First Look: ThreeA x Valve Atlas and P-Body prototypes

If you have been following Ashley Wood and his toy company ThreeA like we have you know a few things

1. ThreeA can make some sweet Robots

2. ThreeA is having their annual Re-venture show in Hong Kong

3. ThreeA is growing at a considerable rate. grabbing different licenses to create new toys (some fans may argue too many to keep the toys quality up to snuff)

Since ThreeA revealed that they are partnering with Valve to create toys the first thing people thought about was Portal 2.  Specifically Atlas and P-body.

Well Portal fans your dreams may just come true.  This morning (night if you are in Hong Kong) ThreeA displayed their prototypes for their Atlas and P-Body toys.  And I will say I am pretty impressed.  Below is a picture of the two bots on display at the Reventure show.  There is a rumor we may see more information closer to SDCC but no release date or information is known at this time.

I just may have to pick these if they get released sooner rather than later.

 

Bravo TV’s Work of Art is a Piece of Work.

So, the first 2 episodes of Bravo’s show Work of Art have aired.  Here are my thoughts on the show so far.

 What is Work of Art?:

Work of art is a reality game show that brings together 14 artists to compete for $100,000 and a solo show at the Brooklyn museum.  The artists must produce a new work of art based on that week’s theme.  The worst piece that week goes home.  Easy enough?

 The Competitors (Info from Bravo’s bios):

Leon: Deaf artist from Malaysia.  Works in multiple types of media (IMO one of the most talented artists)

Dusty: Teacher from Arkansas.  Works mostly in sculpture (Graduate of Michigan State!)

Kathryn (Kicked off week 2): Has an affinity for human organs (It’s all she talks about)

Lola: Works mostly in sculpture but other types as well

Sarah: Works mostly with installations

Jazz-minh: Focus on human psyche

Kymia: Her bio lists a bunch of awards but not much of what she does as an artist (good for her?)

Tewz: Graffiti/street artist

The Sucklord: Toy designer and bootlegger

Ugo (Kicked off week 1): Haring…I mean Ugo is a French artist that deals with abstract-ish line drawing

Sara: Some Installation work and works with the themes of womanhood and identity

Bayete: Deals mostly in video

Michelle: Works in sculpture

Young Sun: Artist/Curator works in different media

 The Good:

-The Sucklord:  The reason I actually watch the show and he hasn’t disappointed.  He is one of the only contestants with a strong personality that makes the show fun. 

-The two people that annoyed me were booted off in weeks 1 and 2:

     -Although Ugo seemed to be a likable person his work was a complete rip off of Keith Haring.  He was kicked off on the first episode. 

     -On week 1 Kathryn made her photo look like human organs.  On week 2 Kathryn tried to make her movie look like…human organs (IMO she failed).  She couldn’t seem to think outside her box (literally and figuratively) and it made her work boring.  On top of that she whined a lot about her intestinal issues and it just got annoying.  She balled her eyes out before being kicked off.

 The Bad:

-Artists making things too complicated:

Example:  With the inspiration of a Parkour team, week 2 was a team competition with the theme being “motion.”  So what did the teams go with?  Well one member of Team 1 couldn’t move away from the thought of shit so the team decided to go with “digestion.”  (My thoughts??? Parkour…shit…OH I get it…wait no I don’t.)  Team 2 thought of migration (My thoughts???  Hmmm, migrating involves moving, I sort of get it…)

The Sucklord seemed to be the only one to voice a concern that the idea was terrible.  Simon De Pury finally, came to be the voice of reason and basically told both team to start over.  Team 1 went with a playground show (Ok…I get it.) and Leon on Team 2 went with the theme of circle or ball (I can understand it as a way to connect the pieces but it was executed terribly by the team.)

 -Artists over thinking and trying too hard to make their work “deep and profound.”

Example : Young Sun’s week 2 creation was a silver Japanese flag.  This was supposed to view the struggle of Japan with the recent earthquake.  The movement of the flag was supposed to represent the shifting of tectonic plates…WHAT?!

Example: Bayete’s week 1 creation.  His piece depicted a white face and a black face with money glued to the board.  It was supposed to represent racism and money or something like that.  It almost looked like a child’s collage

 The Verdict:

While there are a few talented artists, there are only a couple of the contestants that make the show worth watching.  If someone should get a spin off it should be The Sucklord. 

 I would still give it a shot.

 My Top 2 Finalists:

-Leon

-Dusty

For more info:

http://www.bravotv.com/work-of-art
 - Bravo’s Website

Walking Dead Season 2 Premiere: Quit your whining *Spoilers Ahead*

So the season premiere of Walking Dead aired this past Sunday and I had high hopes for it.  Not only was it a 90 minute premiere but there has been a lot of hyping of the episode especially by Chris Hardwick (Nerdist Podcast and host of the after show Talking of the Dead.)  Let’s just say if they are going to continue this story arch for more than an episode I’m going to be pretty frustrated.

 So with that being said…

 *SPOILER ALERT*

 Quick Overview of Main Plot:

-The group leaves the newly destroyed CDC

-Group reaches a traffic jam on the expressway of abandoned cars and dead bodies

-Surprise! Car breaks down and needs to be fixed

-As Dale fixes the car the rest of the group rummages through the cars on the road

-As a herd of zombies comes shows up everyone hides under a car! Everyone listens and stays put!

-Zombie herd passes until 2 zombies find Sophia (the little girl)

-Sophia runs into the woods…zombies follow

-Rick follows to try and save Sophia.  No one else does

-Rick tells Sophia to hide in a spot under a tree and stay put

-Rick has zombies follow him into the woods

-Rick kills zombies

-Rick returns to the tree.  GUESS what?! Sophia is not there (this is where I start getting frustrated)

-Rick returns to group and they begin to look for Sophia…unsuccessfully

-The group gets up the next day and looks for Sophia and hears a church bell

-Carol (Sophia’s mom) goes into the church and prays out loud and quietly blames Rick for losing Sophia

-Group finds the church. The bell ends up being a recording on a timer

-Rick goes into the church and prays

-Group splits up and they find a deer and Carl tries to pet it

-BANG carl gets shot.

-End of Episode

 Other Notable Side “Happenings”:

-Dale is the keeper of the weapons and guns

-Andrea is mad her gun was taken away and whines about it the whole episode

-Andrea blames Dale for not allowing her to die in the CDC “on her own terms” and whines about it the whole episode

-Shane decides he can’t deal with the group any longer and makes plans to split off

-Andrea wants to leave with Shane and whines some more

-Daryl finds a gun in a tent while looking for Sophia…ends up giving it to Lori when the group splits up

-After Andrea whines more, Lori gives Andrea her gun and goes off on her and then Carol for blaming Rick for Sophia’s disappearance

-Andrea gives the gun back

 The Good:

-Walking Dead is back!

-Daryl is becoming one of my favorite characters.  Although he isn’t in the comic he isn’t a complete d-bag as I thought he would be after his brother was locked on the roof top.  He saved T-dog’s life after he cut his arm and was pretty willing to help the group search for Sophia.

-Was pretty surprised that the church bell was a recording.

 The Bad:

-Sophia could follow directions hiding under the car why did she run away after Rick told her to hide.  I hope there is a better explanation instead of “she was scared.”

-Andrea’s whining.  We get it, your being attacked by zombies you lost a loved one. Everyone else is in the same situation!

- the deer scene seemed to cheesy and tried too hard to be a heartwarming scene…that is before the gunshot

 The Verdict:

After hearing the first episode was “better than the entire first season” I had some fairly high expectations.  It wasn’t a terrible episode but I don’t think it lived up to the hype.  I am looking forward to the next episode, but if half the season is spent looking for a girl that couldn’t follow instructions and their isn’t a good explanation I will be annoyed.

So what did you think of the episode?

-End of my whining

 JOhn

 

Walking Dead Season 2!

The new TV season is up and running.  Some of my favorite shows came back with new episodes.  Shows like Dr. Who, Archer, The League, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, The Big Bang Theory, Community are already over or just started.   But there is one show that I have anticipated that is premiering this weekend.

 THE WALKING DEAD!

 Background on The Walking Dead:

-Originally, a comic created in 2003 written by Robert Kirkman and illustrated by Tony Moore who was replaced by Charlie Adlard and released by Image comics.

-The comic is a continuingly running series and currently at issue 89 which was released on October 5, 2011

-Due to the popularity The Walking Dead Weekly was created, which reissued the entire series on a weekly basis

Summarize the plot in 1 word:  ZOMBIES!

Summarize the plot in 1 sentence:  The story follows the main character Rick Grimes as he tries to survive the pending zombie apocalypse

 More about the show:

Season 1 was a test season made up of six episodes.  Due to its overwhelming popularity it was picked up for a 13 episode second season.  But if you checked the interwebs for updates, you know the show had its share of problems.  From writer disputes to budgeting issues it seemed more of a question of IF the season was going to be made and not WHEN the second season would premier.  But as you may know the disagreements were resolved and season 2 will premier this Sunday October 16, 2011 on AMC (check the time in your area.)

 Fair Warning:

If you are looking for a direct copy of the comic book you are going to be disappointed.  Though many of the characters in the comic are present in the show there are new characters as well as new situations the group must deal with.  As long as the show doesn’t stray too much from the comic I think the average fan will enjoy the show.

 *NEW this Season* The Talking Dead:

Starting this season, after each episode’s encore presentation the live talk show called The Talking Dead will air.  The show hosted by Chris Hardwick (stars on such shows on G4, The Nerdist Podcast and of course Singled Out!) will talk with fans, cast and producers about the newest episode.

 *6 New Webisodes*:

Don’t forget to check out the AMC’s website for 6 webisodes that tell the story of the “Bicycle girl” zombie seen in the first episode of Walking Dead.

 What are your hopes for the 2^nd season of the Walking Dead?  Leave a Comment below!

Thanks

JOhn

 For more info check out:

http://kirkmania.com/kirkblog/
– Robert Kirkman’s Website (@robertkirkman)

http://www.amctv.com/shows/the-walking-dead
– Official Walking Dead Website

http://www.nerdist.com/
– Chris Hardwick’s Website (@nerdist)

Top 5 Comics this week!

Stopping at your local comic shop today?  Here is the N3rd Link top 5 issues to pick up today!

What are your pick ups this week? Leave a comment!

1. 1. Animal Man #2
2. 2. Swamp Thing #2
3. 3. Walking Dead #89
4. 4. Moon Knight #6
5. 5. Chew #21