what’s happening in heavy metal

oy. back from winter break, dear reader(s), and nicely rested. today I have the beginning of what I think will be an occasional series – What’s Happening in Heavy Metal. since I’ve got dinosaurs on the mind this week, I thought I’d introduce you to something else that is tangentially related to dinosaurs. WHHM is a fabulous news-and-information program on youtube from two lovely Matts that I know from a past life. one of them is in this fantastic band called Dinosaur Pile-Up and the other makes wonderful music videos. when you get them, together, however, you get What’s Happening in Heavy Metal. Enjoy!

lego matrix

Stop motion + legos = yes, please! last year, one of my students did a project similar to this clip. I seem to recall him saying, as he turned it in, that it was one of the hardest things he’d ever done and that it took way too long to get something that is only 1:35 long. I’d post his as well for comparison, but I’m not too sure if he’s put it on Youtube…

reading = imagination

time for me to get on my little reading rainbow soapbox. I think e-readers are STUPID and shouldn’t replace the physical sensation of reading a book that has PAGES. THAT YOU TURN. because, like this video says, there ain’t no kindle/nook that can do what paper can.

pigeon impossible

check out this adorable short!

kisses from paris part 2

et voila! this does kind of make one want to go to paris and be in love – although if you travel like these folks, you won’t get much sightseeing done =).

kisses from paris part 1

I just read this article on the Guardian’s website about a new viral campaign that the Paris tourism board is launching tomorrow. the campaign centers around a 3 minute short film that french director Yvan Attal directed about love and paris and magic and all those good wonderful things that one associates with paris. here’s the teaser; full film tomorrow.

the nightmare before christmas

Fall is my favorite time of year, and the run from about mid-October through January is the best, despite the fact that I am freezing the entire time. The Nightmare Before Christmas is a movie that manages to capture a lot of what I love about this time of year: the holidays. From Halloween through Twelfth Night, I am a happy girl, and this movie manages to capture that spirit. I am also a huge fan of the integration of Halloween and Christmas decor, so this movie kind of has it all for me. Beautiful stop-motion animation (I love it so), gorgeous songs, a great story – The Nightmare Before Christmas has it all.

modern family

I’m a HUGE Arrested Development fan and so when it popped on my radar screen that there was another direct camera-address sitcom on the horizon, I had high hopes. Thank goodness that Modern Family delivers. It is funny, very funny, and deserves all sorts of good ratings and praise. It streams on Hulu and airs on ABC. Check out the promo trailer below.

burial

I’ve been recently dipping my ears into the world of audio and audio editing, specifically NPR-style radio programming. Even though this post has nothing to do with NPR, I’ve started putting more attention to how things sound. Miike Snow is two Swedes and one American who make some lovely music. Burial is a great song and has a great video to accompany it. The coolest thing about the video is how the sound interacts with the images you see. Pay attention to how the sound levels and audio quality change with the visual narrative. Play it really loud with good speakers (it makes the aural tricks more obvious) and enjoy!

monty python’s flying circus

… is 40 years old today. how do I know that? because NPR told me on my way home from work. anyway, I think that Monty Python’s Flying Circus is hilarious and wonderful and worth watching millions of times, over and over. since I wasn’t able to do this today at school, I shall spend tomorrow walking silly.