Here’s Tom Waits‘ response when asked by NPR, “What is the most interesting recording you own?”
“It’s a mysteriously beautiful recording from, I am told, Robbie Robertson’s label. It’s of crickets. That’s right, crickets. The first time I heard it … I swore I was listening to the Vienna Boys Choir, or the Mormon Tabernacle choir. It has a four-part harmony. It is a swaying choral panorama. Then a voice comes in on the tape and says, “What you are listening to is the sound of crickets. The only thing that has been manipulated is that they slowed down the tape.” No effects have been added of any kind, except that they changed the speed of the tape. The sound is so haunting. I played it for Charlie Musselwhite, and he looked at me as if I pulled a Leprechaun out of my pocket.” [via]
A flock of starlings is called a “murmeration.” Check out this one.
[h/t Octopus]
The great internet aggregator known as StumbleUpon is going away after 16 years. Thanks for all the fun links.
[Top image: My 12-inch 33 rpm vinyl soundtrack from David Lynch’s ERASERHEAD is worth more than my entire collection of Beatles albums, and my unworn copy is apparently worth $100 – $150. I once made a cassette tape to engulf and spook the neighborhood one Halloween, but the Missus complained, so we compromised and I played Tom Waits‘ “Bone Machine” instead. The following year The Missus asked that I not play “Bone Machine,” so I replaced the Neighborhood Halloween Ambiance with Mickey Hart’s Planet Drum, and everyone loved it. TRUE STORY.]
I just realized that I’d mis-numbered some of our previous .Gif Friday Posts. The numbering errors and permalinks have been updated and we’re now over 1,600 .gif animations in the archive. Collect ’em all!. – Bunk