Thanks to his artistic, unique and somewhat dark style of film and photography, Tim Burton has earned himself a very devoted cult following, from the days of Edward Scissorhands to the upcoming Alice in Wonderland (out this March). The filmmaker has a new exhibition opening at the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York City this month.
If you're in NY, take the time to check out the exhibit, which opens on November 22 - April 26, 2010, will feature a career-wide look at Burton's work as a director, producer, writer and concept artist for live-action an animated films, along with his work as a fiction writer, photographer and illustrator. Included are early childhood drawings, never-before-seen pieces, student art and his earliest non-professional films.
For those of you who aren't in the area, check out the video below of Burton discussing his specific style of work, his inspirations, and how he made it to where he is today despite repeatedly receiving negative feedback from his peers. A must-watch for any aspiring artist or Burton fan.
We're still feeling our Where The Wild Things Are high after seeing the film last month, unless we're mistaken, many of you are too. If you're still feeling the buzz from this imaginative childrens-book-turned-movie, you'll enjoy this time-lapse video of the characters coming to life a la chalk mural in the offices of Arnold DC, a Washington ad agency.
The video contains over 1,500 stills as the mural took over 11 hours to create!
Incredible. Though we were a bit sad to see that cool robot mural covered up in the beginning.
Anyone who has ever used a social network is familiar with "unfriending" - the act of deleting someone from your friends list on sites like Facebook for one reason or another. The term has become so popular in recent years, the New Oxford American Dictionary has chosen "unfriend" as their 2009 Word of the Year!
The Word of the Year is supposed to reflect the ever-evolving English language. Each year, Oxford University Press chooses one word that they feel best sums up the mood of that year.
So for 2009, this word is "unfriend." Am I the only one that thinks that is a little bit sad?
Other contenders were: netbook (a small laptop), and sexting (sending sexually explicit texts and pictures via cell phone). My, my what a tech-heavy world we are living in!
What do you think of their choice? Do you regularly use the term "unfriend?"
Life is full of things that just aren't fair, like bad traffic when you're already late, the person in front of you getting the last blueberry muffin, getting the flu the night of your big graduation ceremony, or in graffiti artist Tony Quan's case, becoming paralyzed from head to toe and no longer being able to do what you love the most, draw.
Tony, who suffers from Lou Gehrig's Disease, is not one to let something silly like paralysis stand in the way of his dreams. So he developed EyeWriterEyeWriter, the open source computer program that allows him to draw and create art using nothing but his eyes - the last body part he still has control over.
Learn more about the EyeWriter technology in the clip below from the documentary that tells Tony's amazing story:
Have you always dreamed of taking a trip into outer space but couldn't convince your parents to foot the bill for space camp? Come 2012, you might be able to take a luxury vacation in space, as a Barcelona-based company Galactic Suite Ltd. is planning on opening the universe's first "out of this world" hotel.
The Galactic Suite Space Resort will be a multi-billion dollar resort that allows visitors to take a trip around the world 80 times, watching the sunrise an incredible 15 times a day (do you think that would be as interesting the 15th time as it was the first?)
Prior to their three-day retreat in their space condo, complete with velcro suits and fuzzy walls for Spiderman-like mobility, guests will complete an eight-day training session in the Caribbean. We hope that includes a few massages, because the cost of this trip will blow your mind.
The Galactic Suite will cost a mere $4.4 million, apparently chump change to some, as there are already 23 people who have booked reservations, and a growing list of others who are interested in taking a trip.
Is writing a novel one of those things you've always wanted to do but haven't yet gotten around to? Get off your tush this month and do something about it! November is National Novel Writing Month, the perfect time to dig your paws into sharing that story that's been up in your mind for ages.
How does it work exactly? It's like this: everyday this month, take some time to write a few pages (or more), with the end goal of completing a full, 175-page (50,000 word) novel. Over 120,000 aspiring novelists will take on the challenge this month.
"NaNoWriMo is a novel-writing program for everyone who has thought fleetingly about writing a novel but has been scared away by the time and effort involved.Because of the limited writing window, the ONLY thing that matters in NaNoWriMo is output. It’s all about quantity, not quality. The kamikaze approach forces you to lower your expectations, take risks, and write on the fly."
Sometimes you need a little extra push to get started... this could be just the thing to breathe life into your writing project. Plus, it's getting colder outside and the days are getting shorter. Take advantage of those extra hours of darkness and start writing!
You might like playing with LEGOs and enjoy watching art created out of LEGOs, but how would you feel about a LEGO reality television series? Better get used to the idea, because it seems such a program is now officially in the works.
Reality producer Scott Messnick, executive producer of Cartoon Network's "Destroy Build Destroy," recently met with LEGO's licensing and entertainment team about developing a non-scripted series that would assist the toy company on their mission to bring the brand further into the entertainment arena.
"Lego seemed like such a powerful brand, and I don't think they were thinking about reality TV," said Messick.
In addition to an already in-the-works live-action feature film about the colorful plastic building blocks, Messick plans on leveraging the ever-growing fan community to drive the project forward.
While a final concept has not been decided on, several ideas are being tossed around, such as docu-series, competition shows and kid-oriented game shows. Messick will have full access to use the Legoland theme park.
"They have some great ideas regarding programming that captures and showcases the inherent creativity at the core," says Jill Wilfert, VP of licensing and entertainment at LEGO.
What do you think of a LEGO reality tv series? Would you watch?
Everyone loves a good optical illusion, especially if it involves a jack-o-lantern a week before Halloween! Here's a cool video of the infamous hollow face eye-trick created by Tony Bailey. Is it concave? Is it not? Look for yourself and see:
Personally, we've seen stranger optical illusions, but it's still kind of neat. What do you think - cool or not?
