Philip Glass — Train/Spaceship Pts. 1 and 2

Wow, such propulsiveness/rhythm, without any drums–though I would pay to have Damon Che from Don Caballero to record a drum track to this just to see how it would sound. Love the sax and woodwinds? in this piece. I love early Philip Glass, like the Glassworks album. Very organic, it’d be neat to see more contemporary electronic musicians add sax and woodwinds to their arpeggiations…Some of it, including the singing, sounds like a few seconds of Magma looped and built upon ad nauseum…

That is an insane progression in pt. 2, it is cool and unexpected, very vertiginous and slightly barf-inducing, at least to my ears…

A Closer Look at the Basics of Functions and Derivatives

When looking at a function name, the input variable(s)/independent variable(s) are the letters in parentheses next to the function name such as the x in f(x). (Disclaimer: I’m no math pro, so take this all with a grain of salt). Basically, anything you put in the f(x) in place of the x you will substitute in for the x in the right hand side of an equation. You probably already know this of course. So, say you have f(x)=x^2. Then if you put in 5 as x, like f(5), that of course is 5^2. Another example is if you have f(x)=f(a) + (x-a). If you insert a+h into the function, like f(a+h), then you substitute a + h in the right hand side instead of x, so the right hand side becomes f(a) + (a + h -a)=f(a) + h.

See the post When to Use the Composite Function/Chain Rule for Derivatives for what to do when taking derivatives when the variable inside the parentheses is modified in any way, such as multiplied by some factor or raised to the power of or added to or subtracted some other terms; in that case the function is a function of another function, is a composite function, in which case you may have to use the composite function/chain rule to find the derivative.

Now, it’s important to figure out what variable you’re differentiating with respect to, and what exactly that means. Basically, “differentiating with respect to” a variable means that you’re figuring out how much the output of the function changes, how much the dependent variable changes, based on a change on the variable you’re differentiating with respect to. So if you have y=f(x), and you differentiate the function with respect to x, so it’s f'(x) or also written as dy/dx, that means you’re figuring out the ratio at each x of how much y changes based on how much x changes; it’s a rate. (See What dx Actually Means for more info on the dx notation, dy/dx is basically the limit of as , meaning the change in y based on change in x as the change in x gets very, very small, i.e. the “instantaneous rate of change,” instantaneous as in the x hardly changes at all; the change in the output y of the function is based not over a range of x but practically right at that x since the change is infinitely small.)

Now the interesting thing is that if your function doesn’t change based on the variable you’re differentiating with respect to, the derivative is zero. That’s pretty important, and makes sense. If your variable is y=f(x) and f(x) isn’t a function of z, i.e. it doesn’t changed based on changes in z, differentiating f(x) with respect to z will yield no change, i.e. the derivative will be zero.

This becomes important especially when dealing with constants and doing partial derivatives where you treat some variables as constants. The common sense thing to remember, is that you have a constant, if a variable is being treated as a constant, and if a function isn’t a function of some variable, differentiating the function with respect to that constant or variable being treated as a constant or variable not affecting that function will yield a derivative of zero, which makes sense; the function’s output won’t change at all based on that constant, or variable treated as a constant, or changes in a variable which doesn’t affect the function.

When we are given “constants” such as c, without specifically specifying the value of the constant such as if we were to specify that c=5, c really a variable that we just treat as a constant when we differentiate the function?. If we don’t specifically specify the value, that means c could equal 1, 5, -100, or anything else, like a variable…it’s only treated like a constant when we differentiate the function.

Some other interesting information about derivatives and constants:

As far as I know any constant can be written as a function of a variable. For example, if you have the constant 5, say y=5, you could write that as a function of x, . 5 can be thus written as a function of x to the power of zero, which equals one. The derivative of with respect to x is zero, since any change in the x results in no change in the output variable y. No matter what change in x, the output y still equals 5. You can also prove this using the power rule: using the power rule on which equals 0.

This is all useful to know once you start doing partial derivatives. You could have a function of three variables, say z=f(s, x, y). However, if the s variable is raised by the power of zero, wherever the s variable appears in the function, its value is actually 1, as . Therefore, f(s, x, y) is equivalent to f(1, x, y), since everywhere an s appears in the function equation you can substitute a 1. What this means effectively is that the function f really only depends on the x and the y; s acts as a constant since it’s raised to the power of zero, there can be no change in the output z based on any change in s; where s is raised to a zero, it’s derivative will be zero, by the power rule, . For example if you had z=f(s, x, y)= , that would be , which equals , so the output z of function f only depends on changes in the x and the y variables. If in the equation you are adding as a term in a polynomial, no matter what s changes to, the value of will always be equal to 1; you would always be adding a 1 to the rest of the terms in the polynomial, so once again, the value of the function would not depend on the s, the value would not change based on any changes in s. The appendix to chapter 14 of the book Mathematics for Economists discusses this topic.

An interesting way to think of the derivative of a function is that it is a graph of the slope of the tangent line at each x value of the original function.  That is, on the original function, at any x you can find a tangent line to the function at that x; the slope, the change in y over change in x at that point, the instantaneous rate, is the y value of the derivative at that x.  So when you graph the derivative of a function, you graph a collection of slope values of the tangent lines at each x of the original graph.

Also see:
Functions, Mappings, and Counting, Surjections, Injections, and Bijections

Sebastien Tellier – Une Heure

Nice…Sebastien Tellier – Une Heure. Some kind of new wave analog synth 70s/80s pop fusion song…the full, finished album version with vocals and lyrics is on the Sebastien Tellier – Sexuality album, produced by Guy-Manuel De Homem-Christo of Daft Punk. Sounds sort of like a mix between Josef K and the Happy Family (Momus), and the Flying Lizards or something. Or the band Out on Blue Six (pre -Shreikback).

Listening to Sebastien Tellier’s albums Politics and Sexuality, it’s like he’s a great descendant of Francis Lai, mixed with bits ofthe Sparks, Elton John, Fleetwood Mac, Stereolab, Andrew Bird, and Daft Punk. I hear some Magma in there too, believe it or not (especially the vocals on “Lenny)! Sort of like some good Brian Eno in scope and experimentation within the pop format…

Oh, this makes sense re: the Magma connection (from Last.fm):

His growing popularity has won him some well-known fans. Once the smart, artsy kid from the 17th Arrondissement could count only one hip musical connection: his father played with nihilist French prog rockers, Magma.

Nice!

LA Times: Bret Easton Ellis

LA Times: Bret Easton Ellis, two decades beyond ‘Zero’

“I think in the last five years or so there’s been a rather ominous silence,” said Jonathon Keats, a San Francisco critic and artist who admires Ellis’ work. “It seems like Ellis has never been given the benefit of a test of time. He’s gone from being poster boy for everything extreme to a name that’s quaintly nostalgic — a moment from the past.”

But talk to some of the more serious writers of his generation and a different picture emerges.

Many see him as an overlooked figure, one whose literary heft grows with time. It may be that like a lot of things that emerge from California, the style and vision of Ellis’ work creates problems for East Coast intellectuals, but will become as enduring as psychedelia, surfing, the hard-boiled novel or fast food.

A.O. Scott, the New York Times film critic who is working on a book about contemporary American fiction, considers 1991’s “American Psycho,” a skewering of ’80s greed sometimes seen as an endorsement of it, “one of the most misunderstood books in all of American literature.” For Scott, “Glamorama,” which got scathing reviews, is a book that “in 100 years might be understood as a masterpiece,” the work that presaged the combustion between the Internet and celebrity.

It’s totally true, Glamorama, a great book, totally predated and predicted the rise of the ga-ga crazy paparazzi internet TMZ Perez Hilton Lindsey Lohan Nicole Simpson celebrity TV/news/celeblog culture going on currently…AND it has crazy predictions of a 9-11 type thing going on with bad guys and airplanes, etc…another very, very misunderstood and underrated book.

Bret Easton Ellis’ writing is very misunderstood sometimes, he has a great amount of control and style–he has such fine control over style that you have to look for subtle shifts where you realize he is writing in certain ways, which may seem boring or pedantic or whatever, but is actually finely crafted and tailored to fit the scene and fits the character, the style is actually an active, changing part of the storyline, responding to characters and situations, rather than a constant throughout the book–though I think he kind of overplayed this in the first quarter or half of Lunar Park, where the style and plot are rather boring and mundane, and kind of overtly ridiculous, in an intentional way, to reflect the mundane life of the protagonist, and the style and plot pick up quick rather quite grandly later on. That went way over people’s heads…it took me a few attempts to get through it myself.

By the way, any fan of Bret Easton Ellis has to read Don Delillo, his books such as White Noise and Cosmopolis are amazing and much of the writing and dialogue is witty, well observed, in a postmodern vein which may appeal to fans of Bret Easton Ellis’ best passages. Very trenchant and observant.

Contested Streets: Cars, Community, and Urban Planning

A thought-provoking documentary on cars and community, traffic congestion and productivity, using New York City as an example, and contrasting it with public transportation and pedestrian-oriented city planning in some European cities such as Copenhagen: Contested Streets. Would be interesting to look at Los Angeles of course, (also see Who Framed Roger Rabbit, which was all about a real-life alleged automobile industry conspiracy to shut down public transportation in favor of automobiles in Los Angeles and perhaps even nationwide in the mid-20th century, see the General Motors streetcar conspiracy).

CONTESTED STREETS explores the history and culture of New York City streets from pre-automobile times to the present. This examination allows for an understanding of how the city – though the most well served by mass transit in the United States – has slowly relinquished what was a rich, multi-dimensional conception of the street as public space to a mindset that prioritizes the rapid movement of cars and trucks over all other functions.
Central to the story is a comparison of New York to what is experienced in London, Paris and Copenhagen. Interviews and footage shot in these cities showcase how limiting automobile use in recent years has improved air quality, minimized noise pollution and enriched commercial, recreational and community interaction.

Also see:

• MSNBC: Paris rolls out free bikes in bid to cut smog
• Newsweek: Japan: A Post-Car Society
• Click Opera: Kuruma banare: post-car Japan

Kind of ironic right after a post about learning to drive stick, of course.

How to drive a stick shift/manual

This is too cool, there are a bunch of videos on YouTube demonstrating how to drive a stick shift/manual car, something I’ve been putting off for a long time…

Don Caballero — Awesome New Album, Tour

Ah, nothing sweeter than a return to form…Don Caballero has a new album coming out August 19th, Punkgasm (not a big fan of the name, but hey). From what I’ve heard it sounds a bit like the amazing What Burns Never Returns. Their last effort World Class Listening Problem is pretty good sounding too. Yeah yeah yeah, the don’t have Ian Williams anymore–but post-Ian Williams Don Caballero is so much more appealing to me than the music of Battles, which I find just so…eh, uninspiring. Don Caballero is still on their Captain Beefheart meets Mahavishnu Orchestra trip, which is a Good Thing in the world of music.

Boy, did Steve Albini fuck up the recording on American Don compared to the amazing, amazing, amazing, amazing, amazing recordings by Al Sutton of What Burns Never Returns and Don Caballero 2 and World Class Listening Problem. Listen to the drum recording on What Burns Never Returns, then listen to the drum recording on American Don and weep…same with everything else on that album, Steve Albini made it sound like crap. I could listen to the harmonics coming off of Damon Che’s snares on What Burns Never Returns for days, even when the rest of the band isn’t playing. Look at Nirvana’s in Utero too…I think Steve Albini secertly just says “f*ck it” when recording certain bands, and puts in like zero effort to get a good sound, or secretly sabotages recordings by bands that have a certain amount of unique sound and flair for some reason. Thanks a lot pal. C’mon, can anyone say that the American Don album comes anywhere near putting the music in as good of a light as Al Sutton’s recordings did? I doubt it. Tragedy. Listen to the recording on their last album, World Class Listening Problem. Oh it sounds pretty f*cking great doesn’t it? Oh, it’s because it’s produced by Al Sutton, they didn’t let Steve Albini get his hands on it after the American Don production debacle.

Don Caballero Myspace page!!!

Aug 19 2008 8:00P	IOTA Club & Café	Arlington, Virginia
Aug 20 2008 8:00P	Sonar	Baltimore, Maryland
Aug 21 2008 8:00P	Steppin Out	Virginia Beach, Virginia
Aug 22 2008 8:00P	Johnny Brendas	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Aug 23 2008 8:00P	Knitting Factory	New York, New York
Aug 24 2008 8:00P	Harper’s Ferry	Boston, Massachusetts
Aug 25 2008 8:00P	Club Lambi	Montreal, Quebec
Aug 26 2008 8:00P	Lee’s Palace	Toronto, Ontario
Aug 27 2008 8:00P	Casbah	Hamilton, Ontario
Aug 28 2008 8:00P	Call the Office	London, Ontario
Aug 29 2008 8:00P	Pike Room	Pontiac, Michigan
Aug 30 2008 8:00P	Subterranean	Chicago
Aug 31 2008 8:00P	Turf Club	St. Paul, Minnesota
Sep 2 2008 8:00P	The House Cafe	Dekalb, Illinois
Sep 3 2008 8:00P	Bluebird	St. Louis, Missouri
Sep 4 2008 8:00P	Northside Tavern	Cincinnati, Ohio
Sep 5 2008 8:00P	Cafe Bourbon St	Columbus, Ohio
Sep 6 2008 8:00P	Mr. Smalls	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

When to Use the Composite Function/Chain Rule for Derivatives

Ah, the composite function rule/chain rule. (Wikipedia) (Mathematics for Economists).

When would you want to use the composite function/chain rule? (Note: I’m no math expert, so take this all with a grain of salt). Well, if you have a function that’s a function of another function, i.e. a composite function, sometimes the easiest way to find the derivative of the composite function is to use the composite function rule/chain rule.

From Wikipedia:

In mathematics, a composite function, formed by the composition of one function on another, represents the application of the former to the result of the application of the latter to the argument of the composite. The functions f: X → Y and g: Y → Z can be composed by first applying f to an argument x and then applying g to the result. Thus one obtains a function g o f: X → Z defined by (g o f)(x) = g(f(x)) for all x in X. The notation g o f is read as “g circle f“, or “g composed with f“, “g following f“, or just “g of f“.

It may be helfpul to think about what a function is. Functions are generally formulas that you apply to some input, and which “map” the input to some output. The “value” of the output, the dependent variable, is usually named some variable like y, and the name of the function is usually something like f or g; the input, the independent variable, is usually named some variable like x, inside parentheses next to the name of the function, like f(x). From the http://www.math.csusb.edu/ website:

A function (or map) is a rule or correspondence that associates each element of a set X called the domain with a unique element of another set Y called the codomain. We typically give the rule a name such as a letter like f or g (or any letter of your choice) or a name agreed upon by convention like sine or log or square root.

Now, functions can be very simple, such as y=f(x)=x, in which case the function basically doesn’t do anything but map x back to itself. You can have more complicated functions such as , a polynomial, which does quite a few things to the input x before outputting the output value y.

Functions are interesting because basically anything in a mathematical expression can be called a function. Take for example. You could say is a function which maps x to some variable z, and you could name the function g(x). You could say 2x is a function which maps x to some variable u, and you could name the function h(x). You could even say 5 is a function which maps x to the constant 5 each time and name the function i(x) and the name the constant c. You can write 5 as a function of x here if you want to, . So pretty much anything in a math expression can be called a function, even constants.

So what about composition of functions? This is another area where I think you can basically find a function to be a composition of functions whenever you want–but there are only certain circumstances in which it matters enough for you to think about using the composite function rule.

One example of a situation in which you have a noticeable composite function is when instead of a lone x or some other independent variable within the parentheses of the function notation, you have other things going on, such as y=f(5x) instead of just y=f(x). In this case, the 5x within the parentheses is a whole other function, you could name the function g for example, and name the output of the function g(x) a dependent variable such as u, and then you would have u=g(x)=5x. Then since y=f(5x), and 5x=u, y is a function of u, a function of the function g(x), and also a function of x, since u is a function of x. In this case we have the composite function y=f(u)=f(g(x))=f(5x).

Now, here’s how to use the composite function rule/chain rule (see Wikipedia and Mathematics for Economists). To find dy/dx, you can first find dy/du then multiply that times du/dx. What if and ? Then y=f(u)=f(g(x). By the power rule, dy/du would be 2u. Then, where u=g(x)=5x, du/dx would equal 5. By the composite function rule, the derivative dy/dx = dy/du * du/dx = 2u * 5 = 2*5x *5 =50x. This is why I said that there are some cases in which you want to use the composite function rule and in other cases you won’t need to think about it: in this case it might have been simpler to distribute the power of 2 in the beginning, so if we had y= (5x)^2, then y=25x^2, and using the power rule then dy/dx=50x, which is what we got by using the composite function rule above. So sometimes you can simplify first or figure the problem out without explicitly using the composite function/chain rule, and other times it’s easier to start out by using the composite function/chain rule.

When you are multiplying or dividing terms with the variable you are differentiating with respect to, when you are multiplying different functions (see the above about how just about anything can be called a function), in order to differentiate the resulting function, a function which is a product or quotient of two other functions, you can use the product and quotient rules. Once again, you only need to use these rules when it would be easier than multiplying out or dividing out the functions, or when the functions can’t be simplified any further. For example, if you had y= you might as well just multiply this out and then take the derivative of the result. You could have , then use the power rule to get dy/dx=75x^4. or you could use the product rule to get the same result, but it would take more effort. You could even use the product rule on y=f(x)=5x, since , and here , in case you were wondering; there are many functions where there’s no point in using the product rule. But if the functions you start with are complicated enough, it can be simpler and easier to use the product rule to begin with instead of multiplying out the functions then taking the derivative of the product. (See product and quotient rules, Wikipedia and Mathematics for Economists). And to sum up, when the output of one function is the input into another function, then you use the composite function rule/chain rule to find the derivative. (See composite function rule/chain rule, Wikipedia and Mathematics for Economists).

Also see: A Closer Look at the Basics of Functions and Derivatives

Some Wayfinding and Survival Strategies for Finding Your Way to a Destination

1. If you have planned a trip, but have moved to a new, unexpected location, check your map to see how your course and plans have been altered, and strategize about how you must now adjust/alter your plans and strategies, update your bearings so that you can successfully find your way to your planned destination. I.e., if you walk past a place you had anticipated walking to, you will then have to adjust your plans, look on a map to find your new bearings. I.e. we walked down past Division. We should have taken a minute to check a map to see how far we were from North. Obviously from the map we would have seen that we were now very, very far from North and should have adjusted our plans accordingly.

2. Discuss with your trip mates that plans have been altered and confer about what the appropriate next strategy is. Do not foolheartedly decide you know exactly where you are going when your plans/location have been altered, without conferring with your trip mates. They may have insight and knowledge you do not. Do NOT under any circumstances fake like you know where you are going or how to get there, with some vague idea such as “we just need to find a large street I am familiar with” when you are in an unfamiliar part of a town, large city, unknown countryside, etc. There are many, many streets and neighborhoods and locations you will not be familiar with and such is a terrible heuristic unless you intentionally want to wander for miles. But your trip mates must consent to such wandering. You must warn them if you are using such a heuristic; they may have better ideas.

3. If you find yourself in a new, unexpected location from a known location, consider backtracking to a known location, especially known safe locations with clear, known connections to where you want to go. I.e. if you were in a location with links to a subway station or highway you know will get you to your destination, consider backtracking to the known location; even if backtracking a little, it may save you a great amount of time and wandering to backtrack. I.e. two wrongs don’t make a right. Unfocused, disorganized, uncalm, unthinking fussing with tangled, knotted yarn may make the yarn only more knotted and tangled. Work slowly, logically, calmly to untangle the yarn. Likewise, if you start wandering from a new position you are unfamiliar with, you may get more and more lost; if you can backtrack to a location with known links to your destination, that may be well worth it. Especially if you see a bus going back to the known location, take it. Do not just plow ahead into unknown, uncharted territory. Never, ever say, “let’s just look for a large street that I know” in an unfamiliar part of town in a large city where you may be in an area with no large streets that you know. It may be simply Hubris and ignorance that make you think you will soon come upon a large street that you know. Do not waste the time and endanger the safety of your trip mates. Clearly communicate exactly what you do and do not know about your current location and means and prospects and strategies for making your way to your desired location.

4. In urban centers in the United States, faced with the choice of walking back to busy city streets with subways stations and bus routes, you probably when trying to find your way to a destination never want to walk along unknown paths along-side freeways, where no one walks, especially when they lead to strange paths under railroads, underpasses, among abandoned side streets and nooks where there are only industrial structures and facilities, abandoned cars, away from civilization. No one ever is in those areas except for drug dealers, gangs, and homeless people. Beware of strange paths alongside freeways where you do not see other people.

5. If you are on an unfocused trip to a destination and have found yourself taken on a strange path alongside some urban freeway, i.e. a no-mans-land, immediately note that you have probably been using terrible way-finding strategies and are officially lost and may be about to be mugged or taken advantage of. If someone has led you down such an abandoned/deserted/industrial/out-of-the-way path you should officially relieve them of any notion that they know where they are going. They are have probably officially taken you on a dangerous trip down a dangerous route, they officially don’t know where they are or where they are going; they don’t know what they are doing or talking about. Beware such people and their faulty logic. They may get you lost and killed. They may be suffering delusions or may be temporarily sick in the head. Find your way back to a safe known location, city center, etc. Ask safe, friendly-looking people for directions. Get on a bus to a known safe location with trains, subways, cabs, safe people. Don’t wander into some abandoned industrial city area where there are bound to be stray dangerous dogs etc.

6. If your guide starts saying things like, “If we just head down this street we will get to xyz” where xyz is where you want to get to, and is miles away, you are officially screwed. Yes, if you are in New York and you head West you will eventually reach the Pacific Ocean. Consider the fact that you should never have listened to such a person in the first place, that their logic may be systematically faulty, and wonder why you ever thought they might know where they are going. Consider that in any trip to a destination you may need to be prepared to find you way to the destination or back to where you started alone, without any guide or companion you started out with. Like the Boy Scouts say, always be prepared. Finding a destination, whether physically or mentally, will always take shrewed and strategic planning and attention. Don’t blindly trust guides who may turn out to be charismatic, who may act like they know what they are doing, but are just the blind leading the blind. Your job is to not be blind.

For wilderness survival there are books such as : Man vs. Wild

Wikipedia: Wayfinding

Photos by Charles Tilford and Thom Watson

More Awesome Hip-hop/Dance/Dub/Soul mixes by Klenderfender

Enigmatic DJ/mixmaster/noise manipulator Klenderfender at the Musical Coco Basket blog has been putting out a whole bunch of incredible mixes. Here’s Messy Mix II, lots of great stuff I’ve never heard and some I have heard, taking it back to some great 80s/90s classic/obscure hip hop, dance, dub and reggae, breakbeat, and soul:

D 1 – Crack Bong

Mutabaruka and African Headcharge – What is the Plan? (Version)

Richie Spice – Marijuana (Remix)

Shinehead Real Rock (Irie Ext.)

Tek – Nothings Gonna Change (Inst.)

Grace Jones – Cry Now Laugh Later

Cypress Hill – Real Estate (Inst.)

Prime Minister Pete Nice and Daddy Rich – Rap Prime Minister and Daddy Rich (Inst.)

Simon Harris – Bass (Bomb the House Mix)

28th St. Crew – Inch By Inch

Chill Rob G – The Power (Radio Edit)

Geeneus – Congo

TTC – Catalogue

Congo Natty – Lion In The Jungle Side 4 (White Label)

Wiley – What Do You Call It? (Inst.)

Roots Manuva – Colossol Insight (Jammer Remix + Revox)

Sin – With You (Inst.)

Detroit Emeralds – Baby Let Me Take You

Dobie – The Ride (Inst.)

Freda Payne – Band of Gold

N Tyce – Hush Hush Tip (Inst.)

C. O. D. – Crime Don’t Pay (Inst.)

AMG – Vertical Joyride (Fat Booty Inst.)

Parliament- Flashlight

Joe Sinister – Under the Sun (Inst.)

Barry White – It’s Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next To Me

Pebbles – Girlfriend

Now must go listen to some 808 State last.fm similar artists channel…