The main difference of seeing the TED talks in this conference type structure instead of just online, is that you discover and notice the different themes and structures of the talks. For instance on the first day, there were two sets of session slots: the first called What We Know, the second Seeing Is Believing?. While they’re not all exactly about the same subject, they all are connected in some way or another, and it’s great for your mind just to wander around for 1.5 hours within one related topic, but with different views.

Yesterday there were 12 talks/performances, and I have to admit I did zone out a bit at a certain moment. Not all TED talks are interesting to everyone, but the beauty of TED is that everybody should find something within them that will spike their interest. The talks that really stood out for me were the following:

Alain de Botton: the world we live in is a meritocracy; if you have talent, you’ll get to the top, your position in life is merited and deserved. Because of that our failures “hurt” more than they used to; formerly 200, 300 years ago, it was God/the universe/fate that caused you to fail. Nowadays we take much more responsibility for the decisions in our life and where we end up in life.

Willard Wilgan: Wigan is a microsculptor, who creates miniscule sculptures that fit on the head of a pin. He explained how he got into it, and showed some of his amazing creations. There’s an exhibition going on at the moment here in London; I’m thinking of organizing a geek trip to it (let me know in the comments if you’re interested).

James Geary: Geary is an aphorist; he loves short, witty sayings that are known as aphorisms (I had to look up the definition: “a pithy observation that contains a general truth”). He gave a couple of his favourites, like “Mirrors would do well to reflect alittle before throwing back images.“, “Baldness is the gradual transformation of the head into an ass, first in shape and then in content.“, “A weekend wasted is not a wasted weekend.” While juggling Geary presents, the five laws of aphorisms: 1. brief, 2. definitive, but not necessarily true, 3. personal, 4. philosophical, 5. it must have a twist.

Steve Truglia: as a Hollywood stuntsman, Steve has done his fair share of amazing dare-devil stunts; being set on fire, skydiving, driving a car through a loop de loop. But now he wants to do the biggest stunt on earth: jumping from the edge of space. Steve first tells us about the history of stunts, and how technology has helped moved the art from taking dangerous risks to being in control of the safety at all times. In his Project Space Jump, Steve wants a helium balloon to take him to 120.000 feet, where he’ll jump down. The main challenge was developing a special space suit; one that’s lighter, more flexible and cheaper than the current NASA suits.

I tried to summarize the talks as best as I could, but some of them (especially the first one from de Botton) was much more deeper than only this. All of these should be released on the TED website one day. That’s the problem with TED though; you’ll never know exactly when they’ll release certain videos (they’re still releasing talks from 5 years ago). Anyhow, these are definitely ones you should check out once they’re available online.

For more TED Talks, check out the TED website

This T-shirt from Threadless is just brilliant:

If you don’t get it, you might have to read up on the Three Wolf Moon tee.

I’ve posted quite a lot of TED talks in the past on this blog; they’re great presentations, and fantastic resources to learn and hear about interesting subjects. I would love to be able to attend a TED conference in real life someday, but that would mean I should a) earn a lot of money, of b) become famous (this nudges more to the “web”/academic famous). Although I may still be far from attending such an event in real life, I did have the chance to attend the live stream of the conference here in London, organized by Nokia.

I’ve signed up for 3 of the 4 days, the Tuesday through to Thursday. Yesterday was the first day of presentations, and most of them were pretty amazing. Surprisingly, one of the most inspiring talks was from Gordon Brown, showing a more human side of himself than I think I’ve seen from him before. Instead of me blabbing on about what he talked about, just take a moment and listen to his talk yourself:

[Watch on MissGeeky]

For more TED Talks, check out the TED website

Episode 127: *tweet*

Beautiful little animation about a tiny robot:

[Watch on MissGeeky.com]

It’s a bit depressing when a new sci-fi series opens with “From the producer of Grey’s Anatomy”. Yeah, that’s not exactly what I’m hoping for when I hear “sci-fi”. I love Grey’s Anatomy, but basically it’s just a soap set in a hospital. So what can we expect from this? A soap set in space?

The description from ABC also doesn’t seem that hopeful:

Four women and four men hurtle through space with nothing to do for six years and eight billion miles, except maybe solve a powerful and awesome mystery. Maybe, just maybe, some of them will even hook up. How cool is that?

Defying Gravity is a sexy, provocative thriller set in the very near future against the backdrop of our solar system, in which the eight astronauts from five countries undertake a mysterious six-year international space mission on the spaceship Antares.

They can’t run from karma, however, as their past actions reveal intimate and interconnected relationships that have a strange effect on the present. As the astronauts travel towards Venus, we travel into their past with flashbacks to earlier years from the grueling selection and training process. What could have happened?

Maybe there is something to this fate thing after all.

Hmm, it could turn out great, but I’m not keeping my hopes high. It just doesn’t sound right. And here’s the trailer:

Defying Gravity – 2 Hours Series Premiere: Sunday August 2nd

I’m adoring these Giuseppe Zanotti zip-fastening ankle boots:

Turns out though they’re £690. Eek!

Via Shoelust

It’s been ages ago since I actually saw this movie, but it’s one of those rare movies that deserves a bit more exposure than it has so far received.

The Fall is set in Los Angeles in 1915 and revolves around Alexandria, a five-year-old girl, who wanders around a hospital after breaking her arm. There she meets Roy, a Hollywood stunt man who is paralyzed after an ill-fated attempt at impressing a woman. Roy tries to convince Alexandria to bring morphine pills to him, by spinning her a wondrous tale of bandits, princesses and far away kingdoms.

The main reason you should watch this movie is for its visuals. The Fall is gorgeous, and I wish it had gotten a wider release in the cinemas; this is a movie I would have looooved to see on a huge screen. Director Tarsem Singh made this movie during the course of four years, visiting and shooting in over 20 countries to create this beautiful spectacle. This movie contains some of the most stunning cinematography I’ve ever seen, and it’s truly something you must watch at least once.

The weakness of The Fall though lies in its plot. While the premise of a story world within a story sounds great, its execution here isn’t that tidy. I was expecting much more of a fantastical complex story, maybe a touch of romance, a story that matches the beauty of its visuals. It’s still an okay movie, but it would have been so much more memorable and perfect if the tone of the story matched up with this gorgeous fantasy world.

Lee Pace, who shot this before starring in Pushing Daisies, is terrific as his scheming bedridden character. Even though he’s manipulating this sweet 5 year old girl, you can emphasize with him and understand why he’s doing what he’s doing. This was Catinca Untaru’s (the five-year-old Alexandria) first movie, and the director and crew conspired in a lot of the scenes to get a realistic performance from her; most of her reactions and lines are completely spontaneous. A lot of other people loved her “refreshingness”, but to be very honest I found her a bit annoying.

The Fall is a beautiful movie that deserves to be watched on a screen as large as possible. Even though the story isn’t completely up to scratch, the gorgeous visuals are well worth sitting down for an hour of two.

The Fall is available for £4.98 on Amazon.co.uk and for $19.99 on Amazon.com.

Episode 126: *roar*

An archaeologist makes an amazing discovery underneath the ice:

[Watch on MissGeeky.com]

Interesting links for July 8th through July 18th:

• How 16 Electronics Companies Got Their Names – I somehow just always assumed that a lot of these companies were just named after someone, but most of them have pretty interesting origins.
• The Wertzone: Multimedia storytelling in support of TVs and movies – Great article about how storytelling evolved from just one medium to multiple media. Formerly everything other than the main movie/tv show wasn't considered cannon (just filler). For example, anything that happened in the Star Trek books never happened in the TV show. But slowly that changed, with other platforms being used as part of the story. I loved Babylon 5, but I didn't know that all Babylon 5 books and comics are actually part of the complete story. Or that the answer to "What do the numbers mean in Lost?" has actually already been answered in the ARG.
• 10 Things We’ve Learned From Failed Threequels – Film School Rejects – The sequel to a sequel: there aren't really that many good ones out there. Here's a great list of 10 things those movies do wrong.
• iPhone Apps For Movie Geeks | /Film – I don't have an iPhone yet, but this is a handy list of movie apps for those who have one. I wonder though it there are any UK based apps out there?

Coco Avant Chanel: Thee story of Coco Chanel’s rise from obscure beginnings to the heights of the fashion world. Release Date: July 2009 (UK), September 2009 (US)

Despicable Me: A trio of orphan girls cause the normally deplorable and evil Gru to rethink his plan to steal the moon. Release Date: July 2010 (US), October 2010 (UK)

Cemtary Junction: Cemetery Junction, set in 1970s England, follows three blue-collar friends who spend their days joking, drinking and chasing girls. Freddie (Christian Cooke) wants to leave their working-class world but cool, charismatic Bruce (Tom Hughes) and lovable loser Snork (Jack Doolan) are happy with life the way it is. Release Date: April 2010 (UK)

An Education: A coming-of-age story about a teenage girl in 1960s suburban London, and how her life changes with the arrival of a playboy nearly twice her age. Release Date: October 2009 (UK, US)

Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief: A young boy discovers he’s the descendant of a Greek god and sets out on an adventure to settle an on-going battle between the gods. Release Date: February 2010 (UK, US)

Whip It!: In Bodeen, Texas, the indie-rock loving Bliss Cavendar (Ellen Page) finds a way of dealing with her small-town misery after she discovers a roller derby league in Austin and tries to join as Babe Ruthless. Release Date: October 2009 (US)

 @ Yahoo! Video