You've got the two cute kids in Charlie Bit My Finger -- Again!, the Blood boy, and the Hey Jude child.
Another child has joined the ranks amongst these Internal Viral Videos of children, taken by there parents:
This video shows a child looking utterly terrified as their mother proceeds to blow her knows, and then laughs it off until she does it again.
But why do these videos of little children generate millions and millions of views?
Is it their innocence, naivety even? Or maybe it's the fact that whatever they're doing is so downright ridiculous that it's funny?
I believe it's both The behaviour depicted in these videos is not how someone over the age of 5 would normally act. By then, we've "matured" and certaintly do not simulate the actions done in the videos.
Plus the sheer amazement that are shown on the faces of these children is quite admirable. Here we are in the technological age, living in a fast-paced society where we never really take the time to think and enjoy the little things in life. But in these videos we get children who are so amused by every little thing. The world is brand new to them, they are not yet weary of life and it's all going good. We want to be like them, we want to be filled with awe when we see our own reflection, or when a little dog runs across the street. Maybe we're a bit too apathetic about around surroundings, and nowadays only large feats like flying cars can amaze us.
The infant capacity for wonder is what we should all have.
2011/04/23
2011/04/21
A Look into the Works of Makoto Shinkai
Often called the "New Miyazaki," Makoto Shinkai has wowed many fans in the past decade with his films such as Voices of a Distant Star, The Place Promised in Our Early Days, and my favourite, 5 Centimeters Per Second.
His newest film, with the title Children Who Chase Lost Voices from Deep Below, or the shorter and more literal title, Children Who Chase Stars, is to be released next month.
According to Wikipedia, the film is basically about a girl who "... embarks on a journey of adventure to meet a boy again, and thus comes to know the cruelty and beauty of the world, as well as loss."
This sounds very similar to he basis of a Makoto Shinkai film.
Shinkai's films take place in multiple universes and genres from sci-fi to slice-of-life films, yet they all focus on two aspects. One, the fragility of human relationships and two, the fact that we are only human, and will be subject to the conditions that make our relationships so fragile. Even his commercials depict this.
Even if we're in space fighting an intergalactic war (Voices of a Distant Star), rescuing our friend from a world that doesn't even exist (The Place Promised in Our Early Days), or just thinking about that one person from our past as we grow older (5cm Per Second), our memories will always wear through time, our feelings will always waver, and there are external factors in our life that are beyond our control.
All of these contribute to the ever fluxuating existence of human relationships.
I think the beautiful thing about Shinkai's films is that no matter where they take place, the characters feel very real as they are all very relatable. Even if we are disappointed in the events that unravel to the characters and their relations to others, we understand why they would happen because it can very well happen in our own lives.
I look forward to seeing his new film and hope it will be just as lovely as his previous works.
His newest film, with the title Children Who Chase Lost Voices from Deep Below, or the shorter and more literal title, Children Who Chase Stars, is to be released next month.
According to Wikipedia, the film is basically about a girl who "... embarks on a journey of adventure to meet a boy again, and thus comes to know the cruelty and beauty of the world, as well as loss."
This sounds very similar to he basis of a Makoto Shinkai film.
Shinkai's films take place in multiple universes and genres from sci-fi to slice-of-life films, yet they all focus on two aspects. One, the fragility of human relationships and two, the fact that we are only human, and will be subject to the conditions that make our relationships so fragile. Even his commercials depict this.
Even if we're in space fighting an intergalactic war (Voices of a Distant Star), rescuing our friend from a world that doesn't even exist (The Place Promised in Our Early Days), or just thinking about that one person from our past as we grow older (5cm Per Second), our memories will always wear through time, our feelings will always waver, and there are external factors in our life that are beyond our control.
All of these contribute to the ever fluxuating existence of human relationships.
I think the beautiful thing about Shinkai's films is that no matter where they take place, the characters feel very real as they are all very relatable. Even if we are disappointed in the events that unravel to the characters and their relations to others, we understand why they would happen because it can very well happen in our own lives.
I look forward to seeing his new film and hope it will be just as lovely as his previous works.
2011/04/15
The Upsides of Social Networking
In a a previous post, I blogged about how technology strains the physical connections between people.
But I think this video here shows what positive factors can come out of the use of social networking:
A Youtube celebrity named Michael Aranda was visiting England in order to help the band Chameleon Circuit record an album. They visited Paris and on the way back to England, Aranda was denied entrance because of some mishaps on his passport. He told the customs officer that he was to stay in England for six weeks, but the officer wrote six months instead. In pen. So of course, he was, and still is, stranded in Paris. He is also considered a "significant" risk to the UK because of a mark they made on his passport.
He then wrote a message on the social networking site Twitter:
The UK denied me reentry. I'm stuck, alone, in Paris, with nowhere to go or stay. This is good.
A scary situation, I know. But luckily a Parisian fan saw the message and responded to it by telling him that he could stay with her and her family. He is currently residing with the fan and given shelter and food.
I think it's cool how fast information can be spread over the internet, and how easy it is to seek help. Let's say if he were stranded in Paris in the 1950s, where would he get help? Maybe he would have to make a long distance call which I'm sure was pricey back then. Regardless, the world just seems smaller and smaller nowadays as people are connected more than ever through a series of electrical networks.
I also remember reading an article last year about a man who had been taken hostage by terrorists. They had a cellphone and asked him how they were supposed to access the internet, and in turn he introduced them to Twitter. The hostage was able to post a message on Twitter, saying that he was still alive and well. It didn't really help his situation, but it did give some reassurance to his loved ones.
Social networking can become such a nifty tool at times like these, so it shouldn't receive that much criticism.
Also regarding Aranda's situation, Chameleon Circuit members Charlie McDonnell and Alex Day have set up an online petition to get him back into England. So far, it has 29278 signatures and counting. Once they've got enough, Day will present it his local MP. I don't know if it will work, but it really goes to show you how easy it is to connect and reach out to others in this day and age.
But I think this video here shows what positive factors can come out of the use of social networking:
A Youtube celebrity named Michael Aranda was visiting England in order to help the band Chameleon Circuit record an album. They visited Paris and on the way back to England, Aranda was denied entrance because of some mishaps on his passport. He told the customs officer that he was to stay in England for six weeks, but the officer wrote six months instead. In pen. So of course, he was, and still is, stranded in Paris. He is also considered a "significant" risk to the UK because of a mark they made on his passport.
He then wrote a message on the social networking site Twitter:
The UK denied me reentry. I'm stuck, alone, in Paris, with nowhere to go or stay. This is good.
A scary situation, I know. But luckily a Parisian fan saw the message and responded to it by telling him that he could stay with her and her family. He is currently residing with the fan and given shelter and food.
I think it's cool how fast information can be spread over the internet, and how easy it is to seek help. Let's say if he were stranded in Paris in the 1950s, where would he get help? Maybe he would have to make a long distance call which I'm sure was pricey back then. Regardless, the world just seems smaller and smaller nowadays as people are connected more than ever through a series of electrical networks.
I also remember reading an article last year about a man who had been taken hostage by terrorists. They had a cellphone and asked him how they were supposed to access the internet, and in turn he introduced them to Twitter. The hostage was able to post a message on Twitter, saying that he was still alive and well. It didn't really help his situation, but it did give some reassurance to his loved ones.
Social networking can become such a nifty tool at times like these, so it shouldn't receive that much criticism.
Also regarding Aranda's situation, Chameleon Circuit members Charlie McDonnell and Alex Day have set up an online petition to get him back into England. So far, it has 29278 signatures and counting. Once they've got enough, Day will present it his local MP. I don't know if it will work, but it really goes to show you how easy it is to connect and reach out to others in this day and age.
2011/04/12
Man in Space 50th Anniversary
Google is marking the 50th anniversary Yuri Gagarin's journey as the first man in space with a new header:
Of course, today the concept of Man in Space isn't really surprising. But I'm sure we're all well aware of how much of an impact it made back in the day. Before, our reality only existed within this planet, but to explore the cosmos was inconceivable.
However, even nowadays the thought of space is intriguing. Earth is really just a miniscule figure in the universe, and now the possiblity of something even larger than the universe becomes much more real.
Is there life on Mars or in other planets? If so, what exactly are they? Are they just like creatures scurrying about, or are they like humans with the ability rationalize and conceptualize ideas?
Life as we know it would definitely change if life outside of earth was discovered and proven. Maybe a network of intergalatic trade would be developed, linking non-Earthlings with us humans.
If they do come to Earth, then I hope, as cliche as it may sound, that they come in peace. Who knows who long we'll have to live peacefully and unperturbed by beings that do not exactly fall within our Kingdoms, Phylums, Classes, Orders, Families, Genuses, and Species?
Of course, today the concept of Man in Space isn't really surprising. But I'm sure we're all well aware of how much of an impact it made back in the day. Before, our reality only existed within this planet, but to explore the cosmos was inconceivable.
However, even nowadays the thought of space is intriguing. Earth is really just a miniscule figure in the universe, and now the possiblity of something even larger than the universe becomes much more real.
Is there life on Mars or in other planets? If so, what exactly are they? Are they just like creatures scurrying about, or are they like humans with the ability rationalize and conceptualize ideas?
Life as we know it would definitely change if life outside of earth was discovered and proven. Maybe a network of intergalatic trade would be developed, linking non-Earthlings with us humans.
If they do come to Earth, then I hope, as cliche as it may sound, that they come in peace. Who knows who long we'll have to live peacefully and unperturbed by beings that do not exactly fall within our Kingdoms, Phylums, Classes, Orders, Families, Genuses, and Species?
2011/04/10
World Record Breaking
Search up "World Record" on Google News and you'll get an influx of news articles pertaining to persons and their endeavours to get their names in the Guiness Book of World Records. e.g. here.
My question is, why is everyone so dead set on breaking these records? Nowadays, breaking world records is quite a common occurence. I don't know if it's because I wasn't that informed back then, but I remember finding it really neat when someone broke a new record. They were the top in the world in that particular category.
Today, you can break a record for just about anything. What's the fun in that? They're no longer an awe-inspiring accomplishment, just people who seem desperate in their means to attain fame and recognition.
As the saying goes, no publicity is bad publicity. And the majority of us do desire and crave attention, so why not do it in the most extravagant (and non-boisterous) way?
My question is, why is everyone so dead set on breaking these records? Nowadays, breaking world records is quite a common occurence. I don't know if it's because I wasn't that informed back then, but I remember finding it really neat when someone broke a new record. They were the top in the world in that particular category.
Today, you can break a record for just about anything. What's the fun in that? They're no longer an awe-inspiring accomplishment, just people who seem desperate in their means to attain fame and recognition.
As the saying goes, no publicity is bad publicity. And the majority of us do desire and crave attention, so why not do it in the most extravagant (and non-boisterous) way?
2011/04/07
Youtube personality Alex Day (also known as nerimon) and various other famous Youtubers were invited over to the Pixar Studio in San Francisco, California.
Of course, being a Youtuber, he filmed his visit to the studios and made commentary on it. One thing that caught my attention was when he said:
It's so clear that everyone here is working here because it's their passion, not because it's their job. Which is so nice because there's just so much love going into what everyone's doing.
How many individuals of the working class are actually happy with their career? How many people are in it just because of the pay, or because of the stability they receive?
Now, of course you would be paid a lot to work for such a famous company such as Pixar, but I think it would be amazing if everyone could do what they want to do. Ten times the effort would go into such jobs as well, and no one would complain about how hard they're working or why they're not receiving any incentives for their hard work because the work itself is the reward.
The world might be more innovative and much more interesting if we could all make a profession out of our own hobbies (within boundaries of good taste, of course). We'd all be happy, that's for sure.
2011/04/01
The Illuminati
Kanye West released his Power MV last summer.
As is popular nowadays, people immediately associated the occult "symbolism" present in the video with the Illuminati.
Conspiracy theorists are having a hoot over this fad, even relating it to the most unsuspecting figures (e.g. Justin Bieber).
But why are people so fascinated with the Illuminati and the New World Order? Why are seemingly innocent subjects being associated with such fearful feats of the unknown? I think it may be because life is mundane as it is. The world around the average human works at an orderly pace. The subsequent chain of cause and effect is so routine for us that we never stop to question things that may really be out of the ordinary.
That's where conspiracy theories come in. We know why The Occult is so beyond our reality that we like to delve deeper than necessary into things in order to find a meaning that isn't really there. We want to immerse ourselves in a new reality where we really have no free will, and things can happen that are out of our control.
Now, I personally know nothing about such things nor do I do any research on it. But even if I imagine such conspiracies to be a nice break from my day to day life.
To believe that things aren't really as they seem.
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