Aesthetics of Exploration

If you need a reason why the space program is a worthy cause, (rather than "feeding people", for example) here is exhibit A.



Space exploration, like science, is art. Whatever the cost of the Hubble, it's results are much more aesthetically profound than anything Hollywood has made in recent memory.

If we get new foam rubber, or astronaut ice cream, or nanotech from NASA, that's cool too. But as long as they keep producing these amazing videos AND GIVING THEM AWAY FOR FREE, UNRESTRICTED USE TO ANY PERSON ON EARTH, they can keep using tax money as far as I'm concerned.

Hollywood, on the other hand, should probably give all the money they would have spent on the next new teen buddy picture to their Darfur campaign.

[video discovered courtesy of the always excellent Posthuman Blues]

Tintin and the Clone Vat

So there is a Tintin movie being made by Spielberg--the plot seeming to be The Secret of the Unicorn. I believe this was actually the first Tintin book I ever read--maybe the most popular, or widely known, or something?

Anyway, the official site is inexplicably down, so I can't see if there is a trailer.

However, on YouTube there seems to be a battle of the unofficial trailers.

The longest, and most impressive:



The action version (is the dude with the amulet supposed to be the Captain?):



And the quick, euro-car commercial version:



Seeing as about half of new films seem to be remakes these days, I kind of like the fan interpretation as a primer. I would be totally willing to see the first one as the actual look for the film. (I thought it was real as I started to watch it--shows how competent in French I am.) It's a nice take on the minimal realist style of Herge's artwork. I especially like the desert scenes; they look very much like the frames of the comic. Just improve Haddock's beard makeup a little bit, and we'd be good to go.