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Pixar Animation Studios is a CGI animation production company based in Emeryville, California, United States. To date, the studio has earned twenty-two Academy Awards, four Golden Globes, and three Grammys, among many other awards, acknowledgments and achievements. It is one of the most critically acclaimed film studios of all time. It is best known for its CGI-animated feature films which are created with PhotoRealistic RenderMan, its own implementation of the industry-standard Renderman image-rendering API used to generate high-quality images.

Pixar started in 1979 as the Graphics Group, a part of the Computer Division of Lucasfilm before it was bought by Apple co-founder Steve Jobs in 1986. The Walt Disney Company bought Pixar in 2006.

Pixar has made 10 feature films beginning with Toy Story in 1995 and each one has achieved critical and commercial success. Pixar followed Toy Story with A Bug's Life in 1998, Toy Story 2 in 1999, Monsters, Inc. in 2001, Finding Nemo in 2003 (which is, to date, the most commercially successful Pixar film, grossing over $800 million worldwide), The Incredibles in 2004, Cars in 2006, Ratatouille in 2007, WALL-E in 2008, and Up in 2009 (the first Pixar film presented in Disney Digital 3-D). Pixar's eleventh film, Toy Story 3, is scheduled for release on June 18, 2010.

All six Pixar films released since the inauguration of the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature in 2001 have been nominated for the award, with four, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Ratatouille, and WALL-E, winning it.

The pictures from this post taken inside Pixar Studios.
These images were sourced from TopCultured, view the full set here.

*This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia page for Pixar.

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Bora Bora

December 7th 2009 01:33

Bora Bora from above

Bora Bora is an island of French Polynesia which is surrounded by a lagoon and a barrier reef. In the centre of the island are the remnants of an extinct volcano rising to two peaks.
The name derives from the Tahitian word Pora Pora, meaning "First Born".

View from the lagoon

Today the island is mainly dependent on tourism. Over the last few years several resorts have been built on motu (small islands) surrounding the lagoon. Thirty years ago, Hotel Bora Bora built the first over-the-water bungalows on stilts over the lagoon and today, overwater bungalows are a standard feature of most Bora Bora resorts. The quality of those bungalows ranges from comparably cheap, basic accommodations to very luxurious - and pricy - places to stay.

Matira Beach and Lagoon

Most of the tourist destinations are aquacentric; however it is possible to visit attractions on land such as WWII cannons. Air Tahiti has five or six flights daily to the Bora Bora Airport on Moto Mute from Tahiti (as well as from other islands).

Overwater bungalows at the Pearl Beach Resort

Although French and Tahitian are the main languages spoken by the inhabitants, people in contact with tourists generally have some command of English. Most visitors to Bora Bora are American, Japanese, or European. Public transport on the island is limited, consisting of a single bus that goes halfway around the island and back approximately every hour. Bicycles are the recommended method of transport. There are also small fun-cars for hire in Vaitape. Bora Bora is predestined for snorkeling and scuba diving in and around its lagoon. Many species of sharks and rays inhabit the surrounding body of water. There are a few dive operators on the island offering manta ray dives and also shark-feeding dives.

Classic island view

*This article is licened under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article for Bora Bora.

*Images sourced from Environmental Graffiti here

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Modern Life in China

November 13th 2009 06:43

Elizabeth Dalziel is a Beijing based photographer for the Associated Press. Over the last few years she has taken many photos inside China giving an interesting insight into the people, places and events of the world's most populous nation.
Below is a selection from Elizabeth's collection sourced from Boston.com. Many more Dalziel photos and information can be found here.

A worker operates machinery at a beer bottling plant in the model village of Nan Jie Cun, China on Aug. 26, 2009. The village's industries are collectively owned, and workers receive free housing and healthcare. But the village's businesses operate on a strictly capitalist basis, competing in China's ruthlessly competitive market.

Chinese youth practice military drills outside of their school in the model village of Nan Jie Cun. For many, Nan Jie Cun has become a different type of model, a mixture of the free market and government control that has made China a new world power.

Wind turbines operate at the Da Bancheng Wind Farm, about 40 km (25 miles) south of Urumqi city, in Xinjiang. China's top legislature recently passed a resolution on climate change, after a report by the country's policy experts said the government should take action so the country's carbon dioxide emissions peak around 2030.

Swimmers head for a pool at a water park in Beijing.

Participants line up to take part in the first major dress rehearsal for China's 60th anniversary parade in Beijing. Beijing closed down streets in the heart of the city near Tiananmen square as tens of thousands of people joined in the first dress rehearsal for the parade.

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Catacombs of Paris

November 9th 2009 01:41

Bones from the former Magdeleine cemetery (La Ville Leveque Street numbers 1 and 2). Deposited in 1844 in the western ossuary (bone repository) and transferred to the catacombs in September 1859.

The Catacombs of Paris (Catacombes de Paris) are a famous underground ossuary in Paris, France. Its entrance is located near the Denfert-Rochereau station of the Paris Métro. Organized in a renovated section of the city's vast network of subterranean tunnels and caverns towards the end of the 18th century, it became a tourist attraction on a small scale from the early 19th century and has been open to the public on a regular basis from 1867. Following an incident of vandalism, they were closed to the public for an indefinite amount of time in September, 2009.

Crypt of the Sepulchral Lamp in the Catacombs of Paris

Most of Paris's larger churches once had their own cemeteries, but city growth and generations of dead began to overwhelm them. From the late seventeenth century, Paris' largest Les Innocents cemetery (near the Les Halles district in the middle of the city) was saturated to a point where its neighbours were suffering from disease, due to contamination caused by improper burials, open mass graves, and earth charged with decomposing organic matter.

Bone pile in the Catacombs

After almost a century of ineffective decrees condemning the cemetery, it was finally decided to create three new large-scale suburban cemeteries and to condemn all existing within the city limits; the remains of all condemned cemeteries would be moved discreetly to a renovated section of Paris's abandoned quarries. The use of the depleted quarries for the storage of bones, based on the idea of a Police Lieutenant was established in 1786.

Closer look at the bones

*This article and images are licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. The article uses material from the Wikipedia page for Catacombs of Paris.

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Best Foodie Vacation Spots

November 6th 2009 07:43

San Francisco has a reputation for being the food capital of the United States. But in this article from SF Weekly, they take a look at famous good food and wine vacation locations the world over.

Bologna, Italy

Forget the tourist trifecta of Florence, Rome, and Venice -- Bologna is the all-too-often-dissed food capital of Italy. This Northern Italian city is one of the birthplaces of the Slow Food movement, and it's not hard to see why. Massive markets dot the city, there's a history of political activism here, and even the lowliest pizza joint rocks better food than a lot of upscale restaurants elsewhere.

Avignon, France

A perfect if little known foodie vacation spot at the heart of the olive and fig orchards, the farm fields, wineries, and goat dairies of Provence. With a headquarters in Avignon, it's easy to check out the weekly food markets and bistros of the surrounding towns. In winter, make sure to check out the fresh truffle markets.

Bangkok

Food carts are king in this city, but restaurants offer an almost overwhelming array of Thai dishes, prepared with levels of herbs and aromatics like garlic, chili, and sweet basil that make you realize you've only ever tasted weak versions of the cuisine stateside. Obviously, there's no shortage of exotic dishes here -- be prepared to encounter pork intestines, even deep-fried roaches.

Chengdu, China

We all know the shiny glop in your average strip mall is nothing like Chinese food in China, so why not take a trip to the motherland to experience the real thing? Chengdu is the capital of Sichuan province, replete with tea-smoked duck, chicken with chillies, and xiao chi food stalls offering snacks like pumpkin cakes, rice balls with sesame stuffing, and an endless variety of noodle dishes.

Marrakech, Morocco

Drug references aside, this Moroccan city will get you totally high on foods as unlikely as snails and sheep heads, along with more familiar fare like kebabs, seriously sweet mint tea, and almost infinite permutations of couscous. It's cheap, too -- a meal at the souk (market) can cost as little as $6 for two.

Barcelona, Spain

From tapas and vast food markets to flowing cava and even a burgeoning gastronomical deconstructionist movement (you know, at that restaurant outside the city you'll never, ever get a reservation at), Barcelona has it all. Make sure to pick up a bottle of Spanish olive oil, stop by the famous Pastas Alimenticias bakery, and check out the rambling Mercat de la Boqueria

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Burma (Myanmar)

November 4th 2009 01:42

Since 1962 the country of Burma, now known as Myanmar has been under military rule. For that reason governments of western countries have been and continue to apply sanctions against Myanmar. In recent times however the Burmese government has been encouraging tourism to their country, although tourist numbers are still relatively small and most of the country remains off-limits. This severely reduces the opportunity for visitors to see what life is really like for the 50 million people who inhabit Myanmar.

The following pictures are recent images made by Agence France-Presse photographer Nicolas Asfouri of daily life in Myanmar. Images and information sourced from this article in the Sacramento Bee

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Life In North Korea

October 19th 2009 01:20

Life in poverty-stricken North Korea

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Hudson River

September 25th 2009 12:03

The Hudson River is a 315-mile (507 km) river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. It rises at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains, flows past Albany, and finally forms the border between New York City and New Jersey at its mouth before emptying into Upper New York Bay. Its lower half is an estuary, experiencing tidal influence as far north as Troy. The river is named for Henry Hudson, an Englishman sailing for the Dutch East India Company, who explored it in 1609.
As such the Hudson River turns 400 years old on 2009. To celebrate, here are some historic pictures of early development along the Hudson. Thanks to Life.com more pictures and information can be found here.

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Places to Watch What You Wear

July 3rd 2009 11:33

Thanks to the Daily Telegraph, here is some good advice for anyone heading for a trip abroad. See the full list here.

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Cappadocia

June 15th 2009 02:22

Cappadocia, (or Capadocia, Turkish Kapadokya), was an extensive inland district of Asia Minor (modern Turkey). The name continued to be used in western sources and in the Christian tradition throughout history and is still widely used as an international tourism concept to define a region of exceptional natural wonders characterized by fairy chimneys and a unique historical and cultural heritage. The term, as used in tourism, roughly corresponds to present-day Nevsehir Province of Turkey.

A view of Cappadocia’s erosion-worn landscape from an overlook.

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North Korea

May 15th 2009 11:45

North Korea from the Outside

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Recent scenes from Afghanistan

May 1st 2009 09:00

As reported on Boston.com , Barack Obama has ordered an additional 21,000 U.S. troops to be deployed to Afghanistan, which will bring the full U.S. deployment there to a total of 60,000 troops, joining 39,000 coalition troops from 43 countries. The U.S. administration plans to impose benchmarks for progress on both Afghanistan and neighbouring Pakistan, who struggle with problems tied to tribal rivalries, illegal drug production and distribution, religious factions, general instability and poverty. Below are photos from the last few months in Afghanistan and the people whose lives are affected by the conflict. Many more images can be seen here.

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The Greek Islands

April 20th 2009 02:02

The Greek Islands are a collection of over 6,000 islands and islets that belong to Greece. Only 227 of the islands are inhabited, and only 78 of those have more than 100 inhabitants.

The largest Greek island by area is Crete, located at the southern edge of the Aegean Sea. The second largest island is Euboea, which is separated from the mainland by the 60m-wide Euripus Strait, and is administered as part of the central Greece periphery. After the third and fourth largest Greek Islands, Lesbos and Rhodes, the rest of the islands are two-thirds of the area of Rhodes, or smaller

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The Wave, Arizona

April 17th 2009 06:11

The Wave is a sandstone formation on the slopes of the Coyote Buttes in the Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness, located in northern portion of the U.S. state of Arizona, just south of the Utah-Arizona border about halfway between Kanab, Utah and Page, Arizona.