In this weekly column, filmmaker Danish Aslam will be your purveyor of the finest quality random facts, useless trivia and other esoterica from the world wide web. He lives mostly behind a keyboard and may or may not be a wizened old green man who speaks in grammatically incorrect aphorisms. You can find more on his home page http://pictually.me/dontpanic
A Conversation With Your 12-Year-Old Self
Until Marty McFly visits us in 2015, time travel is a concept that we'll never know the truth about. But until then, people like Jeremiah McDonald keep us entertained with some very clever use of the magic of editing, and what I can only describe as extraordinary farsightedness for a 12-year-old. Back in 1992, a young Jeremiah shot one half of a video where he conversed with his future self. And 20 years later, he's finally completed it. The result is entertaining and a viral sensation. Now that’s what I call an epic 20 years in the making.
Kishi Bashi - Bright Whites
Yet another happily hopeful song with infectious beats that make you want to smile. K Ishibahi is a singer, looper and violinist from Seattle who started Kishibashi as his solo project, and this is the first single that has gotten him noticed in the indie scene. The video is as surreal as the song is bouncy, but it's quite cleverly shot and incorporates a contest where you have to identify 50 common idioms hidden in the video, which makes watching it as much fun as listening to the song. Here's one to help you out: 2:38 - The bee's knees. Knock yourself out!
Can Roger Federer Regain His No. 1 Ranking?
The question is, as I type this, now redundant. Fedex has just won his 7th Wimbledon title and answered the question posed in the title of this insightful piece put out by NYMag.com. But it's a great read nonetheless, recounting his life as a teenager, his reaction to the wall he seemed to hit recently and his thoughts on the modern game.
The World From Space
Most of us have always had a fascination with space travel (me!), right from the time we picked up our first Asimov and dreamed of a future that involved foundations and robots governed by 3 Laws. But even though we may not all get to see our pale blue dot from the unique perspective of being above it, we can always dream. And until then, there's this video made by 18-year-old Croatian Tomislav Safundžić using images from NASA's Image Science And Analysis Lab. Set to 'Intro' by The XX, this may be the closest to seeing things from an astronaut's perspective that many of us will ever get. And it's beautiful.
18 Computer Stations That Look Awesome
How awesome is your computer setup at home or in the office? You've got your big speakers, bluetooth keyboard, magic mouse, etc all set up on your custom-made desk in the best corner and proudly on display? Now prepare to get very, very jealous. Twisted Sifter has compiled a list of 18 of the best computer stations that they found on a sub-redditt called 'r/Battlestations'. Seeing these pretty much gave me a serious case of the "I want this, mine sucks". So I think I'm going to stay away from the Redditt page. But this page definitely needs sharing, if only to realize the many ways vertical monitors can be made to look awesome.
The Doomsday Seed Vault
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault seems like something out of the latest J. J. Abrams summer found-footage blockbuster. Although I doubt he'd make a movie about preserving the world's crops. Then again, he just might. But that's a topic for another time. The vault, located on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen near the Arctic Circle, protects 2.25 billion seeds from a doomsday scenario, including asteroids and nuclear warfare. And extinction for all other natural or manmade reasons. National Geographic has run a photo feature about it, which makes for a fascinating read that makes you realize just how many safeguards actually exist out there against scenarios that Michael Bay has made a career out of scaring us with.
Frozen Self-Portraits, With A Twist
Marc Quinn has been making self-portraits every five years since 1991. Each one takes about 5 months to make. And the reason for that is that each one is made out of 4 litres of his own frozen blood, which it takes that long to collect. It sounds pretty gruesome, but the sculptures (I guess you could call them that) are incredibly life-like and very well-made. And you can zoom in on each in great detail on his site to see what I'm talking about. For those of you that still click on the link, that is.
George R.R. Martin, Write Like The Wind!
For those of you who've been privy to the magic of the Game of Thrones books and know the exquisite torture that accompanies the sometimes 5-year long wait between installments, this song by comedy duo Paul & Storm might just become your anthem. It doesn't help that it's an insanely catchy song to boot! My favorite verse:
You’re not our bitch, and you’re not a machine
And we don’t mean to dictate how you spend your days
But please, bear in mind, in the time that you’ve had,
William Shakespeare churned out thirty-five friggin’ plays
Movie and Retro Poster Collection
I'm going to leave you with a collection of great movie and retro posters made by Oregon-based artist Harshness on etsy.com. The Hogwarts House Banners, the Game of Thrones Cities Series, the Justice League Series and The Avengers Series are some that deserve special mention (and maybe even an order, if you're so inclined). If you've been looking for some original posters for your walls and you're even remotely a pop-culture geek, this is all you need.
