Following up on yesterday’s post, now you can ride the world’s shortest escalator, and you don’t have to travel to Japan to do it! Ride it virtually here, all four steps of it in six seconds.
Well, okay, a real dead one. This is a 96 tentacled octopus. Each of it’s tentacles branches out 8 times. It’s as if each of your fingers had five fingers on them. Or something like that. Make a note, you can visit this one the next time you are in Shima, Japan at the Shima Marineland Aquarium.
Let’s face it, the world needs more robots. We certainly need more in our house and we have three or four. We thought we’d have our own equivalent of cattle drive and run our favorites right into your home. Which ones would win in the battle of the bots?
Kami-Robo are robot fighters made from paper, measuring 15 to 20 cm. high. They have joints at the hips, knees, shoulders, elbows and waists which allow them to bend and move quite freely. About twenty-six years ago, Tomohiro Yasui started designing and making these fighters, creating an extensive mythology and heirarchy in the process. They fight in a ring, but it totally tops pro-wrestling with its drama and keen moves. NOW the whole world is kami-robo crazed. You can build your own, or even buy ready-made ones if you are a tad lazy — or in a hurry to join in the fun (so far the only place we’ve found them is at the MOMA store. There’s lots of great videos on the web too. This one below gives you a good intro course on their whole story.
This site could not have been built without the help and insight of Michael Morgenstern. My thanks go out to him.
Help save indie film and give this guy a job in web design or film!
