It’s not often a YouTube video grabs my attention for the better part of an hour, but this did. I did want them to be a little less polite at a couple of points, but still utterly compelling for me. Read more →
Tag: things to watch
More on the Synthetic Life thing
Scale and Space
Since I was just talking about scale and space in the comments, I thought I should also pop in this little number I saw today on the site of absolutely-damn-great SF writer Walter Jon Williams. (If it were me, I would have worked O Fortuna into the soundtrack–but then, if it were me it wouldn’t look nearly as good as… Read more →
A Singular Discussion
Having just mentioned that I prefer transcript to video, let me cite another case where I would make an exception. Here’s a quote from an IM chat I was having with a Boston pal last week: (9:15:32 AM) Chris: Friday 7pm The Singularity: An Appraisal Alastair Reynolds Karl Schroeder Charles Stross Vernor Vinge Arguably the idea of the Singularity —… Read more →
Aside
I have a tab open to the site where you can stream the Angora Napkin cartoon. I was keeping it around to point you guys at it, and explain why you should take a look. But my soon-to-be-comics-pusher Christopher Butcher beat me to the punch, so it’s a lot easier to just point you to his post. (As an aside, in an aside, I met Troy Little when he stopped in to do a signing at Strange Adventures–he did a sketch for me in my Chiaroscuro collection, which book I think I prefer to the Angora Napkin one, not least because it has a decidedly less Ren & Stimpy art style–and he seemed like a totally nice, straight up guy.)
Utterly Thought-Stoppingly Awesome.
Watch this. Just watch it. Read more →
Missed Opportunity: Quantum To Cosmos
If I had been moving back to the KW area at the end of September, rather than the end of November, I certainly would have been hitting some of the events at the Quantum To Cosmos conference. I hope some of my pals in the area are planning to check it out. I’ll be able to stream the lectures, and… Read more →
Friday Night Links
Collected from here and there about the networks, for your amusement or edification, I would really like to believe the story of Denny & Peach is a vignette that accurately captures a bit of the wonder of the world. But even if it’s a fiction, it’s a lovely little one. Also, SWORD CANE! Same thing with this “big catch” story.… Read more →
Holy Tesla, Batman
I’m still trying to keep up with the TED talks, and today’s is a cool one for anyone interested in either Tesla or the concept of broadcast power generally. To be fair this is a much shorter-range version of broadcast power than Tesla was after, but still… The presenter is the CEO of WiTricity, which is commercializing the technology, which… Read more →
The Black Cab Sessions
Once again, along comes one of these things where my immediate reaction is “I can’t believe I hadn’t heard of this already.” I’m talking this time about The Black Cab Sessions: musicians record a single track, in a single take, in the back of a black cab, and the results are then webcast to the world. As they put it… Read more →
Some Movie Recommendations
I wrote this up for another online venue, but I might as well put it (lightly edited) here. The idea was to recommend five movies that you think are “good” and that people are less likely to have seen. I chose these: From the Heist/Caper/RomCom Of The Old School pile, I’d choose O’Toole and Hepburn in How To Steal A… Read more →
Artist & Savvy Businessman
As I write this I’m downloading five new tracks by my oft-mentioned-here pal Danny Michel. It appears that just before Christmas Danny made a deal to get digital rights to his back catalogue back from the label in exchange for giving them the rights to retail physical copies of his new indie CD. At least that’s what I get out… Read more →
Canadian Cultural Heritage
You know, between the Heritage Minutes, Hinterland Who’s Who, and now the National Film Board’s online archives, it’s possible to have a really weird Canadian culture flashback online–at least for people my age. I don’t expect the Yanks to understand this post. Read more →
Anticipation
I may have made my generally negative feelings on adaptations of certain works to the big screen known in the past. This occurred to me at the Bond flick tonight, both in the context of the movie (which was fine on its own, and is best not considered in relation to the story it’s named for) and in the context… Read more →
Closet Land
While thinking about the use of torture by governments today, I found myself wishing I could just make everyone watch Closet LandThe “why” here is obvious if you’ve seen the film. If not, then here’s a quote from the creator’s site: “The film captures the psychological landscape of those who engage in torture and aggression, while also defining the nature… Read more →