The life size Gundam Mecha returned to its home in Odaiba recently, and the folks at Darwin Fish 105 did their usual incredible job of filming the event. This time around, the footage was taken at night, with a very nice overlay (if something in the background can be considered an overlay, since it is really in the masked screen areas under the primary video) of wide aperture star fields doing extended time exposures and then compiled into an animated setting. The next video is called Tokyo Heartbeat, and shows some world class utilization of the classic time lapsed photography process. If you ever wondered if a city was alive, wonder no longer; you can see its pulse throbbing in this one. Finally, Ginza At Night completes the triptych, this time using high speed film (or the digital equivalent) along with wide aperture light gathering settings on the camera to render a movie that could never have been created in daylight. I am quite impressed with the Darwin Fish processes and results; great job, gang!
It is in Nevada, not outer space, but I figured if I called the post Alien Bordello all of my hits would probably come from the INS, rather than someone interested in sleeping with an Orion Slave Girl or the like. Which actually might be appropriate, since I feel confident any aliens on the premises would be crossing national borders to work there rather than extraterrestrials. But according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, a new brothel called the Area 51 Alien Travel Center will have everything short of a theme park and be targeting the Captain Kirk wannabe’s passing through the state. If this had been built in the 50s, 60s, or even 70s it might have been a big deal, and pulled in a lot of money from the pocket protector set (of which I am one). But apparently they haven’t heard that Nerds and Geeks have been cool for the last several decades, and mostly have girlfriends these days; except for those nerds and geeks who ARE the girlfriends, and they all have boyfriends. So I am a bit confused about exactly who they think the target audience is going to be. Anyways, thanks to The Taylor Network by way of the Sci-Fi Party Line News for the heads up on this one.
2011 was an outstanding year, and for me personally the best single event during it was my excursion with a good friend to the UK. I couldn’t possibly list in detail all the things we did and saw, because it was non-stop and overwhelming. So instead I am going to post a few of the more memorable photos.
Happy Holidaze, everyone! This time around, a small sampling of Doctor Who related x-mas wishes…
A few more pictures from my trip to the UK the other month. These particular images are from (surprise!) the Doctor Who Experience, which will be moving from London to Cardiff this winter, to reopen in the spring. The London run will continue through February 22nd. The first image is the Tardis above the doorway at which you enter the exhibit, which tells you that you have correctly figured out the tube system upon arrival. The next is one of a large number of character mockups they have, in this case Davros. And finally, everybody’s favorite robot dog, K9. Yes, this really was the primary reason I made the journey over the water (OK, I admit, I never would have done it if a friend hadn’t been looking for a likely accomplice). Although I made sure to hit lots of other fun tourist spots, like Forbidden Planet and the Namco Funscape. I think there were some buildings and churches and castles and clock towers around, as well. I’ll have to check the photos and see.
If you are lucky enough to live in or near the 9 cities the event is going to be held in, then know tomorrow night, November 10th, you could attend the Hatsune Miku Live Party 2011. This is part of the new Live Viewing Japan network they are starting to build at various movie theaters in the US, and the event will kick off at 7PM local time across North America, just to minimize confusion. They already have more events planned, and with luck they will be able to expand the number of theaters in their network soon. Note that every one of the nine cities they started off with hosts one of the major Anime Cons every year; good choice to start building your fan base, since you know they gather there.