My friend Marc says that this has been making the rounds, but its the first that I've seen it.  This video is a condensed version of a commencement address by the late David Foster Wallace that was delivered to Kenyon College in 2005.  Unlike most commencement addresses however, it challenges students to live consciously in the moment and speaks of this temporal awareness as the meaning of real education.

With graduation coming up, this would be a great video to share with students.



A sadder milestone, one of my film heroes, Ray Harryhausen has passed away this week.  There are few filmmakers who have single handedly transformed the world of cinema in such direct creative and technical ways as Harryhausen.   Much of what we see in fantasy films today has been shaped in some way in equal parts by his imagination and animation.

Here is a scene from one of the most underrated and fantastic B movies of all time, The Vally of Gwangi: 


Cowboys versus dinosaurs.  It really never gets better than that.  I'm not even kidding.

Rest in peace, Ray.