Summertime! Time to be Lazy.

Yay, summer!
...Well. It's not entirely warm out, yet, but school is officially Out.
This seems like the perfect time to drop some sweet links (while we wait for the sidewalks to warm up to Frying level).

To get us started, here's a video (commercial for Zune, apparently, but that's not important) that combines two of my favorite things: Puppets and Zombies. Rock.

Keeping the video ball rolling, so to speak, here is a fan remake of the lightcycle (that's what those were called, right?) scene from Tron. Oh papercraft; oh Internet. I love you both.

From The Ten Most Insane, Child-Warping Moments of 80's Cartoons:

Naked Thundercats. Is it just me, or is that Thundercats intro pretty frickin' awesome?
Check that animation!

And hey, while you're wasting the nice weather inside, why not play some God-Damned videogames?

Dino Run is all about running away from the dinosaur version of the apocalypse. Run, dino, run!
Also there is some nifty upgrading involved (the eggs and critters are collectibles).

Mubbly Tower is worth the annoying site it's on (well, I guess YoYo Games has SOME nifty properties, such as built-in Accomplishments in Flash games(!), but you still have to sign up and log in). It is a combination of tower defense (which I don't really like) and... Triptych, I guess (which I really, really do). The smiles of those oddly-shaped blocks are so endearing.

Also check out Karoshi 2.0, a puzzle game about killing oneself (you must figure out how!). An art game if I ever saw one. Have I seen one? I believe I have.

Knuckleheads is a clever little platformer wherein you control a pair of chained-together Mexican wrestler heads. It also features the "use the appropriate form (in this case, the correctly-colored head) to destroy the enemies" mechanic. I dig the surrealism.

Want to do something to benefit mankind, but not move too far from your comfy computer chair?
Why not play games... FOR SCIENCE?!
FoldIt is an online, ranked puzzle game that has you trying to find the best method of folding proteins. Doesn't pique your interest? Maybe the sleek-as-hell aesthetic will:

Is this what all Science is like? Probably.

Monster's Den is basically a Flash version of FastCrawl (also, unlike FastCrawl, it is free).
Are you down with simplified dungeon exploring, battle strategy, and loot-gettin'? I would bet that you are down.

Brute Wars has a similar battle mechanic, but is more about finding the perfect combination of creatures... sort of Pokemon-style. Level cap is at 50, which I found... well, low.

Naruto Arena lets you battle Internet Strangers (also a similar mechanic... I guess I'm into the party-based, simplified strategy right now) for the title of Biggest Anime Geek. Kinda fun.

Hm. Speaking of simplified, party-based strategy, Penny Arcade recently released their first-ever videogame, entitled On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness. I tried the demo out, and I don't know whether it was the incredible adventure-style flavor text and NPC conversations or the customizable avatar or the Lovecraft-meets-steampunk setting or what, but last night those Silly Bitches got my money. Now there are mimes everywhere, I'm out twenty bucks, and I'm tickled silly. My rake is golden.

I Scribble, You Scribble

(Collaboration with Alyssa Sturzl)

iScribble is a free multi-user drawing/chatting application. It is fun!

Commencement Speech.

So, folks: Looks like I've finally ended my stay at the University of Wisconsin: Milwaukee.
Graduated with a Photography B.F.A., a Digital Arts and Culture Certificate, and Honors yesterday at 9 in the morning on three hours of sleep (having been to a live-mic attic party complete with a live chicken in a box the evening before). I think it's appropriate, at this point, to quote a great poet of the ages in celebration of this milestone:

"I don't free style I wear clothes that fit
I don't flip burgers I'm a college graduate
You can hardly handle it so go ask your analyst
I'm the catalyst that moistens the panties of management"

-M.C. Chris

I will soon be posting select photos from said graduation, along with some from my Thesis Show at the ArtBar, plus, as a bonus, some links and material that are actually interesting and relevant.

Cool Beans.

Blu Man

MUTO a wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo.

An incredible graffiti animation from street artist Blu, who happens to have an appropriately-nifty website.

Make Trees, Not War

The latest (and last, at least for the semester... well, for college) version of the Treemaker is up.
This one works. I added a lot of slickness, though I'm sure there is more to be added.
However, it might be just about time to begin Tree Fight!

Status Check: Portfolios, Pirates, and Madd Propps

Haven't posted in a couple weeks, due mostly to the fact that I've been finishing up my Photography Portfolio series, The Uneventful Life of Arturio von Anglebanger.
I'm having the finished pieces printed up as Art-trading-cards (with slick designs and spiffy little story blurbs on the back) to be sold for cheap at my Photo Portfolio show (Friday, May 16th at the ArtBar). [Side note: the ArtBar is a nice little cafe/bar in Riverwest that makes up a tasty Bloody Mary. Worth a visit.] They'll also be projected in a fancy-pants manner; too bad the maximum resolution I could get them made into slides with was around a third of the images' actual size. But cool beans anyhow!

I shall be dressed as a luchadore. Come say "Hello!"

Also of note: I've received some official Props for my One Thousand Pardons series, in the form of a Frederick R. Layton BFA Award! Not sure how many beans that's worth yet, but hopefully it'll buy me some hard drives and Pirate cards. The award was presented to me at the UWM BFA show yesterday evening, and was definitely a surprise... I arrived at the gallery to see the back of a circle of people clapping.

Oh, and another thing: If you happen to play ForumWarz, that nifty browser-based Internet Simulation RPG, look me up sometime.

Outrunning the Many-Booted Mantiwheel

In water it might’ve been different, but I knew as soon as I heard the Mantiwheel’s secondary pistons fire up that I’d have no chance on land. Still, ditching the satchel was an even-less-palatable option than having my head devoured by a giant Dictyoptera; I’d have to bank, once again, on Trickery.

(From The Uneventful Life of Arturio von Anglebanger)

Discovering the Breeding Grounds of the Elusive Octophants

There they were, at long last: A seething mass of groping Trunktacles met my vision as I timidly pushed aside the tall grass. The squirming appendages stretched over the forest canopy and out of my sight… They must’ve gone on for miles. I could see the aesthetic appeal, but a tourist attraction this was not; a brief glance at one of these hulking creatures confirmed its status as an Engine of War unto itself.

(From The Uneventful Life of Arturio von Anglebanger)

Wrestling the Clawless Crabboth for Kingship of the Seas

Now, I’ll admit the Crabboth had a weight advantage. A strength advantage, too! His slimy digits nearly ripped the face-chamber from my Tank-Suit before I could utilize my own advantage: A Merman with a detonator and no fear of Death! Herman was circling around, I knew, but this knowledge did little to calm my nerves as the first tiny leak sprung…

(From The Uneventful Life of Arturio von Anglebanger)

Raiding the Tomb-Cities of the Long-Departed Molanic Tribes

I entered the cavern and found the source of the light: A vast underground city, in which stood Streetlamps, still ablaze after untold centuries! ‘What fuel,’ I wondered, ‘would burn so brightly, so long unattended?’ The answer, of course, was ‘None;’ the caretakers of the lamps had never left…

(From The Uneventful Life of Arturio von Anglebanger)

Scratching Love Poems into the Cornea of the One-Eyed Airwhale

As I readied my chisel for another blow, I imagined something new in that huge, unblinking eye. These weren’t tears of regret or mourning, they were tears of joy- and Damned if my chest didn’t swell up to popping as I heard the beast burst into a warbling cry of appreciation! The old man had been right after all.

(From The Uneventful Life of Arturio von Anglebanger)

Surviving the Contained Muppocalypse of Hooperdunk Village

Of course I had taken the time to check each of the windows, but the incorrigible little bastards were getting in anyway! Most likely a poor job done by he that cobbled together the fortification. The Homunculi weren’t bright, but they could track meat for miles… These two were honing in on a package of half-frozen “Beefy Man” Ham Shank Franks. They would come to regret their hunger.

(From The Uneventful Life of Arturio von Anglebanger)

Manning the Snailobster Shack with Herman the Merman

Herman was affable as ever, but I found my mind drifting to the Ethereal. As I had a harder time leaving the shack, Herman was often the one sent off on errands- leaving me to hold the place together. When the Horgathon came by for his weekly meal, I was often out back, lazily waxing our impish charges. The Horgathon is not to be trifled with, as I soon found.

(From The Uneventful Life of Arturio von Anglebanger)

Riding a Nuclear Dragon into the Last Star in the Universe

We saw that burning tear in the Void unfurl before us, and it was full-speed ahead from there… A wave of heat washed over me as the star sputtered out its death rattle. My teeth tingled and tasted of ash and banana peel, and I felt my fingers cramp up. This one, too, would soon die.

(From The Uneventful Life of Arturio von Anglebanger)