Rare daylight swim time!
New Bot Day! Cometroid E-05 transforms from egg to robot. Created for Japanese toy line Tamagoras (タマゴラス); the waning He-Man franchise ingested him and other egg-bots in 1984 and called them Meteorbs.
They cleaned overnight
Sunset here
Air temperature 77F. Water temperature 58F.
“YOUR CRIME ROBOT GOES TO THE JUNK PILE!”— from a 1978 Superman paperback book. I think 1961 originally.
I’m in with the in crowd
New Bot Day! Welcome Pocket Bot by Tomy from 1978! I think I got one as a stocking stuffer at Christmas. I acquired this one-and-three-quarter inches tall wind-up recently. It has a sharp design despite being a mass-market, cheap toy. A perfect small toy for a kid to bring along when they’re dragged along on parental errands. “Yes, you can bring a toy.”
Cold, but not ice-storm cold
Chilly morn/steamy water
Happy Mardi Gras! Fat Tuesday precedes Ash Wednesday, we party before Lent, a time of solemnity. Part of being a kid who was moved around a lot is taking part in local traditions wherever I was—This was a King Cake I bought several weeks ago. And I got the baby with the first piece! Had that cake shipped all the way from Louisiana. Quite an indulgence. Worth it!
New Bot Day! Fugitoid was introduced in a 1985 black and white comic Mirage Studios. Fugitoid was a worker bot called Sal who is fused with scientist Dr. Honeycutt. I remember Fugitoid on the stands at Comic Gallery. I didn’t buy it. The comic lasted one issue, but the character was added to the iconic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Universe.
Rained a bit since I was here 12 hours back
Meanwhile, in Mission Valley
Happy Valentine’s Day to the very very very special Kelly! [photo taken a few months ago as we wandered around San Diego] & Happy Valentine’s Day to you too!
New Bot Day! V.I.N.CENT is from The Black Hole (1979) and I’ve been seeking this fella to replace the toy I got at a Woolworth’s on Canal Street in New Orleans in 1981. I loved VINCENT for his earnestness and expressive design. Also I wanted to be able to retract my eyes into my shell to protect myself. “Vital Information Necessary CENTralized” is his terrible acronym but my nostalgia is activated when I look at him.
4x
Up and at them!
New Bot Day! Old B.O.B. appeared in Disney’s The Black Hole (1979). BOB stands for BiO-sanitation Battalion. He’s old and cantankerous but tells the truth and is key to the story. Slim Pickens’ distinct voice perfectly establishes the character, as does the shabby design. I have great memories of this too-dark, unsettling, hard-to-recommend movie, but I love the bots!
New day
I like being in the pool when the lights come on.
Rose.
Jesus Arthur Silva—“Art”—was born on this day 100 years ago, February 6, 1921. I remember visiting him at grocery stores in San Diego like Big Bear or Food Basket, where he got assigned to whip their produce departments into shape. I wish I could ask him about working in a town that went from 80 thousand people to over 2 million in his lifetime. I want to ask him if it’s true he sold tamales on the streets of downtown. I want to ask him what kept him going when times were hard, working multiple jobs. How did he and Nanie raise 7 great kids? I was 17 when he died. I don’t have a photograph of him working. I’ve drawn him how I imagine he would have looked. Sharp, kind, diligent. After he passed, my mother missed him terribly. A great man. 100 years ago today.
“Speak, friend, and enter.”
pool-selfie
New Bot Day! Zambot 3! From 1977’s Super Machine Zambot 3 (無敵超人ザンボット3) piloted by aliens living on earth after escaping their destroyed planet. Director Yoshiyuki Tomino’s nickname was “Kill ‘Em All Tomino” because during the story several protagonists are killed. I dig Zambot’s design. 76-79 were great years for colorful bots!
“Oh what a beautiful mornin’!”
No swim today: hit the auto service joint, felt the sting of the service estimate for the car, left the auto, caught a bus, walked the final half mile.
OUTDOOR
New Bot Day! Cylon Raiders are robotic spacecraft debuting in 2007 in the rebooted Battlestar Galactica. This biomechanical robot is nicknamed “Scar” by Colonial pilots, known for fearsome combat. These Cylons are not as intelligent as the humanoid types, but they are still expertly deadly.
Robot Selfie Time #AstroBoy
New Bot Day! Daiapolon from 1976 animated tv show UFO戦士ダイアポロン (UFO Robo Dai-Apolon) — sort of football themed because the “pilot” Takeshi kind of plays football but it’s made of 3 ships from an alien world and I love robots because they’re weird!
Rain has passed for now
Sunrise in 40 minutes
New Bot Day! Robo-Chi orange bear robot was a McDonald’s giveaway in 2002 and brightens up any morning out.
Waiting for the lifeguard
G’mornin’
Windy as heck
Get out the Brilliantine and dime cigars
I don’t hate or love this photo but it is fun to see what I seem to be at 0615.
Not quite “bright” and early. But it is early!
Inaugural Swim
Malcolm killed in ‘65. Bobby and MLK killed in ‘68. This movie: ‘80. 40 years later and cops are bastards and computers are against you and Nazis suck and you gotta hustle to beat the system. We’re on a mission from god.
Sunday slot because I missed Tuesday or they’re closed Monday. 73 hours to new President.
Beat the heat
Stuff on the wall.
Poolside
morning lighting
New Bot Day! MOGUERA (1994) stands for Mobile Operation Godzilla Universal Expert Robot Aero-type—it was built by the United Nations out of leftover pieces of Mechagodzilla and was designed to fight SpaceGodzilla. It can transform: Land Moguera & Star Falcon. I took a hiatus for new bots over the holiday: now they’re back!
3FT 6IN NO DIVING
angles
New year, new sweater.
Sic transit gloria mundi
with fog
New Bot Day! From the 2010 Adult Swim Flash game “Robot Unicorn Attack.” No matter what, the Robot Unicorn (with a rainbow mane and tail!) charges forward as long as they can! Learn from the Robot Unicorn and forward gallop into the future and stomp on evil. Giddy-up!
Morning light is underrated. Pre-shave.
Temperature differential
Of course there’s still good in the world. But you have to put in work if you expect to see more of it.
Dawn Patrol/Spring Valley
NO DIVING
San Diego Botanic Gardens (called Quail Botanic Garden from 1970 to 2009) was awesome
“You ain’t a local if you don’t snorkel”
Rotsy
Pooling
On the phone with @chrisgreazel takin’ notes
52F but clear. Brisk. Perfect.
Windy, chilly, 54F. On it still.
NO SURFING SURFING NO BEACH BEACH GAMES GAMES
Later, the sky was afire
Stormy day but the sun snuck out
Walkies
Low tide shell haul from Dog Beach
In the 1980s I loved to make Christmas/New Years/Holiday cards. I drew this Technocratic, nearly cyberpunk Santa with a Micron Pigma pen in size 005. That’s still an excellent pen. 32 years later I’ve refined and colored him digitally. I didn’t do paper greeting cards this year. Maybe next year. It’s been an impossibly hard year, and my drawings have comforted me. Be well, take care.
New Bot Day! Merry Christmas 2020! Super Space Giant is a small tin replica of a Horikawa robot design from 1955 or so. He is Dwarfed by Futurama’s Robot Santa and flanked by a little green bot I got at Kobey’s Swap Meet. Merry Christmas & Stay Safe!
Christmas Crayon time.
I like how festive the Y was yesterday. Belated Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas Eve.
Swimming was the Christmas gift.
Interrupted seagull. Fog breaking slow this morning.
I don’t think it’s always darkest before the dawn
Foggy Star of India
The times when I am mentally exhausted are the best times to swim.
Last weekend we walked from La Jolla Shores to Scripps Pier during the King Tide.
every morning different
Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve pools unavailable. Next Thursday swim will be in 2021.
Dawn
Sun: rising
It’s enough to keep going
Six items found at La Jolla Shores during this morning’s King Tide.
California replaced “army men.” Solid improvement over a sharpshooter or a guy with a mortar. Found at Shores.
A lot of folks went to La Jolla Shores to check out the King Tide at 715am.
Little tree.
Finishing up another streak of weekdays
New Bot Day! Captain Rex (RX-24) is from a theme park! Built for Disneyland’s Star Tours (1987) attraction piloting a Starspeeder 3000, imperfectly. Paul Rubens provided the voice. After years of service he’s now known as R-3X and is a DJ in Oga’s Cantina at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge (2019). Here’s to getting safely back to Disneyland in 2021!
Did you know?
0815 slot
Water balm
