Posted in 📰 N E W S
Tags: R.I.P. Leonard Simon Nimoy 1931 ~ 2015, Rest In Peace, star trek
Auckland Lantern Festival in Albert Park
•February 28, 2015 • Leave a Comment
Chinese lantern festival in Auckland City’s Albert Park. The lanterns were nice. The crowds were huge. The open mic karaoke was terrible. The aroma from the food stalls along Princes Street was palpable (hmm, no I don’t think I like that word; palpable). Food from the various Asian food stalls smelt delicious. The festival was OK, I suppose. What it symbolises however is far more important than my thoughts of the evening.
Traditionally the lantern festival is held at the end of the 15 day observation of the Chinese New Year, but this year the lantern festival was held early. There were over 800 handmade Chinese lanterns throughout Albert Park as the festival now in its 16th year celebrated the ‘Year of the Goat’.
Ha! I just remembered; while me and my friend were walking and admiring the green lanterns that hung from the tree branches above us, we overheard a conversation from the women walking behind us who were talking about their legs in deep descriptive terminology — varicose veins and sagginess. I think I remember the word capillary being mentioned, and the colour blue. It was the weirdest overheard conversation I think I’ve ever been in the vicinity of hearing, but a funny/awkward moment between the both of us. My memory has since suppressed that particular moment.
EPIC VICTORY FOR NET NEUTRALITY!
•February 28, 2015 • Leave a CommentYesss! The FCC voted to preserve Net Neutrality — We saved the internet!!!
This calls for victory music:
In the early days of the net, few people had access to it and fewer people knew what it even was or could be. It was a digital wild west, where creative people and entrepreneurs alike experimented with this new medium. The internet was a wild place, and over the years, content providers of all walks of life have shaped it into what it is today. The internet is beautiful! Everyone; EVERYONE uses it. So naturally, the vultures that are big corporations only interested in control and money, literally came out of nowhere to seize control and assume themselves as masters of this place we the people have created, and only after the fact. This is what corporations do. It’s complete and utter BS, and thank goodness the majority of people in the world acknowledge that, because if Comcast and other ISPs (Internet service providers) had their way, well, I don’t doubt for a second that things would have radically changed for the world.
Defend Net Neutrality: 1 Hour 52 Mins Left and Counting
•February 27, 2015 • Leave a CommentI take it everyone who doesn’t sign must have their contingency activism planned. Net-neutrality is a principle advocating government regulation of Internet service providers and it is a huge deal, people! The internet is freedom. A place for curiosity, knowledge, creativity, innovation, communication and equality for all to share at an equal level of access. To quote Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcett; “The creative industries, the institutions, the startups, and us as individuals all need an Open Internet to be successful.” The importance of keeping the open internet free from big corporate rule cannot be overstated:
On Feb 26 the FCC will vote to save net neutrality or let Comcast and other ISPs create Internet slow lanes. Some members of Congress, on behalf of their Cable donors, are trying to stop the FCC from protecting the Internet we love. There isn’t much time to stop them, contact them now.
The Prodigy “Wild Frontier” [music video]
•February 25, 2015 • Leave a Comment
“Wild Frontier” continues the trend of giving fans plenty to chew on ahead of the album’s March 30 release. Accompanied by a suitably sinister animated music video, there is no child’s play behind The Day Is My Enemy’s third teaser. Still loud, still disgruntled and keeping with the festival-proof demeanor of their musical legacy, all signs point to an album worth the wait from Britain’s most anarchic contribution to electronic music.
The Great Martian War — Cool, but Also, Not Cool
•February 25, 2015 • Leave a CommentDirected by Christian Johnson and Steve Maher, “The Great Martian War” is a fictional-documentary made for History Canada, that uses World War I archival footage combined with war recreation shots and superimposed CGI invaders to illustrate an alternate reality where extraterrestrials waged war on planet Earth 1914:
I like it as a standalone short/music video, but this is for an actual 2 hour programme on the History channel. What the hell? The History channel is doing to history what MTV did to music. Aliens, ghosts and rednecks; I must be one of the few that believes names should mean something. Television today, or rather, ‘big media networks’ are more like outlets for propaganda, straight lies, tomfoolery and broadcast fear mongering for the masses. It is all about control really. Whoever controls the most makes the most. Trust.
I hate it. Wake up, people! Read more.
Meet Casanova, Hollywood’s Forgotten Party Robot of the 1980s
•February 25, 2015 • Leave a Comment
Back in the 1980s, David Leventhal ran a small business renting out his robot to perform at parties around Los Angeles. The robot, Casanova, was a crass womanizer and an LA scenester. Today, Casanova is rusting away in Agua Dulce, an isolated town north of Los Angeles — This is the life and sad demise of a party robot:
Luigi’s Death Stare @ Anime Expo 2014 — He Is the Internet’s Newest Badass
•February 18, 2015 • Leave a CommentLuigi has been painted as somewhat of a badass of the Nintendo universe recently, ever since gamers noticed his mean glare in Mario Kart™ 8 for Wii U, released last year:
And by painted, I mean plenty of parodies:
That’s a lot of shade to be throwing in a friendly kart race. This next clip however is the most hilarious Mario Kart mash-up parody that can be found on the net:
“La Fée Aux Fleurs” — A Little Flower Film by Gaston Velle (1905)
•February 17, 2015 • Leave a Comment
Gaston Velle (1868-1953) was a French silent film director and pioneer of special effects, who was prominent in early French and Italian cinema during the first two decades of the 20th century.
“Le Gouffre” (The Chasm) [animation]
•February 17, 2015 • Leave a Comment
A friend recommend I give “Le Gouffre” a watch, and it caught me off guard. This impressive animation has its own unique style and an equally inspiring tale to match. I can’t say much without giving away the plot, but I ultimately thought it was nice. My favourite thing about this is how the entire story is told without the use of any dialogue — I absolutely love this method of storytelling.
Watch, as two spirited travelers come across an incredibly wide chasm on their journey and decide to build a bridge to cross it:
Friendship, sacrifice and conquering the impossible are a few of the story elements that have earned “Le Gouffre” it’s well deserved accolades; story elements that many debut animations showcasing new talent, fail to harness. As of now, “Le Gouffre” has been selected in more than 40 festivals around the world and won six awards, three of them for “Best Animated Short”. Here’s a brief behind-the-scenes look at the making of:
Laura Groves “Dream Story” [♬]
•February 16, 2015 • Leave a CommentIf you liked that, have a listen to Laura Groves’ cover of Paul McCartney’s “Waterfalls”:
🎭 