This lecture was given on February 11, 2022 at the University of Kansas.

For more information on upcoming events, please visit our website at www.thomisticinstitute.org.

About the speaker:
Robert C. (“Rob”) Koons is a professor of philosophy at the University of Texas at Austin, where he has taught for 33 years. M. A. Oxford, Ph.D. UCLA. He is the author or co-author of four books, including: Realism Regained (Oxford University Press, 2000), and The Atlas of Reality: A Comprehensive Guide to Metaphysics, with Timothy H. Pickavance (Wiley-Blackwell, 2017). He is the co-editor (with George Bealer) of The Waning of Materialism (Oxford University Press, 2010), and co-editor (with Nicholas Teh and William Simpson) of Neo-Aristotelian Perspectives on Contemporary Science (Routledge, 2018). He has been working recently on an Aristotelian interpretation of quantum theory, on defending and articulating Thomism in contemporary terms, and on arguments for classical theism.

Aristotle and the Quantum Revolution | Prof. Rob Koons

Bubbles, Come Back

Fall Down Pt 2 [@teenslug]

Sound Fantasy on:

Evening sky,
the silhouettes of farmers in their fields
deepen

Naviarrecords Haiku Challenge 471

Deepen

Deepen_Naviarhaiku471

L.A.G THE MARCH - 01 02 2023, 09.52

6 May 2023 in the gallery Dezernat5
Susanne Wegener - Vocals
Sascha Sauerborn - Drums/Electronics
Herbert Weisrock - Baritone Saxophone
Thomas Sander - Guitar/Electronics

MERKWÜRDIGER TON

Beautiful Transaction

The conventional wisdom holds that chance operations abolish "glue" (Henry Cowell's term, but often invoked by Cage).  That idea rests on presuming that statistical independence governs how  the operations place musical events within the music framework.  Well, not here.

As x and y coordinatize the Euclidean plane, time and pitch coordinatize musical space as constructed say on a piano roll.  But there's a difference: the plane enjoys rotational symmetry, but its far from clear how one would even compare the magnitude of a time duration with musical interval.

Take a circle and randomly choose 41 chords (meaning, sorry, line segments that connect two points on the circumference).  That makes 820 pairs of chords, but only above one third of the pairs will intersect (meaning, inside the circle).  Those roughly 270 points of intersection, plotted on a virtual piano roll, become the notes of a variation.  The piece consists of 10 variations.  Each note/point sits on two lines, so each line will contain an average of about 13 notes.  This is the emergent clue.  Depending on the slope of the line segment, it will sound as a chord, a broken chord, an arpeggio, a line slowly ascending or descending, or even a pedal tone.  Of course the points/notes on a line don't sit evenly spaced - their position gets determined by the random dispositions of the other chords.  But every note is overdetermined -- by design it sits on two lines and thus helps describe two different musical figures.

Empirically, the 88 note space of the piano (so 352 distinct pitches by the use of eighth-tones) feels like one minute.  Too much faster and the emergent shapes get compressed into illegibility, too much slower and the notes get unglued by the strain on short-term memory.

The accompanying graphic explores a similar construction, but in the visual realm.

Time-Space-Circle-Line-Point #7, for four pianos tuned in eighth tones

The US government has sent troops to Taiwan, just a few kilometers from mainland China, while also selling billions of dollars of weapons and military equipment. Is Washington preparing for war? Ben Norton analyzes the geopolitical situation.

VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=sWWABuHjSvU

After Ukraine, US readies ‘transnational kill chain’ for Taiwan proxy war: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2024/03/01/ukraine-us-kill-chain-taiwan-war

Topics
0:00 Intro
2:15 US sends troops to Taiwan
4:39 US general threatens war on China
5:28 Nuclear weapons
7:03 US once had nukes in Taiwan
10:22 US "arms Taiwan to the teeth"
13:27 US military surrounds China
16:22 Pentagon's "kill chain for the Pacific"
18:23 Elon Musk's role
19:19 US military interoperability with Taiwan
20:57 Washington threatens Chinese sovereignty
22:58 US communiqués recognizing One China policy
27:46 US violates agreements
29:28 Parallels to Ukraine
31:48 Outro

US sends troops & weapons to Taiwan. Is it preparing war on China?

Today, we get some updates on some old favorites. (Hint: Tommy John and FedSmoker!) plus Tom has been driving around in a McLaren and has been getting some interesting reactions. Tom and Christina call up Charo to make a bargain with her. We have a new cool guy and a new Fart Simpson prank call! Plus, Josh Potter delivers the news. We have a cavalcade of guests today who have taken umbrage with what Tom has had to say regarding Wrestling. Tony Hinchcliffe, Earl Skakel, Steve Simeone and Ron Funches all go toe-to-toe with “Mystic Rick” and explain why they enjoy Sports Entertainment. We get into their old favorites, why they enjoy wrestling and we get their opinion on whether or not Mystic Rick has what it takes to step into the squared circle. Enjoy or you’ll get the Turkey Slicer and a stamp on your forehead. SPONSORS: - Go to WHOOP.com and enter “YOURMOM” at checkout to save 15% - Use Code: HOUSE for 50% off 2 or more pairs at ShadyRays.com - Buy One, Get One Free. - Go to Stamps.com, click on the Microphone at the TOP of the homepage and type in MOM for a 4 week trial - ExpressVPN.com/MOM for 3 months free with a 1-year package. - Check out BlueChew.com and get your first shipment FREE when you use our special promo code [HOUSE] -- Just pay $5 shipping.

553 - Tony Hinchcliffe, Ron Funches, Earl Skakel, & Steve Simeone - Your Mom's House with Christina P and Tom Segura

Performed by Arditti Quartet and SWR Symphonieorchester on February 8, 2020 at ECLAT Festival.
Conductor: Michael Wendeberg

About the work:

Named after a quotation from an essay written by Tim Rutherford-Johnson, in which he reflects on the research I had conducted at Hagia Sophia and the extent of its possibilities in unlocking the social memories of an architecture, “… like dissolving ancient amber and letting a trapped insect fly away” is a work composed for simultaneous string quartet and large orchestra that was premiered by the Arditti Quartet and the SWR Symphonieorchester in 2020 at the ECLAT Festival.  The work is simultaneous in the sense that it consists of two interdependent works, namely a string quartet and an orchestral work, which can be performed together or as stand-alone works. As such, the string quartet is not conceived as a concertino group, nor is it regarded as an ensemble of two violins, viola, and cello; but rather as a medium based on its own specific collection of gestures and movements.

“… like dissolving ancient amber…” is based on a hybrid structure modeled after the actual architecture of the Fatih Mosque and what I developed as the hypothetical architecture of the Church of the Holy Apostles. The intention behind this hybrid structure was not to simulate or to map out space, or to render a fixed point of observation for a specific narrative, but to develop a sonic-temporal architecture emerging from two spaces, as a form of resistance re-imagined through embodiment.

Aristotle and the Quantum Revolution | Prof. Rob Koons

The Thomistic Institute

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