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Star Wars Model video is pretty rare and awesome, and I don’t even really care about the franchise vs the filmmaking of the time.

Also the new videoconferencing tech is unreal.

Also, this is HEAVY on cars, so it will be a short newsletter for most of you, other than Marc, Monty, Kerry, Mark, R.J., and a few others. Hi.

It includes a few dream events in Northern California.  Also, let’s talk about pre-CGI car films. There’s a Gumball Rally clip, and then there’s the most famous of all… the recording of the dude speeding through Paris to pick up his girlfriend for brunch. It was a Merc and not a Ferarri. The engine was dubbed.

But that’s why the newsletter is badass, because you can skim it and it will never be anything but enjoyable.

SPACE

 

  • THIS IS SO BEAUTIFUL AND SO SO DOPE. Also, the guy that named this wins all the “Nailed It” Awards: This is a movie of the first numerical simulation of star formation in a massive (20,000 solar mass) giant molecular cloud with individual star formation and a comprehensive treatment of feedback, from protostellar jets, radiation in 5 frequency bands, stellar winds, and core-collapse supernovae. This makes it the first full STARFORGE simulation. This particular cloud has been nicknamed the “Anvil of Creation”. The Anvil has only just begun to blow itself apart with feedback: tune in next time to see the fireworks. Visit http://starforge.space to see more movies or learn more about the STARFORGE project.

 

SCIENCE AND DAMN NATURE YOU STILL SCARY

 

  • Relevant… I am not saying I want these people to die, but I am saying it’s weird:

There’s more Scott below.

 

This is not a photo from 180 Million years ago, but rather an artist’s conceptual drawing. Don’t allow yourself to be confused.

Fossil found of ancient squid-like creature feeding on crustacean after attack by shark-like creature

 

  • 1m30s – Google’s new holographic AR v VR Black Mirror vibin’ chat. They’ve mentioned rolling this out in prisons, and although dystopic in concept, this could improve people’s mental health GREATLY vs the stupid Zoom limitations.

 

TRAVEL & ARCHITECTURE

 

Anantara Al Jabal Al Akhdar Resort, Oman

 

andBeyond Sossusvlei Desert Lodge's private plunge pool

 

ART

  • Speaking to a friend, I realize how blessed I am to be touched by art in every respect of my life, whether music or visual mediums. To be graced with a Ruth Asawa (friend is her son, and RANDOM gave us her art for a wedding present), an Eyvind Earle (been my favorite my whole life), so much original photography (mine, others) and artistry in painting and design, it’s just glorious.

Currently, I am framing a below travel poster that a friend made (TWICE!), I am framing an 1850s tintype photo a friend did of us (HI JEN!), and another artist “friend” is getting framed… she is in the Ukraine, but painted a random Google Maps Streetview in Syria, and that’s a wild concept for art! We did a renovation, or we’d have so much more art up (we murdered all the walls). But we’re saving up… maybe a future home will have more walls to play with. =)

 

  • You know my friend in Italy does beautiful modern travel posters inspired by the retro posters of yore? Check him out!

https://www.militarytravelposters.com/

Sigonella 50 x 70 cm

 

Yokosuka - museum print, 60 x 84 cm

 

 

  • An apparently very rare video (what’s rare if it’s on youtube?) that came with a special book and DVD. This modeling video of creating the iconic stuff in Star Wars is the stuff that drives kids to become effects wizards. The work here, at the time and to this day, is magic!

 

 

MUSIC

  • J. Cole is doing a LOT here…. pretty legendary freestyle. Quite blue, if you wanna keep your ears out of naughty land.

 

 

SOCIETY & CULTURE & COMEDY & CONTENT

  • This interview is cheeky, silly, playful (on Shatner’s part), and just wonderful advice. Literally NOTHING MATTERS:

‘Take it easy, nothing matters in the end’: William Shatner at 90, on love, loss and Leonard Nimoy. https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2021/may/20/william-shatner-interview-love-loss-and-leonard-nimoy

 

  • Bill Burr is a National Treasure… w/ Conan, on Vaccine Conspiracy theorists.

 

  • Dan Harmon officially makes it to “American Treasure” with his vulnerability and neuroses as honest interpretation of reality. If you like him, Harmontown, Community, or Rick and Morty, GREAT. If you like honesty, storytelling, truth, and a well researched interview that edits out what is likely 50 minutes of stuttering and “MMM” and “AWWW” and “UHHH”, even better:

 

  • Man, old 1980s Saturday Morning Cartoon Commercials are content unto themselves… like a hot bath of nostalgia. But this kid’s career must have been ROUGH as hyped up on goofballs as he is… and jokes aside, this was a wonderful watch. YOU CAN WATCH IT RIGHT HERE RIGHT NOW. And I don’t think it’s his hand holding the tickets:

 

  • This Old Town Country Buffet 1990s training video? Me, it, all day, I watch.

 

A highly glamorized ad describes “The Made for Love” chip: “Now you and your loved one can truly come together. Every thought, every feeling shared. Your brains fully connected. A network of two.”

—> My thought is that Tom Papa has a joke, “Ladies you always say you want to know what we men are thinking. No you don’t. If you did know, You would run out of the house screaming and never return.”

 

Bloomberg News has learned that CNA Financial, among the largest insurance companies in the U.S., paid $40 million in late March to regain control of its network after a ransomware attack. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-05-20/cna-financial-paid-40-million-in-ransom-after-march-cyberattack

 

  • SCOTT IS VERY FUNNY. I know his Part I is somewhere littered in the rear view mirror of newsletters we’ve run over, but here it is again. Plus Disney one.

VEHICLES (& DRIVE FAST & CAR EVENTS!!)

For proximite humans:

July 10 2021: Want to ride along in my 1995 YJ Jeep Wrangler to San Mateo? The “Rad for Sale” 80s and 90s Car Auction website is celebrating with all the cars from the last 20 years of the 20th century! https://www.eventbrite.com/e/radwood-norcal-2021-radwood-returns-tickets-151502559233 (Thanks Kerry!)

SEPTEMBER 19th: Wanna drive fast with me in a Jaguar F-Type in Sonoma? Or go on drives, drive a dream car on a hot lap or have a tasty dinner and silent auction? OR BRING YOUR OWN CAR? https://tasteofmotorsports.com/sonoma-raceway/

  • Bring your own car to drive on the track
  • Four – 20 Minute Sessions
  • Includes Breakfast & Lunch
  • Access to the Concours Show Field
  • Access to “Demo Experience” Hot Laps (click HERE for more info)
  • 2 – Complimentary Cocktail tickets

What is the “DEMO Experience?
See the newest offerings from top brands such as Shelby, McLaren & Ferrari.

  • Talk to “Product Experts” and learn what sets these brands apart.
  • Get the opportunity to hop in the passenger seat for a few “Hot Laps” on the track with a pro driver.
  • If you are a serious buyer, you may be allowed to drive on the track (Dealers discretion of course).

 

  • Wild to see the auction sites popping up. I don’t want too many, but I like the diversity.

Of course: https://bringatrailer.com/

Demuro’s modern car site: https://carsandbids.com/

This is just “Rad” cars of 80s and 90s (thanks Kerry): https://www.radforsale.com/

 

  • Why driving 55mph is unsafe, from Gumball Rally (on a rewatch, a terrific film of various cars, sounds, and film techniques):

Michael Bannon: “Can you imagine making this trip At 55 miles an hour?”

Professor Samuel Graves: “55 miles an hour is unsafe.”

Michael Bannon: “It’s boring.”

Professor Samuel Graves: “That’s why it’s unsafe.”

Michael Bannon: “It’s fast enough to kill you, But it’s slow enough To make you think you’re safe”

 

 

  • Retracing the historic run:

 

  • Well, you can download two of the greatest car films (or watch them) from archive.net.:
Vanishing Point – Vietnam War hero Kowalski (Barry Newman) has become a pill-addicted driver for hire. Transporting a car from Colorado to California, he enlivens the journey by making a wager with his drug dealer: If the trip takes under 15 hours, Kowalski’s latest amphetamine purchase is free. But Kowalski’s recklessness on the road results in a much-publicized police chase. Radio jock Super Soul (Cleavon Little) covers the pursuit and turns Kowalski, who refuses to pull over, into a martyr for freedom. —-> https://archive.org/details/vanishingpointh.264aac
Two lane black top – Criterion collection: Drag racing east from Los Angeles in a souped-up ’55 Chevy are the wayward Driver and Mechanic (singer-songwriter James Taylor and the Beach Boys’ Dennis Wilson, in their only acting roles), accompanied by a tagalong Girl (Laurie Bird). Along the way, they meet Warren Oates’s Pontiac GTO–driving wanderer and challenge him to a cross-country race. The prize: their cars’ pink slips. But no summary can do justice to the existential punch of Two-Lane Blacktop. With its gorgeous widescreen compositions and sophisticated look at American male obsession, this stripped-down narrative from maverick director Monte Hellman is one of the artistic high points of 1970s cinema, and possibly the greatest road movie ever made. https://archive.org/details/two-lane-blacktop-1971-james-taylor-warren-oates-laurie-bird-dennis-wilson-monte-hellman-drama

 

  • Ferrari said the most beautiful car in history, and now it is also the most beautiful EV in history. This is a few years old, but I’ve been tracking this little guy for some time. They’re making more.

Jaguar E-Type Zero: Nearly 60 years after the world’s most beautiful car hit the road, the E-Type still turns heads and reduces grown men to slack-jawed schoolboys. But now, thanks to Jaguar’s growing classic division, the E-Type is not only gorgeous to look at, but also good for the planet, after being retrofitted with a zero-emissions, all-electric powertrain. There is only one right now, of course, but Jaguar says that it can convert any classic Jaguar – and change it back again too (if so desired). jaguar.co.uk https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/video/watch/jaguar-e-type-zero-review-the-worlds-most-beautiful-electric-car-british-gq

 

 

Aston Martin DB3S vs Jaguar D type

 

 

Our President is a test car driver:

By Uncle FishbitsCategories: art Astronomy books brands business Content design funny futurism movies philosophy Physics science tech Vehicles