Topics include…
1927: The Real Birth of the Cool
A brief (and otherwise secret) history of sans serif typeface
What We Still Don’t Know
How to pick out a peach
One day Robert Duncan went insane
A Contemporary Idea of Justice
Donut Eating Contest by Voodoo Donuts
10 Lessons of a Bicycle Delivery Soupman

…A night of 20 different 3-minute speeches on a hugely wide variety of
topics. Like no other lecture series you’ve been to.

Interesting Portland, April 9, 2009, Norse Hall Get tickets.

See you at the show. In addition to presenting my own 3-minute surprise, I’ll be working the door or the floor, so be sure to introduce yourself. Looking forward to it.

– Noel Franus

The idea behind Interesting is simple: an evening of 20 interesting people each talking about something they love/hate/do/did/know/care about/obsess over.

We want to replicate the experience of clicking from one really good blog to another, ranging haphazardly across culture, sciences, arts, crafts, technology, whatever.

But with the added benefit of direct contact in a relaxed, conversational setting. The only requirement is that each presentation be either 3 or 10 minutes long.

Past Interestings include London, Sydney, Amsterdam…

Tix available now. We’re on the hunt for speakers, too. You’ll find all the details here: http://interestingportland.com/

See you in April.

– Noel Franus

With me will be: renowned soundscape designer Martyn Ware (London) whose work spans from founder of Heaven 17 and the Human League to a sound designer with recent installations at the NY MoMa and the Venice Architectural Biennale; and Brian Schmidt (Seattle), who has been the guiding ‘sonic spirit’ for audio in the Xbox and primary composer for multiple game titles for Sega, Sony and Electronic Arts, in addition to hundreds of arcade, console and pinball games.

This will be a live podcast, meaning you can ‘tune in’ live and participate in the conversation (via IM+Skype). (You’ll also be able to listen anytime after the show as you would a traditional podcast.)

Show details: Monday January 26, 9:30 a.m. Pacific time, 12:30 p.m. Eastern, 5:30 London time.
Show URL: http://www.smallplateradio.com/042/

Please join us. Many thanks in advance to Small Plate Radio for making it possible.

– Noel Franus

Photo by Jason McHuff

Portland locals:

This week’s weather has messed up so many plans that I feel ripped off. So I’m declaring next Tuesday a make-up day on the cocktail calendar.

Join me for a pre-holiday happy hour: 5 p.m., next Tuesday Dec. 23. We’ll be 30 stories up at the Portland City Grill (US Bank Tower).

If you’re around, it would be great to see you.

And if not, happy holidays!

– Noel Franus

And now, from the CCRMA Hearing Seminar mailing list:

Please join us for CCRMA colloquium on Monday, November 3rd. Lawrence D. Rosenblum will be giving a presentation entitled ‘Avoiding the Impact: Testing the Audibility of Hybrid Cars’.

With the growing number of hybrid and alternative fuel cars on the road, blind individuals are increasingly concerned with the lack of audible cues these cars typically provide. These concerns have prompted consideration of both federal and state bills to investigate the issue. In this talk, research will be presented showing that some hybrid cars, when traveling at slow speeds, are in fact dangerously quiet for pedestrians. Other research will be discussed indicating that we are all dependent on sound for avoiding oncoming hazards, so that the quietness of new cars could pose a threat to us all.

– Noel Franus

“With site-specific works activating various locations across town, and with the collaboration of the community, The Marfa Sessions aims to amplify the varied set of physical and metaphoric characteristics that define Marfa – its geopolitical position, local identity, myths, as well as its significant relationship to 20th Century Minimalism and Land Art.”

Looks great on paper—would love to hear how it sounds. Hey West Texans, let’s hear from you.

– Noel Franus

Amidst the flurry I wanted to let you know that Dan Kirby, Managing Director for Sonic ID Europe, will be speaking on sonic branding and audio identity at the Visual Identity and Communication Design conference in Stockholm, Sweden. Dates: September 22, 23.

I noticed the conference also includes a look at Danish State Railways’ design for multiple emotional states. Sounds like an interesting way to spend your Monday…

– Noel Franus

At first blush, this isn’t a natural “sonic branding” fit. Yet convergent, cross-media design is the inevitable future. And we believe sound is a significant ingredient in designing the immersive and interactive experiences of that future.

The lineup looks great. I’m especially looking forward to Joshua Green, Convergence Culture Consortium at MIT and William Swartout, Director of Technology for USC’s Institute for Creative Technologies. Also looking forward to finding out what “cyborg anthropologist and social media consultant” Amber Case does for a living, as that’s a most curious title of the bunch.

On a related note, 5D is coming up soon, too — Long Beach in October. Martyn is running a two-hour Future of Sound event there, which should provide yet more great options for shaking hands and devising beautiful things that may or may not be useful.

Links: Inverge conference site; Inverge blog; 5D conference site.

– Noel Franus