Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 4, 2008 in Comic Books
It’s January of 1969 and Superman’s day job is President of the United States of America! This issue of Action Comics #371 not only featured Superman but co-stared Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, George Washington, Harry Truman, John Adams, Teddy Roosevelt, Thomas Jefferson and oh yes Lois Lane. This all star cast combined with a cover illustration by Neal Adams would make for a pretty interesting read if you’re stuck waiting on line to vote today.
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 4, 2008 in Animation
FUNImation is starting to get this digital media thing! On YouTube they’ve posted a test episode of Sgt. Frog (ケロロ軍曹 Keroro Gunsō). I like what FUNImation is doing on two levels: First they’ve done a nice job with the voice overs, Keroro is a real challenge to translate as it’s about the humor. Secondly they’ve embraced online video — but instead of reinventing the wheel they’re using YouTube which everyone is already watching. I hope FUNImation keeps this up…
Thanks to a bill passed by Texas legislators In 1997 astronauts have the right to vote. This year onboard the International Space Station Commander Mike Fincke and Flight Engineer Greg Chamitoff cast their vote via a secure electronic ballot. To celebrate this occasion the crew recorded this video urging their fellow earth bound citizens to get out and vote (which I more than concur with).
My favorite John Barry theme is from the 1960 film Beat Girl, but with the current James Bond buzz I’m happy to see John Barry get some long overdue recognition for his talent.
“Very few composers can be said to have created a new style of film music,” says David Arnold. “John Barry single-handedly created the spy genre.” Arnold, who recently completed scoring “Quantum of Solace” (his fifth James Bond score), has a long way to go to catch up to Barry’s record of 11 complete 007 scores (not counting his arrangement of the original “James Bond Theme” for “Dr. No”).
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 3, 2008 in Star Wars
As a child recall a cheaply made Millennium Falcon toy that was cute, but I would have traded that clunker for this ship in a second. Now granted you’ll blow about $230, but this Millennium Falcon includes everything from secret smuggling compartments to an illuminated dejarik table with holo monsters:
“Really, this toy has it all. Loads of movie accurate sounds and lights (the engine start up will even randomly “fail” just like the real ship!), multiple firing projectiles, removable panels for in-ship play, a never-before-made/seen dockable mini-fighter, and bantha-buttloads more. You can recreate virtually every movie scene inside it too, as it’s so roomy. So, gather up your Star Wars figures and clear off your bed – it’s time to play with the big toys! May the force be with you.”
About a week ago I was very saddened to hear about the passing away of Lou Dorfsman. While Lou didn’t design the famous CBS eye (that was William Golden) from the 60s until the 80s he put the tiffany in the tiffany network. The CBS of today is but a shadow of what it was during that era, but back then it was one of three corporations that dominated American media and Lou gave them their signature look.
In my last year of art school my father purchased a copy of the book Dorfsman & CBS for me which showcased the entire career of Lou Dorfsman and it inspires me to this day. The first thing that you’ll notice is that most of what Lou does is in fact print design, and while he did do his share of animated titles and set designs it’s the medium at which he excelled. What I love about his work is that it’s not just about pretty pictures, but about using words and typography in clever ways to communicate his message. The other thing to keep in mind that as a creative director Lou was a manager, so what you’re seeing here is the word of many other talented people including typographers, photographers, illustrators and even printers.
The first time I viewed this ad was in a course on the history of graphic design, and I was blown away! It’s a newspaper ad from 1962 showcasing the CBS News coverage of the John Glenn space flight. What makes it brilliant is that Dorfsman has taken the graphic convention of the american flag and by turning it 90 degrees and adding a rocket made it represent the hopes and aspirations of the space program. Simply put this is conceptual graphic design at its best.
I think I’ve yet to see a Nendoroid figurine that didn’t cute me out — and in this case Yoshika Miyafuji (the already cute heroin of Strike Witches – ストライクウィッチーズ) becomes even more adorable in her Nendoroid treatment. Yoshika is available for pre-order now, but she won’t show up on your doorstep until April of 2009.
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 1, 2008 in Television
Many think of robocalls a recent phenomena, but this ancient 1980 Trix cereal commercial showcases this old campaign technique. I love how the little girl needs to defend her extreme political point of view that Trix are somehow part of a “nutritious breakfast” not to mention her anti-free market views that the poor bunny should be denied a bowl of his well earned fruit-flavored corn puffs.
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 31, 2008 in Science
It’s great to see some physical evidence of progress with the Orion Exploration Vehicle, but it’s depressing to me to think that it will take until 2020 to get to the moon — and 2030 to get to Mars:
“NASA rolled out its next-generation space capsule here Wednesday, revealing a bulbous module that is scheduled to carry humans back to the moon in 2020 and eventually onward to Mars. Unlike the space-plane shape of the shuttles, the new Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle looks strikingly similar to the old Apollo space capsule that carried Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins to the moon and back in 1969, with Armstrong and Aldrin becoming the first humans to walk on the lunar surface.”
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 31, 2008 in Pulp Fiction
Dynamite was one of my favorite childhood mags, for the most part they focused on pop culture but this issue (#12 from 1975) features the slightly evil Count Morbida. The illustrator who brought Morbida to life is Arthur Friedman whose character presented a monthly puzzle page.
Digital archivist Steven Martin has put together an amazing collection of turn of the century photos entitled Halloween in the Time of Cholera. Most of the photos are from the 1910s — having grown up in the age of mass marketing what’s amazing to me is how homemade everything looks.
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 31, 2008 in Pulp Fiction
In the early 60s Dan Lawler was the star illustrator of Humpty Dumpty’s Magazine for Little Children. What I like about his style is that he manages to be interesting yet charming in a magical way. In the illustration above from 1964 I love the little touches like the crow in the corner and the feather on the hat. In the spot 1961 illustration below Lawler draws you into the picture with his simple yet theatrical staging:
It’s 68% instant energy! Space Food Sticks date to the golden age of NASA which happens to also be the dark ages of American nutrition. These “chocolate treats” were marketed by Pillsbury in 1969 and lasted until the 80s. Although what’s shocking to me is that you can still buy them online today!
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 31, 2008 in Animation
I respect Mike Judge — but I hated King of the Hill! I understand that Judge was trying to do something different, but at the end of the day the show was always like a second rate version of Mama’s Family except none of the characters seemed likable on any level.
Maybe you can argue that the show was a “Red State” thing, yet to me South Park seemed to capture that spirit a bit better. The other thing that got to me is that the show never seemed to take advantage of the fact that it was animated, there was never one episode that I caught that wouldn’t have worked better as live action. But yet for my fanboy snottiness I’m assuming that the show had some loyal following if it lasted this long, so props to Judge for keeping Hank Hill humming along:
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 31, 2008 in Science
Just a few days after coming back to life Hubble rewards us with the fantastic image above of a pair of double galaxies, and yet like some sad ignored family member will have to wait for a repair mission for a few months:
“The Hubble Space Telescope is working again, taking stunning cosmic photos after a breakdown a month ago. But the good news was quickly tempered by NASA’s announcement Thursday that a mission to upgrade the popular telescope will be delayed at least until May.
A key replacement part that is essential because of the telescope’s failure in September won’t be ready for at least six months. It was the latest twist in the long-running drama surrounding the 18-year-old space telescope — one that initially took only fuzzy photos, then when fixed, provided dazzling and scientifically significant pictures of space, including a new one NASA showed Thursday.”
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 30, 2008 in Star Trek
Shown above is the latest William Shatner video: I know it was shot in advance but I wish that Shat would take George Takei up on his recent offer to come out against on Proposition 8 before election day:
“MTV Networks is expected to announce on Thursday a deal to use songs by The Beatles in its popular “Rock Band” video game series, marking the band’s first major plunge into the digital music world. The Beatles’ Apple Corps Ltd and Viacom Inc’s MTV Networks have been in talks for months. They issued media invitations to a teleconference on “a global music project” on Thursday, but did not give more details.”
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 30, 2008 in Animation
When Futurama first came out in (over 9 years ago!) I have to admit I had my doubts about the show — but it won me over in re-runs on Cartoon Network (maybe it was the voice over work by Katey Sagal?). Well now it seems that fans of the show might have more of the year 3000 to look ahead to:
“David X. Cohen, co-creator and executive producer of Futurama, told SCI FI Wire that work is nearly done on the fourth and final (for now) made-for-DVD movie, Into the Wild Green Yonder, and added that he’s hopeful the show might still return as a weekly series, a feature film or another DVD film.”
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 30, 2008 in Cinema, Star Wars
Zack and Miri Make a Porno looks quite funny, but I had no idea that there was an entire Star Whores subplot in the film! Here are some more screen grabs which will make an Star Wars fanboy (or fangurl) smile:
I’ve always admired the mechanical creations of Lockwasher. What’s wonderful about this robot is that he a definite sense of boyish excitement about him mixed with with a just a tad of punk attitude in his skull and cross bones emblem.
I recall seeing Flying Nun re-runs during my childhood, and what’s strange looking back at it is that at the time not only did it see like a normal TV show show — but while being blitzed with the more interesting eye candy of the era like H.R. Pufnstuf the Sally Field sitcom seemed pretty mundane. However now that I’m looking back at it the entire concept for the show is pretty bizarre, and I do wonder if the show could ever air today given how seriously everybody takes religion. The show went on the air in 1967, and the above lunchbox was produced in 1968. Here’s the backside of the lunchbox which is just as strange:
The fun thing about a Polaroid camera was that it was always the perfect party device due to its instant gratification. These days digital photography has replaced that, but there’s something nice about walking away with a print that you don’t quite get from being tagged in Facebook. That’s why I got a kick out of this Canon SELPHY CP770 Hello Kitty Portable Printer which is due out in November — I think it’s going to be an ideal party accessory. In fact more and more my hunch is that you’ll start to see what use to be on the desktop become more mobile, playful and stylish. And who knows, perhaps one day we’ll see a return to an all-in-one digital camera/printer ala Polaroid.
While Ridley Scott’s Alien is an amazing horror film, my favorite in the genre goes to his brother Tony Scott who directed The Hunger. To me the genre of werewolves can be a bit campy, but if there is anyone who can get it right it would be Ridley Scott:
“We learned of some interesting news this evening as we were tipped off that Ian Jeffers, who wrote both James Wans’ drama-thriller DEATH SENTENCE and Sylvain White’s upcoming adaptation of CASTLEVANIA, has sold an original script to legendary director-produce Ridley Scott (Alien, Blade Runner). Here’s the juicy tid-bit… apparently the film is a werewolf project! No other details were revealed, but it sounds like we might have something pretty huge to look forward to in the coming years.”
