It's a way for me [Karen Nourse] to show you all of my favorite things and to share inspiring people and work. My old blog before 2011 is stored at:
http://contentdotio.blogspot.com/
and there is one entry here that explains why I left Posterous:
http://shimmyness.posterous.com/
My friends Josh Gosfield and Camille Sweeney are getting wonderful buzz about their new book, The Art of Doing, and this past week Forbes did a little video and Camille wrote a piece for the NY Times. Smithsonian Magazine’s Amy Crawford also did a piece on the book that I found interesting in that one of the questions asked was if there was a difference between the people they interviewed and the rest of us: Camille’s intriguing answer:
“No! It’s interesting. I think when we started out I might have thought that. But after talking to them and really thinking about their lives, I don’t think that they’re different. When they arrived at what they thought they were going to be doing, they just kept at it. They kept up the energy. And when all the doubters and the haters were saying, “This isn’t going to work,” they didn’t listen.”
Terrific, powerhouse couple, that is doing a great job at inspiring the masses. I continue to be impressed by their work and FOCUS! Can’t wait to get my book signed next week at their party: Tuesday 1/29/13 at 6pm: Steven Kasher Gallery, 521 West 23rd Street, NY, NY.
I have shown this video to a number of my friends who are showing me videos that they are shooting on their iPhones. It seems like it’s the easiest way to get the information out there in a gentle way with cute puppets……..
Basically, Vertical Video Syndrome (VVS) is a rash on our society, so I am out to correct it any way I can. My friend, Lester Munson showed me this cool video above entitled “Rocket Man” from our ‘cabin society’ in Northern VT and while I LOVE this video, I do wish I could see what happened to that amazing rocket……(Click on Rocket Man above to see it).
I can’t remember who sent me this video a few months ago, but it is my go-to ‘show and tell’ YouTube video I share when one of my contemporaries shares a video shot in “portrait mode” rather than “landscape”. Basically, turn your iPhone on it’s side to get the full effect that video can offer.
This rocket was built using materials from Michael’s Crafts Stores which I was told actually has a “Rocket Building” section which can be found in stores near the model airplane supplies area.
My friend Chris Carlone shot and edited this video that I really like. His shots are cool and the song and idea really work well. It’s cool how the guys behind her come off as so cool and aloof in contrast to this perky personality with her little rockin’ moves back and forth. The camera moves work really well too and I think the space is awesome. Love how it looks and flows. Kinda catchy huh?
Here is the first promo that we cut of the material that we have been shooting of my dear friend Susan Carman, who is a single mother ‘to-be’ and is due in August. Susan and I started working on this in February and her Wordpress video-blog has more details if you missed it. She is an amazingly strong woman and I know that you will respond to her story. Tune in…….
I really like the song and have discovered over the last few plays that I REALLY like this video. It’s neat how they made it look a little like projected film and it’s cool how everyone is in darkness as it makes you want to see their faces. The pacing of the video is maybe the coolest thing about it as when we get to around 1:38, we get to see his face lit up and it’s shockingly interesting and bright. Like the simplicity of the video and how it matches with the song somehow. I also love how it ends. Extremely satisfying video……
Casey Neistat steals his own bike in NYC to make a point as a follow-up to a film he made in 2010, The Ethics of Stealing a Bike. I thought this new video was cute and it made me want to watch the original which made me laugh a lot more. I especially like the meter he makes for showing the kinds of tools to use to steal bikes…….
In his new film, I liked the fact that no one on foot stopped him. Started to chuckle when he brought out the power tools at 2:45 when he talks about how he tries to look ‘as criminal’ as possible.
I’ll post this, it’s long, but it could be worth the awareness of this important date and action. I liked the production value and the footage of the connectivity. I like how the video starts from the animations on Facebook and how there is a little map of Uganda that we go into to introduce Jacob. While I am well aware of the Joseph Kony and the LRA in Central Africa, I think this video could help educate those who don’t know anything about it. My friend Dan Fahey has been working there for years for his doctorate in conflict resolution from the University of California, Berkeley. April 20, 2012 is coming up and I will be interested to see if I can see some of the KONY 2012 campaign is visible here in NYC.
I am astounded by how cool the design is on the Alan Partridge DVDs. They are amazing-so funny, goofy and fascinating that they make the DVD format truly enjoyable. I shot a little video of the menu for the recent one I got in the mail from Netflix because it’s such a good example of how to make this dying format fun. It’s from “I’m Alan Partridge: Series 1: Disc 2” and has this cool scene of Alan (played lovingly by my favorite Steve Coogan) running through a field with an awful sweater and haircut. It’s neat because he runs in front of the text to the various menu items and even cooler, the video plays in reverse as you go backwards through the menu which is really the most visually interesting part about it. I looked up the company that designed it and it’s 2 Entertain, a British company that is now a part of the BBC. I also loved some of the menu items, in particular, the one that has all of Alan’s morning radio show sound effects. It’s geeky stuff, but if you are a fan, it’s precious. The design for the first disc is AMAZING too, but it’s too X-Rated to post here. The DVD menu is cool because it’s like a cheap hotel’s closed circuit TV channel with porn choices and then you get to see these amazing shots of Alan dancing with g-string type underwear on. It’s like a weird fantasy that goes through Alan’s mind or something and should be experienced. While I liked watching the material on the DVD’s, I ‘got it’ pretty quickly and actually didn’t watch all of the episodes. There is a bunch of hotel desk banter like Fawlty Towers sprinkled in with amazing awkward moments that Coogan does so well.
It also reminded me of how much I loved watching My Idiot Brother with Paul Rudd recently as Steve Coogan plays the creepy brother in law who is a documentary filmmaker. The best scene with Coogan is when Ned (Paul Rudd) happens upon the dance studio at night time where the Coogan character tries to convince him that he got naked to film a special dance with his subject to make her feel more comfortable. Coogan often plays this philandering character like in The Trip, but I love him for it all the more.
All of it is so funny that I can watch scenes with him over and over again.
