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ARK II

[from wikipedia:]Ark II was a live-action science fiction series aimed at children that aired on CBS beginning in 1976 as part of its Saturday morning line-up.

Technorati Tags: Future, Sci Fi, Monkey, Space Ship, 1970s

Set design didn't seem to help the festive mood of the Oscars

I respect David Rockwell tremendously. His architecture and interior designs have been fresh and inspiration for many years. But he seems to have created a dark chamber of sobriety that didn't really help the festive mood that the Oscars is supposed to evoke. I'm sure it looked beautiful in person as his restaurant spaces always does. But on TV, it looked dim and cold. And it's not really the fault of the Production designer. All sorts of forces must have clashed to create a more somber mood this year, especially the idea that this is a "throw back to the depression era."

Top half of the stage looked like some Fritz Lang vision of a future ballroom, the stage floor inspired by the movie Tron. And did they not have the budget to light everything? Every scene looked dim.

The show seemed to be filled with these well meaning tributes like this but the cold, impersonal stage made it look more like the high court of Romulus making a judgement via holographic projections.

The only non-drowsy moment of the show was A.R. Rahman perfoming songs from Slumdog Millionaire. You could feel the energy of the performers and unlike a lot of the other scenes where people were reminiscing, it felt very much in the moment.

Photos via NYT

MadMen

Photo: "

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(Via Waxin' & Milkin'.)

Technorati Tags: mad men, smoking, sexuality, gawking, 1960s, suits, advertising, women

"Fascinating..." said Spock.

via Dark Roasted Blend by Dr. Odio

Stravinsky's music caused madness..??

[Edvard Munch's Scream (1893), National Gallery, Oslo]

Have you felt so affected by a musical performance that you uncontrollably started to punch a person sitting next to you (Vanilla Ice concerts that you may have been forced to attend with your neice doesn't count). Here's a fascinating story about how primal we can be about sound.

RadioLab brings a gripping segment about how a concert hall full of people just went crazy over a new Stravinsky performance that perhaps the brains in 1913 couldn't process. You gotta listen to believe.

Click on the link below and fast forward to 7:39 (the segment before this is very interesting, too: how cultures around the world use the same melodic intonations when they say their versions of "goochie-goochie-goo" to their babies)

[from WNYC's website:] Science reporter Jonah Lehrer takes us on a tour through the ear as we try to understand how the brain makes sense of soundwaves and what happens when it can't. Which brings us to one particularly riotous example: the 1913 debut performance of Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring." Jonah suggests that the brain's attempt to tackle disonant sounds resulted in old ladies tackling each other. Disney might even show up for the brawl.

» Time Magazine profile on Stravinsky, by Philip Glass

» More on the "Rite of Spring" riot

» Articles by Jonah Lehrer for Seed Magazine

Listen to the entire show, it's one of my favorite shows out there.

Our Vicks spot, now on air

We shot this commercial in June but finally, it's on air. The gorgeous winter wonderland of New Zealand, standing in for America was beautifully shot by Phil Brown. Also kudos for Fred Raimondi and Ron Herbst for their visual magic. Click on the movie after the still below.

[ with Jason Savage, Creative Director: Bertrand Garbassi, Producer: Brantley Aufill, Agency: Publicis, Director: Phil Brown, Visual Effects: Digital Domain, Music: Anathallo ]

link to photos I took while I was down at the shoot

more photos of New Zealand by Phil Brown

MADMEN

MadMen is my favorite show at the moment. Most obviously, it's about advertising and seeing the golden age of Madison Avenue is a real treat. But the real grab is the sharp writing and noir-like plot twists. Hard boiled protagonist Donald Draper exudes the "strong silent type" character and the way everyone else revolves around him is fascinating to watch. Not to mention the shocking amount of smoking, drinking, infidelity, racism and sexism depicted. Too bad it's not coming back til next summer.

studio 60 on the sunset strip

Finally, a new network TV show that I can start loving. Check out the latest episodes here.