Tom Lehrer: The Elements

Tom Lehrer earned a BA and MA in mathematics from Harvard during the late 1940s, then taught math courses at MIT, Harvard, Wellesley, and UC-Santa Cruz. Math was his vocation. But, all along, Lehrer nurtured an interest in music. And, by the mid 1950s, he became best known for his satirical songs that touched on sometimes political, sometimes academic themes.

“The Elements”, recorded in 1959, features Lehrer reciting the names of the 102 chemical elements known at the time (we now have 118), and it’s all sung to the tune of Major-General’s Song from The Pirates of Penzance by Gilbert and Sullivan. Here is Lehrer’s original tune set to some animation created in 2007.

(Source: Open Culture)

See also: https://edcyphers.com/2017/03/10/video-of-the-week-tom-lehrer-we-will-all-go-together-when-we-go/

See also: https://edcyphers.com/2013/04/14/tom-lehrer-teaches-the-new-math/

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Not the Wedding Pictures You Had in Mind

(source: makemymood.com)

The Causes and Effects of Facetious Song Requests

Reprinted from Paste Magazine:

Last week at a show in Minnesota, Bradford Cox, frontman of Atlas Sound and Deerhutner, got a fan who requested “My Sharona” to strip to their underwear and stand on stage while the band played the song for an hour. Extreme? Yes. Satisfying to hear about? Absolutely. Here are a few other artists who have publicly dealt with the frustration of certain absurd song requests.

Video of the Week: Steve Martin–Jubilation Day

My favorite moment: about 2:14 and the line “let me get my things”

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Video of the Week: Steve Martin’s Hymn For Atheists

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Video of the Week: Best Version of Bohemian Rhapsody Ever Played Inside a VW

On the one hand, it’s comic. On the other, it’s no joke–these guys have real chops. And it’s their obvious seriousness about the music that makes it all the more funny. This is one of those vids I feel I could watch every morning, just to get my day off right.

They are award-winning Finnish street band Porkka Playboys. Check out http://www.porkkaplayboys.com/ if you’ve also got a hankering to see Motorhead’s “Ace of Spades” performed in a sauna (naked of course).

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