Unbelievable Portraits of Models Posing with Real Animals
Photos by Katerina Plotnikova
It's unbelievable that the following photos you are about to see are not photoshopped. Moscow-based Russian photographer Katerina Plotnikova created photo set of impressive portraits of hand selected choice of models posed with real animals, showcasing the unlikely fictional relationship between human and beast.
Although the photos appear seemingly dangerous, thankfully, these shots were made possible with well-trained animals and the help of professional animal handlers. However, even without the animals, each photo possesses a soft and mystical quality to them, making them endearing and charming. Whether posed with a venomous snake, a large bear, or tiny fox, there's even a regal sense in each model, leaving each photo uniquely engaging.
Here are some of our favorites and find more here.
[Via Bored Panda]
Motorola Spotlight Stories will put a smile on your face
As technology advances and our experiences with entertainment become more interactive, the separation between artist and audience becomes thinner and thinner. However, what happens to the work of art when it's put into the audience's hands? With the Motorola Spotlight Stories, the direct audience interaction is not only a part of the story, it also represents the full experience, re-defining what "hands-on experience" truly means. The Motorola Spotlight Stories is a Moto X-exclusive feature that offers a "first-of-its-kind interactive, immersive storytelling experience." By combining high-end technology with an award-winning creative team, the Motorola Spotlight Series represents a new way of distributing short films that are more than just "short films."
During our time at this year's Sundance Film Festival, Virgil and I had a chance to experience the first short in the Motorola Spotlight Series, Windy Day. Armed with a Moto X, we were instructed to simply "follow the red hat." With full 360 degree control, users must keep the screen focused on a red hat as a mouse spends the entirety of the short chasing after it. Windy Day harkens back to classic silent cartoons full of hijinks and unfortunate circumstances. What's more, the full environment is interactive. Want to focus on two chipmunks inside of a tree trunk instead of following the red hat? Simply keep the screen focused on them and watch them get into a scuffle. Would you rather find out what happens to a turtle blown across a snowfield by a heavy wind? You can. The short simply pauses briefly while you watch the various easter eggs strewn along the short.
[youtube id="VAJXkZ0WB_o"]
What gives Windy Day and the rest of the Motorola Spotlight Series its charm is the creative team Motorola Mobility has put together. Windy Day was led by Jan Pinkava, a Pixar veteran who won the Oscar for Best Animated Short in 1998 with Geri's Game, helped on animation for A Bug's Life, did storyboards for Toy Story 2 and Monsters, Inc., and came up with the story for 2007's Ratatouille. His background with Pixar certainly helps shape Windy Day's all-ages charm, providing a plethora of smiles on every participant's face that day. Motorola Mobility has also enlisted the help of Disney vet Glen Keane for their third short feature. Keane's involvement with the Motorola Spotlight Series represents an exciting new frontier for the platform as he has created some of Disney's most memorable characters, such as The Little Mermaid's Ariel, Aladdin, Pocahontas, Tarzan, and Beauty and the Beast's Beast.
The sky's the limit for Motorola Mobility and the Motorola Spotlight Stories, and it's all possible thanks to the technology behind the platform, referred to as the Advanced Technology & Projects (ATAP) group. Led by Regina Dugan, the system uses the Moto X's full power to deliver a rich experience. As an avid iPhone user for the past four years, I can honestly say my time spent with the Moto X definitely changed my views on both Android and Motorola smartphones. With the potential for the ATAP system and Motorola Spotlight Stories to feature interactive live-action shorts, we could very well be on the entry level of a whole new avenue for films of all types.
Buggy Night, the second Motorola Spotlight Story, will be released sometime this month, with the Glen Keane-led third short set to release mid-2014.
Behind The Scene Photos of Emily Ratajkowski at Terry Richardson's Studio
A couple months ago, we posted Terry Richardson's shoot with Emily Ratajkowski for GQ Magazine. "Emrata" pretty much took over last year with her role in Robin Thicke's smash hit "Blurred Lines;" Em was the star of the show, and it catapulted her to the main stage. At that point, it was hard to turn a magazine page or scroll a blog without see her gorgeous assets (she loves being naked and with good reason). Yesterday, Terry released some BTS photos of the shoot via his personal site. The photos are what we come to expect from Terry and Emily - glasses: check; flannel: check; more than half-naked bombshell: check.
[via Terry's Dairy]
I Was Forced Into Cyber Monday
Let me start off by first saying I am not a shopper. As my roommates and my mother will attest, shopping is not my forte. I can't make decisions, and getting money to leave my pocket for anything is generally an exercise in hostage negotiation. However, this weekend after returning home from Milwaukee late Saturday night, I was surprised to notice the next morning that my car had been tended to by the local gypsies who helped themselves to their pick of my things, including the all-holy iPod that was left in the center console. Lost and confused without my song library at my fingertips, I immediately hit the Internet to try to figure out the most prudent way to re-gain my mobile audio adventures. Little did I know where this foray into online consumerism would take me.
Being such a self-described poor shopper, I was just barely aware at the behemoth Capitalism push that has become known as Cyber Monday. Simply a way to get Americans to waste the paychecks they received a few days before, Cyber Monday may be the worst, best thing ever.
I dipped my toe into the waters of the "deals" that are unveiled around the first post-Thanksgiving Monday by innocently searching for "Deals on iPods" which alerted me to about 1000 different sales on everything from an iPod touch to a jogger's armband. Not sure what was legit and what was a penny stock scam, I opted for the most noteworthy of the search results and headed to Amazon, where I found out that Apple doesn't participate in Cyber Monday, Black Friday or any sort of consumer holiday that means a break in price or profit. For this reason, I found myself staring down a $250 price tag to relinquish my jams.
A desperate Tweet around noon was my final goodbye to the world as I was sucked into Cyber Monday deal at sites like Nice Kicks, Bucketfeet, Mishka, IllRoots, JackThreads, and more boasting savings of 70-90%. By this point, it was official: what had started as an investigation into iPod prices had left me stranded in the wide sea of online retail around the holidays. Friends sent me sales, my mother sent me sales, it seemed as though all anyone was worried about was how to shave some dollars off that new Kindle or get the latest gadget or fashion item on the low. As I wallowed from one to the next, desperately leaning on my right side to keep myself from grabbing at my wallet for my card that accessed my abused bank account, I realized just how disgusting this holiday shopping season has gotten.
While I'm all for cheap things, there is a certain anxiety that comes with trying to get the best deal on something, a certain anxiety I, as a non-shopper, am not accustomed to, and which I can assume is to blame for the majority of the turkey and stuffing-filled stampedes that enter stores every year at the brink of midnight. While Cyber Monday may come without all the broken bones and bruised egos that come with Black Friday, it is an interesting beast, best akin to a Hallmark holiday like "The Sweetest Day," a corporate celebration that is a cause to do what? Spend money.
For my part, no money was ultimately spent. While Cyber Monday deals are exciting and, at times, too good to be true, it simply became too much at once for me, the ploy backfiring on the big guys upstairs. While we can process more today and through the Internet than we ever could have a generation ago, throwing a million sales at people may not be the best way to go about it. So, after logging on to the 'net around 9 AM, it is now almost a full day later and my iPod dock is still empty. Cyber Monday covers a lot, but still comes up a bit short in my book.
Artists to Catch at Fun Fun Fun Fest 2013
For the eighth Fun Fun Fun Fest, the organizers of the Austin, TX festival have put together an eclectic mix of bands, rappers, singers, and even comedians for revelers to enjoy. Mix in a handful of extreme sports athletes and an amazing lineup of local food vendors, and Fun Fun Fun Fest is unlike any festival you've been to. To help both newcomers and wily veterans, we've come up with a list of our most anticipated acts to see this weekend. Check out our staff picks for the festival.
[Sunday Coffee Sipper] Kanye, Kimmel & Fame
Last Wednesday Kanye West made an appearance on the Late Night with Jimmy Kimmel to address the feud between the artist and talk show host that rose from a skit with children impersonating West's replies to questions in a BBC interview with Zane Lowe.
The interaction was farm from what most fans who followed the back and forth between the pair would have expected, especially after West's personal-attack laden Twitter rant in which he repeatedly questioned Kimmel's ability to pull good looking women. Instead, the two had an interesting talk about the status of being a celebrity in today's 24-hour news cycle, shedding light further not only on how West views himself, but also on what it's like being among the biggest stars in the country and just wanting some privacy.
In the interview, West likened being a celebrity in America to being an "animal in a zoo," fodder for people to stop, point and stare and then move on to the next exhibit. It's certainly true that the pedestal on which many celebrities are placed on have a string attached, the expectation to entertain at all times. To be sure, West, arguably the biggest music artist in the world, lives his life squarely in the public eye. Marrying Kim Kardashian and popping up on episodes of her family's disdainful reality series isn't exactly subtle or private. Regardless, it shouldn't be a chore or an event for these stars to be able to live their lives.
The conversation soon segued to Kanye's personality, with Kimmel and West reminiscing on a recent wedding for a friend of Kimmel's that both attended. Eventually, Kanye was Kanye and announced that he was, in fact, a genius, explaining his reasoning behind the world and somewhat chastising the public for reacting in a negative way to his declaration of artistic prowess. Not the most surprising thing from an artist who released an album named *Yeezus* with a song named "I Am a God", it makes sense that if he truly believes himself as such, and is seemingly told it is true regularly, that he should be allowed to express that sentiment. Kimmel, for his part, credited Kanye as someone he sees as being a genuinely good person, but also conceded that West may bring it on himself a bit. This is true. There have been few stars bigger than West who have spoken with such a loud and seemingly honest voice in the pop culture lexicon.
One weird point of the interview was West describing his love of "cool things" on the heels of a statement about making people's lives easier. Mentioning that he spent his first two telemarketing checks on a pair of Gucci slippers, West alluded to helping the world by making these cool things more readily available. The Internet seems to be doing a good job of that, not to mention the fact that the city West is from, Chicago, faces myriad problems that could use some fixing.
Kanye West is a lot of things, but one thing he will always be good for is a little bit of controversy. With no one to stir the pot, there is little chance of forward movement. Kanye is the wood spoon, occasionally swooping in to mix things up, add a wrinkle to what's happening, in turn keeping things fresh as he continues to push what exactly that is. During their talk, 'Ye said himself, "I'm not running for office, I'm here to make good music and make people feel good when they hear my music." This is true. West shouldn't necessarily be held to a higher standard because of what he does, or his positioning in society. At the end of the day he is simply an honest, multi-layered human being with a larger-than-life stage from which to spout his thoughts. West wrapped the talk perfectly, saying "You're gonna love me, or you're gonna hate me, but I'm going to be me." Indeed Kanye, indeed.
http://youtu.be/3ax9FSRdvAw
Microsoft top brass wants Gates out
Don't bite the hand that feeds you, goes the old mantra. Of course, that and really any common sense gets tossed out the window once money is involved. The guys at the top are greedy, what's the difference between $1.1 million and $1.5? Really, though. So, in the latest instance of a company turning on the person that made them, a few of the board members over at Microsoft decided they've had it with this Bill Gates guy, calling for his ouster from his post as Chairman of the board.
Apparently, these three grumpy old men think that dropping Gates will allow the company to move forward more succinctly, that Gates is holding them back. Let's back up. This is the guy that created the concept of the window all of you are reading this post on right now. Gates is the Mick Jagger to Steve Jobs' John Lennon. You don't fire Gods and they also don't usually step down.Not to mention Gates is one of the most beloved businessmen in recent memory, a guy who donates $2 billion a year and still endorses higher taxes on the rich. Rockefeller he is not. He is a genuinely good guy doing genuinely good work, so what are you waiting for-get him out of there!
So, with that, Microsoft, which has real problems (see: Microsoft Surface) that having someone experienced like Gates will help solve, is instead trying to push out one of the most important business and tech minds of a generation. Too bad there isn't a good example of a huge tech company pushing out their founder only to fall apart and ask for him back. . . oh wait.
Top 10 Best #NODISRESPECTTOBENAFFLECK Tweets
Jimmy Kimmel opened up a can of worms the other night when he spoofed Kanye West's interviews with BBC's Zane Lowe this week. In typical Kanye fashion, he went on a Twitter tirade against Kimmel last night through a series of tweets, with one of the best being:
JIMMY KIMMEL PUT YOURSELF IN MY SHOES … OH NO THAT MEANS YOU WOULD HAVE GOTTEN TOO MUCH GOOD PUSSY IN YOUR LIFE…
— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) September 27, 2013
However, the future of Twitter was forever changed with one hashtag:
SHOULD I DO A SPOOF ABOUT YOUR FACE OR YOU FUCKING BEN AFFLECK…#NODISRESPECTTOBENAFFLECK #ALLDISRESPECTTOJIMMYKIMMEL!!!!
— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) September 27, 2013
By this point, Kanye's rant was simply "Kanye being Kanye." However, the floodgates were opened with the ridiculously amazing hashtag, "#NODISRESPECTTOBENAFFLECK." We now live in a world post-#NODISRESPECTTOBENAFFLECK, unable to return to who we once were before Kanye West changed our lives for the better. Below are The Top 10 Best #NODISRESPECTTOBENAFFLECK Tweets.
