Eclipsing the Sun

Skywatchers throughout much of Europe, North Africa, and Central Asia, were treated to the first eclipse of the new year on January 4, a partial eclipse of the Sun. But traveling to the area around Muscat, capital city of Oman, photographer Thierry Legault planned to simultaneously record two eclipses on that date, calculating from that position, for a brief moment, both the Moon and the International Space Station could be seen in silhouette, crossing the Sun. His sharp, 1/5000th second exposure is shown here, capturing planet Earth's two largest satellites against the bright solar disk. As the partial solar eclipse unfolded, the space station (above and left of center) zipped across the scene in less than 1 second, about 500 kilometers from the photographer's telescope and camera. Of course, the Moon was 400 thousand kilometers away. Complete with sunspots, the Sun was 150 million kilometers distant. Photo by Thierry Legault

Wingsuit Basejumping

I showcased these human-flying-squirrels a couple years ago, here's some new footage, it still blows my mind.

Rolling Stone 1983

Man In A Blizzard

Inspired by Dziga Vertov’s Man With a Movie Camera,  Jamie Stuart made a short film about last month's blizzard in New York.




Not surprisingly, the short is being met with critical acclaim.

R.I.P. Bill Erwin

Calvin

The Art of Tom Gauld

Tom Gauld is a cartoonist and illustrator based in London.

The Art of Sung Jin Kim

 

This Korean painter of 43 years gives us a collection of impressively photo realistic artwork, check out his site.

Jim Lee x Neil Gaiman

Neil Gaiman asked Jim Lee to illustrate one of his poems, the result is pretty stunning.  “100 Words” is a 10x28″digital print, has an edition of 750, and costs $50.  Visit Neverwear.net.
Click the image for a larger view:

The Making of "Nightmare Before Christmas" and "Corpse Bride"

Camera on a Spinning Two-Handed Sword

Studio Ghibli Layout Designs

Check out this crazy art-book published specifically for the Studio Ghibli Layout Designs Exhibition. Quite a rare book and it contains very inspirational character and BG layout drawings by Miyazaki and Takahata. Great for the aspiring hand drawn animator, board artist, or BG designer! There some more images here and here.

Voice Actor - Phil Harris

Starting off this new weekly Flooby Nooby series of articles is some information on a range of popular to lesser-known voice actors. Hopefully this might bring just a bit more awareness to the art of the voice-over artist.

I'll begin this week with the legendary Phil Harris.
June 24, 1904 – August 11, 1995) was an American singer, songwriter, jazz musician, actor and comedian. Though successful as an orchestra leader, Harris is remembered today for his recordings as a vocalist, his voice work in animation and as a pioneer in radio sitcoms, first with Jack Benny, and then in a series in which he co-starred with his second wife, singer-actress Alice Faye, for eight years.

He worked as a vocalist and voice actor for animated films, lending his distinctive voice to the Disney animated features The Jungle Book (1967) as Baloo, The Aristocats (1970) as Thomas O'Malley, and Robin Hood (1973) as Little John.

The Jungle Book was his greatest success in the years following the end of his radio career. As Baloo the Bear, he sings one of the film's showstoppers, "The Bare Necessities," a performance that introduced Harris to a new generation of young fans who had no awareness of his radio fame. Harris also joins Louis Prima in "I Wanna Be Like You," delivering a memorable scat singing performance.

The Aristocats features Harris as alley cat Abraham de Lacey Giuseppe Casey Thomas O'Malley, who joins in the film's showstopper, "Ev'rybody Wants to Be a Cat," with Scatman Crothers. In Robin Hood, Harris's Little John sings the popular anti-Prince John tune "The Phony King of England."





Here's his credit list on Voice Chasers.