Posts tagged reference

Mental Floss: The Origins Of All 30 NBA Team Names

In lieu of actual hardwood action, and since I’m way bored with “ongoing negotiations” and the standoff between rival camps of spoiled rich fucks, you get trivia.

Chicago Bulls

According to the Chicago Bulls Encyclopedia, team owner Richard Klein was brainstorming nicknames for his new franchise in 1966 and wanted a name that portrayed Chicago’s status as the meat capital of the world. Klein was considering Matadors and Toreadors when his young son exclaimed, “Dad, that’s a bunch of bull!” The rest is somewhat dubious history.

And this one is more about the Buffalo Braves mention than anything about the (still) lowly Clips. Those were dark fan days in the Niagara Frontier when the team pulled up stakes, shucked the name of their birth and moved west. Still have my Ernie D. and McAdoo autographs to remind me of the good times, though.

L.A. Clippers

When the NBA’s Buffalo Braves moved to San Diego in 1978, the owners wanted to rebrand the team with a new nickname. They settled on Clippers, a popular type of ship during the 19th century. San Diego had been home to the Conquistadors and the Sails of the ABA during the 1970s. Donald Sterling bought the Clippers during the 1981-82 season and relocated them to his native Los Angeles in 1984. He lost all respect in San Diego but kept the Clippers name.

Guardian: The Zombie Map Of The World

According to references in Google Maps. (via)

(Image: Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford)

The results either provide a rough proxy for the amount of English-language content indexed over our planet, or offer an early warning into the geographies of the impending zombie apocalypse - Mark Graham, Zerogeography.net

Ruh-roh. And here I am… way behind on my survival bunker construction, too.

A Short History Of American Cinematography

An in-focus and properly exposed filmmaking tech geekout.

LA Times: Some Guidelines On How To Be A True Angeleno

By no means “official,” but the last entry pretty much represents the best approach:

10. Define it your own way. It’s a big city, with lots of different worlds within it. I’m just one person. Make your own list. Add to mine.

Art Of Foley

Since the 1930s, the work of the Foley Artist has been an important part of film and television soundtracks. Capturing every audible nuance of an actor’s movements, we toil to recreate reality and make it sound better!

The Art of Foley is a short tutorial designed to educate and inspire those interested in the craft of film sound effects.

Hollywood sausage being made, and well-presented here. Brought back fond memories of producing live radio drama over my college radio station’s airwaves.

This site reminded me of a functional “Toolkit To Design Impact Sounds” art project from London-based designer, Chiara Onida, via. Probably could’ve use this way back when. Luckily, last-minute air time improvisation desperation led to some fairly winning aural recreations.

Toolkit to Design Impact Sounds, by Chiara Onida (Image © Chiara Onida)

Chicago Airport Music Tracker

You’re traveling through O’Hare, maybe Midway. Your flight’s been delayed… again. You eat another overpriced meal at the neon-gasm food court thunderdome. Amid the grating gate call overlap, you hear a tune piped through the loudspeakers you can’t get out of your head all the way to your final destination.

Now you can find out what it was, thanks to the Chicago Music Commission.

AdViews

…a digital archive of thousands of vintage television commercials dating from the 1950s to the 1980s. These commercials were created or collected by the ad agency Benton & Bowles or its successor, D’Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles (DMB&B).

Be still, my consumerist, ad junkie, vidiot heart. It’s not like I don’t watch enough television already, now this. (Via)

Frame grab from 1970’s Doan’s Pills spot. (Image via Adviews)

Time.is

I miss those wasted minutes back in the day dialing the phone for the correct time.

So what if I wore a wrist watch. You know the one… with the 2” leather strap band and the dual-buckle.

Though the telcos disconnected that service some time ago, you can still wax nostalgic by letting your fingers do the walking to the U.S. Naval Observatory, at (202) 762-1401. 

IFC: The 50 Greatest Opening Title Sequences Of All Time

Yeah, any “… of All Time” compilation has built-in subjectivity, but the authors make pretty solid arguments for #1-5.

A sampling of imagery from IFC’s list. Can you name the films? (Image: IFC.com)