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Tom's Guide
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Tom's Guide
I just watched ‘Bono: Stories of Surrender' through the Apple Vision Pro — and it could change the way we experience movies
'If you want your child to grow up to be a grand standing stadium singer there's two ways to go about it… You can tell them they're gifted and that the world needs to hear their voice. This is the Italian method. Or you can completely ignore them. This could the Irish method. Much more effective in my case.' Those are the wry words of U2's lead singer, which I heard through the Apple Vision Pro headset as part of "Bono: Stories of Surrender." This reimagining of Bono's one-man stage show premieres today on Apple TV Plus, but a special version has also been created for Apple's spatial computing headset. In fact, it's the first feature-length film available in Apple Immersive Video, the format Apple pioneered for its device using 8K cameras. The result is a 180-degree experience that is rich, intimate and downright trippy at times. However, as I attempted to sit through the nearly 90-minute feature, I experienced some unpleasant reminders of the Vision Pro's flaws. It was like I was on stage with Bono as he shared the pain of losing his mother and what his household was like afterwards as it became 'a river of silence.' The Vision Pro version is a combination of big-screen movie storytelling interspersed with jaw-dropping 3D clips that make you feel like you're in the venue with Bono — getting a better-than-front-row seat to hear some of the most iconic U2 songs and the stories behind them. For Bono, getting access to a guitar saved his life. It became a shield and a weapon as he gravitated towards rock with The Ramones and one day decided that he wanted to try to write songs himself. The presentation through the Vision Pro is a combination of big-screen movie storytelling interspersed with jaw-dropping 3D clips that make you feel like you're in the venue with Bono — getting a better-than-front-row seat to hear some of the most iconic U2 songs and the stories behind them. I'm sure the 2D version through Apple TV Plus will be engaging enough, but there's something about standing face-to-face with Bono as he shares the most intimate details about his upbringing, health scares and more. I felt like I could reach out and shake Bono's hand as I looked up at his face with his trademark specs right down to his shoes and the stage. And while 'Stories of Surrender' is shot in black-and-white, the immersive film cleverly works in pops of color with fluid animations here and there. As Bono told the story behind "Bloody Sunday" and the lyrics scribbled across the screen, I truly got sucked into the Immersive Video. Written by Edge, Bono shared that the mission of the song was to contrast the original Easter Sunday with the murder of 14 unarmed protesters in the city of Derry in Northern Ireland. As Bono sings "How long must we sing this song" you can feel and see the pain as you see only the outline of his face in the foreground and a harp in the background on stage. But "Stories of Surrender" simply doesn't work without Bono's masterful storytelling and ability to play multiple characters. This includes Bono's father, who Bono describes as melting when he meets Princess Diana ahead of a charity concert with Luciano Pavarotti in Italy. As Bono impersonates the princess slowly walking towards his "da," he playfully described the encounter as "800 years of oppressions disappearing in 8 seconds." So while the Vision Pro brings "Stories of Surrender" to another level, U2's lead singer and his warmth and humor is the real star. As impressive as "Bono: Stories of Surrender" looks and sounds through the Vision Pro, I found that I couldn't comfortably watch the whole thing in a single sitting. I found myself needing to take breaks for a couple of reasons. First, the Vision Pro is a hefty headset, and I could feel the weight of it after 25 minutes or so. Yes, I could have swapped out the sleeker Solo Knit Band for the Dual Loop Band, which is more secure. But all the criss-crossing straps on the latter reminds me of something one might wear before getting a brain implant. I also felt some uncomfortable pressure around my eyes, which took me out of the vibe of Bono's heart-warming and humorous performance, not to mention his soaring vocals. There's a rumor Apple is working on a much lighter Vision Pro 2, and I think it would help a great deal. Lowering the $3,500 price would not hurt, either. "Bono: Stories of Surrender" serves up two major takeaways. The Vision Pro continues to deliver the most immersive entertainment experience of any headset. And Apple still has a long way to go in terms of bringing this experience to more people in a way that feels comfortable and natural. That's to take nothing away from this Apple Immersive Video. 'Stories of Surrender' is a great proof point for the promise of the format as content creators find ways to tell stories in new ways. It gets me thinking of what a season of "Severance" might look and feel like through this device (or its predecessor). Or perhaps the next season or version of "Ted Lasso."I'm looking forward to seeing where Apple takes Immersive Video next.
Mail & Guardian
25-04-2025
- Mail & Guardian
How to humanise a robot
(Graphic: John McCann/M&G) There is no escaping artificial intelligence. No matter how clever we think we are, our lives are going to be affected. We can only hope that it is in a good way, but many of us have grown accustomed to the threat of AI being there to take over our jobs. It is quite possible that AI could do the job of designing and laying out the pages of the newspaper. ChatGPT could find the right combination of words and matching images for the front page — and do it all without cursing and complaining while actually making the deadline on Thursday afternoon. The same goes for producing a weekly column. It just needs the right prompting: 'Write a column in the style of Christian Stephen but make it less grumpy and leave out the dad jokes.' So AI joins the long queue of threats to jobs in the media. And the situation is the same for anything involving creativity. Writing, music, art, architecture — it is all ripe for the artificial treatment. A Damien Hirst spot painting? Too easy. One of those two-minute punk bangers by The Ramones? Be serious! These are just frivolous examples, because the limitless resources of the AI 'machine' mean the real problem for us mere mortals is how to tell the difference between artificial intelligence and genuine stupidity. This is particularly alarming for education. Students have naturally wholeheartedly embraced AI, because it makes researching and writing their assignments so much easier. ChatGPT is there to do the work. So artificial intelligence methods have had to be found for the teachers and lecturers to identify who has been using AI. The various institutions have had to develop policies and procedures to deal with this very modern method of 'cheating'. And just when they think that all the proper measures are in place, along comes a new twist. There are now AI tools designed to humanise artificial intelligence. The assignment written by AI can be filtered to make it seem more 'human'. Not sure whether AI recognises the irony here but the students have to be careful not to put their assignment through the 'humanising' tool too many times. It might just end up being the rambling, badly researched offering they could have achieved without any artificial assistance. It would be helpful if artificial intelligence could tell us whether there are going to be any jobs that are safe from the AI invasion. Or are we all going to end up on the couch idly flipping through the AI-generated offerings on Netflix? Maybe there will be a new season of The Sopranos and we discover what really happened to Tony. But, wait, our disgruntled abuse of the TV remote suddenly brings us to the sports channel. And here is football in all its messy human extremes: outrageous skill, stupid mistakes, boorish fans. Even AI can't replicate Lionel Messi. The only sign of artificial intelligence here is the irritating VAR system. The biggest problem with AI is that it is such an all-encompassing concept but it is not tangible. Where is it? What is it made of? There are some, who obviously haven't embraced AI, who say 'it is all in the cloud', often while gazing heavenwards. I have been reliably informed that this is not where the cloud is. Artificial intelligence lives in the giant servers kept in well-guarded, fortified facilities. This vast repository of information is controlled by those disproportionately small 'chips' that the United States refused to sell to China. This simplistic notion of AI still leaves me with the desire to 'humanise' AI. And this is where that very old-fashioned idea of a robot comes in. Predictably it is the Chinese who have updated this concept with a troupe of humanoid robots performing a dance at a festival. Sport isn't immune either with humanoids taking on humans in a half-marathon. Imagine how inspiring it would be for weary Joburg residents to see an AI-driven robot-repairing robot striding through the city streets fixing the dead robots. Our battered traffic lights would be made theft proof, damage proof and load-shedding proof. Never again would we have to put our lives in the hands of those self-appointed traffic controllers at the busiest intersections whose only claim to authority is a dirty reflective vest worn over their ragged clothes. The robot-fixing robots would probably be so intelligent that they would have plenty of time for a side hustle of filling in the potholes. Brushing aside the question of what the robots do when that little box next to the line 'I am not a robot' comes up online, the most important question for the AI robots to deal with is, of course, what is to be done with all the redundant humans. Once this little issue is solved they could turn to the more difficult problem of ensuring that there is a functioning democracy — but without the pesky politicians.
The Independent
07-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
‘Unmatched' Blondie drummer Clem Burke dies aged 70 after cancer diagnosis
Blondie drummer Clem Burke has died aged 70 after a cancer diagnosis, the band has said. Born in New Jersey, US, Burke featured on all of the Debbie Harry-fronted band's studio albums, from their self-titled debut, through their 1978 classic Parallel Lines, to 2017's Pollinator, after joining the band a year after their formation in 1975. In a statement on Blondie's Instagram, Harry and the band's guitarist Chris Stein said: 'It is with profound sadness that we relay news of the passing of our beloved friend and bandmate Clem Burke following a private battle with cancer. 'Clem was not just a drummer, he was the heartbeat of Blondie. His talent, energy, and passion for music were unmatched, and his contributions to our sound and success are immeasurable. 'Beyond his musicianship, Clem was a source of inspiration both on and off the stage. His vibrant spirit, infectious enthusiasm and rock solid work ethic touched everyone who had the privilege of knowing him. 'Clem's influence extended far beyond Blondie, a self proclaimed 'rock and roll survivalist', he played and collaborated with numerous iconic artists.' Burke played on Iggy Pop's 1982 album Zombie Birdhouse, and also performed with Bob Dylan, The Ramones, The Who guitarist Pete Townshend, and Joan Jett. The statement continued: 'His influence and contributions have spanned decades and genres, leaving an indelible mark on every project he was a part of. 'We extend our deepest condolences to Clem's family, friends, and fans around the world. His legacy will live on through the tremendous amount of music he created and the countless lives he touched. 'As we navigate this profound loss, we ask for privacy during this difficult time. Godspeed, Dr Burke.' Burke made his final live appearance with Blondie last year, and even performed with tribute act Bootleg Blondie in 2019. The drummer performed on classic tracks such as Call Me, Heart Of Glass and One Way Or Another, scoring six UK number one singles and two UK number one albums. Among those paying tribute was Kinks guitarist Dave Davies, who said in a post on X: 'I feel saddened that Clem Burke was taken from us so soon. 'May he rest in peace, spectacular drumming, we were friends.' The band began their career performing at New York's CBGB and Max's Kansas City clubs, which witnessed the birth of a number of pioneering punk bands, including the Patti Smith Group, Television, The Ramones and Talking Heads. During their early days Burke was credited with keeping the band together after original bassist Fred Smith left to join Television, recruiting his friend Gary Valentine to take over. He was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame with his fellow bandmates in 2006.
Yahoo
07-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Unmatched' Blondie drummer Clem Burke dies aged 70 after cancer diagnosis
Blondie drummer Clem Burke has died aged 70 after a cancer diagnosis, the band has said. Born in New Jersey, US, Burke featured on all of the Debbie Harry-fronted band's studio albums, from their self-titled debut, through their 1978 classic Parallel Lines, to 2017's Pollinator, after joining the band a year after their formation in 1975. In a statement on Blondie's Instagram, Harry and the band's guitarist Chris Stein said: 'It is with profound sadness that we relay news of the passing of our beloved friend and bandmate Clem Burke following a private battle with cancer. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Blondie (@blondieofficial) 'Clem was not just a drummer, he was the heartbeat of Blondie. His talent, energy, and passion for music were unmatched, and his contributions to our sound and success are immeasurable. 'Beyond his musicianship, Clem was a source of inspiration both on and off the stage. His vibrant spirit, infectious enthusiasm and rock solid work ethic touched everyone who had the privilege of knowing him. 'Clem's influence extended far beyond Blondie, a self proclaimed 'rock and roll survivalist', he played and collaborated with numerous iconic artists.' Burke played on Iggy Pop's 1982 album Zombie Birdhouse, and also performed with Bob Dylan, The Ramones, The Who guitarist Pete Townshend, and Joan Jett. The statement continued: 'His influence and contributions have spanned decades and genres, leaving an indelible mark on every project he was a part of. 'We extend our deepest condolences to Clem's family, friends, and fans around the world. His legacy will live on through the tremendous amount of music he created and the countless lives he touched. 'As we navigate this profound loss, we ask for privacy during this difficult time. Godspeed, Dr Burke.' Burke made his final live appearance with Blondie last year, and even performed with tribute act Bootleg Blondie in 2019. The drummer performed on classic tracks such as Call Me, Heart Of Glass and One Way Or Another, scoring six UK number one singles and two UK number one albums. Among those paying tribute was Kinks guitarist Dave Davies, who said in a post on X: 'I feel saddened that Clem Burke was taken from us so soon. 'May he rest in peace, spectacular drumming, we were friends.' The band began their career performing at New York's CBGB and Max's Kansas City clubs, which witnessed the birth of a number of pioneering punk bands, including the Patti Smith Group, Television, The Ramones and Talking Heads. During their early days Burke was credited with keeping the band together after original bassist Fred Smith left to join Television, recruiting his friend Gary Valentine to take over. He was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame with his fellow bandmates in 2006.
Yahoo
07-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Blondie drummer Clem Burke dies, aged 70
Clem Burke, the drummer for 1970s new wave band Blondie, has died aged 70 following a "private battle with cancer", the band's spokesperson has confirmed to the BBC. Named one of the greatest drummers of all time by Rolling Stone magazine, his energetic fills and melodic flourishes elevated UK number one hits like Call Me, The Tide Is High, Atomic and Heart Of Glass - with Burke deftly switching between punk, reggae, disco and hip-hop grooves. In a long and varied career, he also played with Iggy Pop, Bob Dylan, The Ramones, Eurythmics and Take That's Mark Owen. "Clem was not just a drummer; he was the heartbeat of Blondie," his bandmates said in a tribute posted on Facebook. "His talent, energy, and passion for music were unmatched, and his contributions to our sound and success are immeasurable," wrote singer Debbie Harry and guitarist Chris Stein. "Beyond his musicianship, Clem was a source of inspiration both on and off the stage. His vibrant spirit, infectious enthusiasm and rock solid work ethic touched everyone who had the privilege of knowing him." Burke was born and raised in New Jersey, and said his earliest memory was "playing my father's kit along to the Four Seasons". He gained experience in marching bands and cover groups, before being recruited for Blondie in 1974. From the start, he envisioned his role as something more than a mere time-keeper. "I always appreciated drummers like Hal Blaine (Phil Spector's go-to session drummer) and Earl Palmer (Little Richard, Fats Domino) who were consummate studio musicians, and had the kind of musicality and versatility that I aspired to," he told Mixdown magazine last year. "I wanted to be able to contribute to the song rather than detract." The band made their name in New York punk clubs such as CBGB, alongside contemporaries such as Talking Heads, Television, and Patti Smith and released their self-titled debut album in 1976. However, it was 1978's Parallel Lines that made them household names, powered by new wave hits like One Way Or Another and the disco grooves of Heart of Glass. Recording the drum track for Heart Of Glass was a torturous experience, however. Producer Mike Chapman wanted to synchronise Burke's playing to a Roland drum machine - an experimental procedure that led to the drummer playing each of his drums individually, then piecing together the rhythm track over the period of a week. By the end of the session, "he was ready to kill me," Chapman later told the Wall Street Journal. When Stein became critically ill in 1982, Blondie disbanded. Burke spent the intervening years playing with US rock band The Romantics, and worked with everyone from Pete Townshend and Joan Jett, to Sex Pistol Steve Jones and The Ramones - for whom he adopted the stage name Elvis Ramone. However, he returned to Blondie when they reformed in 1999, and scored his sixth UK number one single with the anthemic Maria. Speaking to BBC News in 2021, Harry said that having Burke back in the band meant their legacy wouldn't be diluted. "I think a lot of times when bands get back together, they don't have enough of the original musicians," she said. "With Chris and Clem and myself, we had that core, and it really weighed heavily, you know?" The band have continued to perform and record ever since, and played Glastonbury's Pyramid Stage in 2023. Burke also became involved with a years-long study of the physical and psychological effects of drumming. That led to the establishment of the Clem Burke Drumming Project in 2008, whose detailed studies showed that drummers can reach the same physical exertion as professional athletes. As a result, he was given an honorary doctorate by the University of Gloucestershire in 2011. Burke made his last appearance with Blondie at Northern Ireland's Belsonic festival last summer, still wearing his CBGB t-shirt. "His influence and contributions have spanned decades and genres, leaving an indelible mark on every project he was a part of," wrote Harry and Stein on Facebook. "We extend our deepest condolences to Clem's family, friends, and fans around the world. His legacy will live on through the tremendous amount of music he created and the countless lives he touched. "Godspeed, Dr Burke."
