Tag Archive for ‘Journey’ at Didnt You Hear…

Tag Archive for 'Journey'

…It’s Tuner Tuesday: Lotus Concept Ice Vehicle?

Published

on September 2, 2008

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Lotus Concept Ice Vehicle

The Moon-Regan Trans Antarctic Expedition plans to cross the icy continent using state-of-the-art bio-fuelled vehicles and cutting-edge communications equipment to raise awareness of how Antarctica’s fate affects the whole environment.

One of those bio-fuelled vehicles is this Lotus Concept Ice Vehicle, or CIV, which will act as a pilot for the two heavier Science Support Vehicles that will also be making the journey.

With a bio-fueled, supercharged BMW 1150 engine driving the propeller to a top speed of 84 mph, trike skids that bring the overall size to a rather svelte 4.5 meters long and 4.5 meters wide, as well as independent suspension all around, it’s got plenty of go to get them there. Plus, with ice penetrating radar to detect any crevasses, a spiked foot for emergency stops on the edge of any detected crevasse, and weight so low (360kg) that a single person can pull it across the ice, it’s got plenty to get them back as well.

Now if only they rented this thing out at the local skating rink…

[Moon-Regan Trans Antarctic Expedition - Lotus Concept Ice Vehicle]

[Via: Autoblog]

…It’s Website Wednesday: Pencil Rebel?

Published

Cory O'Brien

on August 27, 2008

in Websites

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Pencil Rebel

Grzegorz Kozakiewicz’s Pencil Rebel is made with “Interactive Mixed Media Web Design”, which basically means that he takes cardboard, clay, and whatever else he can find lying around the house and turns it into a website.

Forget Web 2.0; this is Web 0.5, but it’s fantastic, and it shows what’s possible with a ton of imagination, a fair amount of skill with an X-acto knife, and lots and lots of patience.

The goal is to work your way through the puzzle, finding places and secrets along the way, but the journey is definitely greater than the goal, and you’ll enjoy the neat little touches that he added in along the way.

[Pencil Rebel]

…It’s Movie Monday: Elephants Dream?

Published

Cory O'Brien

on July 28, 2008

in Movies

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Elephants Dream

Elephants Dream is another great short from the Blender Foundation (the guys behind Big Buck Bunny) about two strange characters exploring a capricious and seemingly infinite machine. The elder, Proog, acts as a tour-guide and protector, happily showing off the sights and dangers of the machine to his initially curious but increasingly skeptical protégé Emo. As their journey unfolds we discover signs that the machine is not all Proog thinks it is, and his guiding takes on a more desperate aspect”.

Elephants Dream is a story about communication and fiction, made purposefully open-ended as the world’s first 3D “Open movie”. The film itself is released under the Creative Commons license, along with the entirety of the production files used to make it (roughly 7 Gigabytes of data). The software used to make the movie is the free/open source animation suite blender along with other open source software, thus allowing the movie to be remade, remixed and re-purposed with only a computer and the data on the DVD or download.

[Elephants Dream]

…Quid Pro Quo looks intense?

Published

Cory O'Brien

on May 30, 2008

in Movies

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If you’re looking to get a little outside of the ordinary with your next film choice, then definitely check out Quid Pro Quo.

On air, Isaac recounts how he recently received an anonymous tip from someone identified only as “Ancient Chinese Girl.” She tells him a perfectly able-bodied man walked into an emergency ward downtown, and attempted to bribe a doctor into amputating his leg.

As Isaac investigates the eerie tip, he encounters Fiona (Vera Farmiga) who, through her own quandary, leads Isaac to a netherworld of people afflicted with a perverse desire to be disabled. Like a contemporary noir detective film, Quid Pro Quo follows Isaac as he embarks on a dream-like journey to pull back the layers of what makes people feel whole.

This quixotic entanglement between reality and its reinterpretation through desire is the heart and soul of Quid Pro Quo. Isaac is drawn to Fiona’s dark side because somewhere in the strata of her perversion lies an underlying truth about himself. He is confined to a wheelchair because of an accident. What can he possibly learn about himself from Fiona’s desire to be like him? The answer of course is everything.

[Quid Pro Quo]

[IMDb - Quid Pro Quo]

[Via: The Reverse Cowgirl]

…Michel Fournier is one crazy jumper?

Published

Cory O'Brien

on May 27, 2008

in Sports

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Michel Fournier - The Great Leap

If all goes according to plan, Michel Fournier will complete a two decade and $20 million long journey today to balloon into the upper reaches of the atmosphere and then skydive back down in what he’s calling Le Grad Saut, or, The Great Leap.

His leap begins on the ground, where he will load into a 10 foot tall pressurized gondola that will hang from the bottom of a 650-foot balloon. This balloon will take him to a height of 130,000 feet (25 miles) over the course of two-hours, at which point he will open the door and step into the blackness of space.

To survive the fall, which will last for a full 15 minutes, he’s going to be wearing a special space suit and a parachute that is designed to automatically deploy when he’s 5,000 feet above the ground.

Along the way, he will reach, and then cross the speed of sound. (And then top out at a speed of around 1,000 MPH) If that sounds crazy, it is. Scientists are still unsure of what will happen when a person crosses the sound barrier unaided.

With those speeds, Fournier will also be breaking four new records: fastest free fall, longest free fall, highest altitude for a human balloon flight and highest parachute jump.

So what are the potential risks?

If his suit fails, the pressure would cause his blood could boil, and he would loose consciousness in less than five seconds. (Which sounds like a blessing if your blood is boiling during those five seconds!)

His first try was yesterday, and was canceled due to weather related complications, so let’s hope that today provides Michel with smoother sailing, and that he finds his way back to Earth in one piece!

[Via: The New York Times]

…Camera Mail takes you inside the post office?

Published

Cory O'Brien

on April 21, 2008

in Fun

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Camera Mail

Kyle Van Horn’s Camera Mail idea is an interesting one: He sends a disposable camera through the mail attached to a postcard and asks the postal workers to take pictures along the package’s journey.

On November 30th, 2003, an oversized postcard holding one disposable camera and a roll of 800 ASA, 27-exposure film was mailed from Lafayette, IN to Santa Monica, CA. A few days later, the postman knocked on the door of my friend and found him answering in his underwear. He did not understand the statement: “The Post Master wants to know why you are mailing cameras.” as he had no prior knowledge of this delivery. Approximately 14 of the 27 shots arrived intact, all of which were taken at the Lafayette post office.

[Camera Mail]

[Via: Neatorama]

…It’s Movie Monday: Juno?

Published

Cory O'Brien

on December 31, 2007

in Movies

. Comments

If you haven’t already seen it, then fire up Fandango, find a theater that’s playing it near you, and go see Juno.

It’s that good.

The story is about Juno MacGuff, a “confidently frank teenage girl who calls the shots with a nonchalant cool and an effortless attitude as she journeys through an emotional nine-month adventure into adulthood”.

Ellen Page plays Juno, and lights up the screen with what I can easily imagine will be a multiple-award-winning performance, Her witty, fast paced dialogue creates a lovable character that you can’t help but root for, and she manages to both control her life with a tough exterior and search for meaning within a growing interior at the same time.

Michael Cera plays Bleeker (the father) and continues his recent climb up Hollywood’s star ladder. He isn’t in the film as much as I would have expected, but the scenes that he is in are filled with a great dialogue that lends itself well to the high-school theme. Both Juno and Bleeker are a mix of confidence and confusion, and their growing and changing relationship mirrors the growing and chancing that Juno’s body is going through.

Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner play the role of the adopting parents, and each deliver a stellar performance that adds another element to the film. Bateman struggles to figure out what type of person he wants to become as Garner struggles to become the person that she knows she wants to be, and neither over-sells their role.

Allison Janney and J.K. Simmons play the role of Juno’s parents, and are supportive in a way that is both enviable and believable.

For a movie that manages to make you feel good, it does deal with a rather heavy issue, and also runs through the full range of emotions. There are moments of pure comedy, moments of great emotion and connection, moments of truth and moments of powerful silence, and each pulls you in a different direction. However, the plot never takes you down an expected path, and in the end, you’ll want to cheer for a film that manages to define what a coming-of-age tale should be.

Grade: A+
Theater Worthy: Definitely

[Juno]

[Rotten Tomatoes - Juno]

[IMDb - Juno]

…Jason Lewis likes to travel?

Published

Cory O'Brien

on October 8, 2007

in Travel

. Comments

Expedition 360 Map

Jason Lewis recently completed his journey around the world; a 13 year, 2 month and 23 day trip that makes him the first person to ever circumnavigate the globe (reach antipodal points on the surface of the globe) using only human power. (No motors or sails.)

Transportation included bicycles, in-line skates, kayaks, swimming, walking and a unique pedal powered boat, and he traveled over 45,000 miles, including five continents, two oceans and one sea.

During the trip, Jason was hit by a drunk driver, chased by a crocodile, harassed by pirates, and questioned as a suspected spy.

I can only hope it was worth it, because Jason Lewis apparently doesn’t know the meaning of the word ‘quit’.

[Expedition 360]

[Via: Neatorama]