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January 18, 2007
The First Kyosho Athlete Humanoid Cup (Tokyo, December 2006)
The First Kyosho Athlete Humanoid Cup was held in Omodate Hills, Tokyo, Japan in December 2006. The competing robots are all based on the Manoi AT01 humanoid robot kit and featured both stock and customized robots. The competitions, watched by standing-room only crowds, included 5-meter sprints against the clock with both R/C and autonomous divisions, plus two minute demonstrations/performances scored by an expert panel of judges. The article by Lem Fugitt on BotMag.Com contains a detailed description of the comptition as well as a video clip of the robots in action.
[1] Lem Fugitt, The First Kyosho Athlete Humanoid Cup! Biped Robot Competition Leaps Forward, BotMag, December 10, 2006 - Tokyo, Japan. Story and Photos byLem Fugitt , www.robots-dreams.com. Article at http://www.botmag.com/articles/kyosho_athlete_humanoid_cup.shtml
[2] Lem Fugitt, Manoi Athlete Humanoid Robots; Kyosho raises the ROBO-ONE bar, Robot Magazine, Winter 2006. p. 40.
Posted by sjc at 6:09 PM | Comments (0)
January 7, 2007
Casta Diva 2046
This is a music video trailer for Wong Kar-Wai's 2046. Snippets from "Casta diva" often appear as in film sound designed to cover over a heated disagreement in the manager's apartment. (The manager is a classically trained tenor, his headstrong daughters often test his patience.) The aria is sung by Angela Gheorghiu and the London Symphony Orchestra is conducted by Evelino Pidò.
The film itself stars Tony Chung as Chow Mo-Wan, a womanizing author of nearly-erotic fiction, who writes Hong Kong newspapers to make money for his nightly debauchery. Chow lives in room 2047 of the Oriental Hotel, which shares a wall with room 2046. Several of the films equally independent women live in 2046.
2046 is the title of one of the serialized novels that Chow writes, but there 2046 is a zone on the planet earth in the year 2046 to which many escape but few return.
[1] 2046 soundtrack, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0212712/soundtrack
[2] 2046 imdb entry, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0212712/
[3] 2046 homepage, sony pictures, http://www.sonyclassics.com/2046/main.html
Posted by sjc at 10:13 AM | Comments (0)