Dear Beautiful

This short animated flick is an absolute must see… I cant speak highly enough of it. It has all the visual styling of a perfectly paced comic with a story that is both frightening while still remaining relatable.

“The sudden appearance of exotic flowers in New Haven spawns an unprecedented epidemic rumored to be the result of a botched experiment by cosmetics giant, V-Zone. Paul and Lauren, a married couple, are caught between the catastrophe and their own troubled relationship when Lauren encounters one of the flowers and becomes infected. As her symptoms worsen, Paul’s denial of Lauren’s illness puts the couple in grave danger as the city is overrun with infected people, media frenzy, National Guard, protesters and a panicked populace. Struggling to maintain a normal daily life, Paul engages in a battle of wills with his best friend and business partner, Roger, as Paul tries to deny his wife’s condition and Roger tries to take matters into his own hands. As the epidemic reaches a climax, Paul must confront the reality of his situation as well as the monster his friend has become.”

Watch The Original Short Film Here

Rating – 2 Bolts , 1 Star, 1 Robot & 1 Icecream

Mortal Kombat VS DC Universe

GameTrailers TV has the first in-depth look at the upcoming Mortal Kombat Vs. DC Universe game, due out in November. The video includes interviews with the creator of Mortal Kombat, but more importantly has actual gameplay showcasing Superman, Batman, Catwoman and The Flash from the DC Universe, and Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Sonya, and Shang Tsung on the MK side.

Being an MK player from its inception, I was extremely skeptical as to whether this concept would even remotely work. However, after seeing the game in action, I’m definitely open to it. Some of the action they’ve incorporated is pretty frenetic and hardcore…just like we like our Mortal Kombats. And, despite the lack of an M (Mature) rating, there will be finishing moves…

Ah the important bit…Blood.

Grab The Video Here!

[VIA GAMETRAILERS]

Transformers & Nike Mash-It-Up

Come across these pics sometime ago, just stumbled on the video…

Absolutely amazing… is there anything possibly cooler then a set of Nike kicks combined with Optimus & Megatron? They’ve been produced via a collaboration of Tomy & Nike Japan.

The set comes in two options – Optimus in the classic Red/White and Megatron in a Black/Silver combo. As an added touch if you look closely you’ll see both bots are wearing the same sneakers they transformed from… nice.

Where The Marvel Universe And Real World Intersect

Ever wanted to go on a tour of the world that the Marvel superheroes fly around in? Thanks to Flickr member ChildOfAtom, that’s easier than ever. He’s gone to four of the real world addresses of some of the most famous addresses of the Marvel Universe and taken photos of what’s actually there, and posted those photos online along with comparisons to their cartoon counterparts. Want to see what we have instead of the Baxter Building or Daily Bugle offices? Check em out…

Here’s the real life Baxter Building, next to its comic equivalent:

And what can be found at the address of the Daily Bugle?:

Instead of the Avengers Mansion, the real world has this:

And, finally and most depressingly, this is what we get instead of Doctor Strange‘s Sanctorum:

And for an added bonus to all the fanboys out there here’s a copy of Wizards “A Guide To Marvels Manhattan” Direct from ‘Wizard’ #199, a handy map that shows exactly where Marvel heroes hang out regularly in the Big Apple!

Atomica – Metropolitan

With Atomica, Christ Analogue’s Wade Alin and singer Lauren Cheatham have created perhaps the first trip-hop project truly worthy of being compared to Portishead. The similarities are apparent from the laid-back bass groove of opening track “One Day in New York City” to the slow rhythmic throb of “Gun,” but Atomica are no slavish imitators. Where Portishead was minimal and beat-driven, letting the vocals carry the melody while the programmed parts confined themselves to the drums and bass line, Alin is much less reticent to add interesting instrumental arrangements. For example, “Larsen” incorporates lush arrangements of sampled strings, while “Salt” adds a hint of vibraphones for a jazzier feel. “Recent,” one of Metropolitan’s most achingly bittersweet pieces, adds bluesy guitar riffs to the vintage fuzz and electric organs, while “Pollen” and the exquisite “Sorrow” focus on soft piano. Cheatham’s contributions as lyricist are also essential to Atomica’s distinctiveness, ranging from the concrete melancholy of urban landscapes in “Delorian” to the surreal but evocative wordplay on “Quiver.” About as far as can be from Alin’s work in Christ Analogue, Atomica is just as intense, albeit in a much subtler way, and Metropolitan is no less than a musical masterpiece. This is mandatory listening for anyone with an interest in trip-hop, chill-out music, and down-tempo grooves.

Here’s a link to a few of there tracks… my recommendation is Larsen, Amazing!

Rating – 2 Robots , 1 Star, 1 Lollipop & 1 Bolt

[VIA REGENMAG]

NOOB

[FRISBEEFODDER]

Top Ten US Sex Laws

1. Oral sex is illegal in 18 states, including Arizona.

2. In Virginia, it is illegal to have sex with the lights on.

3. It is illegal for husbands in Willowdale, Oregon, to talk dirty during intercourse.

4. Sexual intercourse between unmarried couples is illegal in Georgia.

5. Engaging in any sexual position other than missionary is illegal in Washington, DC.

6. In Connorsville, Wisconsin, it is illegal for a man to shoot off a gun when his female partner is having an orgasm.

7. In Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, it is illegal to have sex with a truck driver inside a toll booth.

8. Having sexual relations with a porcupine is illegal in Florida.

9. It is illegal in Utah to marry your first cousin before the age of 65.

10. Sex with animals is perfectly legal for men in Washington state, as long as the animal weighs less than 40 pounds.

[VIA ECOLLEGETIMES]

Katalyst – What’s Happening

OK as people get to know me better you will understand I have a true passion for Soul, Funk, Downtempo & Hip-Hop (the intelligent stuff) Katalyst is one of those artists that manages to combine them all the way a chef turns ingredients into a tasty meal. Here’s what the Herald Morning had to say about his new album;

This album will cement his place as a king of the hip hop underground and he’ll stand tall beside Madlib, The Procussions, Mark Rae, Ohmega Watts and The Roots. There’s none better.

Okay, so we know Katalyst’s first album Manipulating Agent was amazing. It’s a fact.Lots of artists get it right the first time around, there’s no pressure, no expectations, you can work at your own pace. And alot of them manage to balls the second album up, the attention does it to them, they’re not sure of who they are now that they’re in the spotlight. Did this faze Katalyst? No, thank God. He took it all in his stride, spent roughly three years getting it right and his new effort, the probingly titled What’s Happening, is just so many light years ahead of anything else on the table it’s just not funny.

Let’s consider exactly what exactly is on the table: the US is pushing monocultural cheese around the globe, yeah Kanye is pretty dope but predictable; the UK;s a grimey place right now but no one’s scaling the Roots Manuva heights are they; we’ve got the Hoods and Elefant Traks mob making big waves down under but I’m sorry, their stuff still significantly trails the stunning productions of Sydney’s very own beat maestro, on a soulful level they just can’t compete. Katalyst’s tunes simply transcend the competition, he’s a composer rather than a mere beat writer.

Heres a track called “Say What You Feel” so check-it-out!

Rating – 2 Icecreams , 1 Star & 1 Chili

An Interview With A Killbot

[FRISBEEFODDER]

The Important Things In Life…

OK, heres a few comparisons of how many words are on each subject over on wikipedia… unbileavable but true!

In the future, when Captain Kirk is battling tribbles and Data is learning how to love, this lopsided comparison will make complete sense. Why wouldn’t the entries for the glorious Starship Enterprise dwarf that for a dusty museum piece like the automobile? We expect the pages for hoverboards, robot maids, personal time machines and giant laser death rays to do the same.

For the present, though, why does a make-believe space ship deserve more words than the planet’s principal mode of transportation? Also, why does that make-believe space ship deserve no less than nine separate pages, including unique entries for six different models of the NCC-1701? Seriously?!

We won’t get jealous and play the competition card here. EGM is important, a veritable titan of the industry with a massive and devoted following. Many of us here at GamesRadar include ourselves in that camp.

But come on… do the latest screenshots of Chun-Li’s thighs really carry more weight than the 2008 election? Do you really need to know the review score for Turok more than you need to know the reasons for the recession? Is the dropping price of the PS3 more critical than the rising price of gasoline?

Yes, Electronic Gaming Monthly – and any videogame publication – is totally worthy of 4,429 words. We just wish that Time and other vital news sources received the same attention.

We love, love, love the soundtracks to Final Fantasy… but someone put way, way, way too much effort into this Wikipedia page. The intro alone is nearly 700 words, lengthier than the entries for many singers, bands and genres. Rock and roll, the biggest genre of them all, doesn’t stand a chance.

Of course, the vastness of the web was made to hold such exceedingly niche minutiae, but even the fan who owns all of these compilation albums probably agrees that they could have fit onto the page for general Final Fantasy music. Unless that fan is the one who wrote this obsessive love letter to begin with…

Heed our warning – Wikipedia is only the beginning. Soon, textbooks will have entire chapters devoted to fairies and fishmen. Language students will learn Goron instead of Greek. History class will forgo the Romans for the Rito, while anthropology discards the Spanish and Swedish for the Subrosians and Skull Kids.

Nonsense, you say? Tell that to the 730 million residents of Europe, whose deep and diverse ethnic backgrounds just got pwned by a bunch of elves, gnomes, talking twigs, golden frogs and mutant chickens. Oh yeah, and Tingle.

[VIA GAMESRADAR]