Germany for Brazilians and Brazil for Germans

Looking at the great German-Brazilian exchange of comic artists which is beautifully documented on the Osmose blog of the organizing Goethe-Institut reveals that Germany through the eyes of a Brazilian comic artist means Bikes and Brazil in the perception of a German comic artist means Fruits.

All three Brazilian artists in Germany, Amaral in Hamburg, Paula Mastroberti in Berlin and João Montanaro in Munich chose Germans on bikes as a Leitmotif (for example, here, here and here) . Conversely, all three German artists in Brazil, Aisha Franz in Salvador, Birgit Weyhe in São Paulo and Mawil in Porto Alegre repeatedly get inspired by the fresh fruits of Brazil (for example here, here and here).

Mawil Goes Brazil

Wonderful comic artist Mawil recently left Berlin and is currently traveling Brazil. After some time in the north-east he seems to have a month-long residency at the Goethe Institut in Porto Alegre at the moment before attending for example the comic fair Gibicon in Curitiba at the end of the month.

His brilliant impressions and beautiful sketches can be found at http://blog.goethe.de/osmose/.

--- Update 13.10.12: The Osmose Blog is bigger than I thought and it includes sketches from 3 Brazilian comic artists in Germany and 3 German ones in Brazil. Hence, Mawil might not have visited Salvador (yet) and the drawing I uploaded was by Aisha Franz.

RSA Animate: Dan Ariely - The Truth About Dishonesty

There is a beautiful new RSA Animate clip by behavioral economist Dan Ariely on "the circumstances under which someone would lie and what effect deception has on society at large".

It includes some references to the great Irish 90's sitcom Father Ted, starring the late Dermot Morgan who would've turned 60 this year.

OZ Portrait by Court Illustrator

I have a lot of respect for court illustrators - they have to be quick, thorough and serious. I just discovered the great drawings by Christine Böer who attended some of the most important trials in the German history of the past few years. My favourite: The court portrait of OZ, the legendary graffiti tag "artist" from Hamburg who just recently has been put on trial yet another time - after having spent already 8 years in prison for tagging.

Emerging Adulthood and Gradschool

But also:

The 20s are like the stem cell of human development, the pluripotent moment when any of several outcomes is possible. Decisions and actions during this time have lasting ramifications.
[...]
"In emerging adulthood, if you spend this time exploring and you get yourself on a pathway that really fits you, then there’s going to be this snowball effect of finding the right fit, the right partner, the right job, the right place to live. The less you have at first, the less you’re going to get this positive effect compounded over time. You’re not going to have the same acceleration". (from: What Is It About 20-Somethings?, NY Times, August 18, 2010)

Walt Disney & Salvador Dalí - Destino (via Ley)

"Destino is a short animated cartoon released in 2003 by The Walt Disney Company. Destino is unique in that its production originally began in 1945, 58 years before its eventual completion. The project was a collaboration between American animator Walt Disney and Spanish painter Salvador Dalí..."

Info taken from wikipedia (cf. also imdb).

You can watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzzZa5o1q5k

Or Weitzman's Art Blog

Check out Or Weitzman's cute, non-offensive caricatures in his online portfolio. He is an amazingly talented young Israeli artist with great and quick eye and hand.

Incredible Intermezzo: MUTO - a wall-painted animation by BLU (via thinkingmachine)

I already encountered one of BLU's amazing wall-painted animations at last year's Backjumps live issue in Berlin, but this one is even more mind-blowing: MUTO -- An ambiguous animation painted on public walls (in Buenos Aires and Baden) by BLU (via thinkingmachine).

'Allo 'Allo Hitting Germany

According to the London tube press (see picture) and some more serious journalistic organs, one of the funniest British comedy series, 'Allo 'Allo, is supposed to be aired in Germany -- finally.
It is set in Nazi-occupied France, was released in 1982 and went on for 10 years making fun of the British, the French and--of course--"ze Germans".
Apparently there are some doubts if the German viewers think it's funny--I for my part think it's hilarious and I know that Germans usually enjoy the representation of Germans and Germany in foreign fictional media...
Two other great examples: Herr meets Hare, a cartoon from 1945 in which Bugs Bunny meets some Nazis in the Black Forest (link to the video), and the classic of Charlie Chaplin as The Great Dictator Hynkel (whole movie and a cool snippet).

By the way, I was surprised to recognize René as the doorman in Terry Gilliam's Brazil the other day.

Simpsons and Neuroscience/Neuroimaging

I recently watched a great new episode of the Simpsons entitled Eternal Moonshine of the Simpson Mind. It mocks the Michel Gondry flic that bears a similar title (I really want to go and watch his new movie Be Kind Rewind with Mos Def, btw).
Anyways.
What the Simpsons episode made me think of is in how many neuroscientific talks Simpson brain pictures are used as jovial illustrations. I wonder if this also holds for other disciplines or if there is something specific about the mind/brain and the Simpsons family/writers...
So here are two stills from the episode and I'm waiting for the moment when I see somebody using them in a talk.

The Story of Stuff (thanks to Janna)

I only watched the first third so far, but I'm already convinced I should post this: The Story of Stuff with Annie Leonard.
A neatly animated 20-min movie about the chain of consumption and--more importantly--its huge flaws. Watch it before the purchase of your Christmas presents and get influenced.

Just Referencing PhD Comics

Wow, time's flying again--because of research and the gorgeous city of Berlin.
Check this new hilarious PhD Comics strip on an assessment of your research work.
Great stuff!

Sinfest Recommendation 06 08 2007

Hehe--Tatsuya Ishida did it again.
Today's sinfest clip is just great.
I should definitely read it more often. Too bad it doesn't have a feed.

Sentimental Paris -- Ratatouille (again)

Funny--
I recently met a guy who asked if it's hard for me to update my blog and I answered "never!".
This month, however, the interpost periods get longer and longer. I apologize but these are my last days in Paris...
Which brings me to the topic:
Go and watch the new Pixar flic Ratatouille if you can (I posted earlier about it). I had the pleasure to watch in a French 'première' last Sunday and it's honestly great (already top50 on imdb.com). There's also a 9 minute preview on the website. Check it out!

Oh I'm detecting nuttiness alright!

Simpsons History of Mind and Matter

"What is mind? No matter!
What is matter? Never mind!"

Classic (apparently) 1st Simpsons episode and therefore Bart Simpson's first words ever prove he's a cognitive neuroscientist.
Homer's first words however, prove he's a (cognitive) nihilist.
But that's why we love him.

Maurits Cornelis Hammer Video Train of Thought

This Family Guy snippet is by far the funniest implementation of the old wordplay with Maurits Cornelis Escher's initials M.C.



Another one I recently thought about is the self-disqualifying rapper a/k/a "MC Square'"derived from Einstein's monster formula "E=mc^2", which, by the way, is also the song title of a great Common feature on last year's post-mortem J Dilla album The Shining, which, by the way, got number 2 of the Worldwide Show All Winner albums of the year 2006, which, by the way, just introduced a quarterly All Winners feature, that was broadcasted last week, and which you can still listen to online.

---
Here's the link to the original MC "balloony pants" Hammer "U Can't Touch This" music video.

Hilarious Indexed Blog

I already told you about Jessica Hagy's gorgeous blog some weeks ago. But I can't emphasize enough how great her work is.
Furthermore, she recently got a book deal and there is this nice new video by a guy called Clemes Kogler who neatly animated her index cards.

Neuroscience -- Mouse Party & ScienceBlogs

As I got several feedback comments from people showing interest in neuroscientific topics:
There is this funny but educational flash animation which explains the neuropharmacological effects of drugs.
And then there is a huuge network of blogs on neuroscientific matters on all levels (molecular vie cognitive up to social): The ScienceBlogs Brain & Behavior channel with several new posts a day. The quality of the blogs is usually very high, some treating their topics in a rather popular, some in a more scientifically dry way.

Pinky & Brain Brain Song - Neuroanatomy

"Come, Pinky, we must prepare for tomorrow night"
"Gee, Brain, what are we doing tomorrow night?"
"The same thing we do every night, Pinky-- try to take over the world!"

Maybe some day I'll post a comment on the power of neuroscience plus an opinion on the impact of scientific results on society. Some day...

Tatsuya Ishida is just brilliant...

Check out today's ingenious sinfest strip: