The Writer's Life 2/6 - Projections

In today's NY Post Leonid Bershidsky contributes a fascinating op-ed piece about the suddenly hot music hologram controversy, further brought to light by Prince's image at the Super Bowl. Here's a synopsis of the article by yours truly: In a successful European tour last year, a hologram of rock icon Ronnie James Dio was used. During his long career he sang with Black Sabbath, Rainbow, an eponymous band, and others. He tried to bury the fact that he fronted a doo-wop group as well - Ronnie Dio and the Prophets. He passed away in 2010. Eyellusion was behind the tour in question. It creates computer models of the artist from available footage and photographs, matches them to live recordings of the voice, and projects an image onto thin film to create the illusion of a performance while a rock band or orchestra plays live. Audiences will soon be treated to virtual concerts by Roy Orbison, Frank Zappa and even legendary soprano Maria Callas. Bershidky thinks its creepy. I doubt I would be creeped-out by it, but it isn't something I would want to see and would certainly not pay to attend. And the technology goes further than the music field. A Russian entrepreneur in Silicon Valley has created a bot to commemorate a dead friend. She fed their numerous text messages to artificial intelligence so the bot could talk back as the friend might have. It also may become technically feasible to “interview” Maria Callas. Or have Kurt Cobain discuss his suicide on a TV show. Now that's creepy. Here's a still from the Dio show:

Speaking of creepy, a Post blurb informs that UConn grad students and a Yale professor have come under fire for taking selfies with two severed heads used for medical research at the Ivy League college. In a classic bit of understatement, the professor has dubbed the photo "unfortunate." A web search for the pic proved fruitless. Even the dailymail.com, which seems a no-holds-barred source, didn't have any as of this writing.

Also on the medical front, a Post article profiles a retired carpenter, 70, who has been given a Get Out of Jail Pee Card by his doctor. He's  suffering from diabetes, which causes frequent urination. Thus far, cops have let him pass.

My thanks to Johnny, who bought thrillers by Robin Cook and Dean Koontz, and to the woman who purchased three books in Russian as I was closing shop.

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