We went and saw WALL-E again this weekend, and again loved it. Seeing the sleek, translucent look of EVE and the other robots got me to thinking about the relationship between Apple, Pixar, and the robots in WALL-E. It doesn't take much imagination to see striking similarities between EVE and the trendy line of Apple products.

As it turns out, there is. From Fortune: Apple's Jonathan Ive helped Design the heroine of Pixar's Wall-E.

"I wanted Eve to be high-end technology - no expense spared - and I wanted it to be seamless and for the technology to be sort of hidden and subcutaneous," Andrew Stanton, Wall-E's director, told Fortune. "The more I started describing it, the more I realized I was pretty much describing the Apple playbook for design."

Posted by Jonathan on 5 July, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0)

A while back, my loverly wife surprised me (as she so often does) with a handmade gift:

A great, handmade crotched robot box! Designed all on her own, and so lovingly made with her two beautiful hands.

I love that the antenna are a heart. Seriously, people, my wife really loves me, and I totally don't deserve her, or her wonderful love. (Click on the picture to enlarge.)

Look at the stitching! It's so great! I don't know exactly how long it took her to make this, but to tell the truth, it actually had a present inside it, too, (which I'll feature later)!

The inside is lined with this very fun fabric, which I love. I really like items that conceal a luxurious feature on the inside, like a lined suit jacket that has a printed silk pattern inside the arms. This surprise inside, the thing that only you may know about even, gives it an extra charm, I think.

I am the charmed one, to have such a loverly wife. You may notice that 'Etsy,' is one of the tags to this post, and that is because my wife is just about done with a surplus of items that she is going to be selling on her soon-to-be-opened Etsy store. And quite honestly, you'd better be on your toes, because they're going to sell out fast.

...and you know you want one...

Posted by Jonathan on 27 April, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (2)

...well, not really, but I was playing LEGOs with the Bubby a couple days back, and I decided to challenge myself to see if I could make the robot Wall*e from the upcoming Disney film of same name, without using a visual aid. I'm normally quite bad at working without visual help, in any media.

Here's how it turned out:

(Not bad, if I say so myself! And seriously, it's not always robots at our house...sometimes it's spaceships and other sci-fi stuff...=^)

• Wall*e trailer in HD


• Wall*e Official Movie Site

Posted by Jonathan on 14 April, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (2)

This time we welcome the 'Galaxy' robot, who is advanced enough that he walks on his own (if you wind him first).

If you're counting at home (and I really hope none of you are), now we're up to...well, we're up to a lot of robots at our house.

RELATED LINKS:

• Tin Wind-Up Robots


• Wind-Up Robot Pencil Sharpeners
  

Posted by Jonathan on 5 January, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Jenni gave me an early stocking stuffer the other day, a fun Christmas ornament robot that she found at the always wonderful Earth Bones shop in Sundance Square, downtown Fort Worth.

I shall call him 'Kyobi!'

A close-up!

Related links:

• WALL*E movie trailers


• Etsy results for "Robot Christmas Ornaments"


• Build Your Own Robot

Posted by Jonathan on 24 December, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0)

...evidenced yet again by a robot surprise, the groovy zipper pull
pictured above!

(The STM messenger laptop bag pictured with it, however, does not
enthrall me so much, having just ripped in a second spot, and being
just 11 months old.)

Posted by Jonathan on 12 November, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0)

And this is why I love YouTube: A 1995 skit from SNL featuring Sam Waterson hawking what every senior American may eventually need: insurance protection from robots.

Posted by Jonathan on 7 October, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (1)

So the other day, out of the blue, Mary Beth surprised me with the groovy little robot below, Miro, made by Etsy artisan Vandicklier:

Check him out in all his majesty...no seriously, check him out! (And don't forget to click the landscaped pics to enlarge.)

Silly question, since we've seen Vandicklier's groovy work before, but 'Does his latch work?'

Heck yeah it does!

So thanks a bunch, Mary Beth! What a nice surprise! And let's all keep up the good work of supporting those great folks over at Etsy.

Posted by Jonathan on 6 September, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0)

My loverly wife is not the only person who has so wonderfully surprised me with something robot-related. My voonderbob sister also surprised me--OUT OF NOWHERE!!!--with this gift (which she also found on Etsy):

I have no idea why I really like robots so much. I think some of it is how Dad likes old sci-fi and how we used to watch a lot with him, particularly when we were little. Some of it is probably my affection for the now-dead 'Horizons' ride at EPCOT Center and how there were just a ton of robots in it. Either way, while I may not know exactly the mystery behind my affinity for all things robotica, I DO know that I am most grateful to my sister and my wife for their recent fun sturprises (yes, I meant to spell it that way) that they have so thoughtfully and generously bequeathed me. Thank you so much, Sarah and Jenni. I love you both so much.

Don't forget to click on the pics. They will enlarge for greater detail!

Posted by Jonathan on 20 August, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (3)

Recently, Jenni surprised me with a new robot! And not just any robot, Marcus the Robot, hand-made by Vandicklier.

Check out his majesty!

...

No, seriously, check it out:

Everybody at work has stopped by to inquire about the new addition to my desk, and everybody has asked the same question:

'Does the latch work?'

WHY, YES IT DOES!!!

He is a fairly advanced robot. He runs on pipe cleaners. Very energy efficient.

I love the detail Vandicklier went to in building this thing. It's great, and I really love it.

Thanks so much to my wonderful wife for such a fun surprise. Now, you all know I love robots, and Vandicklier has tons more. And really, if he knew how much I liked them, he'd charge more than $16 at his Etsy store. But since that's it, you all may go buy me one.

Each.

Seriously.

(No, I'm not putting a smiley face here, cos I'm serious. I love robots!)

We found a whole, robot-village!

So props to Vandicklier, and much thanks to my loverly wife. My wonderful seester also recently surprised me with some robot paraphernalia, and as soon as Jenni gets her fair share of glory, it will be Sarah's time for hers...

Posted by Jonathan on 17 August, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (1)

...so while I didn't take home an iPhone over the weekend, I did get a very fun box of goodies from my favorite online t-shirt stop (which is NOT Threadless)...

Open up the box, and what's inside? All this ill-booten-gotty (thousand points to the first person who rightly identifies that quote!), all of which makes up the Oddica Robot Trilogy:

One of the things I prefer about Oddica over Threadless is that with each shirt you buy, they give you a corresponding 'library-card' style bookmark, as well as a pin. (Another reason Oddica is better is that when you order stuff, it ships and you get it immediately, whereas Threadless charges you immediately, and sometimes ships your stuff 10 days later.)

I only really liked two of the robot shirts (sorry Robot-fighting-the-bear shirt), but what really pushed me over the edge was the very cool Robot tin it all came in ('limited edition' of only 55...until they print more, but who cares, I really like it):

I really liked this shirt:

...and this one...

And this groovy sticker is either going on the back of the Mac Book Pro, or on the VW...

Posted by Jonathan on 1 July, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (2)

We like Robots at our house, particularly killer robots bent on destruction and world domination. In keeping with this, Jenni and Noah gave me (among other things) the t-shirt above for Father's day, part of a load of things they did to make it a wonderful weekend for me, a so-so father. I love them so much, and am so grateful that I will clearly be showing my allegiance the day robots take over. I hope Sonny will put in a good word for us...

=^)

Thanks to Jenni and Noah, and also Mom and Dad and Mary Beth and Grandma and Matty, who all made this a great weekend!

Posted by Jonathan on 18 June, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0)