Yallah! is an Arabic term and can mean anything from “Let’s
go!” or “Come on!” or “Hurry up!”.I
guess it could be any of the three in the context of this animated short from
students at Rubika.Set in the middle of
the Lebanon war of 1982, we meet Nicolas, a man about to flee his virtually destroyed
city, Beirut.However, before too long
he encounters Naji, a teenager who lands abruptly on the bonnet of his car.Despite the chaos
and destruction of war (or perhaps because of it), he has become determined to
go swimming – and the pool is only a few blocks away.Ignoring Nicolas’ warnings and protestations,
Naji is determined to swim – and Nicolas feels the need to try and somehow
protect him as he makes his way there.
This is a beautifully made film, and you may find yourself
disbelieving that it is a student film, such is its exceptionally high standard
of animation. Exploring identity and movement through powerful visual
storytelling, It has a certain lyrical quality to it, despite the backdrop and is much more fun than you might expect, given the time and place in which it is set. Yallah! was directed by Nayla Nassar, Edouard Pitula, Renaud De
Saint Albin, Cécile Adant, Anaïs Sassatelli, and Candice Behague. This animated
short won "Best Student Project" at SIGGRAPH 2022 (prestigious
because it showcases world-leading innovation in computer graphics, judged by
experts, and launches careers in film, gaming, and technology). It has only
just become available to stream and I’m really pleased to be able to share it with
you on Kuriositas.
Travellers journeying through the desolate landscape of the unforgiving Thar desert in the Indian state of Rajasthan would know when they had reached their destination. The sky would fall to the ground and everything would become a single color – blue. Jodhpur would lie before them, opening up like a blue treasure in the desert.
The historic observatory at Greenwich is now a museum, but how
did it get to be the historic Prime Meridian (the zero longitude line that
divides the Earth into eastern and western hemispheres for navigation) of the
world? Why a relatively obscure place in
South London? This animated short,
created by the Royal Observatory, delves into its history and explains these
and other questions getting a little existential – why does it even exist at
all? It all boils down to longitude – the measurement of position east or west
of the Prime Meridian, used to locate places on Earth accurately - and the need
to calculate it using the moon and the stars.
There was a very good reason for this - accurate navigation at sea and
preventing ships from getting lost, not to mention speeding up journey time.
This depended on knowing precise longitude for safe global trade and travel.
As a quick aside, many people assume that the Royal
Observatory in Greenwich is still an active astronomical research site, but
this isn’t the case. The Observatory stopped being a working research facility
in Greenwich in the mid-20th century, when its scientific work was moved
elsewhere in the UK, including to Herstmonceux in Sussex and later into
institutions connected with Cambridge. Today, the Greenwich site mainly serves
as a museum and public attraction.
Modern UK-based observational astronomy often makes use of
large international observatories in places such as the Canary Islands, where
conditions are much better for stargazing, but these facilities are not a
continuation of the Royal Observatory itself. Aside over (not as quick as I anticipated), watch the fascinating video below.
Sometimes, weird synchronicity happens. So, today, I came across this very funny pastiche
of Cell Block Tango, starring six of your favorite Disney Princesses. I suppose it answers any questions I might
have once had about what happens to a Disney Princess (or at least these six) after the credits roll
and she settles down with her Prince.
Frankly, each one of them did not get the happy ever after that they envisioned
– and I must admit that - if the princesses are telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth - one or two of the princes might have got what they
deserved (best line: “some guys just can’t hold their pufferfish…”). Yet, to put
the Beast down simply because he stomps all over the palace… is that fair?
After all, it is his palace.
Regardless
of where I stand on the fates of these princes, this very clever and funny parody is brought
to us by the super-talented Just Josie.
Take a look at the video below and ask yourself – did he really have it
coming? Did he only have himself to blame?
Wait… now we really must hear from the Disney Princes.Right? Right!
As luck would have it, the very same day my YouTube feed
presented me with Charming (starring Jordan Litz who is probably best known for performing in Phantom of the Opera on Broadway and featuring Steven Moeslein and Justin Beard).Also a delight, this (original) musical number has Prince Charming
bemoaning his name (he compares it to a perfume), his habit of losing girls at balls and life in general. No one bothers to ask him about the war, or taxes - they just want to see him grin and twirl girls around the dancefloor.
Then add Prince Philip and Prince Florian (best line: "you find a princess that you love and then, you find out there are seven other men") into the
mix. They are also pretty cheesed off with the roles that they have in their respective fairy tale stories and you end up with a trio of heirs to the throne who are really quite fed up.This fantastic musical number was created by
Pattycake Productions.Watch and enjoy below.
So, members of the jury, now all you have to do is choose your side.Who do you really sympathise with here? Most importantly, who do you believe? The stories of infidelity and fishing that the princesses are telling are radically different to the princes' plaintive cries for more of a say in their lives... Or all they all just a bunch of self-entitled whingers?
Answers on a postcard, but before that a word
or two of gratitude to the makers of both videos.What perverse algorithm led to them both being
in my feed, I know and care not; I am eternally grateful to it.Both videos were an absolute joy to watch - playful,
inventive, and lyrically very, very clever - they had me chuckling from start to finish. I did end up wondering why it was just the princesses who became homicidal - call me old-fashioned - the guys want to be more than just a charming prince for a girl but they end up as the murder victims of those very (naughty) girls. Yes, they did bad things, yes they cheated. But maybe they just wanted to drive the plot for once?
This is elegance incarnate. Led by Artistic Director Karen
Gevorgyan, the Berd Dance Company of Armenia have come up with the dance
production Armenian Queens to highlight the pivotal role by three women (who
just happened to be queens) to Armenian culture and history. The dance communicates themes of elegance,
authority, and unity, using costume, symmetry, and restrained movement to
create a powerful visual impact. Almost
a thousand years separates these queens – the most recent being from the
1200s. However, what unites them is the endurance
and continuity of Armenian culture.
On the right hand side in purple we have Queen Parandzem
from the 4th century.To
Armenians she embodies strength and devotion and defended the country against
invading Persians till her gruesome death at their hands. On the left in green
we have Katranide I from the 9th century, symbolizing spiritual, Christian
values.Then in the middle in Burgundy
we have Zabel from the 13th century who symbolizes statehood and
dynastic continuity. She opened hospitals, shelters for the needy, and
supported the education of young people .I hope I have got them in the right order!
Two girls meet in their youth and become inseparable, even
though there are obstacles. This short summary doesn’t do Red Moon justice. It tells a coming-of-age story about two girls
who move through life side by side, sharing its highs and lows as they grow,
change, and learn what it means to step into womanhood together. Red Moon is an
animated poem (metaphorically) to female friendship and the bond between women
and girls that cannot be broken. It’s a
quietly crafted film, which doesn’t preach and doesn’t give answers – it just
presents things as they are, as they should be – and it does this with subtlety.
As well as the story – so brief but with such depth – I was
particularly drawn to the way that the characters have been drawn and also the
backgrounds (particularly towards the end) which are just beautiful.Red Moon was directed and animated by
Katherine Yuan during her time at RMIT.The fact that this is an undergraduate film
makes it all the more impressive, demonstrating a level of creativity,
emotional depth, and technical skill that feels far beyond what one might
expect at this stage of study.Watch Red
Moon below:
What would happen if Miranda Priestly met Anna Wintour? At
first glance from this video, not very much at all. There is no explosion, no
visible drama, no theatrical collapse beneath the weight of mutual frostiness. But there is Dancing Queen by Abba playing in
the elevator that they share (a lovely nod to another of Meryl Streep’s roles).Miranda Priestly is, of course, a fictional
character. Anna Wintour is the woman that said fictional character is based on.So, it’s all getting a little meta in the
elevator, frankly - and quite cleverly the short film is called Do We Know Each Other?
Why now? You may have been blissfully unaware, but The Devil
Wears Prada 2 is officially on its way and in a stroke of marketing genius, the
people at Vogue managed to get Meryl Streep and Anna Wintour to collaborate on
this short, chance meeting between the two icons of fashion. And if you still read magazine printed on paper, you will soon notice that the May 2026 issue of Vogue features the editor-in-chief, Anna Wintour, with Meryl Streep on the cover... Whoever did the marketing for this deserves a medal.
Nearly twenty years after the original first snapped its
fingers at an unsuspecting world, The Devil Wears Prada 2 is set to arrive in
cinemas on 1 May 2026, with Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt and
Stanley Tucci all returning, alongside director David Frankel and writer Aline
Brosh McKenna. In other words, this is not some flimsy, bargain-bin
resurrection, but a properly assembled return to the polished battlefield of
fashion, publishing and exquisitely delivered contempt.
But I expect you really want to know what they’re wearing…
and, naturally, this super-short film doesn’t disappoint. Miranda Priestly (played by Meryl Streep) is dressed in a sharply tailored Givenchy suit, finished with
sunglasses, shoes and a bag by Prada, while Anna Wintour (played by, erm, Anna Wintour) appears in a Chanel
dress pretty much hidden an Alexander McQueen coat, accessorised with Manolo
Blahnik boots and jewellery by S.J. Phillips - a line-up so extravagantly
curated it practically announces itself before either woman says a word.
The Guinness World Records people have recently announced on their YouTube channel that the record for the most drones simultaneously airborne has been broken
again – inevitably by a Chinese company.
On 3 February, the Guangdong EHang Egret Media Technology Co., Ltd
(couldn’t they have come up with a shorter name) set aloft 22,580 drones in the
city of Hefei (the capital of China’s Anhui province). If I caught it properly, about 25 failed to
set sail into the sky. It beats the
previous record by something of a margin – 15,847 had been the previous record
(which was only set a few months ago – it’s getting difficult to keep up with
this particular record).
The sight is beautiful – with lots of Chinese cultural motifs
coming to life in the night sky.There
are lanterns, cityscapes and beautiful patterns, filmed by some of the drones
themselves (I don’t know if they participated as well as filmed), so you get
some interesting camera angles, both from below and above the display.What I found fascinating, too, was seeing all
of the drones lined up and being checked before the event began.The only downside to this video is that the
narration is mostly AI-driven, which could be argued as appropriate for this
kind of technological achievement, I guess.Regardless, I will stop droning on and allow you to enjoy the
spectacle.Enjoy!
Meanwhile, our sibling site, the Ark in Space, has a new feature
on the above – possibly the cutest, most adorable looking wild animal on the
planet. It is called the Greater Glider,
and as a marsupial you would not be wrong if you guessed that its home was
Australia. A nocturnal animal, the
greater glider was thought to be just one species, but all of that changed a few years ago, and
now we get three for the price of one.
Read much more about this fascinating – and super cute – animal over at
the Ark in Space, which also has an extensive gallery of beautiful pictures of
this irredeemably adorable creature. And yes, you will also get to see the greater glider glide! Image
Have you ever taken a photograph that seems to have a magical quality to it, because of the way in which the light has been captured in the shot? The chances are that you took the picture during the two times of day that photographers know as the golden hour.
The first hour of sunlight of the day makes the first golden hour. As the sun rises the light is softer than later in the day when the full and harsh rays of the sun shine down upon us. Likewise at the end of the day in the hour before sunset, the sun is close to the horizon again. As in the morning, the light travel in an oblique manner and so, instead of hitting objects straight down, hits them at an angle.
Despite numerous visits to the French capital over the
years, there is one place I have never really wished to visit – the famous
catacombs of Paris - even though it's in the dead centre of town. It’s not so much an
aversion to deathly things, but, OK, definitely an aversion to the quantity on
display. So, fortunately, this TED
lesson comes along, enabling me to take a quick tour of the Paris catacombs and
discover, thanks to some animated grisliness, how the people of Paris took
action in the 18th century. I
wonder if they realised that what they were creating would become a tourist
attraction a few hundred years down the line.
It could all have been avoided, of course, had the good
people of the 9th century not thought it a great idea to bury their
dead in the grounds of Les Innocents – and then carry on doing it for 800
years.A little bit of town planning may
not have gone amiss!Just as well there
was an abandoned network of quarries underneath the city, which themselves were causing the city a problem or two.The solution must have been obvious!
The lesson is by Stephanie H. Smith, directed by Laura
Jayne Hodkin and narrated by Adrian Dannatt. Watch it below.
I’ve been waiting for this to be unleashed… and here it is. The 2026 winner of the Best Animation
at the National Student Emmys is Love & Gold, written and directed by Connor
VanDyke and produced by Jaysen Duckworth.
Representing BYU, it’s the university’s fifth consecutive win in this
category and has now been released in full on YouTube. Watching it in full for the first time today,
this animated short certainly does have winner written all over it –
from start to finish.
Before I take a look at the film, I would like to add a note
of praise and thanks to the host of talent BYU pulled together to create this
film. This was the university’s Center for Animation’s short film project for
2025 and from the credits, it looked like the whole department worked “in the
trenches” for this short. What better
way to learn one’s craft than to be involved in a project of this size and ambition? Little wonder that BYU’s graduates almost
inevitably turn up in the credits for major animation projects. So, hat’s off to this splendid team – too many
to mention here, but thank you.
The plot is quite straightforward – the audience rocks up at
the end of two separate quests for the same thing: the treasure left behind by a
king and queen hundreds, perhaps thousands of years before. So, tension is immediately created because
the young explorer/adventurers (OK, thieves) have no intention of sharing the
booty (they are both seeking a huge gem).
Yet they soon discover that the old king and queen had no intention of
allowing someone with purely selfish motives to claim their treasure and that
teamwork will be necessary if they are to survive their ordeals inside the
castle.
You might be thinking “so far so tropey” and you would be
right. I don’t often spot in-movie
references to other movies, but I think writer VanDyke may have watched the Indiana
Jones series on repeat when he was a kid! Yet, take into consideration that
people have been recycling basic plot patterns for thousands of years, picking
over the skeletons of old stories and revivifying them for contemporary times
and audiences. Of course stories – truly
successful stories – are more than simply plots.
Much more important is who it happens to and how it’s told,
as well as what the audience now understands that older audiences didn’t (and
there are a few gleefully placed anachronisms in this dungeons and
drangons-esque setting). The
references to the undying love of the previous king and queen, and how it
impacts on the dual quest presented in this story are subtly and quickly disclosed
to the audience. The nature of the
characters, likewise, are revealed through the narrative, which bops along at
quite a speed (but not too fast to confuse the audience – it’s all there for
us). The writing is deft and tight, the
structure almost perfect. So, certainly, all the right boxes are ticked for how
it’s told.
So, on to who it happens to. Although the characters
are not named during the film, I discovered in the credits that they are Rayden
and Robin (voiced by Parley Lambert and Darci Ramirez – not that they say an
awful lot!). So, that’s how I will refer
to them from now on. The characters are particularly
well-formed, something vital in such a short film. Rayden seems like the kind of young man who
has, perhaps, walked somewhat effortlessly through life, a sort of cross
between Phoebus in Hunchback and Kristoff in Frozen. Yet there’s no swagger – he’s quite a sweetheart
which makes him immensely likable.
Robin is more difficult to pin down. She is the most complex but least trusting of
the pair – and at the same time the least trustworthy too – her selfish acts put
the couple into danger more than once. Perhaps she has been betrayed in the past? Yet like every good character arc, hers
is offered the chance of redemption. I won’t reveal any spoilers, here – it’s
up to you to watch the film and find out for yourself whether she gives in to
avarice or not. Hang around for the end
credits sequence, too – it reveals what might be in store for Rayden and
Robin in the future.
Once again, thank you students (and staff) of BYU for bringing
Love & Gold to the world. Some of
the commenters on YouTube have said, this would make a great feature-length
movie. It’s pretty much perfect as it is
– so, maybe, a sequel? Please?
Have you ever given up on an assignment simply out of fear
of getting a low grade? As an educator (in my real-world job), I see this all
the time – in fact often it’s worse. Assignments are one thing – but whole
qualifications? I have seen some of my students give up revising for resit
exams because they are so afraid of putting in the work and still not passing
that they would rather not try at all - and fail again. (it seems to be, emotionally,
the outcome with the least risk). I'll Start Tomorrow could have been written and produced by any number of my own students!
What makes it all the more tragic is that most of the
students I see exhibiting this kind of behavior are perfectly capable of
passing the qualification I teach (which is exam only with no coursework).However, they choose to fail it – and although
I have been able to get through to them beforehand, some still slip through the
metaphorical net.
There must be some
serious psychology behind this – and perhaps the video above should give me
some insight into this – even though it depicts a student “doing” an assignment,
rather than preparing for an exam.From
the comments below the video on YouTube, it certainly looks like a similar train
of thought.First, there is time – so much
time before the assignment is due that procrastination invariably takes hold.
One commenter admitted that “this animation was like so
beautifully relatable it hurt” and another said “literally my whole entire life
described without using words right here.”I could go on – there are so many different permutations and
combinations of the same thoughts and feelings that it would be an act of
procrastination in itself to carry on reading them or, indeed, adding more
here.
I wonder what advice I would give to this student. It would
have to be different from that which I give in classes when students focus more
on their conversations than the work they are supposed to be doing.That is always “work now, chat later” and
that often works in a classroom situation because they know that if they do the
work I am far more relaxed about them having a chat with each other once it is
done.This is different.I guess I could also say try to study a
subject that you are interested in enough to look forward to doing the
assignments – but my own experience at university (where I studied English
Literature) didn’t really reflect that either – I love literature, discussing
it, reading it, embracing it – but it was very different when it came to
writing about it critically.
I suppose this is something I can think about another day
(see what I did there?).I have to say
this animation does seem to have hit a huge nerve with the viewers.Technically, it is pretty flawless – I love
the design of both the protagonist and the backgrounds.The story is cleverly told, with a number of
flash-forwards about the consequences of procrastination (and the end of the world
would probably put a stop to it, that’s for sure). Some of the visual metaphors are, surely, taken from real dreams. Yet what it captures very
well is the state of panicus pensi (fear of the assignment and
yes, I just made that up) which goes with the whole student malarkey and a
condition that usually goes hand in hand with rigor pavoris (stiffness
of fear). Yup, made that up too.
This very clever, very entertaining and very true animated
short was directed by Skye Wei. It was produced by Shi Hao and Ling Chen with additional
animation by Dou Yang and Xixi Hu.Originally created for Bilibili’s (basically China’s version of YouTube
crossed with Twitch and anime fandom culture) 2026 Bainianji, a special
produced annually by the platform to celebrate Chinese New Year. This is the
English language version and hats off to Skye for releasing this fantastic work
for those of us who don’t speak Mandarin.
So, is the student in this animation able to overcome their
procrastination and commit to work without deviation until submission? You will have to watch it and find out – but if
you are a student reading this, you may find the ending a little bittersweet to
say the least!
One questionwhich always
bothered me as a kid who was interested in archaeology was why was it that
ancient ruins were always found underground? Was the world getting bigger, in
some way, that these ruins were being buried by the ever increasing size of the
Earth? While you can probably get my youthful logic, this isn’t the case.One of the main reasons is that cities are
simply built on top of each other, with each successive wave of construction
simply building on top of the rubble underneath (for the sake of expedience –
clearing is hugely expensive and time-consuming).So, if a building was rebuilt, it meant that
it would be higher than the surrounding streets.The obvious solution there was to raise the
streets too.That means that in some
places, buildings are 18 meters higher than they were in the 1st
Century AD.
When it comes to archaeology, building one layer on top of another
isn’t the only reason why so much archaeology lies underground. The cities of
Shanghai and Seattle, for example, are gently sinking into the ground because
of the weight of the buildings on top, not to mention the extraction of
drinking water from below.
Still a little discombobulated by it all? Then watch this
video from Primal Space, which explains it very clearly and with great
computer-generated animations to match.
But this still leaves another puzzle: what about places like
Roman villas, farmsteads or temples that weren’t built over by later
generations, but simply abandoned? Why are they buried too? The answer is that
ruins often begin by burying themselves. Roofs collapse, walls tumble, plaster
crumbles and timber rots away, creating a mound of debris. Over the centuries,
wind-blown dust, flood silt, leaf mould and soil gradually build up around and
over the remains, while roots, weather and farming slowly break them down
further. In other words, even when nobody builds on top of them, time and
nature usually do the job anyway.
There comes a time in a young pig’s life when human eyes notice
his increasing dimensions and decide enough is enough – this porker is ready
for the pot. So it is with the young pig featured in Amen, a graduate thesis
film by students at École des Nouvelles Images.Although he almost gets the chop, his ingenuity – not to mention a
somewhat revelatory experience in the monastery’s church – will save him and
his friends from sizzling.Or will it?
You had better watch the animated short below to find out!
I have no idea if this film was inspired by pig escapes, such as the famous Tamworth Two, but as our porcine pals have a habit of getting away from their human overlords, this could have been inspired by any number of tales of daring escape in the real world.
Amen has enjoyed an impressive festival run, picking up
awards at the Tirana International Film Festival 2025 in Albania, VIEW
Conference 2025 in Italy, the Internationales Trickfilm-Festival Stuttgart in
Germany, Cyber Sousa – Xiamen International Animation Festival in China, The
Great Canadian Horror Film Festival, Curtas Vila do Conde – Festival
Internacional de Cinema in Portugal, and La Guarimba Film Festival in Italy,
among many others. The film was directed by Orphée Coutier, Bettina Demarty, Kimie
Maingonnat, Laurène Perego, Louise Poulain, and Avril Zundel, with an original
score by Nicolas Cornil (MAAAV). Production was overseen by Julien Deparis for École
des Nouvelles Images, with sound mixing by Pierre-François Renouf.
Tucked away in London’s Trinity Church Square stands a tall statue. Larger than life, it stands 8.5
feet high (2.6 metres), depicting a wise old king. Who that king is, no one is
completely sure but it is widely believed to be a representation of King Alfred
the Great, who ruled in the 9th century. The statue was once thought
to have been made at some point in the 1300s as it reflects the statuary style
then prevalent. Simply put, no one ever knew its true provenance although
debate raged off and on (no doubt in a very polite British way). Image
What is known with certainty is that it has been in the
square since 1831 – getting on for two hundred years. Rather annoyingly and
contrary to the often meticulous record-keeping habits of Victorian Londoners,
the name of who gifted it to the square is not recorded. So, for all that time, no
one knew much about it at all or could offer anything more than educated
guesswork. But the statue held a secret or two.
Sometimes, you can put off being a parent for a while. That while can sometimes become a
little too long and you might find yourself without the prerequisite other
half with whom to share the moment.
When this happens, there are options – and Riki Lindhorne’s new song Bio
Dad, shows a woman asking a male friend to make a little donation in order to fulfil
her desire to be a mother. This is funny -
but also heartfelt – and not only makes a great comedy-drama sketch, it
feels more like a song from a musical than anything else – I would like to see
the whole thing (as it were!).
However, the video does go through the whole story we need
to see – including the compulsory visit to the clinic where the unfortunate
donor has to perform.One of the
commenters on YouTube said about this part: “as a man who's used those plastic
cups in IVF clinics, let me say that section of the song (thin doors, weird
reactions from the woman at the desk, etc.) was SPOT ON”.Another commenter added: “As always a welcome
and unexpected pleasure”, which I have to say is pretty much how I feel about
this song.
Of course, one of the (many) things that Riki Lindhome is
known for is playing Dr. Valerie Kinbott on the Addams Family Netflix show
Wednesday.So, of course it is only
natural that she should as a good-looking member of a show she has appeared in
to feature as the potential bio-dad.Step forward Hunter Doohan, who played opposite her in Wednesday as Tyler
Galpin, the sheriff’s son who turns out to be a Hyde. One commenter said: “I know your song is what
every woman thinks about when she sees Hunter Doohan, but I cant prove it...“.Regardless, if Tyler Galpin and Dr. Valerie
Kinbott ever had a baby, it would probably come out already in therapy and
somehow covered in suspicious claw marks – but they are playing different
characters here so let’s just scrub that and watch the video.
Sometimes, children discover things about their parents that
perhaps they shouldn’t have. As Oscar Wilde once said: 'Children begin by
loving their parents; as they grow older they judge them; sometimes
they forgive them.' In Sophie’s
case, that might be quite unlikely as she has developed the unfortunate tendency
of coming across her parents at some fairly unforgivable moments .
Of course, the best thing to do is to sit Sophie down and to
explain what has happened in terms that a child can understand and – of course –
outline what happens next, underlining at many moments through the conversation
just how much they love her.And that’s
exactly what these parents do.Katherine
Tate and Alex Macqueen shine here as the parents, full or remorse and guilt for
what their daughter has been through – and Skye Lucia Degruttola is
excellent as their daughter - it must have been hard for her to keep a straight face watching these two pillars of British comedy go through their motions.This may have
to be filed under “peculiarly British comedy” as I am unsure whether other
cultures may fully “get” this or even whey we might find it amusing.Not Sophie's Choice gave me a chuckle, though – and I think
that’s what it sets out to do. Job done.
I don’t need to be told that I’m getting on – my friends,
family, colleagues and the mirror will all tell me (to varying degrees of truthfulness). However, there’s nothing quite like a
computer programme to really stick the dagger when it comes to brutal honesty. So it is with Another Day, which asks you to
enter your age so you can discover which historical events, going backwards
historically from your birthday, are now closer to it chronologically than
today.
As you can see from the above, my grey hairs are definitely
more than implied when I am told that the sinking of the Titanic is now closer
to my birth date than the day today! If there is any real evidence that lying
about your age is a good idea (if you want to escape the gasps that sharing
this site will provoke when you type in your birth date), then this is it.
Here's another based on my birthday...
There’s more.You can
share this on social media, so not only can you share a plum fact about your
own age, you can freely ridicule your aging (or already aged) friends by doing
the same thing for them and gleefully pointing out the cold hard fact Another
Day will come up with.
So, were my mother (who has yet to slip of her mortal coil despite in her own words feeling positively ancient) on social media, I could definitely annoy
her by posting this…
Of course we’re huge fans of Key & Peel’s famous
Substitute Teacher sketch - and their follow ups. But a remake
in Lego? We didn’t quite see that one coming. Mr Garvey has long been a hero in
educational circles and it is good to see him recreated in one of the most intuitively
instructive toys ever designed. Of
course, we have the rest of the cast too - Dee-Nice, Jakequaline, Balakey, Ay-Ay-
Ron are all in the classroom, as is Tim-o-thee. I have to say that NL Films have really done
a great job on both the set and the characters – it is almost like watching the
original sketch again. Except it’s in Lego.
As a (lazy) aside, I wonder if the young actors who make up
Mr Garvey’s unwilling students saw any major impact on their careers after
appearing in this sketch. Did it help or hinder their professional progress? Do
they see it now as a great opportunity that led to type-casting in the extreme
or a great opportunity that led to even greater opportunities. I put lazy in
brackets because, of course, I could do some research and find out, but I’ve
always resisted those “Cast of Substitute Teacher – Where are they now?” kind
of features at Kuriositas.
In the beautiful foothills of the Velliangiri Mountains in
the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, an immense head and shoulders seems to burst
from the ground, dominating the surrounding landscape. This jaw-dropping spectacle – a male, eyes
closed in contemplation, with lustrously dark features, full lips and flowing
locks of hair epitomising an ideal of both male beauty and masculine
voluptuousness - is Shiva, the Adiyogi (the First Yogi). Little wonder that
people flock from all over India and beyond to see this sculpture, listed in
the Guinness World Records as the largest bust sculpture on the planet. Image
The sculpture looks like it is made from black granite, but it
was built using thousands of kilograms of steel plates and pipes. In fact, it weighs in at approximately 500
tonnes.In order to give the bust its
rich, deep appearance it is coated with dark matte finish paint – a job which
one can only imagine as never ending to maintain the exquisite exterior.
There are some things that you just have to sit back and
watch – and this is one of them. The
immediate question I have watching Rotterdam: Shifting Shapes of the Future, a
hyperlapse of the Dutch city by award-winning filmmaker Kirill Neiezhmakov is how
does he do this? The answer to this
question is most likely I don’t care as he long as he keeps doing these amazing
videos.
As you will see from the video, the AI morphing transitions
really make this stand out from other time-lapses or hyperlapses.Neiezhmakov describes Rotterdam as “the
perfect playground for this” and the transitions are seamless and quite
astonishing.Plus he confides that the
secret to a great hyperlapse is “pure manual precision”, so perhaps we have
finally found something that combines AI and human creativity to hugely
impressive effect.Take a look at the
video below and see if you agree.
If you are familiar with the story of Thumbelina, then I
suspect you will enjoy Tulip, as it is an adaptation of the Hans Christian
Andersen tale, cherished by generations of children and adults alike. There are some differences in the telling,
here – so, for example, we don’t have Thumbelina traveling to a distant land in
order to meet her prince of flowers, but the fan favorites are there in the
shape of the lonely woman who first discovers her and the various animals she
encounters, such as the mole, the mouse and – of course – the swallow.
After Tulip is discovered by the lonely old woman, she grows and becomes restless, confined to the woman's cottage (the old lady is scared that the outside world is too dangerous for the tiny Tulip). Of course, Tulip takes matters into her own hands...
Purists may balk a little, but I think this is a wonderful
retelling, created by Andrea Love and Phoebe Wahl (production, direction, writing, animation - the lot). The stop-motion work is
simply wonderful but I think the one
thing that stands out most to be about this short is its use of colors. Vibrant would be an understatement, and the detail is painstaking. The stop-motion
is seamless – the water in the pond and Tulip’s tears were particularly
impressive, given how difficult water is to animate properly using stop-motion
techniques.
The characters, too, are beautifully made.All of them are lovely, but I particularly
like the bossy mouse in her sky-blue Victoriana. I was entranced by this from
start to finish.All the voice actors are
excellent, but a special mention must be given to Christopher Flockton who
tells the story in a charmingly mellifluous manner. Watch the film below.
Well, isn’t this just fabulous? Raye’s Click Clack Symphony,
taken from her upcoming album This Music May Contain Hope is quite the
number. It’s an ode (well, a symphony)
to those around us who make life better.
In this case it’s Raye’s buddies, who, when they hear her call, march
around to her house and get her out of it (the home and her downer).
I love the metaphor of the click click click clack symphony echoing the
sound of their heels as they come to her rescue! They are definitely going to heel her (OK, very bad
joke).
The video to accompany the song is hugely imaginative; the
animated RKO-style intro (well, you know me and animation) gives us the odds of being
born on this planet at 1 in 400 trillion (no idea where Raye got this statistic,
but quite happy to go with it).It then
quickly jumps to Raye’s house where she is awaiting the arrival of her friends
(and when you don’t have enough wine in the fridge to get yourself going, you
need a few mates), then to their escape into the street and beyond.The video accompanies Raye’s (really clever)
lyrics perfectly – it’s something of a tour de force, frankly.
The message is certainly unambiguous – you should never
settle for depression on a Friday night!
Life is (as always) too short, so get your friends and click click click
clack a symphony of your own – not only on a Friday but any day of the week.
Like Raye, you could “believe for the first time that she would again feel the
sun”. As layered as this song may be (and it has many but the monologue at the end takes it to another level), I think the message
is that bad times must always come to an end, but patience and faith “in the
seeds that are planted beneath the snow” are also vital in getting you through and
back into that sunshine. What a fabulous
song.
Best British singer-songwriter since Kate Bush? I reckon so.
Recently, Timothy Chalomet made some remarks about opera and
ballet which I am sure he probably now regrets, considering the furore they
created.Although we feature dance quite
a lot on Kuriositas, it has been a while since we featured either opera or
ballet.That’s a little remiss, so here
is a very cool video of 13 of the very best male ballet dancers – and the list
is contemporary rather than historic (just to show the art form is still well
and truly alive). The video was created by Ballet Posted.
I think, for me, the standouts are Kangwon Lee, who dances
with such a joie de vivre it is almost impossible not to smile with him.Then there is Antonio Caslhino whose moves are
something to behold. I suppose my favorite, though, has to be Takumi Miyake –
just a sublime dance if ever there was one.Which will be your choice? Watch the video below and decide!
In Japan, you will hear Itadakimasu (いただきます)
a lot. Connecting to Buddhist ideas of
gratitude and life, the phrase is spoken before eating a meal. It’s meaning
translated into English is approximate – you could say it roughly means “I humbly
receive (this food)”. The verb itadaku (いただく) means
“to humbly receive” and the “masu” part of the phrase is a polite ending which
is added to verbs. Yet, like many Japanese phrases, it has a much deeper
meaning, one which speaks volumes about the nature of Japanese culture. The key is probably in the word “receive”
which is used rather than “eat”. It says
a lot.
The phrase is central to this charming short film, which pivots around food but is essentially about the love between a mother and her son.Itadakimasu tells the story of Ryota (Ren
Okada), who has left his countryside home to live and work in the big city.
Although not exactly estranged from his mother
(Mika Murakami), his attitude to her has become distant and somewhat terse,
especially since the premature death of his father.Ryota is struggling at work and his inability
to emotionally communicate with his mother means that when she pays him a
surprise visit, the reception she gets is cold and Ryota quickly makes his
excuses to leave for the day.
How is this resolved? Well, I urge you to watch this
precious short film for yourself – but reconciliation is on the cards (I want
you to know that this does not have a sad ending, even though it isn't sugary sweet). The film’s
characters are drawn by a series of subtle flashbacks to scenes from their lives –
we see little Ryota grow as the film develops.
One pivotal scene gives those of us who do not come from Japan more
insight into the emotional resonance of the phrase Itadakimasu.
It is so much more than just a few words of thanks – it gives gratitude and
respect for nature, the animals and the plants whose lives became the food as
well as the farmers and workers who produced the ingredients. Last but certainly not least, it expresses
thanks to the person who prepared the food – and in this case it is almost
always mum. Whether it is hot from the
stove or cold in the fridge while she works in a factory to make ends meet,
food always makes its way from mum’s hands to Ryota’s stomach.
Even when he is being a sulky teenager and resorts to Pot
Noodle in his bedroom, we see Ryota put his hands together, bow his head a
little and utter Itadakimasu before he begins to eat.It’s a phrase you will hear all over Japan –
at home, school, restaurants (or like me on TV shows and anime).It’s a cultural connector and the big
question this film painstakingly asks (my only criticism is perhaps a few minutes
could have been shaved off its running time) is whether shared and collective
memory, bound by words and food, can help to restore a relationship.
The film is elegantly written, and poignantly directed, shot
and edited by Fumiya Nakagawa. Much of
his work focuses on his home region of Kumamoto, using film to promote local
culture and communities - and Itadakimasu shows Kumamoto off really beautifully. This short film
was produced by Yamachiku Co Ltd with music by Yukiko Kamata. The producer is – well I never – an intergenerational chopstick manufacturer
well known in Japan. I have only realised
this when writing this short review – it must be about the most subtle product
placement I have ever come across! Yet
far more subtle are the performances by Ren Okada (best known as a style influencer) and Mika Murakami, especially
the latter whose adoring looks at her truculent son are simply heartbreaking.
I think one of the commenters on YouTube sums the film up
perfectly: “Had me in tears at the end. Sometimes children lose sight of how
much love and support their parents have given them over the years, and they
need some type of experience to make them see how fortunate they are. This
short film expressed this theme so well. The music was perfect also.”Indeed.This film is really something very special.
Watch the full film below.
As a footnote, once a meal is finished, Japanese people
usually say “gochisōsama deshita” (ごちそうさまでした), which means something like
“thank you for the meal”. So we have a
few more Japanese phrases to add to our collection. Also, a big thank you to Fumiya Nakagawa and team for this particular, very satisfying meal.
If you are interested in more Japanese phrases, you might be
interested in our short articles about:
