TaylorBirkey.com

Sungha Jung, Incredible Child Guitar Prodigy

Taylor — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 13:25:45 +0000

An incredible child guitar prodigy. I just found out about these videos this morning. I think they speak for themselves. Sungha Jung is talented. He’s only 13 years old and has only been playing guitar for 3 years according to his official website. Enjoy.

High-Altitude Jumpers: Kittinger and Truglia

Taylor — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 15:43:08 +0000

Joseph Kittinger, a decorated officer in the United States Air Force who died in 1978, was most famous for his historic high-altitude jumps. On August 16, 1960, Kittinger made his final jump (dubbed Excelsior III, his third jump in Project Excelsior), stepping out of an open gondola at 102,800 feet (31,300 meters) above the earth. He then free fell for 4 minutes 36 seconds, towing a small chute for stabilization, and reached a maximum speed of 614 mph before opening his parachute at 18,000 feet (5,500 m). Kittinger set historical numbers for highest balloon ascent, highest parachute jump, longest drogue-fall (four minutes), and fastest speed by a human being through the atmosphere.

Steve Truglia is a stuntman and former UK Special Forces reservist. He is planning to break Kittinger’s record for highest parachute jump, aiming for 120,000 feet. Truglia has convened some incredible minds for the design of his jump suit (it’s more like a space suit) and plans on riding a balloon-toted gondola up to the very edge of Earth’s atmosphere.

Currently Truglia is looking for funding for his feat. I hope he gets it … what a mind-blowing accomplishment it would be!

Poem: Man in a Well

Taylor — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 16:29:45 +0000

A couple of weeks back, I was listening to This American Life (as I often do) on the train ride home from work. The episode was entitled “The Cruelty of Children,” and I happened to be listening to Act Two, in which Ira Sher was narrating from his short fiction story “The Man in the Well,” which told the tale of a group of children who discover … well … a man in a well. Something about this story inspired and spooked me, and I ended up jotting down some lines in my notebook. Glad I had that notebook with me.

I liked the result enough to do a little visual digging and design work in Photoshop, and I’ve posted the result here for you to view/read. Hopefully, you’ll get interested enough to listen to the podcast. Many thanks to ~bagnino over at DeviantArt.com for the photograph.

Music Review: Nate Leslie – Whose Fault the Grammar?

Taylor — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 15:09:26 +0000

As far as music is concerned, Chicago’s west suburbs boast the usual gamut of minstrels: cover bands, starving singer-songwriters, and very few exceptional talents. This past week I listened to a new album from an as-yet unheard of young rocker who could easily make a break in the coming years and bring some pride back to the ‘burbs. Around these parts, Nate Leslie is known mostly as the front man for local rock band Paradigm, who’ve played together off and on for the past decade or so. But that is going to change. With Whose Fault the Grammar?, Leslie’s second solo album, the writer/performer/producer has really taken things to the next level.

Most impressive here is not just the quality of the music, but the sheer depth of composition: Whose Fault the Grammar? is genuinely homemade, a product of the exciting new wave of artists taking advantage of affordable, accessible recording equipment. Nate Leslie doesn’t just write songs: he plays every instrument and labors (seems obvious to me anyway) over the post-recording production. For as flavored a sound as this record is, I’m kind of surprised Leslie’s music isn’t more known. Hopefully that will change. But I digress … on to the music.

“Track One” kicks off the album and gives us a perfect sample of what to expect for the next hour: straight up indie rock slash power pop. It’s a solid anthem with a great bass line and vocals. “Paper Airplane” is next and features great guitar riffs and drums. “We Were Candles” starts slow and opens the door on some of Leslie’s substance and maturity in songwriting, hinting at the emptiness of control over a broken life. “Over : Together” continues the theme of relationships—in fact, Leslie also plans on releasing a music video for the track, filmed by Kyle Farthing and featuring Jessica Kinni from VH1’s Rock of Love 2 and Charm School. When we get to “A Lovely Waste,” the first of the album’s two acoustic tracks, Leslie is asking if “life is just a lovely waste of time?” Harmonica and acoustic guitar point to Leslie’s more country-rock influences and, perhaps, give us a look at his busking style. “Staring at the Ceiling” has a great instrumental bridge that shows of some of Leslie’s guitar licks. The beat goes on with “Rationale” and “Orwell.” “Man in a Parade,” another great love song, concludes the acoustic strand, and we finally come to “Bad Ideas,” which is an impressive electro-rock song unlike the rest on the album, the last minute of which boasts a sweet guitar riff that will stick in your head. “Over : Together” finishes the album as a reprise with a loud statement of an ending.

All in all, Whose Fault the Grammar? is a brave venture into the first chapter of one young artist’s (hopefully) long career. The talent seems is there without a doubt: how Nate Leslie matures as a songwriter and whether he finds the right musicians to join him are the variables that seem to weigh most heavily. Leslie’s sound will improve even more if he finds a band. I’m hoping that happens soon, before the next album.

Album Grade: 7/10

Highlight Tracks: “Track One,” “Over : Together,” “Bad Ideas”

Artist Info:

Twitter and The Willow Creek Leadership Summit 2009

Taylor — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 18:51:29 +0000

Greetings from sunny South Barrington, IL. I’m over at Willow Creek Community Church for the Leadership Summit 2009, working with the Willow Creek Association and helping run all the viral stuff throughout the conference. This year’s Summit has so much in store: TONS of great speakers including Tony Blair, Bono, Bill Hybels, Gary Hamel, Tim Keller, and many many more!

Almost simultaneous with the start of the first session, thousands of Twitter users (myself included!) were online sharing thoughts and dialoging about the Summit. Twitter’s service, however, underwent the beginning of a continuing hacker attack, one of Twitter’s worst ever. Currently Twitter is still down, and millions of “Tweeters” all over the world are without their precious Tweets!

It’s funny that this “attack” has coincided with the Leadership Summit at a time when Twitter users have made the Summit the TOP trending topic on Twitter. Hopefully Twitter will be back online soon, and we’ll be able to get back to business! If you’re curious to follow the Summit on Twitter, see twitter.com/leadersummit. If you’re tweeting, join the dialog with the #TLS09 hash tag.