Are you familiar with “Tilt-shift” photography? It refers to a photographic technique where camera movement and lens manipulation simulates a shallow depth of field. As Wikipedia puts it, “Tilt-shift” encompasses two different types of movements: rotation of the lens plane relative to the image plane, called tilt, and movement of the lens parallel to the image plane, called shift. The resulting image has the remarkable quality of making an image seem like you’re looking down on a miniature world. People look like ants scurrying about. Ships look like toy boats. Cities become Legolands. The process has been around a while so today the marvel has worn off. Nevetheless, this Tilt-shift view of Rio during Carnival is remarkable…
The City of Samba
Keith Loutit and Jarbas Agnelli | Vimeo | Carnival in Rio 2011
____________________________________________________________________________ Jarbas Agnelli is a brazilian artist that uses film, photograph, illustration and music to communicate ideas. He founded AD Studio, a production house in São Paulo, Brazil, to realize his projects of advertising, music videos, motion design, shorts movies and soundtracks. In 8 years ahead of the studio he directed more than 250 commercials, most of them with special effects and alternative filming technics.
Ever had a bone to pick with city hall? Or maybe just had a bad hair day? This guy was arrested for saying the f-word in public, so he goes to a city council meeting, tells his story, then provides what is arguably the greatest rant in history. Note that all he had to do was substitute one f-word for another and he’d be in jail. We should all take notes…
Jon Stewart is the most astute observer and comentator of politics in America. There’s only one other person who can match his wit and brilliant grasp of where the truth lies in the ongoing farce called American politics—Al Franken…
Today’s history lesson deals with the hot potato of church/state separation. Ever since Jimmy Carter proclaimed his being ‘born again’ this subject has infected our political discourse to the extent that today anyone running for political office much first prove they are god’s personal emissary with the morals of a monk. Of course your monks are not as holy as my monks. Contrary to popular mythology it was not always thus. The notion of keeping the affairs of government separate from those of the almighty really took root in the 17th century in Rhode Island under the stern leadership of Roger Williams. The early colonists had lots of good ideas back then. This was one of them…
God, Government and Roger Williams’ Big Idea
Banished from Massachusetts, the Puritan minister originated a principle that remains contentious to this day—separation of church and state
John M. Barry | Smithsonian Magazine | Jan 12
Even the most bitter opponents of Roger Williams recognized in him that combination of charm, confidence and intensity a later age would call charisma. They did not regard such traits as assets, however, for those traits only made the preacher more dangerous in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. With someone like him, they could not compromise.
For his part, Williams was not about to compromise, either, despite his benevolent intelligence and Christian charity. The error, he believed, was not his, and when convinced he was right he backed away from no one.
After he was cast into the wilderness, Roger Williams argued that religion and government must be divided. Illustration: Edward Kinsella III
Here’s a different and very interesting twist on an old idea, the view of the universe from human scale to infinity in both directions. This one uses an animated web site with intriguing illustrations to mark significant steps along the way. For example it is interesting to notice the difference in size of some dinosaurs. I always thought Tyranosaurus Rex was a monster. It’s a mere chicken next to its cousin Amphilicoelius Fragilimus. I’m sure this baby wasn’t so Fragilimus either…
The Scale of the Universe
Click — HERE — to launch the display below. Hold down the Command Key (Mac) or Control Key (PC) as you do so to open the site in a new tab. Note — you can also navigate the view easily by using the left and right arrow keys on your keyboard…
This writer has touched on a profoundly simple yet powerful question that has eluded everyone in the recent food fight proffered by the republicans and, indeed, applies to every political race in recent memory. Who was it that ordained that the political leader of this country must be a Christian? Where is it so written in the Constitution? Why is professed belief in Christianity—and preferably of an evangelical or fundamentalist stripe—required of this nation’s Chief Executive in order to be elected? I agree totally with this author when he reacts to politicians playing the “religion card” in much the same manner as others have played the “race card” to win votes and appeal to this nation’s profound ignorance. We deserve what we get…
Is America Doomed If The President Is Not A Christian?
Kris Broughton | BigThink.com | 26 Feb 12
If it is not illegal for a devout Muslim to become the president of the United States, why are people so hell bent on trying to prove that President Obama is one? Would it matter if any president we’ve had who is still alive were to admit that he was not really a practicing Christian? Is it possible for Americans to consider electing someone to the presidency who has no religious beliefs at all? I’ve had it with the obscene amount of time we spend in our political process obsessing over religion, religious leaders, and presidential candidates who profusely profess their faith in God and metaphorically wave the Bible around as if it is a law enforcement badge.
Belief in a theistic God, that is, a supernatural ruler of the universe, was universal among the Jews and, in different form, among the early Christians. Philosophers tell us that belief in such a being relieved the anxiety that humans felt with their selfhood and the uncertain limits of life. A theistic God offered stability and the sense that someone all-powerful was in charge. Belief in this theistic God is now undermined by what science and technology have taught us about the world, knowledge that has created a new anxiety and uncertainty and led many to take refuge in fundamentalism.
The pace of change brought about by new technology is staggering and the rate keeps getting faster. I am typing these words on a computer that was unthinkable 25 years ago. Today one person can do the work of dozens in a fraction of the time with greater accuracy and complexity and do it, as I did, on a sailboat cruising the Bahamas. This is possible because of technology, inventiveness and our relentless drive to improve how we do things. Nevertheless, this progress does not come without cost. A look back at how things used to be done reveals some of what we have given up in the quest to digitize our way to the future…
A Short Film About Letterpress
Danny Cooke | Vimeo | Jan 12
____________________________________________________________________________ Film-maker, Director of Photography and Editor, Danny Cooke works as a freelance film-maker, cinematographer and editor based in South-West England.
This is pretty mild as student protests go but it’s still interesting to see white American students causing a ruckus over Israeli treatment of Palestinians. There are two videos here (the second after the break) showing both sides of the conflict. It’s worth noting that the event was held at an Israel Alliance event so one might expect to hear some standard pro-Israeli views there. What you might not expect is the student reaction. Go kids…
The Arab Spring Comes to New Mexico
Students Physically Attacked for Interrupting Israel Talk in New Mexico
AtlanticWire | 24 Feb 12
A group of University of New Mexico students “mic checked” an Israel Alliance talk on their campus Thursday night, when audience members got up out of their seats and physically attacked the protesting students.
“Mic check! Nonie Darwish speaks for Israeli apartheid!,” yell the students at around 15 seconds into the video. “And genocide at the hands of the IDF [Israeli army]!” From there, older male audience members begin to slowly walk their way up to the students (some of them young women), and start physically pushing and attacking them. At 55 seconds in, you can see one of the students goes flying over a row of seats.
Now if only some High School student would invent a cure for republican politics, global warming, American wars, bad TV commercials and Israeli paranoia we’d really be getting somewhere…
Considering all the saber rattling going on regarding Iran it might be useful to review the recent history of that country and its relationship with America. If you listen to the news pundits you would think we are facing another Soviet Union bent on launching ICBMs across the ocean. It’s safe to say this vision does not quite match reality with Iran. It doesn’t even hold true if your address is a suburb of Tel Aviv. It is important that we are informed of the truth in this equation before we allow our country to launch another war based on false premises and lies. God knows we’ve had enough of that…
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