After pwning the exam booklet I shimmied around the invigilator like a boss!
Because that’s how I roll.
“Okay to call tonight’s Full Moon “super”, but only if you would call a 13-inch pizza “super” compared with a 12-inch pizza. The perennially hyped name “Super Moon” insults the legacy of Superman, Super Volcanoes, Supernovae, and even Super Mario. FYI: Moon’s orbit around Earth is oval. Distance varies by about 10%. When Moon is Full & “close”, some call it the Super Moon.” ~ Neil deGrasse Tyson
•June 23, 2013 • Leave a CommentHa! Not only is Neil deGrasse Tyson smart he also packs a sense of (outspoken) attitude. You may recognize the man from his cameo appearance on The Big Bang Theory:
FUN FACTS: Astrophysicist and science communicator Neil DeGrasse Tyson called out Titanic and Prometheus for their astronomical inaccuracies and sketchy science:
That’s right, as Tyson points out, half a billion miles from Earth would only put you just past Jupiter. In reality, a single light year equates to 5.88 trillion miles, not billion. So 35 light years would have put the crew some 205.8 trillion miles away from the Earth. Well past Jupiter, and well outside of our solar system. Yeah, tell that writer what’s what!
Also, a few billion years before that happened; to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the ocean liner Titanic on April 15, 1912, James Cameron re-released a 3D presentation version of his epic 1997 film, only he made one noteworthy adjustment, thanks to Tyson — which may impress any continuity buffs or closet astronomers out there. Tyson criticized the point in the film when Rose is lying on the piece of driftwood and staring up at the stars, saying that the star field Rose sees was incorrect:
“Worse than that, it was not only the wrong sky; the left-half of the sky was a mirror reflection of the right-half of the sky! It was not only wrong, it was lazy! And I’m thinking, this is wrong.” ~ Neil deGrasse Tyson
And here is how James Cameron addressed Tyson’s criticism:
“All right, you son of a bitch, send me the right stars for the exact time, 4:20 a.m. on April 15, 1912, and I’ll put it in the movie.” ~ James Cameron
Perfectionists! You can’t complain with scientific logic though. Astrophysicists need escapism too I guess, so let’s all make sure our calculations are pinpoint accurate.
Supermoon Tonight
•June 23, 2013 • Leave a CommentLook up tonight around 5pm and you’ll notice the moon is much bigger and brighter than usual. In fact, it is the biggest moon we’ll see this year:
Thanks Stardome.
Second Exam Terminated!
•June 21, 2013 • Leave a CommentBefore Exam
During Exam
After Exam
Uhh, That’s All Folks
“LA FWAY” (A Lip Reading of Beyoncé so Bad that it is oh so Good)
•June 20, 2013 • Leave a CommentHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
No Doubt “Push And Shove” ft. Busy Signal & Major Lazer [♬]
•June 19, 2013 • Leave a CommentI’ve always been a fan of No Doubt, so while compiling a study playlist today, I kept wanting to listen to this track over and over again — I may have gotten more study out-of-the-way if I wasn’t grooving so much, hmmm — totally digging the massive chorus:
No Doubt have a great ska sound and are one of the coolest bands on the planet in my (biased) opinion. Formed in 1986, the band lineup consists of mostly parents now which adds to their charm and all-round coolness. Although I never got into Gwen’s solo material, I’m glad her and the original gang are back together.
Push and Shove is the band’s much anticipated sixth studio album since Rock Steady in 2001. Not their most energetic album, but a damn-well-accomplished comeback.
Magnificent Supercell captured by Wedding Photographer Mike Olbinski [time-lapse]
•June 18, 2013 • Leave a CommentA supercell is a thunderstorm with a persistently rotating updraft. ~ Wikipedia
After four years of trying, Arizona photographer and storm chaser Mike Olbinski, with the help of his friend Andy Hoeland, finally captured what he was searching for — an incredible supercell: (you should full-screen it)
“The timelapse was shot on a Canon 5D Mark II with a Rokinon 14mm 2.8 lens. It’s broken up into four parts. The first section ends because it started pouring on us”
First three clips were at 1-second intervals = 880ish photos. The last sequence was around 90, 5-second exposures. Music by Kevin MacLeod – incompetech.com/
“It took four years but I finally got it. A rotating supercell. And not just a rotating supercell, but one with insane structure and amazing movement.
I’ve been visiting the Central Plains since 2010. Usually it’s just for a day, or three, or two…but it took until the fourth attempt to actually find what I’d been looking for. And boy did we find it.
No, there was no tornado. But that’s not really what I was after. I’m from Arizona. We don’t get structure like this. Clouds that rotate and look like alien spacecraft hanging over the Earth.
We chased this storm from the wrong side (north) and it took us going through hail and torrential rains to burst through on the south side. And when we did…this monster cloud was hanging over Texas and rotating like something out of Close Encounters.
One thing to note early on in the first part is the way the rain is coming down on the right and actually being sucked back into the rotation. Amazing.
A few miles south is where part two picks up. And I didn’t realize how fast it was moving south, so part three is just me panning the camera to the left. During that third part you can see dust along the cornfield being pulled into the storm as well…part of the strong inflow.
The final part is when the storm had started dying out and we shot lightning as it passed over us.
Between the third and fourth portions we drove through Booker, Texas where tornado sirens were going off…it was creepy as all heck. And intense.
I hope you enjoy this. Once thing I’ve learned about timelapsing is that I always wish it would be longer or wouldn’t end. I wish I had been south and been able to record this storm come at me for 45 minutes.
But I love it the way it is. I wasn’t ever certain I’d see structure like this even though it’s been such a goal of mine. But we did it. … And by we, I mean myself and my buddy Andy Hoeland.” ~ Mike Olbinski
Amazing.
The Delivery Prank
•June 13, 2013 • Leave a CommentI’m not usually a fan of pranks because not everyone has a tasteful sense of humor. Most unfunny people tend to think that pranks must involve some sort of violent scenario or someone getting hurt, which is not cool. This prank made me laugh:
The Mastery of Anime Backgrounds [new site]
•June 10, 2013 • 1 Comment
Japanese animation is called anime, which is the abbreviated pronunciation of “animation” in Japanese (of course), and unlike western animation, themes in anime can range from ultra cute and colourful to explicitly disturbing, dark and/or philosophical. Themes vary depending on the context of the narrative which is why anime is so diverse and forever expanding and contesting the conventions of animation — the Japanese know how to tell a great story and aren’t necessarily bound to adhere to western standards.
Anime background artists are dedicated to their craft, and much of their details don’t even get acknowledged fully; just look at the amount of TLC that went into these backgrounds and know that some of these are only getting less than five seconds worth of screen-time! That’s devotion for you, literally. One Tumblr user has set out to give credit where credit is due by displaying photos of anime backgrounds with the main characters digitally omitted, so we can all marvel at their textural splendor. A neat idea I think. Not every anime TV-series or film is great (there are a hell of a lot of duds out there), but some animes are masterpieces in their own right:
Akira. Directed by Katsuhiro Otomo
Created by Tatsunoko Production, TMS Entertainment.
Paprika. Co-written and directed by the late Satoshi Kon. Created by Madhouse.
Magnetic Rose, from Memories. Directed by Kōji Morimoto and animated by Studio 4°C
Script by noted anime director Satoshi Kon, based on a story by Katsuhiro Otomo.
Metropolis. Loosely based on the 1949 Metropolis manga by the late Osamu Tezuka.
The anime had an all-star production team, including renowned anime director Rintaro, Akira creator Katsuhiro Otomo as script writer, and animation by Madhouse Studios with conceptual support from Tezuka Productions.
Tales From Eathsea. Directed by Gorō Miyazaki and produced by Studio Ghibli.
Psycho Pass. Directed by Naoyoshi Shiotani — Created by Production I.G.
The Wolf Children Ame and Yuki. Directed by Mamoru Hosoda
Created by Studio Chizu and Madhouse.
Another. Directed by Tsutomu Mizushima. Created by P.A. Works. – 06
Ghost in the Shell. Directed by Mamoru Oshii — Created by Production I.G
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