Wishing everyone a very merry and happy Christmas!
To celebrate, here's the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Sir Colin Davis, with the Tenebrae Choir, performing For Unto Us a Child is Born, from Handel's Messiah:
Tonight's pro-life tactics video [warning: graphic imagery and video footage] - Gregg Cunningham of the Center for Bioethical Reform. This is an important video to watch:
Tonight's nature video, from cinematographer and director Louie Schwartzberg:
From the video's description:
Louie Schwartzberg is an award-winning cinematographer, director, and producer whose notable career spans more than three decades providing breathtaking imagery for feature films, television shows, documentaries and commercials.
This piece includes his short film on Gratitude and Happiness. Brother David Steindl-Rast's spoken words, Gary Malkin's musical compositions and Louie's cinematography make this a stunningly beautiful piece, reminding us of the precious gift of life, and the beauty all around us.
As a visual artist, Louie has created some of the most iconic and memorable film moments of our time. He is an innovator in the world of time-lapse, nature, aerial and "slice-of-life" photography - the only cinematographer in the world who has literally been shooting 24 hours a day, 7 days a week continuously for more than 30 years.
Louie was recognized as one of the top 70 Cinematographers for the On Film Kodak Salute Series. He is a member of the Directors Guild of America and the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. ...
O Fortuna
velut luna
statu variabilis,
semper crescis
aut decrescis;
vita detestabilis
nunc obdurat
et tunc curat
ludo mentis aciem,
egestatem,
potestatem
dissolvit ut glaciem.
Sors immanis
et inanis,
rota tu volubilis,
status malus,
vana salus
semper dissolubilis,
obumbrata
et velata
michi quoque niteris;
nunc per ludum
dorsum nudum
fero tui sceleris.
Sors salutis
et virtutis
michi nunc contraria,
est affectus
et defectus
semper in angaria.
Hac in hora
sine mora
corde pulsum tangite;
quod per sortem
sternit fortem,
mecum omnes plangite!
English translation:
O Fortune,
variable
as the moon,
always dost thou
wax and wane.
Detestable life,
first dost thou mistreat us,
and then, whimsically,
thou heedest our desires.
As the sun melts the ice,
so dost thou dissolve
both poverty and power.
Monstrous
and empty fate,
thou, turning wheel,
art mean,
voiding
good health at thy will.
Veiled
in obscurity,
thou dost attack
me also.
To thy cruel pleasure
I bare my back.
Thou dost withdraw
my health and virtue;
thou dost threaten
my emotion
and weakness
with torture.
At this hour,
therefore, let us
pluck the strings without
delay.
Let us mourn together,
for fate crushes the brave.
Today's top-20 look at the self-absorbed White House occupant, courtesy of Jordan Rickards. An excerpt (links omitted):
14. Obama as the standard of divine law
For millennia, theologians have struggled with the concept of sin. Usually, though, the question focused on how one finds redemption from sin, or what constitutes a sin, not who gets to decide what a sin is. It seemed a given that sin, by its very nature, is a transgression against God’s values. What those values are is subject to debate, of course, but the debate is always in the context of divine law and divine will.
Except to Barack Obama. When asked to define “sin,” he stated that sin is “being out of alignment with my values,” whatever those are. So take that, St. Augustine!
13. Announcing the killing of Osama bin Laden
Perhaps the only time the nation has truly been united under President Obama was when he delivered the news that Osama bin Laden had been killed. And why let a great opportunity for self-aggrandizement go wasted?
Just as he had felt compelled to include himself in the report of the Navy snipers who killed the Somali pirates who had hijacked an American tanker in 2009, telling us that he had heroically “given the order” to shoot, in his relatively brief announcement about the Bin Laden killing Obama referenced himself fifteen times, speaking at length of his minimal role: “I directed Leon Panetta, the director of the CIA, to make the killing or capture of bin Laden the top priority of our war against al Qaeda… I was briefed on a possible lead… I met repeatedly with my national security team as we developed more information about the possibility that we had located bin Laden… I determined that we had enough intelligence…and authorized an operation.”
Oddly, never once during this speech did he mention the Navy SEALs who actually carried out the operation. But that was a minor detail.
Tonight's musical interlude - the final movement from Beethoven's majestic Ninth Symphony:
From the video's description:
The performance of "Daiku", "The Ninth", Beethoven's 9th Symphony with 10000 (amateur) chorus singers is a Japanese highlight every year in the end of December. Here is the last movement, recorded at the 2011 concert in Osaka, this year dedicated especially to the memory of the victims of the desastrous tsunami in March. ...
Jarrod Radnich, nationally noted composer and pianist of "Virtuosic Piano Solo Series" personally instructed Miss South Dakota, Anna Simpson, on one of his piano compositions. The composition, Pirates of the Caribbean, was then performed by Simpson at the Miss America Pageant. He did the training with a distance of thousands of miles between them!
Today's memorial video - I was going to title this post "Happy Independence Day", but quite frankly, with the awful US Supreme Court decision upholding the abomination that is Obamacare, and the Court's apparent green-lighting of virtually unbridled further intrusions on personal liberty by Congress, there's not a general air of happiness afoot.
This video, with its symbolism of destruction and rebuilding, seemed more apropos:
This 747 is sitting in a boneyard in Mojave, CA waiting to be dismantled and recycled at the end of its useful life. On May 23rd, 2012 the area experienced extreme winds of 70+ miles per hour and reports of gusts up to 100 near the pass due to a low pressure zone. Without the weight of its engines and with its landing flaps deployed, the slightly tail heavy 747 tries to take to the skies one last time. The next day the plane was found to have also rotated about 45 degrees from its original position. The same wind storm damaged many rooftops, cut power and sent huge clouds of sand and dust billowing into the sky. Mojave will occasionally experience this type of wind storm due to geography. --Mike
Rolling in the Deep written by Paul Epworth and Adele
Instrumental arrangement produced by Steven Sharp Nelson, Al van der Beek
Arrangement written by Steven Sharp Nelson, Al van der Beek & Jon Schmidt
Piano: Jon Schmidt
Acoustic/Electric Cellos: Steven Sharp Nelson
Recorded, mixed & mastered by Al van der Beek at TPG Studios
Video Produced by Paul Anderson, Tel Stewart, and Shaye Scott
In this arrangement we borrowed a melody from Gustav Holst's "Jupiter" Suite from "The Planets" -- op. 32 -- be sure to listen to his original composition -- it's amazing! The melody we used comes in about half-way through the piece.
O Fortuna
velut luna
statu variabilis,
semper crescis
aut decrescis;
vita detestabilis
nunc obdurat
et tunc curat
ludo mentis aciem,
egestatem,
potestatem
dissolvit ut glaciem.
Sors immanis
et inanis,
rota tu volubilis,
status malus,
vana salus
semper dissolubilis,
obumbrata
et velata
michi quoque niteris;
nunc per ludum
dorsum nudum
fero tui sceleris.
Sors salutis
et virtutis
michi nunc contraria,
est affectus
et defectus
semper in angaria.
Hac in hora
sine mora
corde pulsum tangite;
quod per sortem
sternit fortem,
mecum omnes plangite!
And the English translation:
O Fortune,
just like the moon
thou art variable,
always dost thou
wax and wane.
Detestable life,
first dost thou mistreat us,
and then, whimsically,
thou heedest our desires.
As the sun melts the ice,
so dost thou dissolve
both poverty and power.
Monstrous
and empty fate,
thou, turning wheel,
art mean,
voiding
good health at thy will.
Veiled
in obscurity,
thou dost attack
me also.
To thy cruel pleasure
I bare my back.
Thou dost withdraw
my health and virtue;
thou dost threaten
my emotion
and weakness
with torture.
At this hour,
therefore, let us
pluck the strings without
delay.
Let us mourn together,
for fate crushes the brave.
Tonight's musical interlude - the beautiful and ancient (circa 9th Century) hymn Veni, Creator Spiritus, in celebration of Pentecost Sunday, performed by the Schola Gregoriana Mediolanensis in Milan, Italy:
The lyrics in the sung Latin, with a loose English translation below each verse:
Veni, creator Spiritus
mentes tuorum visita,
imple superna gratia,
quae tu creasti pectora.
Come, Holy Ghost, Creator blest,
and in our hearts take up Thy rest;
come with Thy grace and heav'nly aid,
To fill the hearts which Thou hast made.
Qui diceris Paraclitus,
altissimi donum Dei,
fons vivus, ignis, caritas
et spiritalis unctio.
O Comforter, to Thee we cry,
Thou heav'nly gift of God most high,
Thou Fount of life, and Fire of love,
and sweet anointing from above.
Tu septiformis munere,
digitus paternae dexterae
tu rite promissum Patris
sermone ditans guttura.
O Finger of the hand divine,
the sevenfold gifts of grace are thine;
true promise of the Father thou,
who dost the tongue with power endow.
... And the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. [Matt. 16:18]. In celebration of Pentecost Sunday, generally considered the birthday of the Church. May the Holy Spirit enkindle the fire of Divine Charity in our hearts.
Tonight's shocking musical interlude, courtesy two electrical engineering students - House of the Rising Sun, played on seven foot tall Tesla coils:
From the video's description:
... These are two gigantic solid state musical Tesla Coils. A Tesla Coil is a special type of transformer invented by Nikola Tesla that is able to generating extremely large voltages using a phenomenon known as electrical resonance. Each coil in this video is capable of generating a 13 foot spark. This equates to about 500,000 volts of electricity.
The primary drive system for the coils consists of high power semiconductors arranged into an H-Bridge switching configuration. During a spark event, the coil is pulsed on for a few hundred millionths of a second. During this short time, thousands of amps circulate within the primary tank circuit and the energy is coupled into the secondary resonator through magnetism.
So what appears to be a continuous burst of sparks is actually a specific number of sparks generated per second. By modulating the number of sparks that emit from the coil each second, different tones can be produced by the coils. ...
Salve, Regina, Mater misericordiae,
vita, dulcedo, et spes nostra, salve.
ad te clamamus exsules filii Hevae,
ad te suspiramus, gementes et flentes
in hac lacrimarum valle.
Eia, ergo, advocata nostra, illos tuos
misericordes oculos ad nos converte;
et Iesum, benedictum fructum ventris tui,
nobis post hoc exsilium ostende.
O clemens, O pia, O dulcis Virgo Maria.
And the common English translation:
Hail, holy Queen, Mother of Mercy,
our life, our sweetness and our hope.
To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve;
to thee do we send up our sighs,
mourning and weeping in this valley of tears.
Turn then, most gracious advocate,
thine eyes of mercy toward us;
and after this our exile,
show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary.
Tonight's wingsuit video - Jeb Corliss flies through a waterfall in the Swiss Alps:
From the video's description:
... Hurtling through the air at 85 miles an hour, daredevil adventurer Jeb Corliss becomes the first man to fly through a waterfall wearing a wingsuit. Flying through an exit point called 'The Ultimate' in the mountainous region of Lauterbrunnen in the Swiss Alps, 35-year old Jeb flies within five feet of the 2000 foot sheer cliff wall. Falling three feet for every one foot he moves forward, Jeb's precision flight enables him to travel through the two foot wide falls despite the turbulence hitting the water causes him. One year in the planning, Jeb practiced the flight eight times before nailing it on the ninth attempt. ...
Tonight's time lapse video - off loading the supply ship at McMurdo Station in Antarctica [try watching full screen]. From the video's description:
Annual supply ship offload at McMurdo Station Antarctica, 2012.
Due to an unusually warm winter last year, the floating ice pier that is normally used to offload cargo melted badly this summer, making it unusable. A temporary floating pier had to be installed by the U.S. Army Transportation Corps.
Tonight's ocean currents video, courtesy NASA (try watching full screen):
From the video's description:
This visualization shows ocean surface currents around the world during the period from June 2005 through [December] 2007. The visualization does not include a narration or annotations; the goal was to use ocean flow data to create a simple, visceral experience.
This visualization was produced using NASA/JPL's computational model called Estimating the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean, Phase II or ECCO2.. ECCO2 is high resolution model of the global ocean and sea-ice. ECCO2 attempts to model the oceans and sea ice to increasingly accurate resolutions that begin to resolve ocean eddies and other narrow-current systems which transport heat and carbon in the oceans.The ECCO2 model simulates ocean flows at all depths, but only surface flows are used in this visualization. The dark patterns under the ocean represent the undersea bathymetry. Topographic land exaggeration is 20x and bathymetric exaggeration is 40x.
credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio
Today's economics lesson, from Finem Respice. A snippet:
... Even if Jezebel's editor were not terminally mathematically challenged (and this is putting the case very mildly) the basic premises that underlie the thrust (so to speak) of her utero-call-to-arms are patently absurd.
After listing out a litany of drugstore and prescription items ranging from cranberry juice to toilet paper our heroine tacks the annual expense for a pair of ovaries at between $2,663.02 and $4,228.02.
Taking this decidedly amateurish analysis at face value, by implication this puts the present value of my vagina's ten-year discounted cash flow at between -$17,949.96 and -$28,498.77, or about on par with a Chevy Volt.
With the 10 year treasury yielding 2.05%2 and an implied equity risk premium hovering around 5.85%3 I use a 7.90% discount rate for my vagina here. This is befitting my highly conservative valuation approach as one could easily make the case that cost of capital for a vagina far from the end of its useful life is extremely low given the exceedingly strong borrowing power one commands on the highly liquid (as it were) global vagina market.
Certainly, the beta for long maturity AAA, AA, or A rated vagina vis-a-via the S&P 500 would be under 1.00, but I use 1.00 here. One can verify the conservative nature of these figures simply by observing the fact that top quartile and 1SD vaginas are effectively "same as cash" in most global (meat) markets with friday and saturday trading days.
In addition, there are active vagina futures and options markets with high open interest (forgive the jargon), particularly around the contracts with January 1st and February 14th expiration dates and those that fall near investment bank bonus seasons. (Unfortunately, a discussion of the vagina swap market and vaginal rehypothecation is beyond the scope of this piece). ...
Wishing everyone a happy and blessed Easter as we celebrate the glorious Resurrection of our Blessed Lord Jesus Christ -- He is risen, Alleluia, Alleluia!
Below, a rendition of G.F. Handel's Hallelujah Choris, from Andre Rieu's "Live From Radio City Music Hall" in New York City 2004, with the Johann Strauss Orchestra and the Harlem Gospel Choir:
Tonight's shotgunning video - shooting the "Gnat":
From the video's description:
... GNAT offers a new and exciting challenge for shooting enthusiasts with a target like no other, a radio controlled aircraft, capable of speeds up to 80 mph. It zips by, shows a flash of its belly and pulls up into a steep climb. With each hit, it sets off a pyrotechnic charge, a puff of smoke and keeps flying. ...
Tonight's musical interlude - James Taylor, Steve Martin and others rehearse Foggy Mountain Breakdown for the gala celebrating the 120th Anniversary of Carnegie Hall last year:
Tonight's aurora borealis video (try watching in full screen mode):
From the video's description:
... Shot in and around Kirkenes and Pas National Park bordering Russia, at 70 degree north and 30 degrees east. Temperatures around -25 Celsius. Good fun. ...
Tonight's "Who's afraid of a little recoil?" video - shooting the .950 JDJ rifle, billed as the largest caliber centerfire rifle ever built - weighing in at 50 lbs, firing a 2,400 grain bullet via 240 grains of powder:
Tonight's brief musical interlude - How Mountain Girls Can Love, by the Sleepy Man Banjo Boys:
From the video's description:
A bedroom practice of Ralph Stanley's How Mountain Girls Can Love. Brothers Jonny Mizzone age 9 on banjo, Robbie Mizzone age 12 on fiddle, and Tommy Mizzone age 14 on guitar. Jonny is playing a Huber Vintage VRB-75 Banjo.
Watch this elephant paint a beautiful image of an elephant holding a flower. You'll be amazed at how her talent unfolds as she carefully completes each stroke. Her mahout talks to her throughout the process as his gentle touch gives her confidence. She focuses on her work and seems to enjoy the approval of the audience and, of course, the sugar cane and banana treats. All of her training has been reward based. ...
Tonight's Navy aviation training video - according to the video's description, footage from a fighter detachment at NASWI (Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, in Washington State) with VFA-204:
Tonight's time lapse video (try watching in full-screen mode):
From the video's description:
What you see is real, but you can't see it this way with the naked eye. It is the result of thousands of 20-30 second exposures, edited together to produce the timelapse. This allows you to see the Milky Way, Aurora and other Phenonmena, in a way you wouldn't normally see them.
In the opening "Dakotalapse" title shot, you see bands of red and green moving across the sky. After asking several Astronomers, they are possible noctilucent clouds, airglow or faint Aurora. I never got a definite answer to what it is. You can also see the red and green bands in other shots.
At :53 and 2:17 seconds into the video you see a Meteor with a Persistent Train. Which is ionizing gases, which lasted over a half hour in the cameras frame. Phil Plait wrote an article about the phenomena here blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2011/10/02/a-meteors-lingering-tale/
There is a second Meteor with a much shorter persistent train at 2:51 in the video. This one wasn't backlit by the moon like the first, and moves out of the frame quickly.
The Aurora were shot in central South Dakota in September 2011 and near Madison, Wisconsin on October 25, 2011.
Watch for two Deer at 1:27
Most of the video was shot near the White River in central South Dakota during September and October 2011, there are other shots from Arches National Park in Utah, and Canyon of the Ancients area of Colorado during June 2011. ...
Tonight's don't-try-this-at-home video - Andy Murray and James Corden, of the UK TV show A League of Their Own, attempts to recreate Roger Federer's William Tell trick shot:
Tonight's time lapse video (try watching it in full screen mode) - Time is Nothing - Around the World Time Lapse: 17 Countries. 343 Days. 6237 Photographs. One incredible journey.:
Tonight's time lapse video - The Mountain, filmed from El Teide in Spain:
From the video's description [link(s) omitted]:
... The goal was to capture the beautiful Milky Way galaxy along with one of the most amazing mountains I know El Teide. I have to say this was one of the most exhausting trips I have done. There was a lot of hiking at high altitudes and probably less than 10 hours of sleep in total for the whole week. Having been here 10-11 times before I had a long list of must-see locations I wanted to capture for this movie, but I am still not 100% used to carrying around so much gear required for time-lapse movies.
A large sandstorm hit the Sahara Desert on the 9th April and at approx 3am in the night the sandstorm hit me, making it nearly impossible to see the sky with my own eyes.
Interestingly enough my camera was set for a 5 hour sequence of the milky way during this time and I was sure my whole scene was ruined. To my surprise, my camera had managed to capture the sandstorm which was backlit by Grand Canary Island making it look like golden clouds. The Milky Way was shining through the clouds, making the stars sparkle in an interesting way. So if you ever wondered how the Milky Way would look through a Sahara sandstorm, look at 00:32.
A paternoster or paternoster lift is a passenger elevator which consists of a chain of open compartments (each usually designed for two persons) that move slowly in a loop up and down inside a building without stopping. Passengers can step on or off at any floor they like. The same technique is also used for filing cabinets to store great amounts of (paper) documents or for small spare parts. As a result of safety issues, many such lifts have been shut down, however a small few survive around the world, the largest of these located in the Arts Tower at the University of Sheffield, which also remains the tallest university-owned building in the UK.[1]
...
First built in 1884 by the Dartford, England engineering firm of J & E Hall Ltd as the Cyclic Elevator, the name paternoster ("Our Father", the first two words of the Lord's Prayer in Latin) was originally applied to the device because the elevator is in the form of a loop and is thus similar to rosary beads used as an aid in reciting prayers.[2]
Paternosters were popular throughout the first half of the 20th century as they could carry more passengers than ordinary elevators. They were more common in continental Europe, especially in public buildings, than in the United Kingdom. They are rather slow elevators, typically travelling at about 0.3 metres per second, thus improving the chances of getting on and off successfully.[3]
The construction of new paternosters is no longer allowed in many countries because of the high risk of accidents (people tripping or falling over when trying to enter or alight). Five people were killed by paternosters from 1970 to 1993. The elderly, the handicapped and children are the most in danger of being crushed.[4] In 1989, the paternoster in Newcastle University's Claremont Tower was taken out of service after a passenger undertaking an up-and-over journey became caught in the drive chain, necessitating a rescue by the Fire Service. A conventional elevator was subsequently installed in its place. This accident led to an 18-month close-down of all UK paternosters for a safety review,[citation needed] during which additional safety devices were fitted. ...
Google Street View stop motion animation short made as a personal project by director Tom Jenkins.
Story: A lonely desk toy longs for escape from the dark confines of the office, so he takes a cross country road trip to the Pacific Coast in the only way he can – using a toy car and Google Maps Street View. ...
I think he's got it
-
Comedian Don McMillan "cracks the code" for every Hallmark channel
Christmas movie ever.
Unfortunately, he restricted it to movies made for and sho...
Disturbing
-
I am deeply disturbed, not by the news that Justice Scalia has passed, but
by the reactions of so many of my acquaintances. The man died. His family
is gri...
Really, Japan? REALLY?
-
I’ve heard it told that all the really strange stuff we see out of Japan is
even odd to the Japanese. So explain this. Who’s going to buy this stuff?
One o...
The morning read for Friday, Dec. 20
-
[image: The morning read for Friday, Dec. 20]Each weekday, we select a
short list of news articles and commentary related to the Supreme Court.
Here’s th...
Conscience Driven Capitalism Revisited
-
I haven’t written about Conscience Driven Capitalism in a while, but that
does not mean it is any less important to EveryEventGives. Our dream,
really, i...
RTO Gets Serious: October 1
-
If ever a week was ripe for delaying your return to the office, it was
this one. Hurricane Idalia cleared out the weather up and down the coast,
brin...