mariposaHD co-creator tamir appears in the latest issue of Argentina's Revista THC, Latin America's own version of High Times magazine.  The article (in Spanish) is from THC's monthly "Yo Fumo" (I smoke) column, which features local "celebrities" who publicly support everyone's favorite herb.

Congratulation to tamir on this illustrious honor and thanks to our friends at THC for bringing even more positive attention to this project.

Enjoy it, and we hope you smoke too!

We're back with an update to the online photo gallery to share our latest photo shoot with all our mariposaHD friends ...

Our new mariposa girl lu comes to us from the Almagro neighborhood of Buenos Aires.  After modeling in commercials and fashion shows for many years, she has finally decided to bare it all as a centerfold in next month's Playboy magazine Argentina.

We first met lu while hailing taxis outside of a fashion show.  A few days later she called and said it was her destiny to model for us.  So now, from the heart of Buenos Aires, we present our newest mariposa girl: lu, for all of you!

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Our long-anticipated new video episode 01.07 :: solar cycle 27 is finally available for download from our episodes page:

Solar cycles have been tracked since 1755.  The ancient Mesoamerican cultures that worshiped the sun predict a great change to humanity to come in the year 2012.  The next sunspot cycle is expected to be the most intense in fifty years.

Could the coming solar storm mean the end of the world is near?  We can't really be sure, but after carefully consulting the latest forecast from the Mayan calendar, tamir decides that the right energy moment has arrived to bring the mariposaHD team (and the world of internet HD video) to his homeland of Mexico.  There, we meet tamir's younger brother uriel, who is a popular male model and host on Mexican television, and the perfect guide for our visit to the land of the Aztecs.

After filming 3 episodes in Argentina and 3 episodes in Uruguay, tamir, mike, jeff, and dominic grab the HD cameras, the medallion of lucky, and plenty of blank tapes and head north to bring you this new mariposaHD adventure in Mexico!

For this episode we have released a new higher quality iPod version that is optimized for the new iPhone, AppleTV, and  iPod Touch.  Ever since Apple introduced video playback to the iPod family in October of 2005, we have encoded our mp4 videos in a 320 x 176 pixel, 768kbps H.264 format appropriate for the original (5G) iPod with Video.  Our new 640 x 360 pixel, 1.5Mbps H.264 mp4 video format takes advantage of the higher resolution screens of the iPhone and iPod Touch and the improved playback performance of the new iPod Classic, iPod Nano, and AppleTV.  This new format will still work with your older 5G or 5.5G iPod with Video if you update the firmware to the latest version.

Our usual 720p and 1080p WMV-HD formats for your Windows PC and Xbox360 remain the same and should also playback fine on a Mac with Quicktime and Flip4Mac.

This time we have literally gone to the end of the earth to bring a fresh new series of adventure photos to the mariposaHD photo gallery.  After shooting our first three HD videos in Argentina and episodes 4-6 in Uruguay, the mariposaHD team has embarked on a journey around the world to bring you more beautiful images in perfect High Definition clarity.  And no journey around the world would be complete without a visit to the most isolated place on planet earth.

The island of Rapa Nui (which is called Easter Island in English and Isla de Pascua in Spanish because the first Europeans found the place on Easter Sunday) was the last habitable land mass on earth to be permanently inhabited by humans.  The island, which today is part of Chile, lies about 3,600 km from the coast of South America.  Living far away from their nearest neighbors, the early inhabitants had plenty of time on their hands to construct the iconic stone heads for which the island is famous.

Please enjoy the new easter island photo gallery and stay tuned for new episodes of incredible HD video footage from Rapa Nui and other exotic destinations as we take you around the world on mariposaHD!

While episode 01.06 contained the last of the HD footage from our recent visit to Punta del Este, Uruguay, we did actually attend another beach fashion show that didn't make it into any of our recent videos.  Unfortunately, the beach was really overcast that day and because of the lousy lighting conditions we wound up using other footage for our episodes from Punta.  However, the digital photos from the show turned out okay despite the flat lighting.  So, enjoy one last reprise from our visit to punta: a new bikini beach photo album in the mariposa style folder of our online photo gallery.

Despite the less-than-ideal weather, this 'fashion parade' turned out to be really hot.  The catwalk was located right in the heart of bikini beach and the show featured some of our favorite mariposa girls, such as rocio, eva, tammy, antonela, and many more.

The crowd on the beach seemed to really enjoy the show.  Perhaps you will too!

Our latest video, episode 01.06 :: we got everything is now available for download from our episodes page in the usual 720p and 1080p HD formats and in mp4 for iPod with Video. 

It was felix carvalho, a young man wise beyond his years, who once remarked, "we got everything".  Indeed, in this episode we truly have got it all: beautiful models, glamorous fashion shows, an exclusive polo match, and the biggest DJ in the world -- all in perfect High Definition clarity.

In this final chapter of our three videos from Punta del Este, Uruguay we spend some time with dolores behind the red velvet rope outside a trendy beach nightclub.  There, we learn something about our visit to Punta: some people have "got it", and some people have "got everything!".

We hope you enjoy watching the show as much as we enjoy making it.  And please remember to continue seeding after your BitTorrent transfer completes so that the next viewer can download these big files just as speedy as you.

The latest episode of mariposaHD is almost here!  The new .torrent files for mariposaHD episode 01.06 will be officially released here next Thursday, April 12th.  So be sure to check back here next week to pick up the latest and greatest episode of the world's first HDTV show for the Internet.

As with our previous episode, we're releasing the new episode 01.06 pics to our photo gallery a few days before the launch of the video to whet your appetites.

Please enjoy our latest photography highlights from the upcoming mariposaHD episode 01.06:

mariposa beauty: antonela

mariposa style: polo, mantra

mariposa adventure: polo

mariposa making of: polo

We have waited a long time to release these new photos.  This girl is going to make it really big.  We will not be surprised at all when some day soon we see her strolling down the catwalk at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show or on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.

You may recognize antonela, our newest mariposa girl, from the brief "coming soon :: episode 01.06" clip at the end of episode 01.05 or from the scorching tendencia beach fashion show in episode 01.04.  antonela will be the featured mariposa girl in the next episode of mariposaHD.  So you can take this as a little hint that the release of episode 01.06 may be coming right around the corner.  Until then, please enjoy antonela's new photo album in our online photo gallery.

We only had a brief few minutes to shoot with antonela as she finished a polo-themed fashion show on bikini beach, near punta del este, Uruguay.  We got lucky and caught a few moments of perfect afternoon sunlight.  Needless to say, antonela has the look that will take her as far as she's willing to go.  We have not seen the last of her!

Some very tragic news made the headlines this week in Buenos Aires.  Uruguayan model Eliana Ramos, 18, was found dead on Tuesday of an apparent heart attack.

Sadly, this tragedy has all the makings of a story that sensationalist journalism will stick to.  Just six months earlier, her older sister Luisel, 22, died as she stepped off the catwalk of a fashion show in Montevideo.  Additionally, the local press has been whipped into an anorexia frenzy recently after the death of Brazilian model Ana Carolina Reston last November and the controversy surrounding Madrid Fashion Week's decision to bar underweight models.  While no official medical report has been released yet, the local press has speculated that an eating disorder may have contributed to Elle's early demise.

While the mariposaHD team never actually knew Elle, our cameras did capture her smiles at several recent local fashion shows.  We wish to offer our condolences to her family and friends for this tragic loss.  But as usual, rather than commenting extensively on this sad story, we prefer to let our images do the talking.  Here are links to some of our recent shots of Elle on the catwalk, hopefully the way she'd wish to be remembered:

dotto :: IMG_3323
dotto :: IMG_3251
ftv urban look :: IMG_6787
ftv urban look :: IMG_6860
fashion buenos aires :: IMG_5472