Observations of Life on Mars

Line Rider

2006-10-05T10:00:00.000+08:00

I just stumbled on this today but it's apparently but out there for a while. Line Rider is a cool Flash game in which you have to draw lines for a rider to follow on his bobsled. Sounds easy but it's much more difficult than it sounds. Play around with it for a while then watch this video to appreciate what can be done with this game.

Mr. CityMen

2006-10-03T09:03:00.000+08:00

Mr. CityMen is a sweet little collection of shorts, shot in real cities with cartoony "Mr. Men" type characters living their lives. Each short highlights one of these guys' lives, I particularly enjoyed Mr. Fortune and Mr. Dreamer, these things just put a smile on my face. My kids couldn't get enough of Mr. Afraid-of-Everything-but-Heights.

Comic Strip Artist's Kit

2006-09-15T08:48:00.000+08:00

In the vein of improving your craft as a comic artist these "instructions" taken from Carson van Osten's Comic Strip Artist's Kit are another invaluable resource.

Darth Vader Practical Joke

2006-09-12T08:44:00.000+08:00

A word of advice to all you Star Wars geeks out there. If you want to maintain a healthy, happy marriage then never, at any cost, no matter how funny it is, play this practical jokeon your wife at 2 in the morning.

Cartoon Skeletons

2006-09-01T14:52:00.000+08:00

Ever wonder what Bugs Bunny looks like underneath that skin and fur of his? This exhibit at the Arario Gallery in Korea is one that you definitely don't want to miss. Brilliant work here.

The Perry Bible Fellowship

2006-08-25T12:37:00.000+08:00

I'm pretty sure I've blogged about The Perry Bible Fellowship before but I just have to get back to it because it's too damn funny. This strip in particular caught my eye and I couldn't help but laugh out loud in the office.

Wally Wood's 22 Panels That Work

2006-08-22T10:22:00.000+08:00

For anyone interested in creating their own comic books or comic strips the legendary Wally Wood's cheat sheet for creating high impact panels is a must.

WEB2DNA

2006-08-03T16:43:00.000+08:00

WEB2DNA is a nifty online app that convert your website code into DNA analysis-looking art.

30 Hornets vs. 30,000 Bees

2006-07-28T14:32:00.000+08:00

30 Hornets vs. 30,000 Bees. The title says it all. This is a perfect set up for a science fiction/horror flick with humans pitted against ruthless alien invaders. It's almost too freaky for words really. I'd hate to be one of those bees.

You are an idiot!

2006-06-22T10:00:00.000+08:00

This Danish page, You are an idiot!, is a great thing to send to people that you think are, well, idiots. Works equally well in comments sections of blogs. Make sure you have your speakers on to fully appreciate this.

Extreme Diet Coke and Mentos Experiment

2006-06-13T13:44:00.000+08:00

This video of Extreme Diet Coke and Mentos Experiment has been making the rounds lately but it's just so much fun to watch that I had to link to it as well. I'm considering doing something like this with my kids since this has a lot more oomph to it than the old vinegar and baking soda trick.

Flash Fighters

2006-06-13T10:08:00.000+08:00

This is pretty cool. A well done bit of Flash animation that makes fun of the entire process of Flash animation, Flash Fighters, is a stick-man sticking it to the Man short.

David's New Snail

2006-06-02T11:04:00.000+08:00

David's New Snail is a wonderfully put together little bit of animation. Voiced by the artist's son, this kid and this situation totally remind me of my own kids. I can picture them doing exactly the same thing. Brilliant.

Websites as Graphs

2006-06-01T13:20:00.000+08:00

This Websites as Graphs website is pretty cool. Type any web address into the text box and get a very nifty "evolving" graph of the links and structure of that website. Check out the graphs for blogger.com and other large sites. I love the way the branches fall into place after a while.

Pirate Baby's Cabana Battle Street Fight 2006

2006-04-22T13:50:00.000+08:00

This is straight out awesome. If a side-scrolling arcade fighting game like this had been out in the day (say, when I was in high school or college) I would have been all over this game. Disturbing to say the least but the concept is just wicked. The kicker is that it was funded by the City of Melbourne as a commitment to the Arts! Got to hand it to those Aussies. The links on the page are good for a straight-up download or a torrent file.

Ojingogo

2006-04-07T15:41:00.000+08:00

Ojingogo is a beautifully drawn comic strip that's nominated for an Eisner Award for the second year in a row. Simple colors and a sketchy feel belie the well visualized and realized POV of each panel. Plus the sasquatchy guy really reminds me of the sasquatch kid and mother from Bitey Castle.

Stupid Stupid Rat Creatures! Bone.

2006-03-17T15:39:00.000+08:00

Back in college days I was as happy as a clam whenever I was able to find one of Jeff Smith's Bone comics at the store. I was lucky enough to pick up the series from the start, turned off from the mainstream Marvel and DC garbage that was spewing out, and looking for independent artists and writers that still understood what story and artwork meant. The first few issues of Bone are just magical in the way the characters and places are illustrated and put together. The ink lines work as much as the drawings themselves in creating the mood of Fone Bone and his friends and, of course, the two perenially bumbling rat creatures. I wasn't able to keep up with the comic, the story arc stretched out over years and between missing issues and not being able to find any it was just a matter of time before I decided to drop the whole thing.
Come a few years later while I'm surfing the web and I run across Bone: One Volume Edition on Amazon.com. A 1,400 page compilation of the entirety of Fone Bone & Co's journeys and adventures against the Lord of Locusts, the Hooded One, and the Rat creatures. It's a joy to be able to read the entire series in one go but my only misgiving is that it seems like Jeff Smith got lazier, or perhaps, cared less about the artwork as the story progressed. There are panels and pages scattered occasionally in the latter parts of the story that revive the brilliant drawings and inking of the first few books but the majority of the illustrations I found to be less than what I expected. A bit of a disappointment but considering this was a one man show over how many years it's an understandable progression. In the end it's the bonds between the Bone cousins, between Phoney Bone and Bart, and between Lucius and Rose that give the story it's real heart. I'm glad I am finally able to pass this on to my kids.

Women Police in Iran (Video)

2006-03-16T15:12:00.000+08:00

Holy shit. I don't know whether to laugh or be impressed to bits. I know that being a policeman, much less a police woman, in the Middle East is probably very difficult. But,come on! Aren't they just a little bit hindered by their outfits? Check out this Google Video to see what I'm talking about.

Finally, a funny Garfield

2006-03-16T13:32:00.000+08:00

This cracks me up big time. From forum on somethingawful.com where they've taken existing Garfield comic strips and removed Garfield's thought bubbles. This simple act just magically transforms the strip into something enjoyable from something that should have died a natural death a long long time ago. I don't know who made this one in particular but I love it.

Open Source Mac Software

2006-02-28T14:21:00.000+08:00

For the geek in you. Here is a fairly comprehensive list of open source software for the Mac platform. I've been tooling around with Blender and, boy, is that impressive. Open source is definitely the way to go if you can do handle it.

Google Blogger Dashboard Widget

2006-02-24T16:55:00.000+08:00

Well...seconds into posting my first blog, um, post with the Google Blogger Dashboard tool I realize that the thing doesn't come with a facility to include post titles. Hello? Guess I won't be using it after all since it means I'll have to log on to Blogger anyway to edit the post and insert a title. Shame though. It would have been convenient.

Dashboard Blogging Widget

2006-02-24T16:52:00.000+08:00

Yeah! Google finally came out with a Dashboard blogging widget for OS X so I can now blog via F12 instead of having to do it from the browser. What a convenience that is. Whee! Technology!

Urban Dictionary: chode

2006-02-10T12:08:00.000+08:00

Today's blog entry is brought to you by the ever hilarious Urban Dictionary and the Word of the Day: chode:

I don't know where most of you got your fucking definitions for this word, but the Chode has nothing to do with a short or fat penis. It is a synonym of "taint" and "gooch". It is the area between your sac and your asshole. Why would you create a definition for something that doesn't exist, you morons? "Last night, you mom tongued my chode."

Things I Learn From My Patients

2006-02-08T15:37:00.000+08:00

Things I Learn From My Patients is a hilarious forum on the Student Doctor Network. It's like a mashup between America's Funniest Home Videos (without the videos) and C.O.P.S. Wicked.

Ask A Ninja

2006-02-02T15:05:00.000+08:00

I've been scratching my head over the entire concept of video podcasting. I could never figure out why anyone would want to watch anything on that little iPod screen. Thankfully Ask A Ninja resolves any questions I had. And you don't need an iPod to watch it, just iTunes. Quirky, funny, and definitely unique. If video podcasting means more of this type of humor then please, bring it on. (Click the "Add to iTunes" button to subscribe to the RSS feed)

copper

2006-01-25T08:48:00.000+08:00

copper is a fantastically drawn online comic by Kazu Kabuishi. Each episode is a different, otherwordly theme with the same two characters. The best part for me is the "process" section where the artist details his step-by-step methods of creating the comic. Great stuff.

FLIPBOOK!

2006-01-24T13:46:00.000+08:00

FLIPBOOK!. This is just what it sounds like. Draw your own online flipbook animations and even export them to PDF so that you can print them out at home! Fun for the whole family.

Scared of Santa Gallery

2005-12-22T20:08:00.000+08:00

This SCARED OF SANTA GALLERY is hilarious. Photos of kids freaked out by Santa Claus through the years. Precious.

Bangkok Mental Flushing

2005-12-21T15:59:00.001+08:00

Bangkok. Manila. These two words conjure up images of cities that are very much similar to each other: crowded, traffic-snarled, organic metropolises stinking of poverty and corruption of all kinds. True enough there are aspects of each other that these cities mirror almost exactly but, feet on the ground, Bangkok is just leagues and leagues away from Manila and pulling farther and farther away with each year. Whether it is the crazy variety of shopping available to sate the consumer lust of the huge middle class, the very modern and efficient transport system, the cleanliness and sanitation (would you dare eat street food in Manila). Hell, even the legalized prostitution and x-rated fare all add up to initiatives by the Bangkok and Thai governments to bring their city and country up above the third-world mire that the Philippines seems to be slipping deeper and deeper into. Just take a stroll down Sukhumvit Soi 55, also known as Thong Lor, and you will notice the striking difference. One street, maybe five kilometers long. How many high-end furniture stores is that? In this case it is not just stores but complexes such as H1, Playground, and the Design Connexion. Moroso, Capelli, B&B Italia..these are expensive brand names that are difficult, if not impossible, to find in Manila and yet, this street houses only a few of their Thai showrooms. Can you say spending power? Need more proof? How about the 3 Mercedes-Benz dealerships along this same street? Or the multitude of wedding boutiques and "galleries" packed so densely along this road that you can’t walk more than five paces without tripping over one. How about midnight on a Monday and Q Bar is packed to the gills with expats and locals spending their hard earned cash on overly priced drinks? How about a row of night clubs for the university crowd that makes enough in one night to bring in internationally acclaimed DJs that offer their services for a hundred thousand Dollars for a three hour gig? How about that Suan Lum Night Bazaar off Lumphini? I was expecting a dirty, smelly wet market type of place and instead it is this outdoor mall with all the same things as you’d find at Chatuchak but with less of the grime plus a fabulously complete beer garden with great food, great drinks, live entertainment, giant tvs broadcasting sports, and conveniently connected to the crazy modern MRT system. Greenhills? Baclaran? Forget it. Wake up and smell the Thai iced coffee, Manila has got nothing on this place. Actually a funny little story shows what the difference is between Bangkok and Manila: we were on the way back to our hotel from the night market and decided to take the MRT. It was midnight, nobody else except our group was on the platform and one of our friends decided to sit down on the floor against one of the support pillars. A voice came booming over the PA: "It is not allowed to sit on the MRT platform!" Red faced but giggling our friend had to get up and find somewhere else to rest. Discipline, my friends. In Manila you could be lying down on the platform during rush hour with a blanket and picnic lunch and get away with it. In Bangkok? hell no. As a designer and a fan of Design it is horribly frustrating to pop into a city like this and see and feel the availability of materials, products, and ideas that our poor country simply cannot or refuses to access. The appreciation of aesthetics and good industrial design and architecture is something I really wish Filipinos in general had. As we were walking around gawking, poking at things, and making mental notes one of our friends hit the nail on the head. Once things in Manila are prettied up too much the immediate reaction of the masa is to think it is too expensive and run in the opposite direction. Unfortunate but true. In Bangkok, as in most every other city in the world, it seems to be completely the other way around. The better designed a store or restaurant is the more people want to seek it out. Snobbery or appreciation, either way it provides a good environment for people to get creative. Forgetting the odd things that pop up once in a while, such as elephants randomly manifesting on the sidewalks, there are so many reasons that Bangkok is the city Manila should have been by this point in time that it’s not even worth enumerating them. Frustration…my friends and I were bitching about how far behind Manila is so much that by the end I just couldn’t work up the energy to whine about it anymore.

eat dog cat mouse

2005-12-13T16:05:00.000+08:00

eat dog cat mouse, a fun short CG animated feature about...well, about dogs eating cats eating mice. Quirky. Filed in: OOLOM, blog, animation, video, humor, kids

Cardboard Folding Chairs

2005-12-10T00:01:00.001+08:00

This is the way I'm trying to get my design team to work. Take an existing material like cardboard and upgrade it or at least give it a more value-added appeal in a cost-conscious form.

Squandered Opportunities

2005-12-08T14:15:00.000+08:00

Metro Manila in the year 2004 is a pit. There is not much to recommend it to visitors and hardly enough to recommend it to the people that have no choice but to live here. Sure, back during World War II Manila was the second most heavily bombed out and destroyed city (Warsaw was the first) but to use that as an excuse is the biggest cop out of our nation’s leaders. When my parents were growing up and straight through to the time they started their own family Manila was a great place to be. There were all the expected niceties of a capital – master planned urban development, parks, grand buildings, boulevards, clean streets – and even a clean harbor with a beach. Today, the master plan is nonexistent, the parks have been cut back, cemented over, and turned into malls or karaoke bars; the buildings, what’s left of the ones that haven’t been bulldozed, are in advanced stages of decay and abandonment; the boulevards have been encroached on by buildings, mass transit systems, and squatters; the harbor is a polluted mess and the former waterfront is now about two kilometers inland because of reckless reclamation. I just came back from a trip to Chicago and my reaction on walking around was that the Windy City is the city that Manila should have been. Both cities front large bodies of water, both were master planned by Daniel Burnham, and yet today Chicago is this vibrant, clean, and wonderful city while Manila has firmly entrenched itself as a third-world city. The worst thing about modern Metro Manila is the huge opportunity to create a truly remarkable city that’s been wasted. Take a look at this map: Metro Manila is bordered on the west by what many consider to be the finest natural deep water harbor in the world. On the east by Laguna de Bay, the largest fresh water lake in South East Asia. On the north by the Sierra Madre mountains and the languid, fertile groves of Bulacan, and on the south again by farmland and the higher fruit and vegetable haven of the Tagaytay ridge in Cavite. This, to me, sounds like the ideal area for what could have been a magnificent metropolis. Imagine if the waterfronts (one salt water, one fresh) had been developed properly with causeways, beach front properties, and a real orientation towards aquatic sports. We have all the ingredients for our own version of a Miami South Beach, a Venice California, or even a Sydney waterfront. The view from the mountains over the city and these two bodies of water is heart breaking. Metro Manila is composed of seventeen (17!) cities, each with their own mayors, vice mayors, councilors, hangers-on, and intrigues. There is a government agency that is supposed to coordinate matters such as traffic, police, flood control, and development but this so-called Metro Manila Development Agency (MMDA) is just about as politically affected as any other government office. Responsibility for the construction and maintenance of our roads and highways is split, indelicately, between the MMDA, the local government units (i.e. the cities themselves), the Philippine National Construction Corporation (PNCC), and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH). Guess what happens when a highway owned by the PNCC has an off-ramp manned by the MMDA intersecting with a major thoroughfare maintained by the city, with vendors and stores “managed” by the Philippine National Police (PNP). One accident here and you have four different government agencies washing their hands of any responsibility and the vehicle owners scratching their heads and gritting their teeth in frustration over the inability of anyone to fix these kinds of problems. Believe it or not this intersection actually exists and this scenario is not make believe.

Whale Sharks

2005-12-08T14:14:00.000+08:00

Had a fantastic trip down to Donsol, Sorsogon over the weekend. Swam with the whale sharks or butanding as they're called locally. Even though it was a bit off of the main season (March-May) we managed to have four encounters. The smallest one we swam with was a mere 3 meters long, the largest well over 8 meters. Seeing anything this large coming out of the murk is an experience you will never forget, let me tell you. The following photo is one of the 3 meter shark. Lousy visibility = lousy shot. Plus the thing was swimming so fast I couldn't get a more dramatic headshot.
In addition to the great shark encounters the food in Donsol and Legaspi was just awesome. I highly recommend a trip down there. We're thinking of going back in March. update -- it's now December and we never did get back. Maybe next year or the year after that.

Megamouth Shark

2005-12-08T14:03:00.000+08:00

The coastal waters of the Philippines are host to a wide variety of fish and marine mammals, many of them rare or endangered. The Megamouth shark, Megachasma pelagios, is much rarer than the whale sharks we swam with in Sorsogon. As the previous link mentions only 23 confirmed sightings are known. Now two of these strange beasts have washed up on Philippine shores in the last two years. Here is the link to the latest specimen.

Coca-Cola Propaganda from the 1950's

2005-12-08T14:01:00.001+08:00

This page provides an amazing look at what the Philippines was like back in 1955, viewed through the rose-colored glasses of the Coca-Cola Corporation's marketing department of the time. (Download or stream the video from the links provided at the left part of the screen) A typical excerpt of the audio: "This then is the story of refreshement, of Coca-Cola a quality product, pure and wholesome. A story of a friendly product, delicious and refreshing. A story of partners in progress with all Philippine industry providing employment for thousands of people in many industries, contributing to the progress of the country, and in the future as it always does, Coca-Cola will continue to bring more pleasure, more enjoyment to more people everywhere and Coca-Cola is everywhere in the Philippines." While the notion of nutritional and "wholesome" pure cane sugar is amusing from today's enlightened dietary perspective this clip serves as a poignant reminder of what the Philippines has lost over the past forty years. I don't believe anyone in their right mind would dare to call the Philippines the "Pearl of the Orient" anymore. Aside from that though an ice cold Coke and crispy chicharon just can't be beat.

Green Homes and Buildings

2005-12-08T14:01:00.000+08:00

I'm not an environmentalist per se but I can appreciate how reducing waste in some areas can actually make life better. The homes and buildings detailed at Treehugger.com's Architecture Archives are great examples of environmentally, and sometimes long-term $, more efficient buildings. Plus a lot of these concepts have some great applications in the third world. I'd love to have a green roof if only to have a garden for my kids in my otherwise tightly constricted lot. One problem as I see it though, aside from the upfront costs involved in constructing the roof and ensuring adequate drainage, water fastness, etc., is that most of the materials they recommend for green roofs are sedums and all the examples I've seen (as exemplified by the photo above) are in the more northern, temperate climate zones. I don't know how well these would stand up to the harsh tropical sunlight or to being lashed by typhoon rains and winds. There must be an equally hardy, low maintenance plant that can be used for tropicalized green roofs. The local equivalent of the green roof is the traditional nipa hut thatched roof but this is made up of dead leaves, so it's barely an equivalent really. Back on point, even if the cost of building this type of roof wasn't an issue the next biggest problem would be finding an architect/contractor team locally that would be able to execute this kind of project. Reading through Dwell magazine and the comparable modern-oriented architectural magazines it's frustrating that we don't seem to have the same thinking-forward type architects in the Philippines. If they are around I have no idea who they are.

Metro Manila ca. 1970

2005-12-08T13:58:00.000+08:00

How's this for nostalgia? A whole bunch of photographs of Metro Manila in the early 1970s.
For those of you that have been here within the past ten years you'll realize how crap the city is now compared to what it was like then. It's always embarassing to have a new guest come to Manila and then have to explain to them that there really isn't that much to see and to get out and see the countryside or the beaches. I weep for what Metro Manila could have been.

Moving over

2005-12-08T13:55:00.000+08:00

I'll be moving over some posts from my other blog just because it's a pain to keep two blogs for no good reason. Also, I haven't updated that other one since August and I'm getting irritated with myself knowing that it's just lying there...idle.

How to Spot a Gay Guy

2005-12-07T10:14:00.000+08:00

I found this quite amusing. NSFW after the jump. How to spot a gay guy.

SUPERMOINE

2005-12-03T18:36:00.000+08:00

SUPERMOINE or "SuperMonk" in English. Slick 3D animated short featuring a bunch of ragtooth vicious vikings versus one badass monk. Loud profane music so if you're at work put on your earphones.

Observations of Life on Mars Redesign

2005-11-26T10:45:00.000+08:00

Sorry about the weirdness. I'm still trying to work out the new site design and it's simply not rendering properly off of my local: directory so I have to republish the entire blog to see what it actually looks like. Comments are appreciated in the meantime.

Why's (Poignant) Guide to Ruby

2005-11-25T14:52:00.000+08:00

Those Crazy Foxes!,
originally uploaded by Baslim.

Okay I'll admit this up front. This will be the geekiest post to date. Why's (Poignant) Guide to Ruby is the most amusing way to learn a programming language that I've ever had the pleasure to read. It's just plain fun to read even if you couldn't care less about what Ruby is (and basically, at this point I'm still trying to figure it out). A truly bizarre and wonderful reference.

Citroen Transformer

2005-11-24T09:13:00.000+08:00

Back when I was a kid in the 80's the Transformers were one of my favorite toys. The actual transformations were a bit clunky and the cartoon ones were just plain deceitful but this commercial for Citroen totally fixes everything. Slick.

Readymech

2005-11-17T11:14:00.000+08:00

Sweet! Just what my little boys can use to keep them entertained; These wicked looking toys that you can print out on the PC then assemble yourself using nothing else other than ordinary paper! Cool beans, man!

Star Wars animated gifs

2005-10-27T09:22:00.000+08:00

These are really well done animated gifs - the entire storylines of Star Wars: A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back. Funny, cute. I really can't believe somebody sat down and took the time to make these.

Battlestar Galactica Hawt Cylon

2005-10-20T11:29:00.000+08:00

And speaking of cylons, here's Boomer a.k.a. Sharon in what she must wear in Chief's dreams....If this is what those Toasters are planning for us then sign me up!

Self Explanatory

2005-10-20T11:20:00.000+08:00

I think this is just precious. I love my kids but totally understand where this sentiment would come from. As my mother always used to tell me, "watch where you stick your dick."

Television Without Pity - Battlestar Galactica

2005-09-22T12:35:00.000+08:00

I love the new Battlestar Galactica series and would argue that it's one of the best dramatic shows out right now. The acting is good, the plots are cool, it's a space opera but in the true hard sf sense of the word.
The synopses of the show on Television Without Pity are just icing on the cake. Don't read if you haven't already seen the episodes because, hey, they're synopses of the shows! Talk about spoiler alert.

PostSecret

2005-06-04T09:09:00.000+08:00

This is powerful stuff. Real people send postcards in to this blog with short commentaries on things they are keeping secret. Some things you'd expect, lots that you wouldn't. Pretty intriguing look into the psyche of the average joe/jane.

Top 99 Actual Star Wars Lines You Might Hear In A Porno

2005-05-19T11:15:00.000+08:00

In keeping with the release of Episode III - here's a list that is just what it says: Top 99 Actual Star Wars Lines You Might Hear In A Porno.

TYPEDRAWiNG

2005-05-09T09:09:00.000+08:00

TYPEDRAWiNG is a nifty flash-based program that takes type and transforms it into...drawings. Yeah, just what the name says. Very well executed and some of the results are damn cool.

How Lightsabers Work

2005-05-06T09:53:00.000+08:00

Howstuffworks.com has a good explanation of the mechanics behind how lightsabers work. I especially like that the lightsabers can be used to reheat coffee. Always a problem around the office.

Zoom Quilt

2005-03-29T12:15:00.000+08:00

www.zoomquilt.org. That's all there is to say. Use the flash version for an incredibly trippy ride.

Japanese "Adult English"

2005-03-17T16:42:00.000+08:00

Scans from an 80s "adult English" book for Japanese. Reading is believing in this case. Sample text:"You have more hair than I imagined. But I have nothing against hairy girls. So don't sweat it."

How to Draw Boobs

2005-03-14T12:35:00.000+08:00

You read that right. For all you aspiring artists, illustrators, anime-fiends, perverts out there, here's a good tip on how to draw breasts properly. Assuming of course that "properly" means the boobs in question fit into a standard 42EE bra.

Superdickery!

2005-03-14T10:10:00.000+08:00

Yes. This is a legit scan of an actual Batman comics panel. Superdickery has a whole bunch of these odd things. Odd because they're taken out of context and out of the time they were published. Odd because, well, a lot of these themes just wouldn't pass muster nowadays Wonder Woman demonstrating a bondage game? Jimmy Olsen dressing up as a woman? That certainly explains a lot.

Bitey Castle

2005-03-11T10:28:00.000+08:00

Two words for some of the most inspiring animation I've seen in a while: Bitey Castle. All Flash-based. Brilliantly rendered. Well told. Especially "Prowlies at the River". Great stuff.

Buzzed Bunny

2005-03-11T08:32:00.000+08:00

A New Bunny is a violently funny send up of the upcoming Warner Brothers freakshow known as the Loonatics. Not your thing if you don't like swearing, violence, graphic obscenities, drugs or Buzz Bunny. In other words it's damn hilarious and hits the nail right on the head.

Alternate Superman Origin Comics

2005-03-10T09:02:00.000+08:00

<Jay Pinkerton has a running series of alternate Superman origin comics going on on his site. Very disfunctional. Very funny.

Chinese Tattoo Prank

2005-03-02T09:47:00.000+08:00

I haven't laughed so hard in such a long time. This Chinese Tattoo prank from zug.com is hilarious. Especially the part about his leet graphix skillz. Check out the other pranks on the site too. The Viagra and Credit Card pranks are classic.

Tasered Bull

2005-02-26T16:53:00.000+08:00

This is frankly one of the coolest things I've seen in a while. It's a video of a big angry bull being tasered. What's illuminating here is that it's down for the count while the current is being applied but as soon as it's off the bull is up faster than you can say "what the fu..." In other words, if you're ever up against a bull with a Taser, keep it ON otherwise make sure you can run really really fast.

Micronauts!

2005-02-25T15:11:00.000+08:00

This is a blast from the past. Back in the 70's my brothers and I had a bunch of these Micronauts toys; I had this particularly lovely 'Repto' guy pictured at left. They were cool toys for the time and I'm happy to say that on my last visit to Japan I'd found that they'd been resurrected, albeit with cooler names and better looking characters. There was a brief, odd comic book tie in with the X-Men in the early 80s. If I'm not mistaken Kitty Pride was the love interest of Baron Karza and even inhabited his body/armor for a short period of time.
Ah, those heady days of youth. Wacky wacky stuff.

OOTS

2005-02-25T12:39:00.000+08:00

The Order of the Stick is a great online comic based in a fantasy MUD/D&D type world. Illustrated in a uniquely simple but effective style, with, again, clever writing and good characters. It obviously rings a bell with me because of my MUD background but even without that it would be a fun read.

Urban Dictionary

2005-02-25T12:16:00.000+08:00

This isn't new but in addition to learning !337$p33k with Microsoft check out the Urban Dictionary to finally figure out just what the hell, "Fo sheezy my neezy" means and avoid getting your ass kicked down in the hood. Scope this for an example definition:

1. beyotch a more formal greeting than bitch. A: Good afternoon. B: Yeah, beyotch!"

White Ninja Comics

2005-02-25T10:41:00.000+08:00

So...White Ninja is another one of these witty weird web comics that float my boat. Think of a Chris Farley "Beverly Hills Ninja" in terms of intelligence, but with the scrawny body of David Spade. Then make it even weirder than that. With talking fish.

The Daily Dinosaur

2005-02-24T12:37:00.000+08:00

These Daily Dinosaur Comics by Ryan North are just hilarious. Nothing changes in the art from comic to comic, just the dialogue between a confused T-Rex and his friend the, um, other dinosaur. On another note, Beaver & Steve now has RSS feeds as well! Joy!

DikuMUD

2005-02-24T10:53:00.000+08:00

Back in the day, make that the early 90's, a couple of friends and I were sucked into the insanely addicting world of text-based Multi-User Dungeons (MUDs). This was before the advent of Mosaic, Netscape, and MMPORPGs and I would wager that these original MUDs are still just as, if not more, addictive and fun to play as any of the 3D online games out there today.
Our game of choice was a rollicking fantasy DikuMUD called Sloth. Back then there were four classes to choose from (Warrior, Thief, Cleric, Mage) and a whole evolving world to explore. Great great fun and horrific from a lack-of-sleep point of view. I actually felt a calling to get back into MUDding a few years ago and miraculously found that Sloth was still alive. Its third incarnation, SlothMud III is built around the core of the original Sloth but the playing world has gotten much bigger, incorporating elements of several other MUDs that have since disappeared. Where there used to be one continent now there are five, new classes, more powerful monsters and bigger loot. It all adds up to a good time.
As usual in an any community there are good folks that help out newbies and there are the jerkoffs that loot corpses. All in all it's a good way to have fun, "meet" people, and waste a whole lot of time.
A word of advice though, if you decide to really get in to MUDs stay away from telnet or simple text clients and go for a programmable, scriptable interface like zMUD. It makes the game just a whole lot better.
Geek out!

The Gates & Parodies

2005-02-23T15:17:00.000+08:00

Just got off the line with Janack. He'd been in New York City over the weekend and managed to catch some of this "art" that Christo has put up in Central Park. In honor of this pretentious project here are three lesser known but equally moving tributes to the Gates: The Crackers, The Somerville Gates, and Batman, Famous Bear, & Andy Warhol.

Learn !337$p34k

2005-02-23T09:26:00.000+08:00

Of all things, Microsoft has a handy primer to computer slang to help parents understand what their kids are writing about online. Good thing to know about. Now at least my kids won't think I'm pwn3d! Check out the "Related Links" too - "Online Gaming Lingo". Classic.

Grafik Dynamo!

2005-02-21T13:24:00.000+08:00

How best to describe Grafik Dynamo!? I'll let them do it in their own words:

Grafik Dynamo is a net art work by Kate Armstrong & Michael Tippett that loads live images from blogs and news sources on the web into a live action comic strip. The work is currently using a feed from LiveJournal. The images are accompanied by narrative fragments that are dynamically loaded into speech and thought bubbles and randomly displayed. Animating the comic strip using dynamic web content opens up the genre in a new way: Together, the images and narrative serve to create a strange, dislocated notion of sense and expectation in the reader, as they are sometimes at odds with each other, sometimes perfectly in sync, and always moving and changing. The work takes an experimental approach to open ended narrative, positing a new hybrid between the flow of data animating the work and the formal perameter that comprises its structure.

Got that? Good.

Loonatics

2005-02-20T11:36:00.000+08:00

So Warner Brothers decides it wants to update the original line up of Looney Tunes characters to make them more appealing to the Teen Titans and Yu-Gi-Oh! generation. It might have been a good idea if they'd actually stuck to the basics of what the characters are about but to turn them into a bunch of whacked out, badly designed superheroes? Take a look at this trailer for the show and tell me...do you have any inclination to watch it?
Let me get this straight though...Warner wants a new cartoon series that is hip, funny (presumably), has great characters, and will appeal to kids of all ages...this sounds remarkably like what they had twelve years ago with the early episodes of the "Animaniacs". Notice I said the early episodes though. Towards the second season of the show the Animaniacs were starting to suffer from typical studio writing and seemed to have lost much of the originality and wit that made the first season so spectacular.
The Animaniacs had great writing, well developed characters (Wakko, Yakko, Dot, Pinky & The Brain, Buttons & Mindy, Goodfeathers, etc.) and, at least at first, well done animation. The plots were tight even if they were outrageous, innovative and sometimes wholly inappropriate for small kids, but in the end this was a show that was groundbreaking - presaging the ironic, sarcastic, intelligent shows that have flooded Cartoon Network, Nickolodeon, and Disney in the past few years.
The show was easily marketed, easily merchandisable, but for some reason it didn't have the staying power to last beyond a few seasons. That doesn't mean that the characters couldn't have been spun off into their own shows but for some reason after the mid-1990s the entire cast seems to have disappeared off the face of the cartoon universe.
My indignation and anger over this show isn't so much about how Warner is bastardizing the heritage of Bugs and friends by turning them into wisecracking, badly-wrought "anime-style" superheroes, as Amid over at Cartoon Brew suggests, it's that the same studio that brought us the remarkable Animaniacs is trying to shortcut its way to a succesful cartoon by riding on the familiarity we all have with these characters when in fact the new series has nothing at all to do with the orignal Warner cartoon stable. Why bother using the Bunny, Tasmanian Devil, Road Runner, connection at all except for outright economic reasons? They could just as well have come up with an entirely new group of characters and it would have made no difference to the final product. I mean, really, doesn't anyone else see a bad committe decision behind the name of the program, "Loonatics"? And is there more than a passing resemblance between Loonatics and Animaniacs? At least with the Animaniacs the titular characters, the Warner Brothers and Sister, were seriously maniacal. With the Loonatics it's just an unclever name to try and differentiate this program from all the other pablum that's being pushed on our kids nowadays.
Take a look again at the trailer. Then take a look at the group photo that's posted above. Notice how the characters aren't really animated at all? They just assume the same position the same time and use a cheap zoom to give the illusion of movement. Go get em Warner.

The Harry Egipt Archive

2005-02-18T12:04:00.000+08:00

Here is the motherload of all those weird Estonian ads that have been floating around. I can't read the intro text but I'm guessing that all these ads were made by the inimitable Harry Egipt. Now this is a legacy to be proud of!

Bubble Wrap

2005-02-18T07:49:00.000+08:00

I know this is an oldie but it's always a goodie for wasting time and releasing stress: bubblewrap.

Green Architecture

2005-02-17T14:00:00.000+08:00

Kiwi Stonehenge

2005-02-16T14:29:00.000+08:00

This whole Stonehenge replica in New Zealand sounds interesting but I think they've forgotten one crucial fact about the original Stonehenge: it was built to last. Somehow this one doesn't sound like it will last more than 10 years: "But the New Zealand group had to eschew the ancient in constructing the henge as even with modern building equipment, the henge would have taken too long to construct and would have been too expensive. Instead the society's team concocted pillars and lintels from wooden frames, covered those with cement board and wire mesh and sprayed concrete over the structure. Inside, with an eye to performances and weddings that will be held here, the stones are also wired for sound" Yeah. Talk about 5.1 Surround Sound.

Bizarre and Disturbing Estonian TV Ads

2005-02-16T11:52:00.000+08:00

Okay. I know what you're thinking. It's almost impossible to imagine an ad like the one for kana hakkliha ever making it on to TV, regardless of when or where it was shown. You'll be even more blown away, pardon the pun, by this ad for Pinguin ice cream. Yes, that name does remind me of a certain penguin joke.
And in case you're wondering, the two ads are by the very same guy.

Desktop Icons

2005-02-11T20:47:00.000+08:00

I just bought an external hard drive for my Mac at home and figured I'd customize the icons a little bit. Pixelgirl has a great collection of icons for OSX and Windows, even a set of PandaZ ones! Interfacelift is another good resource for replacing your default icons.

30 Second Bunny Movies

2005-02-11T11:47:00.000+08:00

Angry Alien Productions makes these 30 second Flash recaps of popular movies using bunnies as stand-ins for the original actors. Funny stuff and particularly well done.

explodingdog

2005-02-11T11:42:00.000+08:00

I just came across this site today. Hard to explain exactly whatexplodingdog is but basically people write to the guy with short phrases and he converts these into simple yet moving drawings. Interesting stuff.

Fun with Homer

2005-02-11T09:27:00.000+08:00

Here's a cool little flash site that lets you play around with Homer Simpson. Get him to "Woo hoo!" or some other such nonsense. Good for wasting a few minutes at work.

Homer Simpson, Survivor.

2005-01-31T16:07:00.000+08:00

This guy...I have no words really. Good thinking in a tight situation.

Hunter & Painter

2005-01-28T11:49:00.000+08:00

Hunter and Painter is an interesting short comic strip. Very well illustrated - kind of strikes a chord between Mobius and Bone in terms of the drawing style. I read through the strip expecting the typical "a ha!' kind of comic surprise/punch line but it never really delivers that. Just a quaint cute little story.

Origami Underground

2005-01-27T15:17:00.000+08:00

Origami Underground is apparently old news in the blog world but I just stumbled upon it today. My six year old is in to origami dinosaurs and animals but I'm keeping him well away from this site.

The oops list

2005-01-26T09:14:00.000+08:00

The oops list is a directory of really bad airplane accidents and mishaps. Not advisable to look at if you're about to go on a trip.

Beaver & Steve

2005-01-20T11:25:00.000+08:00

Beaver & Steve is my kind of comic strip. Well drawn, bizarre plots, good characterization, and lots of random violence.

Take apart the Mac Mini

2005-01-20T08:04:00.000+08:00

This page has a video on how to take apart the Mac Mini. (I'd be happier if I could get the damn thing to download). I don't know about you but I'm really really interested in this thing. Thinking of deploying it at work for various little tasks, depending on what the final cost will be over here in the R.P.

Alien Loves Predator

2005-01-20T07:46:00.000+08:00

I haven't seen the movie Alien Versus Predator and neither do I have any particular wish to. Alien Loves Predator, however, is an entirely different matter.

SketchUp

2005-01-19T18:36:00.000+08:00

SketchUp is one of the most incredible applications I've had the pleasure of using recently. I've converted several architect/designer friends to Sketchup users because this program is so easy intuitive and fun to use. For initial 3D design work to detailed architectural modelling - I can't recommend this enough.

Breast Implants

2005-01-19T16:04:00.000+08:00

Well. Ever since our second baby was weaned my wife's been complaining that her breasts are flat, droopy, and sad. She's been tossing around the idea of getting implants, or at least a lift. I wasn't the catalyst for this (what do you expect me to say? "Hey Dear, your tits are looking kind of droopy." *BITCH SLAP*) but neither am I actively steering her away from the idea (I am still a guy after all). So for those of you interested in how this kind of thing is marketed here are two websites with pretty decent (read - full breasts in all their naked glory) photos.

These are legit sites by the way. *NSFW*

Panda Z

2005-01-19T15:54:00.000+08:00

I was in Japan recently and, damn!, but they have the best toy stores there! Not that I didn't already know that. I picked up a box of a dozen miniature Gundam figurines for my 6 year old and I was severely tempted to buy armfuls of Panda Z merchandise. This is one of the funkiest cartoon robots to come out in a while. I totally love the fact that inside the Z robot's head is a panda pilot. This of course throws me back to the good old days of watching "Mazinger Z" after school when I was a kid.

PixelBlocks

2005-01-19T15:35:00.000+08:00

I ran across PixelBlocks a few months ago in some other blog or review site. Can't remember which one at the moment. Anyway I charged up the credit card and bought 2 of the happy colored assortment packs. Good stuff. My kids enjoy it. But 800 of the damn things still isn't enough. To really do anything worthwhile, like Digital Stained Glass you'll need at least double this amount. These still aren't available in Manila so I'm patiently twiddlling my thumbs until I can get another shipment in.

Let's get this started on the right foot...

2005-01-18T11:59:00.000+08:00

Try out this 'Concentration Test for Men'. Even the ladies in my office couldn't successfully complete it the first time around.

First Post

2005-01-17T18:50:00.000+08:00

First! Try! of! This! Blogging! Thing!