MetaFilter posts tagged with Bill

Maher and Feather

Christ, what an asshole — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 09:57:43 -0800

Bill Maher's criticism of Obama? Be more like Bush. ...And just like Lindsey [Lohan], we see your name in the paper a lot, but we're kind of wondering when you're actually going to do something. Follow up of his statements with Keith Olbermann. ...But where's the beef? And it's easy to make speeches; what's hard to do is stand up against corporations. Corporations and their incredible strength are what have ruined this country so far, and this president -- we thought -- might be the one to stand up to them. I'm losing hope. I still have audacity, but my hope is fading.

Bill Peet

null terminated — Thu, 21 May 2009 00:52:47 -0800

Bill Peet (born Bill Peed) 1915-2002, was a Disney animator and children's book author. His work defined the Disney style, served as an inspiration for the movie Cars, and has amazed readers with the depth and expression of its characters. An exhibit of his work is running at the Art Institute of Chicago through May 24, 2009 (this Sunday). Peet worked at Disney for 27 years, where he was the only person to ever storyboard an entire film (and he did it twice, for The Sword and the Stone and 101 Dalmations). He was involved in ten films. Peet was also involved a number of shorts (all links youtube):

Goofy - Tiger Trouble (1945)
Goofy - African Diary (1945)
Goofy - Californy 'er Bust (1945)
Goofy - A Knight for a Day (1946)
Pluto - Wonder Dog (1950)
Lambert the Sheepish Lion (1952)
The Little House (1952) (adapted by Peet)
Ben and Me (1953) Part 1 Part 2
The Truth About Mother Goose (1957) Part 1 Part 2
Goliath II (1960) Part 1 Part 2

One short, Susie the Blue Coupe (1952) (Wikipedia), was "among the biggest design inspirations for" the Pixar movie Cars (pdf on Cars). The short deals with the selling into marriage, aging, abuse, alcoholism, and finally a happy ending (or deluded, dying hallucination) of a female car. The full 8 minute short can be seen here. Storyboards (more storyboards).

Peet had numerous disagreements with Walt Disey, detailed in his sprawling and award winning autobiography (See What was Walt like? (scans from the autobiography) and a fascinating interview about Walt and other topics).

Peet left Disney and published his first book, Hubert's Hair-Raising Adventure, in 1959. He would go on to publish 36 books.

Peet published the first environmental book for children, Farewell to Shady Glade in 1966. In 1970 he published The Wump World (full low-quality book scan). (The Wump was based on the Capybara, large rodents which Peet was "ashamed to admit" he owned as a pet). Both books bear similarities to The Lorax by Dr. Suess, which was published a year later.

For any cartooning nerds, more storyboards by Peet (all from Michael Sporn's blog):
101 Dalmations
Dumbo Bath from Dumbo
The Tar Baby scene from Song of the South (more)

More large scans from a blog talking about Bill Peet as an inspiration.

Peet was also involved in some of the most controversial of Disney's scenes, including the "Jim Crows" from Dumbo and the Tar Baby from Song of the South. He talks about this in the interview linked above. (This was intentionally pushed to the bottom so as not to become the focus of this post).

Henry Waxman and his band of Merry Mad Men

formless — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 09:00:41 -0800

The House passed H.R. 1256, the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act a few days ago. The bill would put regulation of tobacco under the jurisdiction of the F.D.A. Some are critical of this bill, pointing out that Philip Morris is behind it. But the bill does contain many positive elements. Manufacturers would be required to disclose product ingredients to the F.D.A. and marketing to children would be further restricted. One aspect that hasn't been discussed much online is the impact this would have on the burgeoning hookah market. The hookah, or nargile, has a long history and culture associated with it. Recently, hookah bars have been popping up in the U.S., especially around college towns. The act specfically targets any flavored tobacco, including cloves, which would outlaw most Hookah tobacco or shisha. This could be seen both as an attempt to discourage smoking among young adults who may not see the health risks in hookah smoking and a move by big tobacco to eliminate new competition. There is one interesting exception from this flavor ban, menthol cigarettes.

In other news: Clay Aiken may be gay.

miss lynnster — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 11:58:58 -0800

Creator of the Cosby sweater acknowledges they're possibly the most horrible things you've ever seen. Please note: if you are a woman who bought a jacket from him a while ago, his cat may have died on the fabric. Just FYI.

Breakfast at Sulimay's

vronsky — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 13:13:36 -0800

Breakfast at Sulimay's with Bill, Moon, Joe and Ann: 1 featuring reviews of The Thermals, Joanna Newsom, The Decemberists, and Clipse. l 2 with The Knife, Deerhoof, and Paul Wall featuring 'lil Keke. l 5 with Asha, TI, Toby Mac. 6 with the Shins , !!!, and Common. l 7 with Bjork , Wilco , and Black Reble Motorcycle club. l 9 with Santogold, Portishead and Death Cab for Cutie! more (v) yt

Kind of Blue turns 50

Seekerofsplendor — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 01:22:27 -0800

As jazz fans know, fifty years ago on March 2, 1959, Miles Davis, Bill Evans, John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley, Paul Chambers and Jimmy Cobb met at the Columbia 30th Street Studios in NYC for the first session of Miles new album, Kind of Blue. (Link goes to the 50th anniversary collector's box set edition page at amazon.) It was the touchstone for many other future recordings bearing its mighty influence and it fostered several high profile careers, and a new modal sound for jazz. Kind of Blue went on to be certified platinum, selling 4 million records, the most ever for a jazz album. Bill Evans had left the band in late 1958, but was called back by Miles for the sessions, which included his new pianist Wynton Kelly on one track only, Freddie Freeloader. The tunes they did that day, "So What", "Blue in Green" (written by Evans, though credited to Miles) and "Freeloader" all became standards as did "All Blues" from the April session. Documentaries and entire books have been written on this one album alone. The phenomenon lives on. (previously on AskMeFi, but just on Trane and Miles.)

Tiny Art Director

various — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 07:46:55 -0800

Tiny Art Director Bill Zeman’s daughter is the Tiny Art Director. She tells him what to draw and then tells him just exactly how much she hates it. Bill has been recording her comments and posting them with his art since she was two and a half. via

Jazz bassist who blew them all away

Seekerofsplendor — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 01:03:15 -0800

In July of 1961, the bass genius Scott LaFaro, perished in a fiery car crash after visiting family and friends in upstate NY, just ten days after doing the last gigs he would ever do with the great Bill Evans's trio (which became the legendary live recordings from the Vanguard) . He was only 24 years old. But he was also developing as a fine writer as well, as this Evans trio track - a mystical ballad in 9/4, shows. LaFaro, one jazz' greatest innovators, blazed a trail in only six short years with Ornette Coleman, Stan Getz, Hampton Hawes, Victor Feldman (once Miles Davis' pianist, and a Steely Dan studio regular), Freddie Hubbard and many others. But he is still best known for his revolutionary contributions to that classic Evans trio. (previously). After this rendering of "Jade Visions", Evans never played it again anywhere. (Though he did do LaFaro's "Gloria's Step" frequently in the 70s.)

The Big Sort

wittgenstein — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 11:21:22 -0800

"Bishop contends that as Americans have moved over the past three decades, they have clustered in communities of sameness, among people with similar ways of life, beliefs, and in the end, politics. There are endless variations of this clustering—what Bishop dubs the Big Sort—as like-minded Americans self-segregate in states, cities—even neighborhoods. Consequences of the Big Sort are dire: balkanized communities whose inhabitants find other Americans to be culturally incomprehensible; a growing intolerance for political differences that has made national consensus impossible; and politics so polarized that Congress is stymied and elections are no longer just contests over policies, but bitter choices between ways of life. " Article about the book from the Economist. Book's Website. A review.

Bill Henson's censored photographic exhibition.

robotot — Sun, 25 May 2008 02:06:33 -0800

Photographs of esteemed Sydney artist Bill Henson have been removed by police from the Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, and the debate over art vs pornography vs pedophilia heats up in Sydney this week. Some of the debate is quite measured and intelligent while other sides are descending to unruly levels. Even Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has something to say about the whole debacle. Unfortunately the offending artworks have been removed from both the gallery's website and walls, so we can not judge for ourselves. Once again we'll have to leave it up to the courts to decide.

The fierce urgency of cashing out now.

markkraft — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 18:42:53 -0800

Payback is a b*tch. Former presidential scandal Gennifer Flowers is putting the tapes of her recorded conversations with Bill Clinton -- which she was previously offered $5 million for -- up on the auction block. Asked about the timing of her announcement, she said “I don’t need to hurt Hillary. She is doing a fine job of that herself, along with her idiot husband. Karma is an interesting thing. If these two don’t get elected, and they are a team, it will be karma coming back to visit them. It's about time."

Congress 2.0

geos — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 08:30:45 -0800

Opencongress.org is a website for keeping track of the U.S. Congress. (previously) But, now it also a social network. So, sign-up and see what your favourite Senator has been doing, track bills and, follow important issues. Then, share that information with your friends or write about it on your blog.

And a little bit of mystery goes out of your life ...

WCityMike — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 08:34:47 -0800

Bob: "______________” Charlotte (Johansson): “Okay.” Lost in Translation's mysterious whisper finale revealed by audio processing. (via kottke)

Your graduate research team in Guatemala - just checking in.

phaedon — Sat, 28 Apr 2007 11:24:00 -0800

Paleo-Future: A look into the future that never was. More recent predictions include the future according to AT&T, Apple's Knowledge Navigator and Bill Gates on the Future of Police Work.

Colbert on O'Reilly, O'Reilly on Colbert

kirkaracha — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 09:43:54 -0800

Stephen Colbert on the O'Reilly Factor. Bill O'Reilly on the Colbert Report

Michinima 2006!

Lord_Pall — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 19:52:58 -0800

Fans of Flight Simulators and Michinima might be familiar with the adventures of Bill and John. If you're not, download episode 1 along with the subtitles and and familiarize yourself with a very funny piece of machinima, even more impressive because it's not only in Lock On: Modern Air Combat, but in French to boot. Well they're back, winning Best Picture at the Machinima 2006 film festival, The Adventures of Bill Et John II. Browse the rest of the nominees and winners on the Machinima.com festival page.

Here we go again

Mr_Zero — Wed, 08 Jun 2005 10:19:56 -0800

Thomas White may collect 100,000,000's in loans under the new energy bill. Any bets on whether those loans will get paid back or not?

Dollar Bill Origami

apathy0o0 — Wed, 19 Jan 2005 12:02:52 -0800

Origami is a endeavor that is undertaken by many, using what's available. Often, that is money. Sometimes simple, and sometimes complicated the result is often spiffy and incorporates the bill's features into the design.

This Is How Historical Fiction Should Be Done!

absalom — Fri, 10 Dec 2004 10:18:11 -0800

HBO's Deadwood is quite possibly the best television show ever produced. Not only is it amazingly gripping stuff, it's also meticulously researched. (Pretty easy to do when the entire city is a registered historic landmark.)
Sure, we all know that Wild Bill and Calamity Jane were real people. As it turns out, though, almost every main character in the show (and many minor ones) had a real life counterpart, as did many of the events.
Deadwood notables EB Farnum, Reverend H W Smith, Seth Bullock and his partner Sol Star, Colorado Charlie Utter, Al Swerengen with his Gem Saloon, and the crosseyed gambler Jack McCall all lived and breathed in one of America's most storied cities.

hockeyman — Fri, 19 Nov 2004 18:54:42 -0800

Do you like fast-forwarding through commercials on a television program you’ve recorded? How much do you like it? Enough to go to jail if you’re caught doing it? If a new copyright and intellectual property omnibus bill sitting on Congress’s desk passes, that may be the choice you'll face. Let's hope this legislation goes lame duck like this session of Congress.

Hey Hey Hey....

quibx — Tue, 01 Jun 2004 12:35:59 -0800

This Cosby show is undeserved. "These people are not parenting. They are buying things for kids - $500 sneakers for what? And won't spend $200 for 'Hooked on Phonics,''' Cosby said. "They're standing on the corner, and they can't speak English. I can't even talk the way these people talk: 'Why you ain't, why you is. '... And I blamed the kid until I heard the mother talk. And then I heard the father talk. Everybody knows it's important to speak English except these knuckleheads.''

Conservatives Win Big With Fetus Bill

SpaceCadet — Sat, 27 Mar 2004 11:42:49 -0800

Conservatives Win Big With Fetus Bill

NSFW?

MrMoonPie — Fri, 19 Dec 2003 11:10:52 -0800

The (new) 7 (8, really) words you can't say on television. Carlin must be proud.

Historical Currency

crunchland — Sat, 13 Sep 2003 20:40:58 -0800

Have you ever seen a $100,000 bill?
From the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco's Historical Currency Gallery.

Zoe and the DMCA

skallas — Fri, 07 Mar 2003 17:18:32 -0800

Rep. Zoe Lofgren's BALANCE act attempts to protect "Fair Use" rights from harmful legislation like the DMCA. Some related links: [summary] [whats wrong with the DMCA?]