No. 60 - Le Ballon Rouge ⫶ The Electric State ⫶ A Little Tooth
You did, you loved, your feet are sore
My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood, and culture - and there are 9716 of you listening. If you enjoy this issue, please share it with anyone who may find it helpful.
On Sunday morning, we were given a red balloon in Parc Monceau. Walking the streets of Paris felt like an echo of something. That something turned out to be a film.
Le Ballon Rouge (The Red Balloon) was written, produced, and directed by Albert Lamorisse, whose son also stars in the movie. The film tells the story of a young boy named Pascal. He discovers a giant, red helium-filled balloon one day on the streets of Paris. The balloon has a mind, following Pascal wherever he goes.
The film was shot in 1956 in a part of Paris (Belleville) that is trendy nowadays, but back then still ravaged by the war. The cinematography is beautiful, and the film has not aged.
The film made me feel like I was watching one of those YouTube videos that lists all the homages of a movie (see, for example, La La Land, Barbie), but in reverse.
Suddenly, Pixar's The Blue Umbrella, Sophia Coppola directed Miss Dior Cherie ad, and even the Sony Bravia ads I grew up watching found their lineage. Even my love for Anicka Yi's anthropomorphic jellyfish felt related.
I've been thinking a lot about lineage/legacy of ideas, and finding these ancestors is a rush, like discovering a new species in an evolutionary tree. Now, climbing onwards to see where the inspirations for Red Balloon came from.
You can watch the entire film on YouTube; it's 34 minutes and will make you smile. The header image is a still from the movie.
Linked List
In computer science, a linked list is a linear collection of data elements whose order is not given by their physical placement in memory. But here it is a selection of things I’ve been reading lately.
The Electric State is coming up as a film with Russo's directing and Millie Bobby Brown starring - somehow, I had missed this. Simon Stålenhag's work is achingly beautiful. "Designer specializing in retro-futuristic digital images focused on nostalgic Swedish countryside alternate history environments," says Wikipedia, but that's like describing a computer as a calculator.
Obsessing over the map work of Geoff Manaugh. This very specific visual combines (old) information and narrative, which I find interesting.
Classroom
I’m hoping to surface and share stories from all of you and I’d love to see your creations! Here are a few teachers using Ruby in creative, fun and inspiring ways.
More lovely pictures shared by STEAM Lab Taiwan.
