While on the subject of Pixar/Ratatouille: the opening short “Lifted” is one of the funniest Pixar shorts I’ve ever seen. Either get to Ratatouille on time to see it or buy it off of iTunes.
n.b.: The director of Lifted won Oscars for sound design on Jurassic Park and Finding Nemo, which explains the mammoth control board in the film - it looks like the largest audio mixer ever made.
The only non-3D animations in Ratatouille were the graphic fireworks around the characters as they concentrated on the taste of a fine cheese. Pixar called on Michel Gagne to create these animations, which he did in a very non-digital way: by hand, cel-by-cel.
btw - Ratatouille is a masterpiece. Go see it.
Photo of the inside of the Super-Kamiokande neutrino-detector in Japan. This photo was taken while they were filling it with ultra-clean water; typically the scientists aren’t rowing around the structure :)
As a promotional tie-in to the Simpsons movie, a dozen 7-11 stores have been transformed into Kwik-E-Marts complete with Krusty-O’s and Buzz Cola (c’mon….no Duff beer?)…even the Slurpees have been re-branded”Squishees”.
Read the news story on Yahoo.
Here’s a Flickr set from the Burbank store.
Eno Henze is a German artist working with generative systems. Cortex I is shown below.
One from the archives…. Portrait of yours truly by Herb Hoover.
A years-long effort to recreate the “Venice” sign that hung over Windward Street many many years ago (back when most of the streets here were canals) has finally come to fruition. After seeing it lit up for the first time last night, you can’t help but think that it was a really good idea. It’s simple, unique and beautiful, casting a warm glow on a street that needs some warmth.
Part of a series, still in progress…
Starts slow, but wait for it…
Beautiful sunset from 2005, as the sun sets in the desert behind Gusev Crater.
Incidentially, Gusev Crater is on Mars.
Image courtesy of NASA. More info here.
Spell anything you want using buildings culled from the satellite photos on Google Maps.
