Dallas comes together, staying apart

April 26, 2020

What happens when Dallas goes home, instead of going out?
Produced by The Well Creative Productions
Drone Videography – Cash Sirois
Edited By – Jason Seely

What did Dallas look like the night of Friday, March 20, 2020? It was the first night of the “shelter in place” protocols in Dallas to try to stop the COVID-19 virus.

I’m a sucker for interesting drone photography. I love a video done to a good piece of music, and even better when it seems the music and the moving pictures take each other in their arms and dance through three or four minutes, putting a smile on our faces.

TheWellDelivers.com (@TheWellDelivers) put this together, with drone photography by Cash Sirois, and music by a band I don’t know, The Bastards of Soul.

And it’s close to perfection.

KERA-TV, our local public station, uses the film in the interstices between the end of a program that doesn’t quite fill its slot, and the next program’s start. I looked for it under KERA’s name, but couldn’t find it. KERA has a couple of other films I really like, including “The Million Dollar Monarch,” and “The Chip that Jack Built,” a joyful honorific to the Jack Kilby who invented the integrated circuit and won a Nobel for it.

But it’s unfindable from KERA’s site, for me. I caught the credits on one of those showings, and found it by looking for Cash Sirois.

(I hope Raul Malo comes back soon, on a night I can see him.)

Last shot from the film by The Well Creative Productions.

A few other television stations have similar films about their cities. These could be a good geography exercise, or maybe part of a project if geography teachers still assign students to report on one state or city.

More likely, it’s just an enjoyable way to see some of the sights, and to get an idea of what it means to record history, to capture history in the making.

Have you seen other films we ought to know about?

Wash your hands. Cover your sneezes and coughs.

More:

  • The Bastards of Soul are a Dallas-origin band that’s been around about four years, with people who have been around a lot longer than that; read about them in the Dallas Observer
  • D Magazine story on the video, why and how
  • See below, another drone video of Dallas, released the same date the video above was shot; different views, different tone (shot earlier, you can tell by the colors of the buildings)
Nice drone shots of Dallas before the shutdown, from TappChannel4.

Piano on Utah Lake

October 17, 2013

Let me state right up front that the only reason I’m posting this is because of the cameo appearance of Mt. Timpanogos in this video.

The sun is setting in the west; Timpanogos is that biggest mountain to the east.

Never heard of this guy before, the pianist William Joseph; found it through a clip in the Deseret News in Salt Lake City.

I understand there’s a platform hiding beneath the water.  When my grandfather, Leo Barrett Stewart, Sr., was a child, about ten miles south of where this film was shot, he said one could paddle a boat out to the middle of Utah Lake, and see the bottom, picking the trout one wished to fish for.  That was before the invasive carp was introduced.

It would be wonderful to see Utah Lake restored to the point that you could see the platform holding the piano.

Filming and credit details from devinsupertramp below the fold.

Read the rest of this entry »


If the Moon were replaced by other planets, what would we see?

August 17, 2013

Odd and interesting idea for a video, from Yeti Animation:  What if the Moon disappeared, and were replaced by other planets in the solar system?  What would it look like?

I like the nonchalance with which the passing auto drivers and passengers treat these views.  Droll.

The ambitious filmmaker, YetPic1, describes the real science and non-science in the film:

Published on May 2, 2013

This is a visualization of what it might be like if the Moon was replaced with some of the other planets at the same distance as our moon. Planets Rendered in 4K resolution! On Change Quality click on “original” to view in 4k. You need a 4k Monitor to watch. otherwise just watch in 1080p or lower

SATURN!.. The super close moon is Dione, the one slightly further out is Tethys
Both are *tiny* but *very* close

In order show[n]:

Mars
Venus
Neptune
Uranus
Jupiter
Saturn

Mercury is intentionally left off as it isn’t Much bigger than our Moon (and hence is boring)

****************
on Jupiter, you might be able to make out the 4 big moons, They all have orbits larger than our moons orbit. but I stuck them on the far side of jupiter so that they could be seen so it looks as if they are closer (to Jupiter) than they really are.

***************
Video creation method
I created an Earth Moon system in 3dsmax, with accurate sizes and accurate orbital distances.. I than matched video of the real Moon with my video camera, against my model. I also researched the correct FOV of my video camera. I used both methods to verify my Virtual camera’s FOV (around 47 degrees). I next modeled up the rest of the planets in proper scale (Real values) set at the distance of the moon (center to center) (also real values), created the animation of them rotating around, and composited the whole bunch.
***************
Faq:

Scales used in Visualization:
Celestial Body Radius (in km)
Moon: 1738
Mars: 3397
Venus: 6052
Neptune: 25,269 (equatorial) 24,340 (polar)
Uranus: 25,559 (equatorial) 24,973 (polar)
Jupiter: 71,490 (equatorial) 66,854 (polar)
Saturn: 60,268 (equatorial) 54,360 (polar) (not including rings)

Distance to Moon 384,000km
Faq: (faq shrunk from other video for “reasons”)

1, We would not be engulfed by Jupiter or any other planet, Jupiter’s radius is 71,490 km and the distance to the Moon is 384,000km

2, We would suffer from really really horrible tides and earthquakes(and radiation)

3, I *did* model the Ring of debris around Uranus, I actually modeled 8 of them, but you can mostly just make out 3, This was actually the tipping point for me to render this out in 4k resolution

4, I love Pluto, and Mercury. They are left off because they are too small. Pluto is smaller than our Moon, and Mercury is not significantly larger than our Moon.

5, The “Sun” I used for lighting the planets is completely off from reality,

7 Orbiting! Yes! we would be a moon of Saturn, Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune. They are much more massive than the Earth. Venus is about the same size of the Earth and we would orbit around a center point between us

8 Rotation rates and axial tilts are not accurate to anything

9 Radius of the Sun is 695,500 km, and hence if it were where our Moon is, we would be engulfed by it

10 Scales are Accurate, Every few days someone says my scales are wrong, Or that someone says I’m presenting Saturn as being bigger than Jupiter. I’m going to go through some of the arguments I keep hearing (paraphrasing each)

a. “You’re showing Saturn larger than Jupiter”: I am not, Saturn is clearly smaller than Jupiter in the video, Saturn+ring system *IS* larger than Jupiter (in terms of radius) This is easy to look up.

b. “Jupiter is 300 times larger than Earth! therefore it’s wrong in your video (or 1000 times larger etc)” : There are many sayings about how much larger Jupiter is than earth. 300 is Probably referring to Mass… 1000.. is probably referring to Volume. Without actually specifying the Dimension the argument is pretty moot. I will say this Jupiter’s Radius is about 11 times that of Earths, which fits precisely with my video.

c. “I saw another video where Jupiter Filled the sky!, therefore you’re wrong”: I am very familiar with the video. I even Like the video. However the FOV (field of view) of his Ground does not match the FOV of the planets. In other words, he has a wide angle lens on the ground, and a zoomed lens on the planets. To his own credit he admits this in his own description. In my video My ground FOV and my planet FOV are the same, and hence graphically matched and very reasonably accurate.

d. The confidence I have for my scales being correct is exceptionally high. The dimensions used for the planets and rings has at one point been triple checked along with the earth moon distance. It’s interesting to see how a *few* people have gotten completely worked up over their misconceptions on scale. The size of the Moon is a bit of an illusion, I Think if you still have misconceptions you should hold a dime out to arms length , and hold it against the moon, Or even go out with your own camera,, Zoom out all the way.. and take a photo of the Moon. It really is Tiny against the sky. It’s only about half a degree in angular diameter.

Thanks to everyone for watching, I enjoy making these

Tip of the old scrub brush to Lady Rhian.

More:

Planets of the Solar System

Planets of the Solar System not to scale – Wikipedia image


War between frogs and dragonflies: Frog fail!

April 2, 2013

Which do you think eats more destructive insects, a frog or a dragonfly?

In the war between frogs and dragonflies, for which do we cheer?

Browbeat said:

You should read Natalie Angier’s entire piece about dragonflies from yesterday’s New York Times, of course. But first, you should watch the video above, by Andrew Mountcastle, which accompanies the piece. You should watch it again and again and again.

More:


Teacher video: No, Texas can’t secede

December 11, 2012

Another video from super teacher CGPGrey, right up our Texas alley, on the issue of Texas secession:

Minor error:  No provision I can find in any Texas Constitution to allow Texas to split.  Language to allow a territory to split into as many as five states was pretty standard for new U.S. territories organized during the 19th century; but that didn’t carry over to the Texas Constitution approved by Congress, not in a unilateral way.  One needs to recall that when Texas entered the Union, it carried with it lands that eventually became parts of New Mexico, Colorado, Oklahoma and Wyoming — which was part of the scruff with Mexico, which led to the U.S.-Mexico war of 1846 to 1848.

Still a teacher from another state demonstrates a much clearer conception of Texas history and state and federal law than some of the nutcases in Texas.  That so many Texans hold so many false perceptions of law and Texas history is an indictment of Texas education, and Texas’s governor and legislature.

You also should check out:

And, while we’re thinking about it, did you ever comment on the Digital Aristotle concept, which first introduced this blog to Mr. Grey?

More:


Chess games of the rich and famous: William Windom

August 20, 2012

Windom may have been surprised at being called either rich or famous — but he should have been.

William Wiindom, in the orignal "Star Trek" television series

William Wiindom, in the orignal “Star Trek” television series

William Windom, an actor whose face and voice most Americans would recognize, died yesterday.  I became a fan of his years ago when he starred in a short-lived, quirky and ground-breaking television series, “My World and Welcome to It.”  The series was based on the work of humorist and cartoonist James Thurber.  Windom played a cartoonist whose drawings occasionally came to life, complicating his troubles with job, women and family.  The program ran for one season on NBC, 1969-70, with 26 episodes.

Too few guffaws for network television.

Buried in most notices of Mr. Windom’s death was the information that he was a pretty good chess player.

A few of his games got captured on film.

William Windom playing chess against John Wayne - image from Chess.com

William Windom, left,  playing chess against John Wayne – image from Batgirl at Chess.com. Wayne, known to friends and the chess world as Duke, played chess on almost all of his movie sets, and at least once in a movie role.

Windom’s game against Wayne is undated.

William Windom (right) playing chess against Erik Estrada, image from Anatoly Karpov Chess School

Windom, right, playing Erik Estrada. Image from AnatolyKarpoveChessSchool.com, undated (Is this photo by photographer Irwin Fisk?)

Windom, left, playing chess against Claude Akins.  AnatolyKarpovChessSchool.org

Windom, left, playing chess against Claude Akins. Image from AnatolyKarpovChessSchool.org

Windom playing Adam Baldwin, Los Angeles, 1988 - Anatoly Karpov Chess School image

Windom playing Adam Baldwin, Los Angeles, 1988 – Anatoly Karpov Chess School image

In this promo for “My World and Welcome To It,” one may get the idea NBC didn’t know what to do with the show, how to market it.


Notebook – an animation look at reality in a digital age

August 4, 2012

I’m up for a brilliant little idea not carried on too long.

Stumbled into this film from four years ago.  The producer/director/creator explains it:

Noteboek (English title: Notebook) consists of 4 short experimental films where I try to confuse the reality.
In these films, illusions and expectations are challenged.

Noteboek is a short film and part of my graduation project.

[Music: The White Stripes-Seven Nation Army.]

And where is Evelien Lohbeck today?

If you want to see more work please visit:
evelienlohbeck.com

The guy’s woman’s got a wicked sense of the surreal, and a good sense of humor.

Tip of the old scrub brush to Le Web  . . . et le reste.

More:


Where in the world is Matt in 2012?

June 22, 2012

I do like this film series.

For classroom purposes, I wish it didn’t include the names of each location as they go, but surely you can figure out some use for this in geography studies.

Matt hisse’f says:

The cities that didn’t make it into the final cut will be in the outtakes video that we’re putting up soon!

Download the video, buy the shirt and stuff like that: http://store.wherethehellismatt.com/

“Trip the Light” on iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/trip-light-feat.-alicia-lemke/id535287301?i=…

Vocals by Alicia Lemke: http://www.alicialemke.com

The dancers in Syria are blurred for their safety.

Tip of the old scrub brush to Bryan Sabillon.


1950 Boy Scout National Jamboree, on film

May 7, 2012

Turn up the sound, the recorded level is not high:  Film showing a Scout’s trip to the 1950 National Scout Jamboree in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.

Scouts traveling to the new Summit Bechtel Reserve site in West Virginia in 2013 will have a much, much different experience.  How many differences can a student find, just watching the film?

http://www.scoutinghotfinds.com (turn up the volume all the way!) This great video was shot by the Boy Scouts and was released as an old strip on 1″ magnetic film after the 1950 National Scout Jamboree. The original film was digitized by Scouter Rick Maples and he has given me permission to post it on YouTube for all to see. There are lots of great pieces of history here and any Scout who has had the Jamboree experience will appreciate this tale of American history. Watching this it makes you wonder how much have changed as the 2013 National Scout Jamboree at the Summit is coming up soon.

189

(This is labeled “Part 1.”  Is there a Part 2?)

It’s almost 20 minutes of film, but fascinating to watch just to see how much is different.  Trains?  No sunscreen?

President Harry Truman appears about 13 minutes into the film.  His speech would probably be considered too political by today’s standards, and it’s interesting to see the reaction of the Scouts and leaders Truman (who was  awarded the Silver Buffalo, Scouting’s highest honor for a leader).

Interesting to see the re-enactment of the retreat of Washington’s forces to Valley Forge.  Interesting way to learn history.

47,000 Scouts participated in the 1950 National Jamboree.  2013 will be a bit bigger, and in a more wild location.


Louie Schwartzberg’s “Gratitude” at TEDS

November 26, 2011

Kathryn sent me the link and said I had to watch it. One learns to listen to one’s Trophy Wife™ if one has any sense.

Louie Schwartzberg’s TEDS appearances are greater than one (“(Louie at TEDS)>1”).  When you watch his films, you can understand why he’s popular among the secular wooists, and even among the thinkers and scientists.  One might rationally wonder why he’s not invited to speak at a lot of church services, but that would be a rational response.  Schwartzberg’s earlier appearance at the Bathtub covered his TEDS presentation on his film, “Pollination.”

This one is more ephemeral, but a lot more human.  I hope to see his work in theaters, soon.

What does this film make you feel, and what does it make you think?

How many of the locations on that film did you identify?


Tribute to the Space Shuttle — video of every mission

July 29, 2011

From the good folks at Nature:

Nature said:

NASA’s 30-year Space Transportation System (STS) program came to an end on 21st July 2011. The Space Shuttle fleet delivered the Hubble Space Telescope, the International Space Station, and dozens of satellites, space probes, crew and supplies. Two Shuttles were lost: Challenger in 1986 and Columbia in 2003. The touchdown of Atlantis at Kennedy Space Center marked the end of an era, after 135 missions. This video shows all of them in chronological order. http://www.nature.com/spaceshuttle

Soundtrack: ‘PX3’ and ‘Retreat! Retreat!’ by 65daysofstatic.

Frank Swain at Sciencepunk added:

No sooner than the smell of low Earth orbit had worn off the space shuttle Atlantis, Nature editor Adam Rutherford was stitching together footage of its final mission into this wonderful tribute to the golden age of manned spaceflight.

So long, Space Shuttle.  We miss you already.

(75,535)


Full Moon, waterfalls in Yosemite, modern cameras: Voila! Moonbows!

July 7, 2011

Dick Feynman taught in Rio de Janeiro for a while.  He was frustrated at the way Brazilian students of that day learned physics by rote, instead of in labs.  In a lecture he looked out from the classroom to the sun dancing on the waves of the Atlantic, and he realized it was a beautiful, brilliant demonstration of light refraction, the topic of the day.  Sadly, the students didn’t understand that the beauty before them was a physics problem.  (Was that story in Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman,  or What Do You Care What Others Think?)

Here, a marriage of physics, moonlight, spring runoff over a cliff, and modern photography, in Yosemite.  If you don’t gasp, call your physician and find a new sensei:

(Programs and maintenance of this park are threatened by Republican budget writers, BTW.)


Latitude and Longitude in two minutes

March 3, 2011

Teachers, can you use a video that covers latitude and longitude in just over two minutes?

A good idea, generally, from Matt Rosenberg (a better idea without “autoplay”) — a few more videos at Ask.com Geography.

[Editor’s note:  I’ve put the video below the fold because I can’t find an easy way to turn off the autoplay command.  My apologies to anyone bothered by the problem.]

Read the rest of this entry »


WWII veterans tell their stories – Central Florida WWII Museum

November 1, 2010

Part of the Veterans History Project, a museum in Florida interviews World War II veterans, and much of the material shows up on YouTube.

These interviews offer great resources for student projects, and are simply a grand way to capture history.

See this story about “Flying the Hump,” transporting war materiel over the Himalayas into China; it’s an interview with E. W. “Bill” Cutler, one of the fliers who survived:

This interview caught my attention for a personal reason.  My uncle, Bruce Davis, died flying the route.  His aircraft and remains were recovered more than 30 years later — someone stumbled on the wreckage accidentally.  When an aircraft went down for any reason (usually weather), the crews passed into a limbo that comprised a special hell for their families.  It was almost impossible that anyone would survive, as Cutler details.  But, with no wreckage and no remains, there were always questions.

Update: Brother Dwight informed me his father-in-law served at the last base before the airplanes went over the mountains.  We have more family Himalayan connections than I knew.

This interview has a mere 152 views as of this posting — pass it around, let’s bump the viewing total up, and get the story out.  At YouTube, the Central Florida WWII Museum has its own channel, listing several similar interviews.

I could see each student assigned to one interview, to tell the story of the interview to the class, to research the background of the theatre of war discussed, the battle, the incident, the armaments, the nations and people involved — to make a history narrative out of the interview, in other words.    What other uses do you see?

Here’s the rest of the story:  The museum has not yet been built.  This project, the video interviews, is a place-holder, a way to communicate while raising the money to build an edifice to honor the veterans more appropriately.  It’s a virtual museum — one your students may browse from the classroom.  How cool is that?


What if the old curmudgeon teaching economics married that cute, brainy geography teacher?

April 23, 2010

Or, was it the cute curmudgeon teaching econ and the old cartographer in geography?

I think I’ll add this to my TAKS review.  What other classroom uses can you find for it?

I found it at Cool InfoGraphics.

Seriously, geography and economics teachers, this is big stuff:

Follow the Money” is a video summarizing the results from the project by Northwestern University grad students Daniel Grady and Christian Thiemann.  Using data from the website Where’s George?, they have been able to track the movement of U.S. paper currency.  What can you learn from this?  That there are natural borders within the U.S. that don’t necessarily follow state borders, and it can also be used to predict the spread of disease because it maps movement of people within the U.S.

From Maria Popova on BrainPickings.org: This may sound like dry statistical uninterestingness, but the video visualization of the results is rather eye-opening, revealing how money — not state borders, not political maps, not ethnic clusters — is the real cartographer drawing our cultural geography.  The project was a winner at the 2009 Visualization Challenge sponsored by the National Science Foundation and AAA.

Tip of the old scrub brush to VizWorld and Maitri’s VatulBlog


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