Life In The Aerie

Recovery

Booze and drugs aren't the solution. I know that. And I SHOULD know that, I live with an un-recovering alcoholic, one of my closest friends struggles with it, I watched my neighbor die from it and I find myself wanting to spin in that direction all the time. It's easy for me to look at my pile and say I can't... it's too much.

Snyder just adds to the pile and makes me claw and scratch all the more. Eminem came back to give us his all. I'm still here giving it my all. I picked a bad day to stop shooting up heroin, but as the Dandy Warhols say, "Heroin is so passé". We move on.

The Michigan film business (on the backs of the automotives) eventually went through hell under Engler and Bush when NOBODY was thinking about the future and everything imploded. I saw it coming in 2005 and shut down.

Back then Edsel Ford II proposed to the board that he head up a green technology division and the board about busted a nut. Why should we do that? We are making gobs of money on those pricey, gas-guzzling SUVs.

Yeah? How’d that work out?

Disclaimer: Yes, I own one, but I needed it for work, drove it six miles a day to the studio, parked it and walked everywhere or took Coleman’s train (People Mover for those not in the know). Ms. 91 and I are just that type of ECO nuts.

And here we are again. The illustrious Rick Snyder, CEO of Gateway and the savior all you fiscally oriented folks thought was the darling boy. Who SAID he would take a wait and see attitude to the film incentives and give the recommended two years.

Here’s Snyder’s "Recovery" plan:

1.8 billion in tax cuts to businesses, which by the way, there are dozens of new entities opening up because of the film industry and I imagine they happily pay their taxes because they are MAKING money.

Forty films passed through here last year. Thousands working, opening dozens of businesses, studios… empty office space and hotels filling up.

But, oh that’s right. Snyder wants to phase out the film incentives.

Poof! Buh bye new industry... new business. To date, ten films GONE.

Did you know Mr. Snyder that IATSE Local 38, which serves the film industry, has been around since 1894? Do you know why they formed?

Because the local before them used to DYNAMITE shit they were pissed off at and they lost their charter. Some of the guys I work with are third generation, their great grandfathers were long shoreman and gaffers that migrated to the theatres and then film. In World War II more film was shot in Detroit than in Hollywood.

Where was I...

Oh yeah. HOW is he going to pay for these tax cuts to businesses?

Families teetering on the edge? No earned income credit.

Retired in Michigan? ALL of you cough up a percentage of your pension please. That includes YOU! Teachers, policeman, city workers... thanks for the service, now PAY UP.

Can’t afford heat in the winter? Fuckin’ too bad.

Aid to Michigan cities? Who needs them. I mean they shoot people in Detroit, right?

Schools and students? Who needs people with educations!

"This is more than a budget proposal," he said, "this is an opportunity to stop living in the past and start looking to the future. This is a defining moment."

Yeah? Define this (symbolic gesture made with a finger or a song by Cee-Lo).

To sum up. Screw the unions, the cities, education, those damn Hollywood types and the poor. If we give all the state money to businesses maybe those pensioners can go BACK to work.

Oh and by the way? Gateway computers suck!

That ain't recovery Ricky boy that's hitting the bottle called FANTASY.

Posted by M. Hannington at 04:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Patiently Waiting

Anyone that knows me knows that I DIGS me some Eminem and I digs 50 too (A twofer!). Give the video some time to load... the lyrics to this song are four pages long (unhuh). The first set of lyrics (below), with a twist, could've come straight out of the mouth of an old friend with Texas in his veins. And the chorus? Heard that... yeaaah. BUT I won't be talking about anyone's flows and whether it's hot or not. Sheyeah... been there done that hoes.

Hey Em, you know you my favorite white boy, right?
I, I owe you for this one

[Chorus: 50 Cent]
I been patiently waiting for a track to explode on (Yeah!)
You can stunt if you want and ya ass'll get rolled on (It's Fifty!)
It feels like my flow has been hot for so long (Yeah!)
If you thinking I'm a fuckin' fall off ya so wrong (It's Fifty!)

[50 Cent]
I'm innocent in my head, like a baby born dead
Destination heaven
Sittin' politic with passengers from nine eleven
The Lord's blessin's leave me lyrically inclined
Shit I ain't even got to try to shine
God's the seamstress that tailor fitted my pain
I got scriptures in my brain I could spit at yo dame
Straight out the good book, look, niggaz is shook
Fifty fear no man, Warrior, swingin swords like Conan

Picture me, pen in hand writin' lines knowin the Source'll quote it
When I die, they'll read this and say a genius wrote it
I grew up without my pops, should that make me bitter?
I caught cases I copped out, does that make me a quitter?
In this white man's world, I'm similar to a squirrel
Lookin for a slut wit a nice butt to get a nut
If I get shot today my phone'll stop ringin again
These industry niggas ain't friends, they know how to pretend

Marshall Mathers grew up in Warren, Michigan in the nineties and he lived near Eight Mile Road with all the topless bars, Italian markets, corner party stores, and the homeless and hookers.

I can relate.

In the fall of 1982 I moved back to Detroit from New York City, where I was studying painting and art and hoped to complete my masters. I lived on a street called Tacoma in a small World War II saltbox house in a neighborhood full of little saltbox houses, which was a city block behind the "Player's Club" and Eight Mile Road, east of a club, which is now owned by "BT's", called "Tycoons Gentlemen's Club", where you can still get a private dance and a blow job for $100, the twins run you $150. The original BT’s was, and still is, called "The Booby Trap" and was a favorite lunch spot (the food was great!). There was something about a good steak and salad served with naked girls in the afternoon that felt comforting... a lull to a busy day.

Back then the neighborhood was largely Italian and some of the houses had additions to enlarge them, but most were teeny. I remember my neighbor had an airbrushed van with Elvis on the side. It was that kind of place. Today, there are three houses on the block that are boarded up and ramshackle and my little corner party store, which used to be a part of Detroit life, is now a closed corner bar...
for sale.

I worked on Eight Mile Road in the front office of a scrap metal factory, for my boyfriend's uncle (it still bears his son's initials), with a bunch of Indian Sihks, who called me "pretty lady" in thick accents. My guy and Bali, one of the Sikhs, were the steel salesmen. The uncle treated women like dirt. He had a huge belly that he wore his pants up high above and he would have us girls make him a special diet lunch that included diet ice cream mixed with hot water, salad with a specific dressing and other items that were only available at a specialty store. Buddha forbid you ran out of any of them.

Lunch was such a detailed affair that I always volunteered to run errands to escape it. The belly never ever shrunk anyway in all the time I knew him and despite this and his idiosyncrasies he had a girlfriend half his age, we called her the "Dragon Lady" behind her back. Lou was his name and he would often send me to truck city and the worst of those trips was the errand there to collect the checks for his charity golf event. Truck City was where dispatchers from trucking companies all over the city had offices. The place was brimming with truckers and as I walked from dispatch office to dispatch office, collecting checks from the shipping companies that hauled Lou's scrap metal, the catcalls were raucous.

Yeah? You wish fellas!

This was during the Reagan era and the neighborhood was just starting to look seedy. I didn’t make shit in those days, the furniture was a donated lot from a graduate artist friend and also consisted of whatever I had taken with me from home (most of it built by my father) and the shared rent was just $300 a month.

BUT those memories are vivid. The characters were diverse and events were large. I remember rushing out of a drive-in movie theatre one night (The Bel-Aire, now a shopping center with the same name) because we saw smoke coming from the plant. I can recall holding onto the children of one of the Indian workers as we watched the fire blaze. I still remember breathing in the spicy smell of their hair and it seemed like eons before the fire department arrived. We later moved to the milder, whiter suburbs, which I fled as fast as I could, back to the city. I went to school again, started directing at 27 and had a successful film production company by the age of 31.

Eminem was just getting started...

Marshall Mathers spent his days in Warren at a high school that borders the same street as Production Steel, a client next door to Uncle Lou's scrap metal plant, just a short walk away. According to the movie "8 Mile" he worked at a sheet metal factory. I would go on to work for Los Angeles producers on music videos and cable specials. Eminem left Warren for Los Angeles and signed with Dr. Dre to produce his first record. Prior to that he sold demos out of "Record Time" in Roseville AND a few years prior to entering the film industry I dated and worked with a DJ promoting a band he managed, under a label I designed the logo for, we sold them at "Record Time", which is closing next month.

I would later meet with Gary Glaser who won an Emmy for "Borderline: The Story of 8 Mile Road" and it was a great romp into that part of my life, but the project we discussed never came to fruition. Like Mr. Mather I had my Eight Mile story too.

Eminem was the first rapper to win three consecutive "Best Rap Album" Grammies in a row. His latest album "Recovery" was listed by Billboard magazine as the best selling album of 2010. AND here on Facebook he is the most popular person in the world with 29 million likes!

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Sempre libera degg´io
folleggiare di gioia in gioia,
vo´che scorra il viver mio
pei sentieri del piacer.

These are the first lines to “Sempre Libera” as sung by Anna Netrebko in the opera “La Traviata” by Verdi. They start about a third of the way through in the above video.

And below is a typical translation of the words of a woman, who will in the end decide she is giving up lovers for true love. I knew it by heart when I was a teenager, didn’t need translation, I had seen it and knew what Ms. Violetta was all about.

Free and aimless I frolic
From joy to joy,
Flowing along the surface
of life's path as I please.

Speedy (Red Sox Steve, in other parts) often suggests I play Violetta, Matthew does, but also can't. And we'll leave THAT at that. Despite the implications of it's title it's an opera I love. And below is the stupid stuff I sometimes waste hours on, but you'll need background to explain why this particular pursuit came about.

Sempre libera = Always free
Degg’io = I must be
Folleggiare = play the fool
Di giola in gioia = of joy in joy
vo´che scorra = you that it slides
Il vivio mio = living mine
Pei = ?
Sentieri de piacer = paths of pleasure

"Sempre Libera" is easy, but many of the words are dialect or archaic "degg'io" is like "devo" a version of "devere" and I could never figure out "pei", but all the above are shown as straight translations.

Long ago I booked a trip with Slouch to Florence to spend five nights in an old de Medici palace, the plan being to see the sights and take some time to enjoy the countryside and the wine. The Church Lady was a travel agent at the time and it was unbelievably cheap. I spent months learning Italian, read a two volume set on the de Medici family and scoured the internet to learn about the region. Like most operas all ended in tragedy - my soul died along with a beloved dog the day before - I couldn't bring myself to go.

So, I had studied the Italian language, loved the opera and I was sure that Violetta didn’t “frolic” nor was she particularly "aimless". I spent hours trying to come up with my own translation, a more modern less patronizing one.

I must always be free to
flow from joy to joy.
To glide through my life
on the path of pleasure.

After all I'm hosting sexpert Susie Bright in a month and I think she would dig that. And it is something that I lost sight of in a complicated life. Freedom.

Sempre Libera!

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Stand by Me by Ben E. King

There are lots of Lennon songs I could of chosen for this, but I had something on my mind when I chose this one. I love the way he performs this and the fact that his son Julian, an equally talented guitarist, is performing it with him makes it even better.

This weekend CNN will air their documentary, "Losing Lennon: Countdown to Murder". It will join a batch of several other docs that AGAIN will examine the murder and death of John Lennon at the hands of Mark Chapman, including a PBS offering, "Lennon NYC" which aired at the end of November and focused primarily on his life in New York. Chapman, a schizophrenic, had eerily obtained Lennon's autograph on an album that day prior to shooting him four times in the back.

Lennon died on December 8, 1980. VG's Red Sox Steve would become a mere three year old on that same day (HAPPY BIRTHDAY SPEEDY!), but I was in my peace-protesting-prime! I was always more of a Stones than a Beatles gurl, preferring darker music to some of the jaunty stuff the Fab Four put out, but LENNON? He was iconic, representing free love, peace and brotherhood and making us believe it was possible to have a better world. His death was like the assassination of the Kennedy brothers and Martin Luther King, all men who sought to move us forward in a world that seemed to be moving horribly backwards.

"We’ve got this machine, and we’ll try and make use of it, for good, and not just to have a machine."

It is a day in which I will celebrate the lives of two of the most important men in my life. One gone, that I will ever be missing and the other VERY much living and living a life that any man should be proud to emulate. I, for one, am SO proud of the way he uses his intellect, offers his wisdom and how he listens and really hears.

And then there's the way you ALWAYS happen to be in mid-masturbation every time we Skype? How you make me smile.

Celebrate your day babay, celebrate your day our Red Sox Steve.

Thanks for always standing by me.

Posted by M. Hannington at 10:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

As much as possible I try to STEAL these videos and so keep them in our archives for posterity. I couldn't steal this one, but it is a classic that deserves to be here and if I have to keep updating a You Tube link I will.

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Yeah I know this column is entitled VIDEO Saturday, but sometimes audio is all you need.

"This American Life" is a radio show produced by Chicago Public Radio that is hosted by Ira Glass. It has been on air since 1995 and is now a free podcast available to anyone. "This American Life" had a brief stint on cable television, with a show of the same name on the Showtime Networks, but difficulties in scheduling and the long hours necessary to produce content for television caused it's creators to shut it down.

The show, originally called "Radio Playhouse", consists of acts that carry the same theme and are usually stories of everyday people, but it also sometimes covers major news events. It is the most popular podcast on the internet, has won numerous awards, launched the careers of essayists David Sedaris and David Rakoff and many episodes have been developed into films.

There has been a lot of talk around VG about "plans" lately and this is a favorite exploration of some plans and the people behind them, particularly delightful and moving is the story of Ron Mallet and his time machine. Spike Lee purchased this episode, entitled “My Brilliant Plan”, in 2008 with the idea of creating a film around physicist Ron Mallet's story. Mallet's tale begins halfway into the show, but the other stories are well worth the hour long listen.

To listen click here

To donate click here

In 1987 I left a long term relationship and struck out on my own. In truth, I've been on my own ever since. My life plan for art school and the art world became broadcast school and a job offer in post-production, which led to a career in what was at first animation and later filmmaking. I long ago framed the first animation cel I ever inked and painted...

I found it just the other day (as part of an ongoing "plan" to get organized) and looking at it I thought "Would I go back and change any of it?"

Probably not.

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My Mother said if you can do something for somebody why not? That wrapped it up because I couldn’t find no philosophy and NO MORE BULLSHIT to say about that.

Gil Scott-Heron

A new Gil Scott Heron Album? Yeah that’s what I said too. The poet that so richly and righteously angrily railed about the cracks in the America of the early 70’s and 80’s has been in and out of prisons and drug rehab for the last 9 years, which has caused him to postpone upcoming books and recordings, but “I’m New Here”, his first album in 16 years, was released in February of this year and a book “The Last Holiday” is scheduled for release in January of 2011.

It is a different tone from the strong, shouting poet of the 80’s that I remember, but is rather a raspier voice with a tiredness that makes it more soulful and works well with the rhythms of his reflections of a life. For this album is not at all a look at where the world has come in all those years, but a view into the life of a lonely anguished man that reels you in with that voice and rhythm and makes you feel him so starkly. Often industrial and minimalistic these songs and spoken poems are poignant and achingly raw.

As someone who has been doing a lot of reflecting herself, this all too brief little album is going to haunt me for a long time.

Posted by M. Hannington at 08:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Ignite

Rube Goldberg Machine by Syyn Labs for OK Go.

Brady Forrest and Bre Pettis, mourning the fact that there weren't that many geeks to hang out with in Seattle, started this series of geeky talks in 2006. These 5 minute Ignite presentations take place all around the world and are taped and shown on You Tube, think TED (see below) on a much smaller scale. To see Adam Sandowsky's Ignite presentation on the creation of the machine for the above OK Go music video go here. Adam Sandowski is the President of Syyn Labs and recently made his Ignite presentation in Los Angeles. This company that has come up with some unique inventions like the Cloud Mirror. Ignite, Syyn Labs and TED are all great examples of people using the internet to spread knowledge and ideas.

TED: Ideas Worth Spreading

TED is a small nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, and Design. Since then its scope has become ever broader. Along with the annual TED Conference in Long Beach, California, and the TEDGlobal conference in Oxford UK, TED includes the award-winning TEDTalks video site, the Open Translation Program, the new TEDx community program, this year's TEDIndia Conference and the annual TED Prize.

Posted by M. Hannington at 07:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Truth In Advertising by Avion Films

This gem comes from my pal Henry Birdseye,who has been through the shit for me and managed to make it pleasant. I'm preserving it here at VagabondGuru.com as a reminder to all of what once was and what could still be. I remember Henry once editing a spot for me that required some difficult 3-D moves and which had a number of other technical barricades to leap, while my client sat and sketched out ideas on paper and wondered if the background should be more blue. Henry and I looked at each other knowingly, I sent the client off to kern type and we finished the damn spot. Henry pulled a nifty "Spark", think plug-in, out of his ass, tricked it into thinking it was still a free trial deal and we put that puppy to bed!

We did our fucking jobs, while many around us sought for reasons to exist. It was an odd time in my life and it would have been a living hell without Henry by my side.

Here's to the weird old days!

Please take the time to read his philosophy on life...

It begins... "The simplest personal belief I can put to you is just to be nice to people, be altruistic. We are all brothers and sisters on this planet, regardless of our coloring on the outside. If, for some reason you can't do this, eat some shit. Then die."

I heartily agree.

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Playing the Building by David Byrne

In 2008 David Byrne transformed the NYC Battery Maritime building into a musical instrument that could be played on an organ. The building, which had been closed since 1938, was open to the public where anyone could come in and have a chance to play. Even Mayor Bloomberg gave it a whirl.

Wires were run from the organ that tripped motors that vibrated against glass or fired hoses which pumped air into the building's pipes. Hammers struck the columns at various heights to produce different pitches and timbres.

Music, too, is becoming ubiquitous, and that fact provided some of the impetus to Mr. Byrne's sonic installations. He said that he wanted people to become more sensitive to the sounds around them and to change their relationship to music. "I don't want the public to be passive consumers of culture; you have to participate [at the building] to make sounds."

The other issue is authorship. Mr. Byrne is adamant that it's not his music that is being heard at the Battery Maritime Museum. "The person who plays the organ is the author of the music. I am not the author of what they play any more than Les Paul is the author of a million guitar solos."

- Wall Street Journal

Byrne has done a similar project in the UK and also an installation of 100 guitar pedals which produced a variety of sound when gallery goers walked over them.

David Byrne Art Projects

Posted by M. Hannington at 09:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Directed by Max Joseph & Chris Weller, based on an article by Graeme Wood, adapted by Chris Weller and Max Joseph.

One of the more interesting selections at Sundance this year. I would argue that it was meant to stir the pot of anti capital punishment sentiment, but it is a unique look at a solution to a medical need and Weller's animation brings a needed humor to what might have been a more morbid piece.

Programmer's Notes: GOOD, a collaboration of individuals, businesses, and nonprofits pushing the world forward has joined filmmaker Max Joseph, animator Chris Weller, and writer Graeme Wood to create this entertaining video provocation based upon Wood's original article, which can be found on the GOOD website (http://www.good.is/). Wood describes his article's intent to address the disparity between the moral hand-wringing we apply to the inmate-organ-donation question, compared to the lack of much discussion at all of the capital punishment issue itself. We quibble over whether a man has a right (!) to donate (!) his liver, but we are silent about the fact that the reason he is in a position to donate his liver is because he is soon to be a literal victim of human sacrifice by the state. Surely we can find the energy to consider both moral problems.

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Brian Mallow at Wonderfest

Brian Mallow has made appearances on CBS, A&E, TechTV, and the Discovery Channel teaching his brand of science through comedy. He spoke about science and viruses this year at Wonderfest.

Wonderfest, the Bay Area Festival of Science, is held each year in the beginning of November. Created by Tucker Hiatt it is a non-profit educational project that features exhibitions and presentations by world-class scientists, with debates and Q & A sessions with the audience.

Mission Statement: Through public discourse about provocative scientific questions, Wonderfest aspires to stimulate curiosity, promote careful reasoning, challenge unexamined beliefs, and encourage life-long learning. Wonderfest achieves these ends by presenting series of scientific events to the general public. At most of these events, pairs of articulate and accomplished researchers discuss and debate compelling questions at the edge of scientific understanding.

To donate to this organization click here.

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Isabelle Allende

Isabelle Allende is a Chilean writer, who sometimes uses the "magic realist" tradition in her work. She is the most successful female Latin American writer. Her father was Tomas Allende, the Peruvian diplomat to Chile. She worked for the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization from 1959 to 1965 and in 1966 in Santiago, then Europe. She later returned to Chile, working to find safe passage for those finding themselves on wanted lists under Pinochet. Her mother and step-father narrowly escaped assassination and she too had to move to Venezuela.

TED: Ideas Worth Spreading

TED is a small nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, and Design. Since then its scope has become ever broader. Along with the annual TED Conference in Long Beach, California, and the TEDGlobal conference in Oxford UK, TED includes the award-winning TEDTalks video site, the Open Translation Program, the new TEDx community program, this year's TEDIndia Conference and the annual TED Prize.

Posted by M. Hannington at 10:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

You Tube Link

No Trouble/ No War

From the award-winning documentary, "Playing For Change: Peace Through Music", comes the first of many "songs around the world" being released independently. Featured is a cover of the Ben E. King classic "Stand by Me" played and sung by musicians around the world adding their part to the song as it travelled the globe. Other songs include "One Love", "Don't Worry" and the above song "No War/No Trouble"

Playing for Change

"As we made our way around the world we encountered love, hate, rich and poor, black and white, and many different religious groups and ideologies. It became very clear that as a human race we need to transcend from the darkness to the light and music is our weapon of the future. This song around the world features musicians who have seen and overcome conflict and hatred with love and perseverance. We dont need more trouble, what we need is love. The spirit of Bob Marley always lives on."

Posted by M. Hannington at 06:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

You Tube Link

If

by Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;


If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;


If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";


If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!

Jameson, whose father was the poet Robert William Jameson, was born in Edinburgh, Scotland and received his name from an American, Leander Starr. This gentleman hauled his father out of a canal he had fallen into while on a walk as he was awaiting the birth of his son.

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You Tube Link

Potoo Bird

A cool little bird that has evolved to a perfect state of invisibility. What a delightful thing to be able to do. This film was shot for the BBC and features David Attenborough.

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You Tube Link

Obama/McCain Dance Off

Brought to you by the nice folks at Mini-Movie. This piece has nicely roto-scoped mouth positions for both candidates. Allowing them to speak the words means finding footage that contains enough positions of the mouth for each letter and sound that also matches the angle of the face. Then the mouth and the face of the candidate must be motion tracked onto the actors bodies sometimes frame by frame. This is done by tracking the candidate's faces to points on the actor's face. As the actor dances the face moves with him.

The beginning shot with the handkerchief is simple a reverse shot of the actors dropping handkerchiefs.

Posted by M. Hannington at 07:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

You Tube Link

Non-Newtonian Liquids

A cornstarch and water mixture, sometimes called oobleck, is an example of a Non-Newtonian Liquid. This is essentially a liquid when at rest, but when agitated it takes on the properties of a solid. Most polymer solutions are non-Newtonian as is blood and ketchup. These fluids' viscosity change under stress and over time. They are difficult to define because not only are there viscosity changes, but at varying rates. Scientists instead use continuum mechanics to study tensor values and use constitutive equations to study the liquids in various states.

Called shear thickening fluids, they are being researched for bullet resistant body armor because they remain liquid and soft until impacted. There are also shear thinning fluids like paint which flow when agitated. These are called pseudoplastic fluids. One example is toothpaste that can be made to flow out of the tube by squeezing, but will set up on a toothbrush and not fall off.

NASA:The Physics of Whip Cream

Not everything in this world is as it seems and without science and curious cooks of old that studied this type of phenomenon we would be in a world without whip cream or pudding and conveniences like toothpaste. Scientists are just beginning to understand shear-thinning liquids and applications of new theories could be of great benefit in developing high-performance oils or to the plastics industry in the molding process.

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You Tube Link

Seth Meyers Webby Monologue

Seth Meyers is currently the headwriter at Saturday Night Live. He was born in New Hampshire and graduated from Northwestern University in 1994. His career includes stints on Mad TV, That 70's Show, and his current role on SNL began in 2001.

The monologue is a hilarious look at the financial crisis and the internet. Where would we be without the World Wide Web?

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You Tube Link

George Carlin "It's Bad for Ya"

I have as much authority as the Pope, I just don't have as many people who believe it. – George Carlin

Take a fucking chance! Put a little fun in your life! ... most Americans are soft and frightened and unimaginative and they don't realize there's such a thing as dangerous fun, and they certainly don't recognize a good show when they see one.
– George Carlin

George Carlin was born in 1937 to Mary Beary and Patrick Carlin. His mother, who left his father when Carlin was only two months old, raised him in Manhattan’s Morningside Heights. Carlin would later refer to the neighborhood as White Harlem.

Carlin, who died almost a year ago has won five Grammies and his seven dirty words were a main focus of the U.S. Supreme Court case F.C.C. v. Pacifica Foundation in which the justices confirmed the government’s right to regulate public airwaves.

This video is from his last HBO Special "It’s Bad for Ya” for which the working title was “Parade of Bullshit”. It was filmed only four months before he died of heart failure at the age of 71. He was awarded a grammy for this show and the Mark Twain Prize for Humor posthumously.

Posted by M. Hannington at 06:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

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Sand Waves

When you listen to music you can imagine that each note is not only audible, but also has a physical effect. The same waves and patterns are a part of our daily life and seeing them visually makes them all the more magical.

Posted by M. Hannington at 04:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

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Forgetfulness

The former U. S. Poet Laureate, Billy Collins, former US Poet Laureate reads his intelligently funny poem "Forgetfulness" The delightfully disappearing animation is by Julian Grey of Headgear.

The is from a series of animated poems produced by JWT-NY.

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The Poem - The name of the author is the first to go followed obediently by the title, the plot, the heartbreaking conclusion, the entire novel which suddenly becomes one you have never read, never even heard of, as if, one by one, the memories you used to harbor decided to retire to the southern hemisphere of the brain, to a little fishing village where there are no phones. Long ago you kissed the names of the nine Muses goodbye and watched the quadratic equation pack its bag, and even now as you memorize the order of the planets, something else is slipping away, a state flower perhaps, the address of an uncle, the capital of Paraguay. Whatever it is you are struggling to remember, it is not poised on the tip of your tongue, not even lurking in some obscure corner of your spleen. It has floated away down a dark mythological river whose name begins with an L as far as you can recall, well on your own way to oblivion where you will join those who have even forgotten how to swim and how to ride a bicycle. No wonder you rise in the middle of the night to look up the date of a famous battle in a book on war. No wonder the moon in the window seems to have drifted out of a love poem that you used to know by heart.

Posted by M. Hannington at 09:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

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Spider-Man

Alain Robert (born as Robert Alain Philippe on 7 August 1962) is a French rock climber from Digoin, Saône-et-Loire, Bourgogne, famous for climbing tall buildings (85 in total), which he scales at the crack of dawn because the authorities refuse to give him permission to take such risks.

Alain has reached the top of the Sears Tower, the 75 foot high Luxor Obelisque in Place de la Concorde, France and the 1,667 foot Tapei One in a legally allowed climb and has also attempted the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lampur, but was arrested on the 60th floor. He now climbs to raise awareness for global warming and in 2009 during the G 20 summit climbed to the 9th floor of the Lloyd's building, rolling out a 100ft banner stating that there were only 100 months left to save the planet.

He has fallen twice from a height of 14 feet and once was thought too handicapped to climb again, but has since challenged himself by climbing increasingly more difficult structures. As you can see from the way he trains at home, he has earned his moniker of Spider-Man.

Posted by M. Hannington at 07:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

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Forest Love

This Greenpeace campaign which aims to encourage the EU to stop the importation of illegal timber was featured on the O'Reilly Factor last summer.

Says a Greenpeace spoke person, "It's safe to say that Bill O'Reilly is probably not a fan of Greenpeace. So when our video, along with the entire campaign pitch were mentioned on his show, and the worse things he had to say about it were "salacious" and "this disturbs me", we were quite surprised. So here's something I never thought I would write: Thanks Bill, for helping us out."

We may never see trees in the same way again.

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Gathering Storm

This rather inept video was produced and broadcast for what is claimed to be a 1.5 million dollar budget by the National Organization for Marriage. Rather than being frightened by its lightning and thunder, it seems folks are parodying the piece all over You Tube and even Stephen Colbert has done a version of the anti-gay video in which lightening from the "gay storm" hits an Arkansas teacher causing him to become gay.

Run by right-wing, Princeton professor, Robert George and columnist and co-author of "The Case for Marriage", Maggie Gallagher (she was recently caught receiving taxpayers' money to promote the marriage initiatives of the Bush administration), NOM formed in 2007.

Posted by LITA Staff at 08:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Hot Country Girl Has A Message For The Troops

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Posted by M. Hannington at 06:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

1.) My 5th Novel, 'The Pencil and the Penis' has, strangely, only sold well in Alberta, Canada.

2.) 'Survivorman', Les Stroud, once asked me for the time in midtown Manhattan, but insisted that I provide the accurate time for some South Pacific Island and I had no idea how far ahead/behind EST it was. When I told him that I could only provide NYC time for him to convert, he darted across traffic and disappeared.

3.) Car trouble? I'm your guy!

4.) My inability to accept the fact that there is 'no such thing as a Religious Hot Dog' has sent me to hundreds of Meat Packing facilities all over the world, without satisfaction.

5.) My obnoxious demand in the Drag Bar that the dancer 'take it off!', ended poorly for all concerned.

6.) I usually watch 'Dancing with the Stars' and DVR, 'The Biggest Loser'.

7.) My roommate has had six kids in the ten years we've been living together, and she thinks I don't notice how fast the TP runs out or how we never have any Peanut Butter left.

8.) Can never decide 'Regis' or 'Howie'? When queried regarding contemporary Game Show Greats.

9.) Although I am now 45, my stamina hasn't altered since my late teens.

10.) Women stop me on the street to compliment me on my luxuriant mane.

11.) North Korean Dictator, Kim Jong Il, borrowed my 'Roswell: Season One' DVD and it came back late AND sticky. Only my concerns about dragging the rest of the World into Nuclear horror have stilled my tongue.

12.) Coincidence? On two SEPARATE occasions, when Britney was photographed without Panties, I was also commando.

13.) I never even noticed her breasts.

14.) Paco, of Disco 92 Fame, is my Uncle.

15.) Jeanette Vigoreaux and I made out in Mrs. Altschuler's 3rd Grade class, but the scar on my tongue turned her off.

16.) Six toes on my left foot. Extra Testicle. 34B Breast implants in my freezer.

17.) I went on a killing spree in Chicago for awhile, dressed as a confused kid and targeted fat, sadistic, corrupt men in Clown outfits, who I then buried in my crawlspace.

18.) The Vatican condemned my memoirs, costing me millions in Advance fees.

19.) I, like Millions of other Americans, can see NO potential succesor for Tom Daschle at Health and Human Services, and am resigned to see the position remain unfilled.

20.) I cracked three ribs sucking in my gut and now don't enjoy eating Fries.

21.) Meredith Vieira is now angling for MY job.

22.) It's cold outside, so it will be Red Wine, Prezel Nuggets and 'Lifetime' TV all weekend long.

23.) I can never figure out why women can't resist me, but I've boiled it down to the understated elegance, verbal reticence and magnificent apartment.

24.) The Vatican condemned my 'Choreography for Jumpers' DVD, which was designed to allow people on the edge to leap gracefully and make an artistic statement with their last step.

25.) My 2nd Business was a Tranny Whorehouse on Ocean Parkway in Brooklyn, called 'Shiksas with Dicksas'. Twas a roaring success.

Posted by Matthew at 09:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (1)