That Eric Alper! - February 22, 2012

Happy Birthday to Trumpeter Joe Wilder, born on this day in 1922, a favourite with vocalists and played for Billie Holiday, Lena Horne, Johnny Mathis, Harry Belafonte, Eileen Farrell, Tony Bennett, and many others. 2 facts about Joe: He was one of the first thousand African Americans to serve in the Marines during World War II, and he appeared on The Cosby Show 1986, episode "Play It Again, Russell", and played the trumpet in the Malcolm X Orchestra in Spike Lee's "Malcolm X". Here he is discussing marine training and avoiding peer pressure: http://bit.ly/xOa3WR

Tenor saxophonist Buddy Tate was born on this day in 1913 - one of the great tenor saxophonists of his generation, performing with Count Basie, Paul Quinichette, Benny Goodman and Lionel Hampton

Researchers at the University of British Columbia create gloves that can turn hand gestures into sound, giving those with hearing and speech disabilities a new way to talk and sing: http://bit.ly/xyayNs

When Keith Jones and Deon Maas first started trying to pull together the footage, sources and sound for their documentary, Punk in Africa, they found it slow going. It was only when they started leveraging a dedicated Facebook page and other social media tools did they start to make headway. And make it they did. You may not like punk, but there are lessons to be learned in jazz or any genre or even your own business: http://bit.ly/A6JA6z/

The Simpsons” aired its 500th episode Sunday, in which America’s brightest yellow household was cast out of their home town of Springfield, only for the rest of Springfield to follow them to their new life off the grid (bringing the grid with them). The broadcast included a cameo from Wikileaks founder Julian Assange — really, it did — and a “couch gag” (the bit at the end of the credits where the family sits down to watch TV) cut together in rapid-fire form from all preceding couch gags. Reas the Q + A with creator Matt Groening here: http://bit.ly/yHieRC

The filesharing website The Pirate Bay has come a step closer to being blocked in the UK after the high court ruled that the site breaches copyright laws on a large scale. Major music groups want British internet service providers (ISPs), such as BT and BSkyB, to prevent their millions of customers from accessing The Pirate Bay in the UK. Yes, I know, you’re probably not reading this in Europe, but know that decisions like these overseas are part of the global move towards eradicating piracy that may eventually reach Canada: http://bit.ly/AkVdIU