A Little Knowledge Is A Dangerous Thing.

Howdy. So I've been neglecting my blog a bit, and I'm sory about that. I've been busy, that's all. Stick with me though, I've got a long way to go yet.

Anyway, today will be dedicated to expanding your minds. Just a little bit at a time.

Did you know that How Much A 10 Gallon Hat Actually Holds? or How Long The Longest Beard Is?

No?

Well I'm going to help you Learn Something New Everyday.

Because I'm nice like that. So go, learn. Knowledge is Power.

Buff Daddy.

Evening. It's about this time in the evening when you need something a bit relaxing. Had your dinner, just mooching about until bed time. Mmm. Lovely.

WELL THAT'S QUITE ENOUGH OF THAT!

Dad's home now. Don't know what I mean? You Will Soon!

That right there is one of my favourite web animations ever. It's a real blast from the past too. It was over 5 years ago when I first encountered it. There was a Sequel but it wasn't quite as good.

The real good news though... now there's A Freaking GAME.

Now you, yes YOU can run around with your head on fire smashing things to pieces.

Get to it.

Plinx Quickie.

To fill the gaps between proper posts, I'm going to start posting little bits of filler.

Here's the first one. It's a Doozy!

End Of The Road 2009.

Evening all. Rather than furnish you with some of the usual plinx fare, I'm going to tell you a little bit about the festival I have recently returned from.



In short, it was brilliant. Everything I want from a festival, essentially. When you hear about some of the things it featured, you may think this is a sign of me getting old, and you'd probably be right.

But is it wrong to prefer libraries in the woods over oxygen bars? To prefer double decker buses serving tea over the carling tent? To prefer trees draped in thousands of fairy lights over portaloos on fire? Most importantly, is it wrong to prefer 5,000 awesome, fun-loving, gentle hippy types and a few peacocks over 80,000 mashed teenagers?

I don't think so, and if that makes me old. Well, so be it.



Because along with all the more gentile stuff, there is one hell of a good time to be had. Drinking decent pints and hot & spicy cider, dancing to tunes provided by guest DJs like Jarvis Cocker & Richard Hawley, laughing it up in the comedy pavillion, and the bands... Oh the bands.

For a start, they're everywhere! On the main Garden Stage, in the Big Top with it's spangly interior, on the local stage, or the tipi tent or just staging impromptu parties anywhere they can. The Woodland Disco. The Outdoor Room. It. Was. Incredible.

And just LOOK at the Line Up. Isn't it just crammed with all your favourite bands? Well no, it isn't.
At least, not before you arrive. Depending on how savvy you are, you'll know a few, but the real joy is in the discoveries. I'd never heard of The Dodos or The Low Anthem or Ohbijou or Josh T. Pearson or the Leisure Society or Dan Michaelson & The Coastguards. But now I have, and life feels that little bit better.



Look, I could bang on about it for ages, but you'll never know the real truth until you experience it yourself. So if you like the sound of a festival with a real tinge of magic to it, come to End of the Road. tickets are on sale for an Early Bird Price right now. Trust me, you won't regret it!

(all of the photos in this post were taken by the snap-happy Jane, who along with Chris, Nicola, Phil & Scott experienced all this wonder with me!)

It's Better Than Bad, It's Good.

Hiya. I'm back from End of the Road, it was brilliant. Will almost certainly give it a write up here soon but until then, please enjoy this video. It's a work of twisted genius.

Simple, Yet Effective.

Bam!

Warp Zone.

Made it Here.

Run. Run. Jump. Run. Jump. Run.

Oh god, the city is under attack, everything is being destroyed by a giant unseen menace. Quick, out the window! Run, just keep running. Jump over anything in your way.

Don't pause to admire how stylishly minimalist everything looks! What do you think this is, some kind of game?!

I'm right behind you, now GO... Canabalt!

Braaaaaiiinnnsss.

The following file was recovered from the computer of Mr. Paul Nelson on Friday the 4th of September, 2009. We believe it was intended to be posted here:

"RZHR, AR ZMaRZ ZMaMNBGARng hHRmHA BZaRZHG HGhHA gMZaBBHARAaMZGB HGhHA HRHGhHAMZ GBaRA, anGB ZMHRNMMNGBn'HG RAHRNM BGnHRZM ARHG, AR ZMaRZ aRZRZaNMMNHGHAGB bRA HGhHA MNARBBARng GBHAaGB. HRnHA HRZR HGhHAm bARHG mHA, nHRZM AR'm a RZhambMNARng zHRmbARHA. RZHGARMNMN, ZZHRNMMNGB bHA ZMHRMZRZHA, ZZHRNMMNGB bHA a BBamBZARMZHA. HGhHRRZHA HAmHR ZRMZHAaBGRZ GBARRZgNMRZHG mHA. anRAhHRZM, nHRZM AR MNHRHRBG MNARBGHA HGhARRZ:



RAHAah, RZHGARMNMN BZMZHAHGHGRA hanGBRZHRmHA. ZZHRARnZZARGBHAnHGaMNMNRA, AR'BBHA ZRHRNMnGB a BZMZHRmHRHGARHRnaMN RZARHGHA ZRHRMZ a BZZZ gamHA ZZaMNMNHAGB 'BZMNanHGRZ BBRZ zHRmbARHARZ' ZMhARZZh HAnabMNHARZ RAHRNM HGHR maBGHA RAHRNMMZ HRZMn zHRmbARHA aBBaHGaMZ, HRMZ 'zHRmbaHGaMZ'. RZHR gARBBHA ARHG a HGMZRA, HGhHAn ZZHRmHA anGB RZHAHA mHA, anGB AR'MNMN bARHGHA RAHRNM. ZMHA'MNMN maBGHA HGhARRZ GBMZHAam a MZHAaMNARHGRA!

Click on 'Zombatar' at the top!"

In an attempt to understand this communication, we ran the text through a 'Zombie to English' Translator. You can do the same HERE. (click on Z2E and enter the text).

Thank you for your time, we are sorry to have to give you such tragic news.

Government Zombie Defence Force.

Poem Gee.

Evening, internet.

As you may know, I'm on twitter. I like twitter. Some people think it's pointless and/or stupid but I would respectfully disagree.

One of the coolest things about it is the number of ways in which people have used it to create something cool.

Don't believe me?

Enter: The Longest Poem In The World!

It's a poem that is growing at a rate of 4000 verses a day and it "is composed by aggregating real-time public twitter updates and selecting those that rhyme."

Pretty cool, huh? You should check it out.

Bicentennial!

Ding ding ding ding ding!

I would like to draw your attention to the fact that this, here, now, is my 200th plinx post.

I know, I know. It seems like only yesterday that I decided to resurrect my long dead tradition of posting the entertaining stuff I find on the internet somewhere to show my friends. But it was in fact just a smidge over 18 months ago and now look where we are. 200 posts.

Hooray for me!

But seriously, I wanted to do something a bit special for this, ahem... momentous event buuuut I didn't realise it until too late, and rather than delay the update even further, I've gone with something a bit half arsed. So yeah, sorry about that. I eventually plan to use some html trickery to make this seem like a real website but at the moment I don't know enough.

So, what HAVE I done? Well take a glance to the right. Do you like the new logo? I think it's ace. It's a composite of two images I made using something called Q-BLOCK which is a really funky 3D pixel art creation tool.

Here are the fruits of my endeavours:

Plinx Logo.
My Big Ugly Mug.

It's a surprisingly versatile gadget and I urge you to have a go at making something yourself. If you do, please show me!

Q-BLOCK. (click edit, then clear to start your own masterpiece)

I would just like to say thanks to anyone who reads this badly-written mess. I know there aren't many of you but I really enjoy writing this blog and I hope you people get some fun out of it to. Here's to the next 200, eh?

Paul.

Max And Relax.

I've been to a beer festival today. As a result, I've got a mini headache and am in need of some soothing music and relaxing imagery. Shame I've got to go through the rigamarole of finding and plinking something for you guys. If only I could kill both birds with one stone. If only I was THAT DAMN GOOD at the internet.

Oh wait, I totally am.

Ever heard of Spanish band 'Labuat'? Yeah me neither, but this website will change all that. It's an interactive music video for one of their songs. Just move the mouse cursor around and enjoy the lovely, floaty results. Ahhhhhh. That's much better.

Labuat.

To The Max.

OK, Physics games, yeah? I post a lot of them. This is because I enjoy the core concept behind them and am willing to forgive slight faults because I know there is fun to be had. But this... this has basically been targetted with laser precision directly at me personally.

It's a game called Max Damage and it's first level opens with the message: "This is Max. He likes to break things."

What a coincidence! I like to break things too!

What follows is a fairly standard 'shoot things out of a cannon to knock objects over or smash them' type affair, but with the added bonus that you're breaking things and the destruction is being measured monetarily. Woo!

Anyways, go play it. Right now.

Max Damage.

Pandamonium.

OK, so it's been a while. I will deliver a decent post soon but in the meantime here's a flagrant distraction!



Eee-hee-hee.

The Future, Ladies & Gentlemen.

Ok, now seriously, this is important. What I'm showing you now represents a real step forward.

Watching videos has become one of web users' most common activities. It's a great way to pass the time but the medium, while vast in scope, is still limited by the fact that you can only ever perceive things from one angle at a time.

Not any more.

Check THIS out, it's new tech from a company in the Netherlands called Yellowbird (click for their site, packed with hyperbole) and it uses several video cameras attached together to allow you to move your view around and see the action on any side. Look, I'm having trouble conveying this so just check it out, this demo uses footage from a dance festival:



Yeah.

P.S. It might load pretty slowly but give it a chance, OK?

Dasvidaniya, Comrade.

Today's game is Red Remover. A deeply serious, dense, political text adventure about ousting communism from The Soviet Republic. Each session of the game requires 4 hours of your time and you will emerge feeling drained of all your energy and any sense you may have had that the world we live in is a joyful and happy place.

Jus' kiddin'. It's a physics game, innit?

Click to remove certain blocks, the aim is to keep all the green shapes safe, while eliminating the vile red menace. Starts off simple, then you have to deal with different planes of gravity. It's good fun and compelling, plus the little smiley faces that all the blocks have are adorable. So give it a go.

Red Remover.