On The 6th Day Of PlinXmas!

Hello again, my festive chums. It's time for another dose of internet wonderment.

Today's helping concerns one of the cornerstones of the Christmas period... Booze!



One of the best seasonal drinks has to be whisky. You can complain as much as you like, but it is true. Sitting with your feet up in front of the fire, glass in hand. Lovely. However, it seems it may have an even greater purpose. According to This News Story, whisky may have a part to play in saving the world!

So, naysayers... Bottoms Up, your planet may depend on it.

Which variety of Pine has the sharpest needles?

A Porcupine!

On The 5th Day Of PlinXmas!

Afternoon. So by this time, you must have started to think about presents. What you want, what you're buying others and of course, what you hope Santa will bring.



But have you ever spared a thought for what the poor old duffer goes through to get those gifts to you? Even if he took the optimum flight path, he has a maximum of 31 hours to deliver all the presents. So he must be sprinting along at a hell of a pace, cramming presents down chimneys, leaping over obstacles, dodging low hanging icebergs. Wait, what?

Ah yes, that's how things are in the game I have for you behind door #5! Control the portly present-packer as he jumps, slides and dunks in BlitzKringle! Word to the wise though, don't play it on easy. It gets boring quickly.

What do you call an eskimo's house without a toilet?

An Ig!

On The 4th Day Of PlinXmas!

Hello! Still having computer problems so I'm browsing the web in safe mode, which is really frustrating.



Unfortunately, this means these posts aren't as fleshed out as I'd like them to be, but hopefully things will pick up soon. Bear with me.

So what is behind door #4?

An absurdly talented, possibly mental artist is what!

His name is David Jablow, and he found a drawing exercise called 'Do It Yourself Doodle' which gave a partially completed drawing to act as a 'jumping off' point.

This is what he started with:



Pretty suggestive but surely you could only create a limited number of things with it?

Well, why not See For Yourself! (warning, contains some nudity)

What do you get if you cross Father Christmas with a duck?

A Christmas Quacker!

On The 3rd Day Of PlinXmas!

Phew, just made it in time. I'm having serious computer issues right now, so today's offering may be a bit sparse. Most advent calendars have the odd underwhelming day though, right?

I'll cut to the chase and present to you, the tastiest nativity scene ever made:



Mmm... Meaty.

See you tomorrow!

What do Santa's Little Helpers learn at school?

The ELFabet!

On The 2nd Day Of PlinXmas!

Hello again, hope you're enjoying the snow if you have any.



Today's lesson is that this year, it doesn't have to be a Christmas-themed link to make it into the advent calendar, but rest assured it DOES have to be great.

Do you happen to remember when I linked to a song called 'Cup Of Brown Joy' by a Professor Elemental? Hit the link there if you need your memory jogged.
Well it turns out he isn't the only purveyor of what has come to be known as 'chap-hop'. No, a new challenger has appeared. Enter... Mr. B, the Gentleman Rhymer:



Obviously, as with all walks of thug life, this can only be solved in one way. Rap battle! Here is Prof. Elemental's shot across the bow. He put on his Fighting Trousers! It can only escalate from here:



What do you call a cow in the snow?

An EskiMOO!

On the 1st Day of PlinXmas!

Hey, so... Um, remember how I used to write this blog sometimes? Then remember how I didn't write it for about 6 weeks?
Yeah, I'm not sure how that happened, but it got harder and harder to write a new post because I felt like I'd need to explain why I had been away for so long and there isn't really a reason.
So I am coming back now, with a bang! I am resurrecting, not only the blog, but the PlinXmas Advent Calendar!



So yeah, after 6 weeks without a single update, I am going to furnish you with something fun to look at/listen to/play with/smell EVERY DAY from now until Christmas Eve.

Hopefully that'll coax you all back. Here goes:

In what must be one of the smartest opening gambits on record, I am going to use the first day of this online advent calendar to direct you to a different, much better online advent calendar! Truly, mine is the greatest strategic mind of all.

Anyway, this advent calendar is different. Each day is a small segment of a charming platform game starring a snowman called Chubby, and when you complete each 'level', you get free content from an assortment of indie games! Today for example, I got some wallpapers and avatars from a game called Chick, Chick, Boom. Sweet!

Play Mission In Snowdriftland!

Anyway, I'm back. Let me entertain you throughout the festive period.

What do you give a reindeer with an upset tummy?

ELKa Seltzer!

Save The Clock Tower.

Hello, I will be back with a proper post soon, but for now please just watch this video of an amazing projection onto the wall of a famous clock tower in Prague.

Why? Because it is incredible.

The 600 Years from the macula on Vimeo.

Yeah. I know, right?

Anyway, be back soon. Sorry to keep you waiting.

Running Joke.

Hmm, it's been a while, eh?
*sweeps blogwebs off*
Right, yes. Hello!

I'm pretty much just here to spam my sponsorship page. Like last year!
However, this time I am doing 2 runs so you should definitely sponsor me.

As before, they're for Help The Hospices. Please dig deep and I promise to run myself ragged.

Donate here: http://www.justgiving.com/tworunsholyheck

Ta.

Shocking.

Hello. Another mini-update today. Our Internet returns tomorrow but that's the day I'm going to End Of The Road festival so this will be the last one until next week.

I went to see a band last night. I knew of them by reputation and was expecting something a bit unhinged, but they were even more batshit mental than I expected.

They're called Electric Eel Shock and are a 3-piece garage metal band from Japan.

This is what they're like live:



It's great fun and I urge you to try and catch them while they're on tour. Dates and other lunacy can be found on their Myspace Page.

This post is sponsored by my chronic tinnitus.

Plinx Quickie.

Yes, another one. I should have internet back by Thursday and normal service will be resumed but until then I am going to chuck the odd curio at you from wherever I can get online.

This is one that I just found on twitter. More specifically I found it because my good friend Aardvark put it there. Now I am sharing it with you. Internet in action, right here.

Anyway, here we go. It's a comparison chart which comprehensively proves why Optimus Prime is better than Jesus.

I would also have added that 'Transform and Roll Out' is a much better catchphrase than 'The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart' which is frightfully clunky and doesn't stick in the mind half as well.

Case closed.

Plinx Quickie.

Hello, I am currently devoid of internet at home so I can't write a proper blog post. However, I do have something which will render you unable to every look at a duck in the same way again.

Fairly warned be ye.

The Ultimate Secret Of The Humble Duck.

Science!

So the world is a pretty confusing place, right? That's why we invented Science! But soon, there was so much Science! around that people got pretty confused and started believing all kinds of stuff. I mean seriously... homeopathy? Come on now.

Anyway, thankfully some stalwart individuals have dedicated themselves to sifting through all the wayward Science! and drip-feeding us the essentials in handy blog format. That blog is... Fake Science and you can find such gems there as:

How Solar Power works!


How to stay cool!


and How to tell if you are Radioactive!


But the best and brightest evidence why these guys are worth your time is because they endorse this very blog. The one you're reading right now!

Now, as any proponent of Science! knows, you need proof if you're going to make claims. So here it is (click to enlarge):



Oh yeah, I've hit the big time.

So read up and tame the wild beast that is Science!.. today.

Latitude Festival 2010.

Hey!
So, that first line of the last post has been hanging there for too long now. Relentlessly prodding me in the ribs saying "I thought you were going to write about Latitude, you big, hairy, internet liar". It's super annoying because he has this really sneery unpleasant voice and bony fingers.

So I said ENOUGH!

Latitude Festival 2010 - A retrospective.



Yeah, it was great. It always is, of course. It's just a top-quality festival. If you've never been, you should go at your earliest convenience. This year was my 4th time in a row. As I said in my End Of The Road post last year, it may be due to me getting old, but I really appreciate a smaller, more relaxed festival with a greater variety of things to do. Seriously, while walking around, in addiction to the requisite bands you'd expect (more on them in a minute) I also saw multicoloured sheep, a travelling insect circus, ballerinas dancing on water, comedians being upstaged by a 10 year old in the front row, a short film about a talking dog and a bunch of weirdos dressed as various animals.



Ah yes, that was us. Yeah, someone had the idea of everybody bringing an animal costume. Now, thanks to my good friend Charlotte of Dinohoodie.com, I was already well equipped to be a bear. However we also had an Elephant, a Lion and a Tiger, a Wolf and oh yes... another BEAR! At first this surplus of bears lead to Strife but soon after we Joined Forces to better terrorise our fellow festival goers.

But enough animal tomfoolery, what of the bands?! Well, I'm glad you asked.

Amongst the ranks were the ones I knew I would enjoy: The National, Jim Jones Revue, The Kissaway Trail, Belle And Sebastian, Black Mountain. Then there were the ones I wanted to check out: The Horrors, Wild Beasts, Yeasayer, Richard Hawley, The Antlers. Lastly there were the ones I'd never heard of who turned out to be amazing: Grizzly Bear, Jónsi, Race Horses, John Grant.

Oh yeah, and then there was Tom Jones (or ToJo as all the cool kids call him):



Yeah.

So, I don't know how many of those videos you watched but I hope it was all of them because they're all fantastic. That was my weekend. It was amazing. Which is even more incredible since it started so badly on the first night. First, I got chocolate sauce dripped on my head, which made my hair all sticky. This made me sad. Observe:



Then, perhaps more alarmingly than my hair being soiled, I lost my wallet with all my cash for the weekend in it. Gutted doesn't even come close. But it is testament to Latitude that I still had such a great time and hey, I got my wallet back at the end of the festival. All the money was gone but at least I got my 51p coin and my finnish trivial pursuit card back! Oh and my credit cards and driver's license.

Oh, one last thing. I met someone who reads this blog who isn't doing so because I nag them! I have spread to the friends of friends layer. My meteoric rise to fame begins!

Anyway, that is my review of Latitude 2010. I strongly recommend you check it out for yourself next year.

This post is brought to you by boxed red wine. Lovely, lovely wine.



All the pics in this post were taken by Kat (elephant costume), by the by. Team Latitude '10 comprised her, Andy, Chris, Chris, Kelly, Steve and Me!

Circuit Boards.

Evening.

Latitude was a blast. I will give you the full scoop once there are some pictures I can sprinkle through the post.

For now though, here's a video called Gnarcade. It's a music video which doubles as a skateboarder/snowboarder showcase. More importantly, it uses iconic imagery from some classic videogames and the editing is pretty amazing. Not a lot else I can say about it, really. Just watch it yourself.

Too Little, Too Late?

Um, hey. I know I haven't been around much lately but I've been busy, y'know. Lot of irons in fires and balls in the air. I can change though. Honest I can. Hopefully before people start calling for balls in fires.

So consider this a peace offering. I'm showering you with games. Like an absent uncle finally remembering your birthday. Here's hoping you haven't given up on me already.

First, it's Pipol Smasher, and what it lacks in spelling, it makes up for in smashy, burny fun. The tagline is 'The Time Of Cars Has Come. All Humans Will Be Eliminated!' and the game boils down to a series of levels where you control some sentient cars in their efforts to take out all the 'Pipol' in each stage by running them over, knocking them off the stage, dropping heavy things on them or burning them. Fun times!

Hokay, next is more of a brief distraction than a fully fledged game but it is so compelling that I have to feature it. It's a neon hued point & click where you try and get your rabbit from one screen to the next. Play it here: Easy Joe.

Another physics game now. This one a sequel to the previously plinked Crush The Castle. Imaginatively titled Crush The Castle 2, this is a sequel that improves on its predecessor in every way. More castles, more projectiles, more *ahem* story. More more more, how do you like it?

Moving on, here's another innovative platform game from the brainiacs at Nitrome. This one's unique selling point is... folding. Yup, you fold the level to get to your objective. It's a lot more impressive when you see it in action. Check it out: Fault Line.

Lastly, for those of you that just aren't into murderous cars, neon rabbits, trebuchets or space-warping munchkins and would prefer a game about a sushi-chomping globular cat... well, you're in luck. Here's Sushi Cat: The Honeymoon. It's a sequel to the first Sushi Cat game which apparently I did not plink. It's a bit like pachinko, assuming you know what pachinko is like. You drop your chubby feline pal into the top of the level and hope he bounces in such a way as to gather enough sushi to progress. there's actually a pretty cute story to go with both games. give them a try.

And that's it!

I'm off to Latitude festival tomorrow so I'll catch up with you again when I get back. Bye!