How To Dismantle An Atomic Robot

Hey.

My father's current "project" is going through a neighbor's barn (with their permission) and seeing what could be sold off for them.

Today he brought back this cheap Hong Kong-made toy robot. Right now it's mostly dismantled, as I clean it out and check the internal workings. It's battery-powered, with a motor in the feet for its wheels and a mini-phonograph in its belly for sound and a pair of LED lights for its eyes. I doubt it's very old though some of the metal already has rust on it. For some reason the insides were a little moist.



The picture above is from a collector's website, but it's the same robot.

Perhaps tomorrow I'll put a couple batteries in it and see if the internals are still functional.

Akira Kurosawa's "Ran"

Hey.

I saw Ran yesterday. I'd been waiting to see this since it was made back in the Eighties.

Yes, it's King Lear adapted for the Sengoku era of Japanese history. The old King makes an announcement that he wants to retire and make his #1 Son Regent, #3 Son voices his objection to the plan and King banishes him. #1 Son deposes the King; #2 Son briefly joins forces with #1 Son to crush the King's loyalists, then backstabs #1 Son to take the Kingdom for himself. King is forced to wander the wastelands with only his Jester at his side. #2 Son discovers the hard way that #1 Son's widow was the power behind his throne. #3 Son returns with a small army--which leads to an epic battle.

Bushido politics. Even with no difference in ideology, race, economy, or religion--everybody is ready to take a side and fight for it to the death. As we go into an election cycle, there is a lesson to be learned here. Is there ANYBODY you see yourself fighting for in the set of candidates? Because it may come to that.

FP