Tiny Grass » fun

Tracking Santa’s flight!

Arp — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 15:11:45 +0000

NORAD – our vaunted defense command – is tracking Santa today, with help from Google Maps. M is really going to dig this. Can you imagine if we had this as kids?

NORAD Tracks Santa

UPDATE: If you have Google Earth, it’s even better as you can track in 3D! This rocks!

Proof that ducks are way cuter than chickens

Arp — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 12:56:48 +0000

We’ve always thought that our ducks are just adorable. Unlike chickens, they have beautiful eyes, expressive faces and are just cute & cuddly. Chickens, on the other hand, have hard, soulless eyes & unexpressive faces. When Quint was talking about ‘black, lifeless eyes’ in Jaws, he might as well have been talking about chickens.

We found proof that ducks are cuter than chickens in our library in the form of a histrionic book on avian flu titled The Monster at Our Door. What’s on the cover? (below left) A chicken. An evil-looking, bad-ass, switchblade-wielding willkillyouinyoursleepandeatyourchildren chicken. Look at those eyes. And that beak that will poke your eyes out at the slightest provocation. That is the face of avian flu, or unspeakable TERROR.

Now to the right is the cover with our adorable ducks replacing the killer chicken. They’re just too damn cute to be threatening. Their faces are soft & expressive, and the worst those beaks could do is scoop some goo out of the corner of your eyes. There is no way in hell that you could sell fear & terror with the face of a duck.

There you have it – proof positive that ducks are cuter than chickens.

Stunning, creative animation from Buenos Aires

Arp — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 03:15:27 +0000

MUTO a wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo.

This is one of the coolest animation I’ve ever, ever seen. Ever. (really) Of course, that’s colored by me not knowing that anyone made animation out of doors. Sometimes I think people spend too much time searching for meaning in things. I’ve been guilty of that and have tried my best to let go and enjoy things for what they are. Skip the how and why and just enjoy the moment. I’ve always been interested in learning animation (I see stop-motion Lego films in my future), but this totally blew me away. The creativity is a wonder to behold and experience.

I really think trying to be more in the moment with my kids has been paying off. I actually got spooked by some 3D action in Journey to the Center of the Earth. I felt tangible fear while watching The Dark Knight (Heath Ledger was brilliant). And now I practically clapped with joy & surprise at this video. Enjoy

Constipation

Arp — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 09:12:00 +0000

Oobleck

Arp — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 04:06:43 +0000

I gotta figure out how to make this stuff – it’s apparently just cornstarch & water.