robot action boy

moving on up...

2007-04-26T14:35:00.000+08:00

i've moved my blog over to wordpress. they have a free basic service which seems simple enough to use. and at least i have comments again. please update your bookmarks(for those that have them), eventually i'll probably kill the blogger version of robot action boy.

camera cards make me happy

2007-04-25T17:09:00.000+08:00

this is by far the best card i've gotten from postcrossing. it makes me want to run out and send off some more postcards. i'm planning to hit another diy market this weekend, so i'm hoping to find some worthy cards for postcrossing adventures.

things have been pretty sporadic around here. i still haven't managed to get comments to work again. blogger seems pretty unhelpful so i'm looking at moving the blog. right now i'm considering both wordpress and moveable type. either of these options will require a lot more work(at least initially) on my end. but hopefully in the end they'd make things much better. if anyone has other suggestions feel free to email me about it.

pop songs 07

2007-04-19T14:30:00.000+08:00

pop songs 07. a blogger decides to write about every rem song eventually. he's not doing it chronologically, but jumping around throughout the discography which is nice. it's got me making me want to listen to early rem again, but unfortunately, the only rem i have on cd is the newer stuff which i don't really care for as much. via quiddity.

mousetrap!

2007-04-18T17:42:00.000+08:00

man, if i was in california i'd so be going to this event. a lifesize mousetrap:

The unique design of this giant, Rube Goldberg-style contraption was cleverly gleaned from the memories of childhood, twisted out of scale, then sketched beyond life size. It features an enormous construct of crazy stairs, a flame-throwing lamppost, careening bowling balls, and a hand-built, 30-foot-tall crane capable of lifting and dropping 5 tons! The object of this vaudevillian encounter is to "accomplish by complex means what seemingly could be done simply"! So our lucky players get to lift a 400-lb cast-iron bathtub 13 feet into the air, crank cranks, load springs and turn impossibly huge gears, all in a supreme effort to crush a trinket of meaning (say, a 1,200 lb pumpkin) under a falling 2-ton bank safe! The Mousetrap is impressive as a static sculpture, but it is the motion, started by a human, that is the heart of its existence.

i've heard that some libraries in taipei actually carry make magazine. i should check and see if any of the ones down here do. via stone cold pimpin'.

the super 8 itch

2007-04-18T12:15:00.000+08:00

i ran across this nifty site on super 8. as a result, i'm really itching to pick up a super 8 camera and make some super 8 films. i wonder where i can get super 8 processed in taiwan?

antichrist and barcodes

2007-04-15T02:25:00.000+08:00

from one of those live current 93 performances i'm always wishing i lived close enough to to attend. i love the fact that david tibet looks like some mad 70s preacher - which in someways is probably not too far from the truth. if you crave more a gothic love song can be seen here.

love play diy market again

2007-04-09T00:04:00.000+08:00

today peter and i went to the love play diy market again. it seemed a bit smaller than last time, but i suspect some people may be down in kenting for the big music festival down there. some of the vendors i was hoping would be here this time weren't, but i still managed to find some cool stuff.

this card by nutn(actually, i don't know the name of the designer, but that's the name of their photo album so it'll have to do) is cool and i'm pretty sure it's not just a card but some sort of woodblock print which makes it even more special.

also i really loved this polaroid camera inspired card by room design:

it even comes with a little card that you can put a photo on like it's a real polaroid(and pull it through a slit in the camera card). they had the camera it's based on sitting on their table. i couldn't help but stare at it. i guess this is just another confirmation of what a camera geek i've become.

in the meantime...

2007-04-06T22:05:00.000+08:00

well, still no word on when the comments will be back. i have however, gotten two form letters from blogger letting me know that they are backlogged with problems since forcing people to switch to the new blogger. i think it may be time to check the help forums again and see if anyone has posted a way to solve this problem(there wasn't last time i checked). but anyway, comments or no i'm back to blogging.

and my first post since being back? a quick tour of phone cam shots of tainan:

good hygeine is a good thing.

a poster telling you what to do if your car breaks down on the train tracks:

in case of a breakdown or obstacle at a railway crossing, please carry out these three safety tips:

1.press 2.push 3.run

press the buttons first, push your car next and run away when train approaches!

does anything on this sign seem vaguely familiar? could it be kfc? i'd heard that all of these klg shops had gone out of business or been forced out, but there are still a few left in southern taiwan. haven't tried their chicken yet though.

a hello kitty hardrive. just what every computer savvy hello kitty nut needs. on closer inspection i'm not sure this is a hardrive. do hardrives usually come with a remote control?

the comment blues

2007-03-22T14:39:00.000+08:00

i'm having some problems with the comments. until blogger can fix the problem i'm going to be taking a short(hopefully) break from posting.

2007-03-20T00:15:00.001+08:00

i'm going to be doing some work on the template. so if things look a bit off or just plain different you'll know why.

2007-03-19T13:09:00.000+08:00

this week's audioscrobbler chart. a mix of new, old and older.

2007-03-17T21:38:00.000+08:00

today i got up before god so i could catch the early train up to taichung(1.5 - 2 hour trip) to take in the flea market up there. the flea market was smaller than the ones in taipei and kaohsiung, but still nice. i didn't find any old pictures for sale, but lots of old vinyl, some toys and a variety of old asian stuff along with the usual assortment of power tools and sex toys. i took quite a few snapshots but i'm not sure how well they'll turn out as most of the flea market is in a covered area.

the only thing i bought while there were these postcards(they may look like originals but i'm sure their not. oh, and if you click on the thumbnails you'll be taken to a page to view them bigger). i bought them with the intention of sending them to a friend in the states.

one seller even had the magazine about old toys on hand(i blogged about it here - for some reason i expected that post to be more popular than it was). he was selling stuff that could be found in there - or things very similiar. but rather pricey. a little plastic boy on a tin tricycle for about 15 bucks u.s. ouch. some other sellers were selling the tatung mascot banks. but at (u.s.) 15 bucks and 25 bucks i won't be buying them anytime soon.

one seller talked to me in english and wasn't too happy that i took a picture of his wares without asking him first. seemed really odd to me. i then asked if i could take a picture of him and he said no.

there was one seller selling old cameras. among them a seagull and a rolleicord. i was afraid to ask how much the rollei was going for as cameras in taiwan tend to be expensive. they liked my brownie starflex, and were even more impressed when i told them i was shooting 35mm with it. i'm sure i'll regret not asking the price on that camera.

2007-03-16T11:01:00.000+08:00

in that last set of dvds that arrived - along with the kenneth anger came this disc of films by mike kuchar. sins of the fleshapoids is often heralded as some sort of underground masterpiece and john waters is on record as stating its major influence on him. it is a fine bit of kooky sci-fi b-movieness, but i found i preferred the other two films on this disc more(the secret of wendel samson and the craven sluck). aside from the visual elements in the film, what stands out is the sound. on the surface it has similiarities to what nurse with wound, tipsy or messerchups may do with thrift store records, but here the mix up is used to illustrate characters mood/state of mind.

the disc comes with trailers with two more films that i'm pretty certain i'm going to have to add to my collection in the not too distant future: the 70s dimension and tribulation 99. they aren't by mike kuchar, but i hope there will be more kuchar releases in the future.

2007-03-16T10:50:00.000+08:00

monsanto house of the future. i'm still dreaming of living in such a place. the 21st century has been such a disappointment. but at least there are things like this to remind us of what it could have been like.

the inside is pretty swanky too:

via junkyard clubhouse which is fast becoming one of my favourite blogs.

2007-03-15T23:05:00.000+08:00

when i was down in kaohsiung at the lomo.tw meet up i met someone that suggested that the problem i had with my sx-70 polaroid camera may be dead batteries(it mysteriously stopped working) - he turned out to be right. then today i found this thread on flickr about how to mod the camera so it could take 600 film without adding filters(actually by taking one away, and very simply at that). i tried it and it works! this is my first test featuring the ansco readyflash. a camera my parents gave me shortly after xmas. speaking of which, they've just informed me that they have more cameras to send me. is it possible to have too many cameras?

2007-03-13T23:50:00.000+08:00

for all those theremin fans out there. wfmu's beware of the blog has posted a bunch of theremin videos. cool. via the mediaburn radio weblog.

2007-03-12T13:10:00.000+08:00

this is really cool. animal cut-up cakes. scans of an old booklet on how to make cakes in the shapes of various animals. i love the illustrations and the pictures of the cakes even if i hate coconut. via junkyard clubhouse.

2007-03-12T12:58:00.000+08:00

this week's audioscrobbler chart. i found myself in a madness mood this week and listened to their first three albums a few times. it'd been awhile since i'd done that.

2007-03-11T20:12:00.000+08:00

today peter and i went to the tainan diy market. apparently it's held every second sunday at the tainan municipal cultural center. i wish i would have known about it sooner. it was pretty crowded while we were there, but it was much better than the diy market we attended during the lunar new year holiday. lots of postcards and other funky goods for sale. a few of the vendors i recognized from other diy markets. i think there were even some high school students selling stuff they've made. there's something really nice about wandering around looking at diy stuff while a live punk band wails in the background.

of course i bought a bunch of postcards. i feel like the postcards are getting a little more expensive. i really like the cards by old new lady. all the cards have been burned around the edges(and really burnt as far as i can tell, so each one was a little different). i also dug the animal cards by p714. how could i resist cards that look like lost images from some children's book? always nice to pick up more fodder for my postcrossing activities.

if this diy market is always like this i may have no use for campo. it seems that there are alot of problems with campo lately and maybe they've lost sight of what made it special. i've heard stories that alot of the designers just do it because they want to become famous, not for the fun element like it was before. the funky and quirky art element has been missing from the last couple of campos i've been able to attend. it's just been a straight diy market, which in and of itself is fine, but campo used to be more.

2007-03-11T18:51:00.000+08:00

yesterday i went to kaohsiung. of course i had to stop by the flea market. this day i found something i'd never seen at a flea market in taiwan before - film! and 120 film at that. i bought all the man had for sale. all of it expired(some from 1982 it looks like!).

my friend james is always finding cool old pictures at one of the taipei flea markets and other places. but i don't find them very often at the one in kaohsiung. but yesterday there was a lot of different people selling old photos. one picture i wanted was 50nt(about u.s. $1.50) so i passed on it. i think it had someone famous in it, but i just wanted it as it looked like some man at a hostess bar with some woman in an afro wig. another person had these small albums(like the size of a wallet but a bit smaller than that) of old pictures. i was really tempted by this one full of vacation shots, but 300 nt(around 10 bucks u.s.) was more than i really wanted to spend. and do i really need more things to scan? i'm not sure.

my main purpose for going to kaoshiung was to meet up with my friend keith. he'd invited me to attend the kaohsiung lomo.tw meet up. if i could type in chinese i'd probably participate in the forum there, but since my chinese just isn't that good i don't. everyone i met were super cool and friendly. they were most impressed with my staplebox pinhole. they invited me to go out on a group shoot today but i couldn't as i already had plans. hopefully they'll ask me next time as i'd really like to and it's not very often that i get to meet people who are crazy about taking pictures too.

2007-03-09T12:08:00.000+08:00

yesterday i got a bunch of dvds in the mail. the one i was the most excited to finally have is the films of kenneth anger volume I. when it comes to experimental cinema the three names that tend to get mentioned over and over again(and rightfully so) are maya deren, stan brakhage and of course kenneth anger. the booklet for the anger collection has an introduction by martin scorsese. it's a little funny that he talks about what an impression scorpio rising made on him, when it's not even featured on this collection. hopefully we won't have to wait too long for volume two.

2007-03-08T09:32:00.000+08:00

last weekend i picked up this special edition magazine(or book?) devoted to old toys in taiwan(that is toys available in taiwan, not neccesarily designed and created here). mainly toys from the 1960s-1980s. it's chock full of great images. seeing the cap guns and the caps gave me the most nostalgia for some reason.

i couldn't resist scanning some of the stuff. i think this is a coloring book:

i'm not sure what kind of book this is. but i love the 60s style illustration:

there is a section on bendable toys, and this donald and mickey are just plain freaky!

this one is also a bit freaky. party toy? stress reliever? or tool of satan?

two plastic dollies. there is a third in the magazine, but the scan didn't turn out well so you just have two of the three.

and finally, some wacky speed racer cards. whenever i ask people about speed racer here and if it was ever shown people don't seem to know what i'm talking about. but when i showed peter these images he said he remembered it. i was starting to wonder if it had only been shown in the west.

at the back of the magazine/book it mentions where to look for old things. they list the two flea markets in taipei(one of which i've been to many times and another i never got to since it was far from where i was living), one in kaohsiung i've been to a few times, and one in taichung i plan to go to soon.

2007-03-07T10:46:00.000+08:00

sometime last week i got this issue of jpg magazine in the mail. i originally wanted to order this copy from them on line but it appears that they only offer subscriptions but not individual copies for sale. i couldn't find it locally so asked my sister if she could pick it up for me which she did. after she did, i discovered on a trip to taipei that they stock it at the eslite bookstore. i was shocked(and am still a little in shock), but i've not seen it at the eslite down here in tainan, so it may just be the dunnan branch that is getting it. still cool to know it's available somewhere in taiwan even if it's not all that close to tainan.

the magazine was much larger than i expected. i like the images in it, but i wish they would have included information on cameras. it's like going to a museum and being given no information about what a piece was made with.

the articles i found for the most part to be too short. the one on the diana(and her clones) was nice. the article on hacking a holga to use on a digital camera was pretty pointless as far as i'm concerned. the interview with randy at holgamods was way too short. the article is surrounded by lots of white space and small pictures. it just felt like a missed opportunity. overall the magazine was ok, but i'm not sure if i'll buy it again or not(i think it'll depend on the issue/theme). lightleaks and shots magazines are much more in line with my way of thinking i guess, but i am happy a magazine like this has managed to become this succesful without a lot of corporate interference.

2007-03-07T00:40:00.000+08:00

this week's audioscrobbler chart. i don't think i've pulled out micromars since when i first bought it. i think i like it now more than then. of course it's hard to resist an album that contains a song titled why didn't my parents buy me a casio.

2007-03-05T23:09:00.000+08:00

last night peter and i went out to this giant matsu temple to check out the fireworks display they were having. when we got there we had to sit(well, stand really) through a bunch of boring politicians giving speeches. luckily, there were people launching skylanterns to keep us amused while waiting:

once the politicians were done boring us, the fireworks started in earnest. first up was the gate of the temple exploding in a nice display. we were practically underneath it so it was quite a sight.

after that people suddenly moved away quite quickly from where we were standing. we did too once we saw the vehicle of fireworks being pulled our way. some people pulled out plastic tarps, others put on motorcycle helmets - all to protect themselves from what was coming up next. the vehicle of fireworks didn't just shoot vertically but also out the four horizontal sides. some poor camphone footage:

it was one of the most amazing and crazy things i've ever experienced. and the show didn't end after this one vehicle. there were 5 or 6. each a little different. with each one the crowd moved a little further back and in our case to an angle not directly facing one of the side "holes"(more poor camphone footage here).

at some point there was an announcement that if anyone got hurt they should go to the hospital and the temple would pay for it. there were ambulances and emergency crews on hand as well as the police.

after the vehcile works had taken place there was a traditional fireworks show up in the air. fireworks from japan and switzerland apparently(some of which looked suspiciously like hello kitty). and after that they brought out more vehicle fireworks.

after the first of the second set of vehicles we decided to get some ice cream(there were vendors around the temple courtyard). we'd just started to eat it when they wheeled out the next vehicle. with each new vehcile there was a sense of excitment and dread. it's sort of like that feeling when you are standing in line to get on a giant roller coaster, or when you are going up that first hill and keep thinking to yourself "oh god what have i done..."

when this one went off we had to rush to protect our ice cream from falling debris. just after that finished and we thought we were safe a man appeared near us brandishing a box of rockets and a lighter. he'd turn around and in any direction people would scream and duck. we couldn't back up anymore as the vendors were behind us. then he lit the fuse and off shot the rockets in various directions.

after this bit of excitement peter and i decided to head up to the third floor of the temple to see the view from there. there were a ton of photographers lined up with their tripods and cameras. from that safe distance we watched the rest of the vehicles wheeled out(each getting bigger and more powerful).

after the final vehicle of fireworks went off there was another big fireworks display up in the sky. all in all over 2 hours of back to back fireworks. there was also music blaring from speakers during the show(a loose accompaniment i guess). i heard "new york new york" and "what a wonderful world" twice and something that sounded like hooked on classics, but the piece that brought the biggest smile to my face was hearing "rock you like a hurricane".

the funny thing is this isn't even the biggest of the shows. there's another temple that has fireworks for 24 hours and people attend wearing heavy clothing and protective gear because the fireworks are much more serious and chances are that something will hit the audience. peter and i are talking about trying to take that in next year.