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The Navigo USB card reader allows you to recharge your weekly or monthly Navigo Découverte transit pass from your Mac or PC. You can buy the reader from any RATP or STIF ticket window for €7 and by way of a Java plug-in for your browser, you can recharge your Navigo pass from anywhere. The website utilizes a fully functional e-commerce secure server engine that accepts VISA and Mastercard.
Studio Series 86 Hot Rod is one of those figures I hadn't really planned on getting, as I already have the MP. But, with so many collectors impressed with the figure, I figure since my local EB still had one, I'd pick it up and take a look.
Hot Rod is one of the characters introduced in the 86 movie, and is the character who would go on to be promoted to Rodimus Prime, only to be demoted by a revived Optimus Prime some time in Season 3 or so. For you younger readers out there, THIS movie is the one you have to blame for Prime basically dying and reviving every chance he gets.
Hot Rod retails for $40 CAD/$30 USD and comes with a decent number of accessories. You get the figure, Matrix of Leadership, his twin blasters, energy effects for all the above, and his sawblade arm.
Sounds great so far, right? Well....
To be fair, it's a pretty good package of stuff. But the first think you'll notice once you open the box will be how tiny Hot Rod is., being a Deluxe sized figure. It's kind of a good news/bad news situation as the smaller body is to compensate for the sheer number of moving parts on the figure, kind of like how Kingdom Megatron is tiny for his price point, but features some impressive engineering for a mainline toy.
Having said that , Hot Rod is
about $8 CAD than the rest of the vehicle Autobots (who are actually Deluxe priced) so the extra parts I guess is a nice compromise from Hasbro to justify the price point. The MP didn't actually have any of the energy effects and to be completely honest they look quite good.
Speaking of MPs, if you own it, it will be readily apparent that this figure is very much based on that release, albeit with a few removed frills such as improved shoulder/wrist articulation, Matrix Chamber, and chrome. You do, however, get the effects as mentioned, and a reduced backpack, which makes this figure look more streamline. Overall, this "home version" of the arcade MP does a pretty good job as a substitute, and as a standalone figure it generally excels.
Starting with vehicle mode (because I was too lazy to retransform it) you'll see that Hot Rod is the canopied sports car thing that we all know and love (still hilarious to me that he went from NOS guzzling speed demon to family camper because of the Matrix). From what I can recall, even the G1 toy never really had issues in this department, with the design becoming ever more sleek over the years.
You're supposed to plug the weapons together in the Engine Block, but I found that the tolerances on the various parts just wasn't good enough to hold together without warping. Furthermore, as the guns are painted, any assembly of them will eventually result in paint rub so it's probably best to let them be. The gun blast effects that double as exhaust actually look pretty damn good.
The transformation sequence is intuitive and satisfying, and features something that used to piss off the purist quite a bit - the use of a secondary robot chest to cheat in the transformation sequence. It's pretty commonplace these days, especially with the MP stuff, but back in 2000s there was outrage.
The resulting robot is probably more in line with the animation model than the MP is, with many collectors unhappy with the shoulders and the appears of the chest. A few additional items to point out at this point. First off, like the MP, the head opens up and a visor can flip out. Secondly, again like the MP, the fists can rotate inside the forearm to allow for the connection of the saw blade on the left hand, with a severely undersized welding gun replacing the right hand. The first do open up, most likely to allow for holding of the Matrix.
One point of warning is that at this point, I noticed that the plastic pieces that allow for the silver pipes on the forearms to connect to the ones on the legs in vehicle mode snapped off on one arm, with the other set to go any time now. Based on how slim the connecting piece is, I reckon this was probably the result of over ambitious design given the delicate nature of this type of plastic. I'm not sure if the thing will give me any trouble during transformation, but at this point I don't care anymore.
Articulation is pretty typical for a Deluxe sized figure. You get ankles with side tilts and forward tilt, double jointed knees, thigh twist, standard hips, waist, standard shoulders with some lateral movement and the ability to pivot the whole arm, single jointed elbows with bicep swivel, rotating wrists, open/closing fists, and ball jointed head. With this combination of joints, you should be able to get some decent action poses going, with Hot Rod being balanced enough that toppling over isn't generally going to be an issue.
Paint wise, I wouldn't say there's an abundance of apps, but there's some decent work. From my observations, it looks like there is paint on the accessories, the silver pipes, face, crest on the head, front wheels, orange on the forearms, the yellow flames on the chest/hood, the dark red and orange around the waist, and the red around the translucent canopy. Generally speaking the apps are applied competently.
From a Build Quality perspective, I've touched upon how QC of the weapon tabs and design of the connecting mechanism for the forearm pipes isn't the greatest. From an overall perspective, however, Hot Rod is pretty good. Considering how many moving parts there are for this figure, the fact that everything rotates, pivots, slides, and generally moves smoothly and locks into position is a minor miracle, especially considering what things were like before. Joint strength is what you'd expect, and there are no rough finishes or anything like that note.
Overall, Hot Rod is kind of where I'd like to see the mainline for older collectors move with regards to transformation, something that was on its way with Car Robots 2000, then went back to the stone age with Armada. A few annoying QC issues aside, the final product is quite a remarkable, if tiny, toy.
Montpelier, Vermont USA • A solitary reader on a bench outside the Kellogg–Hubbard Library.
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☞ Shot during a visit to Montpelier, Vermont, to participate in the Third Annual Worldwide Photo Walk, one of 1,000 locations around the world where photographers meet-up & shoot away, all on the same day. • Why? More info.
I am a keen reader - here I'm posing with The Blackest Bird by Joel Rose, which I recently got as part of LibraryThing's early reviewer programme. Actually, I finished it a couple of days ago so need to find time to write up my review of the book.
For this image I used the wide end of the 18-55mm kit lens to include both me and the book.
About 1:00 pm, 25 July, Lancaster Bus Station. I asked for permission and he kindly agreed. It's hard to get a good shot with so much brightness and so much in the background; I chose this side and this shot just because there was so much activity behind him, which gives some sense of what it is like to try tor read in a busy place.
Other photos of people reading paper are at
Kate Winslet and Ralph Fiennes star in The Hours director Stephen Daldry's haunting period romance tracing the complicated love affair between a German teen and a mysterious woman twice his age. Based on author Bernhard Schlink's best-selling novel of the same name, The Reader opens in post-World War II Germany, where ailing teenager Michael Berg has fallen ill with scarlet fever. Nursed back to health by Hanna, Michael eventually makes a full recovery and decides to thank his benevolent caretaker in person. Upon being reunited, Michael discovers that Hanna loves being read to and the pair quickly enters into a passionate yet clandestine affair. Later, after intense readings of The Odyssey and Huck Finn, among others, Hanna vanishes without a trace, leaving Michael heartbroken and despondent. Flash-forward nearly a decade, and Michael is a law student observing Nazi war crime trials. When Hanna wanders into the courtroom and takes a seat in the defendant's chair, her past comes into focus just as Michael uncovers the secret that will have a profound impact on both of their lives.
La historia de "The reader" comienza en la Alemania después de la Segunda Guerra Mundial. Volviendo del colegio, el adolescente Michael Berg se siente de pronto enfermo y Hanna, una desconocida que le dobla la edad, le ayuda a llegar a su casa. Una vez recuperado de la escarlatina, Michael busca a Hanna para darle las gracias. Comienza asà un apasionado y secreto idilio entre ambos. Michael descubre que a Hanna le encanta que le lea y su relación fÃsica se hace más profunda. Hanna encuentra un inmenso placer en las lecturas que le hace Michael de fragmentos de "La Odisea," "Las Aventuras de Huckleberry Finn" y "La dama del Perrito". Sin embargo, pese a la intensidad de su relación, Hanna desaparece un dÃa misteriosamente dejando a Michael confuso y desconsolado. Ocho años más tarde, siendo estudiante de derecho, Michael asiste a los juicios por los crÃmenes nazis y se queda atónito al encontrarse de nuevo con Hanna - esta vez, como acusada en un juicio.
Kate Winslet
Ralph Fiennes
David Kross
Alexandra Maria Lara
Rating: 8/10
Tydarius Cobb, 9, reads with Clemson University student Deavin Rencher, a sophomore studying special education and member of the Call Me MISTER program, at Uptown Barbers in Central, S.C., as part of the Razor Readers program. (Photo by Ken Scar)
He (on the closest bench) is reading Sylvie Lainé, Le Pendentif.
My apologies for interrupting your reading and study (and making you take off your headphones to talk to me!). For more readers, see www.flickr.com/photos/greg_myers/albums/72157652125931010.
3:50 pm, Lancaster University Library. The library is a busy place these days, and I like to look down at the courtyard where there are always people hard at work (there is also a tree, as you see). I asked this man for permission to take his photo, and he agreed, but he had a lecture at 4:00. I ran upstairs to take the picture (with more time, I might have gone up to the next level). He was reading 'Basic Econometrics', with his notes spread out around him.
Thank you for participating in my Readers project, and apologies for breaking your concentration. I hope you got to the lecture on time. Other photos in my series of readers are here: www.flickr.com/photos/greg_myers/albums/72157652125931010.
LICA Building, Lancaster University, about 3:50 pm. I was struck by the way the bold colours of his shirt stood out against the gray-green wall. He is reading Kazuo Ishiguru's 2005 novel 'Never Let Me Go'. I asked permission and gave him my card.
Thank you for participating in my project, and apologies for interrupting your reading. Other photos in my series of readers are here: www.flickr.com/photos/greg_myers/albums/72157652125931010.
Lancaster Canal, about 1:30, 8 August. I saw a woman across the canal studying the waterbus timetable. I crossed the canal and explained my project, and asked to take her picture. She hesitated and then suggested that if I really wanted a picture of someone looking at a timetable, she would take may picture with my camera. I don't know why no one has suggested that before. I tried to take exactly the pose she had been in, and she has taken more or less the photo I would have taken (narrower aperture, perhaps) and has it level and close. I still think it would have looked better with her in it - about my age, white sunhat with brim coming down low, sky blue top and shorts or skirt the same colour as the hat. But her suggestion seems fair enough, so I am including it here.
You can see other photos in this project at: www.flickr.com/photos/greg_myers/sets/72157652125931010
In observation of Read Across America Week, Killian Elementary School held Readers Become Leaders Day. Special guests included District Superintendent Dr. Debbie Hamm, Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott, Mr. Knowzit Joe Pinner, school principals, community members and other district staff.
Toddlers learn all about using the mouse in this beautiful program by The Learning Company. Mat (Matilda) the mouse helps little ones feel comfortable and have fun using the computer all by themselves.
There is no need to point and click just move the mouse or touch a key to interact in eight engaging activities including:
Crayon Creations - coloring with a giant crayon and sing alongs
Castle Counting - popping bubbles and counting to 5.
Follow-Me Theater - join Reader Rabbit in classic songs and finger plays
Pop and Play - find matching animals
Sky Shapers - complete a puzzle learning shapes and colors
Musical Meadow - create a melody by playing flowers
Peek-A-Boo Zoo - use a flashlight to find animals making sounds
Baby Basket Bingo - help baby animals find their parents
Alphabet Express - match letters to unlock cargo on a train
Parents and toddlers love this program. The graphics are bright and beautiful and not too busy. You will be amazed how fast your toddler learns to use the mouse.
Lancaster Canal, near St Peter's Cathedral, 4:50 pm. I waited until the canal was clear, and then shouted across that I had a project and would like to take her picture. She got up and said yes, though I'm not at all sure my message was clear at that distance. She was on this little ledge of grass below the high retaining wall, by some canal buildings that have been converted into flats. I went along the canal to the Quarry Road Bridge, crossed over, and went back to the top of the wall above her, and then dropped down the piece of paper with my contact details. Despite this very odd approach, and my being about twelve feet up, she told me about the book. It's 'I Am Death', by Chris Carter, about a Los Angeles murder investigator. When I interrupted her, she was just reading a particularly gory passage about the examination of a murder victim. But this is just what she liked about these books; she wanted to be a medical examiner, and is fascinated by the details of the work. She imagines the people passing on the other side of the canal as characters; I imagine the man with the camera and the straw hat was under suspicion.
Thank you for participating in my project, and apologies for interrupting your reading. Other photos in my series of readers are here: www.flickr.com/photos/greg_myers/albums/72157652125931010.