10 Great Happy New Year 2014 Videos

Thank you so much for being a Kuriositas reader in 2014.  By way of thanks I would like to wish you a Happy New Year for 2014 – it has been a year for the site with as many downs as up but I am looking forward to taking it on its next steps over the coming year.  In the meantime, here are 10 short videos which celebrate the coming of 2014.  May your year be a wonderful one with you and yours all healthy and happy!

Twin Peaks Illustrated

It’s been a while since we have been able to feature a personal project by Martin Woutisseth – he has been a busy guy.  However, today it’s great to see that after many months in stop-start production his illustrated take on the Twin Peaks universe has finally made it!  If you think his illustrations are simply photos with an instant Photoshop filter applied, think again.  Each is lovingly crafted with up to 250 layers – watch the video and see!

Gaia’s Mission: Solving the Celestial Puzzle

The Gaia spacecraft has now been launched and an amazing project has begun.  Ambitious is hardly the word – altogether over a billion celestial objects will be mapped by Gaia – and in 3D in to the bargain.  What is even, perhaps, more astonishing is that these billion objects constitute only one hundredth of those over 20 G magnitudes brightness in the Milky Way.  Our galaxy is vast.

Professor Gerry Gilmore from Cambridge University’s Institute of Astronomy and the Principal Investigator for UK involvement in the mission says that Gaia "will revolutionize our understanding of the cosmos as never before."   The university has created this twenty minute film exploring the mission and its challenging.  I found it compulsive viewing.

Oh and it is narrated by Sean Pertwee, a wonderful British actor who we have seen recently in Camelot and Elementary among other things.  As the son of the third actor to play Doctor Who, Jon Pertwee, this is more than an appropriate choice for narrator of this wonderful short documentary.

Thin White Gelato

Inspired by The Snowman, Trunk Animation’s Christmas offering is an enigmatic animated short.  Introduced by David Bowie (where did they get that footage? A Bing Crosby Christmas Special?) Gelato Go Home is a loving homage to the ice cream van in its communal quest for a little time away from it all.  Altogether this left me slightly befuddled but nonetheless happy; so quite close to how I used to feel each Christmas during my childhood.

Snowflake

Christmas is coming and in many place all over the world that means that the winter is producing the weather most associated with the time of year – snow.

However, if you are wishing for a white Christmas then you may think again after watching this short short by Eoin Duffy.  You may never see that beauty of nature, the snowflake, in the same way again!

Reaping for Dummies

You never know when the Grim Reaper is going to come knocking – so if you don’t want to accompany him to the afterlife then it is best to take a few precautions.  When a trainee reaper visits an almost abandoned Wild West town he thinks it is just another ordinary soul collection but he gets more than he bargained for.  Reaping for Dummies was created by a group of five students from the 3D design and animation course at Idèfagskolen in Tønsberg Norway.

The Portuguese Water Dog: From the Russian Steppes to The White House

The Portuguese Water Dog is something of a survivor.  The breed was rescued from extinction in the last century and, despite over half of the current specimens being descended from a single male, seems to be going from strength to strength.  Plus it has an unusual feature that you might not expect, even though the clue is in its name.  Find out what that is and enjoy a feast of photos of this adorable dog on the Ark in Space.

Image Credit

What is Wrong with Atlantis?

The new BBC series Atlantis, based very, very loosely on Greek mythology is doing well in the Saturday night ratings war.  Starring Mark Addy and Jack Donnelly, the show follows the adventures of young Jason and his friends; it's a three way bromance located in an alternate, unsunk Atlantis. However, one writer at least finds that there are a few things missing from the show which makes it less than wholly enjoyable.  Perhaps you may agree – pop over to 2wenty4se7en to discover what (one person at least) believe is wrong with Atlantis.

Dry Grass in a Blue Vase

For centuries a secret guild has kept a door locked, its secret hidden away for so long that no-one remembers what was kept behind it.   Now only one old woman remains out of the group and she decides to do the only thing she can before she dies.

This enigmatic and beautifully made animated short was written, directed, animated and sound edited by Maria Ivanova.

Potsman Miner

As time goes on it must be more difficult for imaginative minds to dream up new, future dystopias.  I think you may well agree that the four Supinfocom students who created Factuer Mineur (in the original French) have done just that.  A lone postman carries an incredible burden both literally and metaphorically.  What effect will the news that he carries have on its intended recipients?

Nelson Mandela: A Tribute in Art

Nelson Mandela: 18 July 1918 - 5 December 2013

When I was a teenager in the early 1980s I think my first encounter with the name Nelson Mandela was probably through a badge.  Although my memory is a little fuzzy about exactly when, it was most likely 1983, the year before the Special AKA band released what is still in most Top 20 Political Songs lists – Free Nelson Mandela.  The song made it in to the top ten in the UK hit parade. The badge, though, with its typically 80s font, was ubiquitous.

Image Credit Flickr User Ben Sutherland
As well as being worn to protest the on-going incarceration of the South African politician by his own government, the badge was also another way for us to show our displeasure with our own: Maggie Thatcher and her cohorts were currently smashing their way through UK industry like a wrecking ball.  The only pictures we got to see of Nelson Mandela were those taken before his trial and imprisonment – and that had been in 1962, over twenty years previously.   The man could already be representative of causes other than his own – a kind of marker of general political and personal duty: this transference from individual to universal symbol is something that few others have achieved.
Image Credit Flickr User Vilseskogen
The potency of this charisma was bound to find outlets through artistic expression both of the monumental and the personal kind. After his release and his inevitable rise to political power, Mandela’s face became (and I do not use the word without hesitation) iconographic, even in life.  He became a living, breathing symbol of the struggle for personal liberty, for freedom of speech, for universal education and suffrage – and more: I could probably leave a space here and each of you could fill in the gap with your own reason for admiring this man, surely one of the most pivotal in contemporary world history.

850 Meters

A not-so-brave knight is on a quest for Fame and Fortune - legend says rescuing a princess is the way to go. And in those same fairy tales, there's only one way to slay the dragon that holds the fair lady captive: find the invincible sword. To reach his goal, the knight is ready to go far. Maybe even as far as 850 meters. This marvelous animated short was created by Thuristar.

Our Anthem (American Made)

Last month the town of Washington, Illinois, was virtually flattened by a tornado but its citizens are not those for giving up.  Green Shoe Studio has produced this song and video, by Jacob Colgan and Aileeah Colgan as a tribute to the community and to help restore what has been lost (certainly not their spirit!).  You can buy the single on iTunes or donate directly to the Washington Tornado Relief Fund here.

Lovely Laptops: How Would You Customise Yours?

A few years ago I thought a good proportion of the world had gone mad as they seemed to have started talking to themselves in the street and on public transport – and answering back too. Of course, I soon realised that they were using discrete mobile technology to talk to their friends (not imaginary ones!). I am having the same ‘shock of the new’ with the multitude of tablets and Laptops that are now available. They are getting slimmer and slimmer and once or twice I have spotted people using them before I actually spot the laptop.

The VAIO laptops from Sony are ‘guiltier’ than most. The latest is the slimmest Windows 8 tablet PC in the world. Not only that but they come with a range of features that are super useful, whether you are working, playing or just chilling. Take a look at this infographic. Which feature of the VAIO Inspiration Suite do you think you would use the most?

Courtesy of Sony

When you get over the sheer amount of tools you can use on the VAIO Laptops there is probably something else you might notice. I really hate it when glare gets in the way of me getting on with things on my laptop (OK, so it’s usually watching movies). However, there is a VAIO Display Premium feature on selected laptops which have anti-reflection and wider viewing angles which are fantastic for people like me.

Talking of selection, that is completely the name of the game with VAIO laptops. You can select from a great range of colours which will really make your own laptop stand out – and there are a number of finishes available too so that you will have your own bespoke laptop. Now, here’s a question for you! If you could have your laptop look any way you wanted, what indeed would it look like?

Let me know – perhaps we might even be able to persuade Sony to adopt your ideas!

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Red Squirrels Show Signs of Recovery from Deadly Poxvirus

The red squirrel is one of the most popular wild animals in the United Kingdom, which considering so few people have seen one is something of a surprise. They have been marginalized by an American interloper, the grey squirrel, for more than a century and they number only just over 100,000. Moreover, a disease carried by the grey has reduced the population of reds to a fraction of what it was a century ago.

Now, however, red squirrels in an enclave in Merseyside (in the north east of England) have been found to be carrying antibodies which means they have had the dreaded poxvirus but have since recovered. Perhaps there is hope, after all. The Ark in Space has the full story plus a plethora of pictures of this uber-cute animal in action.

Image Credit Peter Trimming

Wooden Boy – for World Aids Day

Today (1 December) is World Aids Day when we remember all those lost to this terrible disease of the human immune system.  It also gives an opportunity to drive home the message that the war against Aids is far from over. Directed by 2AM, this short video has adult themes for a serious message but a great ‘reveal’ at its end which is full of ironic humor. Don’t get caught out, folks, always stick one on!