What say “Christmas” better than robots? Nothing, That’s what.
Check out fjordcarver’s awesome Instructable, and learn how to make your own robotic talking Christmas tree.
I love his little eyes. He looks like Cookie Monster… if Cookie Monster was a Christmas Tree.
With the holidays fast approaching, it’s understandable that we might all be getting a little excited, girls and bots alike. (Come on—you can’t tell me Data didn’t want to put Spot in a kitty-sized Santa hat.)
So here’s one for the robots in the crowd—or at least the robot aficionados—who want to deck the halls in a suitably festive fashion for this human holiday known as Christmas.
First up is a binary stocking, appreciated by androids and the technologically inclined alike. Oh, and if you’re multi-talented, you can knit one yourself with n2 Imaginations Design‘s pattern.
Next we’ve got a stocking by AnimationsDesigns that may outshine even Rudolph’s nose. Robots? Check. LEDs? Check. Awesome? Definitely check. And look at all the detail—each little robot is different.
If you want something a bit more understated than an illuminated stocking, My Imaginary Boyfriend has a slightly more traditional, rather rustic design (as rustic as robots get, I suppose).
And finally, I had to include this adorable stocking stuffer robot ornament from Sleepy Robot 13. I know, it’s not a stocking per se, but he’s holding one, so it kinda counts, right?
There are at least a million different things a geek can do in London, and in my effort to do them all, alas, I failed. One major highlight was the current free exhibition at The British Library (for us yanks, it is like The Library of Congress), Out Of This World: Science Fiction, But Not as You Know it.
First, I am a bibliophile, so this was like Disneyland for me, except at Disneyland you can take pictures and touch things. Each section of the exhibition had a specific theme ranging from the birth of Science Fiction (in the 1600s!), Utopian societies, distopian societies, graphic novels, robots (did you know that the first “robots” in literature were actually synthetically made human slaves, and not machines?), and more. Among these were impeccable, perfect first editions, that made me drool, with some of the most beautiful, and outright cool cover art you will ever see. One major highlight was an original telegram sent from George Orwell to his publisher, lamenting that 1984 would have been “better” if it had not “been written under the influence of TB”, where he goes on to call Satre a “big bag of wind”.
I could write for days on the books on display and how amazing it was to see hand written pages of first drafts, books hundreds of years old, amazing posters (see?), but what really struck me were the interactives they had set up, for all age ranges. You (or your kid) can use an interactive touch screen to draw your own alien, and then watch it join other hand drawn aliens dancing around on the wall behind, there was a sleepy robot that was motion activated that carried on conversation about his favorite science fiction robots, a computer where you could challenge AI to the Turin’s Test, and at least five other things I didn’t have time for.
All in all, this would be an amazing stop in London (runs until September 25), even (or maybe especially) if you have kids in tow.
Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon (2011)
Director: Michael Bay
Starring: Shia LaBeouf, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Josh Duhamel,Tyrese Gibson and John Turturro
Voice actors: Peter Cullen, Hugo Weaving, and Leonard Nimoy
157 min
Rated PG13
You might think that crazy-awesome special effects, a pulsing soundtrack and GIANT FIGHTING ROBOTS would be enough to guarantee an summer blockbuster. And you’d be correct – in terms of box office sales. In fact, Transformers 3 is currently the 47th highest grossing movie of all time.
But if you think the same formula would guarantee a movie worth 2-1/2 hours of your time…not necessarily.
The latest installment in the movie series based on Hasbro’s toy line of yore, Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon, has all the elements of a sure-fire Hollywood hit. Tested director of notable action movies like Armageddon & Pearl Harbor, Michael Bay? Check. Fan-boy favorite producer, Steven Spielberg? Check. Score by Steve Jablonsky, composer of the two previous Transformers film scores? Check. Voluptuous love interest? Check. Mighty morphin’ robots in disguise? Check.
Strong storyline told in logical progression…not so much.
Don’t get me wrong – I know that any Transformers movie is not exactly meant to have an Oscar-worthy script. I’m not expecting rich character development, or to be able to relate to the story on a deeply personal level. I know it’s a summer blockbuster that’s meant to be eye candy. And on that criteria, the movie did deliver. The transformation from vehicle to robot was as flawless as in the previous movies, with all the whirling cogs & gizmos, and usually while in motion. Visually stunning.
But the story seemed all over the place. It was like they just thought up a bunch of scenes, filmed them, and just threw them together. It felt very abrupt and disjointed, and was generally distracting, even with the impressive special effects.
Also distracting was the newly-introducted love interest – Rosie Huntington-Whiteley took over for Megan Fox in this installment. Her role was completely gratuitous to the story, though perhaps that’s to be expected, too, especially after the first two movies. Giant robots and a pretty girl, and fanboys are typically content. (oh I’m sorry, did my bitter resentment show?)
That said, a delightful surprise (for me) was the voice acting by Leonard Nimoy (need I say he played Spock in “Star Trek“?), and the “sidekick” part by Alan Tudyk (“Wash” from “Firefly“) as a rather flamboyant German assistant. So there was a little something for the geek girls – at least THIS geek girl. ;)
Overall, I’d say Transformers 3 is a renter, if anything.
LINKS OF INTEREST:
I’m so excited about this, you have no idea. I live on YouTube. I love YouTube. YouTube is like the epicenter for everything awesome on the internet (aside from geekcrafts.com). One of my favorite things is when I stumble on a new YouTube channel as it is starting up. My latest find, marydoodles, was recommended to me by another YouTuber, nicepeter. She does time-lapse videos of watercolor paintings that are just amazing.
[youtube]trbpsrMA3O8[/youtube]
If you like her paintings, she puts them up for auction after each video posts. So far she has done paintings featuring Unicorns and Robots, so it’s safe to say that she is absolutely amazing.
Makoto’s Cross-Stitch Super Collection by Makoto Oozu is, as it says on the cover, very cool! and not lame! Originally two books published in Japan (Hop, Stitch, Jump! and My Stitch Book), this is an awesome compendium of tiny, geeky patterns and projects to stitch. It’s got robots, dinosaurs, monsters, aliens, insects, sea creatures, travel, and electronics to choose from.
I love the way the book is organized. Part 1 shows you all of the designs stitched in full color. Part 2 is full of an interesting variety of projects with everything from shirts to pillows to an amazing pegboard wall panel (who needs Aida?). Part 3 goes over cross-stitch materials and tools, basic stitches, and detailed instructions for all of the projects.
As much as I would love to make the pegboard wall panel, I don’t have room for that in my house (seriously, I need to make room for this!), so I went small and stitched on a Moleskine notebook cover.
To get the holes in the right place, I was going to draw lines with a pencil, but the book had great advice–photocopy the pattern from the book and use that as a guide for punching the holes. I opted to use my Japanese screw punch with the smallest tip instead of a book awl and decided to go with the purple pterodactyl. I punched the holes and started stitching.
Since the design is so small, I was able to use threads from my loose stash and stitched with two strands. I think that the next time I stitch on a notebook, I’ll use more strands, but I’m still very happy with how my dinosaur came out.
These designs are so quick to stitch up–I think the pterodactyl took me 15 minutes–these notebooks would make great last-minute gifts.
Rad news! I’ve got one copy of Makoto’s Cross-Stitch Super Collection to give away. Leave a comment telling me your favorite dinosaur and why by Friday, June 24th at midnight ET and I’ll pick a winner at random. Respond to another reader’s comment and get an extra entry (limit one, please). [Edit – midnight ET. I can only stay up so late :)]
