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What A Beautiful World!


But does it take technology to recognize it?  Here are 30 Incredible Abstract Images Taken By Satellite of Our Earth.  G’head, take 60 seconds and give your eyes a feast.  It’s The Bahama’s Sand Reef above, and the world’s tenth largest river, The Lena in Russia below.

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Widescreen


Last month I tried to watch a good movie on what I thought was my big screen TV.  I knew the film would have been better if I had been in the theater.  Now, I think I will check out this site first the next time I get an urge to stay home instead of seeing something on the big screen.  If this doesn’t remind of the truth of cinema, nothing will.  Plus it’s good for the homesick blues when I am out of town for too long.  It’s all NYC panoramas!

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I Want To See This: Fear(s) Of The Dark

Why do Americans think animation is for kids?  Most of my favorite films last year were animations.  Animation works on so many levels and can truly tap into our subconscious.  The freedom of form is exhilarating.  

My daily surfs took me to this trailer for Fear(s) Of The Dark.  I hope the film comes to NYC and soon. — I just got word that IFC is bringing it to NYC in November! (thanks Jim!)

postscript: I saw the film. Charles Burns section is worth twice the price of admission!

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Human Superheroes: Stephen Wiltshire

Think you are good at something?  Try this one on for size.  Stephen Wiltshire is an artist with an incredible memory.  He also has autism, but that may be beside the point.  Give him 45 minutes to look and he will recreate your city with incredible accuracy in just a few days.  (thanks Listverse!)

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I Worshipped John Lennon

When I was fourteen, when I was twelve, when I was seven, John was the one.  But I never met him.  When Jerry Levitan was fourteen he snuck into John’s hotel room with a tape recorder. 

I love the idea of animated documentaries.  I recently saw Waltz With Bashir and it’s my film of the year for the moment.  It won’t come out until fall (and is completely something else than this) so you will have to content yourself with this remarkable work for the time being. Josh Rashkin’s  I MET THE WALRUS was nominated for Academy Award in 2007.

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The Most Famous Anonymous Artist Ever


Banksy maybe becoming a bit ubiquitous (okay say that ten-times-fast), but I definitely think he makes the world a better place. (See early post here).

WebUrbanist meanwhile keeps doing damn good curating on a daily basis.  They are definitely on my list: One-Hundred-Blogs-You-Must-Subscribe-To-Before-You-Die-List.  If I was president I would add two hours to each day just so I could surf through their site.  Yesterday they started an eight part series dedicated to the unknown man.  So if you were wondering, that’s why I was in such a smiley mood.

Today (07.22.08) WebUrbanist posted part two on the stencils of Banksy.
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Birds Are Artistic Geniuses


I used to think clouds were the top improvising artists out there.  These videos demonstrate otherwise.  I can’t even conceive of the math formulas that were used to come up with these shapes.  And coordination and timing.

BBoing turned me onto this one this morning (stop it at the commercial unless you are into bungee jumping), and a quick YTube search found the next one below.
I don’t have many regrets, but one is that I still have not hooked the video camera up to shoot out our window where I watch the birds’ ballet every morning.  They dart and they swirl in organized clusters and seem to much prefer the cool air more than today’s heat which keeps them still.  It’s on my To Do list, so one day….