The 51-year-old television set now wired for the digital age

With the digital deadline looming most people are forking out for the latest in cutting edge TV sets. But not antique enthusiast Richard Howard who is sticking with a set he bought 51 years ago.

Instead of buying a fancy new TV he's keeping the 1957 flame walnut encased set and has had it converted to receive digital channels. His father bought the set when he was aged eight and the television has been a cherished feature in the family home ever since.

Antique enthusiast Richard Howard bought his television for £113 in 1957.

Not only is it in perfect working order, the classic set, which enthralled Mr Howard through his boyhood years and brought him the first images of the moon landing, is now wired up to receive the 20 plus channels of the digital age.

According to Digital UK, the body coordinating the switch to digital, it is the oldest set ever to be converted to digital. The 59-year-old furniture restorer can now watch Madonna music videos and glossy Australian soaps play on the tiny 17" black and white screen.

"It was my family's first TV", Mr Howard said. "My father was walking past the store and was just taken by it. I think there were cheaper ones available but he liked the way it looked like a piece of furniture instead of just a big screen sitting in corner of the room."

Mr Howard enjoys watching Madonna music videos on the tiny 17" black and white screen.

He has even kept and framed the receipt for the £113 purchase of the Bush Television Receiver. "I was away at boarding school at the time but I remember coming home and being amazed. I think the first programme I saw on it was the Lone Ranger. "I have a lot of fond memories of Christmas time when the whole family would gather round and watch it together. I could never bear to throw it away it had too much value attached to it."

He had been unable to use the set since the late Eighties, when television pictures switched from the old 405-line format to 625 lines. But a specialist repair shop fitted an electronic converter, available only in America, so modern programmes can be shown on the 405-line screen.

The furniture restorer feared he may have to get rid of the set due to the digital switchover.

And by plugging in a Freeview box he can now see digital shows. As part of the £200 revamp, the experts also replaced 13 old capacitors, the brightness knob and a lead so the tube would keep from burning out.

The set takes ten seconds to warm up and antiques expert Mr Howard still gets the 'old TV smell' from the warming of the paxolin resin insulators.

The analogue signal is gradually being switched off across the UK and will affect Anglia his TV region in 2011.

With that in mind Mr Howard contacted Digital UK - the independent body co-ordinating switchover in the UK - who said there was no reason for his TV not to work in the digital age.

He took the set to a repair shop in Norwich and they fully restored and converted the set in a matter of weeks.

He added: "Nowadays there's a culture of forced obsolescence. We supposedly live in a hi-tech age but most modern electronic equipment you buy needs replacing after a couple of years and yet this has seen half a century and still sounds and looks great.

"I think I would have been heartbroken if they hadn't have been able to convert it."

Jon Steel at Digital UK, said: "We'd like to congratulate Mr Howard for proving that virtually any television, no matter how old, can be converted to digital.

"It's great to know that he can now look forward to many more years of happy viewing, even after the old analogue signals have been switched off."

Mr Howard's favourites include Foyles War and Waking the Dead and Inspector Morse re-runs. As well being able to receive Freeview the adapter has allowed him to relive his favourites of yesteryear on DVD.

"There were brilliant shows in the late 50s, I remember Jimmy Edwards in Whacko, CrackerJack and Dixon of Dock Green. Watching them all again on the same TV is quite a nostalgic experience."

"I watched old musical hall shows and remember laughing at George Formby and Arthur Askey with my dad.

"I also watched the news and saw events like Churchill's funeral, the assassination of John Kennedy and Neil Armstrong landing on the moon." Adding to this experience is what Mr Howard describes as 'old TV smell' caused by the heating of the paxalin insulator used to mount the electrical components inside. Mr Howard has a passion for preserving memorabilia. Along with furniture he restores classic cars and still lives in the family home his grandfather built in rural Norfolk in the 1920s.

He added: "I think it is important to respect the past otherwise people will forget it. If it weren't for eccentrics like me nothing would be preserved.

And I think that would be a very sad world."

[Via Daily Mail Reporter]

Girl Scouts

Two-Face!

See a great collection of Flash-made films here:

As always, Cold Hard Flash finds and promotes much news, knowledge and information regarding all things Flash Animation. This is a great place to see some cool animated shorts, and it's nice to see more classical animation being applied with Flash. Every year, more and more artists experiment with Flash as their primary animation tool, see the films here, and vote for your favorite.

Batmanime! Gotham Knight Mashes Bruce Lee & Memento

The Dark Knight is coming soon, but the straight-to-DVD anime Batman: Gotham Knight is thankfully coming sooner (July 8th). Feeding Bruce Wayne's superego through the animated filter of Pacific Rim cinema so far looks very sweet indeed, and new pics and news confirm that comics nerds and late adopters alike are probably going to be impressed.

On the nerd front, animated Batphiles should be pleased to know that Kevin Conroy is returning to voice Wayne, as he has for the last couple of decades in various iterations of the mythology. Adam West would probably not be pleased to know that it is Conroy's pipes that have ruled Batman's tech-noir corner of television, proving that an animated Batman is truly a resonant one. For his part, Conroy says he believes the multiple-narrative Gotham Knight

movie will resonate more than any other when it hits store shelves July 8.

"It's a really rich experience," promised Conroy. "The artwork in this film is so beautiful. It's like getting six movies in one."

And perhaps as many personas, especially now that anime and Batman have merged after being on a collision course for decades. Bruce Wayne may be voiced by Conroy, but he's also carried the weight of everyone from Michael Keaton to Christian Bale, with probably too many big names in between. But lately in the series The Batman and the new Bale iterations, Bruce Wayne has been more like Bruce Lee. He looks the part in one segment.

But Batman: Gotham Knight is freaking memes in more ways than one. For his Rashomon-like segment "Have I Got a Story For You," History of Violence screenwriter and Batman fanboy Josh Olson sampled Memento's narrative slipstreaming in honor of Dark Knight director Christopher Nolan's crossover film.


"I thought it would be fun telling the story backwards," explained Olson. "You'll notice that each time the villain appears, he seems to be gaining weapons instead of losing them. That was an intentional nod to Chris Nolan's film."

Regardless of its source material, Batman: Gotham Knight is planning for the future and giving the Dark Knight's expanding mythos some interesting twists. From a tasteful decapitation to bare-knuckle brawls and into the BatBot, this East-West détente has enough material to keep fandom occupied for awhile. Gotham Knight screenwriter and Batman regular Greg Rucka just wants them to keep their cool, especially when they bump into something that may make them nervous.

"The great thing about comics fandom," Rucka explains, "is that it's immediate. I write a novel and it'll be a year before people tell me what they think of it. Comics fans react that day."

Plus, in the age of the internet, they have more power and influence than ever. That's a trade-off that the economically sensitive producers have to deal with, one way or another.

"Comics are in many ways like soap operas, in that the fan base rests mostly in the characters," Rucka says. "Consequently, the fans can be prone to hysteria. With the prevalence of the internet, there's been this movement where everyone wants to be an insider, everyone has an opinion, and everyone wants to spread the information as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, a lot of times, the information is wrong or horribly incomplete. But these things don't exist without that fan base. They are devoted, and vocal."

Photos: Warner Brothers ©
Article Via: blog.wired.com By Scott Thill

110 Awesome Business Cards

Part 1:

Part 2:

UFO Greatest Story Ever Denied - NASA space secrets

Thanks to Chad for finding this gem.

Japanese car manufacturer Honda has begun the first commercial production of a zero-emission, hydrogen fuel-cell powered vehicle

The four-seater, called FCX Clarity, runs on electricity produced by combining hydrogen with oxygen, and emits water vapour.

Honda claims the vehicle offers three times better fuel efficiency than a traditional, petrol-powered car.

Honda plans to produce 200 of the cars over the next three years.

One of the biggest obstacles standing in the way of wider adoption of fuel-cell vehicles is the lack of hydrogen fuelling stations.

Critics also point out that hydrogen is costly to produce and the most common way to produce hydrogen is still from fossil fuels.

Analysis of the environmental impact of different fuel technologies has shown that the overall carbon dioxide emissions from hydrogen powered cars can be higher than that from petrol or diesel-powered vehicles.

'Monumental step'

The first five customers are all based in southern California because of the proximity of hydrogen fuelling stations, Honda said.

US actress Jamie Lee Curtis will be among the first to take delivery of the vehicle, the firm added.

The car will initially be available for lease rather than purchase in California, starting in July, and then in Japan later this year.

It is being built on the world's first dedicated production line for fuel-cell vehicles in Japan.

"This is an important day in the history of fuel-cell vehicle technology and a monumental step closer to the day when fuel-cell cars will be part of the mainstream," said John Mendel, executive vice president of American Honda.

How the technology works

Honda says it expects to lease a few dozen units in the US and Japan in 2008, and about 200 units within three years.

It said the cost of the car, on a three-year lease, would be $600 (£300) a month.

The FCX Clarity is based on Honda's first-generation hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle, the FCX concept car. Honda delivered around 34 of these cars, mainly in the US, of which 10 remain in use.

Booming demand

Many car makers are developing cleaner, more economical vehicles because of high fuel prices and as consumers become more concerned with the environment.

Toyota said it was struggling to keep up with booming demand for its hybrid vehicles because it was unable to make enough batteries.

Hybrid vehicles, such as Toyota's top-selling Prius, switch between a petrol engine and electric motor.

Toyota Motor Corp's executive vice president, Takeshi Uchiyamada, told the Associated Press that new battery production lines could not be added until next year.

"Hybrids are selling so well we are doing all we can to increase production," he said. "We need new lines."

Volkswagen, Europe's biggest car maker said on Monday it wanted to produce a Golf which consumed three to four litres of petrol per 100 kilometres compared with 4.3 litres currently for the most fuel-efficient model.

"In the next few years, we are not going to do without petrol and diesel motors, but the future belongs to the electric car," VW chairman Martin Winterkorn told German newspaper Bild-Zeitung.

HOW A HYDROGEN (PROTON EXCHANGE) FUEL CELL WORKS 1 Hydrogen: Constantly pumped in at negative terminal 2 Oxygen: Pumped in at opposite positive terminal 3 Catalyst: Helps electrons break free from hydrogen atoms 4 Membrane: Allows hydrogen ions through but blocks electrons 5 Circuit: Electrons flow through circuit to positive terminal 6 Electrons and hydrogen ions combine with oxygen, forming water

[Via news.co.uk]

"Ooh Girl!" - An Honest R&B Song

Picture of the Day

Last Tuesday, Lori Mehmen looked out her front door in Orchard, Iowa and this is what she saw. She had a digital camera handy, and somehow managed to take this photo before crapping her pants and taking cover. This, my friends, is why always having a camera nearby is helpful. Oh, and no one was injured during this tornado, fortunately. [NY Times]

KUNG FU PANDA'S TITLE SEQUENCE ANIMATION COLLABORATION

Design and branding studio Shine designed and produced the end title
sequence for DreamWorks Animation's new film, KUNG FU PANDA starring
Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman and Angelina Jolie.

With an atypical approach, Michael Riley, Shine's creative director,
composed images of traditional Chinese landscapes, calligraphy and 2D
character animation set in a 3D landscape all choreographed to the
classic Carl Douglas song KUNG FU FIGHTING, remixed by Cee-Lo Green,
accompanied by Jack Black. Riley's concept included reprising the film's
main characters in original cell animations by finding them hidden in a
gigantic Chinese calligraphy character. This mix of design and creative
disciplines required a tremendous collaboration between Shine, James
Baxter Animation and the DreamWorks team of animators, production
designers and directors.

The initial brief from KUNG FU PANDA's directors John Stevenson and Mark
Osborne called for a main title sequence that would serve as a bookend
to the dream sequence that opens the film. Finding inspiration in the
way traditional Chinese scrolls roll open, Riley expanded upon this
motion to develop the direction the sequence would move across the
screen. The resulting design includes 2D cell animations of the film's
"Furious Five" main characters performing signature kung fu moves, hand-
rendered Chinese calligraphy symbols and animated lens flare effects.

As the Shine team developed the sequence pacing and composition, Jen Yuh
Nelson, head of story for KUNG FU PANDA, provided story beats to
establish each character, ensuring that the beats would express each
animal's spirit and personality.

Shine's artists enjoyed access to a wealth of additional resources in
concept art renderings for the film; many of which were graphically
modified within the scrolling background animation. "Working directly
with the filmmakers was such a pleasure for us. Many of the people
involved in making this movie have been a part of its creation for five
years. Their insight into the characters was essential. They wanted the
film to have a heart, and we tried to follow that direction. I think the
collaboration led to a more emotional and visually interesting
sequence," said Riley.

View the segment here:
www.shinestudioclients.com/ShinePress/ShineKungFuPandaMovie.html

Credits:
Creative Director: Michael Riley
Exec Producer: Bob Swensen
Designer/Animator: Dru Nget
Animator: Dan Meehan
Animator: Zack Nederlander

[Courtesy of Dan Sarto]

'All I Need' By Mirco Chen

Rest In Peace Stan Winston

The father of the dinosaurs in JURASSIC PARK, of THE TERMINATOR, of PUMPKINHEAD and PREDATOR and the Monsters in MONSTER SQUAD and, of course, ALIENS, has passed on.

The man is a legend and created legends. He himself a God in his own right, sculpting Icons that will be remembered as long as people with imagination deem it prudent to tell stories to an audience.

He was a leader in practical effects work, having given opportunity to all top effects leaders today. Winston idolized the people that came before him in the field, like Ray Harryhausen, and sought to make his own iconography, inspiring yet more to follow in his lead.

The picture below is of Ray Harryhausen getting his star on the Hollywood walk of fame, something that Winston was instrumental in making happen. Also pictured is another effects legend, Rick Baker, and director Frank Darabont.

A quick anecdote to share. If you're a big MONSTER SQUAD fan you'd be glad to know that Tom Woodruff who worked with Winston on the effects and was even the man in the Gillman suit, as well as the cast and crew had a funny story involving Winston involving that film:

Apparently, Stan oversaw the film, but gave his sculptors freedom to create the creatures, so as a gag, they sculpted up Wolf Man to look exactly like Stan. Now, who knows if he ever saw himself in it and the final version in the movie IS werewolf Stan Winston.

He won Oscars for his make-up and visual effects work on ALIENS, TERMINATOR 2 and JURASSIC PARK and was nominated for his work on HEARTBEEPS, PREDATOR, EDWARD SCISSORHANDS, BATMAN RETURNS, THE LOST WORLD and AI.

And he wasn't done yet. His practical work on IRON MAN is a huge part of what made the film a success and he was working on the new Terminator movie. We can only hope that his memory is done justice by Stan Winston Studios and they keep creating icons for generations to come.


[Via Quint from aintitcool.com]

Kung Fu Panda

Jack Black heads the voice cast as Po the Panda, the laziest of all the animals in the Valley of Peace. With powerful enemies at the gates, all hope has been pinned on an ancient prophesy that a hero will rise to save the day. But among all the martial arts masters who come forward, none has shown the mark of The Chosen One ... until now. When Po unwittingly shows up in the midst of the competition, the masters are shocked to see that this unmotivated panda bears the mark. Now it is up to them to turn this gentle giant into a kung fu fighter before it's too late.


Co-starring, Dustin Hoffman voicing the role of Shifu, the by-the-book and tough-as-nails Kung Fu master, who has been given the unenviable task of turning the undisciplined Po into a kung fu fighter. Ian McShane (Deadwood) is the voice of the villainous Tai Lung, a ferociously powerful snow leopard, who breaks out of prison, intent on using his kung fu skills to destroy the Valley of Peace.


Perhaps the best thing about Kung Fu Panda is that it's an action comedy that doesn't skimp on the action. Dreamworks Animation's latest effort is the closest thing I've seen to the Pixar caliber of artistry and character acting, and it's certainly a well-made kid's film that earns high points for how directors John Stevenson and Mark Osborne clearly crafted and contemplated its look and feel with ambition and style. Anyone can make a computer-animated cartoon with fuzzy animals doing kung fu; you have to be at least a little inspired to make a computer-animated cartoon featuring fuzzy animals doing kung fu in widescreen Cinemascope. Having strong character development, surprising story acrs, beautiful landscapes, brilliant color designs, smooth and believable animation direction, a great musical score, and well-thought-out character and location designs.


Kung Fu Panda opens with a rousing, stylish action sequence, as narrator (Jack Black, in full-on Tenacious D exposition mode) explains how "Legend tells of a legendary kung fu warrior whose kung fu skills were legendary. ..." But then, the heroic panda we've seen unleashing paws of power on the big screen ... wakes up; it was just a dream. Then Po the panda (Black), whose dreams of kung fu glory are the counterpoint to his unsatisfying life, gets ready for his day of helping his father Mr. Ping (James Wong) sell noodles to the people of the Valley of Peace.


This opening sequence blew my head off! For any animation artist out there, you have to see this film even if it's just for that intro, I'm much more of a fan of classically animated films than 3D/CG, but this 2D-animated opener had my jaw drop and my unblinking eyes wide open. It's like the Genndy Tartakovsky Samurai Jack style on steroids! It's a great touch to the film as a whole, and it gives you a hint of how much this is a fantastic film for animators, artists, geeking-out kung-fu fans and nerds out there to appreciate.


Meanwhile, in the temple on the hill, the handful of trained warriors known as the "Furious Five" who've been trained under Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) waits anxiously. One of them will be named by temple master Oogway (Randall Duk Kim) as the prophesied Dragon Warrior who will save the valley from the threat of Shifu's ex-student Tai Lung (Ian McShane). Tai Lung, denied the secret of the Dragon Scroll that would have made him the Dragon Warrior years ago, went on a rampage of rage after his rejection; he's in captivity, but his return has been prophesied as well. As the crowd gathers to see who Oogway will name as the Dragon Warrior, Po abandons his post at the noodle cart, drags himself up to the temple and sneaks in. Of course, when the Dragon Master is named, it's not Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Monkey (Jackie Chan), Viper (Lucy Liu), Crane (David Cross) or Mantis (Seth Rogen) who is chosen from the ranks of the Furious Five, but instead portly, poky Po.


No one can believe Po's the Dragon Warrior -- not even Po himself; as Mr. Ping points out, "We're noodle people, Po; broth runs in our veins. ..." But, as you'd expect, Po has hidden strengths and a good heart, and he comes to believe in himself through the support of his friends and all of that, that in this case meaning fairly standard-issue kid-movie underdog story stuff. Kung Fu Panda isn't trying to re-invent any wheels here, though; instead, it tries, and succeeds, to put a nice spin on familiar kid-flick moments. Po is the sort of character -- slack, silly, gentle but goofy -- that Black can do in his sleep, so it's a nice surprise that never happens here; Black keeps Po warm and winning even in the most thinly-written moments. Hoffman's Shifu, a tiny-but-towering red panda martial arts master mammal, gets some nice line readings as well, and McShane bites into his dialogue until you can practically hear the juice running down his chin.


As for the Five, they're not given much to say; It's a shame they didn't have more lines, but the movie was all about Po and Shifu. David Cross (Crane) and Michael Dorn (Rhino, Prison Guard) have very distinct voices that I recognized soon after those character first began their dialogue. As for the rest, I had no clue who the voice actors were till the end credits. To be honest, I wouldn't have known Dustin Hoffman was Shifu if it wasn't for someone telling me prior to seeing the movie. Ian McShane was instantly recognizable as it made me think of his Swearengen character from Deadwood right away.


The fight sequences in Kung Fu Panda are actually VERY impressive -- taking advantage of the fantastic freedom of animation (with moments of obviously Anime-influenced epic action) while also being stylized and character-driven; supervising animator and storyboard artist Rudolphe Gunoden is credited as the kung fu choreographer, and his work's inspired, from little touches like anatomically informed fighting styles for all the animals in the film to big moments like a sequence where the Furious Five take on Tai Lung on a rickety, precarious rope bridge or when Shifu finally hits on the secret of how to best bring out Po's kung fu skills. The musical score made me think back to David Carradine's Kung Fu series, reminiscent of classic Shaolin temple scenes with the oriental flute playing during dramatic/spiritual moments in the film.


Animators had fun with sometimes subtle facial expressions, wild takes and awesome martial arts action, including great timing, strong poses, beautiful lighting, and convincing performances. Kung Fu Panda surprisingly ranks quite high on the scale for general visual style and strong character animation for a 3D/CG film, and it'll still provide your kids with a fairly respectable mix of action, amazement and amusement. With a production budget of $130,000,000. And a total worldwide gross of $138,000,000 on its opening weekend, it's fair to say Dreamworks has another animated hit on their hands and will prove to be a moderate to high commercial success over the next few weeks.