The Zonai device capsules from Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom are now available in real life as gachapon (capsule toys) at Nintendo stores in Japan. Just like the game, the real-life toys come from dispensers in plastic capsules that look identical to the ones in the game. There are 6 zonai devices: flame emitter, portable pot, beam emitter, fan, rocket, and wheel, and they have magnets so you can stick them on your fridge or whatever.
This site has a huge collection of backgrounds and levels from classic video games. It’s really cool seeing scrolling levels composited into linear horizontal/vertical images, and then you realize how long (or short) these levels really were. Some of these also work great as desktop backgrounds, like the classic Street Fighter II Guile level below.
The Academy Museum in LA has a new cyberpunk cinema exhibit, examining the impact of cyberpunk classics like Blade Runner, Tron, and Ghost in the Shell. I went to the museum a few months ago and the exhibits they had were very well done, so I’m sure this one will be cool too.
I finally got around to visiting Walt’s Barn in Griffith Park. It’s a cool little museum dedicated to Walt Disney’s passion for railroads. A bit of background: Walt Disney bought a house in Holmby Hills, California and promptly built a 1/8 scale steam railroad in his backyard. He named it the Carolwood Pacific Railway after the street the house was on. The barn was a replica of the barn on the Disney farm in Marceline, Missouri, and it was built to be used as a workshop for his trains. After Lillian Disney died in 1997 the Holmby Hills house was sold and the barn was dismantled and moved to Griffith Park.
In its new location Walt’s barn was turned into a small museum dedicated to Walt’s love of trains. The barn is filled with memorabilia, photos, artifacts, model trains, and some of Walt’s personal items such as his workbench and tools.
Next to the barn is a combine railcar (a combination passenger/mail car) that ran on the Disneyland Railroad from 1955-1966, displayed alongside more Disney and railroad items. Around the corner from the railcar is a small depot built by Ollie Johnston, one of Walt’s “Nine Old Men” and also a train enthusiast.
I really enjoyed visiting the barn. There was so much cool train-related stuff to look at. Lots of photos of Disney working on and enjoying his trains, scale models of steam engines in various sizes, and actual props that were used in Disneyland. I loved the small, intimate scale of the museum, it’s very quaint and inviting. This museum is a real treat for Disney fans. Walt’s Barn is open the third Sunday of every month from 11am – 3pm. This is also the only free Disney attraction in the world, but of course donations are welcome.
After watching the 2024 Paris Olympics non-stop the last 2 weeks I’m now getting excited about the 2028 LA Olympics. The venues for the events are spread all around LA and they’re only using pre-existing or temporary stadiums. They’re obviously reusing the Memorial Coliseum downtown, which was also used in the ’32 and ’84 Olympics, as well as the Exposition Park pool next door. Marine Stadium in Long Beach was specifically built for rowing events for the ’32 games. Golf will be at the Riviera Country Club and track cycling at the Velodrome in Carson. BMX, skateboarding, and archery will be at a temporary complex at the Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area in the Valley. One event that I was interested in, kayak/canoe slalom, will be in Oklahoma City, unfortunately, although it’s still closer than surfing being in Tahiti 10,000 miles from Paris. And I love that they also can’t use the corporate sponsor names for the venues, so for example SoFi Stadium is just called Stadium. More about the LA venues here.
For the 40th anniversary of Neuromancer the Folio Society is releasing a limited edition version of the seminal work. Approved by William Gibson himself, the hardbound book has 14 illustrations and comes in a presentation box made to look like a cyberdeck. Unfortunately the $600 book is already sold out.