Monday, May 5, 2003

Music enrageth the savage beast [Reuter's]: (1) Violent lyrics linked to aggressive thoughts Now isn't that surprising... Of course violent lyrics are linked to aggressive thoughts! When I am feeling wronged or even 'needy-yet-unrequited', I'll crank up Eminem or BIG just to feel the rush of the test'rone surge through my veins so I can fantasize about causing the humiliating defeat of those who have crossed me. Heh, heh, just kidding. (2) This study doesn't say, and Reuter's doesn't point out, is what direction the causality flows. Do violent lyrics cause aggressive feelings, or are such stimuli sought out when one feels in need of aggression? I think that creative expression is part and parcel of one's feelings and behaviour and cannot be interpreted in a causal relationship. What does come across is that non-aggressive music champion and school psychologist (3) Craig Anderson, the principal author of the study, has won the heart of the RIAA who join the argument with an interesting twist. The Recording Industry, they remind us, have been warning us of just this very thing, ever since Tipper Gore made them. And guess what, free (4), traded music isn't labeled with the official warning, so once again, it's those music trading, young people that are behind this threat to our American Way of Life (5), not a society and government devoted to personnal gain and might being right. No, not that. 1. Hey - I appologize for the overly sarcastic/scholastic tone of this posting, but you know... Well, maybe you don't. 2. I am, by most of your estimatia (except, possibly, for Niek Hockx), old, so of course I'm kidding. Sheesh! 3. Is Craig Anderson a psychologist? and does he work for a school? - m'kay. 4. I got a $16 invoice frm Apple today, thank you very much. Don't spend it all in one place. 5. There was going to be a reference to the writings of Bill Bennett here, but that's a cheap shot and I'm not going to take it.

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Oh yeah, Feliz cinco de Mayo!

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Jerry Halstead had asked what effect oxidation has over a period of time on the color and spectrum. That is, once opened, how does the color change? Last evening, I took spectra of two wines I had previously analysed. Twenty milliliters of Black Swan Shiraz was left in the bottom of an empty bottle that had been left open to the room air for twelve days, and about a hundred milliliters of Bregonzo Amarone was left stoppered in the bottle, and refrigerated for ten days. As expected, the shiraz was badly oxidized - it had a vinegar odor and was very dark. The Amarone on the other hand was still drinkable. Here are the spectra of these wines: Compare this spectrum of 10 day old Bregonzo Amarone to the spectrum of the freshly opened wine from April 24. And the very oxidized shiraz: This wine was previously 'speced' on April 23. Aging in an open bottle leads to rapid and profound deterioration of the wine, while the closed refrigerated bottle withstood nearly two weeks with little change in the wine's color and spectrum. The flavor had gotten decidedly astringant, however. Last night's wine: This moderately priced ($16) Italian zinfandel was very peppery, yet lacked complexity that would have set it off. As a result it was a bland wine, that was much improved with cheese. Here is its spectrum: (Continued ...)

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