All these robot battles have to stop

I'm sick of the fighting. I like to think that if I lived in San Francisco, I might have gone to the Robot Fighting League 2004 Nationals and staged some sort of robot peace protest with big, friendly posters.

Tiny crocheted ghost
I went to the Giant Robot store the other day with some visiting friends, and got this happy little crocheted ghost. Here, he's shown shortly after purchase hanging out with Fingerbear in front of what, in their world, is one giant bubble tea.



After I got him home, I emailed the Giant Robot people because I wanted to know who made the ghost (I didn't write it down while I was at the store). Today I got a message back that he was made by a woman in Japan who goes by Anzoo. I found her website, but it's entirely in Japanese. I'm sure it's her, though, because when I clicked around, I saw a few drawings that looked a lot like my little ghost. I think sometime in the very near future I'm going to attempt to crochet something tiny and cute. If it comes out nice, I'll post a picture.

Birthday painting

It was my friend's birthday yesterday, and he likes giraffes, so I made him this little painting of a giraffe-stronaut. It's not exactly what I had in mind at first, but I like the idea of a giraffe in zero gravity, with its legs floating in different directions.

If you really want to match your car

Someone named Roxy just sent me a link to the Ford Streetka Dress. Click on the wallpaper images on that page to see what it looks like. For a dress made out of car parts, it's pretty stylin. I'm not that into the wire embroidery on the skirt, but I like the top a lot. It looks like futuristic armor.

Voice of the Woods

Ask the Ogham a question, and get some advice from a Celtic divination system based on trees. I like this combination of ancient nature and technology, but I wish the site's webmaster had consulted the Ogham about the use of frames. Judging by the Ogham's insights on my financial situation, I bet it's smart enough to come up with a better web design. (p.s. I just like the word Ogham. It's fun to type. Maybe because the letters alternate between my left and right hands as I'm typing.)

Art TV

While I was eating lunch, I had the TV on for a few minutes, and I came across a show on PBS called Sharing Art. It's a few years old, but in L.A. the episodes air on Channel 58 on Wednesdays, so I'm guessing they're probably still airing other places, too. From the website:

PBS 45 & 49's Sharing Art consists of fifteen 15-minute programs for students in grades 5 - 10. The first ten episodes of the series feature northeast Ohio art museums, artists and schools. The episodes include the following:

An introduction to a museum piece of art

A local artist explaining how he or she does comparable art

Students in a local classroom doing a similar project

The Pop Art one I saw had students using Photoshop to increase the contrast on photos of themselves, which they then printed out on transparencies. They painted on the back, and ended up with arty-looking self portraits.



It was strange for me to see kids in a public high school using Photoshop in art class. When I was in high school, there wasn't even one computer in the art room. Kids today probably take it for granted that an art project can combine digital images and real paint, and that's kinda neat.

Biotechnology is fun

Okay, maybe biotech is scary if I stop to think about it, but Baxter's Biotech Bargain Basement is a semi-entertaining little game. You have to build these cute little biotech creatures as fast as possible in your lab, or your customers will get mad.



Oooh, that reminds me of this Wired article I read the other day about how a geneticist used a "DNA antisense agent" to turn lazy monkeys into workaholics. It had something to do with blocking the dopamine receptors in their brains.



I know this kind of thing should freak me out (those poor monkeys), but seriously... anybody know how I can get in on that study? I have a lot of work, and it's not doing itself.