+
Solstice Moonrise, Cape Sounion, Greece. The inflated moon effect you sometimes see with the naked eye, here created with a fancy lens, is called the Moon Illusion. (via Astronomy Picture of the Day.)
+
“Love in the Times of Massacre”—a young couple seeks refuge under a bridge during the Tiananmen Square Massacre on June 5, 1989, by Liu Heung Shing.
Thinking about the location and circumstances in which this shot must have been taken blows my mind.
+
It’s hard to describe exactly why WALL-E is such a great film. First off, it’s just plain gorgeous. By far Pixar’s best visual work, not only design and texture and realism, but also direction. There are moments of WALL-E that are nearly beyond photorealistic, in the sense that they look better than you could imagine real life would.
On top of that, Pixar absolutely nailed expression and communication using characters who, basically, CANNOT SPEAK. A majority of the film is spent without speaking roles and it plays just plain perfectly.
It’s awe-inspiring and touching and genuine and amazing. Even if you’re the kind of person who doesn’t usually go for animated or CG films, you’d be a fool not to see WALL-E. Not only is it probably the best film made this year, it’s an instant classic and one of the best films made in recent history.
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]
Air - “Universal Traveler”
The week is coming to an end and it’s time to unwind. We all just need to sit back and chill out for a few minutes and listening to Air is the best way I know. From their first EP Premiers Symptômes in 1997 to last year’s Pocket Symphony , Air always seems to create a beautiful backdrop of sound.
From their 2004 release Talkie Walkie, “Universal Traveler” is another beautiful song with a vagabond message.
However, if you’re in a more upbeat mood go check out the previous Tuneage post for Air’s “Kelly Watch the Stars”.
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]
I Get Along Without You Very Well: Chet Baker (1955)Romance is dangerous, and romantics are dangerous people. They will turn lives upside down, destroy anyone and anything in their path – including themselves – all for the benefit of realizing a romantic vision. Like Melville’s white whale, romance is at once terrifying and beautiful, never able to be fully understood.
Chet Baker began his career as a beautiful young trumpet player, who happened to sing once in awhile. He ended his career gaunt and toothless, looking at least a decade older than fifty-nine years on earth might suggest, his heroin and cocaine numbed body sailing out of an Amsterdam hotel room window and onto an unforgiving sidewalk two stories below.
Jazz aficionados argued whether or not Baker was a good singer or not. He probably wasn’t, technically speaking, but that’s why I love him. This recording of “I Get Along Without You Very Well” is a pop song. Hell, it’s an indie-pop song. My case is this: Baker sings for effect, not technique. He sings so soft and close to the microphone that it sends chills up the spine. The celeste in the beginning is an indication of arrangement coming dangerously close to being called record production, an element usually ignored in traditional jazz recordings. Finally, Baker never touches his trumpet, nor does anyone take a solo. Yes, we clock in just shy of three minutes.
Chet Baker’s story is a tragic one; and let’s face it, tragedy is romance’s troubled kin. But even putting aside Baker’s biography, his voice is so mysterious, intimate, lackadaisical, and – here’s his trump card – androgynous. All these variables add up to a strange sensuality. Introduce his dangerous biography into the mix and Baker has all the makings of an indie-pop idol.
I have quite a few Chet Baker records, and there are so many great tracks, but this song always stands out as being the most dangerous. One can only imagine how many lives this recording has destroyed. His voice, gentle and hypnotic, casts a spell upon the listener. How many bad loves had been reunited on Baker’s watch? How many misguided make-up/break-up cycles were perpetuated because of his heartbreaking croon? How many perfectly good nights alone ended in gin-soaked tears and letters written but never sent after listening to this track on repeat for three hours? Romantics beware; Baker’s got your number.
Download song
Chet Baker Wikipedia
Buy The Best of Chet Baker Sings (highly, highly recommended)
“ Democracy demands that the religiously motivated translate their concerns into universal, rather than religion-specific, values. It requires that their proposals be subject to argument, and amenable to reason. I may be opposed to abortion for religious reasons, but if I seek to pass a law banning the practice, I cannot simply point to the teachings of my church or evoke God’s will. I have to explain why abortion violates some principle that is accessible to people of all faiths, including those with no faith at all. Now this is going to be difficult for some who believe in the inerrancy of the Bible, as many evangelicals do. But in a pluralistic democracy, we have no choice. Politics depends on our ability to persuade each other of common aims based on a common reality. It involves the compromise, the art of what’s possible. At some fundamental level, religion does not allow for compromise. It’s the art of the impossible. If God has spoken, then followers are expected to live up to God’s edicts, regardless of the consequences. To base one’s life on such uncompromising commitments may be sublime, but to base our policy making on such commitments would be a dangerous thing.
6.30.08
“Costs of War” is exactly the kind of thing that makes me believe in motion graphics. For the moment, put the subject matter aside. Maybe you agree with its message, maybe you don’t. Regardless, the method of communication is undeniably powerful. Let’s try to break down why this—and other visual essays like it—are such powerful creations.
- Unity. The visuals, soundtrack and writing are united as one. Each is not there to bolster or decorate the other; they are interdependent and inextricably linked. The iconic graphics are instantly recognizable, allowing us to divvy up our remaining perceptual resources between the text and the animation.
- Brevity. Two minutes or less. Our world is full of distractions and obligations. Motion designers are among the most attention deficit disordered people on the planet, so they understand this reality all too well. Motion design, in turn, should be short and sweet—or sour, in the case of this particular project.
- Intensity. Despite what Michael Bay might think, intensity has nothing to do with NPM (Number of Explosions per Minute). Nor does it have anything to do with the number of elements in a scene or the gusto with which they enter/exit. Intensity increases as complexity decreases. Like any good essay, “Costs of War” focuses on one central argument and then pummels viewers with data to support that argument.
The project was created by Bran Dougherty-Johnson, who has a personal connection to the United States’ ongoing overseas conflicts. There are several startling statistics relating the costs of war available here and here.
But without the all important element of time, statistics alone feel disposable, ineffectual. By bringing them into the fourth dimension, Bran made them undeniable and real. You can feel the money draining away as the video marches purposely forward. The playhead becomes a slow-motion guillotine, along with all its attendant anxieties and urgencies to do something. Now.