The Yip-Yips meet the Computer
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 8, 2006 in Television
This is a classic clip of the Yip-Yipsfrom Sesame Street discovering an old school computer in 1987:
Silent Aircraft
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 8, 2006 in Science
I’ve always dreamed of seeing a science fiction looking delta winged aircraft become reality:
‘Silent aircraft’: How it works
“Engineers from the University of Cambridge and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have unveiled a radical design for a “silent aircraft”.
The team says any noise from the concept aircraft, known as the SAX-40, would be “imperceptible” beyond the boundaries of an airport. It would also burn far less fuel than conventional planes. The design is the result of three years’ work and includes both new and existing technologies.”
Pulp Fiction Prequel Details Emerging
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 7, 2006 in Cinema
Part of me wonders if this is just a bad idea, it’s been ten years since Pulp Fiction and I’m not sure if Travolta could pull off a prequel. And I’m assuming of course that it would have to be a prequal as the Travolta character got killed off in Pulp Fiction. Of course if there is a person who could come up with a creative solution it would be Tarantino:
TarantinoWatch: Viva the Vega Borthers?
“One of the projects that I think most of us have given up on long ago was the sequel to Pulp Fiction focusing on the Vic and Vincent Vega, played by John Travolta and Michael Madsen. It turns out that Madsen himself hasn’t given up hope, and he tells me that QT has approached him with a story concept that could make a movie happen.
Last week I got on the phone with Madsen to talk about the 15th anniversary DVD of Reservoir Dogs (which is coming a year early) and the new Reservoir Dogs video game, and I took the chance to grill him on various upcoming projects. He brought up the Vega Bros movie, something I would never have even thought to ask about.”
Madness Combat: Antipathy
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 7, 2006 in Videogames
This is the sixth Flash game which has goth cartoon look to it:
Monster a-Go Go
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 6, 2006 in Horror
Cosmic radiation AND pretty girls! Something for everyone from 1965:
“Monster A Go-Go has an unusual, perhaps even unique, production history. Director Bill Rebane ran out of money while making the film. Lewis, who needed a second film to show with his own feature, Moonshine Mountain, bought the film, added a few extra scenes and some dialogue, and then released it, creating an odd, disjointed film with little continuity. The film is infamous among those who have seen it for its incomprehensible “non-ending”.”
Star Wars: The Lost Scene
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 5, 2006 in Star Wars
It’s the famous lost scene with Biggs from the original Star Wars! But now that I’ve seen it I think it’s a good Lucas cut it from the film – it’s pretty lame stuff:
Massara Blue Jeans
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 4, 2006 in Fandom
It’s the dance craze that’s sweeping the net:
So what is this?
まっさらブルージーンズ (Romaji: Massara Blue Jeans; English: Brand New Blue Jeans) is an Indie-Single of the Hello! Project group °C-ute. The single was released on 2006-05-06 at the second to last date of the Morning Musume Concert Tour 2006 Haru ~Rainbow Seven~, where °C-ute opened the show. It is also on sale at Fanclub Events and at the Hello! Project store.
Love Nina Dating Game
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 4, 2006 in Videogames
No it’s not “Love Hina” but a game based on her long lost anime sister Nina!
Preview of 28 Weeks Later
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 3, 2006 in Horror
Here’s footage of 28 Weeks Later, a sequel to 28 Days Later (Zombie fun):
First Look at 28 Weeks Later, sequel to 28 Days Later
Tintin’s Cars
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 3, 2006 in Comic Books
This is a great webpage that has quite a few illustrations of cars shown in Tintin and their real world models:
Pretz Commercials
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 2, 2006 in Japanese TV
Like their chocolate flavored cousins Pocky, Pretz are long and thin breadstick-like snacks that have the same kind of crunch as a pretzel stick. Here’s a pretty happening Marilyn Monroe inspired commercial for them which stars J-Pop idol singerAyaya:
Mad Max 4?
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 2, 2006 in Cinema
Bad news campers, it looks like the powers that be are set to make another Mad Max movie! I’d like to see Tina Turner be cast in the lead role this time:
Mad Max Director George Miller On Mad Max 4
“Mad Max 4 is so prepared, there seems to be a lot of momentum for it to get done. Right now, I’ve got another, smaller film to do, and then we’ll gear up and do “Mad Max” again. In what form and so on, I don’t know. But it hasn’t gotten stale in the meantime, and I’m very very keen to do it. It seems like there’s the appetite out there.”
Michael J. Nelson’s RiffTrax
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 1, 2006 in Cinema, Television
Mystery Science Theater 3000 fansboys should check out RiffTrax, from MST3 head writer Michael J. Nelson. His site allows you to buy a MST3esque mp3 files that you can play along while you’re watching a movie. The tracks are pretty cheap and so far he’s covered the Matrix and has plans to cover the first Star Wars movie:
Michael J. Nelson’s RiffTrax.com
“Do you feel that some of the movies coming out of Hollywood are just, well, missing something? At RiffTrax, you can download Mike’s running commentaries and listen to them along with your favorite, and not so favorite DVDs. It’s like watching a movie with your funniest friend. And it’s easy to do. Don’t just sit back and take whatever Hollywood throws at you. Transform the DVD experience with RiffTrax. It’s the most fun you’ll ever have at the movies.”
Space Yogurt
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 1, 2006 in Science
“The Dregs of Sake” sounds like it would be a great name for a band (or a fun drinking game):
Space Yogurt Made With Astro-Bacteria
“Space Yogurt from Himawari Dairy is now available in Japan. Himawari Dairy, a Kochi-area dairy manufacturer, reserved a seat aboard a Soyuz rocket that took off from Baikonur Cosmodrome this spring. The “passengers” were two strains of bacteria: lactic acid bacteria used in ordinary yogurt and a unique strain of Lactobacillus paracasei cultured from pickles preserved in the dregs of sake (called sake lees), which is thought to enhance the body’s immunity to disease.
Cosmic radiation was expected to have an effect on the bacteria. “Lactic acid bacteria is delicate, so we are looking forward to seeing what happens,” says company president Bunjiro Yoshizawa. “It will be nice if space travel improves the yogurt’s flavor and boosts its immunity-enhancing properties”.”
This who can read Japanese should visit the Himawari Dairy website.
Lunatic at Large
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 1, 2006 in Cinema
It looks like they might make a film based on an old Stanley Kubrick script:
After Death, My Sweet: From an Idea by Kubrick, a New Film May Be Born
“Stanley Kubrick never threw anything away. On the other hand, he didn’t have much of a filing system, and when he moved — permanently, it turned out — from Hollywood to London in 1962, a great many things went astray. Among them was the sole copy of a film treatment called “Lunatic at Large,” which Mr. Kubrick had commissioned in the late ’50s from the noir pulp novelist Jim Thompson, with whom he had worked on “The Killing,” a 1956 bank-heist story that became his first successful feature, and then on 1957’s “Paths of Glory.” The manuscript remained lost until after Mr. Kubrick’s death, in 1999, when his son-in-law, Philip Hobbs, working with an archivist, turned it up, along with a couple of other scripts, and set about trying to make it into a movie.”
…Part of me will always be somewhat let down that Kubrick didn’t a chance to create a few more films before he passed away, but on the other hand if they give a project to thi sto the right director you might get a bit of magic. In fact when AI came out I hated it because it wasn’t directed by Kubrick, but the more I think back to it the more I like it.
Below: Kubrick on the left and noir pulp novelist Jim Thompson on the right.
Nodame Cantabile
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 31, 2006 in Japanese TV
Episodes of the Japanese comedy/drama Nodame Cantabile (のだめカンタービレ) are now up on YouTube:
Some background info from Wikipedia:
“Shinichi Chiaki is the top piano student at his university and an excellent violinist, but Chiaki doesn’t care about playing these instruments as much as he dreams of someday being a conductor. Chiaki, however, has several deeply rooted fears about traveling, and so finds himself “trapped” in Japan. Because he’s trapped, Chiaki starts to question exactly how far he can possibly go in music, especially when he’s passed over again and again for others he thinks are less worthy of musical scholarship and fame.”
Here in the states Del Rey has also come out with the manga version which inspired the tv show:
Vampires are a Mathematical Impossibility
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 31, 2006 in Science
I think herr professor Efthimiou lacks imagination:
Vampires a Mathematical Impossibility, Scientist Says
“University of Central Florida physics professor Costas Efthimiou’s work debunks pseudoscientific ideas, such as vampires and zombies, in an attempt to enhance public literacy. Not only does the public believe in such topics, but the percentages are at dangerously high level, Efthimiou told LiveScience. Legend has it that vampires feed on human blood and once bitten a person turns into a vampire and starts feasting on the blood of others.
Efthimiou’s debunking logic: On Jan 1, 1600, the human population was 536,870,911. If the first vampire came into existence that day and bit one person a month, there would have been two vampires by Feb. 1, 1600. A month later there would have been four, and so on. In just two-and-a-half years the original human population would all have become vampires with nobody left to feed on.”
Fate/Stay Night Toys
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 30, 2006 in Hobbies and Collections
I stumbled across this great clip of a Fate/Stay Night toy from Japan:
So I then did a bit research and came across this cute smoker-friendly doll based on the Fate/Stay Night:
Here’s some background info:
“Fate/stay night (フェイト／ステイナイト?) is a Japanese visual novel game created by TYPE-MOON in 2004 that has been adapted into an anime television series by Studio Deen. There is also a manga series, currently serialized in the monthly Shōnen Ace magazine. It has enjoyed immense popularity, especially in Japan, spawning numerous adaptations, merchandise, memorabilia and amassing an extensive fanbase around the world.”
Ewok Annihilation
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 29, 2006 in Star Wars, Videogames
Hate Ewoks? You’re going to love this game!
