A blog about societal, cultural, and civilizational collapse, and how to stave it off or survive it. Named after the legendary character "Crazy Eddie" in Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle's "The Mote in God's Eye." Expect news and views about culture, politics, economics, technology, and science fiction.
Showing posts with label Discovery Channel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Discovery Channel. Show all posts
There’s just about nothing better than watching a kitty play with a ball of yarn, but there’s another unexpected animal that enjoys playtime, too! And certain birds appear to have the abilities of self-control!
The last year I took classes for my M.S. degree, I enrolled in both mammalogy and ornithology. One of the things that struck me after taking both classes was that mammals played a lot but birds played a lot less. The textbooks reflected this disparity, with pages and pages devoted to play in the mammalogy text, but maybe half a page in the ornithology text. The same professor taught both courses and I asked him about it and he said that the books accurately reflected the two classes' behavior, with the mammals playing more because they were more intelligent. Birds don't have to be as bright as long as the best solution to a problem is to fly away. No surprise that the most playful birds are the corvids, the same birds the video examined for their intelligence.
What does this have to do with play in bees? I found bees being bright enough to play a good argument in favor of them being brighter than I expected. However, I should have known better, as scientists have been studying intelligence in bumblebees for years. Follow over the jump for three more videos of bumblebees demonstrating their problem-solving skills from six years ago.
Outstanding Music Composition for a Documentary Series or Special (Original Dramatic Score)
Becoming - Kamasi Washington (Netflix) Home - Amanda Jones (Episode: "Maine") (Apple TV+) McMillion$ - Pinar Toprak & Alex Kovacs (Episode: "Episode 1") (HBO) Tiger King - Mark Mothersbaugh, John Enroth, Albert Fox (Episode: "Not Your Average Joe") (Netflix) Why We Hate - Laura Karpman (Episode: "Tools & Tactics") (Discovery Channel)
Normally, I'd go with the most famous composer, who is Mark Mothersbaugh for "Tiger King" except that Laura Karpman also has a nomination for Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music, so I think she's the favorite.
The team from Why We Hate wins the Emmy for Outstanding Music Composition for a Documentary Series or Special (Original Dramatic Score).
Why is this science? Because "Why We Hate" is an application of psychology, which is a science, to solving a problem.* As IMDB describes the show, it's "an exploration into the human condition for hatred and how we can overcome it." Here's to being able to do that.
Outstanding Short Form Nonfiction or Reality Series
Between The Scenes - The Daily Show (Comedy Central) Full Frontal With Samantha Bee Presents: Pandemic Video Diaries (TBS) National Geographic Presents Cosmos: Creating Possible Worlds (National Geographic) Pose: Identity, Family, Community (FX) RuPaul's Drag Race: Out of the Closet (VH1)
"Creating Saturday Night Live," Last year's winner, is not returning, but last year's nominees "Pose: Identity, Family, Community" and "RuPaul's Drag Race: Out of the Closet" are. On that basis, I consider them the nominal favorites, although I've been finding Samantha Bee's Pandemic Video Diaries to be hilarious and Trevor Noah won his one Emmy Award for "Between The Scenes - The Daily Show." Between the two variety talk nominees, I'd say Noah has the better shot at the award.
The team from National Geographic wins the Creative Arts Emmy for Outstanding Short Form Non-Fiction/Reality Series.
Shame on me, I didn't even consider "Cosmos: Creating Possible Worlds" for the win, but as a scientist, I should have. I guess my focus on the variety nominees had me looking in the wrong direction. Just the same, congratulations to the show I should have been rooting for all along!
ETA: "Cosmos: Possible Worlds" also won a second Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation. Congratulations, again!
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on Black Patriots: Heroes of the Revolution (History)
David Attenborough on Seven Worlds, One Planet (Episode: "Antarctica") (BBC America)
Angela Bassett on The Imagineering Story (Episode: "The Happiest Place on Earth") (Disney+)
Chiwetel Ejiofor on The Elephant Queen (Apple TV+)
Lupita Nyong'o on Serengeti (Episode: "Destiny") (Discovery Channel)
What a list of all-star talent! Lupita Nyong'o is an Oscar winner, Angela Bassett is an Oscar nominee and Golden Globes winner, Chiwetel Ejiofor is an Oscar nominee, and David Attenborough is two-timereturning winner. On that basis, I'd say Sir David is the nominal favorite, although he's up against stiff competition. The nominee I'd look out for is Nyong'o because "Serengeti" is the only series with two nominations.
That reminds me that I'm used to seeing a lot of nature documentaries nominated at the Emmys, but that's not the case this year. I suspect that's because "Tiger King" sucked up all the oxygen that would normally go to shows about wild animals.
Despite all its nominations, "Tiger King" walked away empty-handed. That's not the case for Sir David. Watch 2020 Creative Arts Emmys: Narrator to see him win.
David Attenborough wins the Emmy for Outstanding Narrator.
Congratulations to the one Emmy winner I know I've met in person!
The last winner is one that I expected, but only by accident was I reminded that it belonged here as much as it did in reality programs.
Outstanding Cinematography for a Reality Program
Cheer (Episode: "Hit Zero") (Netflix) Life Below Zero (Episode: "The New World") (Nat Geo) Queer Eye (Episode: "We're in Japan!: Japanese Holiday") (Netflix) RuPaul's Drag Race (VH1) Survivor (CBS)
On the other hand, "Life Below Zero" has a decent shot at repeating here, as it won this award last year. I think its strongest competition consists of "Cheer" based on the trailer and "Survivor" based on my experience of watching the show.
I was pleasantly surprised by the winners of Outstanding Commercial at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards and the News and Documentary Emmy Awards, just as I was two years ago when I wrote 'The Talk' and 'Shark Week 2017' — two Emmy winning commercials. Then, I expected an entertaining Super Bowl commercial and a serious news or documentary promotion to win. Instead, a serious public service announcement (PSA) and an entertaining promotional announcement took home the trophies instead. The same thing happened last week, when Back-To-School Essentials | Sandy Hook Promise won instead of the two Super Bowl commercials I thought were favored, Groundhog Day for Jeep and What did we do before Alexa? I am happy to say I was wrong and that one of the two socially conscious PSAs took the Emmy home instead.
Just to refresh everyone's memory, here's the YouTube upload of the PSA.
Survive the school year with these must-have back to school essentials.
...
**Please note that this PSA contains graphic content related to school shootings that may be upsetting to some viewers. If you feel that this subject matter may be too difficult for you, you may choose not to watch this video.**
Powerful stuff that impressed the Television Academy. I just hope it changes minds outside of Hollywood, especially in Congress.
FRONTLINE "Rule The World" PBS Lost & Found Trailer National Geographic Shark Week 2019 "Shark Scream" Discovery Channel The Movies "Anchors Campaign" CNN The Movies "Iconic Graphics Spot" CNN
Once again, a well-produced, creative, and fun nominee beat out a field of more earnest fare. Considering how grim the News and Documentary Emmy Awards nominees and winners can be, I can't blame them for wanting to recognize something entertaining and effective.
I expected the Creative Arts Emmy Awards would reward the entertaining Super Bowl commercial "Alexa Loses Her Voice" from Amazon while the News and Documentary Emmy Awards would recognize one of the more serious ad campaigns such as "The Vietnam War: A Film by Ken Burns & Lynn Novick" from PBS. It was exactly the opposite; the Creative Arts Emmy Awards gave the Oustanding Commercial award to the very serious "The Talk - My Black is Beautiful x P&G" while the News and Documentary Emmy Awards rewarded Discovery Channel's entertaining "2017 Shark Week" with Outstanding Promotional Announcement. Go figure.
I am glad to have been wrong about the winner of this award. "The Talk" is a public service announcement America needs to watch. As I wrote at the end of August, "Let's talk about 'The Talk' so we can end the need to have it." The Television Academy agreed with me.
Now from the sublime to the ridiculous, here is the winner of Outstanding Promotional Announcement, which includes nearly the entire hilarious, if macabre, commercial.
The executive producer of the film stating that the Natural Resources Defense Council has sued the Trump Adminstration more than two dozen times this year over its destructive environmental policies -- and it's only October -- caught my attention. I searched for "NRDC sues Trump" and immediately found these three headlines from the NRDC's website:
September 27: The Truth Behind Trump's Brazen Attempt to Kill the Clean Water Rule The president's scheme is unlawful and reckless—and we're doing everything we can to stop it. September 29: The Gloves Are Off Trump is going after America’s most pristine wildland. Literally the “last best place” in the country. It’s a brazen move—and proof that no part of our natural heritage is safe from commercial exploitation these days. October 4: Zinke’s Illegal Suspension of Methane Rules Will Not Stand Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s illegal suspension of rules to cut methane pollution from drilling operations on public lands is the latest example of the Trump administration’s cavalier disregard for vital public health and environmental safeguards.
The last action was almost immediately successful.
Update: in a rebuke for Secretary Zinke, late today the federal court in San Francisco overturned the BLM’s first stay of the methane rule, and ordered the rule back into full effect.
All three of these were only from the past two weeks. I don't need to search any more to be persuaded that NRDC has sued the Trump Adminstration at least 25 times this year.
Follow over the jump for the presentation and acceptance of the other award "Sonic Sea" won.
"There is one nominee for Outstanding Nature Documentary left, 'Sonic Sea.' That one deserves a post of its own. Stay tuned." That was the program note I left near the end of Nature documentary nominees are well photographed at the 2017 News and Documentary Emmy Awards. Here is that entry, in which I give "Sonic Sea" top billing so it doesn't mind sharing it with its fellow nominees in two categories.
Here is the trailer from the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Sonic Sea ( http://www.sonicsea.org ) is a 60-minute documentary about the impact of industrial and military ocean noise on whales and other marine life. It tells the story of a former U.S. Navy officer who solved a tragic mystery and changed forever the way we understand our impact on the ocean.
The film is narrated by Rachel McAdams and features Sting, in addition to the renowned ocean experts Dr. Sylvia Earle, Dr. Paul Spong, Dr. Christopher Clark and Jean-Michel Cousteau.
Sonic Sea was produced by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and Imaginary Forces in association with the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and Diamond Docs.
Congratulations to Discovery Channel and to Trevor Gates, Ryan Briley, Ron Aston, and Christopher Bonis for their win in the category of BEST SOUND & MUSIC EDITING: TELEVISION DOCUMENTARY SHORT FORM. You deserved it.
On the other hand, the host/interviewer, while well-meaning, deserved the chuckles from the sound editors when she said that the film deserved an Academy Award. If she meant the Motion Picture Academy, that's not happening, as "Sonic Sea" is not a movie, so it wasn't nominated. If she meant the Television Academy, which awards the Emmys, that ship sailed in September. "Sonic Sea" was not nominated for Outstanding Music and Sound at the News and Documentary Emmy Awards for the 2015-2016 season, when it aired on Discovery. That trophy went to "The Last Orangutan Eden."
Next time, do your research on the awards for which a show is eligible before reporting on it.
I then realized I could be wrong.
Actually, I take that back about the Emmy Awards. While "Sonic Sea" missed the deadline for the prime time Emmys, which had a cut-off date of May 31st, it may still be eligible for the News & Documentary Emmys, which have an earlier deadline. This year, it will be April 20th. While the documentary was released as a film on January 15, 2016, its initial air date on Discovery was May 19th. Assuming the same deadline last year as this year, it would then be eligible for consideration for this year's awards. In that case, I apologize for being so snotty about the Emmy Awards. My criticism about the interviewer imploring the Oscars to recognize a film that the Motion Picture Academy didn't nominate still stands.
When "Sonic Sea" actually was nominated, I acknowledged it.
The Television Academy did recognize "Sonic Sea." It was nominated today for three News and Documentary Emmy Awards, Outstanding Nature Documentary, Outstanding Graphic Design and Art Direction, and Outstanding Music and Sound. Congratulations and good luck. The awards will be given on October 5th.
If the show wins any of the three awards, I'll go back and leave another comment.
Follow over the jump for the other nominees for Outstanding Graphic Design and Art Direction and Outstanding Music and Sound.
The film from director Louie Psihoyos and producer Fisher Stevens, who made the Oscar-winner The Cove, debuts Wednesday on the The Discovery Channel and with its partners worldwide. John Hoffman, Discovery’s executive vice president for documentaries and specials, estimates a potential audience of 2.4 billion—and at least 500 million expected to watch.
“I’m trying to blow this up and get it to the widest possible audience, ever,” says Psihoyos, which looks at global warming as a potential extinction-level event, and particularly at its impact on ocean life.
With this level of exposure as well as the buzz from the Sundance Festival described in Vanity Fair, "Racing Extinction" is now my favorite to be win the Best Feature Length Documentary award at the Oscars next year. Of course, I thought the same of "Blackfish," and it was snubbed. The movie still did some good, as SeaWorld phasing out its current Orca shows in San Diego.
Utilizing state-of-the-art equipment, Oscar®-winner Louie Psihoyos (The Cove) assembles a team of artists and activists intent on showing the world never-before-seen images that expose issues of endangered species and mass extinction.
Whether infiltrating notorious black markets with guerilla-style tactics or exploring the scientific causes affecting changes to the environment, "Racing Extinction" will change the way we see the world and our role within it.
Speaking of "guerilla-style tactics," Vanity Fair mentioned them in its preview.
Just as The Cove took the form of a heist movie, Racing Extinction has its own share of spycraft, with women bringing hidden cameras into sushi restaurants that are serving contraband meat and activists infiltrating a Hong Kong factory that sells illegal shark fins.
Humans are causing the mass extinction of animal species all across the globe and not enough is being done to stop it. In RACING EXTINCTION, a team of artists and activists look to expose the hidden world of extinction with never-before-seen images that will change the way we see the planet.
RACING EXTINCTION premieres in more than 220 countries and territories around the world December 2 at 9PM ET/PT on Discovery.
In case the restaurant serving whale looks familiar, it's the same one featured in Whale meat sushi chefs plead guilty last year. Yes, viewers get to see the sting operation that led to those convictions. That's worth watching the film all by itself.
