Along Came a Story...

Support Banned Books

noreply@blogger.com (Myrna Mackenzie) — Thu, 31 May 2012 06:00:00 +0000

Banned Books Week is still months away, but the people who try to ban books never sleep, so neither do I (I know that sounds a bit creepy, but an author and book lover has to be vigilant). That's why I loved this mug the minute I saw it on Miss Cellania.

It's available at The Neato Shop.

Some of the titles on the mug:

Ulysses
Nighteen Eighty-four
The Origin of Species
Catch-22
Kritik der reinien Vernuft (Critique of Pure Reason)
And Tango Makes Three
To Kill a Mockingbird
Lady Chatterly's Lover
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Howl
The Satanic Verses
Tropic of Cancer
Madame Bovary
Animal Farm
Naked Lunch
Du Contrat Social (The Social Contract)
and more...

Can a Monkey Play a Synthesizer?

noreply@blogger.com (Myrna Mackenzie) — Thu, 31 May 2012 06:00:00 +0000

Along the lines of the "monkeys and typewriters" theory, this project involved monkeys (and some others) being given synthesizers to see if they could make music.

1 is 1...Except When It Isn't

noreply@blogger.com (Myrna Mackenzie) — Thu, 31 May 2012 06:00:00 +0000

I'm not sure if anyone here likes these TEDEducation videos as much as I do, but the illustrations are so good, I think I'll keep including them.

C.G.P. Grey Takes on the Pluto Question

noreply@blogger.com (Myrna Mackenzie) — Wed, 30 May 2012 06:00:00 +0000

The debate rages on, but C.G.P. Grey attempts to put the argument to rest.

More Forced Perspective

noreply@blogger.com (Myrna Mackenzie) — Wed, 30 May 2012 06:00:00 +0000

I haven't really blogged about forced perspective (I may have mentioned it during some visuals of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, since there are so many forced perspective shots taken there), but forced perspective images seem to be everywhere. So, I apologize if you've seen some or all of these. Just scroll past if you have. Otherwise, enjoy!

Source

And if you're looking for more, here's a post from 22 Words.

Apparently You Can Get Anything from a Vending Machine

noreply@blogger.com (Myrna Mackenzie) — Wed, 30 May 2012 06:00:00 +0000

I've seen videos of vending machines that make cotton candy, ones that supply users with clothing, ice cream, sandwiches, fresh baguettes, fishing bait and even live crabs (okay, I didn't care to watch that one), but this one from 3 years ago is interesting. I wonder how they clean this pizza vending machine (or if they do).

Have Some Time to Kill? Play with Virtual Sand

noreply@blogger.com (Myrna Mackenzie) — Tue, 29 May 2012 06:00:00 +0000

I ran across this site by accident, so I had absolutely no idea what it is, who made it or why. (I still don't know who made it or why). In fact, when I first got there I had no idea what to do. It looked like an entirely blank screen and I kept clicking trying to see if it would take me somewhere, but all I saw was something that looked like little dark dots falling from my cursor. Eventually I glanced down to see that the dark dots (sand) were falling to the bottom in mounds. This was the result. Kind of ho hum all in black and white.

Eventually I looked around a bit and discovered that This is Sand has been around for several years (maybe you've already seen it) and yes, you can change the colors. There's a tiny little box in the upper left hand corner, and if you click on it, it will tell you that pressing C allows you to change colors and pressing M mutes the sound of the falling sand. Other directions explain how to erase, switch between selected colors and get a gradient. I stuck to simply changing colors, and this was my second effort.

Here's a gallery of designs made by other players. Click on any of them to enlarge the image.

Space in Spray Paint

noreply@blogger.com (Myrna Mackenzie) — Tue, 29 May 2012 06:00:00 +0000

This video of spray paint art as it's being made was fun. I've seen something like this by street artists but it never gets old. The effect of seeing the planets when he pulls off the paint shields is always a treat (and yes, he does need a different type of mask, as someone noted in the comments. Spray paint can be dangerous stuff, especially if you work with it often).

Don't Mess with a Pulsar

noreply@blogger.com (Myrna Mackenzie) — Tue, 29 May 2012 06:00:00 +0000

What is a pulsar? National Geographic spells it out with great visuals (and in just over 3 minutes).

The Museum of Endangered Sounds

noreply@blogger.com (Myrna Mackenzie) — Mon, 28 May 2012 06:00:00 +0000

Brendan Chilcutt wants to make sure that we don't lose (or forget) any sounds as the world moves along and new technologies replace old ones. To that effect, he has created The Museum of Endangered Sounds, an ongoing project.

via Nag on the Lake

David Attenborough Narrates a Video of a Tortoise Trying to Impregnate a Shoe

noreply@blogger.com (Myrna Mackenzie) — Mon, 28 May 2012 06:00:00 +0000

I love David Attenborough. He's got the greatest voice and has been part of such wonderful documentaries. Here, however, he's on The Graham Norton Show where he was asked to do a bit of unusual narration. (I apologize in advance if anyone feels that this is offensive. It's pretty tame, but I know that some people might not feel that way).

National Geographic Brings Augmented Reality to the Masses

noreply@blogger.com (Myrna Mackenzie) — Mon, 28 May 2012 06:00:00 +0000

National Geographic visited shopping centers all over the world and introduced people to augmented reality. I love the way some people just wave at the video of themselves, but some really get into it and try to make it look realistic.

Knitting as Art

noreply@blogger.com (Myrna Mackenzie) — Sun, 27 May 2012 06:00:00 +0000

I've blogged about yarn bombing before, but there are always new things that pop up. While looking for images of knitting as art, here are some of the ones that impressed me. (And yes, some of these include crochet).

Source

A knit poem (click through to the source to read the poem)

Source

"You Want a Piece of Me?" (Two-year-olds Fighting at Dance Rehearsal)

noreply@blogger.com (Myrna Mackenzie) — Sun, 27 May 2012 06:00:00 +0000

I usually shy away from videos of children, but these two little girls mixing it up at their first dance recital were just too good, despite the jumpy camera action. It reminded me of an old fashioned comedy routine.

Okotanpe, Contact Juggler

noreply@blogger.com (Myrna Mackenzie) — Sun, 27 May 2012 06:00:00 +0000

Look up contact juggling on YouTube and you'll find lots of videos, but one name keeps coming up again and again: Okotanpe. Here's a video explaining more about contact juggling and demonstrating some of Okotanpe's skills. (My apologies if you've seen this. It's from 2 years ago).

And if you'd like to see some of Okotanpe's own videos, here's his channel.

Awesome Marriage Proposal

noreply@blogger.com (Myrna Mackenzie) — Sat, 26 May 2012 11:33:00 +0000

Being a romance writer and having blogged about weddings and marriage for an entire year back when my fellow writers and I were writing The Wedding Planners series, I've seen a lot of marriage proposal videos. This is one of the very best. Here's the setup from the YouTube page (in the groom's words):

On Wednesday, May 23rd, 2012, I told my girlfriend to meet me at my parent's house for dinner. When she arrived I had stationed my brother to sit her in the back of an open Honda CRV and give her some headphones. He "wanted to play her a song"...

What she got instead was the world's first Live Lip-Dub Proposal.

Old-Time Player Piano Week is the 25th through the 28th

noreply@blogger.com (Myrna Mackenzie) — Sat, 26 May 2012 06:00:00 +0000

There's a hardware store near me that has a player piano. On the weekends, they hire professionals to entertain the shoppers by playing the piano, but the rest of the week, those magical keys do it all by themselves (okay, I know it's not magic, but it looks so odd to see the keys moving as if a ghost is performing). I have a soft spot for player pianos.

Here's a pretty old one:

Source

Here's a very short (about 2 and a half minute) video about restoring an old player piano. Fascinating stuff!

From Love to Bingo: Getty Images Story in Photos

noreply@blogger.com (Myrna Mackenzie) — Sat, 26 May 2012 06:00:00 +0000

Six months of research and work by Getty Images copywriter Sophie Schoenburg and art direct Marcus Kolthar resulted in this compilation of 873 images in just over a minute to tell a story. Sort of.

via Daily Picks and Flicks

Yawn, It's a Tornado at a Wedding

noreply@blogger.com (Myrna Mackenzie) — Sat, 26 May 2012 06:00:00 +0000

No one at this wedding seems particularly concerned about the funnel cloud.

via Viral Viral Videos

More LEGO Love

noreply@blogger.com (Myrna Mackenzie) — Fri, 25 May 2012 06:00:00 +0000

This time it's a custom LEGO marble maze. Ingenious!

How to Make Vietnamese Coffee

noreply@blogger.com (Myrna Mackenzie) — Fri, 25 May 2012 06:00:00 +0000

Just in case you want to try it yourself.

Gifts For Writers From Etsy

noreply@blogger.com (Myrna Mackenzie) — Fri, 25 May 2012 06:00:00 +0000

Etsy is a fun place, but I don't get over there too frequently for fear I'll spend too much money. That said, now and then it's fun to pick a topic and just look around...or shop. Today's topic was "writer." Here are some of the 5,519 items that appeared when I put that into the search box. (The Source links will take you to the place on Etsy where you can buy each item).

Source

The "Please Do Not Annoy the Writer..." line is everywhere, but this bracelet had its own appeal beyond the line.

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Advice to Writer button

Source

Sculpture Illusion

noreply@blogger.com (Myrna Mackenzie) — Thu, 24 May 2012 06:00:00 +0000

My mind sees what it wants to see when we view sculpture that appears to be half buried. Even though I know that what I see is all there is, a part of me wants to dig below the earth to find what's buried underground. Here's an entire groups of such sinking sculptures.

And here are a couple more:

Source

What a Lot of Work!

noreply@blogger.com (Myrna Mackenzie) — Thu, 24 May 2012 06:00:00 +0000

The Staples Center (in Los Angeles) had 6 playoff games taking place in 4 days, May 17th-May 20th. Here's a time-lapse of all the changes the workers had to make to accommodate those different games and teams.

Why We Have 60 Minutes in an Hour

noreply@blogger.com (Myrna Mackenzie) — Thu, 24 May 2012 05:30:00 +0000

If you're interested in numbers (and I am) and how things came to be the way they are, you may find this interesting.

via Wimp