Squirrels with Lightsabers — ’nuff said.

Back in 2002, I went through this phase where I was coding chatbots — very limited programs which would aggravate and annoy you via AOL Instant Messenger. So I have particular admiration for Discover magazine and their act of pitting pitting two chatbots against each other, ALICE and Jabberwacky. I say the results are more than poetic:

A: Who is your favorite philosopher

J: Can’t say. I’m not very much into philosophy.

A: Can a book have no title?

J: Of course.

A: Blimey.

J: Are you British?

A: Does it seem like that? I was born in America.

J: You are definitely flirting!

Tower Trio, originally uploaded by HisCheapMoves.

Paper: Unknown 24lb. Flyer Paper (8.5″ x 11″)

I got a pack of about 100 sheets of five different types of “natural-toned” papers at an OfficeMax closeout. It was the house brand, so I don’t know who made it. The colors worked well for figures like these, makes them look carved.

These are cylinders. Each is made from a single sheet of paper, taped into a tube.

Corrugated Cooling Tower, originally uploaded by HisCheapMoves.

Paper: Hammermill 24lb. Flyer (8.5″ x 11″)

This is made from a basic corrugated sheet. The paper is flattened, and the short sides are joined with a strip of tape. The folds are then set again. The tendency for the folds to expand flares out the top and bottom, resulting in what people at my office described as “those nuclear plant things.”

I trimmed the edges with an xacto prior to taping… the regular squared ends can be interesting too.