Category Archives: Architecture
Sentinel Robot Public Sculpture/Comic-Con Prop
This is something I that I thought would make for a fun (and geeky) public art sculpture: the severed head of a Sentinel robot from the X-Men comics. It would be neat in a public park, however I feel it would be very much at home on a university or college campus as a nod to the Xavier Institute.
In all honesty I doubt any city or school would permit such a geeky art installation, so I think this would be a neat prop that could be parked at comic conventions. Cosplayers and geeks could get their picture taken with the fallen robot, which would be a pretty cool keepsake.
This art installation/show prop could have lights in the eyes, which adds a bit of flavor. The Sentinel could blink back to life momentarily or stare angrily for prolonged periods of time.
Maybe that fella who built the life-size Skeletor could make this?
If you dig this please check out my take on geeky landmarks.
One last thing: the Sentinels have to be in the new X-Men: Days Of Future Past film, right? That would be awesome.
Greendale Community College Map
Click To Enlarge
This is a 99% replica (slightly different font) of the map seen hanging in Dean Pelton’s office in the NBC show Community. This is a map I’ve been meaning to do for about a year since I saw it in the first episode of Season 3. Recently I saw a great picture someone snapped on the set, allowing me to finally go ahead without resorting to any guesswork.
Pretty straightforward in its appearance. However I noticed two things:
1. The graph for the numbers on the left and right side of the map actually skip the number 8, which threw me off for the longest time while illustrating this. That error remains intact.
2. I think there is a sight gag here. I’m not 100% sure, but it looks like a person. That’s all I want to say! If I list all the things I think I see here, you guys will tell me I need therapy (well, more so). Let’s just say it might involve sex, booze, and possible weaponry.
Zelda Lawn Ornaments
So that last post got me thinking about how great it would be for a city park to adopt a Zelda layout, enough to get me thinking about doing a crowdfunding project (still mulling it over). My thoughts then migrated to something a little closer to home – the backyard to be exact. How cool would it be decorate the yard with Zelda-themed lawn ornaments in the style of item pickups? This is a million times better than gnomes!*
These would be ornaments with a little peg underneath that you’d plug into the lawn anywhere you want. It would look like Link invaded your property and struck down all the shrubs (he has issues).
I think this would be a fun DIY project for lawn-loving geeks. I have no idea how you’d make such large Rupees though (any thoughts out there?). For safety reasons I’d want the arrows made out of rubber (or something not stabby in general, as we’ve learned from lawn darts).
*The opinions expressed by this blogger do reflect those of this blog, and should be completely embraced by you without hesitation.
The Future Of Geek Landmarks
As you know geeks are in the early stages of taking over the world. As a show of our dominance we are starting to leave landmarks in our wake that will leave future generations in complete awe of our empire.
Right now we have giant Gundam robots springing up in Japan, the Shire becoming a permanent fixture in New Zealand, and um, a Robocop statue being raised in Detroit. Okay that last one, while cool, means we have a long way to go in North America.
Here is a recent video of that Gundam statue, on sentry duty for his geek masters:
By landmarks I mean places of interest that are accessible by everyone for free. A geek mecca like Legoland is a tourist attraction, not a landmark.
The pilgrimages that geeks take now just to check out filming locations speaks to the appeal and power of geeky landmarks. Whether it’s the original Star Wars sets or a popular location from Breaking Bad, if you’ve built it or filmed in it they will come.
But as I mentioned there is a general lack of quality geek landmarks to check out right now. However if the current trends are any indication we’ll see the following:
Building Ornaments
Whether it’s the Daily Planet globe, a Wayne Enterprises or Luthorcorp sign, eventually a few skyscrapers from around the world will indulge in cosplay for some geek love. I’m a bit surprised Marvel or DC’s headquarters don’t do this already, but c’est la vie. This would be among the cheaper initiatives.
Statues and Sculptures
The aforementioned Gundam statues in Japan are groundbreaking and need to be emulated all over the planet. I would say the North American equivalent would be Transformers or superheroes. Plus these would absolutely mess with archeologists in the distant future.
Entire Towns
Some of you may scoff at the idea of building a town that copied Hill Valley or South Park, but you’d be surprised how many cities are being built every year, with many becoming ghost towns. If only they hired a geek architect. As I stated before the Shire project is a pretty cool idea, one that was attempted previously for the Big Whiskey set from Unforgiven (sorry no link!). Mark my words: geek towns will be built! And they will host Weezer concerts every summer.
Vehicles And Ships
The bombshell from earlier this year that a life-size Enterprise would have been built in Las Vegas is still a very cool notion. It blurs the line of being a landmark and a tourist attraction (it was slated to be a hotel and casino), but at least you can visit it and take photos outside. There are other ships and vehicles which would be great for tourists, like the Sandcrawler, Serenity, and the Planet Express. Just a matter of choosing where to permanently park them. There are plenty of UFO attractions currently, but all lacking that pop culture touch.
Parks
A municipal park could be home to outdoor locations seen in a video game, like the fountain from A Link To The Past (see below), or an entire track from Mario Kart — the sky is the limit. Speaking of which, one block from my home they razed several old houses and put in a new park, but prescribed a terrible layout for it. Where are the geek city planners??
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These are all just predictions for now, but you have to admit the appeal of having any of these landmarks become a reality is just huge for us geeks. We’re just going to have to wait until our world takeover is complete in a few years.
The Shining’s Overlook Maze Map
You can purchase a high-res poster of this image here (or click the image).
Not sure why I love to do replica art these days. Maybe it’s because I like the notion of having a souvenir from a film on my wall. And because I’m all about products here, I can at least craft these for people to acquire.
And this is a near-replica of the map seen in the film The Shining for all of 4 seconds. It is posted outside the maze that Danny and Wendy visit just as Jack begins his plight into madness. This film is cautionary tale about writers in general — best to stay away from them.
Here is a screencap for comparison:
Besides the ‘Mazes & Labyrinths’ header below, I had to guess what was in the body of text. So I talked about Greek mythology and the Minotaur, and how visitors shouldn’t worry about finding a bloodthirsty monster roaming within (irony!), please enjoy your stay, etc. etc. – The Overlook Management.
Amazingly this is the first Stephen King item I have posted (Kubrick films have been cited before). I used to read his books a lot, then Buick 8 sort of soured me on the author for these past 12 or so years. I should finish the Gunslinger books though (stalled at Wizard and Glass).
Moon And Sun Light Fixture
There are plenty of ‘moon lamps‘ available out there. But what I have in mind is a normal light fixture that has a moon image that will glow-in-the-dark. So when the light is on it looks like the sun, and off looks like the moon.
This was inspired by those neat Dinosaur coins the Canadian Mint is releasing.
This would be great for a kids room or the grownup stargazers among us. Would compliment a ceiling populated with glow-in-the-dark stars nicely.
I’m not entirely sure if this is possible – would the heat from the bulbs damage the glowing properties of the moon image? Can the moon image be opaque enough for the light to pass through? Maybe someone out there smarter than me can provide insight.
