“Whirlpool” – one of twelve animated tribal legends from Australia

Filed under Computer Graphics, Found on the Web

Whirlpool is a short animated film that retells an aboriginal Australian tale about a raid by the Saltwater People against the Freshwater People, and how the captives manage to get away.

This is one of a series of twelve short animated films in the Dust Echoes series, produced by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

All twelve are adapted from tribal stories and the Dust Echoes site has a glossary and study guides which explain the background of the stories. The whole project is a very interesting one, and it’s great to see something like this produced.

Unfortunately this is a Flash web site so I can’t give you a direct link to the film. But it’s the leftmost of the film icons, just to the right of the “Explore” icon. Yet another demonstration of why Flash shouldn’t be used for site navigation. If you needed one, I mean.

Ars Technica’s History of the Amiga, Part Five

Filed under Computer Graphics, Found on the Web

Ars Technica continues its series on the history of the Amiga computer with Part Five – in which we see the machine and its inventors, apparently saved by an influx of cash from Commodore Business Machines, learn the awful truth.

The company wastes its resources in a completely bungled launch and the Amiga simply sits, unmarketed and practically unsold, for about two years before matters change and someone gains a clue about what to do with it. Meanwhile Jack Tramiel rushes the Atari ST to market and advertises it aggressively. The original Amiga engineers are split between those who move East to join Commodore and those who’ve already found that they’ve had enough.

The story so far:

• History of the Amiga, Part One
• History of the Amiga, Part Two
• History of the Amiga, Part Three
• History of the Amiga, Part Four
• History of the Amiga, Part Five

Penguin Rocketeer by Fabio Bautista – “The Great Flight”

Filed under Computer Graphics, Found on the Web

Here’s what makes me happy this morning – a jet packed penguin rocketeer by Fabio Bautista, modeled and rendered in 3DS Max. You just can’t keep a flightless bird down, even if he has to solve the immemorial “opposable thumbs” problem that’s stumped penguin engineers for centuries.

Bautista doesn’t have a web site of his own, but you can see his gallery – and a “Making Of” clip for this image and the brief “The Great Flight” animation – in his pages at CG Society, here.

Venomous Gearflies and Clockroaches: the Durable Natural History of Mademoiselle Porkshanks

Filed under Found on the Web

It is our expectation that the public will be informed and dumbfounded by the remarkable and highly durable constructions of that renowned naturalist-adventurer Mlle. Porkshanks, of the Airship Inexplicable. These clockwork records of heretofore unseen species such as the Clockroach, the Skin Tunneler, and the Venomous Gearfly are presented as the sole surviving record of the Inexplicable‘s latest explorations.

The Inexplicable (as is not unusual) suffered remarkably high mortality rates amongst its crew during that venture and it is not coincidental that the vessel, now briefly returned to port, is currently advertising for additional crew.

It is perhaps because of the highly destructive events of their late adventure that Mlle. Porkshanks has chosen to replicate her discoveries in brass, bronze, and other sundry indestructible materials. This has ensured the viewing public of some insight into the Inexplicable’s new discoveries.

Indeed, fortunate observers may even have the opportunity to purchase one or more of these unique specimens, as Mlle. Porkshanks has determined that they should be sold to aid in the refitting of her beleaguered craft. Interested collectors may peruse her current offerings in the Gallerie d’Etsy . We are advised that they make curious jewelry likely to inspire conversation of a cultured type that will prove most agreeable.

In addition, like-minded scholars will be pleased to view Mlle. Porkshanks’ personal photographs at Deviant Art. Here are detailed not only her clockwork jewelry, but various equipment invaluable on her travels, such as the Steam Powered Anti-Aetheric Matter Raygun.

Imaginary Conversation, with Conundrum

Filed under Can't Stop Thinking

You can’t make that argument. It’s impossible to prove a negative.

Pause.

Um…. can you prove that?

Machinalia – the art of Boris Artzybasheff

Filed under Found on the Web

If I were to call some of Boris Artzybasheff’s illustrations “biomechanical” I’d probably be right – but you’d end up expecting something more like H. R. Giger, and less like the interesting blend of Virgil Finlay and Stanislav Szukalski that we find in his body of work.

Artzybasheff, a Russian immigrant, was a mainstream illustrator and so not all of his work for magazines and ads reflects what looks like his special interest in anthropomorphizing machines and projecting our human nature onto our machinations. Or is it the opposite?

But there’s plenty of that, especially in the drawings for his own books (like “As I See”) – and in fact his other work is pretty interesting, too.

• Boris Artzybasheff bio and gallery at ASIFA
• Boris Artzybasheff art and biography at the Eisner Museum
• Boris Artzybasheff gallery at American Art Archives

And thanks for the heads up go to The Beat.

Acme Death Ray Tech Support Call Transcipt, from Brain Handles

Filed under Found on the Web

I just fell over this entertaining post at Brain Handles; it’s the transcript of a technical support call for Acme’s Giant Death Ray, which the customer bought from Amazon. I do hope he got the free shipping.

Great stuff, especially if you’ve ever fielded a tech support call yourself – I used to get them from time to time even though they weren’t for me.

Example: “Look sonny, I typed up my first plan for world conquest using Paperclip on a Commodore 64. I’ve been asked “did you reboot” more times than you’ve been laid.”

Fall 2007 Newsletter Posted at Celtic Art & Retro-Futuristic Design

Filed under Works in Progress

I’ve just posted the latest Incredibly Occasional Newsletter at Celtic Art & Retro-Futuristic Design; because of the several new ventures I’ve kicked off this year, it’s also got updates for Saga Shirts, The Retropolis Transit Authority, and even Hot Wax Tees. Because this is the time of year when you need to be jolly and generous, and when I get to try to shake all the change out of your pockets. Um… that’s YO Ho Ho, to you.

Roland Tamayo’s Surreal Paintings: Whales, Squids, & Watchful Televisions

Filed under Found on the Web

By day, he creates concept art for computer games; by night, he dons his surrealistic cape and ventures out to paint weirdness and wonder. Roland Tamayo’s surreal acrylic paintings and drawings dip into the inkwell of his recurring motifs and recombine them in new and unexpected arrangements. That’s traditional – Magritte, de Chirico and Dali all used their own icons in much the same way.

Here we’ve got whales, tortoises and squids coexisting with televisions, buildings, microphones and trees. It’s wonderful stuff to look at, by which I mean: you ought to.

The Curious Case of the Do-it-Yourself, Direct to Garment T-Shirt Printer Video

Filed under Print On Demand

Much is left unsaid about this conversion of an Epson C88 printer into a do it yourself, direct to garment T-Shirt printing machine (for example, what the heck sort of inks or dyes are being used here?) and although it’s unlikely to be much of a production solution, even on light colored shirts…. isn’t it just damned interesting?

The creator says it’s a $150 project, and that plans will be sold in the future as the diyTs T-Shirt Printer. You can see that there’s a custom built carriage, but you can’t tell much else about it. And why is the image being printed sideways? If it were printing the image vertically there’d be no real limit to the height of the design. Apart from the length of the shirt, of course.

Thanks for the heads-up go to to Jean Roth.

Update: there’s a thread about this, started by the creator, at Rodney Blackwell’s T-Shirt Forums.