You can also listen to this audio file by clicking on the Play Button
7/21/2024
Rooftopping couple - Skywalkers official trailer (video)
You can also watch the video by clicking on the Play Button
Rooftopping - a couple's hobby
What was your most exciting first date? In 2016, two young Russians known for their dangerous “rooftopping” adventures — where they illegally climbed high landmarks like La Sagrada Familia and the Eiffel Tower — skipped the usual date and instead climbed China’s tallest incomplete skyscraper, the 600-meter-high Goldin Finance 117.
At the time, Ivan Beerkus invited Angela Nikolau, one of the few women in the rooftopping community, to join him to create social media posts. They didn't know it would be the start of a long romantic and creative partnership. They have traveled thousands of miles and climbed many high places together since then.
Eight years later, the documentary film “Skywalkers: A Love Story” shows their unique romance through hundreds of hours of footage. Directed by Jeff Zimbalist, who has rooftopping experience himself, “Skywalkers” premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January and is now on Netflix. The film follows the couple as they take on tougher challenges and manage their relationship.
“Skywalkers” combines the couple’s own footage with the film crew’s original footage. Rooftopping is risky, both because it's dangerous and because it's illegal. As this urban “sport” becomes more popular on social media, several deaths have occurred.
For “Skywalkers,” the film crew followed Beerkus and Nikolau but prioritized safety. Zimbalist stressed the importance of the team’s safety measures to avoid any danger or distractions.
“We told Ivan and Angela, ‘Please, don’t do anything extra dangerous,’” Zimbalist said. “For us, this movie isn’t about whether you succeed at a climb; it’s about whether you trust each other.”
Nikolau, the daughter of circus performers, says in the film that pushing her limits is something she learned from childhood. She trained as a gymnast and made acrobatics her specialty in rooftopping. Despite this, Nikolau says she is afraid of heights and must constantly face this fear to continue her work.
“The fear never really went away; I just got better at facing it,” she explains in one clip.
For Beerkus, who climbed buildings alone in Moscow for years, rooftopping brings mental clarity.
“The higher I went, the easier it was to breathe,” he says, remembering his early climbs. “This extreme life and expanded state of mind are essential for me.”
Zimbalist acknowledges the dangers of rooftopping and says his film is not about “defending what they do against critics.” He hopes that “Skywalkers,” in addition to its message about love and trust, shows the hard work and planning behind the rooftoppers’ social media posts.
“With any dangerous activity, social media often hides the difficulty,” he said. “Telling the story behind it helps show how challenging and dangerous these things are.”
Although the makers of “Skywalkers” don’t want you to climb skyscrapers, their film encourages us to dare and say “yes” to the things that scare us the most.
From CNN (edited)
21,000 year-old fossilized bones found in Argentina
You can also listen to this audio file by clicking on the Play Button below
7/07/2024
Keir Starmer, Britain’s next prime minister (captions)
You can also watch the video by clicking on the Play Button
Don't come to Oslo
“I wouldn’t come here, to be
honest.”
That’s
the opening line to a tourism ad from Oslo’s official marketing
agency, VisitOslo. The commercial
follows a native Oslovian around the city as he questions whether Oslo is “even
a city,” while lamenting the area’s walkability and beach access, and
complaining about public amenities.
The
ad has quickly become popular on the internet for its dry humor and reverse
psychology. But, in a busy travel season, full of influencing and endless
social media vacation photos, what’s most refreshing about the new ad is its
rejection of an Instagrammable travel experience in favor of a more authentic
one.
Oslo’s
tourism ad takes an understated approach to its visuals. It appears to be shot
on a handheld camera, and while the locations are aesthetically pleasing, it’s
not trying to hit you with a series of Oslo’s tourist attractions. Some shots
are just pretty streets or a view of the harbor. Taken together, the
videography and scenery convey a city that’s cultured and interesting, yet
serene.
That
sense of simple pleasure is, ironically, amplified by the narrator’s insistence
on pointing out supposed “downsides” to the town: While sitting in a beautiful
restaurant, he describes Oslo as “a village”; he points out that it only takes
30 minutes to walk across town; and while standing in front of Edvard
Munch’s The Scream, he notes that “It’s not exactly the Mona
Lisa.”
The
ad positions Oslo as a place where embracing simple pleasures can be, well,
simple—and where long lines aren’t the barometer for beauty. “Everything is
just so available, you know?” our narrator complains. “There’s no
exclusiveness.”
The
campaign comes at a time when other major European cities are hiking up fees
for tourists, or even actively discouraging them from visiting. The trend,
dubbed "tourismphobia", stems from the
countless issues that accompany annual overcrowding when hordes of visitors flock
to local hot spots. In some cities, tourists have even been caught trespassing
in private homes and on balconies to take photos. Residents in places such as
the Canary Islands and Binibeca, on Spain’s Menorca island, have been
protesting en masse, while cities in Italy, France, and Portugal have
instituted additional monetary fees or fines for tourists.
Oslo,
it seems, is still interested in welcoming visitors this summer—but it has a particular
kind of tourist in mind - responsible tourists, especially those who will
respect local culture and uphold Oslo’s goal to become carbon neutral by 2030.
From Fast Company
7/01/2024
Why is it so hard to break a bad habit? TED Talk
You can also watch the video by clicking on the Play Button
U.S. will receive first Chinese pandas in 20 years
San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance leaders joined esteemed dignitaries and conservation leaders in China for a farewell ceremony honoring Yun Chuan and Xin Bao, the two giant pandas coming to San Diego Zoo. pic.twitter.com/u16ujsIjU0
— San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance (@sandiegozoo) June 26, 2024
Two giant pandas are headed to the United States from China — an operation involving a motorcade, a chartered flight, a dedicated team and a customized menu.
Yun Chuan and Xin Bao are the first pair of pandas
to enter the United States in more than two decades, and will live at the San
Diego Zoo in California.
Before their big move, the pair attended a farewell
ceremony in their honor in China’s Sichuan Province on Wednesday, which U.S.
and Chinese officials attended along with San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance
President and CEO Paul Baribaul and Todd Gloria, San Diego mayor.
Three-year-old female panda Xin Bao is “gentle and
well-behaved,” while male panda Yun Chuan, four, is “smart and lively,” the
China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda said in a statement,
adding that the duo will enjoy “carefully prepared fresh bamboo , fruit,
vegetables, and specially made bread” during their flight.
The duo will also be accompanied by several
experienced nutritionists and vets, and once at the zoo, the Chinese experts
will stay for around three months to help the pair through the quarantine and
adjustment.
The pandas’ relocation is part of ongoing efforts between the two nations to protect the mammals. Pandas are no longer considered endangered but their status is listed as “vulnerable,” according to The World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
The pandas will be given “several weeks” to adjust to their new surroundings. Then,
they will go on display to members of the public.
WWF estimates that just 1,860 giant pandas remain in the
wild, facing threats that include climate change, loss of food supplies and
habitat fragmentation.
“Although the conservation status of the giant
panda is improving, there is still much work needed to ensure healthy and flourishing populations,” the statement
said.
The loan of the two pandas will open a new round of
panda conservation cooperation between the United States and China. The China Wildlife Conservation
Association hopes conservation efforts between the two countries will also lead to
improvements in managing panda diseases, and help promote “friendship between
Chinese and overseas countrieses.”
It is not just San Diego that is eagerly waiting for a
panda delivery.
Later this year, two new giant pandas will arrive
in Washington, the Smithsonian’s National Zoo announced last month.
China’s pandas are so popular in Washington
that one Chinese ambassador previously
joked: “There are
actually two Chinese ambassadors in Washington: me and the panda cub at the
National Zoo.”
From The Washington Post (edited)
China will send two pandas to the U.S. (video)
You can also watch the video by clicking on the Play Button below
Kansai International Airport (audio)
You can also listen to this audio by clicking on the Play Button below
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)