Thumbs and Ammo posits the idea: would it be funny to replace guns with thumbs up in stills from movies?
YES!
Lightning Played in Super Slo-Mo
Lightning happens in under a sec, but when shot at over 11,000 frames per sec, we can see all of the creeping details as it flashes through in over 3 minutes. Stunning.
47-Image Composite of the Moon Reveals Solar Corona During Solar Eclipse
The clarity that Czech photographer Miloslav Druckmüller from the Brno University of Technology, managed to get of this stunning solar corona was due to the 47 different images, shot on two different lenses, that he composited to make this singular image.
The detail and contour of the image also owes a lot the lack of light pollution at the extremely remote Enewetak Radiological Observatory on the Marshall Islands, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, where he shot them.
Also check out the Full Moon Timelapse over Downtown LA
Mount Bromo in Vibrant Photos
Stunning photos of the Indonesian volcanao by Helminadia Jabur:
"The volcano is noted for its spectacular sunrises and majestic views all the way to Semeru volcano which is located further behind it. Ever since I saw some images of the volcano, I just could not help myself to visit the area and capture it."
See also Peering Inside an Active Volcano in Eastern Russia
Gorgeous Road Cycling Film Collection
Rapha, a maker of cycling gear, has this ever-growing set of films about their Continentals, long, creative rides. This one, set in Scotland is a love poem both to riding and to the land.
All of them are quite good. Some of my favorites below are Vietnam, Cymru (Wales) and Australia.
The Body is Nature: Hands and Feet by Arno Rafael Minkkinen
Arno Rafael Minkkinen has created this project called Hands and Feet that uses the body for its form, abstracted a little, in concert with the natural world.
He explains:
“If you are going to be under the snow, be under the snow. ‘Out of limitations new forms emerge,’ Georges Braque said. My translation: know what you will not do. For me this means embracing reality as a collaborator in the invention of the image, not overlaying multiple images to create such impressions. In the end, my negatives will never give away how I made any one of my photographs. They will always print with the same information as found in them the day the negatives were made.”
Bike Backpacks - Thoughts and Help
Help me?
I am needing to get a new backpack for my 20+ miles urban bike commute. I carry a macbook pro with me most days and would really love one with reflective elements.
The Welded Postbag from Chrome has quite a bit of style: industrial feeling hardware, water resistant material.
The Ortlieb Velocity Cycling Backpack has bright reflective details. Love the top handle too.
The Timbuk2 Phoenix Cycling Backpack has a lot of storage details, side access panel. Might be particularly good for airport travel too.
I would love your thoughts, if you've ever seen, used or bought any of these. I trust you and your wisdom. Help me out.
Oustanding Ways to Play with Your Food
POTD - Rocket Fantastic [excerpt] by Gabrielle Calvocoressi
Rocket Fantastic [excerpt]
It's ridiculous what fame
can buy you. Not the beast
but the tiny, frightened
man who brings him
in a cage from Alhambra,
who stands in the doorway
as the three girls finish,
get off the bed and walk down
to the pool, giggling as they pass.
The Bandleader borrowed
a tiger because we saw it
in a reel the studio sent over,
some movie about a prince
that played against the wall
of the upstairs bedroom.
Sometimes a girl would jump
into the pool and the waves
shimmered up. In the movie
the prince brings the tiger
to the castle and it rules
alongside him, "That's not
believable," the Bandleader
said and then, "Don't stop."
And then, "Ah. Right there."
The prince would place his hand
on the tiger's head and grab
his hair in his fist and move
it around. I liked to watch
him start to want things, a wetness
forming in his mind. There were
three girls squealing in the pool
and the waves came up to us
as ripples of light that I passed
my fingers through, "You're blue
with gold stripes," the Bandleader
said, looking up at me
but imagining the tiger beside him
already, before he even
reached for the phone.
Calvocoressi picked her 5 contemporary books of poems to read for us.
Compulsion: Photos of Things Going Sideways by Alex Prager
Alex Prager series, Compulsion, is made up of what could very easily be movie stills the moment the film takes a turn for the worst. They are all spring-loaded with danger, uncertainty and drama.
Oscillation Animation
MFA at the School of Visual Arts student Daniel Sierra made this experiment in animation for his thesis. Oscillate aims “to visualize waveform patterns that evolve from the fundamental sine wave to more complex patterns, creating a mesmerizing audio-visual experience in which sight and sound work in unison.”
This Is Water - David Foster Wallace Commencement Speech at Kenyon College in 2005
In his way, David Foster Wallace cores down to the root of knowledge and knowing by talking about boredom and routine, supermarkets and traffic. His luminous mind, radiating even still. And this is a video made by The Glossary makes it accessible again.
By Rail on The Big Picture
I am always a fan of the sets that the editors at The Big Picture pull together. This set of 47 photos around trains, rails and travel is really awesome.
Lit Book Sculptures by Airan Kang
Crocheted Jacaré Alligator Playground
Designed by Olek
São Paulo
Learn more about this project here.
Ten Fantastic and Fastastical Playgrounds
Architizer has this outstanding list of creative and beautiful playgrounds around the world.
See also our list of Wildly Imaginative Public Schools
Woods of Net
Designed by Tezuka Architects
Hakone, Japan
Read more about this project here.
The Brumleby Playground
Designed by Monstrum
Copenhagen
Learn more about this project here.
The Water Playground
Designed by RS+ Robert Skitek
Tychy, Poland
Learn more about this project in the Architizer database.
Imagination Playground
Designed by Rockwell Group
New York City
Learn more about this project in the Architizer database.
Blaxland Riverside Park Regional Playspace
Designed by JMD Design
Sydney
Read more about this A+ Award Winner here.
PlayDome Bristol
Designed by Arc2 architecten
Bristol, UK
Learn more about this project in the Architizer database.
Lion’s Park Playground
Designed by Rural Studio
Greensboro, Alabama
Read more about this project here.
Wikado Playground
Designed by 2012 Architecten
Rotterdam
Read our previous posting about this project here.
The Forest of Cherry Blossoms at Moerenuma Park
Designed by Isamu Noguchi
Sapporo, Japan
Read more about this project here.
Feminine Ritual and Myth from Performance Artist Shana Robbin
Atlanta-based artist Shana Robbins' costumed and choreographed rituals of passage create her odd and evocative vision of theatre.
From the exhibition page:
[Her] works address conditions of feminine power, natural phenomena, and cycles of life and death. Using a variety of media, she presents herself as a solitary and galvanizing figure, elaborately costumed and performing ritualized gestures in unique landscapes. Drawing on her own experiences as model and student of Butoh movement, and on numerous mythologies that link womanhood with the Earth and roles of conduit and healer, Robbins creates composite narratives of identity and transformation.
Bioluminescence Surfing
As a grommet it was here, in Encinitas, Carlsbad and Oceanside, that I cut my surfing teeth. I never got to surf in this glow, but had always heard rumors about it. And here it is.
Thanks, Orion Kraus for the find.
Also check out: Glowstick Surfing & Glowstick Waterfalls
Conceptual Photos from Chema Madoz
West of the Moon - The Collective Dreams of Children
I am in love with this short, poetic, dream-filled film.
Written, Directed, & Animated by Brent Bonacorso:
"Loosely based on several hundred interviews with children about their dreams, 'West of the Moon' is the story of one man's lost love and his strange path to redemption, aided along the way by a gambling robot, a wayward monkey, and a healthy dose of determination."
Lamps in the Woods of Norway
Norwegian artist Rune Guneriussen creates these site specific installations of art and photography. Dreamy, lovely.
