The Slant (band)

The Slant was an experimental, psychedelic, indie, alternative, folk/rock music group based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The group has received favorable reviews from National Public Radio and various other media outlets. The Slant used traditional and non-traditional instruments as well as various sounds produced by objects not typically classified as instruments. These sounds can include desks, doors, suitcases, drawers, nails on chalkboard, cigarboxes, pages fluttering, TV static, forks, hammering of nails, amp pops, firebells, vacuum cleaners, and stairwells.

History

The band had five members - Brad Austin, Zach Dow, Adam Dow, and Mark Zedonek of Coudersport, Pennsylvania, and Andre Costello of Ellwood City, Pennsylvania. Formed in 2007, the group has performed in and throughout the eastern United States. Live shows are energetic and feature variations of recorded material and an occasional joke or two.

After being featured on National Public Radio, the group recorded The Makings of This House (released in 2009) and has performed with artists and groups including Blind Pilot, Nicholas Megalis, Paleface, Megafaun, Sybris, and many others*. The Slant performed annually at the Austin Dam Show: a grassroots folk festival held in Austin, Pennsylvania at the site of the historic Austin Dam tragedy. Additionally, the group has worked with Advanced Alternative Media with The Makings of This House, reaching new college-age fans across the United States.

The Slant

The Slant is the humor and satire magazine of Vanderbilt University. Founded in 2000, it is a member of Vanderbilt Student Communications. Originally published only online, The Slant publishes a new print edition biweekly during the school year. The magazine distributes approximately 60,000 total copies on campus throughout the year.

Pranks

The magazine's content and staff pranks have often led to controversy at Vanderbilt.

On March 11, 2003, The Slant ran a complete mock-up of The Vanderbilt Hustler entitled The Vanderbilt Huslter, with the headline "GEE DEAD," referring to then-Vanderbilt Chancellor Gordon Gee. The hoax received some attention from national media, including an appearance on the Drudge Report. Gee's office responded to the hoax by releasing a photo of him holding a copy of the fake issue (with Gee smiling). Despite Gee's good humor about the prank, the ensuing controversy led to the removal of The Slant's editor-in-chief from his post for inappropriately expropriating the Hustler's news racks in violation of Vanderbilt Student Communications regulations. Gee discussed the hoax in his 2003 commencement speech and even Laura Bush mentioned the prank in her commencement speech in 2006.

Slant

Slant can refer to:

Slant (route)

A slant route is a pattern run by a receiver in American football, where the receiver runs up the field at approximately a 45-degree angle, heading to the gap between the linebackers and the linemen. Usually, the pass is used when the corner or nickelback are playing farther away from the receiver, so a quick pass is able to be completed before the defender has time to try to break up the pass. The pass is used frequently in the West Coast system, where quick, accurate throwing is key. This route is most commonly used to exploit the cover 2 defense. Usually throwing in the seam between the safety and the cornerback is the key to getting a completion using this route.

Slant (handwriting)

Slant is the predominant angle of the downward stroke in Western handwriting. A good basis for its estimation is the point of the handwritten curve where the velocity has its peak value in the downward stroke. The polar distribution of the running angle along a handwritten trajectory is another good method for estimating the slant angle. Left-handed writing is often accompanied by a slant value which is larger than 90 degrees, i.e., it is bent backwards, to the left.

In Graphology slant can refer to either upstroke or downstroke values. These strokes can made in the upper, middle, lower, or any combination of those zones.

In handwriting recognition, an affine transformation can be used to normalize handwritten input towards a population average or towards 90 degrees.

See also