike fastball past Mr. Utley. I was lucky enough to film this perfect scene for my verse #3 lyric (“Catcher wants a breaking ball; pitcher’s waving off the call…”). The YouTube video for One Life (Is All You Get) is here. Remixed Dec. 1, 2018.
This is my first recording of an old song that was left unfinished for many years. I had only an idea for the beginning of the first verse and for the chorus, probably about 25 years ago, but never got around to finishing it until now. View the lyrics, production notes, and see the embedded video here, remixed Aug. 26, 2019. Want a dynamic, transcribable chord chart for the song? It’s here.
This new live video of my song, Anyone, is a milestone of sorts: it represents the final recording of all the songs that I wrote in the late 1970s and early 1980s after graduating from college, moving to NYC, and playing with the band, Rollo. Five additional songs that I wrote during this time period were actually recorded in the 1980s for Rollo’s Don’t Look CD, and I don’t intend to record those songs again now. The song was remixed Aug. 18, 2019.
There are one or two other songs that I wrote in my more distant past (high school, to be precise), but I haven’t decided whether to record them. So this means that any new recordings will be either new compositions, old favorite — unrecorded — Rollo songs written by Dan Smullyan in the 1970s and 1980s, or maybe some new Rollo collaborations.