A Great Lesson On Asking and Sharing

This is a fantastic twelve-minute TED Talk by the musician Amanda Palmer: entertaining, witty, heart-warming and, above all, quite inspiring. I'd advise you to give it a try.

Apparently it went viral as soon as it was released, just a week ago. I only found about it today, when reading Neil Gaiman's blog (which I also recommend if you are interested in his writings, or in the business of writing), so I've decided to share it with you guys as surely there will be one or two more people like me out there who had missed it, and its message is, in my opinion, quite important.

Oh, and after you are done here you might want to visit Palmer's website, to learn more about her or to listen to her music for free (though I think it's well worth paying for).

Wonderful Animation Using Sketches

Hey, guys. I made two great findings today:

The first one is the Motiongrapher website, full of fantastic animations from different sources. You should check it out, it's a great resource and quite inspirational if you're into these things.

While I was checking it, I bumped into this little animated jewel: 

(notes on) biology from ornana films on Vimeo.

It made me laugh out loud, not only because it's sheer fun from beginnig to end, it also reminds me of myself as a student. Being in a classroom immediately gave me fidgety fingers.

Well, read you around!

More jelly bones

Remember my post about Donald O’Connor‘s great number in “Singin’ in the Rain”? He was like a superdancer from Planet Rubberjoints, right? Well, obviously he wasn’t the only Rubberjointian to visit our planet. Check out this number from the movie “Stormy Weather”, performed by the Nicholas Brothers (but be ready to flinch a few times, because apparently these guys skipped a few anatomy lessons in school):

I want jelly bones too

I saw “Singin’ in the Rain” when I was a kid, but I don’t remember much of it apart from its classic main musical number, performed by Gene Kelly. After stumbling upon the next clip this morning, I’ve decided to watch the whole movie again. I was laughing out loud by the middle of the clip, and also feeling a terrible urge to start jumping around like a madman.

Didn’t try it, though: I’m not even sure some of those moves (and faces) are humanly possible. They should be, because they look natural and CGI wasn’t around in 1951 (right?). Which leaves me wondering: was Donald O’Connor human? Did he have jelly bones? Perhaps he was a Looney Tunes character in (a not very good) disguise? Judge for yourself:

And please, tell me your opinion… I’m really worried about this issue.