Alaskan Summer

Image Credit Flickr User akseabird

If you think that summer never lasts for long, spare a thought for your average Alaskan.  At around four weeks in length, summer is Alaska takes a long time to arrive and then is gone before you barely get used to it. However, with around twenty three hours of daylight, plant life here at the edge of the Arctic bursts in to life. There is a side to Alaska that does not necessarily always have to involve the white stuff.

Image Credit Flickr User gillfoto

A landscape of Fireweed in the shadow of Mount McGinnis. Although Alaska is home to lots of ice and snow, summer warms some of it up quite nicely. The state's second city, Anchorage, is protected by the Alaskan Range and the Chugach Mountains.  Add to that the warming currents of the Pacific Ocean with low humidity and the summer temperature can rise in to the 70s.

Image Credit Flickr User eteela

In the summer you can find flowers on Flattop mountain overlooking Anchorage. It is not quite the case that the whole state of Alaska goes dark in the winter and has never ending daylight in the brief summer. At the top, near Barrow, there is a two month winter period but the further south you go the long nights get shorter.  In the summer, Barrow gets daylight for 85 days.

Image Credit Flickr User the queen of subtle

Image Credit Flickr User littleBIGsiss

South of the Arctic every place in Alaska does have a night during the summer – even if it is only an hour long. Anchorage is in the south of the State and even there you can read a newspaper outdoors at two in the morning. 

Image Credit Flickr User DCSL

Image Credit Flickr User DCSL

The Ptarmigan Lake trail on the Kenai Peninsula is buried under a vast carpet of flowers.

Image Credit Flickr User DCSL

Image Credit Flickr User DCSL

The Marathon Bowl on the same peninsula, normally so grey, bursts in to summer life. Viewing west (second picture) into the Marathon Bowl, a little pocket of soft and protected alpine meadow situated in a glacier carved bowl surrounded by ragged cliffs and broken stone.

Image Credit Flickr User DSCL

Image Credit Flickr User DCSL

The landscape is, in some ways, reminiscent of Scotland. Yet a surprise sight in either country, but here in the foothills of the incredible Mount Ascension is the appearance in the landscape of a local llama - as keen as anyone or anything to make the most of the sunshine.

Image Credit Flickr User blarrggg

Image Credit Flickr User blarrggg

Yet in the Scottish summer there are the unbearable swarms of midges with which to contend. Not to be beaten, Alaska has its fair share of insects keen to enjoy the short summer in the shape of, believe it or not, mosquitoes.  Yet let’s forget about them (and the snow!) and take in this taste of the magnificent  and imposing Alaskan wilderness in summer.

Image Credit Flickr User blarrggg

Image Credit Flickr User blarrggg

Image Credit Flickr User Douglas Brown

Image Credit Flickr User AFK

Image Credit Flickr User Bering Landbridge National Reserve

Image Credit Flickr User DCSL

Image Credit Flickr User DCSL

Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty

Once upon a time there was a sweet old lady, who used to tell her grand daughter charming, sweet fairy tales with happy endings every evening.  Then, there was Granny O'Grimm, an embittered old Irish woman who would tell her own version of fairy tales.

Dark, wickedly funny and beautifully made, this six minute animation was nominated for an Oscar for Best Animated Short in 2009 - as well as winning a number of prestigious prizes in its own right. If you like the idea of a lovely bedside story becoming a hilarious rant against the unfairness of old age in general, then you will love this.

The film was directed by Nicky Phelan, produced by Darragh O'Connell and written/voiced by Kathleen O'Rourke (left). Brown Bag Films is an animation studio based in Dublin (Ireland!). They also have a cool blog here.

It was Established in 1994 by Cathal Gaffney and Darragh O'Connell.  Brown Bag Films produce 3D character animation, including short films, features and TV series for international markets. The studio is multi-award-winning.

Ever Wondered How Wind Turbines Stay in Place?

Image Credit Bilfinger Berger Group

A sea based marine farm of wind turbines can be a magnificent or most depressing sight, depending on your point of view.  Yet have you ever wondered how the wind turbines manage to stand so rigidly straight all the time.  After all, when have you ever heard of one toppling over?

Image Credit Bilfinger Berger Group

The answer is in the foundations.  They are huge.  The first pictures here show specialists from the engineering firm of Bilfinger Berger hard at work in the middle of the Baltic Sea.  There a wind farm of 90 turbines is being assembled and in order to ensure they stay upright their foundations must be extremely heavy.  The size is just incredible.

Image Credit Flickr User Luc Van Braekel

The next two pictures show the rig Rambiz in the process of lowering the foundations of wind turbines at sea near Oostende.

Image Credit Flickr User Luc Van Braekel

Here you get an even better idea about just how large these foundations must be to do their job.

Image Credit Wikimedia

If you need to put the sheer size of these monstrous foundations in to context, take a look at what they have to support.  Here, parts of a wind turbine are transported through the English town of Edenfield.  Yes, they are the rotor blades you can see.

The Hobbit in Under 2 Minutes

If you are too busy lazy to read thebook and are listlessly waiting the never ending wait for the Peter Jackson movie version, perhaps you might want to consider filling your Tolkien knowledge in with this short animation by Declan Moran of The Brothers Grim and Grimy. 

It isn't quite like the Wikipedia entry either.  Described by Moran as Valley Girl + Hobbit + Lebowski = Most Concise Summary Ever, that pretty much gives you an idea about how you are going to spend the next two minutes.

As such, you are either going to love this or despise it with a passion.  You can guess my feelings by its presence on Kuriositas - though I must admit to being a fan of Moran's earlier work Dante's Inferno in Under 2 Minutes. It has spiked my interest in the book once again, so much that I can feel a scurry to the book shelves coming on...

Jeep - 70 Years of Freedom

Alex Belllini (pictured above) is an extraordinary man.  At the moment he is running a 5,000km race across the USA and you can follow his adventures at jeep-people.com, a new internet portal which is designed to showcase people who live their lives in sometimes astonishing ways but do it in their own inimitable way. The portal itself is the brainchild of Jeep a brand which is celebrating its 70th birthday this year. 

I was at first a little surprised to hear that Jeep has been going so long but thinking back, my Great Uncle used a jeep to get around his Welsh hill farm, using one he had somehow managed to acquire at the end of World War 2 in 1945. We used to have some fun zooming over the fields with animal feed on the jeep. We  never asked him how he acquired it, of course!

As Jeep has been around for so many decades they thought that celebrations were in order and so you will probably be hearing a lot about them in the near future if you are online a fair deal.  They are looking to join up with people who have a sense of freedom and adventure to share stories and to find out about what others who love to undergo exciting adventures have been getting up to. There is also a chance of meeting up in real life too.

This portal is right up my street!  I enjoy going to places not often visited by others: in fact I refer to what others call vacations as adventures.  I recently spent time visiting the ‘secret’ cities of Yemen and exploring the ancient culture of the local people. So, I think I fit in, pretty much, to the Jeep-personality – at least as far as I can make out from others on the portal!

One event which appeals is the Goodwood Revival - coming up in September and something which promises to be a thrilling step back in history, a exceptional opportunity to revel in the glamour and appeal of motor racing in a romantic time capsule. Yet it doesn’t stop there.  Jeep has increased its presence at sites like Facebook,Twitter and Flickr in order to enable you as an Ambassador to engage more fully with like minded people. Go take a look – you never know what adventures lie in wait for you!

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Dragonboy Wins Gold Medal at Student Academy Awards

Last year we brought you the marvelous animation Dragonboy, which was created by three Academy of Art University students. Created as a collaborative thesis by Bernardo Warman, Shaofu Zhang and Lisa Allen (pictured above) the animation was entered for the Student Academy Awards, which is conducted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and is now in its 38th year.

You may have guessed (from the title of this post alone!) that these alum of the Academy of Arts University, located in San Francisco went on to win a Gold Medal for Dragonboy in the Student Academy Awards in Animation.  This is no mean feat - past winners have included such global names as Spike Lee and Robert Zemeckis. The team at Kuriositas would like to extend our heartfelt congratulations to the talented trio who will no doubt go on to great things in their chosen field.

The Academy of Art University has an interview with the Gold Medal winners over at their website in which they talk about their work and what they are doing since graduation.  In the meantime, are you scratching your head about the animated short movie which won them their prize? It was one of our very favorites from last year.

If you are new to Kuriositas, then it is the story of one little guy, whose moment in the spotlight in the school play will stay with him forever. This charming animation covers a lot of what you might expect from the yearly Christmas performance.  A knight. A princess. A dragon. Three little kids. And an epic battle for love and honor.

Once again, congratulations to Bernardo Warman, Shaofu Zhang and Lisa Allen.

Action!

The Strange Elegance of the Giraffe-Necked Antelope

Image Credit Flickr User San Diego Shooter

In Somalia the Giraffe-Necked Antelope is known as a Gerenuk, which means neck like a giraffe and you certainly have to admit - that is some neck they have on them! The only species in its genus, it is effectively all alone in the world, unique but sadly under threat like so many other large mammals in Africa.Over at the Ark in Space there is a feature about this charming yet curiously shaped animal.

Portrait of Nikola Tesla

Image Credit Flickr User Abode of Chaos

This fantastic piece of street art was captured at the Abode of Chaos. The building, situated near Lyons in France is a living sum of almost three thousand artworks. This amazing work shows the inventor, mechanical engineer, and electrical engineer Nikola Tesla at around the age of 35 in the year 1890.  As such it shows him a year or two after he would have started to investigate something that would later be known as X-rays. It was also at the time Tesla demonstrated wireless energy transmission - as early as 1891.

The Road to Damascus

Sometimes, when racism and bigotry are in your face you have to confront them head on.  Mostly, though, they can be outclassed in a few moments with reasoned argument, quiet but persistent refusal to be put down and a choice word in your own language.

The Road to Damascus (love the irony of the title) shows us a very short converstion between two police officers in a pub.  In this short film by Ian Gamester the senior (white) police officer discusses the reasons for his colleague’s ease of entry in to the force.  Watch it until the very end – it had me in fits of laughter.

The film features Henri Khoury as Nazari and Julian Rivett as Johnson. 

The Giants of Nantes

From Friday 27 to Sunday, May 29, 2011, a huge crowd followed the adventures of the giants of Royal de Luxe in the streets of Nantes, France.

The little girl and the giant go on their adventures and the people of Nantes gape in astonishment.

The amazing spectacle was caught on film by FKY, a graphics designer based in the city. The opportunity for this sort of awesome footage does not happen very often!

Royal de Luxe is a French mechanical marionette street theatre company.

They were founded in 1979 by Jean Luc Courcoult. Based in Nantes, the company has performed in France, Belgium, England, Germany, Iceland, Chile, Australia and Mexico.

Satin Dollz - Whatever Lola Wants

There’s nothing quite like a little burlesque on any day of the week but if you are in the mood for a lot then may I suggest you press the play button on the video above? The 10 strong bevy of beauties that is the Satin Dollz perform Whatever Lola Wants with some relish – not to mention something of an air of satisfaction.

No wonder – the whole lavish extravaganza cost less than $2000.

On a budget which might make a meat bra for the likes of Lady Gaga, Dan Blank has directed this at once laid back yet delirious homage to the age of MGM musicals, pin-ups and Tex Avery (cast your mind back if you can to Red Hot Riding Hood).

Shot on a Canon 7-D, Blank then used After Effects, Cinema 4D (and a whole lot of elbow grease and polish) to produce this extremely cool yet seductive video.

You can see how he created this amazing looking video on a shoestring budget here –  imagine what he could do with a budget of similar size to one of Missy Elliot’s videos in their financially out of control moments.

Dan Blank is a Writer, Designer, Motion Graphics Artist, Animator, Compositor, Cinematographer, Sculptor, Illustrator, Stop-motion Animator, Gourmand, Raconteur, Photographer, Voice Actor, and generalist.

He also makes ice cream.

Of course this video wouldn’t look quite so good without the presence of the rather gorgeous looking Satin Dollz themselves, including Makinna Ridgway who is pictured left, who is Monique in the Dollz.   Formed in 2006 these lovely ladies sing, dance and simply charm themselves (and others) through the golden age of stage and movie musicals, from the 30s to the 50s.   

Their own website is worth a gander or two too!

The Big Yellow Rabbit of Örebro

Image Credit Flickr User swedishCass

A Big Yellow Rabbit has invaded a Swedish city.  There he is, above, relaxing in his new home. It may not be a surprise to hear, however, that this piece of installation art has split the local community down the middle. Yet love it or hate it, the Big Yellow Rabbit of Örebro in Sweden demands attention.

Image Credit Flickr User Dimidus

The town is in the middle of its annual open art festival and among many others this year it attracted Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman who already has something of a reputation for the sensation that his art creates. Made from wood and painstakingly constructed over a number of days, Hofman’s big yellow rabbit has attracted many fans.

Image Credit Flickr User Barbra Uppsala

Image Credit Flickr User Barbro_Uppsala

It has, on the other hand, attracted the ire of some locals who resent the fact that the historic center of their town has been taken over by a fifty foot high, thirty foot long rabbit. They feel that the art on display should enhance Örebro and feel that the rabbit simply does not do that.  Plus it was pricey, costing US$20,000. It may not be my money but I think the Big Yellow Rabbit is huge fun (literally) and worth every krona.

Image Credit Flickr User Dimidus

The BYR (as perhaps we should call it!) will not be there forever – the festival lasts for a month and after that the rabbit will disappear from the town.  Until then the townsfolk have a new attraction to look forward to seeing every day or something to avoid for the duration.  At least the festival has 1,000 other (albeit smaller) exhibits from which to chose a favorite.

Image Credit Flickr User Barbro_Uppsala

So, what do you think of the Big Yellow Rabbit? Let us know!

Image Credit Flickr User Barbro_Uppsala

Image Credit Flickr User Barbro Uppsala

Alternative Movie Posters by Traumatron

When we came across these great alternative movie posters (which would even make fantastic book covers too) by Flickr User Traumatron Illustration then we had to share them with you.  They are a very cool take on what the posters for these movies might have looked like had a darker imagination been at work perhaps. If you would like to see more of Traumatron’s work then use this link to get to their Flickr Photostream. Oh and before you point it out, we know that The Prisoner was not a movie but it was so good we just had to slip it in here - for good measure!