Posted by Michael Pinto on Feb 28, 2010 in Comic Books
Above: Tite Kubo on the left and Nick Simmons on the right.
We all live with the cultural myth that if you’ve got talent and work hard that at some point you’ll be discovered. But the sad reality is that there are some very talented people out there who kill themselves their entire lives and still go absolutely nowhere. And even for these of us who do manage to make a living with our creative skills know that it’s not an easy path. So whenever you see nepotism it’s a pretty bitter pill to swallow. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Feb 28, 2010 in Japanese TV
The old vegetarian admonishment is “never eat anything with a face” — so of course looking at these very kawaii veggies heading to their doom makes me feel a tad guilty. This spot was done for Acecook which makes a wide assortment of ramen. Read more…
Sometimes when you see a great demo it changes your very perception of a platform: And Rittai Kakushi E Attakoreda (Hidden 3D Image: There It Is!) has made me not only made me see the Nintendo DSi in a new light — but has me thinking that mobile games could displace console games. Now I may be looking at this demo the wrong way but the program seems to be using the sensors inside the DSi to adjust the display, which gives you the illusion of looking into a 3D diorama. Suddenly this makes the idea of 3D on mobile platforms much more exciting: Granted I’ve seen 3D shooters on the iPhone that react to the angle you hold the device at, but this game takes that concept to the next level. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Feb 27, 2010 in Star Trek
I came across this amazing video from back in the day showing quite a bit of behind-the-scenes work that went into Star Trek: The Motion Picture back in 1978. The film would be released in 1979 to mixed reviews, but while it wasn’t Star Wars you have to admire the amount of work that went into this film. You also get a glimpse into how making a special effects film was different then: Read more…
The quality of this Dainichi stop motion animation commercial for Blue Heaters from 1987 is amazing — keep in mind that this was done several years before Tim Burton did The Nightmare Before Christmas in 1993. And what blows me away is that the entire commercial had to have been done without any computer help, not to mention is that it looks like they’re using a replacement technique similar to George Pál with his Puppetoons. Yet for all technique the advert is funny and fluid — it makes me wish that I knew the studio and could give proper credits. Read more…
Apparently the dark side isn’t just evil — but evil to your credit card: This amazing Star Wars Imperial Star Destroyer Framed SpecPlate will set you a mere $1,994.99! Of course only 25 will be produced of this goodie which emulates the dedication plate that would be attached to the bulkhead of an Imperial Star Destroyer. Of course Acme Archives who makes this collectable didn’t skimp on the quality as this keepsake measures 43 by 24-inches and is made out of aluminum. Although the thing that surprises me is that I wouldn’t have expected the Empire to be so sentimental…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Feb 25, 2010 in Science
Not so long ago congress was picking apart NASA chief Charles Bolden for not having a solid plan for space exploration: This is putting the blame in the wrong place which belongs with congress. Frankly a trip to Mars or even just the Moon requires a huge financial investment. Unlike the 60s NASA is highly invested in an ancient space shuttle fleet that’s due to expire and a huge stake in a space station which is in mid-life, not to mention dozens of other side projects which involve everything to investigating climate change to send probes to the furthest reaches of the solar system. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Feb 25, 2010 in Animation
Shown here are three English adverts for Captain Scarlet and Thunderbirds themed Kellogg’s Sugar Smacks from the 60s. For me this represents a bit of double lost golden age: For starters this Gerry Anderson Supermarionation shows from the 60s had such a wonderful attention to detail that you just don’t see anywhere — and of course in our politically correct obesity obsessed society you’d never even dream of a breakfast cereal with the name “sugar” in the title being tied to a kids television show! By the way I love how the Thunderbirds cereal included those special collectors pins: Read more…
This video by Loren Feldman is nothing short of brilliant: In it he retells his immortal quest for a jacket that features the logo from Leo Laporte’s famed podcast This Week in Tech. The tech fanboy in me cried as poor Lauren after waiting for what must have been emotional eons and was denied his branded goodie. While there isn’t anything as cool as maid cafés or cosplay in the tech world the industry has always been notorious in the past for handing out tons of branded whatnot. Sadly the golden age of this sort of soft bribery was the dot.com era when it was impossible to leave any kind of second rate trade show without a bag full of t-shirts, office toys and giant plushy mascots. Read more…
Back in the day one of the best tools for teaching the principals of animation was to give a child a Super 8mm camera and let them shoot stop motion animation frame-by-frame using their collection of toys as models in motion. Later some video cameras would be able to do the same trick, however it was never quite as cool. So I’m glad to see a digital twist of this old idea with The Anime Studio which actually looks like a miniature version of an giant old school animation stand: Read more…
Shown here are three English adverts for Captain Scarlet and Thunderbirds themed Kellogg’s Sugar Smacks from the 60s. For me this represents a bit of double lost golden age: For starters this Gerry Anderson 
