I made a preview image that included this for 'Nuisance Bear' leads Best Science/Nature Documentary at the Critics Choice Documentary Awards.

These images were too wide to use in 'Asia' and 'The Americas' lead nature documentaries at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards.


Rejected video for 'Mammals' post
Jun. 8th, 2025 02:02 pmI found a trailer I liked better for 'Mammals' and the remaining nominees for Best Documentary at the News & Doc Emmy Awards.
Rejected video for Emmy Awards post
May. 17th, 2025 11:18 amI found an actual trailer to use in 'Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story' leads nominees for Outstanding Nature Documentary at the News & Doc Emmy Awards.
I decided to save this for next year's post instead of PBS Terra on redwoods and moss for World Rainforest Day. I'm an environmentalist, so I conserve my resources.
Discarded video for World Giraffe Day
Jun. 21st, 2024 12:55 pmI realized I reached a natural end to PBS Eons explains 'Why The Giraffe Got Its Neck' for World Giraffe Day before I could use this video.
This was the video from "The Elephant and the Termite" I watched first, but it wasn't enough for me to include it in Emmy nominee 'My Garden of a Thousand Bees' for World Honey Bee Day.
Michigan frog and toad calls
Apr. 9th, 2021 08:51 pmMy wife and I have been hearing a lot of frog and toad calls, so I found the following video to figure out what they are from. Turns out it's American (Eastern) Toad and Grey Tree Frog.
I decided not to use the following video for 'My Octopus Teacher' wins Best Science/Nature Documentary and Best Cinematography at the 2020 Critics' Choice Documentary Awards in favor of a shorter one with better editing and audible interviewers.
An interview with Pippa Ehrlich, the director of My Octopus Teacher! Learn about her connection the kelp forest, how she started working with Craig Foster to make My Octopus Teacher, what the process involved and some of the crazier stories along the way!
An interview with Pippa Ehrlich, the director of My Octopus Teacher! Learn about her connection the kelp forest, how she started working with Craig Foster to make My Octopus Teacher, what the process involved and some of the crazier stories along the way!
Ideas for a YouTube channel 1
Nov. 9th, 2020 09:50 pmAs a result of the pandemic, I uploaded instruction videos for my classes to YouTube under my real name, which I'm not sharing now, so I'm officially a YouTube creator. I can keep loading up instruction videos for my classes to that channel, but some of those would be educational videos influenced by the urban exploration videos I watch of places where my students take field trips, like the Detroit Zoo, Cranbrook Institute of Science, and Grand Ledge. That might get some more page views and make me a better videographer. It would also help my students. I already replaced my smartphone so I could do that.
I have another idea that wouldn't be work-related, which I'll share later, maybe tomorrow. Stay tuned.
I have another idea that wouldn't be work-related, which I'll share later, maybe tomorrow. Stay tuned.
Vox looks at clouds
Sep. 4th, 2020 01:54 pmWhat different clouds mean, explained for kids.
When I taught astronomy, the first exercise I had my students do was look at clouds and classify them. Yes, that's meteorology, not astronomy, but at least it got them to look up at the sky and examine what they saw. This would have been a handy video back then, 22 years ago, long before YouTube existed.
Vox looks at soil
Sep. 3rd, 2020 06:17 pmDirt isn’t just the stuff beneath our feet. It’s the stuff of life.
Yet another video meant for kids that I found worth watching.
Vox looks at a robin's nest
Sep. 2nd, 2020 06:47 pmAn ornithologist explains how robin hatchlings and their parents keep their nest clean.
Welcome to our first-ever week of programming for kids!
Meant for kids or not, I still learned something from this and was reminded of things I'd learned but forgot and I have a Ph.D. in Biology!
A video my students are watching, part 2
Aug. 6th, 2020 03:41 pmSince the local museum hasn't reopened yet, I'm sending my students on a virtual field trip with videos produced by the museum. Here's the second.
Explore fossils you would find in the bedrock of Michigan from 380 million years ago! Our Curator of Earth and Life Sciences, John Zawiskie, uncovers what once roamed Michigan’s tropical seas with specimens from our collections. From corals, to trilobites, to Petoskey stones, and more, learn about the history that lies beneath Michigan and what that teaches us about the natural world around us today.
Now the questions I'm asking my students to answer as they watch the video.
12. What is the name of the period and the absolute age of the bedrock under metro Detroit?
13. What is the name for loose pieces of these rocks? HINT: It's the Michigan State Rock.
14. What modern location was Michigan like at this time?
15. How many days were there in a year when these rocks were deposited?
16. What organisms created the reefs that became the rocks under Detroit? Name at least two.
17. What other organisms lived in the reefs? Name at least two.
18. Which mineral sometimes replaced the shells of some fossils and interior of burrows?
19. What was the climate like in Michigan when these organisms lived and the bedrock formed? HINT: It's in the titles of the videos.
20. Which mineral and energy resources can people get out of limestone?
Explore fossils you would find in the bedrock of Michigan from 380 million years ago! Our Curator of Earth and Life Sciences, John Zawiskie, uncovers what once roamed Michigan’s tropical seas with specimens from our collections. From corals, to trilobites, to Petoskey stones, and more, learn about the history that lies beneath Michigan and what that teaches us about the natural world around us today.
Now the questions I'm asking my students to answer as they watch the video.
12. What is the name of the period and the absolute age of the bedrock under metro Detroit?
13. What is the name for loose pieces of these rocks? HINT: It's the Michigan State Rock.
14. What modern location was Michigan like at this time?
15. How many days were there in a year when these rocks were deposited?
16. What organisms created the reefs that became the rocks under Detroit? Name at least two.
17. What other organisms lived in the reefs? Name at least two.
18. Which mineral sometimes replaced the shells of some fossils and interior of burrows?
19. What was the climate like in Michigan when these organisms lived and the bedrock formed? HINT: It's in the titles of the videos.
20. Which mineral and energy resources can people get out of limestone?
- 'RBG' ties 'The Sentence' for Exceptional Merit In Documentary Filmmaking at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards
- 'Our Planet' and NASA win two Emmy Awards each — nature and science at the Emmy Awards
- 'Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown' and 'United Shades of America with W. Kamau Bell' both win two Emmy Awards each
- 'Queer Eye' wins four Emmy Awards
The most popular Emmy nominee for Outstanding Commercial is Shot on iPhone XS — Don’t mess with Mother with 37,786,876 views.
Earth. Shot on iPhone by Camp4 Collective, featuring stunning images of nature from around the world. Don’t mess with Mother.As an environmentalist who likes technology, I approve.
Hans Zimmer's themes for BBC Earth series
Apr. 12th, 2018 09:17 amOver at Booman Tribune, I've decided to make Midweek Cafe and Lounge, Vol. 60 all Hans Zimmer and his collaborators. I began with two extended trailers with the series theme music.
First, the extended 'Planet Earth II' trailer.
First, the extended 'Planet Earth II' trailer.
10 years ago Planet Earth changed our view of the world. Now we take you closer than ever before.Next, the prequel to "Blue Planet II," Radiohead & Hans Zimmer - (ocean) bloom.
This is life in all its wonder. This is Planet Earth II. A decade ago, the landmark television series Planet Earth redefined natural history filmmaking, giving us the ultimate portrait of life on Earth. Planet Earth II, narrated by Sir David Attenborough, will reveal our planet from a completely new perspective, using significant advances in both filming technology and our understanding of the natural world.
And if you are not excited enough already it features an original score by legendary composer Hans Zimmer.
Radiohead, one of the world’s most acclaimed rock bands, and Hans Zimmer, one of the planet’s most successful movie and TV composers, have joined forces to produce an exclusive track for BBC America’s upcoming natural history series, Planet Earth: Blue Planet II, coming to BBC America in early 2018.I'll have more music from Zimmer tomorrow.
Radiohead and Hans Zimmer’s orchestrally reimagined version of the Radiohead song ‘(ocean) bloom’ from their 2011 album sees Radiohead’s Thom Yorke rerecord the vocals and produced by Russell Emanuel of Bleeding Fingers Music, the company which also crafted the BAFTA & Emmy-nominated score to BBC America's Planet Earth II.
Thom Yorke of Radiohead shares our excitement for the project: “Bloom was inspired by the original Blue Planet series so it’s great to be able to come full circle with the song and reimagine it for this incredible landmark’s sequel. Hans is a prodigious composer who effortlessly straddles several musical genres so it was liberating for us all to work with such a talent and see how he wove the sound of the series’ and Bloom together.”
In turn, Hans Zimmer says: “Bloom appears to have been written ahead of its time as it beautifully reflects the jaw-dropping lifeforms and seascapes viewers are introduced to in Blue Planet II. Working with Thom, Jonny and the boys has been a wonderful diversion and it’s given me an interesting peek into their musical world. They’ve been incredible to work with and I hope everyone likes the track.”
Non-fiction winners at the Emmy Awards
Sep. 17th, 2017 05:10 pm'Planet Earth II' wins two Emmy Awards
"Planet Earth II" won two awards at last weekend's Creative Arts Emmy Awards, Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series and Outstanding Cinematography for a Nonfiction Program for "Islands."
'13th' leads non-fiction programs with four Emmy Awards
"'13th' won for documentary special as well as writing, motion design and original music and lyrics for “The Letter to the Free” by Common, Robert Glasper and Karriem Riggins. The Netflix documentary, which also collected a Peabody Award and an Oscar nomination this year, led the winners field with four trophies" -- Variety.
"Planet Earth II" won two awards at last weekend's Creative Arts Emmy Awards, Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series and Outstanding Cinematography for a Nonfiction Program for "Islands."
'13th' leads non-fiction programs with four Emmy Awards
"'13th' won for documentary special as well as writing, motion design and original music and lyrics for “The Letter to the Free” by Common, Robert Glasper and Karriem Riggins. The Netflix documentary, which also collected a Peabody Award and an Oscar nomination this year, led the winners field with four trophies" -- Variety.