Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Another Evil Mickey Mouse


I love finding random and darker versions of cute icons, like Mickey Mouse as they subvert what was once a staple part of Western kid culture into zombies or capitalist scum with a mission to destroy. It's the latter theory that forms the foundations for this mad video found from HERE.
According to the post, "Toy Box Series, Episode 3: Picture Book 1936” (Omocha-Bako Series, Dai-3-Wa: Ehon 1936) is a 1934 propaganda-ish film about a future (1936) conflict started by a swarm of evil, bat-riding Mickey Mouse clones that descend on a tiny island inhabited by peace-loving dolls and cats (including a Felix lookalike). Overwhelmed by the attack, the desperate island residents bang on the cover of a large picture book to enlist the help of Momotaro, Urashima Taro (the Japanese version of Rip Van Winkle), and other traditional fairy tale heroes and characters. After Urashima Taro uses his famous “mystery box” to turn the big Mickey into a decrepit old fogey."
Sounds like a blatant propaganda vid to create animosity of the West in the eyes of the East. In our day and age though, it can be seen as a pretty amusing animation with some seriously ripped off characters. Enjoy!


To see more Evil Mickey Mouses that I've posted about, check HERE and HERE.

Color Blind artist Learns to Paint by Hearing


According to an article on the Times Online, Neil Harbisson is a color-blind (Black & white sight only) artist who has recently been given the ability to paint with a full range of colors using a small gadget that allows him to "hear" the hue of the color pallette. He has been fitted with a device called an Eyeborg, which converts 360 colours into different sounds.


"As an art student at Dartington College of Arts in Devon, he painted only in black and white because that is all he saw. But three years ago he met Adam Montandon, a cybernetics expert who came to give a lecture at the college.


After the talk, Montandon was told of Harbisson’s condition and he took up the challenge of solving the problem, enabling Harbisson to paint in colour. The artist suffers from achromatopsia – or complete congenital colour blindness.


Montandon created the Eyeborg system, which is a head-mounted digital camera that reads the colours directly in front of it. The camera is connected to a laptop computer, carried in a backpack, which slows down the frequency of light waves to the frequency of sound waves. The computer then sends the “sound” of each colour to an earpiece worn by Harbisson. Montandon expects the system eventually to be as small as an MP3 player."


How it works

1. Lens examines colour artist is looking at

2. Computer analyses colour and calculates an equivalent sound frequency

3. Earpiece emits a noise to tell artist which colour he is looking at

4. Artist has to learn which sounds identify particular colours

Simply amazing!!!!!

PHESP Review: The Mist (Film)

PHESP Review: The Mist (Film)

















Stephen King does it again
So how do you review a film without giving too much away and ruining it for those who haven’t watched it yet? Well let’s just say this film is well worth a watch and kept me curious and intrigued till the end and I would definitely recommend it to all of yall. In short, this film is a ‘fiction-thriller bloody monster ‘film that should please most people.
















The Mist is a horror novel originally written by King in 1980 and made into a film in 2007 which was written and directed by Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption, Green Mile) and stars Thomas Jane (The Punisher), Marcia Gay Harden (Into The Wild, Mystic River), Toby Jones (Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets) and Andre Braugher (Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer).
The cast isn’t anything special but actually, I thought the actors did a good job in this one. I went into the cinema to watch The Mist without knowing anything at all about it and came out very pleased. There were moments when I thought ‘ok, this could get really shit, really quickly’ but again, was always pleasantly surprised especially with the ending which, let’s just say is NOT Hollywood’s usual disaster of ‘happily ever after’ style crap.

I haven’t read the novel but this film really made me want to.. if you’re interested, I recommend not watching any previews or reading any really in depth reviews and just going to watch it with an open mind. Enjoy!


Cast 3/5
Story line 4/5
Creativity 4/5
Suspense 4/5
Gore 4/5
Over all 4/5

Monday, February 25, 2008

Johnny Cash Vs. Cypress Hill Mashup


Classic video mashup of Johnny Cash "Got Rhythm" and Cypress Hill's "Insane in the Membrane" instrumental

[VIA]

Sunday, February 24, 2008

Last Exile

I would like to apologise for the lack of anime reviews lately I have gotten a job and therefore have not had much time to myself. But fear not, I plan on getting back on track and aim to write a review every week if I don’t get too busy. And if any anime magazines want to offer the Peebody a job my services are always available and I will work for peanuts.
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Last Exile is one of the best examples of steampunk on the market today. This anime was directed by Koichi Chigira (other works include full metal panic and gate keepers) and produced by GONZO studios. Last Exile runs for 26 episodes and first aired on Japanese TV (TV Tokyo) in April 2003. A combination of 2-D and 3-D CGI was used in this anime with great effect. And the soft tones of the animation and colour work with the art deco in the anime.

Last Exile is set on the planet of Prester, a world that is divided in two halves. One half is Disith, which is locked in an ice age and the other half is Anatoray, a green and lush land. The two worlds are separated by the grand stream a hurricane like environment in the skies where the Guild (a class of people that run Prester as they are more technologically advance) lives and the only way to get from Disith to Anatoray (or visa versa) is to cross the grand stream. The story centres around a young vanship pilot Claus Valca and his life long friend and navigator Lavie Head. Both are 15 years old at the being of the series and have been living together since both their parents died when they were younger. Their lives are forever changed when they take over a mission from another vanship pilot that has been mortally wounded while trying to escape from the Guild.

The two have to escort a young girl Alvis Hamilton to the Silvana (a battle ship). After the captain of the Silvana Alex Row takes Alvis, Claus decides he has to make sure Alvis is safe, and the two go after the Silvana. Claus and Lavie are allowed to stay on the Silvana and they soon adjust to life as part of the crew. Alvis holds the key to ending the war between Disith and Anatoray and the Guild want her. The rest of the anime fallows the Silvana and its crew’s struggle to bring an end to the Guild and the war.
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I really liked this anime; the story line is very good and flows well (although the end does get a little confusing and you may need to look for further info on the net to get it as I had to). I said it at the start and I will say it again, the soft wash in the colour and the character design is so visually appealing that you can watch this anime for hours. A lot of the main characters have some sort of unhappy past that has been caused by war and this gives the anime depth. If you like steampunk then you will love Last Exile, if you like anime with a good storyline and lots of battle scenes then you will like this anime. I think this anime has something for everyone and if you’re looking for something new give this a try.
photos via photobucket

Rohby Customs Update




I first posted about toy customiser Rohby 8 months ago and there have been alot of developments with his style. He just seems to be getting better and better! I am a huge fan of mecha and especially bio-suited walkers.....It's actually very depressing because he designs the way that I wish I could. Peep the pics and cry along with me.


Mobile_Suit MUNNY 01.30.08
"Snow" edition

The extreme bitter cold of Siberia can cause some of the toughest machines to seize and render useless.


Never Fear! Our latest Mobile_Suit is equipped with a "Super Duper Advanced Thermal System" that's guaranteed to operate efficiently under subfreezing temperatures!


(H.I.S.E.) Pilot & Attack Suit 10.17.07 (Mad L Custom)
Originally designed for surveillance, the HISE line of equipment is now battle friendly!


The new model... "PILOT" is the most advanced & intelligent droid to date. It's capable of operating advanced equipment systems (Attack_Suit) through the most extreme & hostile battle grounds.


The "Attack_Suit" is a heavily armored piece of equipment designed specifically for the "PILOT" droid. It acts as an extension to the droid's body and can transform into a walking tank and operate individually.

Check his website HERE.

Images & Descriptions Copyright of Rohby.

Phuek's Gamerita Custom Toy


A wicked Gamerita toy done by mecha-customiser Phuek for a private collector. The Steampunk vibe that the shell gives really makes it stand out IMHO.


Height:
6"
Material Used:
- Broken toy parts
- Cardboard
- Gashapon acrylic sphere
- Stationery
- Wire...etc



The original Gamerita toy by Joe Ledbetter.

To see more of Phuek's work, check HERE & HERE.

Saturday, February 23, 2008

Bookcase Staircase Solution


I am running out of space for my books & mags quicktime! My tiny ass flat just cant take anymore literature. Saw this and it made me wanna try some D.I.Y. straight away.
Words taken from Apartment Therapy:
"London-based Levitate Architect's Tim Sloan comments on the project:
The flat occupies part of the shared top floor of an existing Victorian mansion block. Our proposal extended the flat into the unused loft space above, creating a new bedroom level and increasing the floor area of the flat by approximately one third. We created a 'secret' staircase, hidden from the main reception room, to access a new loft bedroom lit by roof lights.


Limited by space, we melded the idea of a staircase with our client's desire for a library to form a 'library staircase' in which English oak stair treads and shelves are both completely lined with books. With a skylight above lighting the staircase, it becomes the perfect place to stop and browse a tome.


The stair structure was designed as an upside down 'sedan chair' structure (with Rodrigues Associates, Structural Engineers, London) that carries the whole weight of the stair and books back to the main structural walls of the building. It dangles from the upper floor thereby avoiding any complicated neighbour issues with the floors below."

[VIA]

Word To Mother @ Cafe 1001


I got our good friend and artist, Word To Mother to paint a lovely 6m X 4m wall at Cafe 1001 in London. (I work there part-time doing their online promotions) It was actually a hard slog as the cafe only closes from Midnight until 6am, so this was the only window of opportunity for painting. I must have made him around 10-15 cups of tea each night (the whole mural took 4 night sessions) as well as rolling countless zoots to keep morale high and creative juices flowing...The end result was an amazingly large piece, rich in layers and given a lovely vintage feel when seen in person. He used a mixture of materials to create this effect, from spraypaint, acrylics, emulsions, sandpaper and of course, tea!



Self-Repairing Rubber




This is truly astounding! Just imagine the applications for a material which self-heals itself...and this is just the start...If these Scientists manage to refine and increase the repairing abilities, and apply it to metals and other materials, we're in for one crazy future! No more repairs required! No more car right-offs! And of course..robots with self-healing rubber "skin" and hardware!

Check out the original post below(and click on the bbc link to watcha video if you have real time player):


A material that is able to self-repair even when it is sliced in two has been invented by French researchers.

The as-yet-unnamed material - a form of artificial rubber - is made from vegetable oil and a component of urine.

The substance, described in the journal Nature, produces surfaces when cut that retain a strong chemical attraction to each other.

Pieces of the material join together again as if never parted without the need for glue or a special treatment.

This remarkable property comes from careful engineering of the molecules in the material.

The French researchers are already making kilogramme quantities in their Paris laboratories and say the process is almost completely green, and could be completely so with a few adjustments.

'Tiny hands'

The secret of the substance lies in how the molecules are held together.

A piece of normal rubber, says Dr Ludwik Leibler, who headed the research, is actually a single molecule with billion upon billions of smaller units chemically welded together to form a giant tangled network.


Children are always breaking their toys. Wouldn't it be nice if you could put them back together so easily?
Ludwik Leibler
The elasticity comes from the fact that the strands within the network are buckled like a concertina: pull on them and they straighten and elongate; let go and the buckles reappear.

But break a rubber (or most other solids), and the chemical welds - known as covalent bonds - are also broken.

These cannot be remade. Nor can a piece of rubber be remoulded or reshaped.

"We wanted to see if we could make a rubber-like material using small molecules," Dr Leibler of the Industrial Physics and Chemistry Higher Educational Institution (ESPCI) in Paris told the BBC's Science In Action programme.

The trick was to replace the covalent bonds in rubber with weaker connections known as hydrogen bonds.

These are like hands on neighbouring molecules that can clasp together, but let go when broken.

Dr Leibler quickly realised that this meant not only that the new rubber could be recycled and remoulded many times over, but that if separated by a cut or break, the chemical hands at the fresh surfaces would still be waving about ready to bind again.

Child's play

François Tournilhac, who runs Dr Leibler's laboratories, demonstrated the healing to me.

Using a razor blade he severed a thin strand of the yellowish material (the colour of corn oil), showed me the clean square faces, and then pressed them together.

Almost immediately, the grip was strong enough for him to hold the sample just at one end.

Within an hour the bonds had rebuilt themselves so thoroughly that it was possible to stretch the strand to twice its length without any sign of weakness where the cut had been made.

One obvious use, says Dr Leibler, is for self-healing seals.

Puncture a seal in a compression joint with a nail, and the hole would automatically repair itself.

He also has more playful suggestions.

"Why not use it to make children's toys? Children are always breaking their toys. Wouldn't it be nice if you could put them back together so easily?"

The material was developed with the support of the French company Arkema, which is already investigating whether it can be turned into a commercial product.

Original Words by By Roland Pease
BBC Radio Science Unit

Original Post found on bbc.co.uk

Friday, February 22, 2008

Pete Fowler Show


Here are the pics finally of the Pete Fowler show that ESPV went to see. It was a great turnout for the Monsterism Island creator and it gave me the chance to get my TRWG toy signed by the legend and have a drink or five with him too. A funny guy with a great fuure ahead of him!







If you want to know the concepts behind Pete's work, check my original post HERE.

Wooden Skyscraper


Originally, the plans for this house in Archangelsk were meant to be for a 2-floor design, but ex-Russian gangster, Nikolai Sutyagin decided that the sky was the limit and defied the planning authorities (not that they were gonna do much about it anyway!) to create a 13 floor wooden monster of a house.....with his bare hands!
Heaps of respect go out to this dude.





[VIA]
Images [VIA]

Takashi Amano Pt.2


More amazing aquascapes from the legend himself, Takashi Amano. Goldfish are so last millenium!





Peep my original post on the aquascaping master HERE.

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Laser Harp


Stephen Hobley just perfected his laser harp. The audio is adjusted by breaking the beam between the source and mirror array above.



{VIA}

3d Tattoo Implants


A serious WTF?!! here....This guy from the US, Lane Jensen, decided to give his cowgirl a more realistic effect by adding silicone implants, to give her that extra sexy charm. Fortunately, I mean, unfortunately, the implants burst after a month as his body (the calf region) rejected the implants. Better luck next time mate....



[VIA]

Nicolas Schoffer Cybernetic Artist


I was recently commissioned to put together some "retro-futuristic" visuals for a freerock/improv band called Pulsar and have been delving into the world of 60's & 70's futurism. A very very interesting world it is as well! That's how I stumbled upon Nicolas Schoffer (1912-1992)who was a Hungarian-born French artist, architect, sculptor, composer and pioneer of 'Cybernetic Art'. "Schöffer's sculptures and light shows moved and pulsed, guided by an electronic 'brain', mimicking the thought processes of a living organism." What I really like about him was the fact that he was already trying to push the boundaries of our acceptance of different genres of art, especially in a psychedelic, electronic way.






I could only show you a few titbits of what he's all about, check this SITE about him for way more inspirational imagery.


This video features Brigitte Bardot performing "Contact", installations by Schoffer and music by Serge Gainsbourg.

[VIA]
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