Cartoon Characters That Stick to the Roof of Your Mouth

Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 15, 2008 in Comic Books

This is what fanboys put on their WonderBread in 1981! Looking at the branding of this product I guess they went with Superman because any superhero with an animal theme like Batman or Spiderman might bring up gross connotations if associated with food. By the way DC Comics was late to the peanut butter game — in 1954 Derby Foods marketed their Peter Pan Peanut Butter brand by being one of the sponsors of the Disneyland TV show:

Read more…

 

New Pixar Film Poster is Up

Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 14, 2008 in Animation

Poster for the Pixar film up

Shown above is the latest official poster for the upcoming Pixar film Up — you can check out the official website here…

Found via movietrailertalk.com.

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Ridley Scott to Direct The Forever War

Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 14, 2008 in Pulp Fiction

The Forever War

Ridley Scott doing a science fiction film is always interesting news, but Scott tackling this classic novel is very interesting news indeed:

Ridley Scott takes on ‘Forever War’
Fox 2000 film based on Joe Haldeman novel

“Fox 2000 has acquired rights to Joe Haldeman’s 1974 novel “The Forever War,” and Ridley Scott is planning to make it into his first science fiction film since he delivered back-to-back classics with “Blade Runner” and “Alien.” Scott intended to follow those films with “The Forever War,” but rights complications delayed his plans for more than two decades.

The film will be produced by Scott Free. Vince Gerardis and Ralph Vicinanza will exec produce. Their company, Created By, reps Haldeman and spent the last decade trying to get back the rights. “I first pursued ‘Forever War’ 25 years ago, and the book has only grown more timely and relevant since,” Scott told Daily Variety. “It’s a science-fiction epic, a bit of ‘The Odyssey’ by way of ‘Blade Runner,’ built upon a brilliant, disorienting premise.”

Book revolves around a soldier who battles an enemy in deep space for only a few months, only to return home to a planet he doesn’t recognize some 20 years later, Scott said.”

 

Master Illustrator David Levine is Losing His Vision

Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 14, 2008 in Comic Books

David Levine 1972 caricature of Humphrey Bogart

As a visual artist I think one of the most scary things that I can imagine would be to go blind — so I’m feeling some what devastated because I read today that one of my favorite illustrators David Levine is suffering from macular degeneration. The artwork above is a 1972 caricature of Humphrey Bogart, but it doesn’t do David justice as a computer screen just doesn’t have the resolution to show off his amazingly deft draftsmanship. In fact the first time I was introduced to his work it was because my father gave me a book on him when I was a kid — and I was just blown away. It showed me that cartoons can be humorous but intelligent at the same time:

Levine in Winter
For four decades, David Levine’s acid-tipped portraits of everyone from Castro to Cheney gave The New York Review of Books its visual punch. Now that the greatest caricaturist of the late 20th century is going blind, is he owed more than a fond farewell?

“Simultaneously, two more dramas were under way. One was on Henry Street in Brooklyn Heights, where Levine, now 81 years old, had long lived and worked. Gradually, his universe had grown darker and fuzzier. He could no longer see very clearly without strong light and magnification, or rely upon his hand: the lines that had always been his friends, the spare, crisp ones that defined someone’s shape, and the elaborate cross-hatchings that gave him soul, he could no longer control. His ophthalmologist had put it bluntly. “Mr. Levine, you don’t look your age,” he said. “But your eyes do.” His diagnosis: macular degeneration. Medications and injections didn’t help. Levine worked on, but laboriously. He abandoned pen and ink for pencil, which, as he puts it, “was more forgiving if I made a mistake.” But the results were plain enough. For the first time—except for those very few instances when it had been too tart for the publication’s taste—the Review rejected his work.”

 

Podcars Ready for Reality

Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 14, 2008 in Science

podcar from sleeper

If you’ve ever watched the 1973 Woody Allen film Sleeper which is set in the year 2173 you’ll recall the futuristic podcar. Well it now looks like the city of Ithaca, New York is now seriously thinking about bring the concept to life:

podcar concept art

Ithaca Aims To Be America’s First “Podcar” City

“With the oil crisis reaching a zenith and federal lawmakers ready to begin fashioning a new national transportation bill for 2010, Roberts and his colleagues think the future is now for podcars — electric, automated, lightweight vehicles that ride on their own network separate from other traffic.

Unlike mass transit, podcars carry two to 10 passengers, giving travelers the freedom and privacy of their own car while reducing the use of fossil fuels, reducing traffic congestion and freeing up space now monopolized by parking.

At stations located every block or every half-mile, depending on the need, a rider enters a destination on a computerized pad, and a car would take the person nonstop to the location. Stations would have slanted pull-in bays so that some cars could stop for passengers, while others could continue unimpeded on the main course.

“It works almost like an elevator, but horizontally,” said Roberts, adding podcar travel would be safer than automobile travel.”

Sleeper screen grab found via whatthebutlerblogged.

 

Astronomers Discover Potential Earth-like Planet

Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 14, 2008 in Science

artists illustration of Gliese 581

It’s anyones guess if Gliese 581 supports life — and of course keep in mind that life might mean a bunch of amoebas rather than Mr. Spock — but this sort of news always get me excited:

New Planet Spotted, Could Be Habitable
Astronomers Spot Planet Which Could Have Earth-Like Climate, Water On Surface

“For the first time, astronomers have discovered a planet outside our solar system that is potentially habitable, with Earth-like temperatures, a find researchers described Tuesday as a big step in the search for “life in the universe.” It’s Earth-like because its temperature is close to ours, between 32 and 104 degrees Fahrenheit, reports CBS News correspondent Sandra Hughes. It has gravity and the potential for water.

Its sun, called a red dwarf, is colder and not as bright as our sun. Still, this discovery gives kids a reason to imagine life in outer space, adds Hughes. The planet is just the right size, might have water in liquid form, and in galactic terms is relatively nearby at 120 trillion miles away.

There’s still a lot that is unknown about the new planet, which could be deemed inhospitable to life once more is known about it. And it’s worth noting that scientists’ requirements for habitability count Mars in that category: a size relatively similar to Earth’s with temperatures that would permit liquid water. However, this is the first outside our solar system that meets those standards.”

 

Tides Make or Break Planetary Life

Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 14, 2008 in Science

NASA images of Jupiter's moon, Io, (left) Earth (center) and Mars (right), respectively, illustrate worlds with too much, just enough and too little tidal heating to favor life. Internal heating can dramatically affect the suitability of a planet for life. Internal heating produced by tides in Io is so strong the moon undergoes powerful global-scale volcanism. Earth's moderate internal heating drives plate tectonics that create a surface suitable for life. The negligible tidal heating of Mars may be why the planet is so geophysically dormant at present, possibly making it too cold for life.

I get very excited by the sheer number of planets that we keep discovering outside of our solar system, however the more we understand just what it takes to support life as we know it — to me it seems to be that the chances of finding alien civilizations decreases. Although on the bright side the universe is pretty damn huge and this research proves that we better take good care of our planet:

Tides Have Major Impact on Planet Habitability

“Astronomers searching for rocky planets that could support life in other solar systems should look outside, as well as within, the so-called “habitable zone,” University of Arizona planetary scientists say.Planets too close to their stars are roasted. Planets too far from their stars are frozen. In between, research models show, there’s a habitable zone where planet temperatures approximate Earth’s. Any rocky planets in this just-right Goldilocks zone could be awash in liquid water, a requisite for life as we know it, theorists say.

New research by Brian Jackson, Rory Barnes and Richard Greenberg of UA’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory shows that tides can play a major role in heating terrestrial planets, creating hellish conditions on rocky alien worlds that otherwise might be livable. And just the other way, tidal heat can also create conditions favorable to life on planets that would otherwise be unlivable.”

 

Searching for ET with Telescopes

Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 14, 2008 in Science

nulling interferometr

In Star Trek the Enterprise always seems to be tripping over class M planets, but it might be possible to find small Earth like planets using a technique known as nulling interferometry and earth based observatories:

Telescope Tech Will Speed Search for Extraterrestrial Life

“The smallest rocky planet detected to date has around four times the mass of Earth. This planet, as well as most of the 300 exoplanets discovered to date, have been detected by the “wobble” or shift in the light spectrum of the star caused by the slight gravitational tug of the orbiting planet. Another planet-hunting method, called gravitational microlensing, takes advantage of the way the gravity of an exoplanet’s star bends and focuses the light from a more distant star like a lens. Small deviations in the light from the distant star indicate that a planet is orbiting the lensing star.

Nulling interferometry will surpass both of these strategies in the search for smaller, earth-like worlds that orbit their star at a distance — in the “habitable zone” — that could harbor life. The technique involves incredibly precise measurements of the position of a star, so that the minutest wobble caused by the gravity of an orbiting planet 100,000 times smaller can be detected.”

 

Japanese iPhone Commercials

Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 13, 2008 in Japanese TV

How can’t you love a talking doggie? It’s funny seeing these ads from Soft Bank in Japan for the iPhone because they’re so “un-Apple” — the one above is a general ad (with subtitles) and the one below shows off the games available on the iPhone:

 

Suen Ga-Lam Kicking Kung Fu Ass!

Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 13, 2008 in Cinema

Martial arts actress Suen Ga-Lam from the 1974 Hong Kong film The Heinous Fiend.

Special thanks to fempowervideo.com for posting that action packed clip!

 

An Animated Hyperkinetic Cover Illustration

Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 13, 2008 in Comic Books

Hyperkinetic #3.jpg

The warped circular reflection on this cover art is wonderfully cartoony, something that you don’t see often enough on comic book covers today. This illustration is by Matteo Scalera and Howard M. Shum for Hyperkinetic #3 published by Image Comics (which will go on sale on October 15th).

 

Tokachi Azuki Caramel and Meiji Caramel Candies

Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 13, 2008 in Hobbies and Collections

TokachiAzuki.jpg

I love how minimal but playful the design is on these two packages for soft chewy candies. Even the very vertical aspect ratio of the box makes the design feel just a bit more classy. Out of the two I enjoyed the slightly creamy of the Meiji Caramel just a bit better than the Tokachi Azuki Caramel.

The web address for the purple package on the left (Tokachi Azuki Caramel):
www.dounan.co.jp

Web address for the white/blue dots package on the right (Meiji Caramel):
www.meiji.co.jp

 

Yogi Bear, Fred Flintstone , Scooby Doo AND Dorothy Hamill

Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 12, 2008 in Animation

Children today are so spoiled — there’s not one but several channels full of kids shows on cable TV, and to top it off there’s an entire internet filled with tons of websites. But sadly 1979 was a dark age in children’s entertainment as seen in this above advert for Ice Capades: I frankly can’t think of anything more painful to do as a child than to watch some dufus dressed up as Jabber Jaw prance around on the ice. But oh wait if that hasn’t hade you want to play with your lint collection there’s more: We’ve got Yogi Bear, Fred Flintstone , Scooby Doo AND Dorothy Hamill.

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Uncovering Exo-Earths within the Dust

Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 12, 2008 in Science

What excites me about this research is that most of the exoplanets we’ve been finding are huge in scale like Jupiter or Saturn. This modeling shows how we might be able to find planets that are the size of our Earth. This doesn’t mean that we’ll be discovering aliens next week (after all Mars and Venus are about the size of earth but don’t support life) but it will bring us a step closer:

NASA Supercomputer Shows How Dust Rings Point to Exo-Earths

“Supercomputer simulations of dusty disks around sunlike stars show that planets nearly as small as Mars can create patterns that future telescopes may be able to detect. The research points to a new avenue in the search for habitable planets.

“It may be a while before we can directly image earthlike planets around other stars but, before then, we’ll be able to detect the ornate and beautiful rings they carve in interplanetary dust,” says Christopher Stark, the study’s lead researcher at the University of Maryland, College Park.

Working with Marc Kuchner at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., Stark modeled how 25,000 dust particles responded to the presence of a single planet — ranging from the mass of Mars to five times Earth’s — orbiting a sunlike star. Using NASA’s Thunderhead supercomputer at Goddard, the scientists ran 120 different simulations that varied the size of the dust particles and the planet’s mass and orbital distance.”

 

Muppets Marketing Fizzy Drinks

Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 11, 2008 in Animation

The bird characters in this 1960s spot by Jim Henson for Royal Crown Cola would later become the inspiration for Big Bird on Sesame Street.

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Cosmic Commode Can’t Cope

Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 11, 2008 in Science

Space Station Broken Bathroom

To boldly go! As a child watching the moon landing I dreamed of when I would be an adult when humans would go on to conquer space — and at the dawn of the 21st Century we seem to be dealing with plumbing issues instead of reaching for the stars:

Space Station Toilet Breaks Again

“The master bathroom for three astronauts aboard the International Space Station is on the fritz again just days before a trio of new spaceflyers are due to launch toward the orbiting lab, NASA officials said Friday.

A temporary telemetry glitch also sent the space station into a so-called survival mode earlier this morning, changing the outpost’s attitude and leading to system power downs for several hours. That issue was quickly tracked to an electronics box aboard the station, but the balky space toilet in the Russian Zvezda service module continues to plague astronauts and flight controllers.

“It failed late yesterday,” NASA spokesperson John Ira Petty said of the Russian-built space commode in televised commentary from Mission Control in Houston. “Russian specialists are troubleshooting. The problem appears to be a [gas] separator issue”.”

 

Start Trekkin: To Goof Boldly Where No Fan Has Gone Before…

Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 10, 2008 in Star Trek

To me there will never be anything quite as fun as the original Star Trek series, so it makes my heart happy to see a new generation having a bit of fun with the old school crew right here in New York City:

Start Trekkin

“Start Trekkin is in fact the greatest comedy experience you will ever have. Each episode is a fully improvised explosion of the Universe created by Star Trek. A new crew and a new ship explore the universe every time, taking on the single most exciting problems sentient life has ever encountered. This is a full hour-length narrative created before your very eyes and based on your suggestions.”

By the way if you’re on Facebook you can join their fan club here! I’m sure they’ll be announcing some new stardates shortly…

 

Great Crime Films from the Last Recession

Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 10, 2008 in Cinema

recession-films.gif

Watching the economy melt down has made me think of the last time we had a good old fashioned recession, and by chance it was while the last President Bush was in office in the early 90s. However on the upside a recession can be a good thing as it forces film makers to turn away from high budget wonders and forces them to get creative with their story telling skills. In fact the last recession gave birth to an entire field of of indie film makers — sadly that spirit from the 90s has been replaced with mindless blockbuster special effects films. In fact if I had to place blame for this trend it would have to be with none other than George Lucas and his last trio of Star Wars films which kicked of in 1999 (frankly did he really need the money?).

But turning back to an earlier age: The early 90s forced film makers to come up with original ideas. Working without a huge special effects budget many of these films were in the crime genre which allowed them to focus on strong characters and fast paced action (this was the post-MTV era after all). It’s interesting but looking bak at that period you get a sort of silver age of crime cinema that is a nice echo of the film noir era. Here are a few of my favorites:

The Krays: This 1990 indie film from England was quite powerful. Based on a true story most of the film takes place in swinging London of the 60s, and 80s Britpop fans will live the fact that the co-stars were from the band Spandau Ballet.

Goodfellas: Made in 1990 for a budget of $25,000,000 this is one of my favorite Martin Scorsese films.

Read more…

 

Support Shat: Don’t Buy this T-Shirt!

Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 9, 2008 in Star Trek

Star Trek TOS Tunic Tees

There’s only one man on planet Earth who has the right to wear this t-shirt and that’s none other than Mr. William Shatner — THE only man qualified to play Captain James T. Kirk on the silver screen. I blame J.J. Abrams for the fact that we now find that any slob with $25 and access to the internet can prance around with Shat’s shirt on his back. Damn all of you apathetic fanboys who haven’t spoken up on this issue. Hell if it weren’t for Shatner we’d all still be watching friggin’ Westerns…

Because there is only one Captain James T. Kirk: Bring Shat Back!

 

The Star Warsification of Captain Nemo

Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 9, 2008 in Cinema, Television

Shown above is a clip from the 1978 made-for-TV movie The Return of Captain Nemo which was produced by — yup you guessed it: Irwin Allen! I can just picture the writers pitching the show to Irwin:

“Look I know you’ve got tons of left over scenery from Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, well I tell ya what we’re going to do with it: All the kids are into Star Wars so we go old school a revisit Captain Nemo but here’s the twist baby: we add in space aliens, laser beams and have plenty of shots of things blowing up big time!”

By the way least I slag the scripting dept. too much one of the authors involved in this “epic” was none other than well known author Robert Bloch whose credits included writing the horror novel Psycho and three scripts for Star Trek.

 

McCain’s War on Science Literacy

Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 9, 2008 in Science

This is not a mere overhead projector!

When I started this blog I made it a point not to be overly political, unless it was something that touched on an issue that would be sacred to my fellow fanboys and fangurls. And as all of you know for the last thirty or so years funding for causes like NASA, science research and education has been devastated by both parties. In fact since the 80s we’ve watched space shuttles blow up not once, but twice.

The last time this nation seriously cared about both science and education was at the height of the Cold War — and in a sense Sputnik did more to help America than anything else. Yet we’ve gone from willful neglect to a harsh contempt of science in our nation. I know in my heart the next Sputnik will change that, and that may be gas hitting $20 a gallon or watching China land on the moon while we need the Russians to visit an orbiting space station.

Sadly I’ve watched the Republicans become the party of anti-science these last few years, and this is even more pathetic when you realize that President Dwight D. Eisenhower put NASA in business in the first place. Recently I’ve been upset by the choice of Sarah Palin — it’s abominable that the daughter of a science teacher lacks the sophistication to believe that the concepts of God and evolution are some how exclusive of each other. But Tuesday hit a low point when Senator McCain dug into Senator Obama over an “$3 million [earmark] for an overhead projector”. That overhead projector is the central projection unit for a planetarium — which is vital if we want to teach the next generation of kids about science:

Obama’s Planetarium Projector Earmark Explained

“McCain’s phrase suggests Obama spent $3 million on an old-fashioned piece of office equipment that projects charts and text on a wall screen. In fact, the money was for an overhaul of the theater system that projects images of stars and planets for educational shows at Chicago’s Adler Planetarium. When he announced the $3 million earmark last year, Obama said the planetarium’s 40-year-old projection system “has begun to fail, leaving the theater dark and groups of school students and other interested museum-goers without this very valuable and exciting learning experience.”

To clarify, the Adler Planetarium requested federal support – which was not funded – to replace the projector in its historic Sky Theater, the first planetarium theater in the Western Hemisphere. The Adler’s Zeiss Mark VI projector – not an overhead projector – is the instrument that re-creates the night sky in a dome theater, the quintessential planetarium experience. The Adler’s projector is nearly 40 years old and is no longer supported with parts or service by the manufacturer. It is only the second planetarium projector in the Adler’s 78 years of operation.”

 

Your Stylus is a Lightsaber!

Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 8, 2008 in Star Wars

This is the trailer for the Nintendo DS game Star Wars The Clone Wars: Jedi Alliance. The game looks like quite a bit of fun — I have to admit the idea of battling the dark side of the force while being stuck on a subway ride wouldn’t be the worst way to spend a commute for this fanboy.

 

Yeah I’m Hanging Out with Haruhi Suzumiya

Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 8, 2008 in Fandom

I think this is footage from Comiket this Summer — on the left is Alisa a reporter from the Anime NewType Channel. It looks like they’re looking at the guide for the show while having an animated conversation. I’m impressed how the cosplay attired young lady on the right manages to stay in character for so long…

 

Mercury and Jupiter

Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 8, 2008 in Science

MESSENGER Returns Images from Oct. 6 Mercury Fly-By

Shown above is an image from the Messenger mission fly-by of Mercury. And below is one of the sharpest images of Jupiter taken from the Earth.

Cal Makes Sharpest Image Ever Of Jupiter From Earth

 

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