In 1969, after The Mothers of Invention disbanded, Frank Zappa released his groundbreaking solo debut, Hot Rats. Fusing jazz and rock, the innovative album became one of the artist’s bestselling releases, thanks to classic tracks like “Peaches En Regalia” and “Willie the Pimp.” Over the following year, in between various projects (including producing Captain Beefheart’s debut, Trout Mask Replica, and emceeing Belgium’s Festival Actuel, where Zappa met British drummer Aynsley Dunbar), he assembled a core group to lay down tracks at Los Angeles’ recently opened Record Plant. Continue reading
Tag Archives: Los Angeles
Deep Fake Neighbour Wars: ITV’s comedy shows how AI can transform popular culture
Dominic Lees, University of Reading
ITVX’s Deep Fake Neighbour Wars is the breakthrough in television’s use of artificial intelligence that experts in the cultural use of deepfakes like myself have been waiting for.
From QAnon to The Sandman: how demons found a place in popular culture
Zohar Hadromi Allouche, Trinity College Dublin and S. Jonathon O’Donnell, Queen’s University Belfast
In western culture today, demons exist as something of a paradox. Religious belief in them is often presented as marginal. Many mainstream Christian denominations are silent or give them little prominence.
As ether adopts energy-saving ‘merge’, will bitcoin follow?
- No. 2 cryptocurrency to adopt energy-saving protocol
- ‘The merge’ could cut ethereum’s power use by 99%
- Move seen piling climate pressure on bitcoin
By Avi Asher-Schapiro
LOS ANGELES, Sept 12 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Ethereum, the blockchain underpinning the world’s second-largest crypto token ether, is poised for a software upgrade that will slash the amount of energy it uses – a step that could pile pressure on bitcoin to take similar climate-friendly action. Continue reading
The story behind ‘Star Trek’ actress Nichelle Nichols’ iconic interracial kiss
Matthew Delmont, Dartmouth College
On a 1968 episode of “Star Trek,” Nichelle Nichols, playing Lt. Uhura, locked lips with William Shatner’s Capt. Kirk in what’s widely thought to be first kiss between a Black woman and white man on American television.