Video Round-Up: November 30, 2015

"Chanukah Song Part 4" by Adam Sandler of Happy Madison

Adam Sandler’s ‘The Chanukah Song’ Part 4 - At a recent concert in San Diego, actor/director Adam Sandler debuted the fourth edition of his classic novelty holiday song The Chanukah Song which features an updated list of Jewish celebrities who celebrate Chanukah.

The Best News Bloopers of November 2015 - NewsBeFunny presents a roundup of the best awkward and unexpected moments that happened on live local news broadcasts during the month of November 2015.

Girl Teaches Baby Pygmy Goat How to Hop - In this cute video, Jennifer Pratzer gives her adorable pet baby pygmy goat a hopping lesson in the kitchen.

Hairless Dog Dances to Grandma’s Accordion Music - Nathan, the Chinese Crested-Hairless dog, dances along to a lady's accordion rendition of the classic Coca-Cola jingle "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing."

Short Film: Lost Property

"Lost Property" Written & Directed by Åsa Lucander

"Lost Property" is a melancholy animated short film. It centers around an old man who works in a Lost property Office. Every day an old lady comes into the Office presenting an item she’s lost and everyday he tries to help her find it. With each day that passes, expectations falter, hopes fade and the feeling of loss grows stronger. After searching a series of seemingly magical rooms, together they eventually finds what she had been hoping to find all along.

Quick Pic: Chrome Rims

"look at those chrome rims" by crwill87

I love Google's sense of humor.

Short Film: THE SHAMAN

"THE SHAMAN" from Marco Kalantari

"THE SHAMAN"is an epic short sci-fi film that's been making a splash.  The trailer garnered over four million hits on YouTube prior to its premiere at the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival.  Far from being just another proof-of-concept piece, "The Shaman" is an ambitious short that packs the impact and aesthetics of a Hollywood blockbuster into just seventeen minutes.

"The dark year 2204, in a world that has seen 73 years of continuous war. Recently mankind re-discovered the arts of Shamanism. The Shaman’s school of thought believes that every person or object has a soul. During battle Shamans step over into the Netherworld to find and convert the souls of their enemies’ giant battle machines. This tactic enables a single man to overcome an invincibly seeming steel monster.

This is the story of Joshua, a Shaman, who is sent on a mission to convert the soul of a giant battle colossus. He does not yet know that the soul is prepared for his coming and that the deadly psychological soul-to-soul confrontation in the Netherworld will be on eye level."

Short Film: THE BRINK

"THE BRINK" Directed by Ben Jendras of JuVee Productions

"THE BRINK" is a post-apocalyptic drama about a pair of survivors trapped on one side of a chasm.  One of the survivors is intent on crossing to the other side, but the other survivor insists that the attempt would be tantamount to suicide.  The pair clash as they unravel the truth of what has led them to the brink.

Humor: Club of the Near Future

"The Club of the Very Near Future" by The Very Near Future

A friend of mine recently traveled to a film festival at which a nearby café was seating bloggers and social media journalists for a speaking engagement according to their relative "reach."  I suspect that this is a trend that's going to gain traction in the future.

Humor: Shame is for the Weak

"Shame is for the Weak" by J.L. Westover of Mr. Lovenstein

Pretty much how my Thanksgiving weekend went.  Ate until I was sick, laid down for a rest, returned to grazing in the refrigerator until I was sick again.  I'm so glad Thanksgiving is a holiday.

Link Round-Up: Jessica Jones

Jessica Jones Fan Art Poster by Amrit Birdi

Produced at a Netflix event in Paris. Colours by Dee Cunniffe.

Interviews

Carrie-Anne Moss on her role in Jessica Jones: "Everything influences us"

David Tennant on Marvel's Jessica Jones, feeling sympathy for Kilgrave

David Tennant on Marvel's Jessica Jones and the pains of playing a psychopath

David Tennant Would Love Purple Man to be in an Avengers Movie

Gaming Round-Up: November 30, 2015

"Nintendo Origin" by Paris, France-based Demian Laudi

Cinemassacre brings us the trailer to the long-awaited film adaptation of the infamously terrible and bizarre Dr Jekyll and Mister Hyde for NES.

At Cyborgology, Stephanie Jennings argues that, while the lone hero trope used in Fallout 4 is both shallow and trite, it had its silver lining.  Meanwhile, Yussef Cole of Medium notes that the game’s emphasis on its 50’s aesthetic excludes the racial politics of the era.  Cole argues that while its refreshing to see a person of color play the role of protagonist without constant reference to race, the net effect is that the game whitewashes American history.

Endless Sky is a space trading and exploration game, dubbed as a spiritual successor to Escape Velocity. It's free to play, available for Windows, Mac, and Linux, completely open-source (GPLv3), and available on Steam.  Never heard of Escape Velocity?  Escape Velocity was a space trading and exploration game, originally released for the Macintosh in 1996, with additional installments in 1998 and 2002. It quickly developed a cult following, earning praise for its rich and expansive in-game universe.

Comic Round-Up: November 30, 2015

Spider-Man by Jakarta, Indonesia-based Iqnatius Budi

Interview: Bob Mankoff Thinks Cats Are Funnier Than Dogs

Interview: Charged Malaysian cartoonist Zunar vows to fight on as he receives CPJ Press Freedom Award

Interview: Gorillaz artist Jamie Hewlett unveils his first exhibition

Interview: Jessica Abel on Intersection of Comics and and the Limitations of Art

Link Round-Up: November 30, 2015

"Vader Down #1" by Aleksi Briclot

3D Print Your Own Replica of the Simpsons’ House Thanks to Cults 3D

Elliptical Pool: An Even Nerdier Sport Than Quidditch

Game of Thrones: What a new poster might tell us about Jon Snow

How to Fix Everything: "Normally if I purchase a hammer, if the head of the hammer falls off, I'm allowed to repair it" ... but not my iPad.

Junior high students battle it out at Lego robotics event

Rowling explains why Harry named child after Snape

Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining is one of the greatest horror movies of all time. However, Stephen King hates it. “Considered on its own, Kubrick’s film remains powerful and thrilling, the coldness deliberate and used to strong effect. But King’s reaction is understandable, even if it’s not a reaction audiences without his connection to the themes will share on general principle. He poured his heart out on the page and Kubrick ignored it. When the point is this personal, of course it will be frustrating when someone is praised for missing it.”

Whether you know the basic story or not, you may enjoy Mark Steel's lecture on Beethoven's life for its entertaining (and decidedly informal) presentation.

Humor: The Fatness

"The Fatness" by Andy Babbitz

Prints available for purchase from StoreEnvy. US$16

Save yourself, it's already too late for me!

Video Round-Up: November 27, 2015

"Mozart's Turkey March with Cranberry Sauce" by 1620 Media

A pair of slightly disembodied, rhythmic hands played a rousing rendition of Mozart‘s “Turkish March” using both the contents and the containers of canned cranberry sauce as instruments in a very creative Thanksgiving message from the folks at 1620 Media

1960s Soul Ballad Cover of Destiny’s Child’s ‘Say My Name’ - New Orleans-based singer, musician, and 2015 American Idol finalist Joey Cook and the Postmodern Jukebox Band perform Destiny's Child's 1999 R&B hit "Say My Name" in the style of a vocal harmony group from the 1960s.

The Best Fail Videos of November 2015 - Fail Army presents a cringe-inducing round up of the best of the worst fail clips that hit the internet during the month of November 2015.

Cokebacca - Add this to the long list of random objects that sound like Chewbacca from Star Wars.

Quick Pic: Dear Santa

"Dear Santa..."

Source: Imgur via Reddit

Outsourcing is an issue all over, even in the North Pole.

Humor: Thankgiving Survival Guide

"A Thankgiving Survival Guide" by Kalli Obermeyer

Step one achieved.

Comic Round-Up: November 27, 2015

"Batman Vs. Superman" by JP Valderrama

Interview: Carey Piersch is drawing an arc of Lumberjanes

Interview: Frank Miller Admits to Hating Superman

News: Marvel's Doctor Strange begins filming, reveals list of main cast

News: Pay what you want for The X-Files comics on Humble Bundle


Reviews: Waerloga69 on Witchblade #185.

The 30 best comic book writers for November 2015 

Link Round-Up: November 27, 2015

"CYBER suicide" by KonstantinBratishko

This 3D Printed Chess Set Was Designed to Teach Users How to Play Intuitively

The Atlantic recently ruffled some feathers when it argued that computer programmers shouldn’t call themselves engineers. “When it comes to skyscrapers and bridges and power plants and elevators and the like, engineering has been, and will continue to be, managed partly by professional standards, and partly by regulation around the expertise and duties of engineers. But fifty years’ worth of attempts to turn software development into a legitimate engineering practice have failed.”

I loved the Lord of the Rings movies but thought that the first Hobbit movie, which was a mess, albeit a slightly enjoyable mess. I’ve had little desire to watch the rest of the Hobbit series, though. And now, Peter Jackson confirms what we’ve always suspected: “Because Guillermo Del Toro had to leave and I jumped in and took over, we didn’t wind the clock back a year and a half… to design the movie, which was different to what he was doing… [A]s a result of it being impossible I just started shooting the movie with most of it not prepped at all.”

Jim Henson's early journals reveal some surprising back stories. 

Video Round-Up: November 26, 2015

"How to Carve a Perfect Turkey" by Action Movie Kid

James Hashimoto, the star of the ongoing video series “Action Movie Kid” carved his first Thanksgiving turkey with a light saber thanks to the wonderful talents of his father Daniel Hashimoto, who is an animator at Dreamworks.

Dolphins, Seal, and Whale Swim Alongside Small Fishing Boat  - While fishing with his father and friend off the coast of Phillip Island, Australia, Steve Boer filmed the surprising moment they were joined by not just dolphins, but a seal, and a whale as well.

Baby Donkey Dozes Off While Standing Up - Petunia, the twelve-hour-old baby donkey, struggles to stay awake while standing next to her mom. This cute video was filmed at the Midnight Rose Farm in Thompson, Ohio

Stock Imagination: Thanksgiving Dinner - Popular Vine users Landon Moss, Matt King, J.Cyrus, Steph Barkley, Eric Artell, and Will McFadden hilariously bring stock images to life in this special Thanksgiving episode of the new series, "Stock Imagination," by TBV2.

Ellie Goulding and James Corden Remix 'Love Me Like You Do’ - Late Late Show host James Corden and singer Ellie Goulding perform her 2015 hit song "Love Me Like You Do" in a variety of music styles, including rock, hip hop, reggae, country, and more.

Chicken Has Fun Riding a Roomba  - Catherine Bremner from Australia got quite a surprise when she discovered her chicken, named James, cruising around the living on her Roomba vacuum. Apparently, the silly bird wandered into the house and climbed onto the autonomous vacuum cleaner all by himself.

Humor: America Explained

"America explained to non-Americans" by Matthew Inman of The Oatmeal

Let's all take a moment to be thankful that, thanks to the magic of refrigeration, we don't actually have to look at things in order to eat them anymore.

Humor: Thanksgiving Facts

"Thanksgiving Fun Facts!" by Kevin Kuramura of Pear Shaped Comics

Humor: Turkey Thoughts

"Turkey Thoughts" by Jimmy of TheyCanTalk

Comic Round-Up: November 26, 2015

"Captain America" by Dave Seguin

Event: The Salt Lake City’s FanX spring event (March 24-26) just announced its first nerdlebrity guests

Interview: At a panel at North Carolina Comicon, Afua Richardson talked about her love of hip hop and the controversy that followed Marvel’s hip hop variant covers.

Interview: Gail Simone Guides 'Blockbuster Update' of Red Sonja

Interview: John Little talks about his graphic novel The Salesman, the story of a man bent on punishing excess consumption.

Interview: Malaysian cartoonist Zunar says he uses creativity to fight corruption, and that’s why his cartoons strike a nerve — and get him into trouble with the law.

Link Round-Up: November 26, 2015

Source: CIA Blog

Happy Turkey Day Everyone!

100 Best Photographs Taken Without Photoshop (or, at least, 100 pretty cool photographs that are well worth scrolling through if your turkey coma doesn't allow for any serious reading.)

Lesley Conner on The Rich World of SciFi Art.

Neil deGrasse Tyson Reads “Mean Tweets,” Then Patiently/Hilariously Responds.

Photographer Creates Realistic Star Wars Scenes in Lego.

The XKCD comic for 11/24/15 is this game. The goal seems to be collecting as many gold coins as you can and put them in a coin.. depositor. (Protip: you can keep pressing up to keep jumping up through the air. Hoverboard technology is sweet)  If you'd rather just browse around the map, you can use this one (everything tinted red can be passed through), or this one (which seems to be very slow). This image is the whole game space, which will ruin a lot of the surprise.

xkcd Tells Us How to Go to Space!

Video Round-Up: November 25, 2015

"Welcome To Night Vale Stars Re-Dub A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving"

What better way to get into Thanksgiving than by revisiting the classic A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving with the charming, charismatic voices of Welcome to Night Vale‘s Cecil and Carlos.

10 Hidden Details in Disney Films You Probably Didn’t Notice - Rob Flis from Screen Rant takes a look at some "easter eggs" and subtle references that were snuck into classic and modern animated Disney and Pixar films.

Adele, Jimmy Fallon, and The Roots Perform ‘Hello’ with Classroom Instruments - In this clip from tonight's episode of The Tonight Show, host Jimmy Fallon, The Roots, and renowned British singer Adele sing her latest hit single "Hello" while playing instruments you'd find in a grade-school classroom.

David Tennant Enthusiastically Explaining Einstein’s Theory of Relativity - The short animation “Einstein 100 – Theory of General Relativity” amusingly celebrates 100 years of Albert Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity. The film, which was animated by Eion Duffy, features actor David Tennant buoyantly explaining, in his beautiful Scottish lilt, how Einstein’s unhappiness with Sir Isaac Newton‘s “Law of Gravitation” led to the great physicist creating a more satisfying explanation of his own.

Video: HISHE does Fantastic Four

"Honest Trailer - Fantastic Four (2015)" by Screen Junkies

20th Century Fox's reboot of Fantastic Four franchise is perhaps the single most disappointing film of the last decade (you know, after we recovered from the body blow that was M. Night Shyamalan's career).

The new adaptation of Marvel’s first family was a sloppy mess that was so bad it wasn't even fun to laugh at.  It’s hard to find many redeeming qualities in this movie, especially with a finale that makes no sense at all, brought about by a villain who has no real motivation or depth, fighting some of the most boring iterations of superheroes ever seen on film, despite being played by some of the brightest young stars in Hollywood.  The honest trailer does suggest a silver lining, though.  A making-of featturette about the production would be fascinating.

Video: HISHE does Star Wars II

"How Attack Of The Clones Should Have Ended" by How It Should Have Ended

Daniel Baxter's "How It Should Have Ended" animated parody series humorously imagines some much more realistic alternate scenes from the 2002 Star Wars prequel film, Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones.

Quick Pic: Motivational Church Sign

"I found this church sign, highly motivational."

Source: Imgur via Reddit

When a church is made fun of by other churches you need to re-examine your choices, but this is a motto to live your life by.

Short Film: The Ramens

"The Ramens" Directed and Written by Adam R Brown of BullMoose Pictures

A father and son bond over ramen on a weekend hunting trip.

Short Film: Invaders

"Invaders" Written and Directed by Jason Kupfer

"Invaders" is a darkly humorous horror film that puts a holiday spin on the classic home invasion horror trope.  In it, a pair of home invaders consider their potential character choices just prior to their planned invasion.  They plan to break into a home and murder a family with a pair of axes, but things don't go quite the way that they had hoped.  The results are hilarious.

Humor: MORE life hacks

"EVEN MORE life hacks" of Imogen Quest

Number 9: Get an iPad

Sci-Fi Round-Up: November 25, 2015

"Friends" by J.C Park

Interviews

Fast Forward interviews Neal Stephenson, author of Seveneves.

Grim Tidings interviews Michael R. Underwood, author of The Shootout Solution.

Inverse interviews C.A. Higgins, author of Lightless.

Little Red Reviewer interviews Karina Sumner Smith, author of Towers Fall.

My Bookish Ways interviews J.S. Law, author of Tenacity.

The New York Times profiles XKCD’s Randall Munroe.

The Qwillery interviews Danie Ware, author of Ecko Endgame.

Reddit recently held an AMA for Felicia Day, author of You’re Never Weird on the Internet (Almost) and creator of The Guild.

VanityFair interviews George Lucas about Why He’s Done Directing Star Wars.

Comic Round-Up: November 25, 2015

"Iron Man" by Dave Seguin

Interview: Blogger Reed Beebe interviews the bloggers from The Dinglehopper about how they decoded the alien messages in Paper Girls.

Interview: Chris Mautner offers a transcription of his interview with Bill Griffith from the Small Press Expo, going in depth about Griffith’s new graphic novel Invisible Ink.

Interview: Dale Lazarov talks about his gay sex-positive comics.

Interview: Jeph Loeb Embraces 'Grounded Stories' of Marvel's Netflix Series

Interview: The Wall Street Journal interviewed Ben Katchor about a cartoonist’s take on Small Business.

Link Round-Up: November 25, 2015

Rey by China Blue Rockett

How Google Finally Got Design: Google’s transformation into a company that creates beautiful software is the story of how tech itself has evolved in the mobile era.

Infographic: The Color Wheel of Book and Movie Titles

Kieron Gillen on assembling some new Warhammer 40k miniatures

The knighthood of Star Wars is neither Galactic nor an Order. "In the Star Wars films, the Jedi Order and their Galactic Republic are an undemocratic, ineffective government maintained by a combination of religious awe and martial force. Nobody elected their Council - they noisily resent any outside input at all - yet each member of their entire order is a roving diplomat plenipotentiary, general, judge, and executioner. Their members are spirited away as toddlers, promised that they are chosen by a higher, ineffable power, and trained to act without emotion while training them in personal combat and the ability to telepathically manipulate "the weak-minded". They are trusted despite the fact that this power can corrupt - not only in the traditional way, but in a metaphysical one, transforming these unemotional, unaccountable warlord-judges into monstrous super-powered spree killers. "

Postable snail mails your holiday cards for you. You can write them on the website and they take care of the rest. The card collection is truly stellar with designers like Rifle Paper Co. and it’s all 100% recycled.

Set it and rock out to it; Spotify times playlists to your turkey's suggested cooking time.

Video Round-Up: November 24, 2015

"If People Who Sell Stuff Were Honest About Black Friday" by Cracked

Cracked imagines if retail stores were honest about “Black Friday”

100 Years of Beauty: Episode 14 - Americana Tattoo - In the 14th episode of their “100 Years of Beauty” series, Cut Video featured a brave model named Casey receiving eleven tattoos by artist Clae Welch, who masterfully recreated the iconic ink by specific artists of each decade.

Adele’s ‘Hello’ Sung in 25 Different Musical Styles - New York-based musician and musical impressionist Anthony Vincent of Ten Second Songs performs Adele's new hit single, "Hello," in twenty-five famous vocal styles, including Lionel Richie, Rod Stewart, Backstreet Boys, Lil Wayne, Guns N' Roses, Pink Floyd, and more.

Broad City - The Climb - Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer of Broad City celebrate Rise of the Tomb Raider by climbing a harrowing mountain and some scaffolding. The video combined shots of Jacobson and Glazer with actual gameplay footage, and the process can be seen in a behind-the-scenes video.

Video: World's Brightest Flashlight

"1000W LED Flashlight - Worlds Brightest (90,000 Lumens)" by rctestflight

Daniel Riley of Stratus Productions has built an intensely bright 1,000W LED flashlight capable of putting out 90,000 lumens. Riley posted a video explaining how he built the light and included a number of impressive examples of his light compared to other light sources like a commercial flashlight and car headlights.

Video: Tech Tats

"Chaotic Moon Studios - Tech Tats" by Chaotic Moon Studios

Tech Tats are a new category of biowearable technology that are applied directly to the skin like a temporary tattoo. Designer Eric Schneider explains the Tech Tat wearables being developed at Chaotic Moon Studios in a video produced by the company.

Video: R2-D2 and C-3PO Meet BB-8

"Star Wars The Force Awakens C-3PO & R2-D2 meet BB-8" by moviemaniacsDE

UK telecommunications services provider O2 has begun airing a new commercial which features our old trusty droid friends R2-D2 and C3PO, who are wandering the desert planet of Jakku in hopes of finding help. And help they find, in the form of BB-8, the new droid from Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The footage does not appear to be from the movie itself, but any droid-fanatics out there might find themselves in cuteness overload watching this new television spot.

Music Video: Pentatonix's Star Wars

"Pentatonix's Symphonic Star Wars Tribute" via RollingStone

Harrison Ford introduced a cappella group's John Williams-inspired performance at the awards show.  I love that BB-8 keeps turning around to look at the explosions!

Short Film: Competition

"Competition Minions Mini Movie" by 1973jovial

Ever since the premiere of Despicable Me there seem to be Minions everywhere you look!  The wildly popular characters have become even more popular since the release of the third installment in the franchise, Minions, which is slated to hit shelves today. 

The Minion mini movie is called "Competition," and it features two minions amusingly competing with each other. If you're a fan of these little yellow characters, then I'm sure you'll enjoy it.   There are also two other short films that will be included in the special features titled "Cro-Minion" and "Binky Nelson Unpacified."

Fan Film: Captain America 3: Nazi Zombies

"Lego Captain America 3: Nazi Zombies" by forrestfire101

You’ve got to check out this ultra-violent and blood-filled stop-motion animated LEGO short film called "Captain America 3: Nazi Zombies." It was created by Youtube user Forrestfire101 (aka Forrest Whaley), and it’s just as awesome as you hoped a film with this title would be.

It starts off with Captain America riding his motorcycle through a German city occupied by the Nazis. He ends up hitting a landmine that explodes, and he is knocked unconscious until nightfall. When he wakes up he finds himself surrounded by Nazi zombies he must battle to survive!

This needs to be adapted into a live action film ASAP!

Quick Pic: Happy Whatever...

"Happy Whatever..."

Source: Imgur via Reddit

Target finally calls it like it is.

Short Film: Post-Human

"Post-Human" Written & Directed by David Simpson for Post-Human Media

Post-Human is a scifi proof-of-concept based on the bestselling series of novels by David Simpson. Filmed over three hours by a crew of three, the short depicts the opening of Post-Human, giving viewers a taste of a world of immortality, onboard mental computers, nanotechnology, and even flight.  The concept was to try to replicate what a full-length feature would look and feel like by adapting the opening of Post-Human, right up to what would be the opening credits.

Comic Round-Up: November 24, 2015

"Batman" by Dan Mora

Interview: Dylan Taylor-Lehman talks to Jared of Super Fly Comics.

Interview:  Embattled Malaysian cartoonist Zunar came to the US

Interview: Smithsonian Magazine presents an interview with Francoise Mouly, publisher of RAW magazine and, recently, 2015 Ingenuity Awards recipient.

Interview: Stan Lee talks about his newest creation, Lucky Man

Link Round-Up: November 24, 2015

"Princess Mononoke" by Stephanie Kao
Created for the Spirit of the Wind: A Studio Ghibli Tribute Show.

Prints available for purchase from StoreEnvy.

A Cat Calendar To Make You Smile All Year Round In 2016

Choose Your Side With This Star Wars Makeover For Google Apps

A guide to No No's  When Drawing the Simpsons


Organization Porn: In Tokyo, An Art Supply Store With A Wall Stocked With Over 4,200 Pigments.  Orders can be made via Pigment’s online store.

Top Photography Mistakes to Avoid, As Told by Six Professionals

Video Round-Up: November 23, 2015

"Sea Wars Trailer" by CVN69 IKE

The crew of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, an aircraft carrier in the United States Navy, have created a great spoof of the Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailers that merges great special effects and naval activities in "Sea Wars: The IKE Awakens."

10 Things Canadians Don’t Know About Americans - Canadian writer and comedian Gavin McInnes shares ten (mostly accurate) unique American behaviors that he's observed while living in the U.S. for the past fifteen years.

Adele Enters an Adele Impersonation Contest in Disguise - In this clip from the recent BBC special, Adele at the BBC, host Graham Norton convinces the renowned British singer to go undercover as "Jenny" and enter an Adele impersonation contest.

Boy Gets the Hiccups While Singing Australian National Anthem - At a recent Australian baseball game, 7-year-old Ethan didn't let an ill-timed bout of hiccups interrupt his adorable rendition of the Australian national anthem.

Video: Hunger Games Facts

"7 MORE Things You (Probably) Didn’t Know About The Hunger Games!" by CineFix

So you think you know The Hunger Games series? Well I bet you don’t know these seven facts about the dystopian franchise.

Video: Todd Howard Facts

"Top 5 Todd Howard Facts You Probably Didn’t Know" by Gameranx

Todd Howard is the creative force behind Bethesda, the game studio responsible for Fallout and Elder Scrolls.  The man is very well known in geek circles, but here are five fun facts about Todd Howard we bet you didn’t know.

Video Essay: Exploring the Genre Frontier

"Serenity: Exploring the Genre Frontier" by Digging Deeper

Digging Deeper is a newly launched video channel that offers in-depth analysis on film topics.  In their latest video, they examine how Joss Whedon blends genres together in Serenity to create a very successful film.  In the course of the video, they juxtapose Serenity to old westerns to demonstrate some of the film's influences.

Video Essay: The Art of the Gag

"Buster Keaton - The Art of the Gag" by Every Frame a Painting

In his latest video, Every Frame a Painting host Tony Zhou closely examines how Buster Keaton masterfully executed his silent film gags and his influence on modern directors like Wes Anderson.

"Before Edgar Wright and Wes Anderson, before Chuck Jones and Jackie Chan, there was Buster Keaton, one of the founding fathers of visual comedy. And nearly 100 years after he first appeared onscreen, we’re still learning from him."

Short Film: Film is Fragile

"British Film Institute - Film is Fragile" by The Mill

Movie characters run as their world – the film itself – burns and melts. The Mill made this clever short film for the British Film Institute, a charity that restores British movie reels and archives them on discs and digital files.

Short Film: Wizard Cops

"Wizard Cops" by CorridorDigital

Corridor Digital and Andrewmfilms take us on a ride-along with some real police officers. But these guys don’t just have to deal with everyday criminals – they’ve gotta take down some baddies who possess magical powers. At least they’ve got some magic of their own.

Quick Pic: Stop Being Afraid

"If you don't get it, ask an American who does."

Source: Imgur via Reddit

The last few weeks... I dunno.  The threat of terrorist attacks frightens me, but it's the frightened politicians and talking heads that have been keeping me awake at night.  All of this talk in the news about gay marriage destroying family values, another Cold War with Russia looming on the horizon, compiling databases of Muslim Americans, and now, the rising specter of Japanese internment camps isn't the America I was taught about in school.

Short Film: Meat Locker

"Meat Locker" Written and Directed by Malcolm Badewitz

"Meat Locker" is a darkly humorous cautionary fable about the dangers of sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong.

"Something stinks in Charlie’s school locker, and a nosey bully is determined to find out what…"

Short Film: Time To Eat

"Time To Eat" Written and Directed by Luke Asa Guidici

After being sent to timeout, a mischievous boy’s trip to the basement leads to a monstrous revelation.  Visit timetoeatfilm.com for more, including special behind-the-scenes content.

Humor: Clothes make the Man?

"The clothes make the man?" by Shen of Owlturd Comix

Said every fan of the Game of Thrones ever.  What makes suits feel even weirder is that from ages ten to twenty-two absolutely everyone could tell that I was thinking about dragons from they way I dressed.  Now, I just feel like my tie is a lie.

Humor: Too Much Computer

"Too Much Computer" by Gregor Czaykowski of LoadingArtist.com

In high school, my parents used to complain about my computer-rooted obliviousness non-stop. About two years back, my parents got a matching pair of tablets, though, and ever since, they don't hear anything that hasn't been repeated at least three times.

News Round-Up: November 15 - 21

Source: Vitaedesign

How Americans Show Support For France

	Climbing Toward the World’s First Rope-less Elevator System Almost one year ago, elevator manufacturer ThyssenKrupp announced its plans to develop the world’s first rope-free elevator, MULTI, which promised to convey building occupants not only vertically, but horizontally, as well. Now, it boasts the first fully functional model, and it’s working and moving as planned. Unveiled yesterday at the ThyssenKrupp Innovation Center in Spain, the 1:3-scale model features a pair of 32-foot-high shafts shared by four cabs to demonstrate linear motor technology, which is based on magnetic levitation (Maglev) trains. Source: Architizer
	These Cities Of The Future Would Be Built Entirely Of Bamboo What if cities were surrounded by pollution-sucking bamboo forests, and built from bamboo instead of steel? ... As the plant grows—as much as a foot a day—it acts like an air purifier, generating up to 35% more oxygen than a similar stand of trees, while absorbing the same amount of carbon dioxide. As it's harvested, it automatically regrows without being replanted. And in a building, it's two to three times stronger than a steel beam of a similar weight. Source: Fast Co. Exist

Gaming Round-Up: November 23, 2015

"Star Hunters" by Marcelo Garcia

At Not Your Mama’s Gamer, Alex Layne looks back at the role of food in games.

Brendan Keogh imagines Videogames Without Players.

Every Wednesday for the past ten weeks, Polygon has been recording a different designer putting together commenting on, and playing through an all-new level in Super Mario Maker in their video series "Devs Make Mario."

Fallout 4 has already been out in the wild for 8 days and it's already ruining life.

Following the recent news that Ubisoft and Bethesda have blacklisted Kotaku, Ars Technica's Kyle Orland discusses the way games journalists and PR relate today's ever-changing news landscape.  How can game journalists be honest when that honesty may mean being left out of the loop on the next big new cycle?  Stephen Beirne explains how games criticism is like cooking a roast chicken dinner.

Comic Round-Up: November 23, 2015

Invincible Ironman Issue 1 Variant Cover by Alex Maleev

Interview: Alex Abad-Santos calls Marvel editor Sana Amanat “the Shonda Rimes of Marvel Comics”; she’s the editor of Captain Marvel, Hawkeye and Ms. Marvel, all of which break away from the usual comics tropes.

Interview: Marc Guggenheim Channels Bond to Bring "Agents of SHIELD" from TV to Comics

Interview: Movie News Guide profiles Sana Amanat

Interview: TCJ interview with the late Denny Eichhorn

Interview: Webcomic Spotlight with Gunnerkrigg Court Creator Tom Siddell 

Interview: Writer Kelly Sue DeConnick and artist Emma Ríos talk about their series Pretty Deadly, which launched its second arc this week.

Link Round-Up: November 23, 2015

Major Motoko Kusanagi by Chrissie Zullo

5 web design takeaways from 2015

For fourteen years, Snuffleupagus was the urban legend of Sesame Street -- Big Bird's even bigger friend only ever interacted with him, and their attempts to convince the adults of the Street always ended in humorous failure. But then the writers realized that Snuffleupagus needed to be seen.  The fear was that if we represented adults not believing what kids said, they might not be motivated to tell the truth. That caused us to rethink the storyline: Is something we’ve been doing for 14 years—that seemed innocent enough—now something that’s become harmful?

Help Kickstart This Beautiful Leonardo da Vinci-Themed Board Game

If Classical Paintings Were Created During Modern Times

Interactive Electric Cloud Installation Made of 6000 Light Bulbs

Stephanie Pui-Mun Law is a painter and illustrator of fantastical art or as she puts it - painted reality.

What print design teaches us about UX

Video Round-Up: November 20, 2015

"The Hunger Games in 3 Minutes" by Mashable

Catch up on 'The Hunger Games' trilogy, or quadrilogy, or, rather, trilogy with a two-part third installme-- forget it. The Hunger Games franchise. Catch up on The Hunger Games  as Mashable recaps the entirety of The Hunger Games franchise in three minutes in their latest TL;DW video.

Four Otters Have a Cuddle Party - A family of four cute oriental small-clawed otters have an adorable cuddle party while relaxing on a swinging hammock at the Sunshine Aquarium in Tokyo, Japan.

Harrison Ford Surprises Star Wars Fans with Big News… for Charity - Harrison Ford and Omaze recently teamed up to surprise Star Wars fans on Skype. After popping in on the fans’ live chat, Ford announces a new Star Wars: The Force Awakens charity auction that will “present two winners with tickets for them and three guests each to attend the premiere of Star Wars: The Force Awakens in either Los Angeles or London, walk the red carpet, and meet the cast.”

An Inside Look at the New Wizarding World of Harry Potter - The conductor of the Hogwarts Express gives an inside look at some of the attractions of the village of Hogsmeade at the new Wizarding World of Harry Potter attraction opening at Universal Studios Hollywood in Spring 2016.

Jennifer Lawrence Reveals Her Most Embarrassing Moments - On last night's episode of The Tonight Show, host Jimmy Fallon and actress Jennifer Lawrence talked about some of their worst public embarrassments.

Short Film: Oh Willy...

"Oh Willy..." by Emma De Swaef and Marc James Roels

"Oh Willy..." is a dark comedy shot as a stop-motion film. The film features a rather unique visual style through the use of a cast of wool dolls.

Quick Pic: The Cthurkey

"The Cthurkey" by OMGamIImguringCorrectly

Behold The Cthurkey, An Octopus-Stuffed Turkey With Crab Legs

Humor: Lies Designers Tell

"Lies designers tell their clients" by Creative Market

Really, these could apply to anyone in the technology sector, but they're particularly accurate if you're a graphic designer.

Comic Round-Up: November 20, 2015

"Thanos" by Blake Henriksen

Event: DC Comics-Inspired LEGO Art Exhibit Opens

Interview: Anne Ishii interviews Adrian Tomine in depth about his new collection of short graphic stories, Killing and Dying.

Interview: Hunger Games' Amandla Stenberg comes to Comics with "Niobe"

Interview: Kelly Sue DeConnick talks about Bitch Planet (“It’s a book very few people have middling feelings about, you know?”), Pretty Deadly and Captain Marvel.

Interview: Tillie Walden, creator of The End of Summer and I Love This Part, talks about her work and the emotional response it evokes.

Link Round-Up: November 20, 2015

"Captain Phasma" by Robin H.

The 7 Best Philip K. Dick Stories That Haven’t Been Turned Into Movies

272 pages of names suitable for almost any improvised game or story: names for biker gangs and surf guitar bands, names for gnolls and gun molls, names for Swedish smugglers and names for Shetland Islanders, names for Miskatonic students and names for people who are almost, but not quite, British. All names arranged in twenty-item tables for D20 convenience.  The Story Games Names Project was produced as a group effort by the Story-Games forum. There's a free app version of the book available for Android.

A graphic history of Typewriter

One Artist. One Cat. Twelve Iconic Art Styles

"Turning the concept of authenticity on its head, genuine forgeries — whether created with the intention of deceiving or not — are riding the crest of the art-scene zeitgeist, and commanding sums in excess of figures fetched by the so-called ‘original greats’ " - The Fake's Progress by Stuart Husband