De Ceulaer was interested in using plaster as “an end material,” and not just something used for making moulds. He tested out this approach by filling a balloon with plaster, and ended up with a fairly useless object that had perfectly smooth sides.
Watching this video, I’m reminded of how I felt as a kid when I encountered by first Foucault pendulum: I felt like I could have stood there all day, just to watch time pass by.
“The Overview Effect, first described by author Frank White in 1987, is an experience that transforms astronauts’ perspective of the planet and mankind’s place upon it. Common features of the experience are a feeling of awe for the planet, a profound understanding of the interconnection of all life, and a renewed sense of responsibility for taking care of the environment.”
Living across the street from an auction house, John Maloof ended up purchasing a box full of negatives for $380. From there, he discovered the work of Vivian Maier and began trying to unravel who she was – her history, and her passion for photography.
This is a flashback scene from the 1986 movie Crossroads, starring Ralph Macchio. I remember seeing this movie a few times as a kid, mostly when it was on repeat on HBO. But I recall precious little of the film – beyond the fact that Steve Vai played the “bad” guitar player. It may have been another few years before I learned who Vai was (and before I decided to recreate his guitar in shop class).
Thinking and focusing a lot on contracts lately. And so I’m sharing this, since it’s one of the first things I think about, when considering a wager or gentleman’s agreement. Of course, my first actual thought goes back to Kingsfield’s contract law class, but Brewster’s Millions comes in a close second.
Spotted this better quality video of Apollo Robbins in action, this time working his skills over on some of the Today Show crew. Even though you kind of know what he’s going to be doing, it’s still amazing to see how quickly he moves (and distracts everyone, viewers included, from what he’s actually doing).
Recently acquired by Twitter, Vine lets you use your phone to record up to 6 seconds of video. But the interesting thing is that it doesn’t need to be a continuous six seconds. In fact, a great deal of the enjoyment comes from stitching together numerous shorter moments to tell a larger story. Think of Vine as the animated GIF’s older brother.
Just outside the Aruba Ostrich Farm. We learned that the males have dark feathers, and the females have gray ones. Part of the tour involved an opportunity to walk up and feed the ostriches (using a bowl). We were warned that the ostriches liked shiny objects, and advised to remove jewelery and such.
One of the first things that Robbins ever explained to me was his observation that the eye will follow an object moving in an arc without looking back to its point of origin, but that when an object is moving in a straight line the eye tends to return to the point of origin, the viewer’s attention snapping back as if it were a rubber band.
YouTube user jcltay has a nice video clip, showcasing the NYE fireworks display at Docklands, Melbourne in reverse. It’s got a slow, mesmerizing quality to it, that’s surprisingly satisfying to watch. A bit like watching the sky clean up after itself.
I found this video by C. G. P. Grey on the difference between Holland and the Netherlands pretty darn fantastic. It’s a very non-stop, face-paced kind of video (and reminded me a bit of Jay Smooth in its pace and humor), but does a great job of untangling the common mistakes people make about the Netherlands (the country) and its Provinces (North Holland and South Holland, in particular).
Looking at this again, after nearly 6 years… it’s a shame the quality is so terrible. I doubt this video means all that much to anyone else, but it’s a lot of fun for me to watch it in one go… seeing all the various events and things I experienced. Surprising to me how many things are actually documented somewhere, on the blog.
This is a lovely time-lapse video of a boat carrying a ton of shipping containers, trekking from Honolulu to Long Beach over the course of 35 days.
Spotted this on BoingBoing at it absolutely blew me away. Watching and listening to this thing move leaves me in awe, to say nothing of the machine’s age.