Okay, I’ll admit it… growing up, I never had a Nintendo. And no, I didn’t have a Sega either. I had an Intellevision II, which was like a knock-off of a ColecoVision, which was more or less a knock-off of an Atari. But the good news about this was one game and one game only: Tron Deadly Discs. This game was rad and not only did I master the double disintegration disc throw, I could also perform the complicated disc block—shattering opponents discs into pieces. I was radical.
Not only was I a huge Deadly Discs fan, I was also a massive fan of Tron the movie, Disney’s 1982 feature film adaptation. This flick, starring a very young and hip Jeff Bridges, was WAY ahead of its time with incredible computer graphics, ultra-futuristic production design and some killer Frisbee action. And I mean “killer” in more ways than one.
Disney just released what they’re calling a “VFX Concept Test” for their 2011 sequel called Tron Legacy and I have to admit that it looks pretty fa-reaking awesome. It also stars Jeff Bridges and seems to keep continuity from 1982 to the present. You can check it out in full QuickTime™HD by clicking right here.
The effects look amazing, but there are three little things I’m worried about. First I hope the costumes in this clip are just for this light-bike test, I along with tons of other fans love the original style costumes. Second, I miss the light-cycles moving in only right angles while “on the game-grid”. And Finally, I’m totally not digging the ring-style discs. Anyone who knows Tron, knows they’ve gotta be Frisbee-style discs. Cuz, how do you drink from a ring? You’ll hafta check out the original to see what I mean.
There was also this sort of stick-it-to-the-man/anti-Big Blue vibe in 1982’s sci-fi classic. So we’ll have to see if Tron 2.0 goes after any modern-day mega companies, especially with Steve Jobs’ stake in Pixar—which essentially leads all Disney animation nowadays.
Crashing at the aLoft Dulles North for the rest of the week... pretty rad. Too bad I've gotta room with freaking Upto12, sheesh. Check out more pics of the joint here. And yes, that is an Eames Aluminum Management Chair there in the background.
Looks like Aston Martin may be making its first foray into the micro-car market. Sorry guys. Not awesome. I mean seriously, you’ve got cars called the Vanquish and the Vantage. What’s this little guy gonna be called… the Vermin? Know your strengths and stick to ‘em… for all of our sakes.
You may or may not have realized this, but I rarely post videos to my blog. Mainly because I always seem to be the last person to have seen them. This may be the case with this one as well, but I thought it was rad enough to share still. Forgive me if you saw this like 4 months ago or something. But if you don't think you have—take a gander, it's aws. Click here to watch it larger on YouTube.
I grew up in a cycling family. And during those years my dad, Normality rode a sweet 12 speed Bianchi Special. Recently, my little bro, Snizzle stole my idea and turned my dad’s old-school ride into a sweet fixie and in the process he scored his Bicycling Merit Badge to boot. Here’s what Snizzle did to it in his own words:
"I stripped down everything and left the crank. I took off both front gears and chose to keep the lower one. 39 teeth. The bolts that bolted the gears to the crank were too big so I needed to get washers to space it out. I took off the front and rear derailleur, took off the shifters (they were the levers on the frame as opposed to the twist ones or the thumb shifters) I took off the rear brake, pulled off all cables (with the derailleurs too), untaped the handlebars, de-gooped them and put the toe clips back on. I got new handlebar tape, taped ‘em up (literally, like from the bottom to the top) and got a new seat. It looks wicked painful but its not, it’s sick and soooo comfortable.
"I totally rebuilt the rear wheel. Taking off the back gears from the old bike was crazy. I totally mangled the hub trying to save the spokes but the new hub I got had a higher 'flange' so I had to get new spokes anyway. I trued it myself (with some help from Randy Raichart). I got a new chain and shortened it, but when it was fully tensioned, the wheel didn’t sit all the way back in the dropouts, but it’s fixed now. I like it a lot. It’s super nice. Yeah. I think that’s it. Here are the pictures man!"
For the Fourth this year, we hit up Moab with some camping and hiking in both Arches and Canyonlands National Parks. And it just so happens that I stumbled upon a Bimmer in disguise. Sitting in the parking lot of the Arches Visitor Center was what appears to be test mule for the rumored 5 Series Gran Turismo. This car was heavily taped and was flanked by two 335i's and a 135i all with California plates. Obviously, they were road tripping this thing National Park style. My dad, Normality, is always bragging about how he sees BMW mules all the time out in Jersey—so it's fun finally being the guy to spot the unreleased Barvaian Burner.
Just for you're reference, here's a pic of the official concept vehicle that the above production test mule is based on:
It's a big car in person, hopefully its as sleek looking as the concept.
Okay, I’ll admit it… growing up, I never had a Nintendo. And no, I didn’t have a Sega either. I had an Intellevision II, which was like a knock-off of a ColecoVision, which was more or less a knock-off of an Atari. But the good news about this was one game and one game only: Tron Deadly Discs. This game was rad and not only did I master the double disintegration disc throw, I could also perform the complicated disc block—shattering opponents discs into pieces. I was radical.
