Now that my current degree is complete, it’s time to go back to this blog. I’ll be moving it shortly to a new home, but for now I’ll keep posting here.
This video crossed my feed yesterday, on the 72nd anniversary of D-Day. I think it’s right and proper to recall all the costs that we paid for “the “War to End All Wars” that wasn’t.
I’ll let the video speak for itself. It has plenty to say, and as they say, a picture’s worth a thousand words.
Comments closedI had hoped to find this piece for today’s entry, but when I looked yesterday, it wasn’t where I expected to see it. Today, magically, I could find the film, but be warned – it’s likely to go away again, so see it while you can.
How does Mr. Hublot fit into Spiritual Sunday? I’ll leave that as an exercise for the viewer. All I know is it touched my heart. Would have been my choice, if I’d been allowed to vote. (Yes, Get a Horse! was awesome, but while it was funny and technically spectacular, it wasn’t moving.)
Unfortunately, the full version of the video is gone from YouTube. You can find more by going to this link to the official site.
Comments closedI featured Smarter Every Day last week, and I’ll do it again throughout this year, because I think their stuff is really nifty. This piece just happens to be cogent, considering the Winter Olympics.
So how does this stuff actually work, with ice? Haven’t you wondered? I know I have.
Check it out!
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=&w=560&h=315]
First off, no actual cats were harmed during this filming. Saying that right now.
I love this – and the very patient cat who helped make it. Not all cats can do this, but if they can, now you know how. Sort of. Cool, huh? That’s SCIENCE!
Comments closedHere are three clips that show what love looks like, though they’re not what you might think that at first. Oh, sure, there’s chocolates and hearts and stuff, but when the chocolates are gone and the cards disappear, it’s the thought that really counts.
First, a tip of the hat to the Seattle Seahawks for what sounded like a well-deserved rout, comes this fan-tastic clip that shows super fan Sophie Ayers receiving a gift from her favorite running back Thomas Rawls and how connected we are to our favorite people, and how awesome some of them can be in return. [The whole meeting was up on YouTube but is now gone. –BMD]
Second, a clip that shows our hearts can connect across species just as easily, as long as we remember that respect is a gift we can share with everyone, whether on two legs or four.
Finally, yes, there was a Coke commercial in the news. This isn’t it. Not because it’s not appropriate, but because I already featured it elsewhere. This one is more about the levels and depth of love. Yeah, it’s a commercial. That’s not the point.
Comments closedTime for some science-y stuff, as I contemplate what I’m going to do with two different classes in media production.
As info: 24 frames per second (FPS) is the normal film rate. You must string together 24 still shots (the number of images that must flow together), each of which contains miniscule changes between each frame or pair of frames, to represent a single second of motion film or video or what we think of as moving pictures.
To produce slow motion, you have to increase the fps ratio, and you can achieve this effect in a variety of ways, as described in Wikipedia’s relatively simple terms.
If you want to explore how something works, one way to do it is to slow the motion down, so you can study the effects. That’s what Earth Unplugged does in its Slo Mo videos. Watch for more of these over the course of the year.
Comments closedAnd we’re back with Lizzie Mae, once again, as she tackles the question of Abolition from her own unique perspective.
We’re entering Black History Month in short order. I figure some reminding is in order, while we remember why slavery’s end and equal rights are important.
Remember: The questions are real (and shameful). The names have been changed to protect the guilty.
Comments closedOn some Sunday mornings, I forget (sort of on purpose) to turn off my alarm so I can tune in to Krista Tippett’s morning meditation. The show, which used to be called Speaking of Faith and is now On Being, has made my Unitarian Universalist exploration of life a lot more interesting over time.
I was wondering whether to post one of the video links I have stored up for Sunday, but I thought I’d wander off for a little inspiration and it didn’t take me long to discover this blog post. I remembered seeing the commercial when it made the rounds a few years ago, but apparently that predated my blog because it’s not included in last year’s entries, though I can’t imagine why.
So, with that hat tip, here’s some stunning beauty for your Sunday.
To see a little of what went into the production of this commercial, watch this:
Comments closedKids, don’t try this at home. For that matter, the same goes for adults.
For those who object to the destruction of the colony, let me just say that fire ants are an invasive species. Wikipedia has this to say about the ones infesting the southern US:
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) estimates more than US$5 billion is spent annually on medical treatment, damage, and control in RIFA-infested areas. Further, the ants cause approximately US$750 million in damage to agricultural assets, including veterinary bills and livestock loss, as well as crop loss.[44]
On the whole, I’d rather see art than poison as a result of their eradication. Considering over 23 million viewers have watched (fascinated? horrified?), there must be something to the method in this madness.
1 CommentIn 1992, the film Mona Lisa Descending a Staircase won five awards for Best Animated Film, including the 1993 Oscar. The piece, animated using the blended clay technique, features highlights from the works of 35 artists, including Munch, Kahlo, Dali, Warhol, Picasso, Magritte and more.
I feel I should add a trigger warning – literal – as the Roy Lichtenstein includes a gun and I know several people on my flist are likely to need the heads up.
Art is on my mind tonight, as are the Academy Awards. It’s interesting how we define works as award-worthy, and how few of us actually receive the recognition we deserve, simply because of exposure. Sometimes it’s about luck. Sometimes it’s about quality. Occasionally, the two merge together and those who create the art get the recognition they deserve. It happens, all too infrequently.
The DAS Film Festival (which published the video) says this about its purpose:
Each month we’ll be webcasting a short film from 2-20 minutes long that relates in some way to Design, Architecture or Sustainability. And I have a feeling we’ll find common ground with art and science as well. In fact, I hope, over time, the films taken together will offer a kind of serendipity that is not always present in the on-line world. The design blog will have a similar spirit of curiosity.
Their goals aren’t that far away from mine. I just prefer a broader canvas on which to paint my portrait of the world.
Comments closedOriginally posted on December 5, 2012, this short video hasn’t gotten nearly enough air time, and I think it’s important enough that I’m gong to share it under History. Today’s history lesson comes from Fred Glass for the California Federation of Teachers, narrated by Ed Asner (of Lou Grant and Mary Tyler Moore Show fame, among others).
The perils of a tax-free society have made the rounds recently, as the Tea Party fights harder than ever for deregulation and tries to shelter ever increasing amounts of funding from social programs. The cost is already profound, but it’s going to get a lot worse if we don’t find way to loosen the grip of Corporate America.
Sorry – in a soapbox-y mood this week!
Comments closedThere are seven or eight versions of this song running around YouTube, but while this one has fewer hits than the most popular version, this one has the clearest message. It is political commentary at its finest, a folk song as relevant today as it was in 1966, when the album Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme was originally released.
I dare anyone to listen to the lyrics and not be moved.
How different in our times, when we can exchange Aurora and Sandy Hook for Richard Speck, Cory Monteith and Paul Walker and for Lenny Bruce, Abu Ghraib and Afghanistan for Vietnam and more?
When I say we still have a long way to go, this is precisely what I mean.
Silent Night, indeed.
Comments closed