Just came across an article by Julian Sanchez that explains what the glyphs mean that are used in the TV series Fringe just before adverts. The below picto was created by FringeTelevision.com, it illustrates the glyphs used and already looks superb.
As expected, with JJ Abrams, who hooked me with Alias, the concept is brilliant, engaging, and could prove to be just as interesting as his series Fringe.
Below is a multipart documentary about John Rendall and Anthony ‘Ace’ Bourke who purchased a lion cub from Harrods in 1969. They brought the cub up in Chelsea, London near Kings Road. Following a chance encounter with Virginia McKenna of the 1971 hit film ‘Born Free’ they were able to envisage taking the then young lion back to Kenya to release him to the wild.
It is a moving and true story that is well worth watching. The story has become a web phenomenon with the video having been viewed on YouTube by an estimated 50 million viewers worldwide!
Part 1
Part 2a
Part 2b
Part 3a
Part 3b
Part 4
The last video from above was the video that became viral on the Internet in 2008 (added is the encounter between the student that put it on YouTube and consequently met John Rendall and Ace Bourke).
Here is the extract from the book that was then published to relate in further details this extraordinary story about the two men and their lion cub:
In 2008 an extraordinary two-minute film clip appeared on YouTube and immediately became an international phenomenon. It captures the moving reunion of two young men and their pet lion Christian, after they had left him in Africa with Born Free’s George Adamson to introduce him into his rightful home in the wild.
A Lion Called Christian tells the remarkable story of how Anthony “Ace†Bourke and John Rendall, visitors to London from Australia in 1969, bought the boisterous lion cub in the pet department of Harrods. For several months, the three of them shared a flat above a furniture shop on London’s King’s Road, where the charismatic and intelligent Christian quickly became a local celebrity, cruising the streets in the back of a Bentley, popping in for lunch at a local restaurant, even posing for a fashion advertisement. But the lion cub was growing up–fast–and soon even the walled church garden where he went for exercise wasn’t large enough for him. How could Ace and John avoid having to send Christian to a zoo for the rest of his life? A coincidental meeting with English actors Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers, stars of the hit film Born Free, led to Christian being flown to Kenya and placed under the expert care of “the father of lions†George Adamson. Incredibly, when Ace and John returned to Kenya to see Christian a year later, they received a loving welcome from their lion, who was by then fully integrated into Africa and a life with other lions.Originally published in 1971, and now fully revised and updated with more than 50 photographs of Christian from cuddly cub in London to magnificent lion in Africa, A Lion Called Christian is a touching and uplifting true story of an indelible human-animal bond. It is destined to become one of the great classics of animal literature.
If you have ever thought about hiding your identity in order to view sites in the US that just display a message saying you aren’t allowed to see it this may be for you. There are technically complicated ways of doing it that are not for the faint of heart and there are solutions like HotSpot Shield that is nicely explained on the below video:
So open the doors to TV sites in the states, that allow you to see the last episode of your favourite series and whether you are from France, Germany, Spain , Italy, UK etc., Enjoy !
For those of you who follow the series ‘Mad Men’, you may have heard about the twitter story around it where characters from the series appeared on Twitter. After having been closed down by the company AMC behind the series as they were not endorsed, they were then reinstated after the following outcry from fans.
The fans behind the twittering ‘Mad Men’ discuss in an article on CNet their experience and the lessons that can be learnt from it. Two interesting quotes from the article:
First, she [Carri Bugbee] said, producers should strive to reserve the Twitter accounts for all the characters in whatever show or film they’re making. “I can’t believe that any of us would have to say that,” Bugbee said, adding that for fans, “if you have a favorite TV show, you could probably go reserve (any character’s) name on Twitter” even now.
“Ross said there are further lessons producers and marketers need to draw from the “Mad Men” Twitter experience. Perhaps most important, she suggested, advertisers need to “stop siloing.” In other words, they need to understand that to get their message out, it is necessary to spread it across a wide variety of platforms”
Update: take a look at an interview of Carri Bugbee’s interview on Ad Age
