Geophone (musical instrument) Geophone (musical instrument) The geophone is a percussion instrument, invented by the French composer Olivier Messiaen for use in his large composition for piano and orchestra entitled "Des canyons aux étoiles…" ("From the canyons to the stars…"). It consists of a drum filled with thousands of small lead pellets, and is played by swirling it around slowly so that the noise of the pellets resembles the sound of dry shifting earth. Messiaen commissioned a Parisian instrument maker to construct one to his design, and he carried this instrument worldwide to early performances of the piece (which was given its first
Flim Flam (horse) Flim Flam (horse) Flim Flam (March 27, 1987–October 28, 2004) was a Hanoverian dressage horse who, along with rider Sue Blinks, competed for the United States at the 2000 Olympics. The pair was eighth in the individual competition and was part of the bronze medal-winning US team. Flim Flam was sired by the stallion Wilhelm Tell I, out of the mare, Cilia. Flim Flam was foaled in 1987, out of Cilia and by Wilhelm Tell I. He was a dark bay who stood at maturity. Flim Flam began training with rider Sue Blinks at two and a half years old.