Schlocker Hilary B. attended Philcon last weekend, and sent me photos of the Serial Peacemaker, rendered in Legos. Hilary didn’t say who did the rendering because he didn’t know.
And now a side-view.
If this is your work, please let me know. You’ve just won a prize.
Barbie is in trouble. Her merchandise is being outsold by the upstart “Bratz” dolls, which have a much more cartoony look. And if you’ve got issues with how Barbie’s proportions may set unrealistic expectations, the Bratz dolls should send you screaming into the streets. Big heads, short bodies, tiny waists, and giant facial features… a living creature modeled after Bratz would be a walking, talking horror.
But we love ‘em. (YOU might not, but “we” the consumer whose dollars, euros, and yen have voices of their own, we are speaking loud and clear.) Why?
More importantly, is there a larger principle at work here? Something that someone like me, who wants to make a living as a cartoonist can capitalize on? Well, I wouldn’t be asking the question this way if I didn’t think there was. (more…)
Years ago I read a fascinating book called The Difference Engine by Bruce Sterling and William Gibson, in which Charles Babbage’s mechanical computer actually got built back in the 19th century. The book was a neat romp through the industrial computer revolution — steampunk at its finest.
In practical terms, the materials sciences back then weren’t quite up to snuff, or so I’ve been told. His Difference Engine never got built, which is why Charles Babbage is more of the “crazy uncle” of the information age, instead of its father.
If he’d had legos, though… (more…)