Synapse

From the boys who brought you the viral Treadmill Video, comes their latest. This launched last week, and it’s already gotten 6+ million views.  Aptly titled “This Too Shall Pass” this video is a single, near-four minute shot of pure Goldbergian marvel. Imagine being the one working the camera…talk about pressure.

As for who’s behind the contraption, OK Go turned to LA-based Syyn Labs. With a motto like “High Voltage Debauchery” you know you can safely set your expectations high. And the team doesn’t disappoint.

Syyn Labs is a creative collective that meshes art with technology, often with amusing and enlightening results. The team shows off their engineering and creative prowess monthly at an event called Mindshare (though this itself warrants a separate entry).

Without a doubt, Canada is one of the most beautiful countries in the world. Okay, so I’m a little biased. But with such range and vast, stretches of wilderness, can you blame me? Anyway, I caught this ad last week, and I made a point to seek it out and watch it again (which really means two things: The ad is effective, or I really need to get back to analyzing those stats)…I recall hearing that part of the reason Newfoundland & Labrador was the most popular province for vacationers within Canada (at a time when fewer people were travelling in general) is because of its successful advertising campaigns. I can see why. This is straight Tolkien.

Alright, but it seems the other provinces are catching on:

Unpack your bags, it’s not a wormhole. It’s a Russian Navy missile test gone awry. Check out Jay’s interview with Harvard astronomer Jonathan McDowell in a recent Daily Planet.

Came across this story a few days ago and it made me think of what Stewart Brand’s been saying for a while now…. “given access to the information we need - humanity can make the world a better place.” In “Whole Earth Discipline” he also makes a counterintuitive case for why booming slums and squatter cities around Mumbai, Nairobi, and Rio de Janeiro breed innovation a la below.

Using scraps from a local junkyard in Malawi, William Kamkwamba created something that harnessed the wind - and changed his life.

I am so impressed with the folk at the National Film Board (of Canada). They just keep pumping out top-notch content. First their amazing free iPhone / iPod Touch app (that allows you to screen entire films), and now WaterLife.

Their latest initiative is an interactive site centred on the idea that our Great Lakes (and waterways in general) are changing - not for the better. The idea of water as a limited resource, is of course, nothing new. Potable water all the more so. Here in Canada we don’t think about it much, because we’re under the impression there’s plenty of it. Wrong. We just happen to have more of it than most other nations, but by no means enough to be dismissive in its use. Just talk to an Aussie. They think us blazingly wasteful. A couple of years ago, I co-produced a segment for DiscoveryChannel.ca that highlighted this difference.

I spent the first decade of my life by a major river, and my summers by the sea. I’m fortunate enough to live in a place that’s surrounded not only by the Great Lakes, but numerous smaller ones. Whenever near water, I’m keenly attuned to its rhythms. It transforms me. It teems with life. In fact, there’s likely more life underwater on Earth than on land. And if you think about it, Planet Earth is kind of a misnomer.  All the more reason our very existence depends on the health of our water systems. This is perhaps why I feel so passionately that amidst all the “Green” initiatives, we don’t leave out the Blue. They are one and the same.

If you’re curious to find out more, CBC’s The Current ran a great radio series last year called “Watershed”. I also recommend reading Alana Mitchell’s “Sea Sick”.

WaterLife was brought to my attention by ad girl Lava Nosenkis.

Poetic. And sweet. Who could have predicted 10 years ago that we’d be telling stories via searches…

For more in this brilliant series, head here.

The remainder of the list is here.

Shot on the camera I’ve yet to play with, a sport I’ve yet to try:

Making of BAGUS MOVIE - Indonesia from Ne3ko on Vimeo.

One of the neat things I came across while traversing the web this aft…This was shot on the increasingly popular Red One. The shots are stunning. Kitesurfing goes on my must-try list…

This is Nat Geo’s latest promo and I must say, it’s a very good one. I had to pause and think about the sequence of Ifs, but all in all, definitely moving. My kudos to the creative masterminds.