sundance

Esteban Diácono’s astounding dancing smoke

Using “Adobe After Effects, particular v2, soundkeys and a little starglow,” Esteban Diácono created this piece to the music of Olafur Arnalds’ “Ljósið” which can be found at foundsongs.erasedtapes.com. This stunning motion graphics work has now become the official video for the song. Integrated with the graphics work are inspirational quotes from the likes of [...]

The Dutch are coming

400 years ago Henry Hudson sailed from Amsterdam to NY in an effort to find the Northwest Passage. While that pursuit didn’t turn out so well for him, he did manage to introduce the first Dutch colonizers to the US. To commemorate that journey, the Dutch are back this weekend and next weekend only to host The New Island Festival, a great big crazy party on Governors Island. A $35 Dutch passport gets you access to hundreds of happenings like watching Helena 105, a Dutch cow, jump through a hoop, or the Hudson Waterwalk, a stroll across the river in a giant, inflatable ball.

Shelley Short, “A Cave, A Canoo”

The house in Portland where Shelley Short grew up was filled with old instruments. Her mom played the flute, her father the guitar. She spent her childhood staying up late singing with her family, “listening to amazing records, chopping wood and keeping warm by it during the winters, playing dominoes and listening to Jimmie Rodgers for the first time while water from the leaky roof dripped into a bucket.” In a word, the perfect place to listen to her upcoming album “A Cave, A Canoo,” (Hush Records) out October 13.

ASIA EXTREME: By The Time You Read This, Takashi Miike Will Have Completed Another Film

Though not quite a household name, prolific auteur Takashi Miike has made quite a splash outside of his native Japan, both within the fanboy community as well as the cinephile set. Then again, when you’ve completed nearly eighty films in only eighteen years, you’re bound to get recognized.

Snap your fingers to THE CAT PIANO

The Cat Piano from PRA on Vimeo. Winner of numerous awards and the latest from an innovative Australian studio, The People’s Republic of Animation, THE CAT PIANO is a beautifully animated short that blends Jack Kerouac-inspired beat poetry with the romantic and haunting poems of Edgar Allen Poe. It is directed by Eddie White and [...]

Obama Administration Releases Chesapeake Bay Restoration Plans

WASHINGTON, DC, September 10, 2009 (ENS) – The federal government is getting serious about solving the stubborn problem of cleaning up the polluted Chesapeake Bay and restoring the nation’s largest estuary to health. In 2008, after 20 years of restoration efforts, Chesapeake Bay water quality was rated “very poor,” with only 21 percent of the [...]

New York City Gets $220 Million Clean Water Stimulus Grant

The City of New York will receive $220 million in Recovery Act funding for water infrastructure improvements via the Clean Water State Revolving Fund.

100 famous guitar riffs

A guitar instructor put together this video of himself playing 100 famous guitar riffs, one after another in one take. A list of all the songs can be found at his website here. It’s pretty cool, but it reminds me of someone with ADHD left in charge of selecting a song. [Via]

House OKs R&D Funding For Wind Power, Heavy-Duty Hybrid Trucks

The House of Representatives Wednesday voted to pass two bills that will advance research and development of more efficient wind turbines and heavy duty hybrid trucks.

10 good reasons why women have sex

It seems like everyone right now is talking about that new book Why Women Have Sex, by Cindy Meston and David Buss. Apparently lots of women reported having sex to keep the peace, to stave off boredom, to relieve a headache, or to get their husbands to take out the trash (oh, yeah, and occasionally [...]

Green tech finds (9/11/09)

Tree-power and homemade submarines… all that and more in your green tech finds for the week.

• Google… the solar company?: The company announced on Wednesday that it’s “working to develop its own new mirror technology that could reduce the cost of building solar thermal plants by a quarter or more.”
  
  
• Wind power from the air conditioner: Renewable energy company EarthSure has announced its WindAir system, which is designed to “[transform] the exhausted air flow from central air conditioning units into a source of renewable, clean energy.”
  
  

Al Franken’s mapping party trick

I was blown away by this video of Senator Al Franken freehand drawing from memory a relatively detailed map of the United States and all 50 states recently at the Minnesota State Fair. Gawker poured its predictably snarky haterade over this party trick by calling it a “two-decade old joke” because Al Franken has done [...]

Brooklyn Book Festival

Without flair or pomp, without digital or electronic exhibitions, without special guest DJ’s or celebrity spokespersons is the very refreshing annual Brooklyn Book Festival. This Sunday Brooklyn Borough Hall will be dedicated to all things literary, all day long. This means lectures, and lots of them, many without visual aids (gasp). The day kicks off [...]

New outfit for Mary Jane

The discourse around the legalization of marijuana has moved from away from the fringe lately. The public is increasingly in favor of legalizing pot, and even veteran police officers bluntly argue in The Washington Post that a smarter drug policy would actually help protect cops as well, as it “would quickly eliminate the greatest threat [...]

Build-On, old structures get a new life

When a structure breaks down in many parts of Africa (mud and straw don’t last forever), the inhabitants build a new one nearby without tearing the old one down or making use of its parts. In Las Vegas, casinos only a decade old are imploded to make way for something bigger, grander and most importantly, new. Everyone has their own methods, but, in general, they all involve too much waste. What if there was a way we could update and reuse old buildings, “bringing new life and function to existing structures?”

Crayon Portraits

The artist Christian Faur has assembled more than one hundred thousand hand cast crayons to create dramatic and beautiful portraits and landscapes. But his art is not drawn with crayons, but rather made from them, standing point up, vertically. He states “My earliest memories of making art involve the use of wax crayons. I can [...]

Olde time mugshots

Even the passage of nearly a century of time doesn’t keep your embarrassing mugshots hidden from the all seeing eye of The Smoking Gun. Here are some mugshots of hooligans from 1903. [Via]

Hitler as the face of AIDS

A new AIDS awareness-commercial, released last week online in Germany, uses a strong and familiar image to give a face to the AIDS virus. Adolf Hitler appears as a woman’s lover in the spot that reads “AIDS is a mass murderer.” It’s a ballsy move, that the organization Rainbow is willing to take.  Jan Schwertner, [...]

Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis

Between Two Ferns With Zach Galifianakis from Between Two Ferns Zach Galifianakis is one of those weirdo comedians you either love or you hate. We love him, mostly for his entirely inappropriate sexual humor. So if you haven’t checked out his Funny or Die series, “Between Two Ferns”, we recommend you blow off work for [...]

Human beat box laboratory

Disembodied heads replace the traditional turntables and drumset in this awesome must-watch video by beatbox crew Neurosonics Audiomedical Laboratory. The production quality is remarkable. It’ll turn your head!! Neurosonics Audiomedical Labs Inc. from Chris Cairns on Vimeo.

I love Elvis … Mitchell

I’m in my hometown of Cave Creek, Arizona prepping a short film, and since my parents have internet service dating back to the dial-up Pleistocene, I’ve been seeking alternative media outlets. (A shock to one’s internet-addicted system, for sure.)

One pure joy, and happily corresponding with my immediate need to don the director’s hat, is listening to Elvis Mitchell’s radio show on movies, popular art and entertainment, “The Treatment” on KCRW.com. I’m listening to pod casts of show after show after show, walking the rural desert streets, watching big trucks with horse trailers fly past me … and fast. Elvis’s soft voice in my ear, guiding me through ways in which to think about contemporary movie making, is the perfect companion on the road.

FULL FRONTAL FASHION blog launch!

Announcing the launch of FULL FRONTAL FASHION, an all new style destination offering insider access to the highly creative world of contemporary fashion. Meet the designers, influencers, artists and trends at the forefront of international style and glamor. FULL FRONTAL FASHION will unveil the craft, creativity and passion of the most authentic artists working in, [...]

Rare footage of Picasso painting

From the man who once said, “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist after growing up,” a little bit of art history comes to life in these videos of a fashionably attired Pablo Picasso effortlessly painting. The footage remind me of Picasso’s ephemeral light drawings he created when LIFE [...]

How sexy is your city?

Ever wonder how sexy your city is? Well, if you’re based in the UK, you have a chance to find out: UK sex toy retailer LoveHoney has created the UK Sex Map, which uses data on sex-related spending to determine just how sexy different townships are. For example: the people of red hot Upminster spends [...]

Personal private space guard

Previously we discussed a neat umbrella that was designed for politely maneuvering through crowded city streets. Well, here’s a wearable device, the Personal Space Protector designed by Vivian Puxian that lets you maintain your personal private space. The New York Post test wore it through crowded Times Square. The piece is also flexible so you [...]