John Tynan's Tumblr Blog

audiovision: Hello world. This is AudioVision. We’re new! Check...

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 01:57:47 +0200

Hello world. This is AudioVision. We’re new! Check out our GIF-tastic spinning logo.

We’re here to bring you pretty pictures from Southern California and beyond. Check out audiovision.scpr.org for the full experience.

Love,

Mae Ryan, Grant Slater and Maya Sugarman

michalva: NY Donut Map by Jim Datz

Wed, 24 Oct 2012 01:34:45 +0200

michalva:

NY Donut Map by Jim Datz

NPR is doing a series on cities (#nprcities). I was reminded of...

Tue, 03 Jul 2012 18:58:42 +0200

NPR is doing a series on cities (#nprcities). I was reminded of a great RadioLab episode which talked about the different average speed that people walk in some of the world’s largest cities:

http://www.radiolab.org/2010/oct/08/its-alive/

The post below links to an article by Eric Jaffe which contains links to some of the original sources.

I was hoping to find a spreadsheet of the original data, but could only find a link to a listing of the 32 fastest cities here:

http://www.richardwiseman.com/quirkology/pace_home.htm

hman:

Why People in Cities Walk Fast

Miles, Me, Oliver and his family at Parc Rothschild

Tue, 05 Jun 2012 02:26:20 +0200

IMG_2129, originally uploaded by johntynan.

How wonderful it is to meet my friend Olivier, his friend Chris and his lovely family at the Parc Rothschild this past Sunday. I hope we can do this again sometime…

Putting a name to the art of Issabelle BARD

Sat, 02 Jun 2012 14:08:51 +0200

For a great long time, I would walk past a corner gallery here in Boulogne, and through the window, I would admire the paintings by a particular artist. One day, the artist’s work suddenly disappeared from their familiar placement in the windows and gallery walls without my ever catching his or her name.

Earlier this afternoon, I picked up a flyer for an upcoming exhibition at the FAE Galerie l’Atelier and noticed that the artwork for the event was indeed by the artist that I had admired, and that her name is Issabelle BARD.

Well, it is finally good to place a name with the images that I remember liking so well. I always admired how the tops of her trees are like shaded, slowly passing clouds hovering close above the tranquil landscape. To me, these are like images of silence and the passage of time spent in quiet contemplation.

My crazy contraption to weigh and pack everything for the next year.

Sun, 27 May 2012 09:38:24 +0200

My crazy contraption to weigh and pack everything for the next year., originally uploaded by johntynan.

The sun is bright today in Paris just as as it was yesterday. On the sidewalk, men have taken off their suit jackets and pressed shirts in favor of (gasp!) tee-shirts, women’s sunskirts are fluttering in the breeze, groups of friends are meeting in lively conversation at tables outside brasseries… and we are inside packing. I’ve made a contraption out of a child’s swing, a travel scale and a basket to weigh all of our personal belongings. We are sorting out our most essential items, weighing them, then storing them in this closet for the movers. Imagine having a limit of 600 pounds for a family of three (soon to be four) to last you for a year. Of all your items what would you take?

Family Picnic at Parc Monceau

Tue, 01 May 2012 16:48:41 +0200

It’s Labor Day in Paris which means a lot of businesses (including Rene’s work and Miles’ day care are closed). To add to the celebration, it was the first non-rainy day in what seems like a month. So, to mark the occassion, we headed out for a family picnic at Parc Monceau. You can view the complete slideshow here. Happy Labor Day!

Novel New Quotes from Miles

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 00:28:16 +0100

Miles has been making some novel new sentences lately and being real inventive with language. For instance, this morning, we were making a fort out of couch pillows and he wanted me to put a roof on it. He didn’t know the word for roof, so he said “hat for house!” Which I thought really clever and delightful. But what really had both Rene and I laughing was when, this afternoon, he was running around naked (and not wanting us to put on his clothes) and, excuse me for getting all scatalogical here, he farted… and then exclaimed “baby burp bottom!”

Trumpet player at the Centre Pompidou

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:24:23 +0100

Trumpet player at the Centre Pompidou, première mise en ligne par johntynan.

Today, I heard a trumpet player blowing a melody into the cold air outside the Centre Pompidou. It reminded me how much I love music in open spaces. I loved the natural reverb and the way the notes effortlessly floated and expanded to fill the entire place and on into the surrounding streets.

A song about love and insomnia. Here is a song that I’ve...

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 13:30:21 +0100

A song about love and insomnia.

Here is a song that I’ve been working on lately. I wrote the words one early morning about a month ago. I’ve been working on the accordion part and the vocals; trying to get them just right… and playing and singing together. Hope you like it!

Miles et le Petit Bonhomme du Neige

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 12:34:02 +0100

Aujourd’hui, Miles et moi avons fait son premier bonhomme du neige. Today, Miles and I made his first snowman.

You can view a slideshow of all the pictures here.

Snow Day in Boulogne

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 08:25:03 +0100

Well, it finally snowed here in Boulogne. We woke up to a world of white. What a surprise!

You can view a slideshow of the photos here.

A recording of my latest song for accordion and vocals. Image:...

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 05:42:56 +0100

A recording of my latest song for accordion and vocals. Image: Portrait in Darkness by Bart Heird

We were walking though the Place St. Michele in Paris when...

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 22:08:15 +0100

We were walking though the Place St. Michele in Paris when Miles’ attention was captured by a man blowing bubbles. He was delighted and dancing and running after each bubble. People were watching, some people were taking photos. I was laughing so hard with joy that I forgot to take a photo… but I saw it in my mind, just like this, like an illustration out of a Madeline childrens’ book. So I went ahead and attempted to draw it.

A simple song that I wrote inspired by Arvo Pärt’s Spiegel im...

Sun, 11 Dec 2011 11:16:00 +0100

A simple song that I wrote inspired by Arvo Pärt’s Spiegel im Spiegel.

Found a great indirect route to pick up Miles at daycare

Mon, 17 Oct 2011 18:15:04 +0200

Found a great indirect route to pick up Miles at daycare, première mise en ligne par johntynan.

Sun setting at the Bois. Light through the changing leaves. The breeze spreads around the sound of tumbling leaves.

In search of the perfect cafe gourmande: Part III

Tue, 11 Oct 2011 22:54:29 +0200

In search of the perfect cafe gourmand: Part II, première mise en ligne par johntynan.

Again, in search of the perfect cafe gourmande, I took the 123 bus to the Michel Ange Auteuil metro stop and ambled from cafe to cafe scaning the posted menus and guaging the tables outdoors for their proximity to the wind.

It was such a thoroughly gray day, I had the feeling I was walking inside an old-time, hand-tinted daguerrotype.

I sat down at one promising cafe, but it just didn’t have the charm I was looking for. So I meandered a bit, eyeing the Foie Gras shop and remembering how Rene and I had been walking here about this time last year when the first snow flakes of the season started to fall.

I descended into the metro at Eglise d’Auteuil‎ and popped up again at Jean Jaurès and walked towards Route de la Reine. On the way, one cafe which, in the past, I had seen seating crowds of people had erected a plastic tent around their street-side tables; perhaps on a blistering cold day that would be fine, but today I wanted to feel the wind on my face and listen to the traffic like it was the sounds of the rainforest.

Nothing. I hopped on the 72 bus and got off just before the round pointe. I sat down at Le Boulonaise cafe where I had seen so many dyed-in-the-wool locals and thought I could see myself relaxing there; but the noise from the construction site next to the Monoprix sent me packing. I checked out the menu at the Beaux-Artes cafe and decided that the Brasserie Jean Baptise was still the best cafe in the neighborhood (although there was the quaint cafe with the sunlight-yellow fascade that I still want to check out with Rene…) but for now, after empirical testing, it really was the best.

I went in, talked with the waiters in my apologetic English and was served a complete cafe gourmand as expected. Instead of espresso, I had asked for a cafe viennois which arrived with a comical cone of whipped cream dusted with powdered chocolate. I should have taken a picture, but suffice to say that the adventure was getting to this point.

I was so tickled to use my mobile phone as a wi-fi hotspot and to be taking a whole hour to relax and read, write at the computer and patiently shave away at the edges of my deserts while I watched people walking through the daguerrotype of the day.

In search of the perfect cafe gourmand part two, it what I was...

Thu, 29 Sep 2011 19:30:11 +0200

In search of the perfect cafe gourmand part two, it what I was doing today while listening to Fresh Air.

soundcloud: Our final conversational piece this week comes from...

Tue, 27 Sep 2011 20:04:05 +0200

soundcloud:

Our final conversational piece this week comes from a rad mashup with SimpleGeo which means you can listen to the new Blink 182 “Neighborhood” album in your own “Neighborhood”.

Using SimpleGeo‘s GPS technology, it will locate your neighborhood through your browser and drop you in a chat experience combined with our listening technology. ENJOY!

"What I found is that it seems to help him not feel bitter or resentful about not having an official..."

Sat, 24 Sep 2011 21:53:45 +0200

“What I found is that it seems to help him not feel bitter or resentful about not having an official career. So I think the trick is to do this thing, and then not mind that you’re doing it on your own, and to actually revel in that, if that’s where you end up.”

- Spiotta says her newest book Stone Arabia was inspired by her stepfather Richard, who meticulously chronicled his own imaginary musical career for more than 30 years.
(via nprfreshair)