5 things I learned today (and don't want to forget)

The Arabic term for Muslim Iberia Al Andalus, and its derivative Andalusia, are probably not derived from the Berber pronunciation of the word Vandal: "Wandal"where »

Pabst Blue Ribbon is brewed by the Miller Brewing Company where »

Clockwork Orange was set in the far off future of 1995 where »

Almost all people suffer from change blindness where »

Elvis Presley had a father (although obvious, it never occurred to me). Also, Natalie Portman can make a mean salad where »

5 things I learned Feb 22, 2012

1. Amateur astrophotographer takes largest ever photo of the night sky http://5thin.gs/xUw590

2. FriendSheep: a student made film http://5thin.gs/zl6dzf

3. Ornate and beautiful paper bird sculptures http://5thin.gs/wmxESQ

4. Flying baby photographic series http://5thin.gs/wAIuYa

5. Magnificent map of rap names http://5thin.gs/yMGir5

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5 things I learned Feb 21, 2012

1. Tilt-shifted and Time-lapsed Hong Kong http://5thin.gs/zYgI32

2. Hand-animated Old Man and The Sea http://5thin.gs/xXRM0z

3. Illusion as art http://5thin.gs/wQySvP

4. Amazing things done on bikes in Sweden http://5thin.gs/zwm2nK

5. A kit to turn NYC phone booths into mini-libraries http://5thin.gs/z0cHxQ

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5 things I learned Feb 20, 2012

1. Hanksy takes on Danson and Cosby http://5thin.gs/x1KWuN

2. All of the things Bart has had to write on the chalkboard http://5thin.gs/AfmlKI

3. Fifty year-old photos made all surreal through GIF-ification (gotta click through to see the Animated GIF magic) http://5thin.gs/yX4qs0

4. Micro-collaging transforms a single image http://5thin.gs/xwvuZl

5. GoPro on an f-18 http://5thin.gs/A7ovjN

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5 things I learned Feb 19, 2012

1. Street Life in London, 1876 http://5thin.gs/y6z1Y7

2. HumanSculpture http://5thin.gs/z74aef

3. Japan's Gigantic OLED Globe Shows Near-Real Time Displays http://5thin.gs/y3HM8i

4. Charts and Diagrams Drawn by Famous Authors http://5thin.gs/zVdrAg

5. The World’s Largest Rope Swing http://5thin.gs/ADAIuC

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5 things I learned Feb 18, 2012

1. Stunning mosaic trees http://5thin.gs/yEaO6j

2.  An autistic artist's 20 year journey into the imagination http://5thin.gs/xq7KQO

3. Norwegian photocroms from 1890-1900 http://5thin.gs/xUrwuQ

4. Parahawking http://5thin.gs/zZghFW

5. Orange and Lemon creations from the Fete du Citron http://5thin.gs/yoWasi 

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5 things I learned Feb 17, 2012

1. Snowboarding at night in an LED suit http://5thin.gs/yFmwPV

2. Ten cyclists are racing 18,000 miles around the world. The race starts tomorrow (feb 18th) http://5thin.gs/yIN3bu

3. Welcome to Earth: a compilation of 179 time-lapses http://5thin.gs/yC1FWE

4. Animal sculptures made from shattered CDs http://5thin.gs/yZhhwl

5. Bowie mashed up movie posters http://5thin.gs/AslYsf

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5 things I learned Feb 16, 2012

1. Gorgeous footage of skydivers http://5thin.gs/wVcBcE

2.  Sound paintings http://5thin.gs/xahH9E

3. Lincoln was the first president to be photographed at his

inauguration http://5thin.gs/yOvtPs

4. The once anonymous and always astounding advice columnist Dear
Sugar reveals her true identity http://5thin.gs/xr4Naf

5. Skating the frozen canals of Amsterdam http://5thin.gs/xoWFKq

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5 things I learned Feb 14, 2012

1. Lovely little stop motion love story http://5thin.gs/xQIPOg

2. Return of the Jedi retold in icons http://5thin.gs/x9Xnbq

3.  Strange twitter profile pics of celebs http://5thin.gs/Ar87kr

4. Famous art seen through a pop lens http://5thin.gs/wvClCX

5. Bonsai treehouse http://5thin.gs/zah3N4

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5 things Showdown Round 2

After checking out the links, vote for the 2 people you think should go on to the finals, on their way to winning a Kindle.

The two with the most votes here on this post when the round closes advance to the finals.

Round 2 ends at 11 PM EST on February 20. Be sure and vote for the two you think should be in the finals.

Read about all 5 contestants at the bottom of this post.

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1. The First Word

 http://5thin.gs/A7mSN9

From Van Jazmin

"Electric Sheep Comix returns with a stunning new HTML5 comic from artist Patrick Farley, portraying Terrence McKenna’s "stoned ape theory".  Let it load and take you on the psychedelic journey of the first humanoid hominids. [NSFW]"

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2. Morphonano: Interactive sculpture goes nano

http://5thin.gs/wlCzDz

From Jamiel Livingston

"I can't say enough about Morphonano. Opulent in edifying stimuli this exhibit will no doubt reinvigor this generation's imagination. I really felt this piece when first reading about it a few weeks back, then I read about the "Family Day At The Beall" where The Optics Institute of Sol Cal's “Artricks-Optricks” program teaches principles of light, vision, and other optical phenomena. Kids can learn from demo's based in the fields of engineering, manufacturing and design.With hands on learning tools and meditative music filling the room I'd love to take my nieces. "I believe children are our future" And I fallowed Nano tech for 7 years now this is science fact no longer sci-fi."

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3. Treehouse Village

 http://5thin.gs/AcwS2o

From Marc Croswell

"Pretty much I picked it because I lived in Oregon and have never met as many craftspeople in such a small area...this stuff is nothing new for Oregonians...I picked it hoping that this kind of happenings would take off in other parts of the U.S. Plus....I like treehouses and who doesn't like Ewoks?

People need to start building their houses to compliment their personalities... I would prefer to live underground in a hobbit type dwelling..."

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4. The Money Infographic 

http://5thin.gs/xDKeWG

From Chris Alexander

"The Money Inforgraphic is vast. It should be since it shows all the money in the world, broken down from dollars to trillion. Add a sense of humor and you've got some interesting reading. Example: the visualized the cost of one F-22 Raptor (fighter plane) and a velociraptor (hypothetical, based on Jurassic Park’s budget). Have fun."

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5. Hashima, Ghost Island

http://5thin.gs/x3wTSv

From Brian Braun

"That's it. Slide show of one the coolest places on Earth. I want to go there."

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The 5

Van Jazmin is a cartoonist, writer, and entrepreneur. A Ringling College student and community activist, Van mixes with diverse crowds in the pursuit of all things creative in Sarasota, FL. He has been a key force in Zigzag Magazine (http://5thin.gs/ukCP4L), 529 Clothesline Gallery (http://5thin.gs/uZJeZD), and Third Eye Projections (http://5thin.gs/tJCOfT).  See Van's blog at http://vanjazmin.tumblr.com 

Jamiel (L.O.S.) Livingston: Activist, Radio DJ, Rapper/Singer Songwriter. Discovered he could sing at age 5 from watching MJ on BET & MTV and started Rapping and Battling in 97. He tries to find a way to burn words into people's thoughts. Speech is his gift so and has exercised this at WSLR for 5 years (http://wslr.org). He also does guest spots on Big Blu House tracks (http://www.reverbnation.com/bigbluhouse). He volunteered for Harvey Milk Fest, Grater Newtown's Youth Build and protests for causes he feels strongly about. 

Marc Croswell, a 36 year old Native Cincinnati Photographer who settles disputes using "rock-paper-scissors". The Photography of Marc D.M. Croswell 

Chris Alexander is the creative manager at The Jewish Federation of Sarasota-Manatee. He specializes in graphic design, web administration, social media and foosball. He serves as the Activities Chair for the Relay for Life Palmer Ranch, (March 30, 2012), and is the #1 fan of Sarasota's almost-famous actor, Christine Alexander. Chris loves live music & comedy and is inspired to drag himself through the occasional obstacle course. http://facebook.com/chris.alexander

From art student, to roadie, to camera operator, to self-taught photographer, Brian David Braun has made a name for himself with his astute eye and badass aesthetic: artists, actors and models now clamoring to be shot by him. A Cincinnati native, he has found himself shooting photos for a living in downtown Sarasota County. http://briandavidbraunsarasotaphotographer.com

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5 things I learned Feb 13, 2012

1. Valentine's Rube Goldberg machine  http://5thin.gs/zWoGPI

2. 15-story tower of books on Lincoln   http://5thin.gs/x32t0I

3. Photos from Cental Asia 140 years ago http://5thin.gs/vZ2rQ3

4. Liquid font http://5thin.gs/x9yrP4

5. Van Gogh’s Starry Night Interactive http://5thin.gs/w7AEnS

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5 things I learned February 11, 2012

1. Hilariously Ferocious Underwater Dogs http://5thin.gs/zv77sV

2. Beautiful Field of 9,000 Synchronized Lights http://5thin.gs/AlyL4t

3. Trees win http://5thin.gs/w3iGqH

4. The American Beer Revival http://5thin.gs/xRdZFK

5. 2012 World Press Photo Contest Winners http://5thin.gs/zGR0ND

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5 things I learned Feb 10, 2012

1. My Little Beijing http://5thin.gs/yF8xYN

2. Astrophysicists sing about the Big Bang http://5thin.gs/xaOBRm

3. Chicago's Bean dressed up with some luminous installations: photos.
Video about the project below http://5thin.gs/wR2Q6z

4. The frozen Black Sea makes some freaky sounds http://5thin.gs/zce678

5. Animating stories onto videos of cooling towers being demolished
http://5thin.gs/znEoLW

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5 things I learned Feb 9, 2012

1. Victoria Secrets model without all the makeup http://5thin.gs/zjTeE6

2. The Feynman Series http://5thin.gs/AlHSyP

3. Charming stop-motion LEGO proposal http://5thin.gs/yZ1psR

4. Classic Rockstars and their parents http://5thin.gs/wnnDtV

5. Good Virus: a documentary on spreading kindness http://5thin.gs/zXPKLk

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5 things I learned Feb 8, 2012

1.  Gorgeous timelapse video of the fog and sky of San Francisco 
http://5thin.gs/A6qX9h

2. Intricate and interesting paper sculptures http://5thin.gs/yyAgGH

3. Frozen lakes can be amazing http://5thin.gs/xpuJ9J

4.  More water drops synched for photography.  Makes for some
fantastically clever images http://5thin.gs/yfJNY5

5. Comic books with celebs and political figures as characters
http://5thin.gs/yH5zdg

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5 things I learned Feb 7, 2012

1. Stunning photos of dancers in time http://5thin.gs/yNQ7wg

2. Surreal motion http://5thin.gs/A7GXvl

3. Meticulously detailed and wonderfully sculpted paintings of goldfish in 3 dimensions http://5thin.gs/AsTUAw

4. Chart of classic cocktails with a twist http://5thin.gs/z2dn5n

5. National Geographic covers the dismantling of a Navy Tanker (beware of the bad voiceover and writing: "massive machines with a taste for heavy metal!")
http://5thin.gs/wMsQjy

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5 things Showdown: First Round Match-up: Brian Braun v. Justin Powell

After checking out the links, vote for the person you think should go on to the next round, on their way to winning a Kindle.

Whoever has the most votes here, on the this post, by 11 p.m. Pacific Time, Wednesday February 8th moves on.

1. The Photos of Paul Cross http://5thin.gs/wXNUj6

 "In my opinion one of the most unique and talented photographers currently working. He finds unique beauty out of the corners of his eyes and finds little vignettes. He uses amazing camera angles reflections, and a unique perspective that is really outside of the box."

From art student, to roadie, to camera operator, to self-taught photographer, Brian David Braun has made a name for himself with his astute eye and badass aesthetic: artists, actors and models now clamoring to be shot by him. A Cincinnati native, he has found himself shooting photos for a living in downtown Sarasota County. 

briandavidbraunsarasotaphotographer.com

2. The Movie Set That Ate Itself http://5thin.gs/zwwOM5

 "Ilya Khrzhanovsky’s production of DAU is perhaps “the most expansive, complicated, all-consuming film project ever attempted.”

A 6 year Russian Production. 210,000 extras. 50+ in costume and character LIVE on set: a re-creation of ‘50s and ‘60s Moscow the size of 2 football fields, built to scale. Cast, crew and their guests are fined $125 for using banned terminology such as “CGI” and “Facebook”. In preparation for her role the female lead (the only professional actor in the production) had to spend a full year working at a chocolate factory and hospital to “beat the actress out of her”. Editors work next to a caged dog. 

Thanks to Kyle Cross for sharing this with me last year."

Justin Powell takes photos of sleeping bums, edits video and designs motion graphics, has been trying to work up enough gumption to cut his hair for a year, makes music videos, no longer spends $300 a month at the movie theater, is producing a documentary on Soca music and has a steady hook shot from 15ft out. No Pets. 

vimeo.com/user269561

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