Munny Custom by Zirca

Saw this 8" Munny custom on Vinyl Requiem. More monster-esque robotics by Zirca. I'm also loving the hacked off hand turned into a power-tool of some sort....brilliant!


Here are the details:
The Grunt by Zirca
Piece: The Grunt
Items Used: Sculpey, Wire, Electrical Parts, Resistors, Glass Eyes, Circuit Boards
Name / Alias : Zirca
Location: Toronto, ON, Canada
Email: djzirca@gmail.com
Piece for sale: No
Commission work: No

Ergo Proxy

Ergo Proxy is a science fiction anime that aired on Japanese TV in 2006. It was directed by Shukou Murase and the screenplay was written by Dai Sato et al. (go to the end of this review for a full list of the writers). Ergo Proxy runs for 23 episodes and is nine volumes long in Japan and six volumes long in the West. The animation is a combination of 2D digital cell animation, 3D computer modelling and digital special effects. This anime also uses a combination of cyberpunk and steampunk elements.

Ergo Proxy is set in the future after a war that has left the Earth virtually uninhabitable. The story begins in the domed city of Romdo where humans and androids live together (humans rely on androids to manage their daily lives and do the things humans consider too mundane to do themselves). There have been a series of murders that have been committed by androids infected by the Cogito virus (Kojiro virus). This virus starts to affect the delicate balance of the social order in Romdo. “A group of robots become infected with something called the Kojiro [sic] virus, and become aware of their own existence. So these robots, which had been tools of humans, decide to go on an adventure to search for themselves. They have to decide whether the virus that infected them created their identity, or whether they gained their identity through their travels. This question is meant to represent our own debate over whether we become who we are because of our environment, or because of things that are inherent in us. The robots are all named after philosophers: Derrida and Lacan and Hussard [sic].” –Dai Sato

Re-l Mayer is assigned to investigate the murders with her AutoReiv Iggy. When she is attacked in her home by a ‘monster’, and when the government tries to cover it up Re-l is driven to investigate further. This leads her to an immigrant named Vincent Law. Vincent has no memory of his past and is desperately trying to fit in and become a citizen of Romdo. But after a Proxy chases him in public he becomes a wanted man by the government and leaves Romdo on the run. After this Re-l has to know what is going on and when she learns a little too much, someone tries to kill her. While hiding out, Vincent decides to go to Mosko (his home town) with an infected AutoReiv named Pino in order to find out who he is, and he soon discovers he is a Proxy. After escaping death Re-l decides she must find Vincent and goes after him. They end up traveling to Mosko together to find out the truth about the Proxies.

This is a very good anime; the animation is excellent and the story line flows well. Ergo Proxy focuses on some very hard topics like the psychology and mentality of the main characters and the other people and androids living on earth. An anime covering these topics had the real potential to suck, but this anime pulled it off. There are a few episodes that are a bit wired and at first don’t seem to have anything to do with the rest of the anime. But if you just sit back and watch you soon find out that they are used to give you more information about what has happened in the past and what is going on the present. And the way the story line is set up they would not have been able to inform the viewers without using these wired episodes. This anime will be for those that like a dark and thought provoking anime with some silly episodes to lighten the mood and inform the viewers. This is also a good anime to start you off if you were thinking about or tried to watch anime like Serial Experiments Lain or Texhnolyze but thought that they were too weird or hard to fallow. I personally watch my anime dubbed but I have been told that the voice acting is much better in Japanese so if your inclined, give it a go and let me know.

The scrip witters are Dai Sato, Yuko Kawabe (Office Crescendo), Seiko Takagi, Yusuke Asayama, Naruki Nagakawa, Jun'ichi Matsumoto
Photos Via Photobucket

Crazy Science : Blending to the Extreme

This is one of the best video series I've seen on YouTube!!!! "Will It Blend?" takes the simple concept of blending to the extreme! Ever wondered what would happen to a light bulb in a blender?...or a baseball? Then these should tickle your fancy! Of course, you shouldn't try any of this at home, and that's why I love it..because I get to see the results without having to, and thus reducing the risk of serious harm to myself or others!




There are loads more in the series but not all of the items are blendable(if that's a word..it is...now) so don't be too disappointed if you pick one that is just a boring still image of what you hope to be an exhilarating show! Also, not all of them are from BlendTec, which ESP considers the Master of the "Will it Blend?" conundrum!

Videos found on YouTube by BlendTec

Steeeeee---rike ONE! Robot Baseball

At first this video didn't really strike me as anything spectacular, especially as the robot didn't have any real aesthetic beauty...but after a few seconds I started to realise that it hadn't missed a ball yet!!!....If you've ever watched baseball, the hitters miss quite often! The action of striking the ball is really fluid and after the montage of successful hits the rugged machine, created by Robocross, takes on it's own personality, playing certain pitches with certain strokes. Add a sophisticated outer shell and you've got yourself a fatigue-free, perfect strike-rate-hitter!


Video found on YouTube by baseballbats

Umfeld DVD trailer

Trailer for Umfeld, Jochem Paap(Speedy J) and Scott Pagano's 2007 audiovisual DVD release. Purchase the DVD and download the FREE full-res version at www.umfeld.tv

Custom Home Theatres

So custom toys and PC cases just aren't enough anymore. There are some incredible home theatres now that don't just contain top of the range audio/video equipment but themes of aesthetics too! Behold three examples of home theatre customising to the extreme.




This Star Trek theatre is so technically cool that I'm not gonna try and make any lame jokes about how cheesy bla bla it looks....According to Wired, this home "features motion-activated air-lock doors with series sound effects, and a “Red Alert” button on the Crestron TPMC-10 controller to turn all of the LEDs bright red and flashing. The system also features “one of the largest Kaleidescape hard-drive based storage systems” ever created, amassing eight servers with 3,816 DVDs."




A great theatre for sci-fi lovers. Loads of amazing toys/props/replicas as well as a sweet set-up for the gadgets. This guy has 3 XBOX 360's set up on 3 different screens so the whole family can join in the network fun! WTF?!

[VIA]

Blindfolded Fighting Master

This guy'll knock you out without having to look at your ugly mug first! Incredible sensory skill from the Philippines....


Video VIA.

MaK X Unkl

My absolute favourite, Maschinen Krieger creator Kow Yokoyama has been asked to collaborate with toy/design company Unkl on the MaKPo project.


According to Vinyl Pulse, this has been over two years in the making, and is set to be a premium project fusing Kow's Machinen Krieger universe with UNKL's signature design aesthetic. The interior of the cockpit features a soft material housing a mini HazMaPo pilot. Apparently, there are two editions planned. A green colorway (400 pieces) due in April 08 and also a special orange edition (100 pieces) which will drop at SDCC '08.



Images copyright of VP.

MERRY XMAS!!!

We have ditched the traditional red and green for some neo-geo optical illusion colors of purple and green for Xmas this year! We hope that as you read this, the image above is moving about. Have a brilliant one wherever you are in the world! All the best from the ESPV Team!

The Purple Nurple Optical Illusion
Walter Anthony (c)2007

Os Gemeos Show in Netherlands

"The OS GEMEOS crew (two identical twin brothers), have created their largest-ever European exhibit for their incredible new show, “The Flowers in This Garden Were Planted by My Grandparents,” that debuted at the MUSEUM HET DOMEIN in the Netherlands in November. Filling the cavernous space with monumental sculptures, interactive audio exhibits, a stage for Brasilian musician Siba Veloso (who performed at the show’s opening), and copious amounts of their unmistakable spray-painted fantasy imagery, the boys from Sao Paulo awed the locals with the kind of show-of-force they’ve become known for in recent years."





Photos by Mieke and Will Schmitz.
Words by Supertouch.
To see more of the incredible Os Gemeos duo, go HERE.

XMAS HK Style

My very good friend and great female writer Redy emailed me an Xmas pic of a wall painted in HK. I am a big supporter of oriental writers not writing in the traditional Romanised letter fonts and experimenting with their own language's typefaces. Bring on more Chinese characters! The first four characters on the left say "Merry Xmas".

Best of Ekosystem Pics 2007

These are just some of the best pics from the latter half of 2007 on Ekosystem's wonderful st.art gallery. I could have filled this blog with dozens of pictures and choosing the best was difficult.


Blu in Palestine.


Escif & Hanem in Spain


Eine in London, UK


Orticanoodles in Brighton, UK


Chu, Tec, Blu, JR & El Tono in Berlin, Germany


Duster132 in Paris, France


Aorta in Croatia

Sauna Pants Updated!

Thanks to a comment left by reader Gryphon Hall in the original post of SaunaPants, I can now give you important info and an update on the contemporary version of the pants of heat.


According to the "inventor" Young-whan Yu of Saunapants.com, (how messed up is that!)
"DIDN'T YOU TAKE YOUR TESTICLES ROUGHLY WHEN YOU ENJOYED HOTBATH, SAUNA, HOTSHOWER, FAR-INFRARED RAYS? NEWSPAPER SAYS THAT THE TESTICLES OF THE WORKERS AROUND THE KILM, FURNACE, OVEN AND MELTING TANK ARE WEAKEN SLOWLY DAY BY DAY.Men who work or drive for a long time on chair can make their Scrotum hot, so it can do harm to their Spermatozoa. It is more possible that the men who drive long time can be barren, comparing to the men who don't.


THEREFORE, I STRONGLY SUGGEST THAT ALL MEN, EXCEPT A HOLY FATHER AND A REVEREND, SHOULD WEAR SAUNA PANTS WHEN THEIR TESTICLES ARE FACED WITH HEATING.
PLEASE, LISTEN TO THE SEED'S CRYING CAUSED BY PAINFUL THERMAL SHOCK!
IT'S A VERY NICE THERMAL INSULATION TO WEAR COOL AND CHILLY PANTS, WE CALL "SAUNA PANTS", FOR EVERY MEN WHO WANT TO PROTECT THEIR TESTICLES FROM THERMAL SHOCK WHILE THEY ARE TAKING A HOT BATH, SAUNA, HOTSHOWER, FAR-INFRARED RAYS AND WORKING IN THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF HIGH TEMPERATURE."

We should all take notice of Mr Yu's statements. Apparently, men in Russia, Iran and Korea all do! Who wants to help me set up the British branch of SaunaPants?!!!!?


The original product from the 1970's

Noien: To Your Other Self

Hello fellow ESPV readers I thought I would start to review some new anime for a while. For those of you that were waiting for me to review Boogiepop phantom and Paranoia agent I still intend to review them but later.

Noien: To your other self is a science fiction anime that is 24 episodes long it was directed by Kazuki Akaen and Kenji Yasuda. Noien first aired on Japanese TV in October 2005 and was released in the West in September 2007. I need to point out that in the US you can buy all five volumes separately BUT in the UK you can only buy the first three separately the last two you will have to buy it as part of the series collection to you have been warned.

Noien jumps from present time to fifteen years in the future. In the future a violent battle is taking place between two dimensions: La’cryma which from the main characters perspective is the future, and Shangri’la a dimension intent on destroying all other dimensions. In La’cryma a group of warriors known as the Dragon Knights are sent through space and time to other dimensions to find the Dragon Torque; a mysterious object that will stop Shangri’la destroying La’cryma. In the present, Haruka, Ai, Isami and Miho (all friends aged 12) go out to see the “ghosts” that have been seen throughout their town. When they run into one of the Dragon Knights; scared they run away and are chased by the Knights. In an attempt to save her friends Haruka runs in a different direction from her friends. She ends up in a graveyard with Yu (also a friend in their group). When they meet Karasu a member of the Dragon Knights, he believes that Haruka is the Dragon Torque. Karasu taunts Yu about him being very weak and how he is disgusted by Yu, we then find out he is Yu only fifteen years in the future. In a strange twist Karasu decides to save Haruka at all costs and turns his back on the Dragon Knights and La’cryma.

This is a very good series and there is something for everyone if you like lots of fighting and action this has it and if you like a love story this has is as well. The animation is not the normal animation you get in most anime out these days. The character design is simple (but it really works) and in the fast action fighting scenes the animation looks hand drawn and very unfinished. This rough animation works because it gives you the feeling that things are happing very fast so everything gets blurred. The storyline is really well thought out and the writers explain multi dimensions and what is going on in both the past and future without confusing you. I would really recommend Noien to anyone that wants something different you will really enjoy this anime.

Photos via Photobucket

Insa's Whole Car

I forgot to mention earlier that we had the honour of hanging out with Insa whilst he painted the last touches to his amazing high-heeled tube train! For those of you know who aren't familiar with this famous east-end of London landmark...These are decommissioned tube trains (Jubilee Line trains for any railway connoisseurs) that sit on the top of a four storey building. They have been converted inside to act as offices for those lucky enough to have the hook-ups!




This is what the roof first looked like 9 months ago.


I'm not allowed to show you what it looks like now as "Gone" (our good friend and incredible artist) who was one of the first to move in keeps it top secret. So for now, all you can see is the potential of the place.....trust me, it's the best office I have ever smoked in....I mean...been to.


The Insa Pics are from Irieman's collection.

PHESP Review - short comic

Funny.. but not 'ha ha' funny..
'Iran, Iran, Iran'.. is all we seem to be hearing from G.W.Bush these days.. seems he is quite obsessed with the notion that Iran is out to get the West, even when his own intelligence and UN inspectors have proven that Iran halted their nuclear weapons program about three years ago. But alas, the 'land of the free' is also widely known as 'the land of the seriously paranoid'.. although, no one can safely say for sure that Iran would never attack the West, there is little or no evidence to show that they have the capabilities to do it in the next 3-5 years.

Still, obviously it wouldn't hurt for the international community to keep an eye on Iran, but there is a fairly large difference to 'keeping an eye on' and 'promoting war'.
Either way, many have asked why Bush would be overly concerned with Iran being a problem to the West (which is not entirely proven), but not be as concerned with climate change which, could be a problem to the world (also not entirely proven)? Some argue that one is more important than the other.. bla, bla, bla.. but some would also say that considering the 3 serrious shooting incidents in the US in the last month (one which was in a shopping mall, killing a number of inocent people), .. perhaps Bush needs to focus a little less on 'possible' overseas threats and concentrate more on 'definite' domestic threats?

What ever the answer and what ever opinion you get behind.. I saw this funny comic in the December 8th Economist magazine and it made me chuckle..

Ultimate Custom Bikes

Saw this HERE and thought that all those fixed gear fans aren't even close to really customising their own bikes compared to these guys...."For decades in Japan, dekochari (deko means “decoration” and chari means “bicycle”) have been the ride of choice for hardcore dekotora fans that are too young to drive. Modeled after Japan’s celebrated art trucks, dekochari typically feature large front bumpers, ornate luggage racks, rear-mounted boxes that resemble truck trailers, colorful paint jobs, lots of chrome, and sophisticated electric light displays. This video pieces together random night scenes from Dekochari Yarou, a documentary that profiles a few dekochari enthusiasts and their custom rides."
Fixed-gearists eat your hearts out!

Riot68 Zombies Are Back!

Riot68 sent me a mail last week with the following message:

"The zombies are BACK!
Been working on these boys for a few weeks now on and off and apart from the protective topcoat they're all done and will soon be for sale, except the Mate which is off back to Das Mo, my thanks to him for hooking me up with one of these great DIY toys to have a go on. Also the 2 with the eyeballs, well they Glow in the Dark too!"




Beautiful custom job......nuff said!

XMAS Madness!

Big sorry for the lack of updates from last week but it's been a mad build-up for the XMAS period with the whole ESP crew working on and trying to finish off side-projects before the year ends.....
Dkoda has jst finished some amazing club visuals for Cafe 1001's crazy 24hour XMAS parties, I have had to sort out a new booker for the cafe and make sure he knows what he's doing (as well as customising a Teddy Troop, getting Interviewed for it on Toysrevil's blog and attending four great art shows!). PHilfy is about to go to Australia for XMAS, Irie is working hard on a new look for UKAdapta, Tai has just started a new job and the rest of the team have also informed me that they have been too busy to post as well! Pheeew!











Open Studio Pics From Here.
Alternativity Pics From Here.
Permission To Paint Pics From Here.
Evolving Styles Pics From Here.