After getting great feedback on my previous article on Steam powered robots, I thought nothing goes better with robots than ray guns.  While scouring the internet I found this web page dedicated to the sale of Ray Guns.  Why would you want a ray gun?  Imagine you are out on a date with your significant other slowing enjoying a quite evening drinking in the presence of each other while dining on of perfectly seared scallops or a hearty prime rib when mushroom men from Mercury pop in to ruin the date?  What well thanks to Dr. Grordbort you can be prepared for just that occassion.

Looking through the site there are beautifully crafted guns ranging from the Mongoose Concealable Ray Pistol to the Blunderbus Unnatural Selector I am amazed at the creativity and ingenuity of Greg Broadmore.

So who is Greg Broadmore?  As a designer for Weta Workshop, chances are you have seen his work in District 9, iRobot or The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe.  He created not just these beautiful works of art but an entire site dedicated to the world in which they exist.  Greg just recently released the Dr Grordbort’s Contrapulatronic Dingus Directory full of fantastic inventions, incredible background, and the latest in the weaponry for gentlemen of adventure.

So make sure you are armed with your Infallible Aether Oscillators before you stumble upon a Shallow Beaked Grogan and if you are still not convinced then read for yourself the testimonials of their many satisfied users.  Captain Ernst Kurtzwattle, “who is a fine upstanding gentleman of the military order with a gentle disposition, fresh minty breath and very clean fingernails”, personally took time out of his busy schedule of collecting Shrubber Tree wood on Jupiter to write the praises of his ray gun.  With fine fellows like him backing the ray guns how could you go wrong.

Is money tight? Do you feel you practically live at the mall (or wish you did)? A group of inventive artist decided that they would do just that. In Providence, RI this group of artists went to the parking garage of a local mall and created a false cinder block wall to create a 750 sq foot space.

Secret mall apartment

They added a very plain looking utility door some furniture, a tv, a waffle iron, and even a PS2 to pass the time and they had their own little island in the local mall. All in all they secretly brought in over 2 tons of materials to build this secret hide away. There they lived for about 4 years. Life in the mall

The group spent time walking the mall and documenting various aspects of life in the mall from the number of signs to surveillance cameras to the water lines to cataloging what items stores carry and rating them for a project called “Malllife”. According to one of the artist, Michael Townsend, “The mall has something really positive to offer, something that has nothing to do with shopping….” Consider that there are many social firsts there for many families in sub-urban life. Where do you go to spend your first paycheck, or meet people that are not your neighbor or hang out with classmates? According to Townsend, the mall is designed from the ground up to be an escape from the pressure and grind of daily life and offer a sort of vacation away from work and daily life.

I admire their ingenuity and their ability to take a portion of the “mall experience” and make it their own in finding ways to find comfort in a center of commerce. However, I tend to find the idea of living in a mall and cut off from the world of nature depressing. If our lives are now so limited that we to look to malls as our source of experiential connection with the world around us then we have lost touch with what matters.

If you enjoy these, this site has several more.

Imagine that you were in an accident and left paralyzed. Your first thought is likely similar to mine, that is, the impact of not being able to walk on your life style and being able to get around and interact as easily with friends and family. I would have to relearn how to interact with major portions of my life. People that can overcome tragedies like these have my respect for having the persistence to move past these

However, what if you were left a quadriplegic? How would you life change then? I would have to relearn how to interact with even the most basic of elements in my life. Eating, working on the computer, calling people are all things I would have to relearn how to do. I would could it a success if I could get my life as close to its previous state as possible. Taking up new endeavors would seem forever out of reach.

Enter Eric Mohn. I was at a local festival visiting some of the artist booths with my family. We were attracted to the paintings in one booth and began to intently scan the prints. Impressed by the images of Americana, historical rural life I began listening to the person at the display talk about the artist. To my surprise, this painter was not only a great artist but a quadriplegic. After being injured he was determined to not let the injury keep the creative vision locked in he head forever. With great perseverance he learned how to paint using the brush in his mouth.

You can visit his website here and see a video interview. His online gallery is here.