Posts tagged 'Birds'

Birds

“A lighthearted essay on contextualized characters.
Reconstruction follows deconstruction.”

*Dusts off keyboard*

Whoa. Hey, what’s going in? It’s been a while.

The short story: I’ve been busy.

The long story:

I.

I’m a dad and my daughter is at the age where she notices (and gets upset) when I’ve got my face stuck in a phone or laptop whilst spending time with her. I was lucky enough to have parents who paid attention to me and know how important that shit is so, quite out of the blue, my not-at-work screen time is now at a premium.

II.

I’ve started open sourcing some of the software I’ve been writing over the last year and that’s been sucking up a lot of my time. “Sucking up” in a good way, in a “get lost in what you’re doing and end up feeling accomplished” sort of way. It’s really fun to hone in on, refine and document things I’ve been building with the express purpose of helping other people solve challenges similar to ones I’ve had to tackle. I learned how to program by using (and studying) code that was written by others and if those folks hadn’t open-sourced what they wrote I honestly wouldn’t have the skills necessary to do what I do for a living. I am seizing an opportunity to be useful to others; a state of being and action that, for me at least, yields the maximum about of bliss. If you’re curious:

     
  • django-versatileimagefield: A flexible, intuitive and easily-extensible interface for quickly creating new images from the one assigned to a field.
  •  
  • django-multilingualfield: Intuitively manage multiple translations of text-based content (including paths to files/images).

III.

I’ve been working on a project that I can’t talk a lot about right now but let me put it this way: if it happens I would post in on this web zone (even if I didn’t have a hand in making it).

Watching rad videos and talking about why I love them is one of my favorite things to do but sometimes even THAT has to take a backseat to other pursuits. Everything interesting on this website I found freely available to watch online and as compelling as it is to continually consume what others create, I also want to contribute my own drops to the internet’s vast ocean of interesting things.

All the above can be summed up with one of Ms. Tripatorium’s favorite phrases: “You can do anything but you can’t do everything.”

Over the past month or so I started to receive messages from many of you inquiring about the status of the site. Most of them included a little note of appreciation and none of them were mean or rude which was super-cool. To know that so many of you were missing these little posts I like to write in my spare time late at night or on the train to-and-from the city was tremendously gratifying.

Speaking of posts: attached above is a bizarre little treat Carl Burton introduced me to on twitter. It’s essentially improvisational animation; a minute-and-a-half riff on what gives birds their birdness. The ‘worm sequence’ is just mental and easily my favorite. Anyone have like $50,000 so we can hire ZEITGUISED (or, at least, lead animator Matt Frodsham) to make a whole bunch more of these?

Thanks, as always, for reading. Cheers!

P.S. If you haven’t seen Carl’s short Shelter I definitely recommend checking it out; it’s absolutely fantastic.

[ Birds ]

Andy Gilmore

“There was a period in my life where I only drew with a pencil and being able to erase paralyzed me. I could draw a hand and it would take me three days, you know, and it would be a 1/4” by 1/4”; just a tiny little thing. And then one day I just started drawing with pen and all of a sudden I could just draw endlessly. In fact, there was no undo and it kind of changed all of that. And then the computer oddly, the undo is what gives me the freedom to just explore any idea that comes to my mind and essentially I just follow any impulse or any idea because I can explore fairly freely.”

Andy Gilmore‘s work is squarely up my alley and it’s wonderful to hear, in his own words, what inspires him to create. The always-excellent Ghostly International (who tapped Isabel Freeman
, Will Calcutt and Brian Fichtner to create the attached) has some of Andy’s prints for sale in addition to some excellent hi-res, free-to-download wallpapers ready to adorn your glowing screen of choice.

ENJOY!

[ Ghostly International presents Andy Gilmore ]

Nature selects from 1x.com

'Thirsty' by Risquillo (http://1x.com/photo/39149/category/nature/popular-ever/thirsty)
'Thirsty' by Risquillo (http://1x.com/photo/39149/category/nature/popular-ever/thirsty)'The Gateway to Iceland' by Skarphedinn Thrainsson (http://1x.com/photo/46607/category/nature/popular-ever/the-gateway-to-iceland)'Barn Owl' by Robert Adamec (http://1x.com/photo/50042/category/nature/latest-additions/barn-owl)'Halleluja' by mathieu irthum (http://1x.com/photo/43291/category/nature/popular-ever/halleluja)'Dessert' by Alexander Taranin (http://1x.com/photo/49663/category/nature/latest-additions/dessert)'Folding Lava' by Justin Reznick (http://1x.com/photo/41985/category/nature/popular-ever/folding-lava)

I spend the majority of my time staring at a screen which, honestly, has been my primary goal since adolescence; no complaints here. But, like with anything having to do with our in-built desires, balance is necessary and recently my life has sorely lacked it. I’m going away to the mountains this weekend for some much needed relaxation and the closer it gets the more I’m anxious to reconnect with nature – ergo this post. OK, so it’s still taking place via a computer but, whatever…baby steps, right?

Anywho, if you want get a dose of the great outdoors via assembled grids of red, blue and green pixels there’s no better place than 1x.com. All of the attached photos are from there.

One more thing: you guys are awesome. Thanks for all the suggestions; I still can’t believe how much cool shit gets sent to my inbox er’ryday. Keep ‘em coming. Cheers!

P.S. Click here for moar nature-goodness on The Tripatorium™.

P.P.S. If you haven’t seen Nature by Numbers yet you should probably get on that shit.

[ Nature on 1x.com ]

topo glassato al cioccolato

Warning! (Kinda) NSFW: There’s some brief shots of hand-drawn nudity in this one so you might not want to watch it at work.

We’ve been getting loads of great suggestions recently and have been slowly-but-surely passing them through our mental baleen, reserving only the tastiest bits of internet to pass along. Sam Lillard sent this fantastic morsel of bizarre, dark animation by Donato Sansone (a.k.a. milkyeyes) our way back in the beginning of December and it’s a shame we didn’t post it sooner. I’d recommend watching it late-night in a dark room with the volume way up as the sound design by Enrico Ascoli greatly enhances the unsettling, high-definition visuals. Thanks, Sam!

[ TOPO GLASSATO AL CIOCCOLATO ]

Love bird, hate bird

“Love bird is angry and has an axe. This HATE BIRD has to defeat the toys that are rising against him.”

File under: LOLWAT

[ Axe-Wielding Bird ATTACKS! via Peter Berkman > ceronprime ]

The Vogelkop Bowerbird

“The bower is a cone-shaped hut-like structure some 100 cm high and 160 cm in diameter, with an entrance usually propped up by two column-like sticks. A front “lawn” of some square meters area is cleaned of debris and laid out with moss. On this, and in the entrance of the bower, decorations such as colourful flowers or fruit, shining beetle elytra, dead leaves and other conspicuous objects are collected and artistically arranged. Males go to great lengths to ensure that their displays are in prime condition, replacing old items as needed, as well as trying to outdo their neighbours by finding more spectacular decorations, and arranging them appropriately…more on wikipedia

Nature can, at times, be terrible and unforgiving but it is also the source of such intriguing, complex and beautiful mysteries like the Vogelkop bowerbird. As I was watching the attached video, lulled into peaceful contentedness by the reassuring narration of Sir David Attenborough, I kept thinking to myself, “how, little bird, did you come to be?”

This particular clip is from the BBC produced series ‘Life’ which I highly recommend watching in it’s entirety. See/watch/learn more about the Vogelkop bowerbird on the BBC’s Nature website and on wikipedia.

[ Life - The Vogelkop Bowerbird: Nature's Great Seducer - BBC One ]

Neckbrace

Chris wrote in again (he’s the kind fellow who sent us Wanderlust and Mykonos) with this wonderfully bizarre E*VAX directed bird-tastic music video for RATATAT. We love it. Maybe you will, too?

Thanks again, Chris!

[ RATATAT - Neckbrace ]

Yes I Know

If you enjoy the mind-bending and the bizarre then prepare to meet one of your new favorite videos. Eric Epstein conceived, directed, edited, animated and composited – with production assistance from m ss ng p eces – this monster of a music video for Memory Tapes. It’s perfect viewing material for a late-night weekend decompression and chill session so we heartily recommend you watch it on the largest, highest-definition screen you’ve got. The whole thing is weird, well executed and wonderful but we especially enjoyed the flocking birds sequence at the end. All-in-all a treat, friends – enjoy!

[ Memory Tapes "Yes I Know" ]

Thursday

Venessa wrote in to suggest a video by Matthias Hoegg about ants experiencing an evolutionary leap forward via the ingestion of an unnamed elicit substance left carelessly by some partiers on holiday. It’s good! You should check it out! Anyways, I got to watching some of the other stuff by Mr. Hoegg and decided to post this video – entitled ‘Thursday’ – instead. He calls it a ‘love story’ which I guess it is but it’s told in such a unique way that, in my mind at least, it defies such simplistic and broad categorization. I’m particularly fond of the film’s visual style – the best descriptor I could come up with was ‘delicious’ – it’s packed full of simple, slick animation, loads of rich colors and at times carries a very E-Boy kind of vibe (which is very good as far as vibes go). The Dope Sheet has a great interview with Mattias about his inspiration and process so definitely head on over if you’re interested in that sort of thing. It should also be mentioned that Marian Mentrup contributed some pretty fantastic sound design to the project so do yourself a favor and grab some headphones when you get around to watching it. Enjoy!

Thanks for the heads-up, Vanessa!

[ Thursday ]

Iron

“I’m frozen to the bones, I am
A soldier on my own, I don’t know the way;
I’m riding up the heights of shame.
I’m waiting for the call, the hand on the chest;
I’m ready for the fight, and fate…”

The word ‘epic’ springs immediately to mind. Do me a favor? Don’t watch this until you’ve got some time set aside to chill, dim the lights and don some headphones cause this shit is dope and deserves your undivided attention. Tunes and direction courtesy of Yoann Lemoine (a.k.a. Woodkid) with cinematography by Mathieu Plainfosse and post-production via OneMore Prod in Paris. Woodkid’s IRON EP is available now on iTunes. Enjoy!

[ Woodkid - Iron ]

Trois petits points

De Lucrèce Andreae, Alice Dieudonne, Tracy Nowocien, Florian Parrot, Ornélie Prioul and Rémy Schaepman – third year students at french school-of-awesome, Gobelins – are responsible for this poignant allegory about post-WWI Germany.

If you’re interested in process as much as product (like I am), you’ll probably dig these ‘making of’ videos from Rémy and Tracy, too.

[ Trois petits points ]

In Our Talons

“You may not believe, but even we were scared at first.
It takes a lot of nerve to destroy this wondrous earth.
We’re only human; this at least we’ve learned.”

Playful and powerful stop-motion visuals directed by Alan Poon / haunting, honest and cautionary tunes by Bowerbirds.

[ Bowerbirds "In Our Talons" ]

Pure

At first I though Samuel Pressman & Isaac Bauman‘s decision to make this video so flicker-y was a mistake (seriously, if you have epilepsy you might not want to watch this one) but the haunting, emotional sounds of Blackbird Blackbird kept me enthralled and, by the end, I was really digging the execution. So much so, in fact, that I immediately watched it two more times. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

[ Blackbird Blackbird - PURE (official music video) ]

Wanderland

The Tripatorium™ loves birds, music videos and electronic music so we’re quite thankful that Kristof Luyckx and Michèle Vanparys put this video together – it’s almost like they made it especially for us.  Plus, it’s about a finch who eats a seed and starts tripping out…bonus!  Top-flight tunes by Hermanos Inglesos with vocals from MeMe.

[ Hermanos Inglesos feat. MeMe - Wanderland ]

Dancing in the rain

'Dancing in the rain' by Yasemin Kahraman

We have Yasemin Kahraman to thank for this fantastic photograph of sparrows enjoying the rain in a field of wheat.

[ Dancing in the rain by Yasemin Kahraman ]

Pigeon Puzzle

'Shadow Birds' by Alexei Bednij

I love how none of the shadows (or birds for that matter) are touching in this photograph by Alexei Bednij.

[ тени отбрасывают птиц via Design You Trust ]

Toucan Barbet

Toucan Barbet (Semnornis ramphastinus)

Behold! The toucan barbet (semnornis ramphastinus)! It’s a highly social bird of the genus Semnornis that lacks strong sexual dimorphism in their plumage.  That’s just a fancy way of saying both sexes have bright colors as opposed to just the males.

[ Cabézon toucan (Semnornis ramphastinus) ]

Parrot is hardcore

Not trippy, but absolutely funny. Better than the original? No contest, in my opinion.

[ Parrot Sings Let the Bodies Hit the Floor via Buzzfeed ]

Hummingbird all up ons

Hummingbird

Flap-slurp-flap-slurp-flap-slurp…

Did you know that archilochus colubris – a.k.a. the ruby-throated hummingbird – beats it’s wings at up to seventy-five times a second? Crazytown. Read more on hummingbirds.net.

[ Hummingbird via StumbleUpon ]

Mandarin Autumn

'Mandarin Autumn' by Flickr user digitalART2

Taken by Flickr user, digitalART2. Read more about these beautiful creatures on wikipedia.

[ Mandarin Autumn ]