Hot on the heels of the confirmation that David Fincher and James Ellroy are working together on an HBO show comes the news of another project that Fincher will do for the big cable network. Fincher will direct the pilot for an HBO music video show called Living on Noise, described as a “half-hour HBO project about music videos in the 1980s.”

The Wrap has the news. Fincher, of course, got his start as a director making music-related projects. Early on, there was the Rick Springfield concert film The Beat of the Live Drum, then a series of increasingly more high-profile music videos for the likes of Sting, Madonna, and Michael Jackson.

This doesn’t sound like a documentary series in the vein of HBO’s Sonic Highways, created with Dave Grohl and the Foo Fighters, but a dramatic series reportedly rooted in the 1980s music video scene. Fincher was talking to Playboy not long ago, and mentioned “this TV show I’m doing about music videos in the 1980s and the crew members who worked on them.” That would seem to be Living on Noise.

The timeline for production of this show is unclear. In addition to Shakedown, which is the James Ellroy project, and Living on Noise, Fincher is also working on a new version of the UK series Utopia for HBO, partnering with Gone Girl author Gillian Flynn. Fincher will direct all of the first season of Utopia.

The post David Fincher to Direct HBO Pilot for ‘Living on Noise,’ About the ’80s Music Video Scene appeared first on /Film.

undoherdamage:

I was looking up Snowpiercer stuff and this one site was like “based on your browsing history you may also like” and recommended The Polar Express

They’re basically the same right

geekgirlsmash:

(x)

In light of he Sony hack, here's some earlier GG thinking on disrupting corporations.

• Piercing the corporate veil.
• Targeting corporations.
• Corporate psychology.  

The most interesting aspect of the Sony hack?  

As we anticipated, nobody cared.  Not the public.  Not the government.  

In fact, most people made fun of the victims and the information released was widely reprinted. 

Why did wasn't there a response?  Three reasons:

• the attack was bloodless and it wasn't aimed directly at the decaying infrastructure of the nation-state,
• the wealthy victims don't evoke any empathy with a jaded/abused middle class, and
• the ability of the nation-state to provide security is diminishing very rapidly (as Snowden showed, they can't even protect themselves).

What does this attack mean?

• Moral warfare against corporate targets works.   Snowden showed it worked against the NSA.  It is working against Sony due to the mendacity and simple nastiness of the personalities involved.  As a result, Sony, and everyone associated with Sony will suffer economically.  The company is now toxic, further everyone damaged by the hack is going to sue it.  In fact, the damage from these leaks may be severe enough to tank the company.  
• This is survivable for the attackers.  The lack of punishment for this attack in addition to the earlier example seen with Snowden, shows that it's possible to conduct this type of attack repeatedly without evoking a 9/11 level manhunt.  
• We're going to see this again and again and again.  JP Morgan was hacked at the root level last year.  All of their e-mails and data may end up being bought and used in a moral war against the company in the future.  We may also see some innovation.  For example, it can be focused on a single individual with ease.  I suspect an attack like this could destroy the net worth of a billionaire if done in the correct way.  Not only that, most people would probably laugh at the victim's descent if the right target is chosen.

Christian Richter is a fine art architecture photographer based in the small town of Jeßnitz, Germany. A fan of exploring old, abandoned buildings, Richter has often come across tall spiral staircases that look both beautiful and disorienting when viewed from the very top looking down. These staircases form a photo series of his that is aptly titled, “Abandoned Staircases.”

Richter tells us that he grew up in East Germany. After the reunification of Germany, many large buildings ended up being abandoned in Richter’s part of the country. He began exploring these structures for fun and then began to focus on them years later when he entered the world of photography.

“You must visit many, many buildings to find a great staircase,” Richter says. He now travels across Europe in search of them. Once he locates one, he sets up his Canon 5D mark II, 16-35mm f/2.8 L lens, and tripod, and then composes a photograph to focus on the patterns and textures “of impermanence.”

Many of the shots are 5 frame HDR photos that have been lightly processed in Lightroom and Photoshop. Here’s a selection of the photos so far:

You can check out more of Richter’s work by visiting his website.

Image credit: Photographs by Christian Richter and used with permission

ultrafacts:

Source
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design-is-fine:

Albert Einstein and his famous formula E=mc² 2 | The Zurich Notebook, 1912-13. He filled whole pages with formulas and calculations, when he returned from Prague to Zurich, focused on the development of a theory of gravity that would meet the requirements of the generalized principle of relativity. Full manuscript: Einstein Archives

Because Christmas isn’t Christmas without watching The Tree Has All the Balls. Via Manchester-based illustrator James Chapman.

Die Hard

James Chapman / Via chapmangamo.tumblr.com

Frozen

James Chapman / Via chapmangamo.tumblr.com

Jingle All the Way

James Chapman / Via chapmangamo.tumblr.com

It's a Wonderful Life

James Chapman / Via chapmangamo.tumblr.com

View Entire List ›

Russ Fischer, Germain Lussier and Angie Han have already posted their most anticipated films of 2015 lists, and all three lists are very different. Germain’s list is comprised of mostly mainstream accessible big releases; Russ has a mix of filmmaker-focused picks and big studio tentpoles; and Angie’s list… had The Little Prince in the top five. While all three lists are great, I found that there were many films not listed on either list that I was looking forward to. So after the jump, you can find my listing of the most anticipated movies of 2015.

[For additional looks forward to movies in 2015, see our additional staff lists from Russ Fischer, Germain Lussier, and Angie Han.]

If you’ve ever read any of my lists on the site, then you know I just can’t narrow things down to ten options and tend to go much longer than I should. So it should come to no surprise that my most anticipated movies of 2015 list is comprised of a few dozen films. I apologize in advance, but there are just too many films that I’m excited about and want to share them all. I have, however, ranked them, so if you want just my top ten picks you can skip to the chase. However I’d encourage you to check out the rest because thats where many of the different choices fall. There, you’re likely going to discover some films you weren’t aware or forgot were coming this next year.

Runners Up

These movies for whatever reason didn’t make my top 30 most anticipated movies of 2014, even though I’m still very interested and excited about them.

Mission: Impossible 5

I loved the last two Mission: Impossible films, but I’ve heard the fifth installment might be a real mess and no one knows how Christopher McQuarrie’s film will turn out.

Project Almanac

Project Almanac should have me more excited then I am but the plot seems to be a found footage take on some elementary concepts already explored in my favorite film of all time, Back to the Future. The film had a sneak preview at Comic Con and those in attendance were surprised at how much they enjoyed the film which has me optimistic.

Entourage

I watched the HBO television series and loved how it lampooned the world of Hollywood, but I’m worried the movie will be less about the world of Hollywood and more about the core group of characters, who I have never been entirely invested in.

Terminator: Genisys

I have to admit, I haven’t been very excited about the latest Terminator movie but the recent teaser trailer got me interested in the franchise again. The divergent timeline concept at the start of the film has earned my interest, but the shorts of the group trying to infiltrate skynet or cyberdine reeks of more of the same.

Victor Frankenstein

Max Landis‘ original script was great and 20th Century Fox seems to be in a renaissance which makes me hopeful for this prequel/reboot/adaptation.

The Maze Runner: Scorch Trials

I actually really dug the debut chapter in this series, but I’m not sure if I will find the evolution of this story as interesting as the Lost-style mystery box inside a mystery box construct of the first film.

Pitch Perfect 2

The first Pitch Perfect was not even close to being on my most anticipated list for 2012, but the Bring It On-style comedy won my heart. For some reason I’m worried the sequel won’t recapture the magic of the original, but I’m still a fan of everyone involved and very much looking forward to it. In a less-packed year it would be in my list proper.

Silence

Anytime Martin Scorsese makes a feature film I will buy a ticket. However, the subject matter doesn’t necessarily excite me and the fact that it is a passion project worries me, too. Those are often not great. The fact that a Scorsese movie doesnt make my top 30 most anticipated films of the year goes to show you the awesome promise of this upcoming year.

On the next page you will find the beginning of the real list.

Continue Reading Peter Sciretta’s Most Anticipated Movies of 2015 >>

The post Peter Sciretta’s Most Anticipated Movies of 2015 appeared first on /Film.

How hand sanitizer works. (comic by ScantronPattern)

More gifts.

Take a piece of my world

lycoteuthis:

i’m going to start a fashion line called FAKEGEEK and its sole purpose will be to produce tshirts that will piss off nerds

For the first time ever, a quadriplegic woman has used her thoughts to move a robotic hand across 10 degrees of freedom. The remarkable system allowed her to pick up a variety of objects, including skinny tubes and oddly shaped rocks.

Read more...

There's no blue pigment present in the wings of the morpho butterfly. So where does that shimmering brilliant blue color come from? It's an instance of structural color, where the physical structure of the surface scatters or refracts only certain wavelengths of light...in this case, blue.

Eye color is another example of structural color in action. Eyes contain brown pigments but not blue. Blue, green, and hazel eyes are caused by Rayleigh scattering, the same phenomenon responsible for blue skies and red sunsets. Blue eyes and blue skies arise from the same optical process...that's almost poetic. (thx, jared)

ablacknation:

This is so powerful.

megustamemes:

FBI’s priorities.

beyond-thetime:

zenpencils:

WHAT TEACHERS MAKE by Taylor Mali

holy fucking shit that was beautiful

El significado del pulgar levantado de Vault Boy

Si ves una nube de humo en forma de hongo de una explosión nuclear, apunta con el pulgar hacia arriba y si el hongo es mayor que tu dedo, debes evacuar debido a que te encuentras en la zona de exposición a la radiación.

4gifs:

[video]

Parenting is difficult. I don’t need to tell you this—those of you who face the challenge daily and hourly. Those of you who don’t have heard your friends—and your own parents—do enough complaining that you know, in theory at least, how raising humans is rough business all around. Paradoxically, there is no rulebook for parenting and there are hundreds of rulebooks for parenting, seemingly a new one published every day. In my admittedly limited experience as the parent of a young child, most such guides have diminishing returns next to the direct lessons learned in the fray, so to speak, through trial after trial and no small amount of error.

But we do benefit from the wisdom of others, especially those who record their experiments in child-rearing with the precision and thoughtfulness of Susan Sontag. In the list below, made by a 26-year-old Sontag in 1959, we see how the young mother of a then 7-year-old David Rieff approached the job. The son of Sontag and sociologist Philip Rieff (“pop,” below), whom Sontag married at 17 then divorced in 1958, David has written a memoir of Sontag’s painful final days. He also edited her journals and notebooks, which contained the following rules.

1. Be consistent.
2. Don’t speak about him to others (e.g. tell funny things) in his presence. (Don’t make him self-conscious.)
3. Don’t praise him for something I wouldn’t always accept as good.
4. Don’t reprimand him harshly for something he’s been allowed to do.
5. Daily routine: eating, homework, bath, teeth, room, story, bed.
6. Don’t allow him to monopolize me when I am with other people.
7. Always speak well of his pop. (No faces, sighs, impatience, etc.)
8. Do not discourage childish fantasies.
9. Make him aware that there is a grown-up world that’s none of his business.
10. Don’t assume that what I don’t like to do (bath, hairwash) he won’t like either.

While Rieff has described his relationship with Sontag as “strained and at times very difficult,” it seems to me that a parent who adhered to these rules would create the kind of supportive structure children need to thrive. The remainder of Sontag’s journal entries show us a deeply introspective, self-conscious writer, and yet, writes Emily Greenhouse at The New Yorker, her work as a whole offers “surprisingly little of her own direct experience” and she never undertook an autobiography. Yet, this short list of parenting rules gives us a great deal of insight into the perspicacity and compassion she brought to her role as a mother, qualities most of us could use a bit more of in our daily parenting struggles.

The list above appears in the new book Lists of Note, the follow up to Shaun Usher’s Letters of Note, both compilations of his extensive online archives of personal notes and correspondence from famous and interesting people. Download a preview of the book and purchase a hardcover copy, just in time for Christmas, at Waterstones.com (if you live in the UK).

Related Content:

See Films Made by Susan Sontag and a List of Her 50 Favorite Films (1977)

F. Scott Fitzgerald Tells His 11-Year-Old Daughter What to Worry About (and Not Worry About) in Life, 1933

“Nothing Good Gets Away”: John Steinbeck Offers Love Advice in a Letter to His Son (1958)

Josh Jones is a writer and musician based in Durham, NC. Follow him at @jdmagness

Susan Sontag’s List of 10 Parenting Rules is a post from: Open Culture. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Google Plus, or get our Daily Email. And don't miss our big collections of Free Online Courses, Free Online Movies, Free eBooks, Free Audio Books, Free Foreign Language Lessons, and MOOCs.

The post Susan Sontag’s List of 10 Parenting Rules appeared first on Open Culture.

thatsfackedahp:

I love this

Philippines-based illustrator Kerby Rosanes began his career as an artist by doodling away in Moleskein notebooks and sharing the results online. Rosane’s imagination runs wild in his composite images of cartoony characters that morph into familiar faces of animals and pop-culture characters. After a number of art and design blogs picked up the story last year, his career took off, and the self-taught 23-year-old found himself creating illustrations for Nike, Mazda, and Ford. Seen here are a number of recent sketchbook spreads, but you can see more by scrolling through his archives. (via My Modern Met)

via http://www.tumblr.com/dashboard