Life in Text

Nostalgia sets in for a 20-something guy (Tyler Ritter), as he travels through a virtual text message world and revisits old messages between him and his ex-girlfriend (Alexandra Daddario). The digital drama begins at the end of the couple's history, when they are no longer speaking, and ends at the beginning of their relationship: their first text message. Life in Text was directed by Laurence and Jessica Jacobs.

Quiet on the Set

A young actor struggles to find work – and with the illness which will terminate his life in the near future.  The only job that he can find – with some irony – is as a zombie extra in a new apocalyptic horror movie. Yet this role may well define his career.  Sensitively written and directed by  RJ Berkelew, perhaps some journeys can only be fully understood by those who take the same path.

Unimagined Friends

Did you have an imaginary friend when you were a child? Then spare a thought for those creatures that may never be imagined. They spend their time in a kind of limbo, waiting for someone to imagine them in to existence… and if you are a scraggly cat like Carl then that may take some time.  This delightful animation is courtesy of students at The Animation Workshop in Denmark.

Shifter

Los Angeles - 2023. James Striker is on the verge of bringing down the oppressive government that has crushed all freedom in the United States in Shifter, a short live action science fiction movie by the Hallivis Brothers. But before he can take them on, Striker must get past a homicidal drone and an elite squad of EFT soldiers. His only advantage is the SHIFT, a process that allows Striker to transfer his mind into an identical clone body. New body, Same mission: Bring the whole system down.

Life is Beautiful

Life for Anton has been marred by a thousand little cruelties dealt to him because of his tiny stature.  He calmly decides to end it all, he is done with life. Yet as you will see, life is not done with Anton.  The subject matter is such that this could have gone very wrong but Life is Beautiful is quite delightful – especially when you get to the end. This wonderful animated short was directed by Ben Brand and made with support of the Dutch Film Fund and the NTR.

The Modern Muses

In ancient Greece the Muses were a collection of nine goddesses who stimulated the conception of literature and the arts.  What if the Muses were to reinvent themselves for the twenty first century?  Would their modern day guise be any different from the time of the ancients?  What objects might they adopt as their symbols?  Let’s have a little fun.  After all – if they were to return, they wouldn’t want to look as if they belong in a museum, even if the very word was inspired by them.

Calliope

Image Credit Flickr User Ed Yourdon

Perhaps the most famous of the muses, Calliope is the muse of heroic writing – it is said that she inspired Homer to write the Iliad and the Odyssey.  In art she has always been seen with a writing tablet in her hand.  That, of course, would have to go.  Were Calliope to descend from Olympus, she would soon discover that a laptop is the tool of choice for most writers in this day and age.

As the oldest of the muses she would no doubt need that processing power to keep her younger, more errant sisters organised.

Clio

Image Credit Flickr User Natu

Clio was the muse of history.  In ancient art she was often represented with a scroll of paper or a tablet.  Perhaps today she would record the passage of time using a camera.  She is seen variously as a researcher, one who ignites the need to record events but also to investigate and to ensure that events are accounted.  Clio’s aim was to record the past in order to inform the future – and what better modern platform for that than the art of photography?

If You Have Never Wanted to Visit New Zealand, You Will After You Watch This

In March 2016, Francis Gagnon flew to New Zealand. For more than a month, he traveled across the country seeking images and adventures. During this journey, he drove 4000 km and hiked over 250 km. His journey took him from the glaciers in Mount Cook National Park to mountain-ringed Lake Te Anau and the volcanic rock in Tongariro National Park.  The result is Moods of New Zealand, an amazing timelapse film of the sights he encountered on his trip.

Iconic Dance in Film

This will put a spring in to your step if all else fails… The students at AMDA (the American Musical and Dramatic Academy) in New York studied rigorously for their Fall Dance Concert of 2015. Named Iconic, it was a modern celebration of 20th Century dance on film re-imagined through live performance. Cain DeVore, an independent filmmaker and screenwriter, actor and teacher put this video together to inspire the students.

It is a whistle-stop tour of the best dance in movies from the 1920s up to the present day. Pop Dancin Fool by Barry Manilow over the clips and you get a truly exhilarating few minutes. As well as a reminder of what has been achieved in the past this video, in its own way, lays down the gauntlet for today’s filmmakers – get dance fully and properly back in to the movies now!

The full list is below if you want to see how many movies you spotted correctly.

Caravanserai – Staging Posts of the Desert

There were once thousands of caravanserai, staging posts for the weary traveler, dotted throughout Asia, North Africa and the South-Eastern parts of Europe.  The Silk Road, an important and extensive trans-continental network of routes, was dotted with them.  Many still survive, but more, like the one in the Lut desert of Iran (above) are abandoned and slowly turning to dust.

Image Credit Flickr User Alexandros.Papadopoulos

Modern methods of transportation have meant that the caravanserai, where they are not fortunate enough to be restored and made in to hotels, slowly but surely rejoin the sand of the desert.  However, you can still see the rising columns in the Lut example, above, which one day perhaps looked something more like the interior of the one to be found in Meybod (also in Iran, below).

The Cutty Sark Story

If you might  not get the opportunity to visit Cutty Sark, the British Clipper ship which is preserved as a museum ship in Greenwich, London, then this will get you a little closer, at least imaginatively.  Created by Beakus director Steve Smith for the Cutty Sark, it tells the story of the ship’s years of service as a tea and wool cargo ship, and its record breaking round-the-world voyages. It has been screened on a loop in the actual ship's lower hold from September 2014.

Flawless

Flawless is a short film looking at the loving relationship between a father, Ansel and his gifted daughter, Iniko. One grey day a major incident causes a deep fracture that changes their lives forever, causing Iniko to long for a time when things were perfect. Created by Badshoes Film in February 2014 in Leicester and released on to the festival circuit in June 2014, Flawless was selected for 23 festivals over 18 months including Festival de Cine Lanzarote 2015, Cineglobe 2015 at CERN Institute, Cannes Short Film Corner, CineFiesta 2014, New York Independent Film Festival 2015, Aesthetica 2015 as well as a pretty good run at the BAFTA's too.

3 online hobbies you should consider trying in 2021

Finding a new interest or hobby can be a fantastic way of developing a new skill, meeting new, like-minded friends, building your self-confidence and having a lot of fun.

There is no shortage of avenues to pursue, which can make the process of deciding which hobby to pursue daunting and not a little confusing. After all, when you live in an age of unlimited information and unprecedented levels of entertainment in the forms of YouTube, streaming services and social media, sticking to one interest is difficult. 

On top of this, there is the very real challenge of fitting your new hobby within your existing lifestyle. If you work full-time, have a family or a busy social calendar, then you may think it is impossible to find time for a new hobby. 

However, as long as you are organized, plan your weeks carefully and are prepared to sacrifice time-sapping pastimes like social media or watching movies, then you will free up more time than you might imagine.

This is why online hobbies work so well. They allow you to participate in your hobby without needing to waste time traveling to a set location or putting it on pause every time you need to travel. 

Here are three great online hobbies you should consider trying in 2021:

Gaming is going from strength to strength

One of the most popular online hobbies is gaming, which has gone from strength to strength over the past decade. Far from simply being a pastime popular with teenagers, gaming is now a thriving industry that offers a variety of immersive thrills.

Indeed, there is no shortage of games to choose from. You could, for example, become involved with esports, which hold both amateur and professional tournaments based on virtual versions of real sports - such as football and Formula One, as well as gaming titles like Dota 2 or League of Legends. 

Alternatively, there is a range of role-playing and sandbox games such as the Elder Scrolls series or Grand Theft Auto, which boast huge online communities. 

Online gaming is a great way to become involved in a passionate community of like-minded people, as well as relax after a long day at work. You can get started relatively cheaply, too, if you find gaming laptop deals. 

You could start meditating using online resources

Another great online hobby you should consider trying is a meditation app or course. While meditation has been around for thousands of years in various forms and practices, it has never been easier (or more important) to start, thanks to the variety of online apps, tutorials and courses on offer.

This means you can practice meditation easily wherever you are, whether at home, on the train, or even on your lunch breaks at work. Given how stressful and fast-paced modern life can be, meditation offers a rewarding experience, with minimal costs or discipline needed to start.

Learn a new language via an online course

One of the most useful hobbies you can start is to learn a new language. While this is nothing new, language learning is considerably more accessible and easier now that you can engage with online content - such as apps, courses and podcasts - which allow you to learn wherever you go. 

This accelerates the learning process and helps you to master a new language faster, which is ideal if you want to explore a particular country or learn more about a certain culture. 

Image Credit

Using Interior Spaces and Furniture Improve our Well Being

When we decide to choose furniture such as dining chairs to the colours we put on the wall, smart choices improve our well being and general health. To understand why this is, we have to understand how decorating works and how it affects our mood, and we have to look at what our homes mean to us.

An Englishman’s Home Is His Castle

If we consider what home is, it offers both shelter and protection. When you get home you feel safe and warm. This is the place where you bring up your family, and where you sleep.

Whereas in the past, your home may not have been decorated to the degree it is now, it still offered the qualities outlined above.

As the twentieth century unfolded, increasingly people wanted to personalise their homes. As such, furniture design, DIY, and decoration products became highly popular.

As well as having the means, choices can be influenced consciously and subconsciously. This is why we often see a canopy over a front door or a railing. This symbolises a barrier between our homes and the outside world. It is a psychological comfort and protection.

Not every design decision is designed to make us feel protected. Other mindfulness is at work with other decisions.

An Interesting Experiment

Google partnered with the Arts & Mind Lab at Johns Hopkins University where they experimented to assess the aesthetic impact of rooms. At the 2021 Salone del Mobile in Milan visitors were bands that tracked their physiological responses as they moved from room to room.

They were encouraged to fully engage with their surroundings and to remain quiet and avoid using their phones.

The results were interesting with around 50% feeling the calmest in rooms they were not attracted to visually. Ivy Ross, VP of Product Design at Google concluded that people have been approaching room design and décor too cognitively and they needed to get back to what feels good rather than what looks good.

Taking Control

Ivy Ross may have a point. When we decorate to our tastes often it is to create a feel rather than a look. If you feel good in your home you are more likely to feel protected and comfortable. This contrasts a room that may look amazing but feels a little cold or you simply can’t relax.

This makes furniture and décor choices important. It isn’t just how it looks and gels with the rest of its surroundings, it is also the feelings it generates. This also extends to the artwork you have on your walls. Some point out that often art that conjures childhood memories are the most comforting.

Healthcare

Some hospitals from around the world have started to employ interior designers and architects to make medical settings less institutional and clinical. Organisations such as Maggie have tried to make the clinical environment come across as more homely. This, they believe provides a better environment for healing.

So, when you come to make furniture and design choices, go with what feels right rather than what looks right. You won’t regret it.

Bushido

Bushido literally means the way of the warrior and that is (again, literally) what you get here.  We see just a few split seconds in the life of a meditative samurai.  Bushido allows for the violent existence of the samurai to be subsumed by wisdom and serenity.

This animated short was created by Said Ibrahim as his 2013 graduation film.  It’s a great combination of drawing and animation styles and is a great showcase for Ibrahim’s talents as an animator. It is also very, very cool.

Kumbh Mela: The Greatest Gathering or People on the Planet

Kumbh Mela is a Hindu pilgrimage which attracts, each year, the greatest peaceful get together of people in the world.  The  Maha Kumbh Mela of 2013 saw over 100 million people gather to bathe at dawn in the sacred Ganges River.

Time-lapse Photography and Adventure Filmmaker Rufus Blackwell was there and captured these astounding time-lapse images.

The Golden Rock – The Gilt Boulder of the Buddha

It looks as if it is just about to fall off the edge of Mount Kyaiktiyo and roll down in to the sweeping landscape of Myanmar. Yet the enormous granite boulder, known as the Golden Rock, has perched precariously here for as long as the land’s recorded history. The Kyaiktiyo Pagoda, built atop, is, alone, over seven meters in height. The whole edifice is said to be balanced on a single strand of the Buddha’s hair.

Image Credit Flickr User onourownpath.com

Image Credit Flickr User onourownpath.com

As such, this is an important pilgrimage site for adherents of Buddhism. It is said that those who visit it three times in a single year will be blessed with wealth and acknowledgement of their goodness. The main legend associated with the rock and the pagoda is that the Buddha, on one of his visits, gave a single strand of his hair to the local hermit, Taik Tha.