Bill Biggart’s Final Exposures

Photojournalist Bill Biggart died when the second World Trade Center tower collapsed on him on 9/11/2001, doggedly shooting until his untimely demise. Miraculously, his legacy lives on:

When [photographer] Chip East was handed the bag containing Biggart’s gear by his widow, Wendy, he was convinced that no pictures had survived. The avalanche of falling debris had blown off the backs of the two film cameras. There were several rolls of film in Biggart’s bag; however, the lids of the film canisters had been peeled back, allowing light to fall into the cassettes. Finally, East turned his attention to the digital camera. It was covered by ash. The lens had been sheared off at the flange. But when he opened the chamber that held the compact flash card, it was pristine.

Check out the amazing photo gallery of the images of 9/11 that were recovered from Bill Biggart’s camera, many of which offer unparalleled or heretofore unseen vantages of the tragedy.

Star Wars in 20 Minutes?

Star WarsCinematical has the scoop on an unusual version of the Star Wars saga:

[You may have] heard about the dude who performs the entire original Star Wars trilogy by himself in only one hour (not to be confused with the folks who spit out the original trilogy in 30 minutes). It’s pretty impressive stuff and I’d love to check it out one of these days. However, what’s even more impressive is Adam Long’s plan to write and direct a 20-minute version of – get this – the entire Star Wars saga. That’s right, all six films packed into a very tiny 20-minute window.

I’d go see it…

Calvin’s Dad’s Explanations of Scientific Phenomena

Spaceman SpiffCalvin and Hobbes is a classic on so many levels, and this was a fun reminder. Calvin’s dad’s explanations of scientific phenomena, collected here by RF Cafe, never failed to amuse me. I think this one is my favorite:

Calvin: Dad, how come old photographs are always black and white? Didn’t they have color film back then?
Dad: Sure they did. In fact, those old photographs ARE in color. It’s just the WORLD was black and white then.
C: Really?
D: Yep. The world didn’t turn color until sometime in the 1930s, and it was pretty grainy color for a while, too.
C: That’s really weird.
D: Well, truth is stranger than fiction.
C: But then why are old PAINTINGS in color?! If the world was black and white, wouldn’t artists have painted it that way?
D: Not necessarily. A lot of great artists were insane.
C: But… but how could they have painted in color anyway? Wouldn’t their paints have been shades of gray back then?
D: Of course, but they turned colors like everything else in the ‘30s.
C: So why didn’t old black and white photos turn color too?
D: Because they were color pictures of black and white, remember?

Edna

Edna (DailyMotion video) is a fun video in which Charlie Chaplin seeks his fiance in an alternate universe filled with references to Steven Spielberg movies.