RT @artsocialnet: Beatiful drawings created by exploding live fireworks, by Rosemarie Fiore. http://www.rosemariefiore.com/
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Now you can tell people where you are as well as what you are eating
Twitter?has officially turned on geo-location options for users who like to tweet where they are.
The new service which is rolling out across all users will let you set whether or not you want people to see where you are twitting from if you tweet from the Twitter website.
Set as off by default Twitter admits that not everyone will want the new feature:
"Not everyone wants to add their current location to a tweet so this feature is off by default and must be activated to use," says one of the founders, Biz Stone, in a blog post.
The social-networking site is hoping that by tweeting your location it will allow them and you to show people where you are:
"Let’s say I’m at my office and I hear a loud boom. It sounded serious, so I search Twitter for “boom.” Among the first results could be someone who tweeted “Boom go the fireworks!” This could be anywhere in the world. However, if that person had activated the new tweet location feature then the neighborhood data under the tweet would read, SoMa."
Twitter location goes live originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Fri, 12 Mar 2010 12:33:56 +0000
What’s Happening—and Where?
- LouCypherTweet what's happening–and where! http://fwd4.me/3qg
- LouCypherWhat’s Happening—and Where?
- Rob Diana
Two artists have been playing pretty games with the UK Royal Mail’s automated sorting offices. It seems the machines simply read the colour of stamps to check whether the correct postage has been used, so it doesn’t matter what shape they are. Kim Rugg and John Spurgeon each use proper stamps, only they are cut into tiny pieces to create the art on the envelopes. As long as it’s cancelled, it counts! Rugg creates tentacled monsters (pictured), fireworks and beach scenes, while Spurgeon has a collection of vintage postcards sent with confetti postage called ShakesMyMail.
Link to Kim Rugg’s work. Link to John Spurgeon’s Flickr set.
From the Upcoming 
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Back in December we got word that David Cronenberg would in fact shoot The Talking Cure, an adaptation of the Christopher Hampton play about Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung that was floated as a possible Cronenberg project back in 2007. At the time, he seemed to have a fantastic cast lined up: Christoph Waltz as Freud, Michael Fassbender as Jung, and Keira Knightley as Sabina Spielrein, the patient with whom both men have a relationship of sorts.
Now, sadly, Waltz has dropped out. But Cronenberg’s recent go-to actor, Viggo Mortensen, has stepped in to replace him.
Deadline Hollywood reports on the deal, saying that Waltz had to drop out in order to do Water for Elephants, the Depression-era circus romance being directed by Francis Lawrence. (In which Waltz replaced Sean Penn.) The Talking Cure is scheduled to begin a ten-week shoot in mid-May, which will overlap with Water for Elephants.
Deadline describes Knightley’s character Sabina as “a disturbed young woman brought to see Jung by her father.” Jung and Sabina have an affair, and amid the dramatic fireworks, the article reports the film will feature “lots of spirited sex.” Hopefully it was the schedule and not the sex that put off Waltz, though it sounds like Fassbender and Knightley will do most of the physical work. So nix that worry altogether, and just focus on the sex.
The actor’s departure reportedly threatened the production entirely, but Viggo Mortensen, who has previously worked with David Cronenberg in A History of Violence and Eastern Promises, stepped in to fill his shoes. He’ll be more than able to carry off the role, I would expect, but I admit that I was really looking forward to seeing Waltz and Fassbender have scenes together. At the same time, given the cast, the story and the fact that David Cronenberg is in the director’s chair, I’ll take it, no questions asked.
This article is part of our Oscar Week Series, where you will find breakdowns and predictions for all of the major categories.
Too bad I didn’t get to do this article last year because I could have done it in half the time. Not that I was a faster writer then, I’d just have to write about five less movies. In order to compensate for the extra coverage and still get this done in time I’ve attached bottle rockets to my fingers. The idea isn’t that they’ll make my fingers move faster – because that’s preposterous – it’s so that if I don’t finish this article in the same amount of time it would take to cover five films the fireworks will blow my hands off.
I’m taking the Jigsaw approach to Oscar coverage because I want the programmers to realize the amount of suffering their new Best Picture format is bestowing upon the viewers. If my fingers explode it’s practically their fault and they will have to live with the guilt. Mind you this is not self-inflicted torture; they are making me do this.
I really like my fingers and will do everything I can to keep them. I’m off to a rocky start because I’ve already misspelled ‘preposterous’ three times and the auto-correct didn’t catch it. I’ve also just wasted time explaining it to you, just as I’ve just wasted time pointing out that I wasted time explaining it to you.
So, without further adieu here is the breakdown of the 2010 Best Picture contenders:
A film that’s been eighty years in the making and helmed by the fifty-five year old science-fiction master James Cameron – Avatar is about Jake Sully, a paraplegic marine brought on to the exotic and dangerous moon Pandora to infiltrate a local tribe called the Na’vi in order to convince them to move off their land so that humans can drill for a highly valuable mineral. Using a mind-controlled ‘avatar’ (another body that is biologically similar to the Na’vi) that was grown originally for a scientist – Jake’s recently deceased twin brother – Jake earns the admittance into the Na’vi circle and as his relationship with them builds he has to determine where his allegiances truly lie.
Why It Could Win: Because it’s the biggest damn film to end all other biggest damn films and with the amount of money the studio has made with this movie they could have conceivably purchased Denmark. I don’t know how that warrants it winning, but it’s hard to argue against $700 million (and counting) worth of fan support. The AMPAS couldn’t argue against it back in 1998 with Cameron’s last feature film.
Why It Would Not Win: Aside from The Blind Side it probably has the weakest script amongst the other films in this category, none of the characters elevate above stereotypes and because it’s the biggest damn film to end all other biggest damn films there could be added pressure on voters to shy away from awarding Goliath over David, or the Beanstalk Giant over Jack, or a more clever metaphor. That last line was written by Colonel Quaritch. Oh, and science-fiction actioners don’t win Academy awards for Best Picture.
The film that finally garnered Sandra Bullock’s Academy recognition is the feel good story of the year about a wealthy family in Tennessee taking in a large, homeless and passive black teenager named Michael Oher. When Leigh Anne Tuohy (Bullock) sees Oher make his way back to the school’s gymnasium to sleep for the night she commands him into the family vehicle and on to their. That encounter is the first step in Michael’s progression into becoming a strong student, gifted demolisher of defensive linemen, and an accepted member of the Tuohy family.
Why It Could Win: It’s one of the more popular films of the year amongst families and it features one of the most high profile performances. It’s a feel good movie (assisted by its roots in being based on a true story) that elevates a bit higher than the typical cliché-ridden sports drama entry.
Why It Would Not Win: When all is said and done it really is just another cliché-ridden sports drama that’s elevated mostly by Bullock’s performance. It’s no better a film than any of the other really good crowd cheering sports dramas of the past decade (Remember the Titans, Miracle, Invincible amongst a few others), none of which came within smelling distance of the Academy Awards. As far as crowd-cheering sports dramas are concerned Rocky Balboa would have had a better shot at an award for Best Picture if it were based on artistic merit.
Amongst the most impressive feature film debuts of anyone in the past twenty years or so, Neill Blomkamp’s sci-fi actioner takes place in Johannesburg, South Africa where a traveling race of aliens have been subjected by the South African government to a slum called District 9. Wikus Van De Merwe is an employee of the company hired to move the alien inhabitants to a new district when during his attempts to communicate with the “prawns” about their relocation he comes into contact with a foreign liquid that gradually turns him into one of the alien race; making him the most valuable commodity in the country as his biological make-up has been altered and can activate weaponry previously only functional by the aliens.
Why It Could Win: It is amongst the highest-rated films of the year critically and made a more than decent splash at the box-office despite not having as wide of a release as the other summer blockbusters. It’s an uncharacteristically serious approach to a genre that doesn’t usually immerse the fantastic into issues of social significance; and it’s a technological marvel considering the lack of money that went into the production.
Why It Would Not Win: Science-Fiction actioners don’t win Academy Award Best Picture statuettes and this being Neill Blomkamp’s first feature it would probably need to have been Citizen Kane (which also didn’t win Best Picture) in order for voters to not consider his potential for winning a major award down the road. Like Aliens and The Terminator this is a film that will get rewatched more than it gets awarded, which is probably the prize Blomkamp would want the most anyway.
Only the second script from writer Nick Hornby (the novelist behind About A Boy, Fever Pitch, and High Fidelity) and the first from which he wasn’t the author of the source material – An Education is about Jenny, an incredibly bright Oxford hopeful (played fantastically by Carey Mulligan) in 1960s London who meets an older man, David played by Peter Sarsgaard, and their interest in one another quickly turns to romance. As their relationship escalates and Jenny’s infatuation with David’s interesting lifestyle gets stronger each day she begins to question the purpose, and benefits, of continuing her pursuit for a higher education over spending a lifetime of exploration and artistic and intellectual exposure.
Why It Could Win: Admittedly, this next statement might be because it’s the most recent film I saw of the ten nominees, but this may be my favorite film of the contenders. It’s expertly acted, confidently handled and consistently steers the audience in exactly the direction it wants to take them. It portrays what would be considered a very ‘wrong’ love story in a way that makes the viewer question their view of the situation, and at each turn it’s ready to make a strong case for or each naïve decision each character makes. I don’t know if it’s the best film of the year, but it’s the one I want watch again right now – and it’s not out of the question for voters to feel the same way.
Why It Would Not Win: It lacks that certain ‘umph’ of some of the other nominees. It’s a great story that’s told greatly, but its modesty in regards to scope and content without having that certain substance punch to the face (like The Hurt Locker) lends itself to being relegated as too unimportant of a movie to consider being better than other movies that tackle issues that are probably deemed more serious.
Directed by Kathryn Bigelow this intense war picture chronicles the happenings of a team of American military bomb defusers in Iraq and the effects that such a psychologically rigorous profession in an already dangerous environment can have on one’s mental state.
Why it Could Win: Heading in to the awards season this was the talk of the town amongst critics and voters, which is impressive considering its summertime release didn’t lend itself to being fresh on the minds of anyone. It’s no holds barred, ultra-real and it keeps you strapped to your seat during each encounter whether it be a bomb or sharpshooter. With a story that focuses more on the consequences of actions than an A to Z plotline the actors do a fantastic job of playing off one another to progress the story forward via character interaction. Quite frankly, few films this year have succeeded with their intentions quite like this film has.
Why it Would not Win: It’s possible that the brownnosing of the film’s producer to try and get voters to pick The Hurt Locker may have rubbed some of the voters the wrong way, and it had a rather poor performance at the box office. While that *shouldn’t* be a factor with voters it’s not out of the question for the Academy to want to keep the interest of the general public to watch future programs by awarding a film that a good deal of movie-goers went to see in the theater. If The Hurt Locker had made upwards of at least $50 million it probably would have solidified it winning the big one.
Click Here to See the Final Five Nominees and Our Prediction >>
Well, we suppose it was inevitable. After being handed their walking papers earlier this week, former Infinity Ward bosses Jason West and Vince Zampella have rallied their lawyers for what promises to be the court equivalent of a train wreck colliding with the last two Matrix movies and the remnants of M. Night Shyamalan’s movie career.
“We were shocked by Activision’s decision to terminate our contract,” said West. “We poured our heart and soul into that company, building not only a world class development studio, but assembling a team we’ve been proud to work with for nearly a decade. We think the work we’ve done speaks for itself.”
“After all we have given to Activision, we shouldn’t have to sue to get paid,” Zampella added.
And boy, are they trying to get paid. The duo hopes to come away from the suit with “at least $36 million” in addition to full rights to the Modern Warfare brand.
Activision, meanwhile, has dismissed the lawsuit as “meritless.”
“Activision is disappointed that Mr. Zampella and Mr. West have chosen to file a lawsuit, and believes their claims are meritless. Over eight years, Activision shareholders provided these executives with the capital they needed to start Infinity Ward, as well as the financial support, resources and creative independence that helped them flourish and achieve enormous professional success and personal wealth,” said a statement from the publisher.
Modern Warfare 3 who? Looks like World War 3’s going to be waged in a courtroom. Grab some popcorn, folks. It’s time for fireworks.
Smoerset Dam's spectacular cone valves are open till at least Sunday.
SEQ Water's Mike Foster says they're the fireworks of southeast Queensland's dams.
He explains where to go and what you can expect to see:
Stop-motion filmmaker PES, which makes whimsical use of everyday objects as substitutes for other things (bubble wrap for boiling water, popcorn for explosions, Post-It Note pads for pats of butter), made a fun commercial for the Washington State Lottery.
In the upcoming issue of MAKE, we are running an article written by PES producer and manager Sarah Phelps on how she makes these clever videos.
This is a stunning 30,000 piece LEGO replica of the Star Wars Droid Control Ship. It took builder Paul Yperman two years and a small fortune in LEGO bricks to construct. However, it did not take a pyrotechnics license. Boooooooooooooooo!! FIREWORKS SHIP NEEDS MORE FIREWORKS.
Some years ago I walked into a second hand book shop and I bought a Star Wars Cross sections book. In the center stood the Droid Control Ship. It blew my mind and I knew I had to build it. I used almost 30000 parts. Lots in the center globe that I build with the aid of a building program that I found on the web. 3500 tiles to cover the outside structure. Lots of Technic parts to make the inside frame, so I could move, lift and take it apart without breaking it. The technic parts are joined left/ right and top / bottom, resulting in a firm and solid almost selfcarrying structure.First of all, who the hell parts with a Star Wars cross-section book? CAUSE THEY BETTER HAVE DIED. Secondly, I'm serious, who would do that? That's like sneaking original, unopened He-Man figures into Toys R Us and putting them back on the shelf. You gotta be crazy! Hit the jump for a bunch more of the amazing amazingness, as well as the link to higher-res shots.
Star Wars Droid Control Ship [mocpages]
via
30,000-piece Star Wars Droid Control Ship [brothers-brick]
Thanks to Blaqk Panda, who, for two tips in two days, has received two shoutouts. This is one. The other one was probably better.
A legless man in a wheelchair planted explosives in the 125th Street Metro-North station yesterday, according to police. Trains were rerouted and the Harlem station was evacuated while officers tried to make sure that the "pyrotechnic" device, which consisted of M-80 fireworks and shotgun shells, didn't detonate.
The Daily News reports that wheelchair-bound 57-year-old Perry Roosevelt is accused of putting the explosives next to a waiting room bench in the station. One or two other men are believed to have wheeled Roosevelt around the station while he carried the bomb, which was made from a laptop, wires, shotgun shells, paper, and lug nuts taped to fireworks. The device was concealed inside a laptop bag, which was covered by a black Steve Madden bag.
The bomb couldn't have been triggered remotely, but "if it was lit, someone could have been hurt pretty bad," a law enforcement source told the tabloid. "It would be dangerous if ignited," said NYPD spokesman Paul Browne. "We don't know if it was a planned prank. If it was, it would have been a dangerous one." According to 1010WINS, Roosevelt was arrested after putting the bomb in front of a ticket window. He is reportedly under observation at Bellevue Hospital Center. One of the men accused of pushing Roosevelt's chair was questioned and released, while police continue searching for a third suspect.
How to Design a Website with Fireworks: New Plus Tutorial http://bit.ly/ablcyf
[Direct Link]Filed under: Government/Legal, Recalls, Safety, Toyota
Mr. Toyoda comes to Washington originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 24 Feb 2010 14:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | CommentsCheck out some of the latest MakeUseOf discoveries. All listed websites are FREE (or come with a decent free account option). No trials or buy-to-use craplets. For more cool websites and web app reviews subscribe to MakeUseOf Directory.
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Zentation – Powerpoint has changed public speaking, in that those listening to a presentation have visual cues and point forms to glance at. These cues and points often give context to a speaker. Zentation aims to bring the advantages of a PowerPoint presentation to the web, by combining and syncing slides of Presentation with video. Read more: Zentation: Combine & Sync Presentation With Video. |
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Kobo – E-book readers are the hottest items in recent consumer electronics shows and we expect that more e-book related hardware and software will shape the market. One free app that positions itself as a top ebook reader for smartphone is Kobo. This free app lets you buy, select, and read e-books from your iPhone, Android, Blackberry, and Palm Pre mobile handsets. Read more: Kobo: A Free E-Book Reader For Smartphones. | |
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Sketchpad – Photoshop and Fireworks are awesome pieces of software, but they are not worth the hassle if all you want to do is create a quick graphic. SketchPad is an online drawing software that lets you do a lot of things you can do in Photoshop. You can create drawings from scratch and save them on your computer. Read more: SketchPad: Light-Weight Online Drawing Software. | |
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WordItOut – Tag clouds or word clouds are a really nice way to summarize the important things in any piece of text. Trying to create a fancy word cloud manually would take hours. However, there is a word cloud creator that lets you achieve this in seconds. WordItOut takes any piece of text and then creates a colorful word cloud from it. Read more: WordItOut: Free Word Cloud Creator. | |
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Droolr – Tagging themselves as “the wishlist for geeks,” Droolr is a wacky website for discovering and sharing latest high tech computer gadgets with an online community of technophiles and gadget lovers. This website allows you to submit and vote for new items and even lets you create shopping and wishlists. Read more: Droolr: Discover & Share Latest High Tech Computer Gadgets. | |
These are just half of the websites that we discovered in the last couple of days. If you want us to send you daily round-ups of all cool websites we come across, leave your email here. Or follow us via RSS feed.
Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!
Katy Perry feels under pressure to be a sex goddess, because she is with Russell Brand.
The ‘I Kissed A Girl’ singer says it’s a struggle trying to keep up with her fiance, who was previously famed for his womanizing ways, but she tries her best.
She said, “Can you imagine the kind of responsibility I have with his reputation? I’m bedridden most of the week.”
The 25-year-old star, who has been dating the British funnyman since last September, also believes she has worked out a formula for his good looks, and part of the attraction is he looks like Jesus.
She said in a magazine interview, “His look is Jim Morrison meets Charles Manson meets Jesus meets a little bit of Elvis Presley. He’s a walking genius. Just standing next to him makes me smarter.
“He’s good for me. He’s not a p***k in any way, shape or form. He’s the boss; he calls the shots. I like that. I’ve been waiting for someone I couldn’t steamroll.”
Russell, 34, proposed to Katy on New Year’s Eve, December 31, 2009, during a holiday to India with a ring featuring two rubies and the inscription ‘The one I’ve been waiting for’.
The pop beauty was astonished by the personal band, saying, “I love it. I’m glad he didn’t go for the ‘every other b***h in Beverly Hills is wearing it as well’ ring.”
Speaking about the proposal, she added, “It involved fireworks, elephants, Indian dancers, horse-drawn carriages and tens of thousands of flower petals.”
Photo: Japanese Daylight Fireworks, 1908 via www.fireworkmuseum.co.uk http://tumblr.com/xbz6oazyt
[Direct Link]It seemed like an innocent enough request: "Dad can you take my friends and I to Chinatown this Friday when we have the day off?" "Sure," I said. After all it would be good to get out and do something. As I thought about things more and more though, something didn't add up. Why Chinatown? My 14-year-old Asperger's son and his friends clearly didn't have an interest in Chinese culture. I heard the word "knuckles" in one of their phone conversations and deduced brass knuckles as being on of the things they wanted to buy. "Fine," I thought. The boys weren't the fighting kind and though brass knuckles are illegal, what's the harm?
In the car on the way, one of my son's friends who I'll call Drew said, "Are you just going to drop us off and we'll meet you in a couple hours?" "No, I'll be with you the entire time," to which Drew tried a few other tactics to try and keep me away.
At this point I've got to interrupt the story to express what every Asperger's parent I know feels, which is gratitude that my son actually has friends he can be with, that like him. Because of some of their awkwardness around social situations it makes it hard for a lot of kids with this form of autism to have friendships. Would my sentimentality become a liability? That remained to be seen.
So we get to Chinatown and I stay about 20 feet from the guys just to know what they're doing. They go into a back room that says, "Employees Only" at one point. I'm guessing they're buying fireworks and brass knuckles ... and I was right. They get some Airsoft BB guns and we all go home happy. I'm a little uncomfortable with the illegal items on the ride home, but I think, "What's the big deal, they're just boys being boys."
We get home, they go to the park, I make sure they all have safety glasses and I retire to catch up on some business at home. I get a call an hour later, and they want to come back to our house. Again, I'm just happy to provide a place for my son to learn social interaction. Within a half hour of being at home, I hear some loud noises in the back yard, and when I go outside I start feeling really crazy. All the boys except my son are shooting Airsoft guns with no safety glasses and firing off bottlerockets. My son's off to the side watching the chaos. "That's it! Everybody in the car, I'm taking you home," followed by some terse phone calls to the parents about the boys breaking the clearly stated house rules.
At the time I was really upset and feeling nuts. Was this all my fault? Did I do something to create this mess? Did I just get "played?"
The part that was particularly vexing to me was the ringleader, Drew, who I affectionately call "an addict in training." He had all the behaviors without the actual substance to be an addict. The manipulation, lies, covering his tracks, all were things I had been uncomfortable with, but now I could see where they lead.
"Do you see how Drew continually puts other people's lives at risk, with the things he does?" I asked my son. It actually turned into what I thought was a valuable learning experience. Not being able to recognize social cues, it's very hard to understand when people are lying or taking advantage of the Asperger's kid. Our son began putting two and two together. "It may not be a huge problem now, but two years from now when Drew gets behind the wheel of a car, it could mean your life. He'll say, 'I'm fine, I've only had a couple drinks,' and the next thing you know he's driving you into an accident." My son had some sober looks as he contemplated the possibilities.
It's been a month since the crazy day. My son still plays with the same group of guys at times, but he expanded his friends at our behest to include other boys. Though I'm not comfortable with him being with the Drew's of the world, for now I'm limiting my influence to what goes on at home and being in communication with our son about what goes on outside. I try to exert as little direct control on him as possible so as to let him learn things for himself.
The lesson from all this was where the weaknesses in our Asperger's son lie and what we can do to shore it up. Recognizing people that are harmful to him requires help and discussion. Some of the mildly troubled kids seem to be attracted to him because he's so level ... he balances out their wild side. He's going to form relationships with these folks. How to defend himself and stay away from their wake is going to have to be learned behavior.
We've been pleasantly surprised so far as to how much can actually be learned by Asperger's kids and how willing they are to learn. It's like a math problem ... person not able to be honest with you + your complete trust = problems. Friends + healthy filters on your trust = self-preservation. This is an ongoing issue, but I think the initial boundary setting had a very positive affect on all the boys.
In World of Warcraft, there are seasonal holidays that roughly correspond to real world holidays. One of these holidays is Lunar New Year. In the Warcraft version of the holiday, in addition to fireworks, there’s a quest to defeat a gigantic two-headed demon named Omen.
Last year, I and the friends I play with took a beating trying to kill Omen. I know I took a number of tries just to defeat him, with my character dying over and over again.
This year, as I rode to Lake Elune’ara, I wondered how the battle against Omen would go. I found out quickly:
The demon had lost his bite.
I was able to tank Omen solo with just one healer and a random mage with ease. He went down faster than the stock market after a Federal Reserve meeting.
After the initial celebration wore off, I wondered how it was that Omen was so easily defeated. His abilities and capabilities were the same as last year…
… but I and my character were not. Quite the contrary. Omen hadn’t changed, but I had, significantly for the better. What killed my character last year was barely even worth mentioning this year, and what relatively insignificant damage I was able to do to Omen last year was replaced by a venti quadruple shot cup of whoopass with a twist of lemon.
It’s difficult for us to see how we’ve changed. We change slowly, over time, and in many cases are the last to get the memo on anything. Things like Omen are a good way to realize just how much we have changed, just how we’ve transformed from year to year. If you don’t have an Omen-like challenge in your life, look for one as a way to diagnose who you are and how you’ve changed. Find something that’s a challenge for you this year, win, and then see how the challenge feels next year. Have you grown? Have you changed? Have you become more proficient?
Bear in mind the challenge needs to be somewhat static. Maybe it’s an annual photowalk, a half marathon, a creature like Omen – whatever it is, make sure it’s something where you’ll see the difference in yourself while the challenge itself remains mostly the same.
Omen (and his meaning) is summed up best, oddly enough, by Nelson Mandela:
There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered.
May your Lunar Festival grant you the insights you seek.
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Get this and other great articles from the source at www.ChristopherSPenn.com
For their Spring 2010 collection Nice Collective founders Joe Haller and Ian Hannula brought friends, artists, stylists and models on a camping trip (aka the Gathering) in Northern California "to organically capture imagery of the season's clothing and product through real experience rather than art direction." Among the members of the experimental venture, digital artist Andrew Jones' and photographer Spencer Hansen's combined talents led to the incredible footage that Joe edited into a short video (below).
The resulting film depicts a military encampment where Jones' gorgeously-animated digital projections play out on the faces and bodies of the models (dressed in Nice Collective of course). Juxtaposing fire-lit torches with effects like spiraling rainbow-colored patterns, radiating white lines and fireworks-like explosions, the artist's motion and imagery seizes on his medium's ability to create a particular kind of visual magic. Also adding to the overall effect, the graphics—overlaid on helmets and eyes—appear to interact with surfaces as they "paint" them, effectively functioning as a character within the video and hinting at narrative.
In an era of flashy 3-D fashion videos and the like, "The Gathering" stands out for the way it uses the clothes as a canvas, embracing the interdisciplinary nature of the field and the Collective's creative community—in other words, it's not just another fashion video.
Check out more images from the shoot after the jump.
For their Spring 2010 collection Nice Collective founders Joe Haller and Ian Hannula brought friends, artists, stylists and models on a camping trip (aka the Gathering) in Northern California "to organically capture imagery of the season's clothing and product through real experience rather than art direction." Among the members of the experimental venture, digital artist Andrew Jones' and photographer Spencer Hansen's combined talents led to the incredible footage that Joe edited into a short video.
The resulting film depicts a military encampment where Jones' gorgeously-animated digital projections play out on the faces and bodies of the models (dressed in Nice Collective of course). Juxtaposing fire-lit torches with effects like spiraling rainbow-colored patterns, radiating white lines and fireworks-like explosions, the artist's motion and imagery seizes on his medium's ability to create a particular kind of visual magic. Also adding to the overall effect, the graphics—overlaid on helmets and eyes—appear to interact with surfaces as they "paint" them, effectively functioning as a character within the video and hinting at narrative.
In an era of flashy 3-D fashion videos and the like, "The Gathering" stands out for the way it uses the clothes as a canvas, embracing the interdisciplinary nature of the field and the Collective's creative community—in other words, it's not just another fashion video.
Hey look at this silly news. Some of the Real Housewives are going on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?. That ought to be ridiculous. Especially when New York's crazy-eyed Ramona Singer makes her appearance.
Because, you know, Ramona has magical space powers and will absolutely win a million dollars. But it'll be so crazy and no one will believe it, so Meredith Vieira will drag her in for brutal interrogation and, by means of explanation, Ramona will end up telling us her life story. Just like in the Slumdog movie about Native Americans! She'll know the date of the Declaration of Independence because her family used to shoot fireworks at her every summer. She'll remember how many pints are in a quart because she likes to fill empty ice cream cartons with religious jewelry and hand them out to hobos. That kind of thing. Computer-ji, Ramona lock kiya-jaye!
The mysterious hit squad that tortured and executed a Hamas leader in Dubai was bigger than first thought, and stole the identities of Britons living in Israel. Who are now confused as to why Interpol are searching for them.
According to the Times of London, Israeli leaders have been denying-without-denying that Mossad, the Israeli secret service with a long and rich history of hit squads, killed Mahmoud al-Mabhouh. Who admitted to killing two Israeli soldiers in a video this month. And who is, you know, an enemy of Israel.
Now the governments of Britain and Ireland are also involved, because it has emerged that several people from those countries — among them a man who recently underwent a heart-bypass operation — had their identities stolen and given to the shady killers who poured into Dubai.
Police there are still seeking the killers, and say that six more members of the crew have been added to their wanted list. They've already arrested two Palestinians they accuse of supporting the hit in some capacity. Anyone who's not employed by Mossad must be hoping at least one killer gets caught — because the diplomatic fireworks would be spectacular. And because extra-judicial killing is kind of seen as OK these days, and it shouldn't be, and the utter clusterfuck that would occur would make governments think twice. And because the movie would just be amazing.
About time!
- Judi Sohn