Ultimate Star Wars Home Theater

You have to admire a Star Wars fanboy that takes his hobby seriously! The above home Star Wars theater system and collection is located in Seattle, Washington. To see the full slideshow go to modernhometheater.com.

Found via techtechtechy.blogspot.com.

Farscape to Return

It looks like Farscape is coming back to the Sci Fi channel, although they’re not quite sure in what form:

Exclusive Interview: Sci Fi Channel Executive Vice President Dave Howe Talks ‘Farscape’ Webisodes & ‘Flash Gordon’

“The biggest announcement was that FARSCAPE would be returning care of SCI FI Channel and Jim Henson Productions via a new 10-episode webisdoe series, but there were some other questions we needed answered about projects on one of our favorite networks.”

Doujin Work: Manga Research

The above clip is rather funny, although the manga in question is more cheesecake than hentai. Dōjin Work (ドージンワーク) is a new anime series in Japan that just went on the air this July 4th, the show is based on a four panel comic strip (by the same name) about a young girl named Najimi Osana who is about to make her debut as a dōjin artist (dōjin are fan made comics). Of course being a fanboy I’m already somewhat partial to the show as it seems to be filled with references to the world of fandom.

Images found via BasuGasuBakuhatsu Anime Blog.

Oscar Goldman (Exploding Briefcase Included)

It’s funny on the Six Million Dollar Man I never recall Oscar Goldman sporting a tacky leasure suit, although the saving grace in this 70s attired action figure is that at lest he’s allowed to have an exploding briefcase! I guess there are advantages in being the Six Million Dollar Man’s Boss…

Creepy Japanese Pizza Commercial

The above animation is so upbeat with all of those cute little cartoon pizza toppings, and then takes a quick turn to the dark side! By the way of you live in Japan they deliver. By the way if you’d like to get some cute pizza wallpapers you should check out their Flash website.

MB Vectrex: Scramble

I love the vintage look of the above hardware, it’s a wonderful example of Tron inspited 80s futurism. MB Vectrex was a home videogame system and Scramble was created in 1982 by Konami which featured a plane going through a mysterious terrain loaded with UFOs and tanks.

Read more…

Pote Long Commercial

Shown above is silly commercial that showcases young romance and Pote-Long, which is a potato based snack from Japan produced by Morinaga & Co.

White Rose Vanilla Crunch

This is how I’ve been keeping cool through the last week! Shown above is the packaging of White Rose Vanilla Crunch, which is pretty much ice cream on a stick with bits of chocolate. They’re smaller than American ice cream treats, but if you’re counting calories that’s a good thing. The inside contents don’t look quite as good as the packaging, but they do taste great on a hot Summer night.

French Animation from 99 Years Ago

In honor of Bastille Day today I thought that I’d show off some classic French animation. Shown above is one of the first animated films ever made, it’s called Fantasmagorie and was animated by Émile Cohl in 1908. It’s sort of amazing for me to think that in just a year this film will be acentury old, it sounds like a long time but in the scheme of art history that makes animation a rather new medium.

To make this film, Cohl placed each drawing on an illuminated glass plate and then traced the next drawing-with variations-on top of it until he had some 700 drawings. In 1908, chalkboard caricaturists were common vaudeville attractions and the characters in the film look as though they’ve been drawn on a chalkboard, but it’s an illusion. By filming black lines on paper and then printing in negative Cohl makes his animations appear to be chalk drawings.

Space Race Card Game

The above illustrations were rediscovered by digial archivist Paula Wirth, they’re from a card game called “Space Race”. The set was published in 1969 but I wonder if the art work isn’t from an earlier time as it does have a late 50s feeling to it. The illustrations shown above are ‘Lost in Space’, ‘Lost on the Moon’, ‘Repairs in Space’, and ‘Danger – Comets!’

Bored Inc.

My Flickr friend from Los Angles TokyoBunnie just informed me of her new online design store Bored Inc.. Two items that caught my eye (shown above) are a Monsters decorama vinyl sticker that you can apply to your fanboy walls, and below that is Dead Pets: Dead Kitty Coin Purse. Also worth checking out is this cute TokyoBunnie Coin Purse.

Also TokyoBunnie has a great blog worth checking out at tokyobunnie.blogspot.com.

Blade Runner Umbrella

I love the look the look the above Blade Runner umbrella from ThinkGeek, it’s just the perfect thing for wandering around late Los Angeles in 2019:

“Early in the 21st Century, the Tyrell Corporation advanced robot evolution into the Nexus phase – a being virtually identical to a human – known as a Replicant. They’re all around you, even now. That guy next to you? He’s a Replicant. How do we know? He’s walking the streets in the rain with no umbrella. That, and he failed the Voight-Kampff. In the pre-apocalyptic future, the air will be so thick, it will be dark in the middle of the day. Coupled with the almost constant rain, you’ll need to find a way to stay dry, and light your way to the noodle shop down the street.”

Alien Life May Be “Weirder” Than Scientists Think

It’s life Jim, but not as we know it (yet):

Alien Life May Be “Weirder” Than Scientists Think

“Think life on Earth is weird? It might be even weirder on distant planets and moons, according to a new report. Instead of thriving on water, extraterrestrial organisms might live in a sea of liquid methane. Or instead of getting energy from the sun, they might thrive on hydrochloric acid. These possibilities could revolutionize future space missions in search of life elsewhere in the solar system, says the report, issued today by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS).

The report concludes that scientists need to consider an expanded list of characteristics that define life, including so-called “weird” life-forms that may thrive where Earth organisms couldn’t. Instead of dispatching spacecraft to dig into the subsurface of Mars, considered a prime candidate for primitive life because of its watery past, the report says the probes may have better luck on Saturn’s moon Titan, which has seas of liquid methane and ethane.”

Big Totoro

I just found the above amazing photo from Japan on Flickr, here’s the description:

“Some of the classes build displays for Culture Festival, a once-a-year school event with shows, food, decorations, etc. This class filled cups with paint and made a sort of water mosaic in a hallway.”

By the way Flickr has a Totoro Art group worth checking out too…

Shatner NOT in the new Trek, but Nimoy is?!

How can they leave Shat out of the film? At least we get Nimoy, here’s the description of the above video:

“William Shatner talks about the new Star Movie details with information from an inside source who has been cast in the movie.”

Voltes V: Ancient Toy Commercials

Voltes V came out in 1977, so these commercials must be from the late 70s. The first few commercials are what you’d expect, but several of the later commercials feature a Japanese kid in the 70s talking to and interacting with Voltes V.

So now you want your own Voltes V? Well shown below is the GX-31 Soul of Chogokin Voltes V which was released in 2006:

Beer Drinking Penguins

This commercial is like Rocky, but with beer drinking penguins…

Japanese Sake Commercials from 1959 to 1980

Shown above are some very surreaistic animated commercials for Kizakura sake from 1959 to 1980.

Nintendo Family Tree T-Shirt

I discovered the above t-shirt design at nerdyshirts.com, I wouldn’t mind having a poster of this too…

Cotton Monster

Cotton Monster is the creation of Jennifer Strunge. Her website is filled with an amazing cast of hand made creatures which reminds me of the Muppets with a slight touch of the Groovy Goolies. Her work shows a strong sense of imagination, and a very graphic yet charming use of color and texture. By the way you can adopt (wel purchase) one of the little devils here.

Found via Neatorama and Everlasting Blort.

Happy Tree Friends: Blind Date

This latest episode of Happy Tree Friends seems to be a twist on Weekend at Bernie’s. By the way I’m quite impressed with the look of the merchandise associated with Happy Tree Friends:

Sixty Years of UFOs

It’s hard to believe it, but sixty years ago today (July 8th, 1947) the first news story about UFOs appeared in Roswell, New Mexico:

“The intelligence office of the 509th Bombardment group at Roswell Army Air Field announced at noon today, that the field has come into possession of a flying saucer. According to information released by the department, over authority of Maj. J. A. Marcel, intelligence officer, the disk was recovered on a ranch in the Roswell vicinity, after an unidentified rancher had notified Sheriff Geo. Wilcox, here, that he had found the instrument on his premises. Major Marcel and a detail from his department went to the ranch and recovered the disk, it was stated. After the intelligence officer here had inspected the instrument it was flown to higher headquarters. The intelligence office stated that no details of the saucer’s construction or its appearance had been revealed.”

It’s interesting because while we’re still debating if the above episode even happened, the real revolution is that in scientific circles it’s now been pretty well accepted that someplace out there are aliens (who may or may not be like us). I think the major turning point in this debate was when Carl Sagan started to push this idea in the 80s about forty years after Roswell. And I half suspect that we might encounter alien life forms in our lifetimes, although they might only be humble microbes living on Mars or Titan.

Read more…

Lucky Star: The Local Comic Book Shop

I wish I could get this level of service at my local comic book shop! Shown above is a subtitled scene from Lucky Star, epiosde 13. I just love all the manga and otaku jokes in Lucky Star, in my mind the show is an anime South Park for otaku.

They Just Keep on Trekking

There’s a great article today in the LA Times on Star Trek fans films (shown above is the U.S.S. Odyssey from Star Trek: Hidden Frontier):

They just keep on Trekking
The ‘Star Trek’ franchise lives on through fan films, crafted by people outside the industry. In terms of money, it’s a whole different universe.

“Fan films are movies made by people outside the entertainment industry who write or improvise a script set in a familiar universe (like “Star Trek” or “Star Wars” or “Batman” or “Harry Potter”) and shoot it themselves. It’s not illegal as long as nobody makes any money from it — although some companies, Marvel in particular, don’t like their characters and worlds messed with. Anyone can do it, but it’s not easy. Time-consuming. Costly. And if you want to do it really well, there are actors, special effects, props, background music, costumes, makeup and distribution to consider. That’s when making a small fan film becomes a Herculean labor of love.

Rob Caves, creator and executive producer of “Hidden Frontier,” wanted his series to be good. He’s a diminutive 28-year-old with an almost unnervingly calm demeanor. As a kid watching “Star Trek: The Next Generation” with his father, and later “Deep Space Nine” on his own (he never liked the original series), he leaned less toward the usual “Trek” fan impulse of “I wish I lived there” and more toward “I want to make that”.”