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The original recordings of
Ray Ellis' background music for
Filmation Studios were
recently destroyed, but
enthusiasts carefully isolate and preserve the scores from broadcast cartoons. These archetypal cues were originally composed for
Star Trek: The Animated Series, and used in subsequent series for over a decade: "
Tension Mounts", "
Danger Approaching (Variation)", "
Action Cue 03".
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot
at 10:22 PM on November 7, 2011
(18 comments)
Thank you Charles Napier,
1936-2011
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot
at 4:56 PM on October 6, 2011
(31 comments)
It's probably too late to take your
Hasselblad aboard a Space Shuttle, but if the opportunity arises, read the
Astronaut's Photography Manual (PDF) and you might capture photos
like this one.
Previously.
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot
at 2:47 PM on September 26, 2011
(9 comments)
The secretive NRO celebrated
50 years of spying from space with a
one-day surprise public exhibition of a just-declassified KH-9 Hexagon "Big Bird" imaging satellite. Between 1963 and 1986, a constellation of
KH-7 Gambit, KH-8 Gambit 3, and KH-9 Hexagon satellites, all revealed after a half-century of secrecy, returned high-resolution film exposures of Cold War targets from orbit by parachute.
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot
at 11:33 AM on September 19, 2011
(49 comments)
The 808 Car Keys Micro Camera is a
cheap,
poorly made,
difficult to use miniature DV camera that is nevertheless embraced by
model RC pilots,
experimenters,
hobbyists, and
adventurers. If you want to
hack or
mod your own, start with
Chuck Lohr's vast 808 Car Keys Micro Camera Review page.
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot
at 10:31 AM on August 12, 2011
(20 comments)
He told me his gorilla suit had been taken by his landlady in Pensacola, Florida because he could not pay his back rent. She kept his trunk with all his possessions as well. So his movie days were over...
A brief, thoughtful recollection of the last days of the elusive
Emil Van Horn, who, with pioneers like
Charles Gemora,
Ray "Crash" Corrigan,
Steve Calvert,
George Barrows,
Janos Prohaska, and
Bob Burns, established the
golden age of
Hollywood gorilla men.
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot
at 4:36 PM on May 19, 2011
(7 comments)
Die Wunder Gottes in der Natur (1744) illustrates
astronomical,
meteorological,
geological,
spiritual, and
psychological visions, based on the work of 16th century Alsatian encyclopedist
Conrad Lycosthenes.
The
cover and
title page.
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot
at 1:45 PM on May 5, 2011
(7 comments)
It was
Alex St. Martin's gory musket injury that paved the way for
cow fistulation, a hands-on method to
explore the
inner workings of
bovine digestion.
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot
at 2:50 PM on March 18, 2011
(58 comments)
Paul Copansky, a.k.a.
Paul from the Diamond Center,
reminisces about
Ed "Hi Kids!" Barbara,
Steven "Top of the Hill Daly City" Matthew David, and
Harvard E. "Pete" Palmer, Jr., the adman who put these characters on the San Francisco/Bay Area's UHF band in the 1970's and 1980's.
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot
at 10:03 AM on December 28, 2010
(14 comments)
I played with them like most boys, but I had no idea there are
formal gaming rules for
plastic army men.
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot
at 8:49 PM on November 23, 2010
(43 comments)
The Imperial Stars promote their new single
"Traffic Jam 101" with a
traffic jam on 101.
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot
at 1:03 PM on October 12, 2010
(40 comments)
Road to the Stars (
Doroga k Zvezdam, 1958) was a remarkable Soviet documentary about the future of space exploration, directed by the "
Godfather of Star Wars" and still admired for its impressive miniature effects.
Watch the entire film.
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot
at 5:30 PM on August 18, 2010
(7 comments)
Other than its
former residents, few mourn the demolition of San Francisco's
Transbay Terminal.
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot
at 12:03 PM on August 4, 2010
(39 comments)
The
Alcatraz Swim-o-Meter calculates the time and path of your watery escape from Alcatraz, designed and built by San Francisco
Dolphin Club member
Kent Myers.
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot
at 1:00 PM on July 14, 2010
(13 comments)
Afraid that Jobs' wild spending and Woz's recurrent "flights of fancy" would cause Apple to flop, Wayne decided to abdicate his role as adult-in-chief and bailed out after 12 days. Terrified to be the only one of the three founders with assets that creditors could seize, he sold back his shares for $800.
An interview with Apple Computer co-founder Ron Wayne (he also designed
Apple's first logo). Had he held out, his shares today would be worth $22 billion.
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot
at 2:26 PM on June 4, 2010
(49 comments)
Michael Fivis,
Maximus Chatsky, and
Krakenpoison are three photographers who shoot with a
Nimslo, the
four lens 35mm lenticular camera manufactured in the 1980's, and create
animated autostereo "
wobble 3D" images.
Warning: Lots of animated .gifs to load.
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot
at 7:31 AM on June 2, 2010
(18 comments)
Chrysler's
recent announcement of a three year technical collaboration with NASA continues the automaker's long involvement with the agency, including production of the historic
Redstone, reliable
Jupiter, and mighty
Saturn launch vehicles, and the design of an
unusual Space Shuttle called
SERV.
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot
at 12:58 PM on May 17, 2010
(5 comments)
Joe Pop-O-Pie led his San Francisco punk band
Pop-O-Pies through countless performances of the band's "hit", an idiosyncratic
cover of the Grateful Dead's Truckin'. As the 1980's closed, Joe fell off the map while his
other projects went mainstream, but last month the
Pop-O-Pies reunited for one more Truckin' performance.
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot
at 8:44 AM on May 10, 2010
(15 comments)
You might dismiss
Little Honda by the Hondells as an infectious by-product of Grey Advertising's
legendary 1962 "You Meet the Nicest People on a Honda" ad campaign. It's actually a
Brian Wilson original, later
recorded by The Beach Boys, and
shares an eerie connection with the
Jan & Dean classic Dead Man's Curve. Perhaps its the essence of youth and innocence captured by this corny little composition that inspires
Yo La Tengo's contemporary covers.
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot
at 7:06 PM on April 7, 2010
(14 comments)
Certainly you've read of the
Space Shuttle's imminent retirement, but are you prepared for the secret robot "
mini"
shuttle, the
X-37B? After a decade of checkered development under
NASA,
DARPA (with assistance from Scaled Composites' White Knight) and finally the
U.S. Air Force, the first X-37B spaceplane,
the Orbital Test Vehicle, is ready for an April 19th launch.
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot
at 11:13 AM on April 3, 2010
(40 comments)
Declassified secrets about the top-secret U.S. military base
Area 51 revealed:
Great food, cash-stuffed briefcases, no UFOs.
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot
at 2:57 PM on March 31, 2010
(44 comments)
Soviet CGI, circa 1968 (SLYT)
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot
at 12:38 PM on March 21, 2010
(20 comments)
A sublime prank on an SNL audience:
Zach Galifianakis shaves his beard (SLHP).
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot
at 6:58 PM on March 8, 2010
(48 comments)
Are you using the full potential of your dog? Dog-powered cars,
then and
now. Dog-powered
scooters, bikes, and skateboards (
previously).
Churn butter.
Drive sewing machines.
Turn roasting spits. Power your
home or
vehicle with dog poop biofuel.
Pull a cart with your dog.
Ride your dog.
Monkey riding a dog.
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot
at 9:11 AM on March 7, 2010
(36 comments)
At 104, fit & spry
Joe Rollino was the last classic
strongman -- the sport of
strength athletics, which evolved into modern bodybuilding. Standing 5'10" and weighing a mere
145 pounds, he was a fixture on
Coney Island, known for feats of strength like 450 pound teeth lifts, or bending quarters with his fingers. Rollino also boxed in the 1920's as
"Kid Dundee", and returned from World War II decorated with the Silver Star, Bronze Star, and three Purple Hearts. Joe Rollino never drank, never smoked, was a lifetime vegetarian and a confirmed bachelor. He
died today after being struck by a minivan.
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot
at 7:47 PM on January 11, 2010
(34 comments)
Soyuz rocket rolls to launch pad. A fine photoset of an otherwise routine Russian rocket rollout. I can tell that photographer
Bill Ingalls loves rockets.
His favs.
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot
at 10:38 AM on September 29, 2009
(34 comments)
The Case for Working With Your Hands.
In the boardrooms of Wall Street and the corridors of Pennsylvania Avenue, I don’t think you’ll see a yellow sign that says “Think Safety!” as you do on job sites and in many repair shops, no doubt because those who sit on the swivel chairs tend to live remote from the consequences of the decisions they make. Why not encourage gifted students to learn a trade, if only in the summers, so that their fingers will be crushed once or twice before they go on to run the country?
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot
at 9:46 AM on May 22, 2009
(88 comments)
"They ran into each other. Nothing has the right of way up there. We don't have an air traffic controller in space. There is no universal way of knowing what's coming in your direction."
An unprecedented collision of two orbiting satellites yesterday highlights the increasing threat of
space junk.
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot
at 3:48 PM on February 11, 2009
(51 comments)
Here's to
Ray Dennis Steckler, the independent filmmaker who
wrote, starred (as Cash Flagg) and directed influential films including
The Thrill Killers,
Rat Pfink a Boo Boo, and his masterpice
The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies. A visionary artist whose influnce is clearly seen in contemporary cinema, Steckler was prolific (producing movies from 1963 until last year), economical (his films were self-produced, shot on 16mm film and later Hi-8 video), and brilliant (as clearly evidenced in this
dance sequence from Creatures, "The First Monster Musical"). It hasn't been widely reported yet, but fans are mourning his passing. He died in his sleep yesterday, January 7th, aged 70.
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot
at 7:53 PM on January 8, 2009
(26 comments)
If you were a fan of late-nite horror movies in Northern California during the 1970's, you likely spent Saturday nights watching
Bob Wilkins, the
droll, cigar-smoking host of
Creature Features. An unlikely horror-show host, Wilkins'
deadpan delivery and apparent disdain for the show's films (he reguarly suggested his audience change the channel) made
Creature Features a show not to be missed. Bob Wilkins
passed away today after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease.
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot
at 7:20 PM on January 7, 2009
(24 comments)
Neal Hefti, trumpet player, arranger, big band leader and composer for film & televison,
has died.
This may be his most loved work.
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot
at 7:52 AM on October 15, 2008
(35 comments)
U.S. Republican presidential nominee Senator John McCain may be
computer illiterate, but his campaign does think highly of eBay. Sen. McCain and Governor Palin have each suggested eBay as a
fix for the economy,
tool for government reform, and
strategy for homeland security. Perhaps it's because former eBay CEO Meg Whitman, in spite of
disagreeing with parts of his technology platform, is
co-chair of McCain's campaign?
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot
at 2:41 PM on October 1, 2008
(24 comments)
Magomed Yevloyev, who blogged
human rights abuses committed by police in Russia's volatile Ingushetia region, was
shot in the temple while in police custody today. The site,
ingushetiya.ru (
English version), reported the brutal anti-insurgent
"Dirty War" tacticts committed by police against Ingushetia's civilian population.
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot
at 12:04 PM on August 31, 2008
(17 comments)
Lost with yesterday's
third failure of
Space Exploration Technologies' Falcon 1 rocket were the ashes of actor
James "Scotty" Doohan, who, along with astronaut
Gordon Cooper and over two hundred other cremains, attempted to reach orbit not
once, but
twice.
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot
at 1:26 PM on August 3, 2008
(38 comments)
Before developing
exotic space propulsion systems like the
ion engines on deep space probes, he developed guidance systems for
Nazi Germany's ballistic missile, the V2. As
Dr. Werner von Braun's Chief Scientist, he was one of the brilliant minds that
founded the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama and sent astronauts to the moon atop MSFC's
Saturn V rocket. Dr. Ernst Stuhlinger, one of the last surviving rocket scientists extracted from Nazi Germany in
Operation Paperclip,
died today at 94.
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot
at 4:54 PM on May 27, 2008
(28 comments)
Bebe Barron, 82, Pioneer of Electronic Scores, Is Dead. Best known for the
soundtrack to the 1956 sci-fi classic Forbidden Planet -- the first full-length feature to use only electronic music -- she and her husband Louis Barron recorded the film's pre-synthesizer "electronic tonalities" with
electronic circuits of their own invention. She never scored another feature film, but
remained active in the avant-garde music scene.
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot
at 4:10 PM on May 8, 2008
(17 comments)
Welcome to the decade of space robotics.
Jules Verne, Europe's shiny new automated transport vehicle,
docked with the International Space Station today, where Canada's
Dextre is flexing her circuits after moving in last month. Meanwhile, the
Cadillac of Mars rovers, JPL's humbly named
Mars Science Laboratory, is prepping for a fall 2009 journey to the red planet. Are we witnessing
the beginning of the symbiotic relationship between robots and humans in space?
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot
at 10:18 AM on April 3, 2008
(26 comments)
70 year old Pak Doo-Ik will lead North Korea's prestigious Olympic torch bearers to Beijing this summer. In the 1966 World Cup at Middlesborough,
Pak scored the goal that lead his team to a stunning 1-0 upset win over Italy (
video). Pak Doo-Ik and the team returned home as heroes, but ultimately fell under the suspicion of North Korean leadership. The team
underwent "mental re-education" and were exiled, Pak Doo-Ik spending ten years as a forest laborer. Dear Leader Kim Jong-il later allowed Pak to coach North Korea's national soccer team, and a fascinating
2002 BBC documentary brought Pak Doo Ik back to the international stage.
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot
at 3:46 PM on March 27, 2008
(12 comments)
Ferocious-looking mystery creature in Tahoe National Forest confirmed to be a California wolverine, thought to be extinct since 1922. A motion-detecting camera snapped a
compelling photo behind the beast last month, and the
California Department of Fish and Game just confirmed the discovery with a
clear profile shot. Notably, both photos appear to show the same animal.
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot
at 9:06 AM on March 25, 2008
(53 comments)
The evolution of Mars imaging from orbit:
Mariner 4 (1964),
Mariner 6 and
Mariner 7 (both 1969),
Mariner 9 (1971) (all NASA),
Mars 5 (1973) (USSR),
Viking 1 (1975),
Viking 2 (1976),
Mars Global Surveyor (1996),
Mars Odyssey (2001) (NASA),
Mars Express (2003) (ESA), up to this spy-quality shot of an
active avalanche taken by NASA's
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (2005).
posted to MetaFilter by Chinese Jet Pilot
at 10:03 AM on March 5, 2008
(11 comments)
