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Hakan Calhanoglu Will Be the Emerging Face of the Bundesliga This Season

Sam Tighe@@stighefootballWorld Football Tactics Lead WriterJuly 16, 2015

AP Images

Away from the glare of Bayern Munich-Borussia Dortmund-centric Bundesliga coverage lies a remarkable young talent plying his trade for Bayer Leverkusen. His name? Hakan Calhanoglu, and he has both B04 and Turkish football fans brimming with excitement over his future in the game.

He shot to prominence in the 2013-14 season while turning out for Hamburg, netting an astonishing 41-metre free-kick against Dortmund to truly catch the continent's eye. With Roman Weidenfeller flailing and Calhanoglu whirling away to celebrate, the iconic Jurgen Klopp looked on from the sidelines, struggling to know whether to laugh or cry at what he'd just seen.

Moment seized, Calhanoglu has leapt from strength to strength in a short period of time; a €14 million move to Leverkusen soon followed that set piece, and Roger Schmidt has made him a key cog in a new-look heavyweight side.

After 39 combined starts across league and UEFA Champions League action in 2014-15, the talented playmaker is a well-known (and feared) commodity across Germany and represents the Bundesliga's emerging face in Europe.

1. Physical

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Calhanoglu is 5'10" and of average build. That's pretty much the marker for him as an athlete.

Unlike others profiled at B/R this week, such as Jack Grealish (agile), Bernardo Silva (elusive) and Paulo Dybala (poised), Calhanoglu has no discernible physical trait worth boasting about. He's not slow but not fast; he's not a twig, but he's no powerhouse; and his height matches the national average for the nation in which he was born, Germany.

2. Pressing

Bayer Leverkusen made by far the most intriguing and tactically exciting managerial appointment of 2014, appointing Roger Schmidt after the German had caught the eye across Europe with his wild experiments and success with Austrian outfit Red Bull Salzburg.

His bizarre and curious tactical strategies, involving high-block pressing, direct, exciting attacking moves and losing the ball in certain areas on purpose, have been tempered slightly because Leverkusen are chasing for major honours, but it's still been suitably nutty and against the grain.

The pressing aspect of his tactical setup has ensured there have been no passengers in his project so far, and you can bet Calhanoglu would not have been signed if he wasn't able to pull his weight in every aspect—including the off-the-ball work.

Credit: Show RD

There have been hundreds, even thousands, of technically brilliant No. 10s who have decided themselves above such hard work, but Calhanoglu has a tenacious and determined edge to his playmaking ability. His effort makes up for his mediocrity as an athlete, closing and snapping at heels while chasing possession and doing his best to block passing lanes.

He's far from perfect in this respect, but his response to the challenge laid down is commendable: Other 21-year-old full internationals with a wand of a boot might just take a different opinion of his manager's methods.

3. Killer Balls

If we were to describe Calhanoglu with one label other than "set-piece wizard," it'd be "killer-ball merchant"; his first, second and third preference when picking passes is to slice the opponent in twain.

The key element here, following good touch and control, along with the ability to quickly shift the ball out from under his feet and into a striking position, is his no-nonsense approach to passing. Put simply, he doesn't dither or dally, checking his options; he lifts his chin and releases the ball within a second if the run is on.

Credit: Sky Calcio

He cuts across the ball with remarkable finesse, caressing it with the outside of his boot just as well as he does with the inside. He spots gaps and feeds it through, cutting opponents' lines and systems into pieces, sending them into disarray with one ball.

The urgency with which he moves the ball out of his feet is paramount to his success, and it makes him a stunning fit for Schmidt once again. Not only does he press and harass to the best of his ability, but he capitalises on the turnovers by initiating quick attacks from advantageous positions.

Credit: Sky Calcio

He can pick the ball up deep and pick a striker's run into the channel or find space between the lines in an advanced position, turn and feed a cute ball in behind the defence for his No. 9. Clever, movement-based strikers thrive in a team with Calhanoglu therein; their instinctive runs are picked out, not ignored.

In essence, he knows when to be direct; he sees clear-cut chances quickly and looks to capitalise on them. It's been working to Leverkusen's advantage and will continue to, and it saved Hamburg from relegation in 2014.

4. Spread Play

Importantly, though, Calhanoglu is not forever chasing the cutting, incisive through ball. While he obviously prefers to play it, he has other dimensions to his passing that make him an all-round star.

Again, starting off the back of the quickness with which he primes a pass, the Turkish maestro is able to spread play superbly to the left or to the right. Sitting in the No. 10 space, centrally, he'll shift play to either flank at will, moving the ball to whichever situation looks more dangerous for the opposition.

The timing and shape of his passes are built perfectly for the role he takes on, and he's been able to pick out quicker wingers and overloading runners for Leverkusen with accurate, arcing deliveries.

Frank Augstein/Associated Press

As with the cutting passes benefiting the No. 9s, the same occurs here. It's notable that both of Leverkusen's first-choice wingers in 2014-15, Son Heung-Min and Karim Bellarabi, hit double figures for goals, per WhoScored.com. In fact, both managed more than designated striker and experienced goal poacher Stefan Kiessling in the Bundesliga, scoring 11 and 12 respectively to Kiessling's nine.

It certainly wasn't all down to Calhanoglu, but his creative presence and incisiveness allowed them clearer chances on goal throughout the campaign. In particular, he developed a very strong understanding with Bellarabi, learning how the Germany international times his runs and where he wants the ball to be played.

The results were borderline devastating at times.

5. Set Pieces

We arrive at the main meal. If Calhanoglu continues to take free-kicks for the next nine years as he has over the last two, he'll go down as the greatest free-kick taker of all time—no exaggeration.

Here's a resume of his work from dead-ball situations from 2014-15 alone:

Credit: Show RD

Credit: Sky Calcio

Credit: Sky Calcio

It's pretty brutal what he's been doing to goalkeepers for the last 12 months. These set pieces are taken in the Bundesliga too, which is arguably the best league for goalkeeping standards in world football right now.

He outfoxed Dortmund's Roman Weidenfeller from 41 metres to make his name, then cemented that reputation by beating Bayern's Manuel Neuer and a whole host of others too.

It's not just the attempts on goal that worry opponents from these positions, but the sweet deliveries from the wide areas too. He bends a wonderful delivery into the box to be headed home, with Kiessling, Omer Toprak and many more benefiting from the service last season.

It's a game-breaking ability, and it's served Schmidt extremely well over the past year. If Leverkusen come up short when trying to break down a particularly stubborn opponent, a free-kick won in the right area could be all it takes to jimmy the lock—Hakan will surely come up with the goods.

6. Crossing/Shifting Wide

There are occasions when opponents try to mark Calhanoglu out of the game, such is his destructive ability from the No. 10 space. Teams try to clog his zone with two or three men, providing an insurmountable blockade for both runs and passes.

Athletically average playmakers struggle in these situations. For example, when Kaka hit physical decline and could no longer evade markers with his giraffe-esque stride, he succumbed to the lower-level tactics of lesser players.

But Calhanoglu retains the ability to drift wide and utilise his wicked deliveries as crosses rather than passes; he can shimmy left or right to evade the increased attention and still be lethal for his manager and team.

Credit: Sky Calcio

He's got a better cross than most wingers in the game, measuring deliveries with the same poise and precision used to stupefy goalkeepers from dead-ball situations. Kiessling's great movement in the box opens the angle for him, which he finds nearly every time.

Son scored a fair few back-post conversions and tap-ins last season, boosting his tally to 15 goals overall, and Calhanoglu's deliveries were key to this. He can shape to deliver into the middle, gather a crowd of bodies, then pick out Son steaming in off the far edge with consummate ease.

"Hakan is one of 11 players and our strength is the whole team," Schmidt stated following Leverkusen's 1-0 win over Atletico Madrid in the UEFA Champions League last season, per Goal. He was forced to bring to attention the other 10 players wearing black and red as reporters barraged him with questions about goalscorer Calhanoglu.

Not only is he the ultimate highlight-reel player thanks to his ridiculous free-kicks, but he's also a potentially world-class player maturing quickly under a manager who understands his strengths and weaknesses. When a brilliant No. 10 can still make himself a devastating presence despite increased attention from the opposition, you know you've got a true talent on your hands.

Hakan Calhanoglu Statistics, 2014-15
GamesGoalsAssistsKey Passes (pg)Acc. Crosses (pg)
Champions League8222.51.8

Born in Germany but with Turkish lineage, he's the next in a growing line of Bundesliga heroes who straddle the two nationalities—Mesut Ozil, Ilkay Gundogan and Nuri Sahin being more established examples.

Playing in the Champions League opens the window for all to witness his prowess, and should Leverkusen draw an established heavyweight in their group—provided they make it through the play-off—it'll be Calhanoglu's chance to show the world what he can do.

It's easy to project Calhanoglu as the emerging face of the Bundesliga; he ticks all the appropriate boxes.

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text:
I need to put a point at the intersection of two edges. Below is a picture with red circles around where I need points to be placed.

With Blender 2.8+ you can use the Auto Merge Tool to insert a vertex between intersecting edges.

enter image description here

Just enable the option Auto Merge and Split Edges & Faces in the Tool Shelf, then select a vertex and move it. Upon placing it down the tool will create vertices between the connected edges and the edges intersecting them.

If you don't want to move any vertices just select one, press G to move and confirm with left click without altering the position.

  • 2
    $\begingroup$ This is most definitely the best solution now! Thank you for making me aware of it. If you want to make sure to not move it at all, G Z 0 Enter would be the safest way to avoid moving it even a pixel. $\endgroup$
    – Keavon
    Jul 26 '20 at 21:34

If all you really want is to add a vertex at the position of intersection, then something like this script would work: (this even adds the vertex at the projected intersection of two lines, or the closest point if they never intersect)

import bmesh
import bpy
from mathutils import geometry

def add_vertex_to_intersection():

    obj = bpy.context.object
    me = obj.data
    bm = bmesh.from_edit_mesh(me)

    edges = [e for e in bm.edges if e.select]

    if len(edges) == 2:
        [[v1, v2], [v3, v4]] = [[v.co for v in e.verts] for e in edges]

        iv = geometry.intersect_line_line(v1, v2, v3, v4)
        iv = (iv[0] + iv[1]) / 2

this does not attach the vertex to any edges/faces. Here it is packaged as an addon accessible from: W > Place vertex at intersection

This is now part of mesh_tinyCAD

A while back I added this feature to mesh_tinyCAD, and called it (Vertex to Intersection) V2X. I use it to add guide-vertices to intersections and it is less potentially destructive than the XALL or VTX operations.

  • $\begingroup$ You make it looks easy. $\endgroup$
    – Ari
    Sep 12 '18 at 1:55

I found tinyCAD addon the most helpful solution for this problem. It can be downloaded here:

You can install several ways but the easiest is to download the zip linked in the readme and use the Install from File option in UserPreferences > Addons. Then you can enable it as usual.

To use it, just select intersecting edges, press W and select TinyCAD > TinyCAD XALL

tiny cad

  • $\begingroup$ Great find. This is the question that originally brought me to this site, and this addon is the only solution I've really liked so far. $\endgroup$
    – user7952
    Dec 22 '14 at 13:26
  • $\begingroup$ Unfortunately this also removes any faces connected to the edges. $\endgroup$
    – gatzkerob
    May 7 at 9:33

To expand on Haunt_house's answer, to place a vertex at the intersection you can use the Dynamic spacebar addon

This is include with development builds of blender by default, but you will still have to enable it in the User preferences:

enter image description here

If you are using a release version, you can get it here

Press Space> Snap Cursor menu > Cursor to edge intersection:

enter image description here

This snaps the 3D cursor the the intersection between the selected edges.

Now you can add a new mesh (press ShiftA while still in edit mode) and then press ShiftS> Selection to cursor:

enter image description here

Then select the vertices you want to merge with one of the ones on the intersection selected last and press AltM> At last:

enter image description here

Alternate Workflows

For something like this, You might be better off with a different workflow:

Array modifier

You could use the Array modifier with an object offset, see this answer

enter image description here

Note that in the above image, the plane object as been rotated -120 degrees in object mode.

(This would be similar to Haunt_house's solution of using different objects)

You might be able to use a primitive to get the desired geometry, Add a circle and set the vertices to 3 in the Redo menu or the F6 menu:

enter image description here enter image description here

Extrude upwards, select all, then press AltE> Individual faces:

enter image description here

Delete the top vertices:

enter image description here

  • 3
    $\begingroup$ I would suggest you remove the Alternate Workflows section because they are specific only to the model I showed in the example and not helpful to anyone else visiting this question. $\endgroup$
    – Keavon
    Jun 13 '15 at 9:19

There are several approaches. The Dynamic Spacebar Addon answer might be one of them.

Here are some other:

  1. Instead of creating the three parts in Edit Mode, create them in Object Mode as linked copies with AltD and rotate them. If you now go into editmode, you can adjust the length by using G and restraining to a local axis by pressing X, Y, or Z twice. With enough zoom you can adjust the verts to meet and then merge them with AltM or the Magnet Tool. Remove Doubles should work too.

  2. You can use the Knife. Select all verts, zoom in a lot and cut the edges with ShiftK (shift to cut all edges) where they intersect. Then clean up.

  3. You can select the verts of the upper vertical part, and move them up until they meet the side part's edges. Then use the cursor as pivot point with Dot. Copy one of them and rotate it 120 degrees around the cursor to get the third intersection point.

  4. You can use the Knife Project Tool to cut them

  5. You can use a three sided cylinder and extrude it outward. While in Face Select mode, select the three sides and use Mesh>>Extrude>>Individual Faces (if you have cubes instead of planes in your example). Sometimes reversing the workflow is a good idea.

  6. You can use Vertex slide. Select the vertices and press G twice, then slide the vertices along the edges.

  7. If the placement of the parts isn't critical, you can use the Magnet to snap the edges together.

  8. The ordinary Knife Tool has snapping functionality. With everything selected, snap it to both ends of an edge and the intersecting edge will be cut.

So, I had to play with this until I solved it in the basic mathematical sense. So, here's a solution that will work for a pair of edges that really intersect, and it will also edd a vertex at the intersection point.

To activate:

  1. Open a text editor window and create a new text file.
  2. Paste the code from below there.
  3. Select the intersecting edges.
  4. Press Run Script.

enter image description here

Here's the code:

import bpy, bmesh
from mathutils import Vector

globCo = lambda co, o: o.matrix_world * co

def find_intersection( edges, o ):
    # Calculate global locations of edge verts
    p1, p2 = [ globCo( v.co, o ) for v in edges[0].verts ]
    p3, p4 = [ globCo( v.co, o ) for v in edges[1].verts ]

    v1 = p2 - p1 # Edge 1 line vector
    v2 = p4 - p3 # Edge 2 line vector

    # Calcualte intersection
    # Based on paramteric line equation: (x,y,z) = p0 + t * lineVec
    numer = v2.y * ( p3.x - p1.x ) + v2.x * ( p1.y - p3.y )
    denom = v1.x * v2.y - v1.y * v2.x
    t1    = numer / denom

    co = Vector( [ getattr( p1, i ) + t1 * getattr( v1, i ) for i in 'xyz' ] )

    bpy.context.scene.cursor_location = co

    return co

o  = bpy.context.object
if o.mode == 'EDIT':
    bm    = bmesh.from_edit_mesh( o.data )
    edges = [ e for e in bm.edges if e.select ]

    if len( edges ) == 2:
        co = find_intersection( edges, o )

        # Split edges and add new vert to newly created edges
        for e in edges:
            p1, p2 = [ globCo( v.co, o ) for v in e.verts ]
            fac = ( co - p1 ).length / ( p2 - p1 ).length
            bmesh.utils.edge_split( e, e.verts[0], fac )

# Remove doubles
bpy.ops.mesh.select_mode( type = 'VERT' )
bpy.ops.mesh.select_all( action = 'SELECT' )
bpy.ops.mesh.select_all( action = 'DESELECT' )
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ I'd like to point out that matrix multiplications now use @ instead of *. "o: o.matrix_world * co" would become "o: o.matrix_world @ co" $\endgroup$
    – Xylvier
    Dec 30 '19 at 7:02

Just a brief contribution, no-code solution and perfect precision:

  1. Select the edges you want to intersect
  2. Extrude them out to make faces (direction doesn't matter much)
  3. Select the faces, Ctrl + F, Intersect (Knife)
  4. Expand the context menu that appears bottom-left (subtle)
  5. Under the Source drop-down menu, select Self Intersect
  6. Select all, merge by distance to merge vertices
  7. Delete the extra vertices which made up the temporary faces, and you're done!

Enjoy your new intersection.

Another way that I find easier is to just use the knife tool K. Press K then left click near the intersection, draw the line over the intersection and left click again, then hit enter. This creates three new vertices, one of which is at the intersection. Delete the others and fill in any faces that get removed and you are done.

Quick & Dirty solution

This I use and should work for you in any case (no cutting) without creating unnecessary geometry in the end. This method is manual and might not be fast for cases with multiple intersections in different locations.

  1. Fill in edges from verticies (select two vertices, F to fill edge)
  2. Extrude (E) half-length edge from any original vertex (in corners) (overlay any existing edge with one new while having snapping set to "Edge Center") Center Snapping
  3. Delete the half-length edge (X or DEL) as in "Only faces & vertices" (The vertex of the intersection will be preserved)

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text:
Advice for working with books

I have a question. When learning Blender, should I go with two books alternating or focus on one? If only one, should I go with Blender 3D Noob to Pro (combined with the Blender manual) or Character Development in Blender 2.5? Thanks for your advice.

But why books? CG Boost have a free course

One, I don’t like to switch views between programs. Two, I have issues using newer versions of Blender (2.8 and up). Three, I’ve had some Blender books for a while just never finished them. Four, I prefer physical media as opposed to video and pdf files on my computer.

You don’t like switching between views? Don’t you realize you have to do that as long as you use 3d software? Switching between views is very easy. 1 for front view, 3 for side view, 7 for top view

Both books are outdated with 2.5 and 2.75. if you use the current blender 2.8 or 2.9 version which i would advise. The are so many changes since 2.8, i would recommend a new book or maybe a second cheap monitor. If you want to use the old book start with the Blender 3D Noob to Pro.

I have an old 17" as second monitor and it is nice to have docs, tutorials, … open beside.
Maybe you can get an used old monitor cheap or free from a person around you.

I feel ya there and I don’t know exactly why, but I have always preferred having a physical book in front of me when learning any kind of software, web design or other computer-related thing.

Not sure why it’s more comfortable than a digital reference book on a screen - but it is

The only exception to a book being preferential for me is programming: being so heavily practical it usually means copy/pasting sample code snippets and continuous editing, so books only act as a barrier for me when expanding my coding abilities.

I think maybe because a book allows your brain to slow down and relax more; which allows a more organic kind of focus and more solid absorption of information, which is probably as much about the association books have for us - we are raised through school and into adulthood to sit down with a book and read it - the book gets our individed attention and there’s no pressure with a book to turn to the next page until we’ve fully read and understood the page we’re on.

Digital media on the other hand: we’ve been trained to absorb information in that format quick quick quick, because there’s always so much more waiting to be quickly rushed through in time for MAW digital input - it illicits that faster, less accurate mode of learning because that’s the way it’s always come at us: hard and fast.

1 Like

From a video file or a web page and Blender.

1 Like

I’m working with Blender Noob to Pro along with the Manual.

I have some issues with 2.8 and 2.9 on my current computer. The main version I’m using at the moment is 2.79.

This is a very good book and it is up to date. You can buy it as a Paperback (paper form) or as an e-book (kindle edition)

I did have the idea of getting a portable DVD player and burning the video tutorials on DVD (I have a way of downloading YouTube videos to my computer).

I have the second edition of that book.

I’d say it’s due to having a nice reference right there for easy access, no flipping back and forth between windows necessary.

Another nice thing is that you can absorb info at a more leisurely pace with text than you can with a video. With the latter, you watch someone do something, and try to repeat it, but if you forget anything, you have to scrub back through the video looking for the one specific part you’re confused about, interrupting the whole learning process.

The second edition is outdated. This third edition is for the long term support blender version (LTS) 2.83. So this book is valid for 2 years and more

Oh yeah: I wasn’t even thinking about video learning in my little reflection there - just digital text versus printed: video tutorials really annoy me honestly.

Like, if I wanted to learn how to correctly knot a neck-tie, a video would be perfect for that kinda thing.

But complicated shit like learning software, where there’s groups of actions you have to follow in order while alt+tabbing back and forwards from tutorial to software, that’s kinda stressful and strikes me as much less efficient than even screenshots with text.

Videos are understandably faster and easier for the tutor creating the tutorial though, since they can just do it live then leave it to you to follow - compared to the time and effort it takes to take screen grabs, then crop them, then place em in a web page or PDF, THEN add text - and then the software you’re training for, changes versions or features or the interface changes slightly and that whole PDF needs to be revised :grimacing:

Videos are nice in the sense that seeing something performed right in front of you can help you wrap your head around it that much easier. It’s just that when you’re talking about a process that requires 40 odd steps, it can be difficult to follow along.

I learned almost exclusively through video. The way I’d do is that I’d watch a half hour or so of a tutorial, then try to repeat the steps of what I learned afterwards. Of course, I’d eventually forget some important step, and I’d have to spend a few good minutes clicking through the video looking for the info I need.

It’s especially bad when you have a tutorial where the narrator…uhhhhhhh…takes…uhhhh…you know…uuhhhhhh, forever to get to…uhhhhh…the…uhhhhhhh thing? The dealie-bob? Yeah…uuhhhhhh…the point.

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Reminds me that, of the fact there’s also those narrators who’re just REALLY annoying to have to sit and watch or listen to: I’ve switched video’s off or closed the tab completely a fair number of times when confronted with a video that looked good going in, until the personality of the dood IN the video instantly grated on me.

Thirty seconds in, I’m starting to feel like the host is inflicting themselves on me…

Forty seconds in, I would rather be water-boarded than listen to this…

Sixty seconds in: click - I am just done, thank you.

It happens.

Not a major deal, though you never know - it might have been the best video on that topic you’ll ever see as far as information goes, but the person is just too obnoxious or cheesy or whatever to sit through.

1 Like

Fortunately, the really, really, REALLY annoying people tend not to make tutorials. They’re usually too busy snorting gasoline while screaming at the camera for likes, or whatever it is the kids do these days.

Among the tutorial maker set, the worst are the monotone mumblers, and the constant asiders. I can endure them, though they can drive me up the wall sometimes.

1 Like

Part of the reason why I want to put out pdf files. People can download them and print them out and they can take their good sweet time with them. Part of the problem with printing out web pages is part of an image is on one page and the other part is on the next page.

1 Like

I already have that web page bookmarked. At the moment I want to get parts to build myself a new computer. If there is a week where I don’t have any bills to pay and I can swing it (even if it’s through a marketplace seller), I’ll order that book.

1 Like


text:
There’s Something Off About This Picture of Ducks. Can You Spot It?

When I was a kid growing up in the 1980s, our school library always had copies of a magazine called Highlights for Children. I loved going to the library every week so that I could read this magazine. It had tons of great stories, but most importantly, it had puzzles that we could work on. I think it had a crossword puzzle, and maybe a search-a-word puzzle, but my favorite was the puzzles at the back of the book. They had hidden-object puzzles, but they also had puzzles where there were mistakes. For example, there might be a table with one leg that was too short or a tiger with horns in a picture on the wall.

One of the puzzles I liked best was when they showed an image and asked “what is wrong with this picture?”. It really made young minds think and that’s a good thing. It helped us to build critical thinking skills. In the image below, there’s something off. It looks like an image of a man feeding ducks, but can you find the thing that’s wrong with this picture? If you can’t find it, we’ll share the solution on the next page. Give it your best shot.

How did you do? If you need help, head to the next page.

error: Content is protected !!


text:
Tuesday, April 30, 2013

The news about Brian Eno creating a therapeutic sound-and-light installation for a hospital  reminded me of a morsel excised for space from the Eno in NYC piece. One project during those years of ferment that didn't reach fruition was Music For Healing, an album he started making in 1979 with Robert Fripp (also resident in Manhattan then) but never finished.  (In some accounts, rather than just being a third Fripp/Eno LP, the album also involved Jon Hassell; Eno's projects during the NYC period seemed to bleed into each other amorphously).

The tracks that survive from Music for Healing—a  four-part series called “Healthy Colours”,  eventually released on the 1994 anthology Essential Fripp & Eno --aren't particularly soothing or convalescent, though. They're tense and restless, combining hypnotic drums, brittle jitters of rhythm guitar, warped bass and gashes of feedback  with vocal fragments from a radio program clipping in and of the groove. They actually sound like the missing link between Eno's first dabble with spoken-voice sampling ( “R.A.F.”, a Baader-Meinhof inspired collage made with Snatch in late 1977, released as  the B-Side to “King’s Lead Hat”) and what he & Byrne achieved on  Bush of Ghosts.

Friday, April 26, 2013

Mistaken Memories of Late 70s / Early 80s Manhattan

I wrote the cover story for the first issue of The Daily Note, the print newspaper that Red Bull Music Academy is putting out with astonishing frequency during its NYC stint from April 26 to the end of  May.  The feature is a long-time pet project I was delighted to have the chance to finally bring to fruition: Brian Eno's New York Years, the 1978-1984 spurt of innovation and collaboration encompassing Remain In Light, My Life In the Bush of Ghosts, Day of Radiance, Possible Musics, On Land, and much more besides. The free print edition is widely available to locals but non-residents can check out the piece online
RIP George Jones

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Next week I'll be in Washington DC to give a lecture at the Corcoran College of Art + Design, loosely linked to their recent Pump Me Up exhibition  of DIY culture in DC (i.e. hardcore punk + go go).

Date: Tuesday April 23

Time: 7 pm (doors open 6-30 pm)

Address: 500 Seventeenth Street NW, Washington, DC 20006 (directly opposite the White House!)

Admission:  Corcoran students free; non-Corcoran students $6; general public $12

More information here

Interview I did (part one and part two) for the Corcoran flagging the event.
  BAD BRAINS "Pay To Cum" (1980 original version) from ViméWood on Vimeo.

Saturday, April 13, 2013

an interesting piece on the semantics / etymology of the term "ratchet"

basically, the latest twist in the never-ending story of  bad-meaning-good ....  also seems to function similarly in America as  "chav" does in the U.K. (although chav has yet to become positivized)

oddly the piece makes no mention of the existence of ratchet as a subgenre of rap

Friday, April 12, 2013

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Check out the new issue of Sight & Sound  for my Spring Breakers cover essay, in which Skrillex, Britney, and Gucci Mane rub shoulders with Bakhtin, Marcuse, and Raoul Vaneigem.

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Retro-house  at Number One in the UK!

Time travel, virtually, but slamming tune.

Ever so vaguely it reminds me of this, from '92

Earlier discussion of the house revival. House music, a genre that is a year or two shy of its thirtieth birthday.

Now this particular house revival (late 80s/early 90s template, refurbished) is competing with another house revival (late 90s model), i.e. the UK garage/2step resurgence (also discussed earlier).

When in London last week I stepped into a trendy clothes boutique off Brick Lane and was surprised by the music playing, which could easily have been a EZ mix from 1999 or a show I'd have taped off Freek FM or Mack FM back in the day.  Slinky bump 'n 'flex.

I couldn't resist asking one of the staff, "so is this what the youth are listening to these days?" Mistaking my purpose, the  lightly bearded young man patiently explained that "it's old skool garage", to which I tartly replied "yeah I remember it from the first time around". Then I asked again  if this fourteen year old sound was what the youngsters currently favoured. Looking ever so slightly startled, the young man said that "garage is having a bit of a resurgence at the moment."   "Cool," I said, and there being nothing left to say, exited the store. But really I'm not so sure it is cool.


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Ten ‘Must Have’ Books for Your Modernist Library

Whether you’re a mid-century modern enthusiast, an aficionado of modern architecture, or intrigued by all things contemporary in the world of modern design, here are a few good reads to […]

Defining Characteristics of Northwest Regional Style

A large extent of the modern architecture being built in the Pacific Northwest today is influenced by the regional style that was emerging during the Post-World War II era around […]


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Tag Archives: Dr. John

Airlift Productions – From Dream to Reality Brick by Brick on Iberville

Airlift Productions 3927 Iberville Street location, under construction in 1989

If you ever recorded at or visited or got silly during Friday ‘happy hours’ at the now-the-stuff-of-legend Airlift Productions Iberville Street location … have you ever paused to consider what it took to create that remarkable space?

It’s not too bold a statement to say that my blood is quite literally in the mortar that holds the very bricks in this wall together!  For though I am not a mason or a brick layer, I certainly played one in 1989 on Iberville Street.

Airlift Productions Proprietor Micheal Ziants ~ like a proud papa ~ at the Airlift shingle, Iberville Street, NOLA 1992

With the help of just one other guy (Joe Delery now works in the crime division of the NOPD), I also pounded the nails, hung & floated sheet rock, packed insulation, laid carpet, and wired the entire facility. Whew!

And oh, the people who were destined to walk through that front door to record within these walls … Peyton & Eli’s pop Archie Manning,   Mayor Marc Morial, his mother Sybil, the Rev. Avery C. Alexander, Dr. Morgus the Magnificent, Ronnie Lamarque, I CAN Learn founder John R. Lee, WDSU’s Norman Robinson …

Dr. John Autograph to Airlift Mike on old Airlift Iberville Street Notepad
Dr. John Autograph to Airlift Mike on old Airlift Iberville Street Notepad

Dr. John (Mac Rebennack), Oliver Thomas, Senator Jon Johnson, Congressman Bill Jefferson, Academy Award winning documentary film maker Charles Guggenheim, Anders Osborne, Theresa Andersson, Bishop Paul Morton…

And a whole host of radio rebels, stand-up comics, misfits, in-laws & outlaws!

The mantra through the entire construction stage was ‘Build it…and they will come!’  What a passion, what a studio… what a time!

Airlift Productions – as it looked in 1992 on Iberville Street … Reel-to-reel analog decks, outboard gear & mixer, the way recording used to be done. Oh, if only you’d lived then, kids.

** A “Mike McCann” classic VoiceOver/Production Demo from the 90s, all produced on Iberville with R-R tape – for NOLA clients like WVUE-TV, Pat O’Brien’s, Times-Picayune, etc. ***

But as much as I loved this location, Iberville street, the elevator, my Endymion parties, and having Venezia’s Italian food, Angelo Brocato’s, Mandina’s & Liuzza’s but a block or two walk away … I flooded twice at this location – and this was well before Mother Katrina came to town!

Airlift Proprietor Micheal Ziants outside the Iberville haunts, shortly before the 2001 move to Pomona

So, I ran with my prophetic visions and in early 2001 moved the entire Airlift Productions business well out of the flood plain and to the high ground just the other side of the now-infamous breached 17th Street Canal .  To start over.

Yet again.

But Airlift on Pomona – along with its construction & marketing challenges – is the story for another blog and another time.

Amy Landon recording audio books at Airlift Productions New Orleans, March 2017

“Working with Airlift Mike in NOLA was an utter pleasure. I was in town for business for a month and needed to maintain my audiobook recording schedule. Mike was accommodating and a pure professional. He mastered the punch and roll technique in 24 hours to be ready for our first session, and over the course of the month we laid down 5 books and a number of auditions. His studio sounds great. The vibe & atmosphere can’t be beat. You’d be hard pressed to find a better recording studio in the southeast – no matter what your needs. I wish I could have stayed!” ~ AMY LANDON, Los Angeles-based Actress & Ultra-busy AudioBook Narrator

New Orleans Premier VoiceOver & Recording Studio  ~ Audio Alchemy from the Big Easy … since 1984

Airlift Productions – we’ll leave the mics hot… and the light on for you.

I Never Did Heroin With Dr. John. We Just Did Other Things.

{Editor’s Note: As our Coronacation blues & angst continue and we at Airlift continue to process the events of the day – which change every day – I’m side-stepping all the issues of politics & fear and re-posting this tribute to Mac…}

Dr. John Autograph to Airlift Mike on old Airlift Iberville Street Notepad

Hired by Quincy Jones’ staff and his daughter Jolie to record Mac’s VoiceOver tracks for their Take It Back Foundation, I first met the Nite Tripper in the Airlift Productions Iberville days during NOLA’s raucous early 1990s.

He walked in without pomp or circumstance, no entourage, no fanfare, no feathers, solo… but just as cool as the other side of the pillow.

Our job wasn’t anything to do with music, it was all about VoiceOver – he’d been cast as the Yak in Quincy’s animated PSA to promote recycling efforts and it was destined for use in movie theaters, television & MTV across America that summer.

We phone-patched to Los Angeles and together with Stevie Wonder, Ozzy Osbourne, B.B. King, Natalie Cole, Pat Benatar, Charlie Daniels, Barry White… and Bugs Bunny…

With a hip-hop beat straight outta “In Living Color” – Fox’s big hit at the time – it all showed-up in movie theaters like this…

Dr. John’s 1st visit to Airlift Productions – as “the Yak”

Some recording session, I’ll tell you that.

When Mac, not even asking if he could smoke, pulled out a Cheroot and lit it up, we rushed an ash tray into the booth without giving it a second thought. Sort of.

And when he asked if he could “use the facilities”, I took him up in the elevator to the Iberville Street living quarters, to the bathroom, where he encountered my then-one-year-old son Benjamin.

Imagine, if you can, Dr. John setting his walking stick aside, so he could pick up your child, hold him… and whisper sweet voodoo nothings in his ear!

Our second session, the following year, was all about VoiceOver for an awards presentation, wherein Mac was hired to record the introduction to accompany this big, splashy video – all about New Orleans legendary Red Light District!

Dr. John “Special Events Magazine” Awards Show Intro – 1993

Our paths – and stars – would continue to cross through the next couple decades, most notably at New Orleans’ Big Easy Entertainment Awards Shows.

Dr. John & Airlift Mike, Big Easy Awards Show New Orleans 1995

I was honored to act as ‘Live Announcer’ for the show for ten consecutive years and Mac, being the one and only Dr. John, would be along many years to receive an award, or just to perform.

Just. As if.

My favorite memory was the year his mother flew in from NYC for the show, so Mac tracks me down and tells me that he wants me to meet his mama… and together we made the trek across the Fairmont ballroom so I could give my regards to his Dorothy.

Indeed, while Mac’s bouts with smack/heroin through the years are the stuff of legend, he had successfully navigated those choppy waters and was ‘clean’ the entire time I ever was fortunate enough to talk and record with him.

Through the years – the recording sessions & Big Easy Awards – we talked and laughed of many things… his love for New Orleans, his love of music, the ‘Big Picture’… existential things like living a life with “one foot in this world… and the other… in the other”!

Much in the way that Time Magazine caught his candor here…

Dr. John, with some pretty amazing answers… and questions.

The last time we ever spoke to each other?

It was at the funeral for Cosimo Matassa, New Orleans’ legendary, seminal recording engineer and producer.

Along with a Who’s-Who of New Orleans music royalty – Allen Toussaint, Irma Thomas, Quint Davis, Deacon John Moore, Benny Grunch – we’d all gathered to say goodbye to Cos, the big mac-daddy that started it all down on Rampart all those years ago.

Dr. John had flown into NOLA from NYC to say his final farewell to Cosimo down at Lake Lawn.

Now, here in 2019… it’s his turn.

Yeah, we all may very well be ‘whistling past the graveyard’ but, damn – nobody whistled that tune better than Dr. John!

And just like ‘dat, mellifluous, mesmerizing, mystical Mac moves on… from New Orleans & ‘da World.

Sort of.

I mean, there IS the matter of all that fantastic music he left us.

Deepest thanks for all that hoodoo voodoo that you did so well, bud.

Nighty-night, Nite Tripper.

Airlift Productions – we’ll leave the mics hot… and the light on for you.

Airlift Productions ~ Audio Alchemy & Digital Magic from New Orleans since 1984

Christmas 2019 Reflections & What Most Don’t Get About Airlift Mike

With Christmastime in New Orleans, together with all its trappings and sentiment in everyone’s windows and minds, allow me to tap the brakes for a second, reflect, and unpack a few things.

As a lifelong learner and student of philosophy, world religions, and mystical thought, it would be safe to say that I’ve lived  what could best be termed an unconventional and totally unorthodox lifestyle.

While most of my peers have chased money and jobs, I learned years ago to instead pursue passion and purpose. And then simply allow the dollars and opportunities to fall in line.

One illustrative case in point is this one I share with you here: In my now 35 years of owning and operating Airlift Productions here in New Orleans, I have NEVER commuted to work!

As the great souls Emerson & Thoreau taught me, “Build a better mousetrap – and the world will beat a path to your door.”

They have.

Imagine, if you can, the colorful characters, historical heroes, fascinating personalities and captivating individuals who’ve knocked at the Airlift Studio doors to come “work” with me.

Airlift Productions, New Orleans’ Foremost VO Recording Studio

I’ve been fortunate and blessed to have recorded and worked hours on end closely together with (deep breath) and in no particular order….

Archie Manning, Dr. John, Chef John Besh, Quvenzhane Wallis, Deuce McAllister,  Charles Guggenheim, Necar Zadegan, Mayor Marc Morial, Mayor Mitch Landrieu, Stacy Head, Nathan J. Robinson, David Menasche, Carrie Nye, Bo Walker, Buddy Stall, John Lee, Luno Bordelon, Jerry Christopher, Steve Blaze, Ronnie Lamarque, Anders Osborne, Theresa Andersson, Rachel Wulff, Scott Walker,  Lee Zurik, Zak George, Congressman Steve Scalise, James Carville, Mary Matalin,  Alden Ehrenreich, Toby Kebbell, The Krewe of Nyx, John “Spud” McConnell, Morris Bart, P.H. Fred, Mike Weldon, Reverend Avery C. Alexander, Brad Edelman, Rich Lenz, Norman Robinson, Heath Allen, Anne Gisleson, Sean O’Shea, Lewis Johnson, Greg DiLeo, Nathan Ales, Donald Surtain, the Right Lane Bandits, Bishop Paul Morton, Senator Jon Johnson, Congressman Bill Jefferson, Edoardo Ballerini, Oliver Thomas, Morgus the Magnificent, and… well, a host of multi-talented voice-over artists, stand-up comics & radio rebels.

Not up to speed on some of these folks? Let the Googling begin.

Airlift Productions Studio’s custom-designed Mayan “Gift of Life” Stained Glass Window

The Punchline? Through all New Orleans’ intense weather – storms, hurricanes, blisteringly brutal summers, icy winters – each and everyone of these folks came to me, to Airlift Productions, to “the better mousetrap”.

Mind you, this is no brag, no empty boasting, but simply an observation as to a much richer and fulfilling way to live one’s life.

And what a life.

Marching to the beat of one’s own Walkman – instead of following the crowd – has always led to experiences few will ever get to taste.

Having discovered my first tape recorder at age 12, and after many years of stage-acting and then a rewarding radio career, how cool is this?

Micheal Ziants and the new “Annie” Quvenzhane Wallis, recording for Chrysler and sharing a few laughs at Airlift Productions

I now get to live out the rest of my life here in NOLA from what was once only a dream in my head, from my Airlift Productions… and I now get to spend the rest of my days dancing with the very same muse that first brought me to the party!

During this Christmastime 2019, my holiday hope and prayer is that you, the reader of these words, if you haven’t yet… one day… find … yours.

Merry Christmas & Feliz Navidad from way down yonder in New Orleans – and Airlift Mike.

Rachel Wulff records her VoiceOver Demo at Airlift Productions NOLA

“Micheal Ziants is a great voice talent who is generous with his time and energy. I have worked in TV for years, but needed the guidance of a professional to create my radio reel and found it with Ziants. He made me feel comfortable in studio and encouraged creativity, coaching me to a reel I hope will bring many job opportunities. “ — RACHEL WULFF, Former WWL & WDSU-TV Anchor/Reporter

Rachel Wulff’s compelling VoiceOver Demo produced by Airlift Mike

Airlift Productions ~ Audio Alchemy & Digital Magic from New Orleans… since 1984

2016 ~ Janus/January and NOLA Airlift Reflections

janusJanuary is the month for reflection. And prognostication! (u like that word?)

In legend, named after the Roman god Janus, who had two heads & faces, January gives us all pause & cause to look back (reflect) and forward (predict/prognosticate) at the same time.

So, let’s do that.

As a VoiceOver & Radio dude operating a full-blown recording studio & production business in the great city of New Orleans, LA for now-THIRTY years, I guess it would be safe to say that I’ve got some pretty fascinating stories to tell.

From working with – and RECORDING – everyone from Archie Manning to Dr. Morgus the Magnificent, Quvenzhane Wallis to James Carville, Ronnie Lamarque to Dr. John, Mayor Marc Morial to Mayor Mitch Landrieu, Reverend Avery Alexander to Congressman Bill Jefferson (I could go on and on, name dropping, but you get the idea) – what a RIDE!

When it comes time to reflect, it’s like,  OK, so where do I start?!?

I sure do miss some old friends. How about we start there?

Buddy Stall made radio magic for YEARS with Airlift Productions NOLA

I miss my old buddy Buddy Stall. As Louisiana historian, writer & public speaker, Old “Gaspar J” sure could spin a yarn. And always about the people and the town he loved.

Buddy passed (dropped his body) in 2011 at the age of 81, but not before leaving quite the mark on the Crescent City.

His books and speeches about “The City That Care Forgot” are legendary, and were they ever fun!

BuddyStallAutographToMicheaWe worked together for years. Ironically, one of his final gifts to me was the DVD of the special documentary he’d made of the great cemeteries of NOLA!

Give a LISTEN to just one of our radio gems that we cooked-up together through the years. This one is to sell our Louis Armstrong International Airport …

** The Late Buddy Stall making magic at Airlift Productions, NOLA **

Reverend & State Rep Avery Alexander Recorded VoiceOver At Airlift Productions NOLA
Reverend & State Rep Avery Alexander Recorded VoiceOver At Airlift Productions NOLA

Or, how about having the opportunity to record the late Reverend Avery C. Alexander for an Academy Award-winning documentary film, as I worked side-by-side with the legendary Charles Guggenheim?!?

(I mean, really. Who wrote this screenplay? And how many ever get a chance to live this kind of life?)

The Rev’s candid, honest & heartfelt sentiments resonate and reverberate from last century to this one.

** Avery Alexander talks of David Duke, the KKK, and anti-Catholic & anti-Jew bias for Guggenheim Documentary at Airlift 1992 **

January 2016,  reflections on not only some of the great spirits who’ve spent time at the Airlift Productions microphones, but how about the BUSINESSES that have come and gone?

The late legendary & seminal NOLA Recording Engineer Cosimo Matassa sharing a table with Airlift Productions’ Micheal Ziants at the Big Easy Entertainment Awards Show, Fairmont Hotel, New Orleans, 1991

I spent 17 years with Ronnie Lamarque “Bridging the Gap” (remember when he had 7 dealerships on both sides of the river and lake?), I wrote and recorded many commercials for Archie Manning when he & his partner Steve Smith had the long-gone Gold’s Gym franchise on Veterans … and one of my fave old accounts (which has sentimental bearing here) was David Ervin’s “The Daiquiri Factory”!

Imagine using kids from a daycare to “reminisce” (really, can kids do that?) to sell an alcohol-fueled Eggnog Daiquiri on the radio to adults.

Crank up the speakers on your digital device and listen to the gang at Judy’s PlayCare in mid city NOLA make you all misty, so you’ll open up your wallet to buy a daiquiri … back in 1992 —–

** Daiquiri Factory 1992 “Eggnog” Campaign – Airlift Productions **

Yes, from radio spots to television voice-overs, industrial training narrations to comedy albums, music projects to website audio, educational software to documentary films … life around the old Airlift Productions campus is never boring!

And gee, I didn’t get a chance to tell the stories about recording Anders Osborne & Theresa Andersson right after they landed in America & NOLA, or capturing two entire audio books with James Carville (and the wife), or tracking VoiceOver with Chef John Besh for TLC!

“Katrina-versary Get-Together” on Saturday August 29th, 2015 (L-R) Rich Lenz, Brian Landry, Norman Robinson, Dan Milham, Heath Allen, Airlift Proprietor Micheal Ziants

But, hey, that’s what January is all about, right? Looking back – and forward.

Stories for another day, another blog, another time.

In the meantime, look us up at the Airlift Productions Studios. We’ll leave the mics hot and warmed-up for you.

As our old buddy James Taylor once reminded us – “The secret to Life is enjoying the passage of Time”.

So, let’s do that.

And allow me to be one of the last to say Happy New Year to you!

Airlift Productions Proprietor Micheal Ziants shoulder-to-shoulder with JAMES CARVILLE at the Airlift Studios

“I have been in studios from the Bayou to the Beltway, and I can say after recording my last two audio books with Mike, that there is no better place than Airlift Productions.  The quality of the production, the studio, and frankly, the comfort, make it the only place I want to record now or in the future.”

JAMES CARVILLE, Political Commentator, Tulane Professor, and Campaign Strategist behind the most dramatic political victories of our generation

AirliftProductionsNewOrleansColorLogoAirlift Productions ~ Audio Alchemy from New Orleans since 1984! And … what’s next?

Morgus & Me + Marriage Insurance? WTH?

Morgus the Magnificent – aka Sidney Noel Rideau – Records VoiceOvers at Airlift Productions … for over a Quarter of a Century! Really.

I guess it would be safe to say that in operating a recording studio in America’s most colorful city –  New Orleans – for what is now THIRTY years, that I’ve worked with some pretty colorful characters.

From setting microphone levels for Dr. John and Archie Manning to recording projects with all of the city’s mayors ( Morial-2X to Landrieu-2X), verbally jousting with Mary Matalin & James Carville, even coaching ‘Annie’ Quvenzhane Wallis through tough V/O copy for Chrysler … my most unforgettable – and beloved – character would have to be Morgus the Magnificent!

Sidney Noel Rideau & I go back over 25 years together now; he has the distinction (?) of being the only person who has recorded at every recording studio I’ve ever built, every incarnation of Airlift Productions; He is the eccentric uncle I never had! I love this man.

We first met in 1986 while I was producing radio ads for and operating as the Voice of WGNO-TV/Channel 26 here in New Orleans, and he was reviving his ‘Morgus Presents” TV show. Our first gig together was in my closet-studio Airlift iteration where we recorded all the E.R.I.C. (the talking skull) heavily-reverbed V/O tracks for use in the shows.

E.R.I.C. the talking skull records VoiceOver at Airlift Productions

Our relationship continues to this day. I almost feel as though I’ve become his real-life Chopsley, in that I’ve operated as his behind-the-scenes henchman all these years.

Together we’ve produced everything from radio ads for Cajun seasonings products to public service announcement campaigns for his Internet Story Club teacher-family outreach … but among my favorite sessions with my fave ‘Uncle Sid’ would have to be the one that is the subject of this post – ‘Marriage Insurance’.

As fate would have it, Sid’s Morgus character is also one of nationally-broadcast Coast-to-Coast late night radio host George Noory’s favorites too! And Sid stopped by the Airlift Studios in February 2006 to record a few ‘pilots’ for segments to possibly be used in Noory’s nightly broadcasts. I kid you not.

The proposed segments never did materialize (radio marketing in the 21st century is a very tricky thing), but this never-before-heard audio is just way too-funny and priceless.

It’s for the “Morgusian Marriage Insurance Company of America”, protecting your marriage from divorce, and includes not only Sid’s outrageous take on the state of marriage in America today – but I’ve also left in all the out-takes! I particularly love the way he slides in/out of character, and oh, that laugh …..

**** Sidney Rideau – aka Morgus the Magnificent – takes on the perplexing problem of marriage & divorce for the Airlift Productions microphones in February 2006 ****

Today, Uncle Sid is enjoying retirement on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain in a tiny hamlet known as Covington, LA  with his bride of all these years Dainya. They met in the late 1950s in NYC where Sid was being considered as a side-kick to Johnny Carson, and she was an interpreter at the United Nations.

For true!  No, I could not make up a story as unique as theirs.

What a character, and truly fine & gifted, spirited human being this man is. Lucky to have had him in our lives we all are, and to have been able to bask in his light and genius.

Because, at the end of the day (as the white man is often wont to say), in the mythology of the American Tribe – Superman will always have his Clark Kent, the Batman his Bruce Wayne … and Morgus the Magnificent will always be remembered as the man who gave him Life – Sidney Noel Rideau.

Sidney Noel Rideau Records VoiceOvers and More at Airlift Productions New Orleans

Airlift Productions ~ Audio Alchemy from New Orleans since 1984

Cosimo Matassa Remembered ~ Part II

Epic & Legendary New Orleans Recording Engineer & Producer Cosimo Matassa Service Prayer Cards ~ September 16th, 2014 ~ and this card pretty accurately summed-up the way Cos lived his life

I’ve only just now returned from the service at Lake Lawn for our old friend & mentor Cosimo Matassa, and came here to just unpack a few things.

The crowd was really something!  A veritable ‘Who’s Who’ of New Orleans and New Orleans music — I had the chance to talk & reminisce with Dr. John (who flew in special from NYC), Allen Toussaint, Irma Thomas, Deacon John Moore, Benny Grunch, Bobby Cure …

And fellow recording engineers – Jay Gallagher & Dave Farrell of Ultrasonic Studios (which opened it’s doors in 1974) & Gary Edwards of New Orleans Sound.

Even N.O. Jazz Fest impressario Quint Davis and Councilwoman & mother of actress Patti Clarkson – Jackie Clarkson were there to pay their respects.

And Karen V’s stories of visiting Cosimo in his final hospice days at Notre Dame ~ wherein she played CDs of Italian music…from opera to Prima, in his final days to elicit smiles ~ were especially poignant.

‘Do not stand at my grave and weep; I am not there, I do not sleep.  I am the thousand winds that blow; I am the diamond glints of winter snow; I am the sunlight that ripens grain; I am the gentle autumn rain… Do not stand at my grave and cry; I am not there. I did not die.’ ~ Ziants

Airlift Productions ‘Airlift Mike’ Twitter Page Screenshot featuring my re-tweet of Dr. John’s Cosimo Sentiment & Testament ~ “Cosimo was the one real guy in a world of make believe.  We will always miss his spirit.”

R&B Grandpa Cosimo Matassa Exits the Stage

Legendary, Seminal New Orleans Recording Engineer & Producer COSIMO MATASSA Exits the Stage at 88 {1926-2014}

I was deeply saddened last night watching the ’10:00 Blues’ to hear of the extinguishing of one of New Orleans brightest and enduring lights – Cosimo Matassa.

Is it even possible for one blog to begin to capture this gentleman’s contributions to not only New Orleans history, but the collective musical soul of America? Too bold a statement? Run with me….

In 1945, at age 18, young Cosimo opened J&M Recording Studio at the back of his family’s shop on Rampart Street in our French Quarter. And went to work.

As engineer & producer, Mr. Matassa quickly became the seminal driving force behind the Rock ‘n Roll and Soul sounds of America in the ’50s & ’60s!  Really.

Together with Fats Domino, he took us to ‘Blueberry Hill’ and then mixed fruit salad with Little Richard in ‘Tutti Frutti’!  The Cos steered and engineered the biggest chart-topping hits of the day – from Sam Cooke to Jerry Lee Lewis …  from Dr. John to Ray Charles.

New Orleans R&B/Soul Grandpa COSIMO MATASSA putting in ‘another day at the office’ ~ What a talent. What a guy!

Think about it – every time you hear ‘Mother-In-Law’ by Ernie K. Doe, ‘Barefootin” by Robert Parker, or ‘Working in a Coal Mine’ by Lee Dorsey – take your hat off to Cosimo Matassa!

Together with Dave Bartholomew & Allen Toussaint, he created ‘The New Orleans Sound’, recording the Neville Brothers, The Meters, and Irma Thomas.   And ‘the Cos’ was performing at this level long before Berry Gordy even dreamed of the Motown Sound.

A member & inductee of the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame AND the Blues Hall of Fame, Cosimo’s contributions to both the history of music and the collective Soul of America are both wide and deep.

I’ll never forget the night we first met. It was the Big Easy Entertainment Awards Show at the Fairmont Hotel.  I was honored to be performing as Live Announcer for the show, and that night in 1998 we paid homage to Cosimo and his talented ears, fingers … passion and spirit!

What a guy.  Quiet, reserved and humble, with a ready smile, contagious laugh, and a most gregarious spirit.  We shared a table that night – and along with Harry Shearer, more than a laugh or two.

But let us not weep over his passing – let’s celebrate his life and uniquely creative accomplishments.  And the fact that we even ever had a chance to bask in his talents in the first place.

So the next time you’re toolin’ down the highway with the oldies station cranked-up on the radio, tapping the steering wheel or thumping the dashboard to Frankie Ford’s ‘Sea Cruise’ or Aaron Neville’s classic ‘Tell It Like It Is’ … smile, tip your hat – and thank ‘the Cos’!

GodSpeed brother Cosimo … and Thank You for your service!

Cosimo Matassa sharing a table with Airlift Productions’ Micheal Ziants at the Big Easy Entertainment Awards Show, Fairmont Hotel, New Orleans, 1998

Airlift PROductions & Airlift Mike – making NEW memories from NEW Orleans every day … since 1984!


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Friday, December 12, 2003

Ordering Authors

Every scientific field has their own rules for the order of authors in a paper. In theoretical computer science, tradition dictates that we list the authors alphabetically by last name. I don't agree with this tradition; rarely do all the co-authors of a paper play an equal role. The decision whether to add someone as a co-author, and thus an equal, often becomes difficult.

But breaking with tradition can have its own problems. I have three papers that break the alphabetical rule though two were in biology which has its own rules. In the other back in 1990, Carsten Lund, a graduate student at the time, made the key step in developing an interactive proof system for the permanent. For that we made him first author in the Lund-Fortnow-Karloff-Nisan paper. In retrospect I regret this decision. It only added confusion to those who cited the paper. Also did Lund not play as important a role in other papers where we kept alphabetical order? Breaking with tradition, even with the best of intentions, can often cause more harm than good.

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3 Things to Consider when Searching for a Family Wireless Plan

wireless plan

Sharing your wireless plan with family members is a great way to save. It eliminates the hassle of multiple bills and lets you benefit from bundled savings offered by your provider. But choosing the right one requires some homework: Family plans today come in all shapes and sizes.

Here are a few key things to consider before signing your family up with a new carrier.

How much data do you need?

The biggest difference in wireless plans these days is based on your data needs. Since cellphones function more as personal computers than calling devices, data packages drive up the price far more than minutes or texts.

Many carriers offer “unlimited” data which, at a glance, may seem like a great option for a family. But unlimited data plans actually have some limits. Most carriers give you some super-fast LTE data but then slow down your speeds after you’ve used a certain amount.

Instead, calculate your actual data usage to see if you can adopt a plan that is more affordable. By connecting to Wi-Fi and using other data saving methods, the average person uses less than 3GB of data per month. Once you’re clear on your real data usage, you can choose a more customized plan, and the savings can be substantial.

Do you really need the latest phone?

Before you settle on a family plan, consider what you’re going to do regarding cellphones. There are plenty of choices available from a new carrier, but purchasing a few new phones, or even one, can be an expensive proposition.

Most wireless carriers allow you to bring your own device to their service, if the phone is compatible with their networks. Some carriers will even attempt to entice new customers with “Bring Your Own Phone” incentives, like an extra credit or a free month of a certain plan. This is especially convenient if you’re ready for a new carrier but don’t want to give up a like-new iPhone or Samsung Galaxy.

You can typically switch carriers by removing your existing SIM card and inserting a SIM card obtained from your new carrier. Just be sure to check that you can use your device with the new provider’s network. To check if your device is compatible, visit the carrier’s website and look for information on bringing your device or swapping SIM cards.

Who has the best deal?

Every cellphone carrier offers some sort of bundled or family plan. To find the one that’s right for you, focus on the amount of data the packages offer, the monthly charge for each additional line (these will vary), and any additional fees you may incur if you decide to switch to a different plan.

A recent survey by Wirecutter, the New York Times product review website, found the best value as belonging to Consumer Cellular. Their monthly per-line charge is a low $15, with no fees for changing plans. Wirecutter highlighted these Consumer Plans as top deals:

  • A two-line plan, including unlimited talk and 10GB of shared data for $65 a month, was found to be “the best plan for couples.”
  • A four-line plan, with unlimited talk and 20GB of shared data for $105 a month, was selected as “the best plan for a family of four.”

If there is more than one person in your household, you really ought to be in a family cellphone plan. You’ll save money over going it alone. Start by deciding on the data you’ll need, then choose a customized plan that’s just right for your needs and your budget.


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How To Connect With Families Before They Even Need A Funeral

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Here’s What Happens When You Try To Plan Your Funeral At Age 25

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Grace's Guide

British Industrial History

Grace's Guide is the leading source of historical information on industry and manufacturing in Britain. This web publication contains 148,143 pages of information and 233,681 images on early companies, their products and the people who designed and built them.

Manganese Bronze and Brass Co

From Graces Guide

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1890. The Foundry, Deptford.
August 1933.
Dec 1939.
Sept 1940.
November 1943.
November 1944.
October 1945/April 1947.

November 1947.
January 1948.
February 1948.
May 1948.
August 1948.
November 1950.
January 1952.
April 1952. Scimitar Bronze Propellers.
Oct 1956.
November 1957.
November 1958.
May 1961.

of St. George's Wharf, Deptford, London and of St. David's Wharf, Millwall, London, and of Birkenhead and Ipswich, later known as Manganese Bronze.

1881 Company founded as P. M. Parsons.

1882 Incorporated as a Limited Company. The company was registered on 28 June, to acquire the business of P. M. Parsons, carried on at the works at St. Georges Wharf, Deptford, London. [1]. Directors included W Colchester, chairman of the Lawes Chemical Manure Co of Ipswich, W. Pearce of John Elder and Co of Glasgow, P. M. Parsons, etc; manager of the works was P. E. Parsons; temporary offices were at 3 Walbrook, London EC[2].

c.1890 Making screw propellers for a range of clients

1899 Public company. The company was reconstructed in connection with an increase in the capital, re-registration taking place on 10 March.

1914 Directory: Listed as 'sole manufacturers of Parson's patent Manganese Bronze, Immadium and Crotorite; general founders and engineers also manufacturers of plates, sheets, rods, tubes and stampings in Manganese Bronze, yellow metal and naval brass; rolling mills and works'. [3]

1914 Listed as manufacturing the above. Also Electric, Hydraulic and other work, manufacturers of Damaxine and Turbadium and Parsons' White Brass in various grades; suppliers of bronze propellers to all the leading navies and steamship lines of the world. [4]

1933 Note accompanying report of annual results mentioned that the company was controlled by British Metal Corporation[5].

1934 The Thames was home to specialists in propellors - J. Stone and Co at Deptford and Charlton made 4 of the largest propellors ever made for vessel #534 being constructed on the Clyde; Manganese Bronze and Brass Co made the other four[6].

1936 British Metal Corporation sold its shareholding to Anglo-French Trust which was followed by a capital reorganisation allowing shareholders to subscribe for more shares and gace the company capacity to borrow money in future; turnover increased substantially with the increase in shipbuilding so expansion was likely to be needed; demand for Oilite bearings was likely to increase[7].

1938 Propellor works at Millwall; extrusion and rolling of specialized alloys at Ipswich[8].

1939 See Aircraft Industry Suppliers

WWII: Propellor works moved to Birkenhead.

1951 Progress in design of propellors would be aided by the new cavitation tunnel at Durham University; new alloy Nikalium developed as replacement for manganese bronze[9].

1956 Took over Lightalloys Ltd[10] and Steven and Struthers Ltd[11].

1958 Expansion of Lightalloys into doors for railway stock.

1959 Took over Redro Ltd with its subsidiaries Deans and Son (Yorkshire) Ltd and Beverley Fibre Glass Ltd, all located at Beverley, manufacturers of manual and power-operated doors for road and rail vehicles. Declining demand for propellors but new developments such as variable pitch were in demand[12].

1960 Formation of Stone-Manganese Marine to handle overseas sale of marine products of Manganese Bronze and Brass Co, J. Stone and Co (Propellors), Bulls Metal and Marine, and Steven and Struthers[13]. Factory at Willesden sold; Lightalloys merged with Deans at Beverley[14].

1961 Manufacturers of marine propellers in manganese bronze; Kaplan blades and Francis runners; brass and bronze ingots; extruded brass rods, tubes and sections; rolled rods, tubes, plates and sheets; forgings, chill castings and anti-friction white metal ingots; self-lubricating bronze bearings; sintered bronze and brass parts; sintered (high density) iron parts; sintered superload bearings and structural parts; sintered metal filters[15].

1962 Name shortened to Manganese Bronze from 1 January[16]. Acquired Patent Die-Casting Co[17].

1963 Stone-Platt took over the marine division based at Birkenhead[18].

1963 64th AGM. Company converted into a holding company Manganese Bronze Holdings Ltd. Two subsidiaries - established Manganese Bronze Ltd to hold the Wrought Metals Division and Sintered Materials Division, both at Ipswich[19] and Alpax Ltd to hold the Deans and Lightalloys and other companies operating principally at Willesden and Beverley.

1963 Motor Show exhibitor. Bearings and Sinterings. Manganese Bronze of Ipswich, Deans and Lightalloys and Patent Die-Casting Co were linked companies

See Also

Sources of Information

  1. The Stock Exchange Year Book 1908
  2. The Times, 12 July 1882
  3. Kelly's Directory of Durham, 1914 p724
  4. 1914 Whitakers Red Book
  5. The Times, 15 May 1933
  6. The Times, 25 September 1934
  7. The Times, 1 May 1937
  8. The Times, 30 March 1938
  9. The Times, 15 May 1951
  10. The Times, 3 October 1956
  11. The Times, 6 May 1957
  12. The Times, 11 May 1960
  13. The Times, 29 July 1960
  14. The Times, 30 June 1961
  15. 1961 Dun and Bradstreet KBE
  16. The Times, 30 June 1961
  17. The Times, 5 April 1962
  18. The Times, 23 February 1963
  19. The Times, Wednesday, Apr 17, 1963


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California Proposition 65 – Update Your Signs Now!

Changes to California’s Prop 65 Law go into effect in August 2018

Prop 65 is a law that was enacted into California legislation in 1986, and has undergone a revision that goes into effect in August of 2018. The law intends to inform Californians about products or facilities that contain chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer, birth defects, or other reproductive harm.

The regulatory update eliminates the use of a one-size-fits-all solution to Prop 65 signage. As of August 30th, 2018, all Prop 65 signs must include more specific information regarding what chemical(s) are present that may cause harm.

The use of “general” signs that contain text such as “This facility contains chemicals…” are no longer compliant with the EPA. All proposition 65 signs must list one or more chemicals present in the products or facility that are known to the State of California to cause cancer, birth defects, or other reproductive harm.

For more information regarding chemicals that are listed for Proposition 65 in California, please review the following information: https://oehha.ca.gov/proposition-65/proposition-65-list

Changes to the Format

In addition to requiring a listing of one or more specific chemicals, the August 30th update also requires some format changes.

The internet address for the OEHHA’s proposition 65 website, which includes more information about the potential health effects of the listed chemicals.

The warning symbol must be a yellow triangle, as seen below.

Screen Shot 2018-07-09 at 1.36.45 PM

For more information about the new Proposition 65 update, please visit the OEHHA website at this location – https://oehha.ca.gov/proposition-65

Update your California Prop 65 Signs before August 30th!

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Introducing Julia Nam – Hyosung Marketing Manager, Intimates and Swim – Hyosung Performance Textiles

Introducing Julia Nam – Hyosung Marketing Manager, Intimates and Swim

Stories | September 17, 2020

We are happy to introduce Julia Nam, our marketing manager for intimates and swim – not to mention an integral member of our Global Brand Marketing Team. For those fortunate to have met and worked with Julia over the course of her eight years with Hyosung, you are lucky to have experienced her sharp intellect and infectious enthusiasm, which not only bubble over her work, but also over every corner of her life. For those who do not know Julia, we hope you enjoy this brief snapshot and find the opportunity to meet her soon.

Q: When did you start working with Hyosung?

A: After having several years in retail, I started working with Hyosung in 2012.

Q: Yes, I understand you have a background in retail, can you tell us a bit about this?

A: I began working as a sales and marketing manager at Hyundai Department Store, one of the leading department stores in Korea. I was handling about 80 brands of home-related merchandise such as electronic goods, bedding, tableware, and furniture.

Q: How do you feel your retail experience has helped you with your role at Hyosung?

A: My role included everything to include increasing sales performance, analyzing weekly/monthly results, planning marketing events, creating promotional tools, changing the store interior every 6 months, managing the people who work for brands, and responding to consumers’ inquiries (mostly complaints! ). It was a total art!

Supervising retail marketing events and store renovation is very similar to the 10-12 trade shows I help prepare annually for Hyosung, which include ISPO, Interfilière, Performance Days, ITS, and more. My retail experience which ranged from surveying market trends and discovering new products & brands to developing key messages and promotional tools has been so beneficial in my role here at Hyosung.

Q: I understand your role recently changed from European Marketing Manager to Marketing Manager for Intimates and Swim. What are your responsibilities?

A: I work with European and USA brands as well as their fabric mills and vendors, to identify business opportunities and develop innovative textile solutions to help these brands prosper. But yes, I love Europe since I’ve worked as the EU marketing manager for more than 6-7 years. To me, most countries in Europe are very fascinating, filled with the largest collection of artifacts, nice food, old architecture, beautiful streets, etc. Paris is the first city I visited in Europe. Germany is very special since I traveled most of its cities when handling our Lidl retail project. The UK is the best city for shopping!

Q: What do you like best about your role?

A: Definitely the global experience. I enjoy learning more about various cultures via all of my business and personal relationships with our Global Brand Marketing Team (GBMT) and customers.

Q: Can you share a memorable experience?

A: Oh yes, our Lidl project for sure!  We heard Lidl was developing a product line of stretch garments under its own brand name – a huge program that would require the support of their vendor network. We wanted in! Traditionally, retailers and brands work with mills to source materials rather than fiber developers. We pioneered a program where we reached out to Lidl directly and proved we were not only a great fiber producer, but also a total solutions provider. We won this business after 6 months of hard work (special thanks to our HK team and our Markus von Sternheim in Germany). It was our first adopted brand partner program for Hyosung, which has flourished over time. Through this project, I learned the POWER of TEAMWORK through collaboration with global sales, marketing, our factories, and the technical services team!

Q: How do you think Hyosung marketing has changed over the last 2-3 years?

A: We have dedicated a tremendous amount of resources in people and investment, allowing us to build strong relationships with key players in the textile value chain. We are proud of having a huge pipeline of innovations with creora® spandex, our Mipan® nylon and polyester product lines. We are fortunate to have the right experts and that we’ve developed our own capabilities to be the supplier and marketing support our brands and retailers need. Lastly, we have the network around the world to make things happen…and quickly.

Q: Do you have a favorite Hyosung Performance Textiles fiber or fabric made with one?

A; My 1st preference is creora® highclo as I focused on the swim market for the first of my 3 to 4 years at Hyosung, and it has more significant value to other spandex fibers due to its chlorine resistance. As of late, I love our new creora® Color+ for natural fiber blends, as it can deliver deeper, richer color among all other spandex makers.  Who doesn’t want to look good in what they are wearing?

Q: What do you like to do outside of work?

A: I enjoy taking pictures, cooking, and discovering new brands, stores, and galleries.

Stay tuned for more for more info on our Hyosung team!


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The Snow Walker’s Rendezvous is this weekend in Fairlee, Vermont. If you’re interested in traditional winter gear and techniques in the north, it’s one that you shouldn’t miss. I’ve been going for 15 years, and it keeps getting better. This year I’m traveling with Paul Sveum, who will be presenting on the 21-day Boundary Waters [...]

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Month: November 2017

ListenBrainz community gardening and user statistics

This post is part of a series of posts where I contribute to the ListenBrainz project for my independent study at the Rochester Institute of Technology in the fall 2017 semester. For more posts, find them in this tag.

My progress with ListenBrainz slowed, but I am resuming the pace of contributing and advancing on my independent study timeline. This past week, I finished out assigned tasks to discuss contributor-related documentation, like a Code of Conduct, contributor guidelines, and a pull request template. I began research on user statistics and found some already created. I wrote one of my own, but need to learn more about Google BigQuery to advance further.

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How a smart phone makes time irrelevant

It’s 2pm in the afternoon and the weather is becoming cold after so long. On this brisk November day, an old professor steps out in the corner lobby of the college. The golden rays of the sun cast a warm, radiant glow, leaving a bright, inviting air. This small moment of time is meaningless in an infinite universe of possible moments.

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How I created my first RPM package in Fedora

Over the summer, I migrated my desktop environment to i3, a tiling window manager. Switching to i3 was a challenge at first, since I had to replace many things that GNOME handled for me. One of these things was changing screen brightness. xbacklight, the standard way of changing backlight brightness on laptops, doesn’t work on my hardware.

Recently, I discovered brightlight, a tool that changes backlight brightness. I decided to try it, and it worked with root privileges. However, I found there was no RPM package in Fedora for brightlight. I decided this was the right time to try creating a package in Fedora and learn how to create an RPM.

In this article, I’ll cover and share how I…

  • Created the RPM SPEC file
  • Built the package in Koji and Copr
  • Worked through an issue with debug package
  • Submitted the package to Fedora package collection

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Category: Perspective

This is my soap box. These articles are more personal and intimate. The best way to describe this category is “the way I see things.”

Saying no.

For a long time, it was a “yes”. For a few years, I was pulled in by the fiscal lure. There are no manuals for someone who grows up having less to suddenly land at a juncture of having more. So I had to be my own guide.

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Cyclical nostalgia.

A part of me holds nostalgia for this aspect of the Internet I grew up with. Back when blogs played a bigger role in shaping and developing the Internet culture, and being the exemplar way of how we sought to express ourselves online (or, perhaps for those of us who find both solace and agony inside written language).

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What if Open Source dependencies weren’t software?

I often wonder how to best measure and communicate Open Source value. The collective focus of the industry goes into quantifying dependencies; that is, how one software relies on other software in order to complete its primary function. The vocabulary to measure dependency usually includes words like “imports,” “licenses,” “bugs fixed to bugs open,” and other machine-oriented terms. Yet the unique value proposition of innovative Open Source involves a community of people around a software. This led me on to the next question: why do we bias towards machine-oriented terms instead of human-oriented or community-oriented terms to describe Open Source communities and division of labor?

However, this question only led to more questions. Much of the existing Open Source discourse on sustainability centers on defining, tracking, and understanding “dependencies.” Yet when we say dependencies, people typically mean source code, software packages, and license compatibility. So, how do we describe the value proposition of people and the impact of cross-pollinated communities?

So, what if Open Source dependencies weren’t just software? Furthermore, what if Open Source dependencies could mean people… or simply, human beings? In this blog post, we’ll walk through this thought experiment.

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A proposal for the end of accommodations

Language is powerful. Words are subtle building blocks to how we imagine the world around us. So, with the goal of pursuing more equitable language, I propose the end of accommodations.

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Computer human.

Recently a Spotify playlist curated into my feed. The playlist was a perfect match for my soul when I needed it most. This led me to wonder, who or what curated this playlist? What caused it to appear in my feed that day?

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I put on our playlist,
Pure poetry to untrained ears.

My heart taken by the hand,
But led back to the Atlantic blue,
Wondering if I am singing your tune?

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Breakfast in Bosnia.

Four years ago, on March 13th in 2017, I woke up for breakfast in the city of Sarajevo in Bosnia & Herzegovina. As I ate breakfast on the morning of March 14th of 2021 in the seemingly eternal era of COVID-19, it struck me.

Bosnian coffee.
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When I launched my blog, I always envisioned writing cute snapshots of insight into my life. As much as I would publish them for the Internet, I was also publishing for myself. Or so, it started off this way.

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Your Software Freedom is not my Software Freedom: A reflection on Chadwick Boseman

Trigger warning: Grief, police violence, death.

This blog post was first written on August 28th, 2020.

Today is a sad day. Chadwick Boseman is dead. At 43 years old, he lost a terminal battle with stage IV colon cancer. As his great light dims, I am left to wonder what loss will happen next in 2020.

But like the ashes of a phoenix, we will rise. His death reminds me of the fierce urgency of now, as said by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. That in the moment of darkness that follows death, a new bright light will emerge. It is just so human for us to cling to the embers of hope, in the fear that we will one day be delivered from suffering.

Boseman was a social leader and source of inspiration for many. His life and many roles championed racial equity on the Hollywood screens. Boseman was passionate about what he did. He led a committed life.

Boseman’s death caused me to reflect on the definition of Freedom in the movement I am embedded within: the Free Software movement. Yet in this community I value, there are seeds of discontent. The fierce urgency of now has revealed that systemic social injustices continue to exist in our society, as they have for centuries. The generational question we must answer as witnesses to this moment is: will we continue to tolerate the systemic faults within our society? Or must we imagine a more fair society? A more just society? I know we can because we have to.

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Immutable.js is a library that provides immutable collections for JavaScript, inspired by Clojure collections. It has been developed by Facebook.

As they explain on their website:

Immutable data cannot be changed once created, leading to much simpler application development, no defensive copying, and enabling advanced memoization and change detection techniques with simple logic.

Persistent data presents a mutative API which does not update the data in-place, but instead always yields new updated data.

In this article, we are going to go over a basic use case where immutable.js is much much faster than javascript: pushing an element to an array without modifying the original array.

In javascript the only way of doing that is by first copying the array then pushing the element to it. With immutable.js, push returns a new list with the element appended to it; and this is super fast.

Immutable lists vs. javascript arrays

First, let’s load immutable.js in the browser:

Here is a benchmark function that calculates execution time of code:

function benchmark(iterations, f) {
var start = new Date();
for (var i = 0; i < iterations; i++) {
var end = new Date();
return "Elapsed time: " + (end - start) + " msec";
benchmark(1000000, function() {});

By the way, you see that javascript function call mechanism is super fast.

All the code snippets of this page are live and interactive powered by the klipse plugin:

  1. Live: The code is executed in your browser
  2. Interactive: You can modify the code and it is evaluated as you type

Now, let’s compare the performance of:

  1. creating a javascript array vs. creating an immutable list

  2. copying and pushing an element to a javascript array vs. pushing an element to an immutable.js list

Collection creation

Creating a javascipt array of size 100000 takes almost no time:

benchmark(1, function() {
new Array(100000).fill(88);

While creating an immutable.js list of size 100000 takes a bit of time:

benchmark(1, function() {
      immutableList = Immutable.Range(0,100000).toList();

Javascript array slice is slow

Manipulation a javascript array with slice and push is quit expensive:

var jsArr = new Array(100000).fill(88);
benchmark(100,  function() {

A few remarks:

  1. slice(0) is equivalent to copying the array

  2. push modifies the array it is called on

myArr = [];

Immutable push is super fast

Pushing an element to an immutable list is super fast:

immutableList = Immutable.Range(0, 100000).toList();

benchmark(100, function() {

If you see that the elapsed time is 0 msec, it’s not a bug: it is indeed very fast. Increase by 10x the number of iterations and see what happens.

On my computer push of immutable.js is about 100x faster than push of native javascript.

Note that when pushing an element to an immutable.js list, the list is not modified. A new list is returned with the element appended to it: this is how immutable collections work.

myList = Immutable.Range(0, 10).toList();

Go deeper

Here are a couple of interesting articles that describe in details the use cases and the implementation details of immutable data structures:


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The plan

Our journey is made of 4 stations - each of them depending on the previous ones:

  1. The tokenizer (aka “Lexical Analysis”): converting an input code - in LISP syntax - into an array of tokens.
  2. The parser (aka “Syntactic Analysis”): transforming an array of tokens into an Abstract Syntax Tree (AST).
  3. The emitter (aka “Code Generation”): string-ifying an AST into C-like code.
  4. The compiler (aka “You made it”): combining all the pieces together.

(The interactive code snippets are powered by a tool of mine named KLIPSE.)

The last station: the compiler

The last station is only fun - lot of fun!!!

Let’s write our last piece of code - by assembling the tokenizer, the parser and the emitter into a single my_compiler function:

my_compiler = input => {
  let tokens = tokenizer(input);
  let ast    = parser(tokens);
  let output = emitter(ast);

  return output;

And let’s test it…

my_compiler("(add 1 2 (mult 3 4))")

Enjoy the moment, play with your compiler…

Congratulations - I mean you did it. Give yourself a huge hug, buy yourself a gift. I don’t know… Find the most appropriate way to celebrate your success… You truly deserve it!

One last thing: the whole code is accessible as a single file on github: it’s around 150 line of codes.