Arts & Media Blog » 74

Examined Life

angela — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 04:03:20 +0000

Examined Life is the documentary on philosophy by Astra Taylor which reveal power to transform the way we see the world around us and imagine our place in it. The documentary covers original thinking by eight diverse intellectuals on the streets, sidewalks and roadside paths.

Examined Life- the title is derived from a quote by Socrates, featuring Cornel West, Avital Ronell, Peter Singer, Kwarne Anthony Appiah, Martha Nussbaum, Michael Hardt, Slavoj Zizek, Judith Butler and Sunaura Taylor, the doc thrives on conversation with the help of diverse thinkers.
Interview: Astra Taylor
Runtime: 88 mins
Genre: Philosophy/Education/General Interest
Limited Theatrical Release: Feb 25, 2009

Her Morning Elegance by Oren Lavie

admin — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 06:22:28 +0000

“Her Morning Elegance” by Oren Lavie from his debut album “The Opposite Side of the Sea” is awesome example to create a captivating visual effect using stop-motion techniques. A series of still photos of a woman ( Shir Shomron- an Israeli actress and model ) lying on a blend appear to be animated. “The video was shot all stills – roughly 3225 still photos for the entire video, using one camera, hanging from the ceiling for the main body of the movie”. -Blog Myspace.

Oren Lavie – Her Morning Elegance
by IgnitionVM

The video is hitting the web, as on the date of this post, it already received 1,298,562 views on Youtube and 85950 views on dailymotions in just two weeks!

Loi Krathong-Thai Candle Festival

admin — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 04:26:47 +0000

The annual Loi Krathong-Candle Festival held in Thailand recently, thousands of Krathongs (made of folded banana leaves, flowers, candles, incense sticks ), decorated by Thai people were tied together and set afloat on the waterways. The spell-binding ritual Loi Krathong is held on the full moon of the 12th month in the traditional Thai lunar calendar that falls generally in November. [ Video ]

During the night of the full moon, many people release a small raft like this on a river, in addition, fireworks and beauty contests take place during the festival. The river-based culture is the foundation of the traditional Thai way of life, Loi Krathong is the time to make wishes for happiness together and success in love.

Getting Ready for Loy Krathong Image Source: Thai-blogs.com

Loykrathong’s lyrics:
November full moon shines
Loi Krathong, Loi Krathong
and the water’s high
in the river and local klong
Loi Loi Krathong
Loi Loi Krathong
Loi Krathong is here and everybody’s full of cheer!
We’re together at the klong
We’re together at the klong
Each one with this krathong
As we push away we pray
We can see a better day!

This is the oldest and best-preserved traditions ever, the festival probably originated in India as a Hindu festival similar to Deepavali where people place their lantern in the water and release them to the current giving life throughout the year.