What Would You Be Willing to Sacrifice?
by Trent Gilliss, senior editor
“This project isn’t about making images. It’s not about creating the world’s largest camera. It’s about doing what you love. If you had been searching your whole life for something you love, what would you be willing to sacrifice?” ~Ian Ruhter, from Silver & Light
I can’t remember watching something so heartbreakingly gorgeous, unswerving in its emotional sway, inspirational to the point of forcing me to wonder about my current station in life. What am I doing here?
(h/t Chris Heagle)
Waves of Murmuration (video)
by Trent Gilliss, senior editor
No, not a line from The Pixies. Liberty Smith and Sophie Windsor Clive will ensnare you in the majesty of this chance encounter with “one of nature’s greatest and most fleeting phenomena” — a collection of starlings rolling over a kayak canoe on a lake.
Editor’s note: In the comments below, Maureen Doallas reminded me of two spots where I first heard about starling murmurations and thought I’d share them with you: Paolo Patrizi’s magnificent photos of murmurations over Rome and a BBC documentary. Both are definitely checking out.
Hat tip to Anne Breckbill for the heads up!
Mike Wallace Interviews Music Genius Franz Liszt (video)
by Trent Gilliss, senior editor
It’s been some time since we’ve posted a Friday video snack. So how about ten minutes of the comedic genius of Victor Borge with one of the toughest journalists in the business, Mike Wallace.
(A good, ol-fashioned doff of the cap to Performance Today.)
One Year in 40 Seconds (video)
by Trent Gilliss, senior editor
Something a bit more playful and quiet for this Friday: a time-lapse video of a grove of trees in Oslo, Norway showing the seasons change.
Friday Video Snack: Will You Be the English National Opera’s Friend?
by Trent Gilliss, senior editor
Well, today’s feature is so darned clever and funny and, of course, British. The video works — and on so many levels: part promotion, part comedy, part social commentary, part man-on-the-street-doing-ridiculous-things. I won’t give away the ending but…
(Big thanks to Brian Newhouse for the heads-up!)
This Is What It Sounds Like When Doves Fly
by Trent Gilliss, senior editor
This video of doves flying in Taiwan was just too graceful and peaceful not to share, especially at this time of year when any bird flying overhead in Minnesota is a minor miracle to behold. Winter’s breath and gilded wing draw one’s eye immediately to the majesty of the frozen sky. And here’s one of the videographer’s photos of this event:
Photograph by cypherone/Flickr, licensed under Creative Commons
As for the blog title, my apologies for the play on the Prince tune. I’m in the midst of revisiting my cultural past, boxes and boxes of it.
[via Flickr Blog]
“A Postcard from Bali”
by Trent Gilliss, senior editor
Good gosh this is beautiful. Ganesha and Buddha. Grass and lotus flowers. Mountains and sea.
(Thank you, Stephan Kot!)
Esperanza Spalding Dazzles the Tiny Desk
by Trent Gilliss, senior editor
I’ve been holding on to this performance for a few days now, keeping it in reserve specifically for a Friday morning or afternoon. And what better way to kick off the back stretch to the weekend than with the delightful intensity of jazz musician Esperanza Spalding. In this video, she captivates the room at National Public Radio with her intimate Tiny Desk Concert.
I particularly enjoyed the way Patrick Jarenwattananon paints a lush scene of her commanding presence, including when she doffs her cap to reveal her magnificent shock of hair. But, I best like his rundown of her set list:
“…she mostly called original tunes from Chamber Music Society, her new album pairing a jazz rhythm section with a three-piece string trio. The two tunes bookending her set alternated the gossamer with the rich and darkly hued: the album opener “Little Fly,” her setting of a William Blake poem, and “Apple Blossom,” featuring her regular guitarist, Ricardo Vogt.”
Listening to this performance made it easy to buy her album. I’ve been listening to it non-stop. It’s perfect.
Walking. Without Words.
by Trent Gilliss, senior editor
For this Friday afternoon, a throwback video snack from 1968. Artistic renderings of being through ambulatory expression. The film as described by the National Film Board of Canada’s website:
Animator Ryan Larkin uses an artist’s sensibility to illustrate the way people walk. He employs a variety of techniques—line drawing, colour wash, etc.—to catch and reproduce the motion of people afoot. The springing gait of youth, the mincing step of the high-heeled female, the doddering amble of the elderly—all are registered with humour and individuality, to the accompaniment of special sound. Without words.
The Glory of the Perseids (in One Minute)
by Trent Gilliss, senior editor
After a wonderful couple weeks of vacation, most of it in the Swan Valley of the Montana Rockies, I find myself pining for the starry night skies and the richness of the Milky Way. Growing up in Minneapolis, my two young boys had never seen anything like it. They marveled and remarked without prompting. They’re 4 and 2. I grew up in North Dakota and the vast density of stars adorning the night sky was all I knew. I found myself delighting in their pleasure and saddened by the thought that this was an uncommon event for them.
Some mornings the news doesn’t cut it. Information is too much. We need something to help us remember the moments that give meaning to our lives. Something that gives us hope. Natural events that shake our inner being and relationship to this magnificent world. Henry Jun Wah Lee’s “Joshua Tree Under the Milky Way” time lapse is a welcome relief to start this day.
If you have a photo or a video or a quote that does this for you, share it here. I’m always looking for new material to post that might boost our spirits for the working week.
(photo: “Holland Lake” by Trent Gilliss)
