Archive Category: Media
Actual Newspaper Story or Onion Headline?
Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. Anyone who reads The Weird Week in Review at mental floss knows that news stories can be hard to believe. Anyone who reads The Onion knows that fake news can highlight real issues. In today’s Lunchtime Quiz at mental_floss, you are challenged to distinguish actual news stories from the stuff that The Onion makes up. It’s not so easy! Luckily, I have posted just about all these stories on one site or another, so I scored 100%. Link
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15 Of The Most Iconic Newspaper Headlines Ever Printed
Creative Cloud has a collection of newspaper scans with the biggest headlines of the past 100 years. Here you have a chance to see the news the way people saw it on the days (or the day after, in most cases) many world-changing events happened, from the sinking of the Titanic to the election of the latest president of the United States. Link -via the Presurfer
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15 Podcasts That Will Make You Smarter
So many podcasts out there, but so little time. Here are fifteen in particular that are worth your time and will make you a better informed citizen of the world. Links include TED Talks, the Naked Scientists, a couple frm NPR and the BBC, and the greatest thing on radio, This American Life:
The show’s incredible value was recently on display when it tackled the housing crisis and economic collapse with two episodes entitled “The Giant Pool of Money” and “The Giant Pool of Money Part 2?. TAL excels at taking the esoteric and making them understandable – relatable even – to the average Joe.
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Most Controversial Magazine Covers
Web Designer Depot has a good round-up of the most controversial magazine covers that have graced the newstands.
While some controversial covers have worked and sold more magazines, or won awards for the editors who made the decision to go to press with them, others were embarrassments that the publication had to either apologize for, or fire an editor over.
A few memorable ones came to mind when I started reading, and sure enough, they were there.
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How Secure Are Your Private Photos?
The Found Photos project consists of a collection of private photos which file-sharing users have unknowingly made public when installing P2P software.
The result is a pastiche of modern life upon which you can’t feel at least slighty guilty for intruding:
The Found Photos project started in 2004, while searching for mp3’s using a filesharing program.
After downloading a folder of mp3’s, I came across a folder named ‘pictures’ inside of the album folder, and found a handful of digital camera photos. This made me wonder what else was out there, what people are publicly sharing – after a few quick keyword searches I came across thousands of them publicly shared.
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Jon Stewart Named Most Trusted In News
Now that Walter Cronkite passed, Time decided to ask Americans who their most trusted newsperson was. The results were overwhelmingly in favor of Jon Stewart.
It’s a sad statement that the most trusted name in news is actually a comedian. I’m not sure if it speaks badly about Americans in general or about the state of our news media.
Link Via Good Magazine
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One Giant Screwup for Mankind
NASA managed to put a man on the moon and broadcast the event live to half a billion people on earth. The footage wasn’t great, but we were glad to see it anyway. It turns out that the images from the moon to the earth were pretty good, but when they were relayed to NASA and then to broadcast TV, the quality degraded. However, the earth receiving station in Australia recorded the signal in rather good quality. But where is that tape? Stan Lebar, who was in charge of the original broadcast in 1969, and Apollo video engineer Dick Nafzger went searching.
After schmoozing his way into the stacks and sifting through boxes for months, Lebar found evidence that more than 140,000 tapes from the Apollo era had been checked out of the Records Center between 1979 and 1985 and sent back to the Goddard Space Flight Center. But from there, Lebar fell straight into a black hole. At Goddard, there was no record of where the footage had gone. So the tape hunters hit the phones and the Net, scouring the globe for Goddard retirees who might recall the boxes. It didn’t go well. “We’re dealing with memories here,” Nafzger says, “and those are pretty frail.”
Personally, I think they should look in the big warehouse next to crate that holds the Ark of the Covenant. Link -via Dark Roasted Blend
(image credit: Flickr user evalin)
Update: We may see those original tapes yet. -Thanks, Ivan!
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The Island of California, and other Fascinating Ancient Maps
Believe it or not, explorers believed California was an island for a very long time and this map depicts that assumption. It would take over 50 years after the creation of this map before it was confirmed that California is indeed attached to the mainland of America.
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R.I.P. Walter Cronkite
(YouTube link)
Veteran journalist and news anchorman Walter Cronkite died today. Often called “the most trusted man in America”, Cronkite set a high standard for television journalism in the 20th century. He was 92 years old.
Mr. Cronkite anchored the “CBS Evening News” from 1962 to 1981, at a time when television became the dominant medium of the United States. He figuratively held the hand of the American public during the civil-rights movement, the space race, the Vietnam war and the impeachment of Richard Nixon. During his tenure, network newscasts were expanded to 30 minutes from 15.
And that’s the way it is, July 17, 2009.
Link -via YesButNoButYes
See also: A collection of memorable reports from Walter Cronkite.
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Forty Years of Sesame Street
The American children’s television show Sesame Street turns forty this year. The image on the left is a compressed version of an enormous interactive poster available at the link, with details about 101 muppets that starred on Sesame Street.
Link via Popped Culture
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Keep Calm and Don't Sneeze
Is the swine flu hysteria over yet? Here’s a clever poster by Work for Food reminding you to keep calm and carry on: Link – via BB-Blog
Similarly, in Neatorama’s Online Shop: Swine Flu: Bacon’s Revenge T-shirt
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The Danish Free Newspaper War of 2006
Jon Lund of New Media Trends wrote a fascinating post about the Danish Free Newspaper War, which happened when newspapers tried to "out-free" a free Icelandic paper that entered their market. The whole thing ended up costing the collective newspaper industry in Denmark more than $150 million …
On October 6 2006 “Nyhedsavisen”, a new Danish daily newspaper hit the streets. A quality newspaper staffed with 100 journalists and ambitions of being the largest Danish newspaper with a daily circulation on 500.000 and 1 million readers (total Danish population equals some 5,5 million). The newspaper should feature an editorial mix prioritizing both prize-winning critical journalism and stories close to the everyday life of ordinary Danes.
The prizing of Nyhedsavisen was simple: it was free. And, as something entirely new: it was (intended) to be delivered to the homes of all Danes – without any costs. Not only the newspaper itself was free, delivery was free as well. It was in effect “double-free”.
Read the rest of the story here: Link – via The Long Tail
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Name the Top Ten Newspapers
You may have heard that newspapers are dying, but people still buy them every day. Today’s Lunchtime Quiz at mental_floss asks you to name the top ten newspapers in the United States as computed by daily circulation. You have three minutes. I only got eight of them. Link
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20 Beautiful Video Motion Pieces
One of my favourite blogs “Smashing Magazine” has a fascinating post filled with awesome video clips all about amazing art presented through video. When an artist wants to show off their portfolio some of them go about creating a show reel to show their art, experience and skill.
This can be in various aspects such as editing, directing, animation and so forth. One that really caught my eye from their 20 clips posted has to be this one which blew my mind with the dazzling use of live projection mapping. The creator himself explains, “This is an experimental film made up of over 35,000 photographs. It combines an innovative mix of stop motion and live projection mapping techniques.”
SCINTILLATION from Xavier Chassaing on Vimeo.
Hit the link to check out the other 19 neat clips up there. Some of them I’m pretty sure we’ve already seen here on Neatorama! 
Smashing Magazine – Link
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Irrational Geographic
While celebrating Mardi Gras last week, a few National Geographic staffers stumbled upon a woman costumed as… a National Geographic Photographer. She was shooting an art project called "Irrational Geographic," taking portraits of the "wild life" with the iconic yellow border as a prop. We loved it so much we featured it on our blog.
"Shouldn’t everyone be on the cover of National Geographic Magazine?" she wondered.
It was a perfect Mardi Gras day outfit… and everyone wants to be on the cover of the magazine so interactivity is high! Indeed, when I asked a man if he wanted to pose like he was on the cover of National Geographic, his response was, “Since I was, like, two.”
(image credit: Flickr user castorpollux)
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Video Interview with Robot Painter Brian Despain
[YouTube - Link]
Artist Brian Despain is a fantastic painter with a unique subject – robots. In this video, Roq La Rue Gallery’s Kristen Anderson and Kenny Montana interview Despain about his art, his inspiration and why he’s so passionate about robots.
– via boingboing
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Light Graffiti Artist
Welsh artist Michael Bosanko has traded in his paintbrush for lights and a digital camera. Using only these tools, the 39-year-old artist creates light graffiti using five colored flashlights and by leaving his digital camera set for long exposure.
To create these light effects Bosanko covers an ordinary household flashlight with acetate paper which allows him to bring different shades of the color spectrum into his art. As an abstract artist, Bosanko tries to incorporate a sense of the surreal into all of his photographs.
Here’s what Bosanko has to say about his work:
“I use my torches like an artist would use a paint brush. I employ an exposure that lasts from ten seconds to one hour and then try to let my art manage to create what I had imagined. What I feel I am trying to convey is a sense of an aesthetically pleasing shape that clearly does not belong in that particular place or area.”
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Polar Bears in London!
[YouTube - Link]
The folks at Eden TV, a new UK-based natural history television network, celebrated its launch by building a 16-foot-tall of a polar bear and cub stranded on an iceberg. The sculpture was then set free to float down the Thames in an attempt to bring attention to the new network and to raise awareness about the polar bear’s dwindling habitat.
– via inhabitat
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Diorama-Like Oil Paintings
Portland artist Amy Bennett creates striking oil paintings, many of whichd epict beautiful vistas, landscapes, cityscapes and slices of daily life. Only there’s one catch – these oil paintings are stylized to look like minature models.
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Award Winning Short Film "Shadows"
[YouTube - Link]
Check out this award winning short film (it’s only 3 minutes long). It’s a nice shoutout to the gothic horror films of the 20s and 30s. Simple but effective.
Plot Synopsis:
A leasing agent prepares an apartment with a mysterious past for an
afternoon viewing. While awaiting the arrival of the prospective client
the leasing agent learns that she’s not alone in the apartment.
– via fightingowlfilms
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A Condensed History of Stop-Motion Animation
With "Nightmare Before Christmas" director Henry Selick’s new film Coraline opening this weekend, SlashFilm’s Kevin Kelly atkes a retrospective look back at the history of stop-motion animation, a discipline that still requires delicate hands-on precision to make the scenes come to life, one frame at a time. In an era of CG effects, this analog realism is a breath of fresh air.
These films started appearing more and more frequently because in 1897 an art teacher in the UK had invented plasticine: a non-drying clay that was easily malleable and would retain its shape well. Since it was easy to sculpt and manipulate, filmmakers soon found themselves using this instead of simply moving objects around and photographing them for their subjects.
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Star Wars: A Musical Journey Set to Launch
If there’s one thing Star Wars fans and non-fans can agree on its’ that the music for each film, composed and conducted by John Williams, is simply outstanding. The familiar tunes have transcended time to become some of the most recognizable and best scores in the history of cinema.
Lucasfilm and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra have teamed for Star Wars: A Musical Journey which is set to unveil in April at London’s O2 arena before blasting off on a European tour. The two hour show features clips from all six films, live narration and orchestration.
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Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion Turns 40 in Style
Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion ride is quite possibly one of the best attractions Disney’s Imagineers have created during the theme park’s history. From the tombstones surrounding the mansion’s decaying exterior to its cobwebbed interior, the whole ride creates a pitch-perfect atmosphere of gothic glee.
This year the attraction celebrates its 40th anniversary. To commemorate the milestone, one of Disney’s favorite artists, Shag, has been commissioned to create original artwork inspired by the ever popular attraction.
>“Represented in the artwork are some of the attraction’s most beloved scenes, including the Stretching Portraits, the Ballroom, the Séance Room, the Attic, Graveyard, among others. This unique collection is a must have for any Shag and Haunted Mansion enthusiast.”
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Colorsonic MP3 Player
Colorsonic is an MP3 player that uses color indication to play music based upon certain moods.
Music is loaded to the Colorsonic like an ordinary MP3 player and converts the songs to color associations chosen by the user. Colors are assigned individual emotional states and playlists correlating to those states can later be accessed by selecting that color on the device.
As an added bonus, the hole in the center of the donut shaped product is used to magnetically store earbuds.
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The Car Music Project
I’ve seen some odd musical acts in my time and while The Car Music Project certainly isn’t the strangest, it’s certainly one of the most innovative.
Founded in 1991 by composer Bill Milbrodt, The Car Music Project makes music by transforming old car parts into musical instruments.
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My, What a Lovely Nuclear Dump You Have
Nowhere is it written that your nuclear waste storage facility can’t be
easy on the eyes. As long as the place isn’t glowing too brightly,
melting down or shrouded in a mushroom cloud, you can decorate it as
much as you like.
Habog is an interim for high-level radioactive waste in the
Netherlands. Designed to last for up to 300 years, the facility
contains waste resulting from reprocessing nuclear fuel removed from
the Netherland’s Borsselle and Dodewaard nuclear power stations after
the implementation of electrical generation.
The lucky artist
hired to paint the Habog storage facility was one William Verstraeten.
The artist decorated the facility’s exterior in bright orange that’s
then covered by Einstein’s equation E=mc2 and Max Planck’s E=hv.
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Carts of Darkness
Carts of Darkness is an interesting documentary film about a subculture of street life involving the homeless and the extreme sport of cart racing.
The National Film Board of Canada has recently posted the entire film online along with the usual trailers. The film by Murray Siple
“follows a group of homeless men who have combined bottle picking with the extreme sport of racing shopping carts down the steep hills of North Vancouver. This subculture depicts street life as much more than the stereotypes portrayed in mainstream media. The film takes a deep look into the lives of the men who race carts, the adversity they face and the appeal of cart racing despite the risk”.
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Staten Island Chuck Takes a Bite Out of Mayor
Obviously upset about the proposed budget cuts to New York City’s zoos, Staten Island Chuck let Mayor Michael Bloomberg know exactly how he feels.
As reported by the Staten Island Advance, the mayor tried several times to lure the petite prognosticator out of his home, tempting him with delicious ears of corn. This resulted in Chuck grabbing the corn, and hastily returning to his den. At some point in their back and forth, Chuck bared his wood-cutting teeth and went to work on the mayor’s finger.
Personally, I would be upset too if some strange guy tried to pull me out of bed at 7am.
Thankfully the Mayor was not badly bit and Chuck was still able to perform his prediction duties: No shadow, early spring!
“His hand was nicked,” a Bloomberg spokesman said. The mayor is up to date on his Tetanus shot, so he simply washed his wounded finger and put on a bandage.
…
The bite happened just before Chuck made his prediction that spring is coming, as the mayor bravely reached into the groundhog’s cottage, and tried to coax him out with some of his favorite snacks.
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Bead Me Up, Scotty
Earlier this year Devorah Sperber’s Star Trek art was featured in a show at Caren Golden Fine Art in New York. The show, entitled “Mirror, Mirror”, takes its name from a classic episode but also refers to the way viewers are meant to view the art – via reflective materials. The unique artwork is comprised only of beads and thread.
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Spin-Offs Spinning Out of Control
These days, TV, music and book spin-offs are a pretty slick business – but it wasn’t always like that!
Here’s a list of some pretty badly thought out spin-offs from the mists of time:
So Neil Simon writes a successful play, that then becomes an even more successful movie, and then becomes a long-running sitcom spin-off with Jack “Quincy” Klugman and Tony “proto-Niles” Randall. Surely that’s enough juice to be going on with. A couple more squeezes? You got it.
Exhibit A – The Odd Couple Sings, an endeavour that could most generously be described as misjudged, particularly as Klugman’s pipes aren’t exactly what you call fit for purpose. You can download the full horror at the link above, particularly the awesome version of You’re So Vain.
The indignities don’t stop there for ol’ Felix and Oscar. Oh no, after 114 hit episodes, the concept was later revived in 1982 as The New Old Couple. New, I hear you say? So, new scripts right? Not exactly. The same scripts, in fact. Then how is it new? Well, er Felix and Oscar, well, they’re er, now they’re black. So why don’t we call it The Black Odd Couple? Dude, that’s not cool.
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