As an aspiring electronics geek, I am still collecting cool tools and techniques for my projects. While working on a weekend project, I stumbled upon a treasure trove containing meticulous (almost obsessively complete) advice regarding soldering and circuit board design. These videos were the perfect addition to my education, and even though I already had halfway-decent soldering technique, I have definitely improved as a result of the videos. It even inspired me to get some new tools, like a needle-tipped soldering iron and desoldering wick.
So, unless you’ve been formally trained in an EE course, I really recommend the Tangent Tutorials series of videos. Excellent work, Tangent!
TT #1: Basic Soldering Equipment – My advice on the basic equipment necessary for DIY electronics work. 27 minutes.
TT #2: Basic Soldering Techniques – How to solder thru-hole components, plus basic advice for all sorts of soldering. 9 minutes.
TT #3: Surface Mount Soldering Techniques – How to solder surface-mount components using only basic DIYer equipment. Covers SO-8 chips and 2-lead parts in 1206 and larger size packages. 14 minutes.
An award-winning animation feature by Yuri Norshtein. Winner of the following awards:
- Outstanding Film of the Year (London UK 1977)
- Winner of 2nd Prize (Sydney Australia 1978)
- Winner of 3rd Prize (Chicago USA 1977)
- Tokyo All time animation best 150 in Japan and Worldwide: Hedgehog in the Fog “№1 Animated film of all the time” (2003)
This animation is really excellent. Suddenly, I’m curious about Russian animation, and I find “Polygon”:
An animated film by Anatoly Petrov of 1978. An outstanding feature in term of realistic technique. It won the following prizes:
- Official Selection Oberhausen, Germany 1979
- First Prize Yerevan, USSR 1978
Ah – it becomes clear that these are both from the same production studio: Soyuzmultfilm. From Wikipedia:
Soyuzmultfilm (Russian: Coюзмультфильм, translated as Union Animation) is a Russian animation studio based in Moscow. Over the years it has gained international attention and respect, garnering numerous awards both at home and abroad. Noted for a great variety of style, it is regarded as the most influential animation studio of the former Soviet Union.
…and continuing:
The Studio was founded in 10 June 1936 under the name Soyuzdetmultfilm (Союздетмультфильм – abbr. from Union Children’s Animations). The name was changed to Soyuzmultfilm on 20 August 1937. Initially comprising only a few scattered workshops, Soyuzmultfilm grew quickly, soon becoming the Soviet Union’s premier animation studio. The studio produced exclusively traditional animation until 1954, when a “puppet division” was founded and the first stop motion-animated film released. The puppet division would later also make cutout-animated films.
During the Soviet era, the studio employed a maximum of over 700[1] skilled labourers and released an average of 20 films each year (the highest number was 47, in 1973).
The 60s, 70s and 80s saw the release of many films whose characters became an integral part of Soviet culture: Winnie-the-Pooh (Винни-Пух), Crocodile Gena (Крокодил Гена), Karlsson-on-the-Roof (Карлсон, который живёт на крыше), The Musicians of Bremen (Бременские музыканты), Three from Buttermilk Village (Трое из Простоквашино), Nu, pogodi! (Ну, погоди!), Hedgehog in the Fog (Ёжик в тумане), The Mystery of the Third Planet (Тайна третьей планеты) etc.
The variety of animation styles and the unprecedented degree of artistic freedom given to its many animators made Soyuzmultfilm perhaps the most diverse of the world’s major animation studios.
Soyuzmultfilm’s creativity was fueled in part by the unique conditions of the Soviet Union which made it possible for the studio to disregard the commercial appeal of its films. Because animators were paid by the Academy of Film regardless of how well or how poorly their products sold (though they were not, in fact, “sold”), they were free to pursue their artistic vision without giving a thought to finances.
Haha! Jim Henson apparently made proto-muppet commercials for a coffee company, and they are AMAZINGLY violent. A young kermit (Wilkins) keeps threatening or murdering Wontkins, all because Wontkins is unwilling to try this brand of coffee. Yes murder, including gangland-style execution by a disembodied hand, by cannon, by dynamite, and probably a few other ways in this short clip.
How is it, then, that it’s hilarious? I don’t know, but there you have it. Violence can be funny, if Jim Henson is behind it somehow.
In 1957, Jim Henson was approached by a Washington, D.C. coffee company to produce ads for Wilkins Coffee. The local stations only had ten seconds for station identification, so the commercials had to be lightning-fast — essentially, eight seconds for the commercial pitch and a two-second shot of the product.
From 1957 to 1961, Henson made 179 commercials for Wilkins Coffee and other Wilkins products, including Community Coffee and Wilkins Tea. The ads were so successful and well-liked that they sparked a series of remakes for companies in other local markets throughout the 1960s.
I am amazed by this film; it has it all. The technique is out of this world, the humor is extremely dark, and the story is great. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll watch it at the source. If you are too lazy for your own good, then watch it right here:
A video from the reunion show at Hampton Coliseum. This one is of First Tube in its entirety. What an amazing show. Unbelievable setlist from a well practiced band. For all of you who were not there, this is a taste of what went down inside the mothership on 03/06/09. More videos to follow.
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