Sometimes it is just best to sit back, relax, and enjoy serenity.
This visualization attempts to capture the mood of Claude Debussy’s best-known composition, Clair de Lune (moonlight in French). The piece was published in 1905 as the third of four movements in the composer’s Suite Bergamasque, and unlike the other parts of this work, Clair is quiet, contemplative, and slightly melancholy, evoking the feeling of a solitary walk through a moonlit garden.
The visuals were composed like a nature documentary, with clean cuts and a mostly stationary virtual camera. The viewer follows the Sun throughout a lunar day, seeing sunrises and then sunsets over prominent features on the Moon. The sprawling ray system surrounding Copernicus crater, for example, is revealed beneath receding shadows at sunrise and later slips back into darkness as night encroaches. (more…)
Designed / created / built / envisioned or what ever you want to call it, they are the brainchild of Theo Jansen.
We aren’t sure whether they are proof of a concept or some type of kinetic sculpture or something else, but they do have a certain elegance that is fascinating.
There are no motors (all wind powered) and it is very easy to see them rolling down the sands of Cocoa Beach.
One of our favorite people to look for on YouTube is the “Crazy Russian Hacker.” (No, he has nothing to do with the hacking (technically the phishing) of the DNC and the GOP.) He’s a guy that tests gadgets for what some people call “life hacks.”
The guy tests everything that is strange and weird out there. Want a different way of dealing with hot dogs? Boom. He’s on it. Want a gadget for helping with corn on the cob? Boom. Hes on that too. Or how about tests on odd kitchen gadgets. Boom.
(As you watch, you’ll understand that “boom” reference.)
The guy has three dogs – two older dogs and a new puppy. They are of two breeds that shed a great deal because the dogs are breed for the winter and actually have two coats of fur. As you can imagine, in the heat of summer, they shed. A lot.
So the Crazy Russian Hacker went out and bought a expensive groomer’s tool for about $500 to test on his dogs. This isn’t a video about the effectiveness or lack of effectiveness of the tool, but rather how much fur the tool blows off the dogs!
(We’ve set the video when the fur starts flying.)
We knew Huskies shed a lot, but we never suspected this. It’s like a snowstorm in August.
Jul 17, 2018
Posted by AAfterwit on Jul 17, 2018 | Comments Off on Pasco County Firefighters – Bravo Zulu.
In writing a blog like this, we often – perhaps too often – focus on the negative things that happen in government and around the world. In a way, it is depressing because there seems to be so much out there that needs improvement. That’s why sometimes you see a post that has nothing really to do with much of anything other than giving us a break from fighting all the time about stuff.
Which brings us to the Pasco County, FL firefighters and EMT’s.
It all started one sunny day when homeowner Gene Work was laying sod down for his yard. As anyone who has laid sod knows, the work is labor intensive, exhausting, sweaty and dirty. There is also a small time frame to get the sod installed or else it dies on the delivery pallets rendering all of the sod useless and money wasted.
After laying some of the sod, Work wasn’t feeling well and came inside his home. While he rested, he wasn’t getting better and so his wife called 911. Later, it would be discovered that Work was having a massive heart attack. Pasco County firefighters and EMT’s showed up and took care of Work, rushing him to the hospital where he would later under go heart surgery.
On the way to the hospital, Work kept talking about the sod. He was worried that it would die. He was worried that his Home Owners Association would fine him for not having a yard and leaving the yard a mess.
In and out of consciousness, Melissa Work said her husband continued to worry about the grass. He had pawned his favorite gun to purchase the sod and if it wasn’t put down that day, it would all die.
“While he was having his heart attack, literally in and out of consciousness, he kept begging me to figure out the sod and have it put down because he didn’t want it to go to waste and die,” the wife wrote on Facebook. “I calmed him and kept saying ‘Jesus will help us. It’s OK. Jesus will figure this out babe.’”
They didn’t want to get hit with the HOA fines, and 30-year-old Melissa Work — who needs a bone marrow transplant — had scheduled the painful and expensive procedure for next month. But she continued to reassure him that they would be all right, that it all would work out in the end.
Here’s where the story gets good….really good: (more…)
One of the first professional, live play we ever saw was a production of “Godspell.” While the movie was worse than terrible, we liked the play / musical and were fascinated with the production we saw because it was done in the round. The technical challenges and artistic challenges of having to do a production written and designed for a regular stage transformed into having audience members on all sides is a sight to behold.
We have loved productions that are done in the round ever since.
We are not a fan of Peter Gabriel, but we always like the song “Solsbury Hill” and to see this video of it being performed in the round is amazing to watch.
One has to appreciate the technology of all of the wireless mics and instruments being incorporated with wired instruments and yet still sounding so good. The closeness and interaction with the audience is fascinating to watch. Then you add into the mix that the outer “ring” of the stage actually rotates, you have something special.
May 13, 2018
Posted by AAfterwit on May 13, 2018 | Comments Off on Happy Mother’s Day!
Imagine being the grandson of the famous “Golden Bear,” Jack Nicklaus. Imagine being 15 years old and caddying for your Grandpa in a group that includes golf icons Tom Watson and Gary Player and their family members. Imagine being that person and being asked to hit a shot during the Par 3 Tournament at one of the most iconic golf courses known to mankind – Augusta National Golf Course – where they play the Masters every years.
Imagine having to hit that shot as the millions of people around the world watch you and every move you make as you address the ball. (“Hello ball…“)
Then you hit a hole in one.
And there was much rejoicing.
Apr 1, 2018
Posted by AAfterwit on Apr 1, 2018 | Comments Off on Happy Easter! That’s My King!
(Our traditional post on Easter here at Raised on Hoecakes.)
Once again, from our friends over at Igniter Media, comes the final statement on Easter. It isn’t about bunnies, chocolate and eggs.
It’s about a King.
The late S.M. Lockridge once presented an incredible message, describing our God and who He is. Though God can’t be described with just words, this is as close as you can get this side of Heaven.
After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.
There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it.
His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow.
The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.
The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified.
He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.
