Monday, February 26, 2007

Passing Thoughts: Monopoly

I thought I might help break the Cable Company's monopoly on television by switching to Bell Express View. While I'm at it, I should switch to Shaw phone service to wrest a little control away from Ma Bell. That'll show 'em.

To make things really interesting, I should schedule both technicians to arrive at the same time.

Saturday, February 24, 2007

Day 150


Day 150 - Tool of the task
Originally uploaded by Drhaggis.

I reached another notable milestone in the 365 Days Project. After 150 days of taking self-portraits, I have learnt much more about my camera, but not so much about myself, other then I don't seem to shave as much as I should.

Perhaps I will discover deeper truths in the next 50 pictures/days.

Friday, February 23, 2007

Modern Daydreams

It seems that most people I know are feeling trapped, underutilized, unappreciated, insufficiently stimulated, or just apprehensive about the tedium and conformity that comes along with the bill paying grind-work of the 9-5.

For everyone yearning to stretch their wings, be more, do more, and dance more, I offer up "Modern Daydreams 2: Unleashed" by Mitchell Rose & the BodyVox Dance Co.


[Link] - If the embed fails

Thursday, February 22, 2007

Steal These Ideas

Michael Ciuffo is an Idea Man. Like many Idea Men, their minds can reach beyond what their hands can grasp. The number of hours available in a day are not enough to follow through on every thought, but many deserve some sort of investigation.

To maximize the potency of his ideas, Michael posts them publicly to his blog and encourages everyone to "Steal My Ideas" and manipulate them, and explore them. Some ideas are ridiculous exercises, some are witty jokes, others are patentable designs.

I really like this Lego-like ice block maker for fort building.

Sunday, February 18, 2007

Will it Blend? That is the question

In order to promote Blendtec's new home appliance, "The Total Blender," the company created a series of videos showing how powerful and versatile the unit is. The "Will it Blend ?" videos are very satisfying to watch. Who doesn't long to see some golf balls in a blender?

For iRob, I present the following:

Thursday, February 15, 2007

Best (and only) films from 2006

Cruising through Kevin Smith's Blog, "My Boring Ass Life," I come along this recent entry on the best films from 2006.

Kevin lists off 219 films in a"a fairly comprehensive list of all the major theatrical releases of last year [2006]," Then he lists the 80-90 films he actually watched, and gave his top ten list for the year. I did the same thing. From the 219 films Kevin listed, I have seen 11.

So by default, here is my list of best films from 2006:
  • UNDERWORLD: EVOLUTION
  • V FOR VENDETTA
  • ICE AGE: THE MELTDOWN
  • MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 3
  • OVER THE HEDGE
  • X-MEN: THE LAST STAND
  • SUPERMAN RETURNS
  • PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN’S CHEST
  • CLERKS II
  • SNAKES ON A PLANE
  • PAN’S LABYRINTH
I saw parts of "Nacho Libre," "The Da Vinci Code" and "Inside Man" on various plane trips, but not the whole thing, so I don't have them on the list. "Inside Man" was terminated before the ending of the film, leaving the whole flight in the dark about the secret twist ending (spoiler). Technically I also left the room before the end of "Underworld: Evolution," but I rented that one so I "paid to see it."

Is this a normal number of films to see over a year? Should I get out more?

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

iheart


iheart
Originally uploaded by Janos/Janus.

Happy Valentines Day everybody!

This photo is from my buddy Janos, who is cool.

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Reason #23 why I want to go to New York


potatohead spiderman
Originally uploaded by istolethetv.

Here we see "Spuderman" attempt to get in a New York cab. "Spuderman" is a Hasbro mascot promoting the new "Spiderman Mr. Potatohead" at the recent New York Toy Fare.

Awesome.

Monday, February 12, 2007

Passing Thoughts: Heroes Fanfic

I prey to all the gods of fandom that any Heroes fanfic with a Petrelli/Claire relationship has been quietly deleted and will never to be spoken of again.

Jedi Chefs change my worldview

When I woke up this morning, I thought I had it all together. I thought I knew how things worked. The sky is blue, the atomic weight of Argon was 39.94, the Ocean was salty, and the Sun was wicked hot. Now I'm not so sure.

My world has been turned turvy-topsy by my discovery of "Jedi Chefs." This costuming sect based on equal parts Star Wars and the food network, attend sci-fi/fantasy/comic conventions to "do the same sorts of things that normal Jedi do, but...also cook." They sport comic floppy chef hats and lightsabers, and encourage the attending celebrities to do the same.

Here is Nathan Fillion dressed as a Jedi Chef. This image makes the parts of my brain that govern fandom twitch and smoke trying to resolve the joyful dissonance.

But he is not alone in a culinary conversion, as plenty of celebrities have been inducted into the ranks. They have gotten to most of the cast of Firefly, including Summer Glau, but also Armin Shimmerman from Star Trek and Colin Baker, the sixth Doctor Who.

See http://www.jedichefs.com/celebrities.html for the full list.

I think it is funny, as I think they are poking gentle fun at people who take costuming and Star Wars too seriously. Does someone have a better explanation?

Sunday, February 11, 2007

Sunday Flickr Favourites presents: gravitas


gravitas
Originally uploaded by Robokat.

The Sunday Flickr Favourites team worked for weeks on this one.

The anti-gravity field in front of the Institute of theoretical astrophysics in Oslo is great fun! Wonder why no skaters have claimed it yet? Giant laserturrets on the roof, that´s why.

Thursday, February 08, 2007

Press Play on Tape: Ultimate Geek band in the World

Without further commentary, here is "Press Play on Tape," a Danish Commodore 64 revival band. They are perhaps the worlds geekiest band.

Monday, February 05, 2007

Upcomming Star Wars Toys


Galactic Heroes from Hasbro are Star Wars figures aimed at ages three to eight. They are child-like cartoony representations and are about two inches tall and have limited articulation. If you thought Darth Maul couldn't be "cute," you were wrong.

I collect some of these, if the particular figure really catches my eye. And a set did make me take notice in the Wave 3 of the 2007 series. There I find a "Return of the Jedi" Luke and Vader "final dual" two-pack. As you can see their poses are mirrored in a kind of classic fencing stance. I can't help but think of "Jazz hands" when I see this.

Also, the Red Royal Guard is awesome, and cleverly packaged with a Death Star Gunner so to get the requisite number of two flanking guards, you have to buy an additional pack. Curses!

Also of note is the new Jedi Star Fighter Lego set complete with hyperspace ring. This is cool enough to make me think about getting it, but the deal maker is the Lego Kit Fisto mini-fig. This is the first time the Jedi has been made in Lego form, although I figured one would be in the works since he was a playable character in the Lego Star Wars game.

Saturday, February 03, 2007

Thursday, February 01, 2007

Megatron Patent

I really don't have much for everyone today. Here is US patent application 4,571,201 for a "Toy Gun Convertible into robotic-humanoid form," or as we know him "Megatron." It is interesting to note that it was originally designed to shoot pellets.

Would this make a cool shirt or what?