Nana Mouskouri, a Fine Singer

I ran across Nana Mouskouri on You Tube and was impressed.  I purchased her album, Falling in Love Again, Great Songs from the Movies, and I enjoy it very much.  YouTube is wonderful for exploring.  Next time you are on YouTube, check out Nana!  Nana Mouskouri is Greek, but as several albums in English.

Robert

Article on Computer Chess

The Wall Street Journal recently printed a fine article about computer chess within the chess community.  When Deep Blue defeated Gary Kasparov, some people thought interest in chess would wane.  People still love chess and the chess community has adopted the use of computers.  I recommend this article if you are a chess player.  It can be found online by Googling The Cyber-Renaissance in Chess by Christopher Chabris and David Goodman.  If you subscribe to the WSJ, the article is in the Saturday 11/23/2013 edition, page C3.

If you are not familiar with the Deep Blue vs Gary Kasparov chess match, you might enjoy the documentary, Game Over.  You can view it on Netflix or purchase it at Amazon.  The documentary gives you a glimpse of the true contest:  IBM & a team of grandmasters vs Gary Kasparov.  The contest was really man vs. corporation, not man vs. machine.  There were many forces in play during that match.  The documentary does a fine job of peeling back a few of the layers of complexity surrounding the event and delivering a dramatic story at the same time.

Robert

PFC Steven Canright, Vietnam Casualty

PFC Steven Craig Canright: born March 02, 1948, died Oct 27, 1968, in Bihn Duong, South Vietnam.  He is on the Wall, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.  Here he is on the Virtual Wall.

Thank you, cousin, for giving "the last full measure of devotion."

Robert Canright

PS
I am not the Robert Canright who retired as a 1st Sgt from the USMC.  That Robert Canright is another cousin, a fine man I am fortunate to have met along with his kind wife Eileen.

Tribute to Winston Churchill

There is an excellent tribute to Winston Churchill on YouTube.  The tribute is entitled "The Valiant Man."  It focuses on the state funeral of Churchill, but includes snippets from some of his speeches and a montage of photos of his life. 

Set aside a half hour sometime and watch this video, and remember how dangerous the world was when he was made Prime Minister. That era was more incredible than any work of fiction.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-k5qzYwtNfY

If you don't want to click on the link, go to YouTube and search for The Valiant Man by piddflicks (28 minutes).

I found it a moving presentation, as you might.

Robert

Richard Canright at ARPA/DARPA

All Canrights are related.  There was once a Richard Canright at ARPA.  Today the institution is called DARPA, but all references to Richard Canright are linked to the ARPA name.  I once flew to Washington, D.C., to present to DARPA on an engineering project.  It is nice to know a relative had once worked at DARPA.

We have this:  "Robert Young recruited Richard B. Canright from Douglas Aircraft, where he had been assistant chief engineer of missile systems.", from this article history.nasa.gov/SP-4404/ch9-6.htm

Searching for "Richard Canright" and "rocket" on Google turns up a number of hits.

We have this:  "In July 1958 von Braun was visited by Dick Canright and Bob Young of ARPA, who informed von Braun they still had $10 million left in their budget to spend before ABMA was turned over to NASA. von Braun called in Koelle, who presented a 1/10 scale model of the Juno V, still equipped with the E-1 engine. Canright and Young noted that the engine wouldn't be ready in time for the handoff, and asked if the rocket could be built with an existing engine instead. Koelle suggested that eight engines from the existing S-3D series could be used in place of the E-1, and everyone approved", from Wikipedia:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-1_%28rocket_engine%29

DARPA TECHNICAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS, AN HISTORICAL REVIEW OF SELECTED DARPA PROJECTS, Volume I, mentions R. Canright in a few spots:  http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/Science_and_Technology/DARPA/301.pdf

Richard B. Canright was born on October 19, 1917, and died on July 21, 1992 at 74 years old.

I have noticed a lot of Canright are involved in mathematics, science, and engineering, but Canrights do engage in many different vocations.

Robert Canright

Austenland is a Hoot

A Review of the movie Austenland

Austenland is a funny film.  The premise is that ladies can role play at living in the world of a Jane Austen novel.  Jane Hayes (Keri Russell) spends all her money to fly from the US to England to stay at Austenland.  Jane is obsessed with the world of Jane Austen and is disappointed in her own life.  Jennifer Coolidge (from Legally Blonde) is another American staying at Austenland, as is Georgia King, playing the role of Lady Amelia Heartwright .  These three actresses are great at comedy.  Jane Seymour played Mrs. Wattlesbrook , the practical proprietor of Austenland is the foil to the hopefulness of Jane Hayes.  The female actresses were outstanding and had me laughing throughout the film. The actors J.J. Feild, Bret McKenzie, Ricky Wittle, and James Callis all did excellent work.

You might enjoy the movie more if you have seen at least one film version of Pride and Prejudice.  It helps to know who Mr. Darcy is.

I laughed throughout the film and I recommend it.

Robert

Architecture Shows on Netflix

Netflix has a number of shows on architecture.  I will list the ones I have seen and provide a brief description of the shows.

Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater
This 60 minute video gives a wonderful tour of Fallingwater, the famous house built over a waterfall.  The video provides some history of the construction of the house and the interaction between the home owner, Edgar Kaufmann, Sr., and the Frank Lloyd Wright.  You get a very nice tour of the home's interior.  You get excellent documentary comments from Lynda Waggoner (Vice President of Western Pennsylvania Conservancy and Director of. Fallingwater) and Richard Cleary (professor at the University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture).  The home looks different from many angles. and this video shows many views of home.  You also get a tour of the guest house.  I've seen many photos of Fallingwater, but this video is the best.  This video is a treasure.  I have viewed it more than once.  The Kaufmann family donated the home and extensive property to the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, which provides  tours of the house.  Fallingwater is a national treasure.  In addition to the video, there are three slide shows included in the DVD.

The Homes of Frank Lloyd Wright
This is part of the "America's Castles" series from Arts & Entertainment.  The show takes you to the three homes of Frank Lloyd Wright:  his home in Oak Park, Chicago; his home Taliesin in Wisconsin; and Taliesin West in Arizona.  It is 50 minutes long and you get very nice tours of the three homes.  I particularly liked Taliesin in Wisconsin.  You get a nice tour of the home's interior, which is beautiful.  The show includes interviews with experts and a description of the life of Frank Lloyd Wright.

My Architect: A Son's Journey
The architect Louis Kahn designed the Kimbell Museum in Ft. Worth.  Kahn created some fabulous buildings.  My favorites are the National Assembly Building in Bangladesh and the library at Phillips Exeter Academy.  The show takes you to the Salk Institute, his most famous work, but I did not care for it.  Kahn led a strange life.  The film was made by the son he avoided: Nathaniel Kahn, born out of wedlock.  Louis Kahn's life was a mess and he died alone and penniless, but his buildings are fascinating.

I will add more later.

Robert