Showing posts with label video. Show all posts
Showing posts with label video. Show all posts
Monday, March 14, 2011
Thursday, February 17, 2011
127 Hours Movie Review
This movie was quite abstract. I went into it open minded since I found it hard to imagine how a director would go about making a two hour movie about a guy whose arm is stuck behind a rock engaging. James Franco, of course, is an amazing actor and his emotion and spirit really made the movie work while he played rock climber Aaron Ralston. Most of the movie trailer revolves around a very small section of the movie. I had hoped the whole movie would be filmed from the perspective of Ralston (Franco) documenting himself with the video camera. These scenes in the trailer are both funny and enlightening about the character’s personal development and overall plight. In the movie its self, we don’t get to see Franco narrating to the camera until about half way through or better.
While entrapped in the rock slit, Ralston (Franco) begins to hallucinate about everything from his family, to Scooby Doo. That’s right, at one point there’s a rather disturbing scene where Franco dreams up a giant Scooby Doo which is about to attack him. Scooby, we find out, was never real and Ralston (Franco) then wakes up. At first it’s a rather disjoint scene that doesn’t fit the movie but with a little analysis we can see that the director is trying to show Ralston’s mental dissolution and we can see that our hold on reality, as humans, is really quite fragile. The story really gives us, as an outdoor community, a sense of humility as we see Ralston re discovering his humble self. In the face of death we see how truly vain our choices can be.
Check it out. This trailer is easily one of the most inspirational clips I’ve seen in a long time! The Funeral by Band of Horses kicks in at the end to tug on the emotional ties of Ralston realizing that he’s going to die alone. Very powerful film, but dry at times.
While entrapped in the rock slit, Ralston (Franco) begins to hallucinate about everything from his family, to Scooby Doo. That’s right, at one point there’s a rather disturbing scene where Franco dreams up a giant Scooby Doo which is about to attack him. Scooby, we find out, was never real and Ralston (Franco) then wakes up. At first it’s a rather disjoint scene that doesn’t fit the movie but with a little analysis we can see that the director is trying to show Ralston’s mental dissolution and we can see that our hold on reality, as humans, is really quite fragile. The story really gives us, as an outdoor community, a sense of humility as we see Ralston re discovering his humble self. In the face of death we see how truly vain our choices can be.
Check it out. This trailer is easily one of the most inspirational clips I’ve seen in a long time! The Funeral by Band of Horses kicks in at the end to tug on the emotional ties of Ralston realizing that he’s going to die alone. Very powerful film, but dry at times.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Moab Swingline
I saw this over on Backcountry.com’s blog. I knew as soon as I saw the first guy jump that it had to be posted over here because it’s one of the most badass things I’ve seen in a long time. I like their creativity here. These guys have some serious balls for pulling this off! They set up a “slackline” and I put that in parenthesis because it’s not a true slackline in this context as no one is slacking on it. They just use the webbing as the support for the massive dynamic rope swing. What an amazing video! Since there’s no canyons in Michigan, maybe I’ll go set up a highline between a couple tall trees and try it that way. Admittedly slightly less ambitious then their swingline...
Monday, February 14, 2011
Ed Stafford National Geographic's Adventurer of the Year
Amazon River credit: NASA, from Wikipedia
Thanks to our partner CampingGearTV for this opportunity. This one is super interesting! Ed Stafford, British native, becomes the first man ever known to have walked the length of the Amazon from source to sea. According to Ed in the interview, he averaged 4 miles a day through the jungle! That’s ridiculously slow! My favorite quote from this interview was when Ed describes his thought process leading up to the walk, it goes something like this:
“I thought, what part of this is physically impossible? What one mile of this walk is physically impossible? The answer was none of them, so I just did it.”
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Best Adventure Game of All Time
I know this is abstract, but bear with me here. Of all the adventure games ever made, few have ever been so far ahead of their time. If you were breathing during the late 90's, I hope you were playing The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time. And if you were, chances are it's among your top ten best adventure games ever. It is, and always will be, my number one.
As a kid, nothing inspired me more than role-playing an adventure seeking, kingdom saving, princess winning elf. In fact I think I can attribute a lot of my childhood obsession with bladed weapons, blacksmithing, magic, and the general fantasy nerdiness to this game. This is a good thing, however, as it has evolved to a life-long passion for the outdoors, adventures, and being a badass in general. I still have an obsession with making and using bladed weapons, although my chances to save a kingdom (and a princess) are limited these days.
Nothing was more fun to me in my youth then wandering the wilderness with my friends while carrying fake Master Swords, Biggoron Swords, and the Hyrulian Shield. I even bought myself an Ocarina at a renaissance fair, entirely due to my love of Link and his badass little blue potato ocarina. Really, when I start thinking back, I feel like I need to give more credit to this game for shaping my life. It has been a good role-model to me. I also need to go find more Great Fairy Fountains... and collect some chickens...
This all said, today I had an urge to YouTube some Ocarina of Time ocarina songs. People on YouTube have done a fantastic job of posting original and remixed versions of these songs, some amazing, some... not so amazing. It's truly unique how many young talented musicians have done covers of these tunes on various instruments. Today I YouTubed the Song of Storms, from the crazy music man who hangs out in the windmill, incessantly cranking out the tune on his music box in Kakariko Village. Oh, Kakariko Village... *sigh*
Here's a set of lyrics that someone posted to follow the tune of The Song of Storms and I think that, regardless of whether or not you're a Zelda fan, you'll love these lyrics. They're prefect adventure lyrics, to be sung at any time on an adventure while, perhaps, trekking across the lands or riding the prow of a ship, dazzling droplets of water splashing up in your face.
As a kid, nothing inspired me more than role-playing an adventure seeking, kingdom saving, princess winning elf. In fact I think I can attribute a lot of my childhood obsession with bladed weapons, blacksmithing, magic, and the general fantasy nerdiness to this game. This is a good thing, however, as it has evolved to a life-long passion for the outdoors, adventures, and being a badass in general. I still have an obsession with making and using bladed weapons, although my chances to save a kingdom (and a princess) are limited these days.Nothing was more fun to me in my youth then wandering the wilderness with my friends while carrying fake Master Swords, Biggoron Swords, and the Hyrulian Shield. I even bought myself an Ocarina at a renaissance fair, entirely due to my love of Link and his badass little blue potato ocarina. Really, when I start thinking back, I feel like I need to give more credit to this game for shaping my life. It has been a good role-model to me. I also need to go find more Great Fairy Fountains... and collect some chickens...
This all said, today I had an urge to YouTube some Ocarina of Time ocarina songs. People on YouTube have done a fantastic job of posting original and remixed versions of these songs, some amazing, some... not so amazing. It's truly unique how many young talented musicians have done covers of these tunes on various instruments. Today I YouTubed the Song of Storms, from the crazy music man who hangs out in the windmill, incessantly cranking out the tune on his music box in Kakariko Village. Oh, Kakariko Village... *sigh*
Here's a set of lyrics that someone posted to follow the tune of The Song of Storms and I think that, regardless of whether or not you're a Zelda fan, you'll love these lyrics. They're prefect adventure lyrics, to be sung at any time on an adventure while, perhaps, trekking across the lands or riding the prow of a ship, dazzling droplets of water splashing up in your face.
In the night
Blew a storm
Taking shadows to the shore
Lightning filled the sky
Thunder roared and cried
Close your eyes
Come along
Dance until the night is gone
Singing a song of storms
Credit: YouTube user: lostthegame1
And here's the video for the original music to the Song of Storms, Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Les Stroud | Gemini Award 2009
Unfortunately Les didn't win Best Host at the Gemini Awards. He remains one of the most under-appreciated television show hosts. Check out that Tux though, suave.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Neo Air Competitors: Peak Elite AC, Ether Elite 6, and SynMat
Don't have the money for the listed retail value for Therm-a-Rest's new NeoAir? It's $150 retail price and guess what Cascade Designs forgot to do again? They forgot to include a bag to put your NeoAir in. "That'll be $15 extra, please," says Cascade Designs in their ongoing low-blow marketing scheme. Come on guys, who sells an unfinished product? And we all know that's what an inflatable mattress without a stuff sack is: incomplete product. And if you haven't read all the bogus reviews, the frequency with which the internal baffles "pop" on the NeoAir is absolutely unacceptable for a mattress with a $150 price tag. Overall the NeoAir is too expensive, poor insulation, and terrible durability.
I'm going to do all of you NeoAir freaks a favor and expose you to a few more economical choices that rival, or surpass the features of the NeoAir. Here they are.
Pacific Outdoor Equipment Peak Elite AC
The POE AC has got the NeoAir beat hands down. It should be available early spring 2011. Here's the quick and dirty:
*Horizontal baffles allow the pad to conform to your body shape better and hold you in place
allowing the pad to be smaller while still being effective. Plus the shaved down size also shaves
weight.
Pacific Outdoor Equipment Ether Elite 6
Extremely similar to the POE Peak Elite AC, the "old" Ether Elite 6 has all the same features except it lacks the new "Radiant Heat Return" technology. So a slightly lower R Value. However the Large EE6 was priced at only $69 versus the NeoAir's (large) $169. That's a huge difference! And guess what? Pacific Outdoor Equipment didn't try to cheat us out of a stuff sack, they sell those with their products. Wow!
Exped SynMat Basic 7.5
Is now available for purchase! It's heavier than the others we've talked about but it's 3" thick instead of 2.5". Exped boasts an R Value of 4 for this mat which they rate down to -11º C (12º F). It comes in at 9.5"x5.7" packed and 71.5"x19" as a mat. It's narrower, yet, than the POE AC, and 6" narrower than the NeoAir.
Exped's sister series; the SynMat Pump is a bit heavier but has higher R Value and, you guessed it, an air pump to fill them up.
I'm going to do all of you NeoAir freaks a favor and expose you to a few more economical choices that rival, or surpass the features of the NeoAir. Here they are.
Pacific Outdoor Equipment Peak Elite AC
The POE AC has got the NeoAir beat hands down. It should be available early spring 2011. Here's the quick and dirty:
- Peak Elite AC = 15oz (L) ---> NeoAir = 19oz (L)
- Peak Elite AC has vertical baffles ---> NeoAir has horizontal baffles
*Horizontal baffles allow the pad to conform to your body shape better and hold you in place
- Peak Elite AC R Value is 4.4 under the torso and 2.5 on extremities ---> NeoAir R Value is 2.5
- Peak Elite AC pad size 20"x78"x2.5" ---> NeoAir 77"X25"x2.5"
allowing the pad to be smaller while still being effective. Plus the shaved down size also shaves
weight.
- Peak Elite AC and NeoAir are both manually inflated, meaning you must blow them up like a ballon.
- Peak Elite AC pack size 4"x12" ---> NeoAir 4.5"x11"
Pacific Outdoor Equipment Ether Elite 6
Extremely similar to the POE Peak Elite AC, the "old" Ether Elite 6 has all the same features except it lacks the new "Radiant Heat Return" technology. So a slightly lower R Value. However the Large EE6 was priced at only $69 versus the NeoAir's (large) $169. That's a huge difference! And guess what? Pacific Outdoor Equipment didn't try to cheat us out of a stuff sack, they sell those with their products. Wow!
Exped SynMat Basic 7.5
Is now available for purchase! It's heavier than the others we've talked about but it's 3" thick instead of 2.5". Exped boasts an R Value of 4 for this mat which they rate down to -11º C (12º F). It comes in at 9.5"x5.7" packed and 71.5"x19" as a mat. It's narrower, yet, than the POE AC, and 6" narrower than the NeoAir.
Exped's sister series; the SynMat Pump is a bit heavier but has higher R Value and, you guessed it, an air pump to fill them up.
Monday, September 6, 2010
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