Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Big Jim - - the toy line that was recycled by Mattel for Masters of the Universe figures

Here's Trap Jaw:



And here's Big Jim character Iron Jaw, from a toy line that came out in 1971:



Man-E-Faces:



Big Jim figures Zorak and Vektor:



Many more examples here.

Monday, June 23, 2008

Sunday, June 22, 2008

"Bloody" soap



Link.

Green Knight in Lego by Nathan Sawaya




Part of a Lego "Brick Art" exhibit in Hawaii. Lots more photos from "Big Daddy" Nelson in this Flickr gallery.

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Rubik's Cube Alarm Clock




Officially called "80's cube clock," and available here.

Friday, June 20, 2008

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Nurikabe sculpture



Nurikabe sculpture by Andrew Bell.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Why Satellites Stay in Orbit



Vintage book available at Amazon.

Monday, June 16, 2008

Hanged Man Spore Creature



Go here to see more bizarre Spore creations.

There used to be a Busch Gardens in Van Nuys

LA Times:
The attractions are long gone, but in the 1960s the company brought back a more modern version of Busch Gardens at its Van Nuys brewery. It had boat rides for visitors, a monorail and a key attraction fondly remembered by many -- free beer.

"It was amazing," recalled Los Angeles City Councilman Tom LaBonge, who visited as a teenager. "It was a big treat to sit on the monorail and tour that big brewing plant."

Rod Stewart is a model railroad enthusiast


"Having been a model railroader for 20 years, and an avid reader of your magazine for longer, I thought you may be interested in publishing some photos of my layout."

So began a letter to Model Railroader Publisher Terry Thompson. Even though MR receives many letters from readers hopeful of seeing their model work in the magazine, this one was unusual in being signed by entertainer and song writer Rod Stewart.

The photos enclosed with the letter revealed a superbly built HO scale model railroad featuring a Manhattan-like setting with some model skyscrapers. Terry contacted Stewart's England-based secretary and expressed an interest in featuring the railroad in Model Railroader.

Click here for scans from the magazine featuring Stewart's railroad.

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Shrek's Scottish accent cost Dreamworks $5 million

EW:
Myers' clout extended beyond Austin Powers. Midway through production on Shrek, he decided the ogre should speak with a Scottish accent — an inspired notion that cost DreamWorks roughly $5 million in wasted animation.

Magic camera



By Thomas Keeley.

The Birds Barbie Doll



On sale here.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Assassin's Creed in the real world



Also, Resident Evil 4:

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Friday, June 6, 2008

J.K. Rowling named the Death Eaters for her friends

From her commencement speech at Harvard:
“The friends with whom I sat on graduation day have been my friends for life. They are my children’s godparents, the people to whom I’ve been able to turn in times of trouble, friends who have been kind enough not to sue me when I’ve used their names for Death Eaters.”

Thursday, June 5, 2008

Rally Rabbi bobblehead




On sale at eBay.

Tarsem on the making of The Fall

RE:
And as for the Blue City...

"Jodhpur, the blue city, is a Brahmin city where you’re only supposed to paint your house blue. I made a contract with the city; we would give them free paint. We knew legally they could only choose blue. So they painted their houses blue and it looked more vibrant than it ever had before."

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

The search for the Titanic was just a cover for effort to find sunken submarines

NatGeo:
[Oceanographer Robert] Ballard met with the Navy in 1982 to request funding to develop the robotic submersible technology he needed to find the Titanic.

Ronald Thunman, then the deputy chief of naval operations for submarine warfare, told Ballard the military was interested in the technology—but for the purpose of investigating the wreckage of the U.S.S. Thresher and U.S.S. Scorpion.

Since Ballard's technology would be able to reach the sunken subs and take pictures, the oceanographer agreed to help out.

He then asked the Navy if he could search for the Titanic, which was located between the two wrecks.

"I was a little short with him," said Thunman, who retired as a vice admiral and now lives in Springfield, Illinois. He emphasized that the mission was to study the sunken warships.

Once Ballard had completed his mission—if time was left—Thunman said, Ballard could do what he wanted, but never gave him explicit permission to search for the Titanic.

James Cameron's Avatar crew t-shirt

Front logo


Back logo


Go here for larger images and an explanation for the symbols.

Gallery of vintage skateboard stickers



Link.

Monday, June 2, 2008

The Greatest Manhunt of World War II

"How a black soldier killed an officer, disappeared into the Burmese jungle, and joined a tribe of headhunters." Slate has a slideshow about Brendan I. Koerner's new book Now the Hell Will Start: One Soldier's Flight from the Greatest Manhunt of World War II .

Sunday, June 1, 2008

Horse sushi

Japan's facing a tuna shortage:
The restaurant’s owner, Shigekazu Ozoe, 56, said the current situation reminded him of the last time he had no tuna to sell — in 1973, during a scare over mercury poisoning in oceans when customers refused to buy it. At that time, he tried to find other red-colored substitutes like smoked deer meat and raw horse, a local delicacy in some parts of Japan.

“We tasted it, and horse sushi was pretty good,” he recalled. “It was soft, easy to bite off, had no smell.”