I was hoping to finish reading the book Lamentation today (I’ve got about 60 pages to go) when certain family members insisted that I read a book called The Invention of Hugo Cabret. It’s a pretty simple read since much of the book is pictures, and I finished it in a few hours. It was pretty captivating, full of mysteriousness that makes you want to keep reading. By the end of it, though, I didn’t think there were any grand-revealing truths or surprising twists as I was hoping for in the back of my mind, but it was still a fun read.
What I found just as interesting (or even more interesting) than the book was a real mechanical automaton the book was somewhat inspired by: Maillardet’s Automaton. It’s basically just a mechanical wind-up robot thing that draws pictures. Can you imagine how complex that thing must be? Pretty cool stuff. Here’s a video of it drawing:
Ooooo . . . aaaahhh . . .
Anyway, my podcast The Compose Pile should now be appearing in the iTunes store. We’ll see if that helps it get anymore listeners, or if the amount of competition already on iTunes, and the general lack of public interest in composing orchestral music, and my own lack of musical skills and fame, all help it get no more listeners…
12 days left until Christmas!