Scientists Oppose New Moon Mission
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 25, 2008 in Science
NASA needs to go back to it’s roots — I say we just go to Mars in my lifetime and forget about play testing the concept:
The Justice Cover Collection
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 25, 2008 in Comic Books
It’s just so easy to get cynical when it comes to artwork that features a well known super hero. I’ve seen so many comic book covers that try to pull it off, but it always looks so damn silly to see an adult jumping around in tights. It’s because of this reason that Alex Ross blows my socks off, he always manages to eliminate my suspension of disbelief with these old school cartoon characters brought to life. It’s not just the lighting and the powerful use of color, it’s the poses and facial expressions which make you feel like you’re looking at an super hero. Shown above is a sample from Comic Book Cover Portfolio No. 2: The Justice Cover Collection which will hit stores in September.
Synthetic Life: First Steps
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 24, 2008 in Science
From Brave New World to Blade Runner artificial life has always been a staple of science fiction, so it’s interesting to see the first baby steps in that direction:
Synthetic life ‘advance’ reported
“An important step has been taken in the quest to create a synthetic lifeform. A US team reports in Science magazine how it replicated the entire DNA code from a common bacterium in the laboratory. The group hopes eventually to use engineered genomes to make organisms that can produce clean fuels and take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.”
Vintage Animated Commercials from the 60s
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 24, 2008 in Animation
Shown above are animated commercials from the mid to late 60s for Milkbone Dog Treats, Puma softdrink, Standard Oil, a public service Voting spot (done in a Terry Gilliam style), Marathon (starring the characters from the comic strip B.C.), Levi’s, Hamilton Watches (spot by R.O. Blechman), Fritos, Graf’s Diet Sodas, Hanes, a Buick dealership, and cherry flavored Chocks. And here’s another set from the same era:
Low Budget Space Tourism?
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 24, 2008 in Science
Up until this point you’ve need to be a software millionaire to travel into outer space, I can’t imagine that this will be cheap but this fanboy hopes that the cost will keep coming down:
Entrepreneur Unveils New Tourist Spacecraft
“Burt Rutan took the cloak off of his new spacecraft on Wednesday. “Mr. Rutan, the creator of SpaceShipOne, the first privately-financed craft to carry a human into space, traveled to New York to show detailed models of the bigger SpaceShipTwo and its carrier airplane, WhiteKnightTwo.
“2008 will really be the year of the spaceship,” said Sir Richard Branson, the British serial entrepreneur, at the heavily attended press conference at the American Museum of Natural History in Manhattan. Sir Richard, who founded a company, Virgin Galactic, that promises to take tourists on brief trips to the edge of space, was there to show off the sleek pod of a spacecraft and its spidery carrier plane.”
…below are two images from the Virgin Galactic website, click on them to see them at their full size:
The Cutting Room Floor: Heath Ledger
Posted by Guest Author on Jan 23, 2008 in Cinema
Hollywood is filled with tales of tragedy and excess and Heath Ledger is the newest in a long list of lives cut short in the world of entertainment. At only 28 years of age the young Aussie was just coming into his own as an actor. With his sudden explosion into the big time with Ten Things I Hate About You Heath managed to string together a series of successful roles including A Knight’s Tale, The Brothers Grimm and The Order .
Cookie Monster Goes Heavy Metal
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 23, 2008 in Fandom
I never knew that Cookie Monster was such an AC/DC fan! This Charlie Brown themed metal video below isn’t quite as clever as the Cookie Monster one, but sill cute:
New Star Trek Viral Website
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 23, 2008 in Star Trek
Fascinating! I can slag J.J. Abrams for leaving Shat in the cold, but this viral website for the new film looks quite interesting:
Mr. Contac at Your Service
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 22, 2008 in Animation
It’s quite clever how this commercial for Contac in Japan features 3D stop motion animation characters drawing 2D animation. The pill character is called Mr. Contac and is from Osaka, Japan. He’s been featured on all sorts of cute merchandise like this phone strap:
Early Lunar Rover Prototype
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 22, 2008 in Science
Pictured above is a November 22, 1964 photo of William Sponsler (click on the image to see it at full size), a designer of the Lunar Surface Vehicle at Northrop Space Laboratories. In the photo he’s checking the mechanism of a one-sixth scale model as it moves over a rubbled replica of moon surface. Over five years later on July 31, 1971 the first lunar rover would make it debut during the Apollo 15 mission.
Found via the UCLA Library.
Hakaba Kitaro Opening Titles
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 21, 2008 in Animation
I love the comic book look of the opening titles above, they’re for for the anime series Hakaba Kitaro which just started running this January on Fuji Television. The series focuses around the character Kitaro who was born in a cemetery and his missing his left eye.
Scientist Makes Radio Waves Travel Faster than Light
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 21, 2008 in Science
It’s been a long time dream of fanboys like myself to travel faster than the speed of light, because once you’re able to do that hopping around the the galaxy becomes easy (ala Star Trek or Star Wars). Shown above on the left is a table top polarization synchrotron which allows radio signals to travel faster than the speed of light. I don’t expect interstellar travel to become a reality any time soon, but this is a pretty neat start:
LANL scientist makes radio waves travel faster than light
“Scientist John Singleton insists that Albert Einstein wouldn’t be mad at him, even though at first blush Singleton appears to have twisted the famous physicist’s theories about light into a pretzel. Most people think Einstein said that nothing can travel faster than the speed of light, but that’s not really the case, Singleton said.
Patariro Collectables Commercial
The anime series Patalliro! ran from 1982 until 1983 and is interesting because it was based on a manga by Mineo Maya which focused on bishounen (i.e. pretty boys). The show was more comedy than anything else, but I think it’s a good early example of Yaoi, which are manga focused on male gay relationships marketed to the ladies. There’s a good article on the show here by Mary Kennard. It was funny for me to come across that article because back in the early 80s I knew Mary, as she could be spotted at meetings of the Cartoon/Fantasy Organization in New York City which I went to all of the time.
The Cutting Room Floor: See No Evil
Posted by Guest Author on Jan 20, 2008 in Horror
The first film released by WWE Films, See No Evil stars WWE Superstar Kane (a running theme in WWE movies with The Marine starring John Cena and The Condemned starring Stone Cold Steve Austin). The basis for the movie is a basic horror film formula. An abandoned building, a psycho killer and a group of kids just waiting their turn to die.
Jinzo Toriumi Turns the Page
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 19, 2008 in Animation
Recently I was reading that screen writer Jinzo Toriumi passed away. Toriumi got his start writing episodes of Astro Boy in 1964, and then in 1965 he moved to Tatsunoko Productions where he worked on Speed Racer, Gatchaman (Battle of the Planets to us American fanboys), and well into the 80s with shows like the Votoms. Shown above are the titles for the 70s anime comedy series Yatterman which he wrote the script for (along with Akiyoshi Sakai).
Star Trek Film Teaser
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 19, 2008 in Star Trek
Shown above is the first teaser trailer for the upcoming Star Trek film – now I see that “Under Construction” is a reference to the building of the Enterprise. I love the early NASA and JFK references and I’m happy to hear Spock, but I’m also sad that there’s no reference to Shatner. How can you have Nimoy without Shatner? That’s like having Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups without the chocolate and peanut butter!
Underrated Manga: The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
Posted by Guest Author on Jan 18, 2008 in Comic Books
With American anime sales on a downward trend, a lot of attention is being paid to its partner in crime manga, the Japanese comics that are often adapted into anime (if they’re not already adaptations themselves). In North America and Europe manga has exploded, but the sheer volume of manga published in Japan means that not every series makes it over here— and even the ones that do don’t always get the attention that they deserve! So here’s one of our Top Ten Underrated Manga that we recommend that you should get your hands on:
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
How can the manga adaptations of a light novel and anime series so immensely popular that even protesters in Gaza use her on their signs go unlicensed and unloved? Haruhi has two manga adaptations: one started in 2004 and was cancelled due to its unpopularity; fans maintain that it’s a poor adaptation. A new version started in 2005, shortly before the anime aired, and now has five volumes in Japan.
Breakout Cartoonists: Liz Baillie
Posted by Guest Author on Jan 18, 2008 in Comic Books
Our Top Indie Cartoonists to Watch For in 2008: Keeping true to our “Anti-Superheroes in Tights” mood at fanboy, we took a look back at the comic books and graphic novels that caught our eye:
My Brain Hurts, by Liz Baillie
Being a gay teenager is tough. Being a punk teenager is tough. Both are marginalized by mainstream society, and put them both together and you have a minority-within-a-minority situation, because lets face it, anyone who’s spent time in Chelsea can tell you that queer culture and punk culture don’t overlap nearly as much as they should. But when they do, you usually end up with an explosion of creativity that brings us very very good things. Things like Liz Baillie’s My Brain Hurts, an outstanding mini-comic series, the first five issues of which have been collected by Microcosm Publishing why, just this last Fall!
Star Trek Movie Website Almost Live
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 18, 2008 in Star Trek
To boldly post an “Under Construction” sign where no fan has gone before! Nothing real on this website yet, although you can sign up to be spammed by Paramount when the time comes…
Richard Knerr: Toy Genius
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 17, 2008 in Hobbies and Collections
Richard Knerr the co-founder of the Wham-O toy company, died on Monday at the age of 82. Shown above is a commercial for Super Elastic Bubble Plastic, and below is a commercial for one of my childhood favorites Silly String:
Underrated Manga: Yubisaki Milk Tea
Posted by Guest Author on Jan 17, 2008 in Comic Books
With American anime sales on a downward trend, a lot of attention is being paid to its partner in crime manga, the Japanese comics that are often adapted into anime (if they’re not already adaptations themselves). In North America and Europe manga has exploded, but the sheer volume of manga published in Japan means that not every series makes it over here— and even the ones that do don’t always get the attention that they deserve! So here’s one of our Top Ten Underrated Manga that we recommend that you should get your hands on:
Yubisaki Milk Tea
There once was a boy named Yoshinori whose face was remarkably similar to his sister’s. As a result, he once had to take her place in a modeling session, dressing in a bridal gown for a local photography shop. Ever since then he’s had a taste for both cross-dressing and photography, and Yubisaki Milk Tea follows his exploits both as male Yoshinori and female “Yuki.” Yoshinori winds up in a love triangle with his childhood friend Hidari, who doesn’t know about his cross-dressing, and a classmate named Minamo, who hates men and will only talk to Yoshinori when he’s dressed as Yuki.
Messenger Reveals Mercury
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 17, 2008 in Science
Shown above is the latest photograph of the surface of Mercury taken by the Messenger probe, it’s the first time we’ve looked at the planet since the 70s (click on the image to see it at full size):
Messenger Reveals Mercury in New Detail
“As NASA’s Messenger spacecraft approached Mercury on January 14, 2008, it captured this view of the planet’s rugged, cratered landscape illuminated obliquely by the sun. This image was taken from a distance of approximately 11,000 miles, about 56 minutes before the spacecraft’s closest encounter with Mercury. It shows a region 300 miles across including craters less than a mile wide. The large, shadow-filled, double ringed crater to the upper right was glimpsed by Mariner 10 more than three decades ago and named Vivaldi, after the Italian composer.”
Underrated Manga: Lunar Legend Tsukihime
Posted by Guest Author on Jan 16, 2008 in Comic Books
With American anime sales on a downward trend, a lot of attention is being paid to its partner in crime manga, the Japanese comics that are often adapted into anime (if they’re not already adaptations themselves). In North America and Europe manga has exploded, but the sheer volume of manga published in Japan means that not every series makes it over here— and even the ones that do don’t always get the attention that they deserve! So here’s one of our Top Ten Underrated Manga that we recommend that you should get your hands on:
Lunar Legend Tsukihime
A high school boy named Shiki is suffering from a life-threatening injury, and as a result he has started to see “death lines” on the people around him. He discovers that if he traces the lines with a sharp object he can kill people. He protects himself from his ability by wearing a special pair of glasses that prevent his ability to see the lines.
The Cutting Room Floor: Looking Ahead to ‘08
Posted by Guest Author on Jan 16, 2008 in Cinema
It’s the beginning of a new year and is starting to look like the last good batch of movies we will see in a while. The Writer’s Guild of America remains on strike and until that is settled Hollywood will be starting to look rather barren around the end of this year and the start of ‘09. Television is already beginning to feel the sting with the cancellation of 24 this year and a load of Reality Shows ready to hit the mid season lineup. So I thought I would take the opportunity to look ahead to 2008 and see what’s coming up for us in theaters this year: