Amazing Wooden Mecha

These wooden toys, from Japanese toy maker Take-G Toys blow me away every time I take a look at them:



I'd like one of each please. The asking price of $1500-$6000 seems reasonable for something that amazing and unique. Makes me wish I'd taken woodshop in Junior High more seriously... how many years of experience with woodworking do you need to become a Ninja like Mr. Take-G?

Top 10 Reasons to Watch BSG

Here's a trickle of goodness to pass the time while waiting for April 4th... Top ten reasons to watch Battlestar Galactica, from last night's Late Show.



(thanks Phil, for sending this in)

Star Trek TOS on the Web

I love the internet.

CBS.com has all three seasons of the original 1966 Star Trek series up to watch. Looks like they're from the same source as the original series DVD sets (ie, not the remastered editions).

They've also currently got the first two seasons of The Twilight Zone, and the first season of Hawaii Five-O (just sayin, for all you other 60s TV fanatics out there).

Now, if I could only find the time to watch all this stuff...

What if...

What if Saul Bass had designed the titles for Star Wars?





via drawn.ca via boingboing

Ray Harryhausen

There's a tribute to Ray Harryhausen in today's SF Chronicle!

Last week, Mike and I jumped at the opportunity to go to the Raphael Theater to see Ray Harryhausen talk about his life and career. The format was a Q&A with fellow visual effects giants Denis Muren, Phil Tippet, and Craig Barron along with Harryhausen restoration producer (and close friend) Arnold Kunert. Yep, most of the people responsible for creating the things that inspired me to persue a career in animation were there, talking about where they found their inspiration (in the Cyclops from the 7th Voyage of Sinbad, of course). It was awesome.

Enjoy the article! Oh, and this montage of Harryhausen's work:

For All Mankind!

Yay! My favorite Sci-Fi Rockabilly band, The Phenomenauts, are having a CD release party for their upcoming album "For All Mankind" at Slim's in San Francisco... and they're bringing friends!

Saturday, March 29th at 9pm. I'll be there. Will you?

Astrona

I just stumbled upon this awesome science fiction art journal, Astrona, while looking for the artwork of John Berkey.

I certainly found a lot more than I was looking for! There seems to be thousands of high resolution astronomical and science fiction illustrations for your browsing pleasure. Go check it out!

(Oh, and I found Astrona by way of another amazing blog that I was also instantly smitten with: Lines and Colors.)

Miss Vampira!!

"The ever-beautiful flowers she had planted with her own hands became nothing more than the lost roses of her cheeks."

We lost a great legend in Horror Movie Host history on Thursday. Maila Nurmi, known to most as Vampira, has passed. Metafilter compiled a great list of links about her. I recommend you check them out!