The Latest from Boing Boing |  |
- Italy proposes mandatory licenses for people who upload video
- Portland treehouse: swanky Hobbit pad
- FBI uses Internet photo of Spanish lawmaker to create aged Osama Bin Laden photo
- Boinger's Cartoon Circus Link List
- BB Saturday Circus: Boinger The Clown Says Goodbye, Kids
- BB Cartoon Circus: The Weirdest Cartoon Ever!
- BB Saturday Circus: Pinkie Lee
- ETG: Early Termination Gouge
- BB Cartoon Circus: Bob Clampett and Jazz
- UK Independent editor claims it may steal any image posted to Flickr
- BB Saturday Circus: Rootie Kazootie Calls Himself Tootie
- BB Cartoon Circus: Gypsy Life and the Great Carlo VInci
- BB Saturday Circus: Winchell Mahoney Time
- BB Cartoon Circus: Gandy Goose vs the Nazis
- BB Saturday Circus: Chuck McCann and Dick H. Dump
- BB Cartoon Circus: The Fleischers and Popeye
- BB Saturday Circus: Pookie Sings Motown
- BB Cartoon Circus: Iwerks and Aladdin
- The Boing Boing Cartoon Circus!
- Get well soon, Kage!
- ATM skimmer -- could you spot it in the wild?
- Edan's "Echo Party" (and a special Cinefamily event in LA tonight)
- Saturday Morning Science Experiment: Floating on Sound
| Italy proposes mandatory licenses for people who upload video Posted: 16 Jan 2010 10:25 PM PST Italy's Berlusconi regime, already known around the world as an enemy of free speech and popular access to the tools of communication, has now floated a proposal to require Italians to get an "uploader's license" in order to put any "moving pictures" on the Internet. The government claims that this is required as part of the EU's product placement disclosure rules, which is about as ridiculous assertion as I've heard this month. Proposed Web video restrictions cause outrage in Italy (Thanks, Sal!) (Image: Manifestazione No Berlusconi Day Cartello in piazza a Creative Commons Attribution photo from Il Foro Giornale's photostream) Previously:
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| Portland treehouse: swanky Hobbit pad Posted: 16 Jan 2010 10:14 PM PST  PeaceLove sez, "The beautiful Wilkinson residence in Portland is a really swanky pad for superrich Hobbits. I haz major wantage." Located on a flag lot, a steep sloping grade provided the opportunity to bring the main level of the house into the tree canopy to evoke the feeling of being in a tree house. A lover of music, the client wanted a house that not only became part of the natural landscape but also addressed the flow of music. This house evades the mechanics of the camera; it is difficult to capture the way the interior space flows seamlessly through to the exterior. One must actually stroll through the house to grasp its complexities and its connection to the exterior. One example is a natural wood ceiling, floating on curved laminated wood beams, passing through a generous glass wall which wraps around the main living room.Wilkinson Residence (Thanks, Peacelove!) Previously: |
| FBI uses Internet photo of Spanish lawmaker to create aged Osama Bin Laden photo Posted: 16 Jan 2010 07:34 PM PST  This is why the FBI needs such a big budget -- browsing the Web for a guy who looks like Osama Bin Laden, but older, doesn't come cheap, folks. In a statement Saturday, the agency would say only that it was aware of similarities between their age-progressed image "and that of an existing photograph of a Spanish public official [Gaspar Llamazares]." |
| Boinger's Cartoon Circus Link List Posted: 16 Jan 2010 06:59 PM PST  For those who want to watch Boinger's Cartoon Circus in order, here are direct links...
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| BB Saturday Circus: Boinger The Clown Says Goodbye, Kids Posted: 16 Jan 2010 06:33 PM PST Well, that was a lot of fun. Hope you enjoyed the show. It's time to say goodbye, goodbye until some other day... (wiping a tear from my eye) Boinger says, "Goodbye, kids."
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| BB Cartoon Circus: The Weirdest Cartoon Ever! Posted: 16 Jan 2010 06:07 PM PST Swing You Sinners (Fleischer/1930) I mentioned Grim Natwick in an earlier post, but here is one of his true masterpieces of animation. It would be hard today to find someone with the imagination and skill to pull off such a brilliant piece of dark surrealism, but Grim dashes off the wildest ideas as if he is dreaming while he's drawing. Read more about this remarkable animator after the jump... It's hard to believe that the same guy who created Betty Boop also animated Snow White, Woody Woodpecker and stylized UPA cartoons. But Grim Natwick did it- it only took a century to do it all. His first credit was on a silent Krazy Kat cartoon and his last was on Richard Williams' "Thief and the Cobbler". Read the articles in ASIFA-Hollywood's online exhibit, Grim Natwick's Scrapbook and find out why I call him the greatest animator who ever lived.
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| BB Saturday Circus: Pinkie Lee Posted: 16 Jan 2010 06:01 PM PST In the comments, Roy Trumbull requested a little bit of Pinkie Lee action. Here it is! Guess who stole his act?
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| Posted: 16 Jan 2010 06:06 PM PST Fees for terminating your Nexus One contract: up to $550. The magic part is that Google and T-Mobile each charge you an ETF, meaning you have to pay back the 'subsidy' to both companies. This suggests that one or the other is screwing customers, as the aggregate cost far exceeds the unsubsidized price of the handset. On the $180 discount price you get for buying a Nexus One with a two-year agreement, either Google eats the loss and T-Mobile shouldn't be charging an ETF, or T-Mobile eats the loss (as is normal for carriers) and Google shouldn't be charging an ETF. There is a precedent, however: carriers charge ETFs on data plans for 3G laptops that weren't subsidized by *anyone* at the point of sale. [Consumerist] |
| BB Cartoon Circus: Bob Clampett and Jazz Posted: 16 Jan 2010 05:34 PM PST Tin Pan Alley Cats (Warner Bros/1943) The mark of a great cartoon director is how he handles all the elements of filmmaking available to him- design, color, movement, backgrounds, timing, music, sound effects, voices, etc. The cartoon director who most fully exploited the medium during the golden age of animation was Bob Clampett. Read more about this cartoon after the jump... Bob loved visiting the jazz clubs in Los Angeles and wanted to make cartoon soundtracks using black jazz musicians and performers. Warner Bros resisted, but finally allowed him to use black voice actors, but still required him to use the Warner Bros orchestra for the music. Even so, the spirit of classic jazz and swing still came through loud and clear. This cartoon reuses a premise from "Porky in Wackyland" (1938), but takes it a step further. I have to admit I love this cartoon a lot. I bet you will too. If you don't know much about Fats Waller (the little guy in this cartoon is a parody of him), check out his music on the net. He is a drop dead genius. Here are a couple of links to info on Bob Clampett at the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive...
You can find a lot of great Bob Clampett cartoons on DVD. Look for the Golden Age of Looney Tunes sets and in particular, the two fantastic DVDs put out by his family- Beany And Cecil: The Special Edition. |
| UK Independent editor claims it may steal any image posted to Flickr Posted: 16 Jan 2010 05:20 PM PST The Independent used a photograph by Peter Zabulis without asking his permission. The photo in question is marked "All Rights Reserved," meaning that the photographer didn't offer any license to use it--a wee fact that The Indy missed. Normally when this sort of thing happens, emails are sent, accommodations are made and the situation is resolved. (In this case, the teaching moment is that the Flickr API feeds you content, but not a license to use it). But when Zabulis contacted The Indy--a major newspaper in the UK--the respondent instead claimed that by posting the picture to Flickr, he had abandoned his rights, even if Flickr's terms of service (not to mention the law) say otherwise. We took a stream from Flickr which is, as you know, a photo-sharing website. The legal assumption, therefore, is that you were not asserting your copyright in that arena. We did not take the photo from Flickr, nor present it as anything other than as it is shown there. I do no consider, therefore, that any copyright has been breached or any payment due.Freely sharing one's work is a popular choice, but it's not the choice that Zabulis made here. Moreover, the Independent didn't attribute the work, responded disrespectfully to his inquiry, and offers no fair use defense or even a transgressive rationale for what it did: just "tough shit, old boy," safe in the knowledge that legal recourse is an option only to those who can afford it. Pete's flickr set [via Valleywag] |
| BB Saturday Circus: Rootie Kazootie Calls Himself Tootie Posted: 16 Jan 2010 05:41 PM PST I'm not sure why Rootie Kazootie is being referred to as "Rootie Tootie" here. But it sure is golden! The original Rootie Kazootie puppet is now owned by none other than Chuck McCann, the funnyman featured a little earlier in the show. I think Kazootie and McCann ought to go out on the road!
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| BB Cartoon Circus: Gypsy Life and the Great Carlo VInci Posted: 16 Jan 2010 04:37 PM PST Gypsy Life (Terry-Toons/1945) Few people know the names of the artists who make cartoons, even fewer know of their background and training. Carlo Vinci was not only the man who animated the sexy girls dancing in Mighty Mouse cartoons and Fred Flintstone's tippy-toe bowling scenes, he was also an accomplished fine artist. You won't believe what you learn about him if you click through the jump and read the rest... Read more about this remarkable artist at the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive...
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| BB Saturday Circus: Winchell Mahoney Time Posted: 16 Jan 2010 04:52 PM PST When I was a kid, the theme song to this show got me amped up higher than a full pot of coffee. A few years back, I was accepting an award for Spumco at the Annie Awards and I had my chihuahua with me to help accept. All of a sudden, I heard barking and catterwallering coming from the bag I had her in. I peeked inside and she looked as confused as I did. I turned around, and a few feet away stood Paul Winchell, trying to look inconspicuous as he threw his voice into my dog's mouth. Highlight of my life right there!
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| BB Cartoon Circus: Gandy Goose vs the Nazis Posted: 16 Jan 2010 03:53 PM PST The Last Roundup (Terry-Toons/1943) The Paul Terry Studio is the most unjustly neglected cartoon studio ever. Mighty Mouse, Gandy Goose and Sourpuss, Tom Terrific and Heckle and Jeckle were the stars, but the studio produced a lot of great one-shot cartoons too. This particular cartoon pits Gandy and Sourpuss against Hitler and Mussolini! Read more about this forgotten studio after the jump...
Here are some of the articles on Terry-Toons from the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive. Click on the image to read...
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| BB Saturday Circus: Chuck McCann and Dick H. Dump Posted: 16 Jan 2010 04:04 PM PST Here's a great bit of improvised hilarity by kidvid pioneer, Chuck McCann. I ran into Chuck at Bob's Big Boy in Toluca Lake and asked him about this skit. He said that it was intended as a parody of Dick Tracy, but his producers wouldn't let him use the comic strip's name. He was told to change the name of the character to something else. Chuck fumed for a minute, then brightened. "We'll call him DICK H. DUMP!" His producer wasn't sure... "Isn't that name kind of dirty?" "NO!" Chuck replied. "You just have a dirty mind." The name stayed.
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| BB Cartoon Circus: The Fleischers and Popeye Posted: 16 Jan 2010 03:29 PM PST Popeye in Goonland (Fleischer/1938) Max Fleischer and his brother Dave Fleischer have really been given short shrift in animation histories. No cartoons of the 1920s and 30s are more imaginative, and they pioneered many technical advances in animation as well- timing to a musical beat, the rotoscope and three dimensional backgrounds. The Fleischers' Bouncing Ball, Betty Boop and Popeye cartoons were hugely popular and reflected the ethnic diversity and toughness of the streets of New York. But the Fleischers turned their back on all that in a vain attempt to imitate Disney. It ended up being their downfall. Read more about the Fleischer Popeye cartoons after the jump... Today, when we think of popular cartoon characters of the mid-1930s, we automatically think of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. But the Disney cartoons were eclipsed in popularity at their very peak by a one eyed sailor from the comic pages. Created in 1929 by E. C. Segar, the Popeye of the comic strip bore only a passing resemblance to the Popeye of the animated cartoons. The combination of the creativity of Segar and the Fleischers is what made the Popeye cartoons so great. The Fleischer Popeye series is the most consistent of all golden age cartoon studios when it comes to sheer entertainment. Every one of the Fleischer Popeye cartoons has been released on DVD. If you love animation, you shouldn't be without these disks... Popeye the Sailor 1933-1938 / Popeye the Sailor 1938-1940 |
| BB Saturday Circus: Pookie Sings Motown Posted: 16 Jan 2010 03:18 PM PST Here is a classic bit from The Soupy Sales Show (my favorite show when I was 7). Pookie always got me up on my feet dancing in front of the set.
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| BB Cartoon Circus: Iwerks and Aladdin Posted: 16 Jan 2010 02:29 PM PST Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp (Iwerks/1934) Ub Iwerks was the artist who designed Mickey Mouse. He left Disney in 1930 to form his own studio. Soon he lost interest in the day to day supervision of the cartoons and turned the directing duties over to Grim Natwick, the creator of Betty Boop. Read more about it after the jump... Grim Natwick was one of the greatest animators who ever lived, and this cartoon is one of the most skillfully directed cartoons he made for Iwerks. You can see his hand everywhere- in the curlicue filagrees on the Genii, the beautifully composed background layouts, and the Betty Boop-esque heroine.
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| The Boing Boing Cartoon Circus! Posted: 16 Jan 2010 02:29 PM PST  HEY KIDS! It's your old pal, Boinger the Clown and it's time for the Boing-Boing Cartoon Circus!Ol' Boinger has a bag full of classic cartoons straight from the treasure chest of the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive, and he's happy to share them with you. All you have to do is pipe up in the comments and holler for more! Best of all, while you're having fun, you'll learn a little bit about the history of animation and the great artists who made all this fun for you! ANYONE WANNA SEE A CARTOON? |
| Posted: 16 Jan 2010 10:26 AM PST Our best wishes to sf writer Kage Baker, whose uterine cancer has metastasised and reached her brain. She is undergoing urgent, drastic therapy and welcomes good wishes from her friends and admirers. |
| ATM skimmer -- could you spot it in the wild? Posted: 16 Jan 2010 10:23 AM PST  Brian Krebs's "Krebs on Security" features an ATM skimmer that is chillingly well-camouflaged. After seeing photos of early, crude skimmers -- devices that capture your card number and work in concert with a hidden camera that records you punching in your PIN -- I assumed that I could rely on my own powers of observation to keep from falling victim to one. Now I don't think I can be so sanguine. Be sure to follow some of the links in the post for some hair-raising examples of the form. This particular skimmer was found Dec. 6, 2009, attached to the front of a Citibank ATM in Woodland Hills, Calif. Would you have been able to spot this?Would You Have Spotted the Fraud? (via Neatorama) Previously:
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| Edan's "Echo Party" (and a special Cinefamily event in LA tonight) Posted: 16 Jan 2010 10:05 AM PST For those of you in LA, Cinefamily is hosting a West Coast premiere tonight, with Edan spinning live. About the album, and the "Echo Party" video: For the album, Edan was granted full access to the Traffic Entertainment Group's extensive back catalogue of old-school beats 'n breaks, and after layering them with his own instrumental work, Echo Party emerges as an astounding, obsessive pastiche of dance, rap and punk that utilizes everything from turntables to tape echo, glockenspiel to guitar, and Moog to kazoo. Tom's accompaning film is no less dizzy, mixing Bollywood, B-boys and a barrage of abstractions á la Brakhage into an addictive full-on psychedelic brainslayer that begs for repeat viewings.Bonus at the Los Angeles event tonight: a slideshow of iconic hip-hop images from photographer Ricky Powell, author of Public Access, Frozade Moments and Oh Snap!. Album: Echo Party (Amazon) (Thanks, Hadrian Belove!) |
| Saturday Morning Science Experiment: Floating on Sound Posted: 16 Jan 2010 07:44 AM PST Do you want to hear the most annoying sound in the world? What about watching the most annoying sound in the world levitate objects? Acoustic levitation takes intense sounds and reflects them back on themselves, producing what's known as a standing wave—a sound wave that seems to kind of vibrate in place, rather than traveling the way a normal wave does.
The kind of high-decibel standing waves used in acoustic levitation can actually create pockets of air pressure strong enough that objects inside them can resist the pull of gravity. This particular acoustic levitator was designed by physicist David Deak in 1987, to help NASA mimic the low-gravity environment of the space shuttle, on Earth. How Stuff Works: How Acoustic Levitation Works Thumbnail image courtesy Flickr user trialsanderrors via CC |
"The decree subjects the transmission of images on the Web to rules typical of television and requires prior ministerial authorization, with an incredible limitation on the way the Internet currently functions," opposition Democratic Party lawmaker Paolo Gentiloni told the press conference. 
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