This Blog 4u: video

Showing posts with label video. Show all posts

Mountain climbing in China

The still photo shows one of the stairways at Hua Shan. I've previously posted a photo of the gondolas and the plank walk. This morning I also found a video, which includes one stair segment even worse than the one above (think not just vertical but almost convex), and - at the four minute mark - video of the plank walk. Not for the faint of heart.

Antogo

Another segment from the BBC's The Human Planet (trailer here):

On one day of the year the Dogon people of Mali can fish in the sacred water of Lake Antogo. It's every fisherman for himself as the lake is emptied in minutes.

Via Metafilter, where I found a link with some context:

Mali, and the village of Bamba in the north of Dogon country, where, since the beginning, that is to say since the Dogon arrived in this magic land in Mali long ago, a sacred fishing ritual is practiced, known as “Antogo”. A small yet very powerful lake rests just beneath Bamba. Antogo is celebrated only once a year, and only on this day is fishing allowed on the lake, it is strictly prohibited on any other day of the year...

Just about 30 minutes later a gunshot marks the end of the ritual. All fish captured will be put together and given to the oldest man of Bamba, who will ensure proper distribution among all villages.

Trailer for The Human Planet (BBC One)

If you have a decent-sized monitor, this is the time to reap the benefits. Click on the full-screen icon to enjoy this video.

Ralph Nader comments on the new Republicans

In an interview on FOX News, Ralph Nader suggests that the "Tea Party" Republicans will not necessarily follow the party line of the Republican establishment. He believes they will "go after the Federal Reserve," the military budget, and corporate welfare.

I remain skeptical. In my experience polticians who arrive in Washington seem to regress toward the mean, and tend to join the establishment rather than shaking it up. Time will tell.

Unrest on the streets of Tunisia and Algeria

Text extracted from Foreign Policy. Video via The Daily Dish.

It's very clear that most Arab regimes are on edge over the possibility of the spread of the protests in Tunisia and Algeria. Arab columnists and TV shows have been excitedly debating the real causes of the protests and what they might mean... It's not at all clear whether these protests actually will spread yet, as regimes on high alert will not be taken by surprise and local conditions vary dramatically.

The protests have already sparked a region-wide debate about the prospects for political change and the costs of political repression and economic stagnation. The discussion of the "Tunisia scenario" is everywhere. In Jordan, the Muslim Brotherhood warned today that the impending price rises planned by the new government will lead to an unprecedented explosion along the North African model...

From Kuwait and Tunisia's moves to ban al-Jazeera to traditional repression of local journalists to the escalating crackdown against Facebook, Twitter, and other social media, Arab regimes are trying to keep control of the narrative. But it doesn't seem to be working...

It still is not at all obvious that these protests will sustain themselves, lead to revolutions, or even force major changes in the policies of their regimes. But they have already seared themselves into Arab political discourse. Defenders of the regimes generally try to define the events as food and price riots, or else as externally fomented terrorism. Few independent columnists or activists agree with the idea that these are simply food and price riots, or external terrorism. They point to the underlying political problems which have enabled the economic mismanagement and corruption and lack of opportunity. How the events are framed will have real significance for the response...

Holy Land archaeology

"He who controls the present, controls the past. He who controls the past, controls the future." -- George Orwell

The aphroism above from George Orwell aptly summarizes the arguments presented in this video re ongoing controversies about archaeological work conducted in the Middle East. To a lesser degree, the same arguments apply to the United States and other countries re artifacts related to aboriginal peoples.

Motion obscures awareness of color changes

"Here, we show that objects changing in hue, luminance, size, or shape appear to stop changing when they move."

If you focus your eyes on the center of the video, you can see the dots on the periphery change color, but when the ring of dots begin to rotate, their changing of color becomes less apparent - a phenomenon referred to as motion-induced silencing.

From the Department of Psychology at Harvard University, as reported in the abstract at Current Biology, via Neatorama.

Aron Ralston's book has now been made into a film

Embedded above is a rather marginal-quality video of Tom Brokaw's interview with Aron Ralston on Dateline NBC (the other five parts are here). I remember watching it on television when it aired in 2004; it was really awesome.

Ralston has written a book about his experience...

My first act is to sever, with a downward sawing motion, as much of the skin on the inside surface of my forearm as I can, without tearing any of the noodle-like veins so close to the skin. Once I’ve opened a large enough hole in my arm, about four inches below my wrist, I momentarily stow the knife, holding its handle in my teeth, and poke first my left forefinger and then my left thumb inside my arm and feel around.

... and the Telegraph reports that the book has now been made into a film by Danny Boyle (director of Trainspotting, Sunshine, and Slumdog Millionaire).

Deep snow. Really deep snow. Now with video.

The location depicted is in the Japanese Alps:

The section of the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route linking the Tateyama station and Ogizawa only open from mid April to November, the reason for this hiatus is wintry snow, snow on this section reaches a thickness of 20 meters the most amazed of all is that in mid-April, much of the snow still lingers, so you have to make real corridors of ice to get through that stretch.

For those wondering (like me) how the snow is cleared from this road, this video shows the equipment needed.

Posted for Richard and Dottsie, who got the brunt of the 30" snowfall that hit northern New Jersey this week.

Text credit Genjutsu. Photo via Gizmodo.

Addendum: A hat tip to Karl, who found at Vimeo a video taken while driving through the "snow corridor." I had no idea it was so long. But what startled me was that where there are no pull-off lanes, drivers just stop and park their cars in the road. (!)

Mud horse versus Grass Mud Horse

We start with the "mud horse," which I encountered in a Neatorama post. It's a sled-like device used by fishermen to transport collection baskets and supplies to their nets staked at the low-tide limits. The flat bottom distributes the weight, allowing for more efficient movement than carrying materials on one's back. Such devices have apparently been used since time immemorial on the tidal flats of the English coast.

The top photo shows a mud horse (with basket and nets) from an exhibit at the British Museum. Below that is Adrian Sellick, reposted by the Telegraph to be the last mudhorse fisherman in England -

Mr Sellick, a father-of-four, fears the mud-horse method will be lost forever when he finally gives up as there is currently no one interested in learning the trade...

'It is difficult work, you lie on your belly on it and push with your feet across the beach, but you sort of pick up techniques from watching. I don't believe you could do it unless it was in your blood, I am the fifth generation of my family to use the mud-horse and I could never give it up.''

A large photoset showing Mr. Sellick at work is posted at grovelinda's Flickr photostream.

While researching that topic, I kept encountering unrelated material about a "grass-mud horse," such as this YouTube video (subtitles NSFW)(content repeats after 0:53):

This rather bizarre entity is explained at China Digital Times, first with these lyrics:

There is a herd of Grass Mud Horses*
In the wild and beautiful Ma Le Desert**
They are lively and intelligent
they are fun-loving and nimble
They live freely in the Ma Le Desert
They are courageous, tenacious, and overcome the difficult environment

Oh lying down Grass Mud Horse
Oh running wild Grass Mud Horse
They defeated river crabs*** in order to protect their grass land
River crabs forever disappeared from Ma Le Desert

and these footnotes:

* Grass Mud Horse (草泥马) is phonetically equivalent to “F**k Your Mother!” in Chinese
** Ma Le Desert (马勒戈壁) is phonetically equivalent to “Your Mother’s C**t”
*** “River Crab (河蟹) ” is phonetically equivalent to “harmony (和谐).” Chinese netizens say their deleted posts have been “harmonized,” or “eaten by the river crab.” So “river crab” became a code name for internet censors.

So the song and the videos and the phrase "Grass-mud horse" are vehicles used to protest internet censorship in the P.R.C.

“Grass Mud Horse (草泥马)” is not an uncivilized word and is not officially banned, therefore it can be sung publicly. Although many people use “Grass Mud horse” as an alternative curse or just use it randomly, this word and its deviant expression already generated a pattern of discourse and sub-culture. “Grass Mud Horse (草泥马)” represents such information and opinions which cannot be accepted by the mainstream discourse, and “the Song of the Grass Mud Horse” has become a metaphor of the power struggle over Internet expression.

This alpaca-like animal appears to be the representation of a grass mud horse:

and this CNN video from last year summarizes the entire meme:

I expect TYWKIWDBI will now be banned in China...

"Dogs are Awesome"

There were a few unsettling moments in this montage, when I thought dogs were being encouraged to do unsafe stunts for the camera, but overall it is quite enjoyable.

Runner-up for Mental Health Break of the Year at The Daily Dish.

Esperanza

Esperanza, a fluffy white shepherd mix, was discovered on a wilderness reserve near Red Deer in Central Alberta by animal rescue worker Criss Gerwing earlier this month, according to the Free Press. Esperanza had reportedly been hit by a car and her leg was badly broken.

When Gerwing approached the friendly pooch, this exceptional mother led her straight to a den where she was nursing a very unusual litter. "I cried because she was in such bad condition with her leg, but she was obviously nursing her puppies and this kitten," Gerwing told reporters...

The rest of the story is at PawNation and the Winnipeg Free Press. Incredible that she could ambulate with the fracture shown on the x-ray. Story worthwhile (but mute button recommended).

Marriage proposal on the Weather Channel

[December 30, 2009] "Weather Channel viewers were given a treat when a weather woman sharing the New Year's Eve forecast was proposed to by her boyfriend on the air. There's something very sweet about this that brought us to the brink of tears. Enjoy."

Credit. Reposted for 2010.

"Security theater" at airport documented by pilot

Attorney Don Werno, who represents the pilot, says he believes the TSA was sending a message that "you've angered us by telling the truth and by showing America that there are major security problems despite the fact that we've spent billions of dollars allegedly to improve airline safety."

Via BoingBoing.

Sudanese woman publicly flogged

Some version of the disturbing clip, which seems to have been filmed with the knowledge of the officers, were reportedly removed from YouTube, but dozens of copies remain on the video-sharing site. One copy, which has been viewed nearly half a million times, was edited to add English subtitles, and some music. (Warning: the images in the video are graphic and may upset many viewers.)

As the [Reuters] explained, “Floggings carried out under Islamic law are almost a daily punishment in Sudan for crimes ranging from drinking alcohol to adultery. But vague laws on women’s dress and behavior are implemented inconsistently.”

Via The Lede at the NYT.

300,000 peeps put to death

Found at English Russia, where this incident in the Kursk region was blamed on delinquent taxes and a convoluted bureaucracy. "The employees are putting to death one-day old chickens with tears. “It’s as if a mother killed her child”, – poultry-women explain their feelings."

This Blog 4u