Preston Reed and "Percussive Guitar"

I've played guitar since I was 13 years old, but since I'm not that good I'm always amazed by truly talented musicians. Last week I started learning a little more about a guitar style called "percussive guitar", where the guitarist uses the strings for melodies and the body of the instrument for rhythm. One of the originators of this unique style was a guy named Preston Reed. The first video below is him playing a show last year, and the second is a TED performance earlier this year with a 21-year-old prodigy he inspired.  Very cool stuff!

Curiosity Lands on Mars (Ultra-HD)

Tired of seeing fuzzy videos of NASA's spacecraft? Film maker Bard Canning to the rescue.  He cleaned up various official videos of the Curiosity lander touching down on Mars, and then added some realistic sounds. Check out the detachment of the heat shield and get a first-hand view of the descent to the Martian surface.  Very cool!

Hoedown Throwdown

My daughter recently got me hooked on this catchy tune, which I did not realize came out a few years ago (I'm a little slow on the pop scene!). And ... no, I don't know how to do the dance ... yet.

From the movie:

 

Learn the dance: