Munny Custom by Zirca

Saw this 8" Munny custom on Vinyl Requiem. More monster-esque robotics by Zirca. I'm also loving the hacked off hand turned into a power-tool of some sort....brilliant!


Here are the details:
The Grunt by Zirca
Piece: The Grunt
Items Used: Sculpey, Wire, Electrical Parts, Resistors, Glass Eyes, Circuit Boards
Name / Alias : Zirca
Location: Toronto, ON, Canada
Email: djzirca@gmail.com
Piece for sale: No
Commission work: No

Ergo Proxy

Ergo Proxy is a science fiction anime that aired on Japanese TV in 2006. It was directed by Shukou Murase and the screenplay was written by Dai Sato et al. (go to the end of this review for a full list of the writers). Ergo Proxy runs for 23 episodes and is nine volumes long in Japan and six volumes long in the West. The animation is a combination of 2D digital cell animation, 3D computer modelling and digital special effects. This anime also uses a combination of cyberpunk and steampunk elements.

Ergo Proxy is set in the future after a war that has left the Earth virtually uninhabitable. The story begins in the domed city of Romdo where humans and androids live together (humans rely on androids to manage their daily lives and do the things humans consider too mundane to do themselves). There have been a series of murders that have been committed by androids infected by the Cogito virus (Kojiro virus). This virus starts to affect the delicate balance of the social order in Romdo. “A group of robots become infected with something called the Kojiro [sic] virus, and become aware of their own existence. So these robots, which had been tools of humans, decide to go on an adventure to search for themselves. They have to decide whether the virus that infected them created their identity, or whether they gained their identity through their travels. This question is meant to represent our own debate over whether we become who we are because of our environment, or because of things that are inherent in us. The robots are all named after philosophers: Derrida and Lacan and Hussard [sic].” –Dai Sato

Re-l Mayer is assigned to investigate the murders with her AutoReiv Iggy. When she is attacked in her home by a ‘monster’, and when the government tries to cover it up Re-l is driven to investigate further. This leads her to an immigrant named Vincent Law. Vincent has no memory of his past and is desperately trying to fit in and become a citizen of Romdo. But after a Proxy chases him in public he becomes a wanted man by the government and leaves Romdo on the run. After this Re-l has to know what is going on and when she learns a little too much, someone tries to kill her. While hiding out, Vincent decides to go to Mosko (his home town) with an infected AutoReiv named Pino in order to find out who he is, and he soon discovers he is a Proxy. After escaping death Re-l decides she must find Vincent and goes after him. They end up traveling to Mosko together to find out the truth about the Proxies.

This is a very good anime; the animation is excellent and the story line flows well. Ergo Proxy focuses on some very hard topics like the psychology and mentality of the main characters and the other people and androids living on earth. An anime covering these topics had the real potential to suck, but this anime pulled it off. There are a few episodes that are a bit wired and at first don’t seem to have anything to do with the rest of the anime. But if you just sit back and watch you soon find out that they are used to give you more information about what has happened in the past and what is going on the present. And the way the story line is set up they would not have been able to inform the viewers without using these wired episodes. This anime will be for those that like a dark and thought provoking anime with some silly episodes to lighten the mood and inform the viewers. This is also a good anime to start you off if you were thinking about or tried to watch anime like Serial Experiments Lain or Texhnolyze but thought that they were too weird or hard to fallow. I personally watch my anime dubbed but I have been told that the voice acting is much better in Japanese so if your inclined, give it a go and let me know.

The scrip witters are Dai Sato, Yuko Kawabe (Office Crescendo), Seiko Takagi, Yusuke Asayama, Naruki Nagakawa, Jun'ichi Matsumoto
Photos Via Photobucket

Crazy Science : Blending to the Extreme

This is one of the best video series I've seen on YouTube!!!! "Will It Blend?" takes the simple concept of blending to the extreme! Ever wondered what would happen to a light bulb in a blender?...or a baseball? Then these should tickle your fancy! Of course, you shouldn't try any of this at home, and that's why I love it..because I get to see the results without having to, and thus reducing the risk of serious harm to myself or others!




There are loads more in the series but not all of the items are blendable(if that's a word..it is...now) so don't be too disappointed if you pick one that is just a boring still image of what you hope to be an exhilarating show! Also, not all of them are from BlendTec, which ESP considers the Master of the "Will it Blend?" conundrum!

Videos found on YouTube by BlendTec

Steeeeee---rike ONE! Robot Baseball

At first this video didn't really strike me as anything spectacular, especially as the robot didn't have any real aesthetic beauty...but after a few seconds I started to realise that it hadn't missed a ball yet!!!....If you've ever watched baseball, the hitters miss quite often! The action of striking the ball is really fluid and after the montage of successful hits the rugged machine, created by Robocross, takes on it's own personality, playing certain pitches with certain strokes. Add a sophisticated outer shell and you've got yourself a fatigue-free, perfect strike-rate-hitter!


Video found on YouTube by baseballbats

Umfeld DVD trailer

Trailer for Umfeld, Jochem Paap(Speedy J) and Scott Pagano's 2007 audiovisual DVD release. Purchase the DVD and download the FREE full-res version at www.umfeld.tv

200 Impressions

Hey, everybody. Thanks for checking this video out. It took a while to put together and I hope you enjoy it. Feel free to comment or criticize as it is always appreciated. About a quarter of these impressions are already on some of my other videos - I just wanted to compile a long list as I work on them. Also, #93/94 Beebop and Jack Nicholson are transposed. I'd try to let it slide and not mention anything, but I think their voices are um... just a little bit different from one another. Also, this is about 16-17 minutes long, so if you plan on watching it in it's entirety, you should go grab some pop and maybe some snacks.

Worst Parent of the Year Awards 2007

The curtains are coming down for the year 2007 & year 2008 is beaming at us, its time we take care of the Parent awards for the year 2007.

Custom Home Theatres

So custom toys and PC cases just aren't enough anymore. There are some incredible home theatres now that don't just contain top of the range audio/video equipment but themes of aesthetics too! Behold three examples of home theatre customising to the extreme.




This Star Trek theatre is so technically cool that I'm not gonna try and make any lame jokes about how cheesy bla bla it looks....According to Wired, this home "features motion-activated air-lock doors with series sound effects, and a “Red Alert” button on the Crestron TPMC-10 controller to turn all of the LEDs bright red and flashing. The system also features “one of the largest Kaleidescape hard-drive based storage systems” ever created, amassing eight servers with 3,816 DVDs."




A great theatre for sci-fi lovers. Loads of amazing toys/props/replicas as well as a sweet set-up for the gadgets. This guy has 3 XBOX 360's set up on 3 different screens so the whole family can join in the network fun! WTF?!

[VIA]

Blindfolded Fighting Master

This guy'll knock you out without having to look at your ugly mug first! Incredible sensory skill from the Philippines....


Video VIA.

MaK X Unkl

My absolute favourite, Maschinen Krieger creator Kow Yokoyama has been asked to collaborate with toy/design company Unkl on the MaKPo project.


According to Vinyl Pulse, this has been over two years in the making, and is set to be a premium project fusing Kow's Machinen Krieger universe with UNKL's signature design aesthetic. The interior of the cockpit features a soft material housing a mini HazMaPo pilot. Apparently, there are two editions planned. A green colorway (400 pieces) due in April 08 and also a special orange edition (100 pieces) which will drop at SDCC '08.



Images copyright of VP.

The World's Most Dangerous Drug - Meth

"Meth really is the mother of all drugs. It's the cheapest, dirtiest and most powerful drug in existence today. It's also the fastest spreading. Meth doesn't kill its addicts immediately. The process is slow, during which it takes an extreme physical and psychological toll. Meth literally rots people's bodies—teeth, face and insides. Frankly, I was appalled by how ugly it made frequent users.

I explored the impact meth is having on societies in Portland, Omaha and Bangkok. The reasons people start using the drug differ from city to city.

In Portland, I was shocked to learn that 80 percent of that city's prisons hold people on meth-related charges. Whether the charges are for drug dealing, identity theft or armed robbery, somehow they are connected to meth. Portland's hospitals are overwhelmed by patients admitted for meth abuse. I've always considered Portland to be one of the most beautiful cities in the U.S., but meth's impact on it has been tremendously ugly.

But there is hope. Addicts can recover. I had the privilege of meeting a man in Portland who is six months into recovery. His name is Kobe. Kobe was very good looking, smart and athletic when he got addicted. But meth nearly destroyed his life. I was amazed after I heard his story that he was even alive. The most poignant part of his story was that his parents, who are loving and middle class, told me what a relief it was to learn that he had been arrested and jailed ... because that meant they knew where he was and that he was alive."

MERRY XMAS!!!

We have ditched the traditional red and green for some neo-geo optical illusion colors of purple and green for Xmas this year! We hope that as you read this, the image above is moving about. Have a brilliant one wherever you are in the world! All the best from the ESPV Team!

The Purple Nurple Optical Illusion
Walter Anthony (c)2007

Os Gemeos Show in Netherlands

"The OS GEMEOS crew (two identical twin brothers), have created their largest-ever European exhibit for their incredible new show, “The Flowers in This Garden Were Planted by My Grandparents,” that debuted at the MUSEUM HET DOMEIN in the Netherlands in November. Filling the cavernous space with monumental sculptures, interactive audio exhibits, a stage for Brasilian musician Siba Veloso (who performed at the show’s opening), and copious amounts of their unmistakable spray-painted fantasy imagery, the boys from Sao Paulo awed the locals with the kind of show-of-force they’ve become known for in recent years."





Photos by Mieke and Will Schmitz.
Words by Supertouch.
To see more of the incredible Os Gemeos duo, go HERE.

XMAS HK Style

My very good friend and great female writer Redy emailed me an Xmas pic of a wall painted in HK. I am a big supporter of oriental writers not writing in the traditional Romanised letter fonts and experimenting with their own language's typefaces. Bring on more Chinese characters! The first four characters on the left say "Merry Xmas".

Best of Ekosystem Pics 2007

These are just some of the best pics from the latter half of 2007 on Ekosystem's wonderful st.art gallery. I could have filled this blog with dozens of pictures and choosing the best was difficult.


Blu in Palestine.


Escif & Hanem in Spain


Eine in London, UK


Orticanoodles in Brighton, UK


Chu, Tec, Blu, JR & El Tono in Berlin, Germany


Duster132 in Paris, France


Aorta in Croatia

Sauna Pants Updated!

Thanks to a comment left by reader Gryphon Hall in the original post of SaunaPants, I can now give you important info and an update on the contemporary version of the pants of heat.


According to the "inventor" Young-whan Yu of Saunapants.com, (how messed up is that!)
"DIDN'T YOU TAKE YOUR TESTICLES ROUGHLY WHEN YOU ENJOYED HOTBATH, SAUNA, HOTSHOWER, FAR-INFRARED RAYS? NEWSPAPER SAYS THAT THE TESTICLES OF THE WORKERS AROUND THE KILM, FURNACE, OVEN AND MELTING TANK ARE WEAKEN SLOWLY DAY BY DAY.Men who work or drive for a long time on chair can make their Scrotum hot, so it can do harm to their Spermatozoa. It is more possible that the men who drive long time can be barren, comparing to the men who don't.


THEREFORE, I STRONGLY SUGGEST THAT ALL MEN, EXCEPT A HOLY FATHER AND A REVEREND, SHOULD WEAR SAUNA PANTS WHEN THEIR TESTICLES ARE FACED WITH HEATING.
PLEASE, LISTEN TO THE SEED'S CRYING CAUSED BY PAINFUL THERMAL SHOCK!
IT'S A VERY NICE THERMAL INSULATION TO WEAR COOL AND CHILLY PANTS, WE CALL "SAUNA PANTS", FOR EVERY MEN WHO WANT TO PROTECT THEIR TESTICLES FROM THERMAL SHOCK WHILE THEY ARE TAKING A HOT BATH, SAUNA, HOTSHOWER, FAR-INFRARED RAYS AND WORKING IN THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF HIGH TEMPERATURE."

We should all take notice of Mr Yu's statements. Apparently, men in Russia, Iran and Korea all do! Who wants to help me set up the British branch of SaunaPants?!!!!?


The original product from the 1970's

Japanese McDonald's Ronald

This is the complete ver. of the new male Ronald. This only shown in Japan.

So Whatcha Gonna Do Now