Seriously Awesome Short Film from Godzone

Hat Tips: @vodafonenz and Get Frank

I just watched the Top Gear America Special on TV it is a few years old but I had not seen it before. The end of the episode has a really serious side to it and Jeremy Clarkson provides a real stinging but truthful social commentary as shown in this clip:

The video was automatically cut together by my movie making software so it is a little bit random in places.

This job was advertised on seek.com.au yesterday. They took down the ad pretty quick, but not before it got tweeted and I got a screen grab of it.

The ad was placed on the site by Microsoft as part of a viral marketing campaign for the new game Mass Effect 2.

I just stumbled across this video of Magnify performing at Parachute Festival earlier this year.

Parachute will be one of the things I miss about NZ the most when I move. The festival is awesome – I have been 6 out of the last 7 years.

Crowd as seen from the Mainstage

The reason why I stumbled upon the video was because I was looking for a clip of an older song, In Wonder:

Which of course the Newsboys remade, and around a month ago was played as the wake up music for one of the astronauts on the space station:

I just got home from seeing the movie adaptation of Under The Mountain. It is a must see. It remains very true to the book with only a few minor changes (such as the age of the twins). The entire production is top notch, the acting and cast is perfect, the special effects state of the art (thanks Weta Workshops) and it is great to see such a good kiwi film. I will note that the film, while based on a kids book, is rated M, it is not over the top scary. But it is scary enough that it would easily upset some kids (even some adults jumped in parts of it). It would be the best kiwi film since Out of the Blue.

I have had a number of emails and conversations about the December 12 2012 over the past few weeks. Mainly sparked as a result of the new disaster movie 2012.

I saw the movie on Friday night and it is terrible. The theme is a good one and there was potential to create a really good and really scary film, however, it fails miserably. Under doing the 2012 theme and over doing trying to almost kill every single cast member 6 times over. It really should have been called 2012 where humans become cats and have 9 lives.

Anyway I am side tracked. Below is a copy of an email I just sent to a friend on the ideas around 2012.

—

I do not believe the world is going to end in 2012.

Yes the magnetic poles of the earth could swap. This has happened a number of times in the past, although not for a few thousand years. If this happens it is most likely it will happen very quickly (as in overnight) and it is unlikely we will see any major changes (however all the compasses will point in the wrong direction). There is a possibility that the change could also cause an electric field that could wipe every electronic device in existence. Essentially sending us back to the stone age. This is only speculation. But if it happened we run the risk of nuclear reactors exploding etc as they suddenly have all their cooling and other support structures stopped. It would also kill hundreds of people on life support etc in hospitals. But again this is unlikely to occur and there is certainly no truth to it happening in 2012.

The Mayan calendar ends of December 12 2012 as in the movie. However this does not really mean anything at all. There have been plenty of other calendars over time that have ended at different times. And even our current calendar is not that old (we started using it around 1552 if I can remember correctly). Before that we had a calendar that started in April. And before that we had a calendar that was based on 10 months (hence why sept = 7 does not make sense with september being the 9th month or oct = 8 being the 10th month. Furthermore currently those of Jewish faith and muslims use different calendars as well. One ancient calendar ending does not equal the end of the world.

It is a simple as that, there is no big conspiracy or whatever. Just someone starting a rumour and those who do not know better blindly believing it.

—

From the wonders of xkcd

And interesting story is in the Herald this morning regarding the spending habits of those who download music illegially.

Illegal downloaders spend most on music: study

Brits who illegally download music from the internet also spend more money on music than anyone else, according to a new study.

The survey, published today, found that those who admit illegally downloading music spent an average of 77 pounds ( NZ$176) a year on music –33 pounds more than those who claim that they never download music dishonestly.

The findings suggest that plans by the Secretary of State for Business, Peter Mandelson, to crack down on illegal downloaders by threatening to cut their internet connections with a “three strikes and you’re out” rule could harm the music industry by punishing its core customers.

An estimated seven million UK users download files illegally every year. The record industry’s trade association, the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), believes this copyright infringement will cost the industry 200m pound this year.

The poll, which surveyed 1,000 16- to 50-year-olds with internet access, found that one in 10 people admit to downloading music illegally.

1 in 10 admitting it? I am sure the true figure would be well over 50% if not close to 75-80%.

However, music industry figures insist the figures offer a skewed picture. The poll suggested the Government’s plan to disconnect illegal downloaders if they ignore official warning letters could deter people from internet piracy, with 61 per cent of illegal downloaders surveyed admitting they would be put off downloading music illegally by the threat of having their internet service cut off for a month.

“The people who file-share are the ones who are interested in music,” said Mark Mulligan of Forrester Research. “They use file-sharing as a discovery mechanism. We have a generation of young people who don’t have any concept of music as a paid-for commodity,” he continued. “You need to have it at a price point you won’t notice.”

Exactly.

Personally I never file share music. Every single piece of music I have I have paid for – including 404 songs from iTunes.

However, that is not to say I have broken the copyright laws. By simply listening to a piece of music that you do not own through You Tube is technically downloading and is therefore illegial. And herein lies the challenge. How do you protect an artists copyright and ability to earn a profit from their work at the same time ensuring that work reaches a large enough market to spur enough interest in the work for people to purchase it?

I saw Michael Jackson’s This Is It film last night.

I believe it puts to rest any questions about the King of Pop’s creative talent or health issues. He still had it. While he was thin he was healthy enough to out dance and many of the younger back up dances and demand perfection on every beat and note of every song.

The film shows just how spectacular the concerts would have been. Combine Pink Floyd’s The Wall dramatic concerts with U2’s 60m LED Curtin from their Vertigo tour and that will give you an idea of just how much more than  music concert This Is It would have been live.

This Is It runs for two hours and does not miss a beat it is so much more than just a film of a dress rehershal, we are fortunate that the practices were filmed on multiple days from multiple angles. All of this comes together fantastically, in addition to this a number of videos that would have been used on the LED screens during the concert are included as well as behind the scenes footage.

Even if you have just a passing interest in Michael Jackson this is a film to see. It was a pity that NZ audiences are so quiet, the film got a clap from about half the audience at the end, however, I am sure that in some places you would have people dancing in the isles.

Hat tip No Minister

Living Colour – Cult of Personality

If you ever needed anymore proof that many people are far too gullible then look no further than this story in the herald today: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainmehttp://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=10603764nt/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=10603764

For the past 30 years, business leaders, former government officials and scientists have been secretly working on a plan to save humanity from destruction when the Earth collides with another planet on 21 December 2012.

They have set up a covert Institute for Human Continuity which has now agreed to go public and warn the world that there is a 94 per cent probability of “cataclysmic forces” destroying our planet in three years’ time.

Its website offers survival kits and encourages people to sign up for a lottery to decide who will be among the lucky few chosen to be saved.

You are probably thinking that this is an elaborate hoax – you would be right. But hundreds of people have apparently been taken in by the nonsense put out by Sony Pictures as part of a “viral marketing” campaign for its film 2012, set for release next month.

Nasa is taking the issue so seriously that an astronomer at the agency has spoken out to condemn the use of the hoax website, which claims the world is going to end in 2012.

David Morrison said he had received more than 1,000 enquiries from members of the public who were concerned that Nasa scientists were involved in a conspiracy to deny that they were tracking the movements of Nibiru, a hitherto undiscovered planet on a collision course with Earth.

Dr Morrison, a distinguished scientist at Nasa’s Astrobiology Institute, said that the marketing behind the film, distributed by Columbia Pictures, was making some people so scared that he feared they could harm themselves.

“They’ve created a completely fake scientific website. It looks very slick. It talks about this organisation having existed for 30 years and it consists of international scientists and business people and government officials having concluded that there is a 94 per cent chance of the Earth being destroyed in 2012 – and it’s all made up, it’s pure fiction. But obviously some people are treating it seriously,” Dr Morrison told The Independent.

“I’ve even had cases of teenagers writing to me saying they are contemplating suicide because they don’t want to see the world end. I think when you lie on the internet and scare children in order to make a buck, that is ethically wrong,” he said.

There is nothing on the website instituteforhumancontinuity.org to indicate it is a hoax. It states that scientists are tracking a “planet X” on the fringes of the Solar System and mixes real scientific phenomena with complete fiction, such as a simulation of planet X’s near-Earth trajectory.

The website urges people to sign up to a lottery guaranteeing every person of the planet an equal chance of survival in 2012 with the offer of a place in one of the Institute for Human Continuity’s “safe havens”. Only a small Sony Pictures copyright notice at the bottom of the screen and a link to the film’s own website give any hint that this is a purely fictional website.

Dr Morrison said the idea of a mystery planet called Nibiru dates back 30 years to fictional books about supposed predictions of ancient Summerian astrologers. It was taken up by others linking a 2012 planetary collision with the end of the Mayan calender. Interest in the idea has resurfaced in the lead-up to the film’s release, Dr Morrison said. “It is too bad, but there is no law against lying on the internet or anywhere else except in a court of law.”

Vikki Luya, Sony’s publicity director, said: “It is very clear that this site is connected to a fictional movie. This can readily be seen in the logos on the site, including the Sony Pictures Digital copyright line and the reference to the ‘2012 Movie Experience’. It is also evident in the user-generated videos, as well as the numerous online references to this marketing campaign.”

Dumbarses.

I picked up a High Def Video Camera duty free when I came back into NZ on Saturday.

So on Sunday I took it for a test run walking from Long Bay to the Okura River and back.

The great thing about the camera is it is full 1080 HD. The bad thing is it stores the videos in AVCHD format which is near impossible to edit with free editors at the moment.

The video below has been edited in Sony Vegas Movie Studio HD Trial, it is USD $40 ($55 NZD) so I will probably buy it so I can edit movies in the future. The footage itself is pretty rushed together, I have pretty much cut each clip into 2 – 6sec chunks and put them together, it was a test of the camera rather than trying to film anything spectacular. The best thing about the video though is the penguins up at the Okura River.

Enjoy.

I got called into work this morning to cover for someone who was ill.

The day went fast and well but it, of course, prevented me from doing the stuff I had planned.

Anyway tonight I am having fun just chilling out and relaxing on the couch watching the Skillet – Comatose Comes Alive DVD. Each time I watch the DVD I get something else out of it, mainly the power of the lyrics, songs you hear again and again but never quite grasp just how powerful the underlying lyrics are:

I lie here lifeless
In this cocoon
Shedding my skin cause
I’m ready to
I wanna break out
I found a way out
I don’t believe that it’s gotta be this way
The worst is the waiting
In this womb I’m suffocating

Feel your presence filling up my lungs with oxygen
I take you in
I’ve died

Rebirthing now
I wanna live for love wanna live for you and me
Breathe for the first time now
I come alive somehow
Rebirthing now
I Wanna live my life wanna give you everything
Breathe for the first time now
I come alive somehow

Excerpt from Rebirthing, Skillet.

I saw angels fall down
at the glory of the Lord
and as I raise my hands I see

I saw angels fall down
at the glory of the Lord
and as I hit the ground I see

And I fall down
afraid and shaking here
And I fall down
perfectly safe in you

I saw angels fall down
at the glory of the Lord
the hurt and the broken find rest here

I saw angels fall down
at the beauty of the Lord
and as I kneeled I cried to know Him

Angels Fall Down

Before the final song lead singer John Cooper gives a powerful message about the meaning of the word comatose to the band. I have transcribed the key parts of it here:

The word comatose means the state of being in a coma. And the reason we called the record that is because I have two small children and I am all of a sudden realising the things that my kids are going to go live and go through that I never dreamt of going through. Going to school through metal detectors, me sending my kids to school, in fear of another school shooting, wondering if it is going to happen, when it is going to happen. September 11 the most shocking thing that has happened in my life, wondering when and if another September 11 may happen, another sniper shooting, child abduction, senseless violence. And we called the record comatose because if we don’t wake up out of our commas and realise we are losing this world, we are losing a generation, then we are just going to lose. Everybody is going to lose, we are going to destroy each other, we are just going to burn each other up, and I want you to hear me because this is what I am most excited about with this message, this message is not exclusive to Christians. This is for atheists, agnostics, Christian, Muslims, Jewish people, and anybody in between. If we can all agree this world is getting worse and you all have roles to play to make it a worse place or a better place. All it is going to take is deciding we are going to care more about somebody else than we care about ourselves. And for all of us Christian people here, we have all been talking about changing this world. I say it is time we stop talking about it and just do it. If we actually believe that love is the answer, then we need to start loving people and see what God can do in our country, see what God can do it our world.