Go Zags!! and such

With decidedly mediocre years from UT and FSU, I fully expect you bastards on the Gonzaga bandwagon. At least until they get unceremoniously bounced in the second round. Someone tell Dave the Saints aren't playing, he needs to get with his Spokanoid heritage.

Above design a Poobah original, by the way. Let's hope it goes viral and as many as 5-10 people see it.

More Brains

If you're a fan of Return of the Living Dead - and who isn't? - you'll want to watch this documentary that has somehow remained on YouTube an entire month! So get to it quick. And send ... more ... paramedics ...

Happy End of Days!

See you bastards in the hazy cosmic jive!

Humans Can Fly

Any you bastards breaking out your wingsuits this weekend?

First skydiver to land safely without a chute.

Yar! Piratenpartei Deutschland!

It was only a matter of time. After Sweden saw a pirate seated in parliament in 2009, the pirate party made inroads into German government. Representing up to 13% of the population, it may now be the third largest paarrrrrrrty in Germany.
Initially concerned with intellectual property issues, the movement has recently begun to include government transparency. [Which is undoubtedly code for wenches and grog.]
They've won 13 seats in Berlin state parliament as well as 4 seats in the Western Saarland region. The story.

"Make no mistake, the biggest reason voters are flocking to the Pirates is that they’re disillusioned with the opaque deal-making and elite hierarchies of traditional politics. The Pirate movement on the other hand is very much born of the internet, with its open nature, ever-shifting meritocracy and low barriers to entry for new ideas. The goofiness of net humour is there in force — Pirates have been known to turn up to Berlin’s parliament in fancy dress — but the message is serious, and it is taken seriously."

Yup, It's Bullshit

I saw this story on Today this morning, reported as fact. A fascinating Gizmodo article explains how CGI artists can tell it's fake when most people can't.

Eleven ILM employees weigh in ...

"Bad physics, shaky cam with bad focus (always a giveaway) and the most steady head I've ever seen on a guy flapping his arms in order to not break every bone in his body. FAKE."

"The wing-loading is crazy. ,,Also, a major purpose of a tail on a bird or airplane is to counter-act the forward pitching moment of the wing. If you could get your weight down to about 50 pounds for those wings, you would still find yourself rolling forward. Straight-wing flying wings need a specific twist, or large dihedral, to maintain stable flight (both of which kill lift). The configuration in the video is prone to gerbilling.,,I think the animation cycle on the figure is borrowed from the monkeys in Wizard of Oz."

And a "heavyweight CGI alum" ...

I've been in CG for 15 years, and worked at some of the largest studios like ILM and Weta Digital. This is 100% without a doubt a digital composite, which is great! When I saw this video I was happy to see that somebody really took the time to integrate good CG into a viral video. So many hackneyed attempts are passed around, and this one really stands out. A lot of people have been fooled, so I thought I'd show how trained Hollywood visual effects artists can spot CG when ley people can't. The ILM guys that pointed out the crappy footage were right - that's what covers 90% of the problems. You actually WANT bad footage to put CG into, because the shaking covers many mistakes.