Pinned Tweet
"I'm just trying to get along without shoving anybody, that's all.” --Henry Fonda as Tom Joad in "The Grapes of Wrath."
Andy Bienen retweeted
My late mother was a professional opera singer, whose favorite aria was Nessun Dorma.
Anyway, we watched the 1998 Grammy Awards together because her favorite opera singer, Luciana Pavorotti was scheduled to sing, but at the last minute, he had to cancel due to a sore throat, and with a half hour notice, Aretha Franklin agreed to step in and sing, even though it wasn't her key, and she had no time to rehearse.
This brought the audience to tears.
Watch this amazing performance by the Queen of Soul.
Andy Bienen retweeted
Obama 🔥: "The president wasn't even mad about the Saddam Hussein comparison! That part didn't bother him. But he was very upset about the Cheesecake Factory comments. He took great umbrage. The mobilized a whole of government response to that joke! They told the Treasury Secretary to hold a press conference in front of the Cheesecake Factory. This really happened."
Andy Bienen retweeted
Werner Herzog on psychoanalysis: “If you harshly light every last corner of a house, the house will be uninhabitable. It’s like that with your soul.”
Only Herzog could make a metaphor about darkness sound this profound.
Andy Bienen retweeted
Truly one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen. Makes me laugh every single time.
Andy Bienen retweeted
Patrick Stewart reading us Shakespeare's sonnets during the darkest, loneliest days of the pandemic is something to remember today.
Andy Bienen retweeted
84-year-old Paul McCartney and 82-year-old Jimmy Page chatting last night in Notting Hill, London.
Two of the greatest legends in Rock History! They must have so many stories to share…
Andy Bienen retweeted
A rare interview with James Cagney and Pat O’Brien in 1982. Very much worth watching.
Andy Bienen retweeted
the random woman who goes toe-to-toe with Conan, one of the great comedic riffers of all-time, in the final :30 of this is one of the most impressive things i've seen in a long time
Andy Bienen retweeted
Ben Affleck has somehow emerged as one of the most compelling voices on AI
Ben Affleck says AI is simply matrix multiplication, linear algebra and floating point calculations, and however convincingly it sounds like a person, it has nothing to do with thought, humanity or feeling
“Nor do I believe, and I think it’s important to draw the distinction between what AI does, which is simply predict the next token or the next word in a sentence, then add that word on, run it back to the machine, do a lot of computation and pick the next word."
"That is a very different thing than sentience or thought. And I think we need to be really clear about that because it can be convincingly, in an illusory way, sound like thought or like a person."
"But let’s be real clear. This is matrix multiplication. This is linear algebra. These are floating point calculations. It has nothing to do with thought, humanity, or feeling.”
Andy Bienen retweeted
It's only been 2 mos since we lost my older brother John. I 'm heading back to VA in a few days to start my tour, it's comforting somehow. Meanwhile, this childhood pic popped up, remember what I said about having 4 bros & how it was natural to be in a band....how lucky were we?
Andy Bienen retweeted
『アステアが部屋を歩くだけでそれは映画のシーン』そう語ったのは、ノッポさんこと高見映氏。立川談志師匠とビートたけしはアステアの事を『20世紀最大のエンターテイナー&俳優』と絶賛。フレッド・アステアの華麗なタップシーンをどうぞ😊
Andy Bienen retweeted
There’s a bit of predictable ‘shut up old man’ in the comments but he knows more about pop than anyone alive. He’s addicted to it. Ask him about anything new, he’s heard it, frequently enjoys it & can tell you how it works. He’s always been like that.
Andy Bienen retweeted
Very rare footage of Benny Goodman and Peggy Lee performing “Why don’t you do right?” in 1943. It doesn’t get much better than this.
Andy Bienen retweeted
Andrew Scott delivers this speech too slowly; I know some viewers will hate the way he breaks up the verse. AND YET even in spite of that I think this is the best delivery of this soliloquy I’ve ever seen.
He makes it sound like it’s not a portentous speech everyone already knows but a morally serious real-time deliberation, by a highly intelligent person in extreme pain, considering what it would mean to end his own life.