Categories
Miscellaneous

The Blue Ball Machine

Crazy animated gif that will keep you enthralled: The Blue Ball Machine.

Categories
animation

An Eye for Annai

Beautiful little hand drawn animation I came across today, An Eye for Annai (23.8 MB QT):

From Jonathan Klassen’s site:

This film, [An Eye for an Annai], was done by me and Dan Rodrigues in our third year at Sheridan College’s Classical Animation Program. Everything is hand drawn and animated. We coloured the animation digitally, and the backgrounds are a mix of traditional and digital. I played the recorder for the soundtrack, and the jazz music near the middle is from Louis Armstrong’s “Jeepers Creepers”. The whole film comes in at just under 5 minutes long, and we’re pretty darn proud of it. Tell your friends.

Categories
Miscellaneous

Led Zeppelin’s Least Popular Song

I thought this photo along with it’s caption was worth a laugh. Here’s my own made up lyrics:

“And when she gets there she knows
all that waiting will make her old…”

Categories
Miscellaneous

Danah Boyd’s Blog

I recently added Danah Boyd’s Blog to my feed list because she consistently writes very insightful entries. Today I read her excellent post on growing up in a culture of fear; I liked it so much I thought I would share.

How do youth come of age in this society? What good is it to restrict every social space that they have? Does anyone actually think that this is a good idea? Protectionist actions tends to create hatred, resentment. It destroys families by failing to value trust and responsibility. Ageist rhetoric alienates the younger generation. And for what purpose?

Categories
Miscellaneous

Amazing Race Style Fundraiser in Lethbridge

I received an email from a student from India that is an acquaintance of mine (he had dinner at my house once), whom is trying to raise funds for disaster relief after the huge earthquake in India and Pakistan. I thought this was a neat idea for a fundraiser:

Hello! I am a fourth year student here at the University of Lethbridge, and I am writing to advise you of an event coming next weekend, which I believe you may be interested in. Having been grieved by the recent tragedy in northern Pakistan and India, and by the meager international response, I (and several other concerned students) have begun planning a fund-raiser for Saturday, November 12th, 2005. We aim to hold a fantastic Amazing Race, modelled after the popular T.V. show! Teams will spend an afternoon racing across Lethbridge, completing challenges and discovering more about their community in an attempt to reach the final pit-stop first. Great prizes (including gift certificates to the Mongolie Grill, Montana’s, and other local businesses) will be awarded to the top three groups. The cost is only $9.00 for an individual, or $25.00 for a team of three to five. All proceeds will go to Samaritan’s Purse.

Please let me know if you are interested in participating, volunteering, or simply donating to this urgent cause. Moreover, if you could spread the word among your club members and the rest of the student body, that would be greatly appreciated! The success of this event, and the number of lives we can impact, depends upon your response.

Unfortunately I think I November 12th is when I’m going to be in Edmonton (area) visiting my sister, otherwise I would like to get some friends together and take part – a fun and exciting way to help people in need.

Categories
Miscellaneous

Golden Gate Bridge: Suicide Magnet

The San Fransico Chronicle has a series of stories they are running about the allure of suicide on the Golden Gate Bridge.

Suicide Tally on the Golden Gate Bridge

This image shows how many people have comitted suicide off the bridge and where they jumped at each numbered lamp post along the bridge.

Categories
Miscellaneous

Do You Like to Look For Backmasking?

Please leave a comment here if you’re into the whole backmasking thing. Have you tried it? What have you found? Do you think there is something to it, or do you just think it’s all a coincidence? This is the place to leave your comments on what you’ve discovered from your own experimenting.

If you don’t know where to start, Audacity is a great open-source, freeware audio editor for Windows, Macintosh, and Linux. Among its features is the ability to reverse audio files.

Categories
Miscellaneous

The Jumper (a short story)

My friend Gavin writes short stories and posts them on the web so that we can indulge in a minute or two of his brilliance. I just read one of his excellent stories, The Jumper, and I loved it. If you don’t think it’s hilarious, you are probably an android.