*waves* Hi. Sometimes the best ideas are the simplest. Sometimes they're only good ideas if you have the talent to back them up. This is the latter.
In theory, ANYONE could take the Guardian's weekend supplement and doodle on it with a black marker. But not everyone could make it consistently funny. I have found someone who can. Proof follows:
Hello. Did you watch 'You Have Been Watching' on channel 4 at 10pm on tuesday? No? Well more fool you then, because it was brilliant. It's Charlie Brooker's new show. Watch this week's on channel 4 catch up online then tune in next week.
ANYWAY, the reason I'm bringing this up is because it featured an unbelievable american programme called 'Deadliest Warrior' which pits two famous warriors (ninjas, pirates, vikings, cowboys) against each other and tries to work out who would win by studying tactics, attitude and weapons etc. Then they mock up what the fight would be like.
Like I say, unbelievable!
Anyway, I was looking the show up online and found this quiz. Which deadly warrior are you? I know what I am!
I'll probably stick some videos from the show in here at some point because it really is a good watch!
So today's game *BOOM* as I say, today's game is a bit *BOOM* a bit dis*BOOM* it's a bit distracting! No matter what else you may be trying to do, you keep getting drawn back for one more go at blowing up the weird smiley guys. *BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM*
Ahem. Right, The game is Fragger. The aim of said game is to blow up all the bad guys with your collection of grenades. The less grenades you use, the more points you score. It's really a meaningful display of the importance of managing your dwindling resources DISGUISED as an excuse to blow up loads of dudes... *BOOM*
Hmm, not much I can say about this one. You'll know whether you want to click it as soon as I tell you the URL. Click or don't click. Ball is in your court now, schmucks.
It was a hot night, the kind that makes the air crackle with electricity. Every second that ticks by loaded with possibilities. The sky hangs heavy with menace. Somebody, somewhere is in trouble.
Ok yeah, I can't write bad-ass noir fiction for toffee. But hey, a lot of writers create good stuff without ever having to go down the pulpy noir route, right? I mean, it's not like EVERYTHING is better if it's brooding and faux-40s.
Ok, so I guess I was wrong. Noir-style posters can really sex up an already impressive story.
Hello, the following link is a game, but it is also something else that I'm pretty fond of. It's a portmanteau, which is a fancy way of saying that it is a blend of words. I like these a lot. In fact, the very name of this blog is a portmanteau. Plinx is after all, a blending of the word Paul and the word Links. With some bad spelling thrown in.
But I digress. This game is called Spacetacular Voyage and it's jolly good fun. It looks like a convential vertical scrolling space-shooter, but it isn't. There is no shooting to be done. Instead you have to avoid or bash out the way a series of falling blocks. If any of them pushes you to the bottom the screen, it's game over. To give yourself some breathing room, you can hit the space bar to trigger an explosion that'll push all the surrounding blocks away.
Hello, I'm on my second late shift of the week and need cheering up. Or at least I did, until I watched this. It's a fan-made video for a song called 'Zak and Sara' by Ben Folds and it uses a technique called kinetic typography which is really simple in principle but can be super effective.
Hmm, i just wrote a paragraph explaining what it is but then realised there was really no need. You'll see for yourselves!
Hey, turning photos of celebrities upside down is funny right? They're all upside down and stuff. Ha! It doesn't get any better than that.
Hmm, yeah, I'm not convinced either. However that is just what I have for you today. BUT WAIT, before you click away somewhere else... I should probably mention that in these pictures, everything has been turned upside down except the face. Now we're talking! The result is something a little like this:
WAH!
Yeah, freaky. Anyways, it's such a simple formula that I decided to have a go at 'upside-downing' my own face. So I fired up *cough*photoshop*cough* and a few hours later, I had created this masterpiece:
Blarg. It's hot where I am. I'm supposed to be hard at work but I can barely muster up the energy to Plink some Linx. However, I have something worthy. A video. A video called Deadline. A video called Deadline that rocks. Hard.
It's stop-motion, which is usually impressive, but the amount of effort that's gone into each frame of this is astonishing. It's enacted on a blank wall using different coloured post-it notes as pixels. Hundreds of them at a time. This dude has PATIENCE.
Anyway, it depicts a cute story about a guy on a deadline and his procrastination and you should totally watch it, then go have a cold drink or something.
Got a few minutes? Presumably you have or you wouldn't be here. Well, check out this... well, I hesitate to call it a game as it is more akin to interactive fiction but one thing that I have no doubt about is how great it is. It's a point & click adventure called Little Wheel where you shepherd a little robot who has been awakened after a long period of downtime through his world on an important mission. (There is a wonderful animation that explains all this which I don't want to spoil so apologies for being vague.)
Anyway, the best thing would be to see for yourself. The presentation of this thing is really something so I encourage you to take your time. The course of action is never unclear as you get onscreen prompts and the robot you control is so cute, the way he keeps getting banged about but perseveres. Go see for yourself:
Evening. I'd apologise for the gap in updates but I've been ill and there's no-one reading this anyway. Anyway, I'm back in fine, philanthropic fettle now and I have some primo internet content for you.
These, below, are the Book Autopsies of american artist Brian Dettmer and they are wholly remarkable. Look.
Not bad, eh? He painstakingly cuts away at books (encyclopedias or any other book with diagrams) and exposes them as if they were vital organs. Hence the name.
It's incredible, and you can find out more and see many more pictures Here. Incidentally, that links to another blog that puts the quality of my writing to shame. Sigh.
Hello. It's nearly home time so I don't have long but my eye has been caught by some clever website design. It's a Quiksilver site advertising skate wear that seems normal to start with, but Just Keep Watching.
Do you know your films? Do you like 'rebus' style puzzles? If you answered either or both of these questions with a resounding 'Yes!' then a) you may be getting over excited and b) I have a link for you!
You may have seen something like this before, it's a large image that contains smaller picture clues that represent the names of films. For example, and a free answer for you here, there's a bolt in the lower right corner of the screen. This represents the film 'Bolt'. Clever, eh? Obviously, some are more devious than that. My current total is 31 out of a possible 50.
