“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic”*…
The Superbowl is past. so now our collective anticipation can shift to the Academy Awards… by way of getting into the spirit, Nelson Carvajal‘s supercut of every winner of the Visual Effects Oscar since that category was (re)introduced in 1977:
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* Arthur C. Clarke
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As we ponder perspective, we might recall that it was on this date in 1980, on the TV series That’s Incredible, that Cal Tech graduate Fred Newman dueled at the free throw line with the NBA’s all-time best free throw shooter, Rick Barry. Barry won the contest, but Newman sank 88 straight– while blindfolded.
Without the blindfold, Newman has made 1,481 consecutive free throws, far short of St. Martin’s Guinness record of 5,221. But he did set a record for most free throws made in a 24-hour period, soldiering on to sink 20,371 even after the skin on his fingertips separated and bled. “It didn’t affect my shot any,” he said of the blood, “but the ball got sticky and I had to wipe it off every hour or so.”
Read more about Fred here; see the video from which the frame above is excerpted here.