Giant Robot Store and GR2 News
Money Mark at the Goodwill. Yeah, that’s not the best sounding thing ever, meeting at a Goodwill. Me looking for weird crap, Mark looking at an old piano he wants for a special sound. He took a seat and caught up on what was going on amidst junk. Mark was funny showing me how cool this piano was with ivory keys (yeah, that’s bad), and ebony keys. Does ivory sound better? The piano shuts down like a box. Mark’s been on tour with Jack Johnson. He just got back and is now going to produce some music – for which this piano will work well. If you don’t know mark use Google. He keyboarded for the Beastie Boys, wrote many of their best songs with them too, has solo albums, and some cool music videos. This is neat, he’s recording the sound with his cell phone to find out if the tuning is okay. He also said that if you punch in 123456789 – it’s a C scale. Is that true? Yeah, it’s his now. After seeing him, we vowed to keep in better touch.
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Hard to give this justice until you see it, but the magic of Le Merde, Snaggs, and Scrappers are pretty awesome at GRNY. I have no idea how he makes these and they look effortless and just right. They fit the style, even though they may not be perfectly molded. There's stuff inside them, and he makes that work too. When the world is caught up on manufacturing toys, this dude, Le Merde makes his...
Hard to give this justice until you see it, but the magic of Le Merde, Snaggs, and Scrappers are pretty awesome at GRNY. I have no idea how he makes these and they look effortless and just right. They fit the style, even though they may not be perfectly molded. There’s stuff inside them, and he makes that work too. When the world is caught up on manufacturing toys, this dude, Le Merde makes his own. We decided the guy on the left in back with the racket is the best. That’s work by Scrappers. He looks like a woodsman and his work is woody looking too. Finally, this is the work of Snaggs. She incorporates pop culture perfect into her work. It’s felt, but it’s imagery and certainly means more than what you might think. The kids from Portland are all right.
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If you’re in Taiwan, you must stop by Din Tai Fung. World famous for their soup dumplings or Xiao Lung Bao. Although they have outlets in China, Hong Kong and La, the best dumplings can only be had in the original Taipei outlet.The key to Xiao Lung Bao is the skin. It must be delicate, thin and almost transparent. I think the reason why they are so good in Taipei must be the local water used to make the dough. I guess it’s similar to a New York bagel, you just can’t find a better one anywhere else.Great food is not just about taste but about the experience of eating it. The aroma, the texture and the way it’s eaten are all really important factors. I think soup dumplings are one of the world’s most perfect items of food in that sense. Once you dip it in the vinegar and ginger sauce and bite through the tender skin, the soup inside gushes into your mouth providing the perfect amount of moisture for the succulent meat inside. Your taste buds experience so much in such a tiny little package. Although most prefer their dumplings with crab roe added to the pork, they are a bit more oily and fishy tasting, I prefer the plain pork ones. This is where the magic happens. The guy in the foreground is breaking off the pieces of dough that will make up the fine, delicate skin. The guys in the middle ground are wrapping the skin around the little bud of pork on the inside. In the background you can see the steamers piled high to the ceiling next to the guy working the steamer. The turn over is incredible. Hungry?
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Architecture in China is changing. There's a tiny bit about it in the latest GR54. After looking through the article, it's a great feeling to have just been there and checked all this out and know the scale and grandeur of each of the things they talk about. But actually there's a bit more, and maybe you'll see that in the latest GR. I'll post some photos of my own adventures to these spots really...