Feb 19
For the first few years of its existence Transformers was strictly an all-male universe. By universe, I mean the line of toys, comics and cartoons in the US; there may have been some distaff members in the Japanese lines, which are traditionally more accepting of females in action roles. It was not until the mid-1980s …
Feb 12
As the picture above ** suggests, some Transformers just never made the grade. Since part of the fun of them are those oh-so-easily parodied names, here’s a list of those Autobots and Decepticons who never should have been born. I’ll call them Aborticons. Aborticons Cosmiclutter Dirtbag Lumplizard Dinofart Kittenstrike Hysteridemic Crunkbrawl Skysnort Menhonk Hypimple …
Feb 05
Do you know American President Ronald Reagan is to thank for the success of the Transformers franchise? In the early 1980s Hasbro executives noticed a line of Japanese toys called the Diaclones, which were robots that transformed into vehicles. They thought the concept had merit, so the company licensed them to be sold in the …
Jan 27
The industrialized world depended on rubber once. There was rubber everywhere. But then, one day, it came to life.
Sep 03
I had a parakeet growing up, and I loved the little thing. But as pets, budgerigars have their horrible side. When they die, for example. Often suddenly and without warning. Nothing can freak out a small child like seeing a bird that had been happily chirping an hour before lying motionless on the bottom of …
Jul 02
The Last Samurai by Mark Ravina Wiley, 2005 [Challenge # 5: A book taking place in Asia (Turkey to Japan, Siberia to Vietnam.)] I really wanted to like this book. It’s a biography of Saigo Takamori, a Japanese historical hero who might be compared to Abraham Lincoln in American history, a down-home politician who embodied …
Jan 30
Pokemon (short for Poketto Monsuta, Japanese for Pocket Monsters) began life as a video game originally designated for the Nintendo Gameboy. Its creator, Satoshi Tajiri, was inspired by his childhood hobby of collecting insects. Throughout Pokemon’s tenure as a video game, trading card, manga, anime, and now, cell phone app, the theme of creature collection, …
Jan 21
The Japanese always take horror to the max, including Edgar Allen Poe.
Aug 27
Say, what? The content is made even more inexplicable by being labeled in Japanese and set against those pop-art patterns.