Let soak 24 hours…
The crystals are strong and very pretty!
Crystal Hog
August 13th, 2018East Meets West
August 12th, 2018Bernard and Lakshmi visited! We had fun both here and in NYC, and here’s some of the best photos that resulted.
Bernard hadn’t mowed in aeons and Lakshmi never had!
There’s a brand new Vegas-style casino not far from where we live and we went and had a flutter. Bernard won; I lost 🙂
In Secret Caverns, about 150 feet underground.
In Central Park, NYC. The humidity when this photo was taken was about 1000%!
At Times Square. I’ve rarely been in the middle of summer so had forgotten how busy it is!
Thanks for visiting B & L! I’m already looking forward to the next time we get together 🙂
Henna
August 11th, 2018Continuing the tattoo theme we went to the local Indian shop when Lakshmi was here and got some henna! Naturally I elected myself as the artist:
It was squeezed out of a narrow cone like decorating a cake and came out as a thick, sticky paste. It wasn’t easy, but I mastered it quickly…
My results were perhaps not traditional henna style, but impressive nonetheless:
Several hours later they had all dried:
I was slightly alarmed when B and L said they would last for a long time! Happily (sadly?) they’re completely gone now less than a week later.
It was fun. Next time you’re in town if you’d like a henna tattoo let me know!
Tattoo Time!
August 4th, 2018I bought a few packs of these for 25 cents each:
Considering they’re from 1989, I’d say they didn’t retain value! The gum inside is of course inedible, but the tattoo sheets are fine and look like this:
(Yes I’d removed one…)
This is the old 1980s technology; where the tattoos are just food dye printed onto paper. Get them wet and they (are supposed to) transfer. Let’s try one:
Putting aside for now the fact I resemble a snuffleupagus in the photo, licking my hand to administer just enough moisture to apply the tattoo was a trip down memory lane to say the least! These sorts of things were common in our youth, and I particularly remember them being packaged on lolly/ice-cream wrappers. I’d always be putting them on myself, and I seem to recall having fun applying them to bread (!) and even ice-cream (!!) as well.
However… these didn’t work too well:
Maybe the ‘lick the hand’ technique was at fault? Let’s try water:
Yeah… terrible. I can’t imagine much would have happened to the tattoo in the intervening 30 years, but it’s hard to believe they were sold if they worked this poorly?
I will say though that they last a while! It’s been 12 hours now and they haven’t faded at all, and even survived several handwashings! Maybe these ancient tattoos were engineered for strength as opposed to beauty 🙂
I’ve got a couple of packs left if you want one. Let me know.
Manimal vs Automan
July 28th, 2018Back in the early 1980s there seemed no end of genre shows on TV and I watched them all avidly. I didn’t realize it then, but many were created and produced by the same man: Glenn Larson, and he was particularly talented at creating shows that appealed to preteen boys.
In 1983 two of his shows started almost simultaneously: Manimal and Automan. I loved both at the time and remembered them fondly for decades. After being unavailable for many years, both recently received DVD collections and last week we binged them both.
Since they were produced by the same man at the same time, and shared writers and themes and screened more or less simultaneously, it seems appropriate to compare them. So which is better? Let’s see…
Minimal tells the story of Dr Jonathan Chase, wealthy English guy who can shape shift into any (?) animal. Naturally he uses his powers to solve crimes, and in the 8 episodes of the series thwarts the plans of the usual gangs of mobsters, industrialists, Kung fu bad guys and even nazis.
Chase is basically James Bond with the gadgets replaced with animal transformations. As the central gimmick of the show it is used frequently, only it is rarely necessary to the story and never pivotal. He could just as easily – and effectively – been an undercover MI5 agent (for instance).
After an overlong and weak pilot the show is quite charming and we enjoyed every episode. While it’s never explained where his powers come from – and in fact they’re rarely discussed at all – we do see Chase change into a large variety of beasts from cats to snakes to sharks to an elephant! The special effects were good in the day, and while poor are not distractingly so. The acting is very ’80s genre drama’ but still enjoyable.
Manimal was canceled due to poor ratings but as I said is a fun show. I think this one failed mostly because of its time slot and not due to inherent weakness in the production. I know as a kid I loved it and now I remember why!
Automan tells the story of programmer/policeman Walter Nebicher who creates a ‘holographic’ man named Automan (since he’s an ‘automatic man’). Automan has frankly ludicrous powers to essentially alter reality and is in essence a superhero. Naturally he uses his powers to assist Walter in fighting crime!
Automan was basically Tron on TV. The effects – which still impress today – boggled minds back in 1983 and was a factor in the shows huge success. Secondary to this were the fun stories (involving mobsters, industrialists, evil bikers, hackers etc.) and the likable characters. As a kid I loved watching Automan use his insane vehicles and powers to catch the bad guys, and I have to say it holds up well.
Automan only lasted one season (13 episodes). While it was a big success it was canceled apparently due to extremely high for the time production costs. Another blow to my preteen heart!
Both shows are good. Both were fun and I dare say we would have liked more episodes of each. But which is best? Let’s compare the three strengths of each:
Manimal
- Better lead character (Chase vs Walter)
- Cuter girls (a new one every week!)
- Impressive (but disturbing) transformation sequences
Automan
- Amazing special effects
- Ridiculous superhero powers
- Funnier by far (Automan is friends with ‘Zaxxon’)
The winner is… Automan! Of course it always was going to be, because the Tron influence coupled with a relatable superhero is an irresistible combination and one that I’m surprised hasn’t been reprised since.
Watch them both though; they’re great!