Crowdfunding for the San Diego Opera

The San Diego Opera announced on April 25th that they would turn to crowdfunding in order to help fund their 2015 season.  They set an initial goal of a million dollars.  As of today, they are well over 75% to goal.  The San Diego Opera is the first opera company to turn to crowdfunding as a means to supplement fundraising.

Time Lapse Technology to View the Unseen Universe

In a TED presentation this past weekend, Filmmaker Louis Schwartzberg presented clips from his new film “Mysteries of the Unseen World.”  Schwartzberg uses time-lapse technology to merge Science and Art and to present images that the naked eye would otherwise not be able to see.  You can see a video of the presentation here courtesy of the Huffington Post (it’s well worth the 7 minutes and 30 seconds of your time).  It should come as no surprise that I loved the air traffic data patterns.  I also thought the spider web images were incredible.  If you like the video, I’d also recommend checking out the show Cosmos on Fox, if you haven’t already.  Cosmos also utilizes stunning images of space and the universe while educating viewers about it. And the great part about the show is that it airs on Hulu the next day, so you can watch it anywhere in the world.

Censorship in Russia

Russian President Putin just signed a law censoring the use of curse words in the arts including books, music, and movies. The law goes into effect July 1 and will require distributors to clearly label any videos and books which contain curse words or else risk losing their license.  Art and the ability of people to express themselves through various forms of art without restriction is essential to free speech and democracy.  This law indicates Russia is stepping one more foot in the direction away from democracy.