Feature Albums: Beaches – She Beats

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Thu 20th Jun, 2013 in Music Reviews

Melbourne quartet Beaches produced an excellent debut album five years ago that reinforced the continued relevance of creative guitar music. Thankfully the group have again convened to collectively pen a new batch of free-ranging, sonically psych-imbued songs that highlight their ability to compose songs rich in melody across an expansive musical terrain.

In some ways Beaches are an instrumental band. Sure, they have vocals on a number of tracks but really they best serve as another layer of notes and melodies to bolster the intertwining guitars and drums around them. The real delight in She Beats is the way they balance the more straightforward jangly guitar pop of songs like Dune, the irrepressible Chills-esque Send Them Way and the Pixies surf (alt) rock of Runaway with outstanding psych/drone workouts like Distance and Granite Snake. Both songs feature the stellar guest guitar work of krautrock master Michael Rother (Neu!, Harmonia) and both succeed by virtue of the intensive rhythm section and the avoidance of vague noodling, a hallmark of the best space rock.

She Beats is another strong addition to Beaches discography, an album for all seasons via its masterful interpretations of dark and light textures and simply just a great hook-laden psychedelic rock record.

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Feature Albums: Beaches - She Beats

Dubai beaches get global quality mark

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Dubai beaches get global quality mark

(Wam) / 24 June 2013

Blue Flag ensures beaches have high standards

Dubai Municipality and the Environmental Centre for Arab Towns have jointly launched the Blue Flag Programme of the Foun-dation of Environmental Education to ensure the safety and cleanliness of beaches in the Emirate of Dubai.

Mohammed Al Noori, Director of Corporate Marketing and Rela-tions Department, presented the programme at the 100th meeting of the Technical Committee of the civic body.

The Blue Flag Programme is the international quality mark awarded by which beach users can ensure that the marina or the beach adheres to the highest global stan-dards. To get this flag, beaches should comply with 32 standards under four main categories, name-ly: water quality, environmental education information, eco-friend-ly management, and safety and services, Noori said.

The Jumeirah and Mamzar beaches are already certified by FEE and are flying the Blue Flag. Other beaches in Dubai are in the process of registration under the Blue Flag Programme and hopefully will have the flag soon, he said.

The programme contributes to the sustainable development of the beach and waterfront projects, as well as the protection of marine environment and public health.

It encourages the community to participate and maintain beaches and marinas, raising the level of awareness of environmental issues.

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Dubai beaches get global quality mark

Astronomy clubs are Jersey’s window to the galaxy

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Its a clear summer night and the waxing crescent moon is but a sliver in the sky over Jenny Jump State Forest. Thats good news for the more than 40 amateur astronomers who have gathered here because the fuller the moon, the harder it is to stargaze.

When you have a dark sky, youre trying to get a good view of very faint things. And the moons light spoils that, says Dale Gary, a radio astronomer and professor of physics at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. Even the moon is boring when its full. At least when its a crescent, theres some interest in looking at the moon itself you can see the shadows of the mountains and craters.

There are about 10 observatories in New Jersey. In most cases, regional amateur astronomy clubs own, operate and maintain the telescopes, while leasing a property to house their equipment on college campuses, state parks and elsewhere. And club members are eager to share their love of astronomy, often offering free programs for families, scouting groups and other members of the public to view the wonders of space.

The nice thing about the stars is that they keep changing. So, to see all of the stars, you actually have to observe every season, says Gary, 59, a Berkeley Heights resident and past president of the United Astronomy Clubs of New Jersey (UACNJ). Theres not really a best season (to view), but I would say that summer and winter are both somewhat more interesting because the Milky Way is up during those times.

Sure, you can go out in your backyard or to a park where, depending on the weather, you can spy with the unaided eye certain stars and constellations, maybe even five of the eight planets Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. (Lest you forget, Pluto was demoted to dwarf planet status in 2006.)

But theres nothing quite as spectacular as a formidable telescopic view of a deep sky object that is millions of light years away, keeping in mind that one light year is a distance of about 6 trillion miles.

When you look through a telescope, youre really looking through a time machine, says Gil Jeffer, 59, a retired research scientist from Hope and a UACNJ member. When you look at the nearest star, Proxima Centauri, youre actually looking at light that left there four-and-a- half years ago. And most of the nebulae and galaxies that we see through our telescopes are much, much older than that. So we may see light that left there a billion years or more ago when multi-cellular life was just beginning to evolve on Earth. Youre seeing far, far, far into the past.

Jenny Jump State Forest, near Hope, is home to UACNJs observatory. (Since UACNJ is a consortium of 13 astronomical clubs in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York, all of its members belong to other amateur astronomy clubs, as well.)

On this particular night, with the help of the groups 16-inch Newtonian telescope, Saturn appears flawless, bright and close enough to touch.

I learned that (Saturn) has rings. And I saw the rings, says 6-year-old Marco DeLeon, of Hackettstown. That was pretty cool.

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Astronomy clubs are Jersey's window to the galaxy

UP Aerospace’s SpaceLoft 7 Rocket Launches Flight Opportunities Program Payloads – Video

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UP Aerospace #39;s SpaceLoft 7 Rocket Launches Flight Opportunities Program Payloads
A reusable suborbital rocket launched by UP Aerospace soared aloft from Spaceport America in New Mexico, carrying multiple technology payloads for NASA #39;s Spa...

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UP Aerospace's SpaceLoft 7 Rocket Launches Flight Opportunities Program Payloads - Video