YouTuber Clint Blevins managed to take an up close and slow-motion shot of a lightning bolt hitting the ocean along a beach. The brunt of the strike looks like a rip in space and time (@ 0:10; press 5 to repeat).
Bruce Shapiro’s Kinetic Sand Drawing Machines
•June 16, 2015 • Leave a Comment
In a 21st century take on the traditional Zen sand garden, artist Bruce Shapiro invented the Sisyphus Machine, an elaborate kinetic drawing machine that uses magnets to drag rolling steel marbles through a thin layer of sand to create complicated mandala-like patterns.
It also appears that the artist is currently working on a tabletop consumer version and if you’re interested you can sign up for his mailing list here.
Shapiro, who was once a practicing physician, has spent the better part of 25 years experimenting with computerized motion control and many of his Sisyphus Machines have been installed in locations around the world including a large device in Switzerland back in 2003 and at Questacon in Canberra, Australia in 2013.
R.I.P. Sir Christopher Lee 1922 ~ 2015
•June 13, 2015 • Leave a CommentScreen legend Sir Christopher Lee has passed away at the age of 93. The Telegraph reports he died in hospital as a result of “respiratory problems”.
Possession at first sight; my introduction to Sir Christopher Lee came in the form of British classic Hammer Horror films, which are still, and always will be, great.
Tired of playing Dracula and feeling that the movies had gotten sub-par, Lee tried to quit Hammer films, but studio executives guilted him into returning by stressing how many people could be out of work if Lee stopped churning out hits. Lee agreed to star in 1966 Dracula: Prince of Darkness, he felt the script was so awful he adamantly refused to say any of the dialogue. Hammer decided that it was far more important to have a mute Lee as star as opposed to anyone else, and thus had Dracula hiss and yell through the film.
In addition to his impossibly prolific film career, Lee was a world champion fencer, an opera singer, spoke six languages, was an intelligence officer for the Long Range Desert Patrol, a forerunner of the SAS, Britain’s special forces — He fought the Nazis (before he was even 25 years old), he released his first full heavy metal album in 2010 at the age of 88, titled Charlemagne: By the Sword and the Cross, which won the “Spirit of Metal” award from the 2010 Metal Hammer Golden Gods ceremony; Lee followed that up with a metal Christmas album in 2012, making him the oldest metal performer, and the oldest musician to ever hit the Billboard music charts; and last but not least: despite everything you’ve heard about the “six degrees of Kevin Bacon,” Christopher Lee was recognized as being the most connected actor in the world in 2008, by Guinness — He connects to virtually any actor in 2.59 steps, beating Bacon. Sir Christopher Lee truly is a screen legend by all accounts of the term. May thou eternal slumber be peaceful.
German Director Uwe Boll Hates Kickstarter & Hollywood
•June 11, 2015 • Leave a CommentIf you aren’t familiar with Uwe Boll, well…good for you. Seriously, you should ignore this post, because this man may trigger your disdain for humanity and storytellers in general.
The story is, basically, Uwe Boll is still making awful movies. How? Well, that’s the frustrating mystery that has been on everyone’s minds for a long time now. German tax exempts had something to do with it, but now, fortunately, that has changed (no more shitty game adaptations). However, recently Uwe Boll took to crowdfunding his projects via Kickstarter, only that venture did not reach the target amount of money Uwe Boll had hoped for, so instead of trudging onward and making a movie with what he has, Mr. Boll went on a rant and bitched against the people who didn’t support him (you), people who pay to see Hollywood movies at the theaters (you), the people who referred him to use Kickstarter as a means to generate money in the first place (his own fans), and all foreign film investors, which basically means his career in movie-making and distribution may be in jeopardy of ending (finally). But let’s hear this straight from the horse’s mouth:
This guy. I had no idea he had a YouTube Vlog channel, and it is exactly what I expected from him. My goodness Uwe Boll, I don’t know how to put this into words…I love, to hate you. The love comes from the fact that you have the means to make movies and I admire that, the hate is from, well, it scares me that you even have a platform to do so, because you suck at it. If your movies were remotely good you might be one of my favourite directors of all time, but they are not. And you hate game developers, which is crazy! Biting the hand that feeds and all. I know what it is; you are an enigma, in the system, which is interesting because technically no one knows how it is that you are so bad at making movies and incapable of learning anything new. If it’s money you want, wouldn’t making something good yield greater rewards? Uwe Boll…I cant even!
I advise that no one wastes their time watching his terrible movies, but watch the video below to get a grasp of the man who makes them, and maybe you’ll understand the complexity of my love hate relationship with this frustration inducing, profane personality:
Minus the racism, he may have a point or two, but his message is lost in his heated delivery, naive as it comes. I suspect Uwe either went bankrupt or he just learnt that no one, not one person, wants his movies. Or maybe this is what Uwe Boll is and was always about — hubris.
Metric “Cascades” [♬]
•June 8, 2015 • Leave a CommentFrom their forthcoming album ‘Pagans In Vegas’, set for release September 18, 2015.
KUNG FURY — The Best 80s Movie Of 2015 [short film]
•June 5, 2015 • Leave a Comment
Let me just spitball a few elements that make Kung Fury the unique, crazy, nonsense filled, over-the-top 80’s action comedy film that it is; giant laser firing arcade machines, robots, dinosaurs, laser-raptors, bikini-clad vikings, Thor, time-traveling Adolf “Kung Führer” Hitler, awesome explosions, cheesy one-liners, and a renegade kung-fu Miami Police Department detective who was once struck by lightning and bitten by a cobra at the same time! See, nonsense…Glorious, glorious nonsense. Written & directed & acted by David Sandberg — prepare to have your mind blown into smithereens:
“Tank you.” ʱªʱªʱª Hilarious af! The Kung Fury Kickstarter campaign that was launched in December 2013 was backed by more than 17,000 people who together gave more than $630,000. The makers put that money to good use, creating supplement material such as t-shirts, a music video, an album, Hackerman tutorial vlog, and a tie-in video game. It was also mentioned that if they manage to raise one million dollars they will produce a feature length film, and considering the official video received 3 million views on YouTube in less than 24 hours upon its upload, it could happen. Fingers crossed.
Kung Fury: Street Rage is available @ APP STORE: http://apple.co/1ESIezv GOOGLE PLAY: http://bit.ly/1FYoK3n STEAM: http://bit.ly/1ciHyMM WINSTORE: http://bit.ly/1PZJHQk
Obviously not to everyone’s taste, but if you need more Kung Fury, see this; badassery from none other than 80’s icon David Hasselhoff, “True Survivor” the official music video:
Fallout 4 ˖ ҉*`╰(≧∇≦)╯´*҉ ˖⋆
•June 4, 2015 • Leave a Comment
This will be epic. The first official trailer for the next game in the Fallout franchise, touting the most impressive environments of any game yet in the series. Fallout 4 — the next generation of open-world gaming from the award-winning creators of Fallout 3 and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Bethesda Game Studios — looks splendid:
How the heck am I expected to hold a job now!?
Jungle Animals Reacting to Their Own Reflections
•June 3, 2015 • Leave a CommentA French psychoanalyst and psychiatrist by the name of Jacques Lacan wrote extensively on the nature of self-awareness due to an integral stage of development he called the mirror stage; that time of an infant’s life when they recognize themselves in a mirror reflection. I am curious about this idea of ‘the mirror stage’ but can the same thing be said for wild animals in their natural habitat past infancy? Regardless of that psychoanalytic theory, the animals seen in the video below do seem to react rather curiously when face to face with their own reflection, as this charming video has captured:
Innovative French photographer Xavier Hubert Brierre travelled to Gabon with his wife and set up a mirror in several locations in order to capture animals walking by. The results are stunning…
😇 The Messengers
•June 2, 2015 • Leave a CommentSpent the better half of my weekend writing and binge watching a television show called “The Messengers“. I stumbled across it by accident, got curious, watched the first two episodes, had to finish the series. I like it. Finished episode seven and thought that was the end of the season, but I just discovered that this series is quite new and the next episode airs this coming Friday! It isn’t often that I engage with a new television series, unfortunately I also discovered, the CW Television Network responsible for the show decided to cancel season 2 after only three episodes were broadcast. Possibly due to low ratings. So yes, I am gutted I may not see how the story unfolds and concludes.
The story has me rooting for a seemingly extraneous cast of characters and their dysfunctional methods of tracking down and stopping the ones who are destined to descend into wickedness, thus becoming one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse and bringing about the end of the world as we know it, should intervention fail. The premise centers on a few unique individuals who are in no way wholly religious, but have each been given a godly gift and task, as a preemptive measure to prove to God that people are capable of saving themselves and are worth salvation.
One geographical discrepancy within the world of the show, I think, is how come most of all of this is happening in and around Houston Texas? I would also like to see some stories where the messengers use their gifts to help people who aren’t cannon — more general helping people in the background. But other than that, I have been impressed by the execution of controversial subject matter, all the actors’ performances, casting in general really, the amount of real-world locations and the sparring use of special effects. “The Messengers” is what you would expect of a show subverting generalized ideas of good versus evil, but it is all well executed, high-concept entertainment and I say I like it, so yeah, I like to think I have good taste. …Sometimes. You trust me right?
A mysterious object crashes on earth and a group of unconnected strangers die from an energy pulse it emits, but then re-awaken to find out that they have been deemed responsible for preventing the impending Apocalypse.
I understand how the show may be seen as a slow burn for some (or not seen at all), but given how popularity of the superhero genre is dominating in theaters and television nowadays, this show should have been better received than it was. I mean they all had “gifts” (superpowers) for goodness sake. All of them. Fantasy, religion, interesting characters, a good story-line, and did I mention The Messengers’ holy-exceptional casting?! Great performances all round. RIP, show, you will be missed by this guy at least.
Series (13 episodes) Produced by: Trey Callaway, Eoghan O’Donnell / Production Companies: Thunder Road Pictures, Warner Bros. Television, CBS Television Studios / Distributors: AXN (2015) (Hungary) (TV) (AXN Black), The CW Television Network (The CW) (2014) (USA) (TV).
🎭 