Movies From 2012 In A Beautiful Mash Up

A mash up of movies from 2012. This is just beautiful. I couldn't tear my eyes away the whole time.

A Cop Sees a Homeless Man Without Shoes

Reblogged from Neatorama:

It's cold in New York City--no time to be without shoes. But one homeless man lacked them...until a cop came by. A visitor from Arizona, also in law enforcement, spotted their encounter:

Right when I was about to approach, one of your officers came up behind him. The officer said, ‘I have these size 12 boots for you, they are all-weather. Let’s put them on and take care of you.’ The officer squatted down on the ground and proceeded to put socks and the new boots on this man. The officer expected NOTHING in return and did not know I was watching*. I have been in law enforcement for 17 years. I was never so impressed in my life. I did not get the officer’s name. It is important, I think, for all of us to remember the real reason we are in this line of work. The reminder this officer gave to our profession in his presentation of human kindness has not been lost on myself or any of the Arizona law enforcement officials with whom this story has been shared.

The unknown cop has since been identified as NYPD Officer Lawrence DePrimo.

Keep Warm With Puppies

Reblogged from Neatorama:

Kyle Camp of Hackleburg, Alabama is a 10-year-old with Down Syndrome. He went missing Tuesday evening, and a search was launched by the Marion County Sheriff's office and local volunteers. The state police also deployed a helicopter to find Kyle. On Wednesday morning, volunteer Jamie Swinney followed the family's dog down by a creek bank, where they heard the dog's litter of puppies in the thick brush. Kyle was there, too.

"The main thing was getting him to his dad. That's where I wanted to get him to was to his dad. When I found him I asked if he was alright and he said yeah, he said he just wanted to go home," Swinney said.

Officials said the boy was wet and had no shoes. They think the puppies kept him warm overnight.

As Kyle was being treated for minor scrapes and bruises at a hospital in Hamilton, his brother Chris Bailey stopped to thank the friends and perfect strangers who helped bring Kyle home.

Kyle was taken to a hospital for minor injuries and is expected to be okay. The puppies were returned home with their mother. Link -via Uproxx

They say "opposites attract" but I think people like us fall in love with people like us.

reblogged from Lost in the Moment...

One Space After A Period Instead Of Two Spaces

According to typographers I've always typed wrong. So many people type with a double space after a period and consider it to be the correct method. I even typed this post with two spaces after each period out of habit and had to go back and correct it. This article from Slate Magazine talks about what is wrong with putting two spaces instead of one.

Halfling and Wizard

I just found a shirt on Threadless that is a combination of the two very popular icons from Calvin and Hobbes and Lord of the Rings.

How To Wake Up A Kid

Best way to wake up!

Letters Are A Beautiful thing

I love reading about small acts of kindness.  This post from Neatorama is a collection of small acts to make one big kindess:

Scott Widak is a 47-year-old artist with Down Syndrome. He is also terminally ill with liver disease. His nephew Sean O’Connor posted his story on reddit and said Widak really enjoyed receiving mail. His address was only up at the site for four hours, but produced an amazing response.

Following the post, Widak received hundreds of letters from all over the world, including the United States, Sweden, Finland, Australia, Japan, the United Kingdom and Mexico. According to O’Connor, there is still mail coming in.
In addition to beautifully written letters, Reddit users have sent custom artwork, art supplies, DVDs and personal keepsakes that they wanted to pass on to Widak.
Sony Music Entertainment sent him 15 CDs/DVDs, which were mostly by Johnny Cash.
“The mail that’s arrived has all been extremely positive and thoughtful,” says O’Connor. “My family and I are amazed at how so many strangers could come together for a random act of kindness.”

See pictures from Widak’s family at Mashable. Link -via The Daily What

Blue Moon

31 December 2009 Blue Moon with partial lunar eclipse

So I just found out that a blue moon will happen this year on August 31st.  A blue moon according to Britannica is "the second full moon in a calender month."  This rare event happens roughly once every 33 months.  I'm kinda excited about this!

Three Gratitudes/Positive Experiences

I started a couple of months ago writing down three gratitudes/positive experiences that had happened during the day.  I wrote a post about it back in February.  Today I found a related post entitled "The most proven technique for increasing long term happiness" on a blog I follow, Barking up the wrong tree:

This technique has been proven again and again and again. Here it is, explained by its originator, University of Pennsylvania professor Martin Seligman.

Via Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-being:

Every night for the next week, set aside ten minutes before you go to sleep. Write down three things that went well today and why they went well. You may use a journal or your computer to write about the events, but it is important that you have a physical record of what you wrote. The three things need not be earthshaking in importance (“ My husband picked up my favorite ice cream for dessert on the way home from work today”), but they can be important (“ My sister just gave birth to a healthy baby boy”).

Next to each positive event, answer the question “Why did this happen?” For example, if you wrote that your husband picked up ice cream, write “because my husband is really thoughtful sometimes” or “because I remembered to call him from work and remind him to stop by the grocery store.” Or if you wrote, “My sister just gave birth to a healthy baby boy,” you might pick as the cause “God was looking out for her” or “She did everything right during her pregnancy.”

Writing about why the positive events in your life happened may seem awkward at first, but please stick with it for one week. It will get easier. The odds are that you will be less depressed, happier, and addicted to this exercise six months from now.

John Cleese vs. The Sun

Below post is from Letters of Note:


In 1982, British tabloid The Sun reported that filming on Monty Python's The Meaning of Life had been marred by an incident involving John Cleese and a group of extras dressed as Zulu warriors. According to the article (image here), Cleese, frustrated that bad weather was slowing the shoot, had "leaped about among the extras demanding 'Which one of you bastards did a rain dance?'"

Cleese's reaction to the story can be seen below, in the form of a fruitless chain of correspondence between him and the newspaper's editor, Kenneth Donlan. He later reported the incident to the Press Council; they agreed and his complaint was upheld. Cleese also kept to his word and reprinted the letters in the book of the film.

(Source: Monty Python's The Meaning Of Life; Image: John Cleese, via.)

August 1982

The Editor
The Sun
30 Bouverie Street
London EC4

Dear Sir,

I am afraid I have to write to you again to complain! I hope this will not become a habit.

You wrote a story on Friday about a rather funny situation that arose during the Monty Python filming in Scotland last week which you got pretty right.

However, in paragraph 3 from the end of the story, you say "And long-legged Cleese leaped about among the extras demanding, 'Which one of you bastards did a rain dance?'"

Now this is a total invention of your writer. I never mentioned the words "rain dance" nor did the thought cross my mind. Neither did I "leap about", nor refer to the extras as "bastards".

So, the first grounds for my complaint are that the paragraph is completely untrue. The second ground for complaint is that, in the UK where there are racial tensions, it does not help my career to have attributed to me a remark which a lot of people would feel was racialist.

I know what happened. I am a zany madcap comic, and your writer thought of the joke and decided to attribute it to me. It may be a minor matter but I do think is is quite unprofessional.

I do hope you agree.

Yours faithfully,

John Cleese

--------------------

August 23rd, 1982

Mr John Cleese
[Redacted]
London W11

Dear Mr. Cleese,

I am sorry that it has been necessary for you to write to us complaining about one of our news stories.

I have made enquiries with the correspondent concerned. He says that he reported the remarks accurately and in their proper context. The reporter adds: "The remarks were not attributed to any racial group whatsoever and were generally in a voice of frustration." I hope that this observation helps to clear up any impression that this story put a racist slant on your comment. This was in no way the case and everyone in this office is constantly reminded of the necessity to avoid any hurt to any section of the community, particularly minorities.

With every good wish to you and all who make Monty Python.

Yours sincerely,

Kenneth Donlan
Managing Editor

--------------------

7 September 1982

Kenneth Donlan
Managing Editor
The Sun
Fleet Street
London EC4

Dear Mr. Donlan,

Thank you very much for your very kind and understanding letter.

I think somewhere along the line you may have missed the point of my letter, which was not that the remarks were inaccurately reported, or that they were not in their proper context, but that I did not make themat all!!!

However, I am sure that your correspondent is implying that I did. So I have a little suggestion.

Whether or not I made these remarks can be established because there were so many witnesses around, all of whom spent the day within a few yards of me.

So why don't we have a little sporting bet? I always think of The Sun as a fun newspaper with a bit of a weakness for a jolly wager like this. (Maybe we could even make a little "news" story out of it. "The Ministry of Silly Walks vs The Editor of The Sun" or "The Sun's Fawlty Statement".)

Anyway, what I suggest is that if your correspondent can show that I made the remark I should pay a sum to the charity of your choice. However, if the witnesses establish that the first they heard of the comment was when somebody read it in The Sun the next morning, then The Sun should pay a sum towards Cancer Research, specifically the charity run by my friend Rob Buckman. I have told him about this idea and he is rather excited.

I do hope you will agree. I don't know what sort of sum would be appropriate, but how about £10,000?

With very best wishes,

John Cleese

--------------------

29th September, 1982

John Cleese, Esq.,
[Redacted]
London W11

Dear Mr. Cleese,

I regret the delay in answering your letter which I found on my return from holiday. Your suggestion for a contest certainly has merit but is not really practicable.

Our correspondent still claims that the words were said as he reported them, and you insist that you were not the speaker. The young man is reliable and there seems no chance of reconciliation. His reporting has not been under fire previously.

The remarks were reported to voice the frustration which the weather was causing.

Perhaps you will let me know of any other original ideas that might help us to come to an amicable solution.

Best wishes,

Kenneth Donlan
Managing Editor

--------------------

6 October 1982

Kenneth Donlan
Managing Editor
The Sun
Fleet Street
London EC4

Dear Mr. Donlan,

Thank you for your letter.

Chicken!

You ask me for another idea to resolve the problem. Well the problem is, put bluntly, that your correspondent is lying through his teeth (extremely uncomfortable position).

Now, as I have said, I have sixty odd witnesses. How can I use them to convince you? Shall I ask them to write individually, or would a list of signatures on one letter suffice?

I do hope, like you, that we can settle this amicably.

Best wishes,

John Cleese

PS I hope you have no objection to our including this correspondence in the Monty Python book of the film.

PPS A correspondent of mine tells me you were recently seen running stark naked down Fleet Street shouting "Enoch Powell has a glass leg". Is my correspondent by any chance distorting the facts?

--------------------

14th October, 1982

John Cleese, Esq.,
[Redacted]
London W11

Dear Mr. Cleese,

Thank you for your letter of 6th October, 1982.

Our correspondent sticks to his version of events and I feel that there is now no more for me to contribute to our exchange of views.

I must add that we do not wish this correspondence to be included in the Monty Python book of the film.

With all good wishes.

Yours sincerely,

Kenneth Donlan
Managing Editor

--------------------

20 October 1982

Kenneth Donlan Esq
Managing Editor
The Sun
Fleet Street
London EC4

Dear Mr. Donlan,

Thank you for your letter of 14 October.

I am sorry you feel you have no more to contribute to our "exchange of views".

What you could have contributed is to have listened to my witnesses. But for some reason this never for a moment interested you. Ah well...

Now I should remind you that your "view" has been printed in your newspaper, and my "view" has not (not much of an "exchange" really).

And yet, now, you don't want me to print my version.

Mr Donlan, what about the freedom of the press? Or is it only your press that is free, and not mine?

Is it equitable that you should print what I didn't say, while trying to stop me printing what you did say?

Does it occur to you that this could not possibly be a moral position?

I feel, however, that this kind of gentle chiding will get me nowhere. My faith in the professional standards of the popular press is again shaken.

So I am afraid I shall have to pursue some other avenue.

Yours disappointedly,

John Cleese

Inspirational Recovery

Arthur Boorman is a Gulf War Veteran.  His back and knees were injured.  Doctors told him he would never walk again without assistance.  Then he started to do low-impact yoga...

Dan Cosidine & Accents

Dan Cosidine is amazing!  His accents are spot on and he's rather amusing to listen to.

City of Rio de Janeiro

Eduardo Paes is the mayor of Rio de Janeiro and he has a great vision for his city.  His city was even awarded the 2016 Olympics due to him.  He sounds like the best mayor ever!

And then I click on a nearby link...

And another...

Now I'm not sure what to think of him.  And then I read this article, which is a relief to read after so much eviction.  The article basically states that Eduardo Paes was pressured into signing a decree giving the poor within their favelas a chance to fight back.  The reason I have conjured in my head for Paes evicting so many people was that the people living in the favelas had no deeds to their houses because they had built them so long ago.  What a dirty trick...

The Butterfly Circus

The Butterfly Circus is absolutely beautiful and simplistic award-winning short film.  I cried when I saw it, I was so moved.

The Upstart Crow

Stop motion video for a creative scholarship fund by my favorite living artist, Cory Godbey.  He did this for a friend of his, Micah Coston, who is attempting to pursue a doctoral degree in English and Shakespeare Studies at Oxford, Cambridge, AND the Shakespeare Institute.  For more info go to http://www.micahcoston.com/upstartcrow

Botanicula

Cute little trailer for a point'n'click exploration game called Botanicula.

Animated Short Film

Divers (Short Animation) from Paris Mavroidis on Vimeo.

So hypnotic...

Hipsters

I do not claim to be a hipster, but I am rather enraptured by the subculture.

Prescription Hipster Eyewear for Kids by Very French Gangsters. I dare you to be cuter than these kids!

Kinda funny how they put a hipster spin on The Hunger Games.

Air New Zealand promotional video with a blogger I follow, Isaac Hindin-Miller. I always get super excited when I see people I follow in YouTube videos.

What hipsters will be like when they get older. :)

The Bunny Song

I ate my dark chocolate Lindt bunny last night because I couldn't wait for Easter, and since I grew up with Veggietales, I started to sing The Bunny Song.

Selfless Vicar From The Titanic

onshiveringranksofgrey:

John Harper was a vicar on the Titanic. After putting his six year old daughter onto a lifeboat and telling her “He would see her again one day”, he remained on the ship as one of the few civilians helping to enforce the Birkenhead Drill (women and children first).

Harper was thrown into the water when the ship broke in half, and then took off his lifejacket, giving it to a young man on a piece of debris, telling him “You need it more than me”. Harper died of hypothermia a few minutes later.

The man on the debris that Harper had given his lifejacket to was one of the six that was rescued by a lifeboat.

(Source: http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/titanic-victim/john-harper.html; more detailed account of death at http://atwistedcrownofthorns.com/2012/03/25/john-harper-the-preacher-who-went-evangelizing-on-the-titanic/) 

From My Ear-Trumpet Has Been Struck By Lightning

Stop Motion Short Film

Stop motion short film by Juan Pablo Zaramella from Buenos Aires.  Very imaginative!

Dancing Behind People Is Better Than Scaring Them

He he.  Must do!

Technology Used As A Crutch

A To Do List to Make You Laugh

Galdalf Makes Me Laugh

Hehe... :D

Secrecy

I have grown to love secrecy.  It seems to be the one thing that can make modern life mysterious or marvelous to us.  The commonest thing is delightful if one only hides it.  When I leave town now I never tell my people where I am going.  If I did, I would lose all my pleasure.  It is a silly habit, I dare say, but somehow it seems to bring a great deal of romance into one's life.

-Oscar Wilde

This Norwegian guy is on the return leg of his solo ski expedition to the South Pole.  He had left some supplies and had forgotten their contents.  He is super exited over what he finds.

Storytelling

Such good advice on storytelling.  So simple.  I like how he encourages the storyteller to leave room for the audience to use their imagination.

Barbara

"Barbara!" - Roommate
"You're such a Jew." - Me

Introversion

I agree that this needs to be talked about.  I personally claim to be an extrovert, but I secretly am a introvert.

Its An Anna Sun Kind of Day

Anna Sun by Walk the Moon

Dreaming through Technology

This just makes me smile.

Tea vs. Coffee

"Getting up at 7am three days in a row isn't exactly my cup of tea." - Roommate
"And that's why you have coffee." - Me

Mr. Happy Man

Mr. Happy Man from Matt Morris Films on Vimeo.
I hope this makes you smile as much as I did.  He makes me want to go out and try to bring a little happiness to everyone I meet.