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Meet Jean Bartik, a Computer Programmer from the 1940s!
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 22, 2010 in Tech
This amazing video clip below features Jean Bartik who was one of the first generation of computer programmers from the 1940s. Her first job was working on the ENIAC computer in 1945: Read more… What if Tokyo Was Inside of a Space Station?One of my favorite things about the original Mobile Suit Gundam anime series was that it really brought to life the idea of L5 space colonies which were envisioned by Gerard K. O’Neill in the 70s. Shown above is a fan made video of what modern Tokyo would look like inside one of these space colonies: Read more… Space Cruiser Yamato Producer Yoshinobu Nishizaki Passes Away
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 7, 2010 in Animation
Asahi.com has reported that Yoshinobu Nishizaki has passed away. Nishizaki was the producer of Space Cruiser Yamato which was known as Star Blazers in the United States — a franchise that played a pivotal role in the history of anime. What’s very sad about this was that after years of legal troubles a live action version of the cherished retro anime series is getting a great deal of positive feedback from those who have seen the first sneak previews of the film. Had he lived the triumph of that film would have been a great personal victory to Nishizaki. Read more… From a Statistical Point of View You Shouldn’t Be Reading This
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 1, 2010 in Science
In this wonderful short video clip science writer Bill Bryson talks about how amazing it is that over the course of just a few short billion years we’ve gone from a collection of atoms to living life forms. Bryson also points out that it’s interesting that there is nothing special about the atoms that make up each of us. A Surrealistic Shigeru Sugiura Hoodie
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 1, 2010 in Comic Books
Sadly he’s not better known in the west but Shigeru Sugiura (杉浦茂) was an amazing manga artist who lived in Japan from 1908 until 2000. He became famous after World War II with a series of manga aimed at kids but is best known for his more comedic work. Shown above is the beautiful print designed by otooto22 for a hoodie which will be released in mid-November: Read more… How Would Could You Ruin the Original Tron? Make a Quick Comic Book!
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 1, 2010 in Comic Books
How can you tell that Disney expect the upcoming Tron film to be huge? Because Marvel plans to cash in with a poorly done comic book based on the original film (Tron: Original Movie Adaptation #1) which will be released this week. Clearly the thinking is that fanboys will be nostalgic for the original and will buy almost anything with a Tron logo on it. Sadly a more creative team might have had fun with a creative interpretation of the original and done an amazing graphic novel — instead this preview reveals a bad tracing and coloring job: Read more… Ten Creative Covers from Japan
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 22, 2010 in Comic Books
As an art director I’m jealous of Japan because their publishing industry really uses a great deal of creative illustration while too many American book covers are the result of stock photography. While there are exceptions to the rules when ever I walk into a Japanese bookstore I’m always struck by the fact that almost every other book has a high quality illustration. For this article I’ve collected ten cover illustrations that caught my eye. Shown above is a Satoshi Kon Memorial Book — I really love the contrast of the black and white drawing with the column of color on the left of the page.
Fellows Felon Disco Dancing Deformed Cylon
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 22, 2010 in Battlestar Galactica, Hobbies and Collections
Yes I know that everyone thinks the new Galactica (which isn’t so new at this point!) is so much cooler than the old series. But you see what I liked about the original series was that it wasn’t cool — the point of the show that it was deeper (in a bad mystical sort of way) and more geeky than Star Wars. A good example of this were the Cylons — unlike Stormtroopers who were idiots in armor, the Cylons were sort of kinder more gentle version of the Daleks if you think about it. And the above Battlestar Galactica Little Frakkin’ Toasters Classic Cylon sort of sums up that spirit nicely. Lessons from NYCC: How To Integrate NYAF
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 18, 2010 in Fandom
I have a good week or so to reflect on the New York Comic Con and I have to say that if they play their cards right the convention has everything that it takes to not just rival San Diego, but to beat them. However before hat happens they need to make the otaku and the fanboy cultures better mesh together to take the show to the next level. Read more… Is That a Dragon Ball on Your Jeans?
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 18, 2010 in Animation, Hobbies and Collections
I’m not sure if I could ever forgive Hollywood for their shlock epic Dragonball Evolution which nearly ruined the franchise for me! However these authentic Dragon Ball denim jeans might make might up for it. These jeans will be released by Cospa in late December just in time Christmas. Sadly overweight otaku need not apply as the jeans will range from a 30 to 36 inch waste size, but this is a martial arts anime series after all so we’d expect you to be in good shape: Read more… Transform Your Home Into a Maid Cafe
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 18, 2010 in Fandom
Yes if you had the cash and spare time you cold fly many all the way to Japan to experience a maid cafe in person — but what’s a poor ramen-eating non-passport holding fanboy suppose to do? Well with the Akiba Maid Welcome Sensor you can replicate the sounds of maid cafe without the maids, amazing desserts and well stocked manga library. When you enter a room you’ll be greeted by cutely voiced phrases like “Irashaimase” or “Arigatou Gozaimasu”. Plus the magic microphone also works with a CD-ROM which will let you customize your faux cafe experience: Read more… Prediction: Scott Pilgrim Will Become a Cult Classic Film
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 9, 2010 in Cinema, Comic Books
I see it time after time again: A new film opens packed with hype, does poor box office and then fades away within a week. A good pulse check of this is if you see any cosplay related to said property even a month after the film is heading to video — so I was very pleased to see the above Scott Pilgrim cosplayer at New York Comic Con on Friday. I think too many reviewer got lost with the videogame story telling style and lost fact that Pilgrim is really an A+ geeky romance film that speaks to a generation (or two). Reni Continues Her Cosplay Conquest of New York
I’ve got to say that I’m very impressed at how in a short amount of time that Reni Mimur has really perfected her Japanese maid show act — and has won over so many fans in the process. This year Reni returned to the New York Comic Con and I think what’s great is that this will give her an opportunity to win over non-anime fanboys while warming the hearts of the local otaku community. Read more… On The Line: A Strong Cover Design
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 5, 2010 in Comic Books
Rian Hughes is a very talented illustrator, typographer and designer which is why I’m looking ahead to seeing On The Line which will be published in December by Image Comics. This book will be a complete collection of his newspaper strips drawn for The Guardian newspaper in England. In the strip Hughes draws a great deal of inspiration from the old modernist UPA cartoons that Gene Deitch did in the 50s. The Beauty of Lupin III
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 4, 2010 in Animation, Hobbies and Collections
Do you want to look like Fujiko Mine from Lupin III? Well here’s your chance: Bandai will be rolling out a line of cosmetics that are based on the beloved anime series by Monkey Punch. I love the fact how some of the items in the line are shaped like bullets — although I’m surprised that Bandai isn’t doing a line of jewelry given Lupin’s occupation. Read more… The Long Cold Fire Cover is Hot
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 4, 2010 in Comic Books
Shown above is a preview of the cover for Viking, Vol. 1: The Long Cold Fire which will be published in December 8th by Image Comics. What drew me to this illustration by Nic Klein is the wonderful level of detail in his model combined with a feeling of motion that reminds me a great deal of Japanese manga panels. But the two things that make this cover stand out are the nice use of negative space in the upper left where you eye first reads the artwork — that an the bold use of yellow is a real wiining combination. As this is a preview the artwork may change, but like what I see here. Meow! Meow! Meow! Three Manga Cat News Stories
Posted by Michael Pinto on Sep 27, 2010 in Comic Books
On thing you can say about manga is that it hasn’t gone to the dogs — I’ve recently caught three cat items that got my attention in the manga world. Shown above is the cover of volume of On Thursday Furutto which is a cat gag manga that was just released. Below is another kawaii girl and her cute but slightly oversized kitty which is from a new manga series that will appear in IKKI magazine: Read more… Shaggy Chic: A Wampa Throw Rug
Posted by Michael Pinto on Sep 27, 2010 in Hobbies and Collections, Star Wars
On the big screen the Wampa seems such a terrifying creature from the ice planet Hoth— but alas as a throw rug I sort of feel sorry for this fella. Although as a true fanboy critic I’ve got to say that the rug reminds me more of muppet version of this guy than anything else: Read more… Can We Please Feed SyFy Programming Execs to Sharktopus?
Posted by Michael Pinto on Sep 27, 2010 in Horror, Television
So I made the tragic mistake this weekend of starting to watch Sharktopus on the SyFy channel — and while I enjoyed laughing at the screen I somehow don’t think that’s the “executives” at the SyFy channel quite imagined that they were quickly transforming their network into the Comedy Channel. In case you missed Sharktopus was sort of a cross between Bay Watch and a low budget 50s horror film. The unintentional result of this combo is that you quickly find yourself rooting for Sharktopus instead of the boring superficial actors who seem even more boring than what you’d find in a bad soap opera. Read more… A Twitter Themed Manga
Posted by Michael Pinto on Sep 26, 2010 in Comic Books, Tech
The tech fanboy in me loves this: Tta me! is a four-frame comic that’s been published as a proper full volume. The manga isn’t so much a Twitter how-to book but rather focuses on the social media service as a comedic/romantic plot device. Tta me! is written by Kawamura Kazuhiro and illustrated by Ajiko Kozima — and it’s available at Amazon.jp here. Read more… It’s a Frap! Ten Silly Star Wars Twit Pics
Posted by Michael Pinto on Sep 26, 2010 in Star Wars
The above photo was actually taken at a local Starbucks this past week — it’s one of ten silly Star Wars themed images that we found this week thanks to searching hard on Twitter: Read more… A Glove That Turned a Nightmare into a Cinematic Classic
The funny thing about horror films is that they are by nature B pictures — so when you’re looking at a new horror flick you have no idea that you may in fact be looking at a future classic film — and such was the case when I first got to see A Nightmare on Elm Street back in the day. Of course every great horror needs a gimmick to make it stand out from the crowd and for Elm Street this was Freddy Krueger’s nasty metal glove. And looking at this Deluxe Freddy Krueger Metal Glove with fresh eyes I’ve now come to see that the glove design was in fact a brilliant unrecognized early example of cinema steampunk if you think about it. Read more… |
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