Jul 06
Japan has always been on the forefront of cutting edge robotics. Its roots can be traced back 200-300 years during the Edo period when skilled craftsmen created automata (self-operating machines). Using nothing more than pulleys and weights they were able to make the Karakuri (Japanese automata) perform amazing tasks. Japan’s modern day robots can be …
Sep 12
I remember mother sitting at my bedside, telling me stories about animals who needed rescuing and the brave little boy who rescued them. I remember the jungle print wall paper, some poster on my door that had pictures of lions and tigers and elephants. The tagline: “It’s a jungle out there.” I remember the very …
Jul 03
the art of alex varanese – alt/1977: we are not time travelers. Alex Varanese looks at modern products through a 1977 lens.
Jul 02
I have some pretty clever comrades. One of these, an incomparable chap who probably doesn’t want his name used, has long collected my empty pipe tobacco tins in order to repurpose them into various electronic devices – most of which have something to do with music. A while ago, he hosted a little workshop where he taught …
Jun 16
It looks like my desktop is on its last legs. This, of course, has happened a few times. In the past, I’ve replaced it with another desktop but this time I just couldn’t see the point. I’m not some sort of professional graphics guy and laptops are plenty powerful for the sort of text-based shit …
Mar 24
“I rejoice that there are owls. Let them do the idiotic and maniacal hooting for men. It is a sound admirably suited to swamps and twilight woods which no day illustrates, suggesting a vast and underdeveloped nature which men have not recognized. They represent the stark twilight and unsatisfied thoughts which all [men] have.” –Henry …
Feb 17
I’m a big fan of electronic music pioneer Raymond Scott. While his strange sounds didn’t meet with much of an audience during his lifetime, they seem perfect for this modern age of beeping devices. I chopped up a few of his noises and made ringtones out them. The mp3s are below. raymond scott raymond scott …
Jul 18
Limited Edition – Banana FP Rocket By Lunartik JOnes on Flickr – Photo Sharing!. Like most people, I’d often noticed that rockets look like cocks and cocks look like bananas but I’d never noticed that rockets look like bananas. This toy from Lunatrik has changed that. It’s eight inches of hand-painted, limited edition, potential dildo. …
May 18
Matt Kirkland has a fascinating page with pictures of stuffed toys and their robotic interiors. Some of these are pretty creepy. Each toy contains some nightmare version of itself. It’s cute –They think they’re people!
Although Ryan Oakley began his career as a simple rake (drunk) he has since become Toronto’s most renowned flaneur (no car) and notorious dandy (overdresses). A misanthropic composer of psycho-geographical fictions (sci-fi), he is also a server of food, a tender of bar and a washer of dishes. While performing all these functions with efficiency and elegance (disdain and malice), he somehow finds the time to publicly criticize friends, strangers and cultural crap.
