extremely well done short animation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polygon_(film)

The film was drawn in an unusual animation technique called photographica that consists of two celluloid layers for each character with special color schemes and with one of the layers out of focus to imitate the three-dimensional space rendering. The animation then actively moves the virtual camera to change perspective dynamically for each scene and give a sense of realism, without the use of any CGI methods (which weren't available at the time).
The characters in this animated film were designed with faces very similar to those of several famous movie actors and celebrities of the time, including Ringo Starr, Jean Gabin, Paul Newman, Yul Brynner and Mel Ferrer (The scientist) among others.

crises of global capitalism

This animated video illustrates David Harvey's speech that looks at how the current economic problems came to be.

WARNING: volume


The speech:
http://fora.tv/2010/04/26/David_Harvey_The_Crises_of_Capitalism

the new widow-maker?

...introducing Ferrari 458 Italia

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/41513/

The Ferrari 458 Italia, the Italian car manufacturer's latest model, might just be cursed. Ten of the exceedingly expensive vehicles have crashed in the past month, according to reports on Tuesday.

Six Ferrari 458 Italias have been involved in accidents, three caught on fire, and one was destroyed in a fire while it was being stored innocently in a warehouse.

Aug 23 2010

high 33C (while thermometer shows 35.8C)
overnight low 25C
humidity 88%
south wind 5m/s

Happy Birthday to my girl!
The heat of this summer is something. We had a relatively cool summer last year. The year before that was pretty brutal; we saw 40C weather in several prefectures. The nights are cooler this late into Aug but no breeze. The humidity is thick in the air through out the night you can cut it with a knife. We want to turn on the A/C but catching a cold is no fun.

Man VS Wild
I've been watching Man VS Wild. I'm usually pretty OK with the "delicacy" but this morning with some wine and overly sweet chocolate cake being digested down my stomach it almost turned. I had to stop the video to take a long breather.

I'm very surprised this group of people keep calling Bear Grylls fake. First of all, it's a TV show. One that shows survival situations, worst case scenarios, and ways to get out of them. How else can a TV show do it without setting things up? Bottom line, to me, it's entertaining, keeps my pulse racing, is far removed from what I can ever hope I can do, other words - a fantasy. On top of that, there are some real gems on survival techniques, however unlikely.

August updates

Summer summer hot hot hot. high 33C, overnight low 23C, humidity 88%

work:
moving forward... ever so slowly, need a new manager right now

life:
middle of summer, lots of festivals, another one this Sat
kid doing great, another one on his/her way
real physical signs of getting old(er)

car:
serious need of a pro wax job
car detailing is hard
as paint ages