Saturday, August 28th, 2010
About a year ago I discovered what hobby nerds have been drooling over for years. Customized action figures called “Garage Kits". The name comes from a type of homemade production that evolved from hobbyists making their own versions of toys out of garage studios. They are found in Japan and mostly made by a handful of individuals and designers. The idea behind a garage kit is to create a toy that embodies what the fans never got from the original. What really blew me away was the ingenuity of the creators. Using resin casting they create limited editions of their toys all from their home. There is an annual gathering of the these toy makers called Wonderfest. Other than Ebay that is pretty much the only place where you can buy and sell these kits.
These are couple of my favorite garage kit designers:
Jizaitoys
Dimension Diver
Toyopee (actually papercraft maker but still incredible)
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Saturday, August 28th, 2010
rice paddy art
Rice farmers in Japan have managed to engineer giant detailed murals grown from varying colors of rice plants. It’s a
story about how a village lacking a tourist attraction invented a process of growing pictures in rice fields. The farmer who discovered the process figured out how to seed different colors of plants to create the images. The image above, of a samurai battling and warrior monk, was created by workers planting varying colored rice plants according to a computer generated map. Computer planning has been recently introduced to help the accuracy and prevent distortions.
Tags: drawings, rice fields, samurai
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Friday, August 20th, 2010
Chinatown Fair Arcade
There was an
article in the Times a few weeks ago about Chinatown Fair. The last in a dying breed of video game arcades and my favorite truancy hangout and the only place where I can get a round of
Marvel vs. Capcom in at 1 AM (along with some steamed buns down the street). The article focused on how video arcades are dwindling because of online gaming. I really miss these kind of spaces. They have a cavern like atmosphere, sometimes a bit stiffeling, but I always get sucked in by the glow of the screens and the chance to play my favorites. If I discover one my compulsion is to immediately drop 5 bucks in tokens because I think it’s the last time I will ever see
Metal Slug or
Street Fighter II. Looking for
a good website tracking old arcades I found
Ebay is the best place to find your favorite machine.
tic-tac-toe chicken on the farm
I was surprised the article didn’t mention Chinatown Fair used to employ a chicken. Yes, a chicken. This bit of urban legend is supported by the fact the old sign out front has the faint lettering “World Famous Dancing and Tic-Tac-Toe Chicken". A good friend introduced me to the place about 14 Years ago when I made my first trip to New York. He knew someone who played the chicken and lost. The machine had a glass cage where the chicken stood in front of the tic-tac-toe board and pecked his next move to the challengers. Every time the chicken won it would the machine would reward it with a treat. I’m not sure what the player won, except maybe their dignity for not losing to a chicken. I heard rumors that the city shut down the chicken arcade because of pressure from the health department and animal rights groups. However i’d like to believe the chicken led a rather content existence as the tic-tac-toe Bobby Fischer of his species. After Mr. Chicken was retired they sent him to the farm (see image below) where he lived out the rest of his days making out with cows. On the manager’s door you can see a photo of the retired chicken on the farm (see left).
Tags: arcade, chicken, chinatown fair, rice paddy art
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