Archive for the ‘Featured’ Category
Godspeed, John Glenn: 50 Years of Americans in Orbit
February 20th, 2012
On February 20, 1962, perched atop an Atlas rocket, John Glenn was blasted into space at 17,500 miles per hour. He splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean about five hours later, having orbited the Earth three times, the first American to do so.
Our most recent video for Time.com is a tribute to John Glenn, NASA, and 50 years of Americans in orbit. I wrote it, Tara Fredette was cameraman, and Jim Fields edited.
Godspeed, John Glenn…
Link:
http://www.time.com/time/video/player/0,32068,1461672138001_2107230,00.html
My Love Affair with Space
July 7th, 2011
On the eve of the final mission of NASA’s – and the nation’s – 30-year-long space shuttle program, I present to you a video love letter – my newest piece for Time Magazine’s website, wherein Tara and I journey to Florida to witness our first launch. STS-133, in February, was the last mission of space shuttle Discovery…
Click for bigger version at Time.com
Link:
My Love Affair with Space on Time.com
Philip K. Dick at the Movies
March 15th, 2011
My newest video for Time.com is about Philip K. Dick and all the movie adaptations of his books and stories, the latest of which is The Adjustment Bureau, based on the story “Adjustment Team” written in 1953. It’s fascinating that Dick’s 50-year-old stories are just now being brought to the big screen – and still seem modern. Testament to the strangeness of his brain.
I do mistakenly say that Blade Runner is one of ten PKD “books” that have been adapted, when I meant to say, “stories.” Only a few novels have, so far, provided source material for films – Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, A Scanner Darkly, Confessions of a Crap Artist, Radio Free Albemuth. Most of the movies are based on short stories (which do appear in books).
I produced, wrote and edited the video along with producer Craig Duff, who shot and provided additional editing:
Robots Attack! My new Singularity video on Time.com
February 10th, 2011
I have a new video up on Time.com about the Singularity. If you don’t know what it is… find out here. I wrote it. Craig Duff shot and produced it. Jim Fields edited.
The video complements Lev Grossman’s new Time Magazine feature story on Ray Kurzweil.
Bad Science in Star Wars
December 4th, 2010
FORA.tv has a short video of me performing at the recent Wonderfest science festival in Berkeley. I’m talking about bad science in science fiction movies, and the example in the clip is a classic moment from Star Wars…
Science Comedian – the Heat in Arizona
September 27th, 2010
I had a fantastic time performing at the Sacramento Comedy Spot this past Friday. We had a packed house in an intimate room – and they were just the perfect science-loving crowd. Or, I should say, science-comedy-loving crowd.
The opening act was the hilariously geeky Nick Pettigrew (link is to a previous set of his), and I did a whopping hour and forty minutes, including some Q&A. I’ll be putting more clips online soon. Here’s the first.
My fever-dream inspired by the unbearable heat of an Arizona summer. Some might fantasize of bikinis and water sports; I can only imagine global devastation, mutation, human extinction…
Tim Westergren of Pandora & the Music Genome Project
June 2nd, 2010
My newest video for Time Magazine is about Pandora, the internet radio service. I visited the Oakland offices of Pandora and spoke with founder and Chief Strategy Officer Tim Westergren. We discussed various recommendation engines used by other companies and what makes Pandora’s Music Genome Project different.
TIME 100’s Elon Musk
April 30th, 2010
Time Magazine has announced the Time 100 – their annual list of the most influential people of the year. It’s divided into four main categories: Leaders, Heroes, Artists, and Thinkers.
One of those Thinkers is Elon Musk, co-founder of PayPal and current CEO of Tesla Motors and SpaceX.
Jon Favreau – director of the Iron Man movies – wrote the entry on Musk, having used him as a model for the billionaire Tony Stark character. David Clair and I made a new video about him:
Here’s the new video on Time’s site.
For a more in-depth piece, check out our previous piece about SpaceX and private enterprise in space:
Green Vanity License Plates
April 1st, 2010
I’ve been performing stand up comedy for two decades. I get all the stage time I need. But I realize not everyone has such an outlet. And, yet, humans are such complicated, emotional creatures. They have so much to express!
That’s why I’ve always been fascinated with vanity plates and bumper stickers. And I’ve always lumped them in with answering machine outgoing messages and Karaoke. I think, for some people, these might be the only outlets they have through which to express themselves to the world. They have so much to say – and so little space! But humans are creative.
And humans that drive the Toyota Prius Hybrid Vehicle in the San Francisco Bay Area… well, they are particularly creative. And consistent with their message. I keep seeing hybrids with green-themed vanity plates. Not every one below is a Prius, but most of them are.
Have you seen any other vanity plates with environmental themes or messages? Let me know!
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The Secret Life of Flies
February 22nd, 2010
If you know me, you know I like my insect photography. I primarily shoot (and release) live insects. But who amongst us hasn’t seen a dead bug posing while reposing in death and felt the need to capture that macabre Kodak moment? If my eyes are the only eyes of the universe to observe this detail, am I not obligated to record it?
Anyway, that’s how I feel about it. So, I’ve shot a few dead flies.
But this guy at Muhr Photography takes it to a new level, combining real live dead flies with simple line drawings. And I think they’re hilarious. I applaud the idea and the execution. I’m jealous!
After you start the slideshow – click the icon in the lower left corner to make it bigger so you can see the titles (in some cases, it helps you appreciate the image). Or you can see this gallery and others here.
