You are currently browsing the monthly Archive for January, 2008.
There seems to be so much to say about the hedgehog. As a child living in Ireland, I was aware of hedgehogs and moles. They often appeared in children’s literature – in tales about animals living in quaint cottages. According to my young neighbours, a mole was rumoured to be living in their backyard. I recall that I marveled at the possibility.
I once came across a hedgehog sculpture in New Zealand and fell in love with it. If I ever decide to collect an animal figure, it will be a heated race between the owl and the hedgehog.
When I came across the Russian animated short film “The Hedgehog in the Fog”, I was positively charmed. As one writer said, it is hard to describe the beauty and magical feeling of this little film. Whether you’re a child or a child at heart, find a high speed connection, pop open the film to full screen and sit back for 9 minutes of pure delight!
In 2003 “Hedgehog in the Fog” won the “№1 Animated film of all the time” at the Laputa Animation Festival in Japan.
As you watch this 1975 film by Yuri Norstein, you start to wonder “what other Russian animated films are out there?” Following this line of thinking, I stumbled across other Slavic animators as well. I will follow up on more of these leads in another post.
Spring Melodies (1946 animated Russian film by Soyuzmultfilm)
Image: Hedgehog in the Fog – 1988 USSR stamp.
(Click on image to enlarge: Source: Snowcrystals.com & Livescience.com)
“Under the microscope, I found that snowflakes were miracles of beauty; and it seemed a shame that this beauty should not be seen and appreciated by others. Every crystal was a masterpiece of design and no one design was ever repeated. When a snowflake melted, that design was forever lost. Just that much beauty was gone, without leaving any record behind.” Wilson Bentley
Wilson Bentley (1865-1931) was a Vermont farmer in the 1800s who decided to use simple photographic equipment and the natural light of the overcast sky to photograph over 5,000 snowflakes.
Even in colder climates, there is a sense of magic when the first snowfall falls. Now snowflakes can even be created in a laboratory (click here), as seen in this snowflake growing time-lapse movie of a growing snow crystal.
…and who can forget the exciting discoveries made when children learn to cut out a snowflake for the first time? Now you can even create snowflakes online.
A search for snowflakes in photo databases brings up all kinds of delightful results.
Here Comes Suzy Snowflake is a charming 1950s song (and movie) that reminds us of how delicate and beautiful a snowflake really is.
