Absolutely Fascinating

The following video is a debate at Wellington College (this is part 1 of 10). It is actually quite fascinating that this kind of a debate can even take place - let alone have so many articulate people in one place in time.

One of those... "artsy fartsy" games:

So, I first saw this over on reddit and thought it was so incredibly awesome that I had to share it with the "Dante" itself. It's free, it's simple, it has good music and story elements....well just see for yourself!

http://www.gamesfree.com/game/company_of_myself.html

I really liked the ending. Not only was it a fun level, but the epilogue was great! It's very Braid-esque, but I think it takes that mechanic and does some really fascinating stuff. I especially like the levels where you don't just use the shadow, but the shadow uses you.

The Gorthax: Epilogue

~ FIN ~

My Friends,

A Whale.



Sperm Whale - The best bloopers are a click away

The Gorthax: Act V

(I'll not surrender my typing colour! You'll have to pry it from my cold preferably not-dead hands!)

Herman "The Man" van Rompuy

The EU has found a new leader, and that leader is an obscure, bald, intellectual Belgian man with an awkward surname. Or, in other words: the EU has found its perfect leader. Personally, having lived in the European Union for several months last year and having been forced to sit in on numerous explanatory meetings in Strasbourg as well as Brussels on the inner-workings on the world's most bureaucratic supranational governmental body, I think I came to understand the EU fairly well. Having been at one point or another in 22 of the 27 member states, I feel as though I am least moderately informed of and aware of the significance of the EU, and fairly cognisant of its finer, more subtle operations. If nothing else, however, I am totally aware of what I like to think of as the zeitgeist of the EU; of its soul, its essence, its core, the feeling that it communicates, both to Americans and to Europeans, and I feel as though the apparent conciliatory selection of Van Rompuy to what is in theory the highest office in the land is wholly consistent with that zeitgest. Van Rompuy is an intelligent, multilingual, shrewd politician, he is educated and fair, and he is a brilliant negotiator. He is also bald, short, ineffectual, and Belgian. Thus, he will do his job well, but nobody will care, and the EU will go on much as it has for the past couple of decades. Except perhaps slightly more smoothly, and with a face to show the world. The face of Herman Van Rompuy.

The name, by the way, is pronounced ROM-poy, as one would be inclined to pronounce a good Belgian name (Flemish, in this case). For the record, I think Belgium is a wonderful country, and I sincerely appreciate Van Rompuy's diplomatic prowess that was integral in maintaining the national integrity of the modern Belgian state, which would surely have splintered without his leadership. Perhaps this speaks more to the man's potential than anything else, and perhaps it is qualification enough for him to lead the EU, which is, similarly to Belgium, a multicultural, heterogeneous political entity, unified for the sheer sake of the economic benefit that necessarily follows closer cooperation. So well many political people will suggest that the Van Rompuy presidency represents a failure on the part of the EU to assert itself on the world stage, I say it represents a choice wholly consistent with everything the EU has done to date. Personally, I am rather excited about it. A brave new day has not dawned; rather, a normal, average day, the same as many others before it, has taken its place in history as "today." Europe is not the reactionary place it once was. In many ways, it is too cool select a cool leader. So kudos to the EU, and kudos to Mr Van Rompuy. I eagerly anticipate the modest work that you'll probably do at some point.

"Todd and I love Unprotected Sex"

Sarah Palin is a real, live American hero that we should all be more grateful for. She is a beautiful, gifted, articulate woman who stands up for real American values. She's not just another dime-store politician with a Harvard JD and slicked-back hair like the Liberal elites running our country (Obama has the Harvard JD; Biden has the slicked-back hair). Sarah Palin is a real middle-class woman, a woman from humble origins, a woman with beautiful family, and a woman with a good old-fashioned appreciation of the true American way. Sarah Palin is the quintessential "American woman" in every sense. A devoutly religious individual, Palin could certainly teach those Godless commies in the Senate a thing or two about to whom we are all ultimately accountable, about whom we should be ever-mindful when we're so preoccupied with filthy, sordid dealings. Sarah Palin is unwavering and steadfast in her views, and is a tremedously virtuous and highly moral woman in the face of great adversity. She is a real Christian. In an age of cheap thrills and quick fixes, Palin serves as a beacon of piety and devotion to one's country, a devotee of the same sort of sophisticated ideas and systems of values to which we should all strive to make the base of our own moral compasses, of our own lives.


Or so I thought, until I saw this on Conan last  night. Now that's all out the window.


(There's a commercial first.)

Presumably a Good Thing

The "Dante" Forums brings you "breaking news." Apparently, the Senate Health Bill is cool according to the CBO. In a reasonable world, this is a good thing. But we don't really live in a reasonable world. I'm eagerly anticipating learning how this'll get irrevocably screwed up. Thanks for the cynicism, Pereira. 

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

The Best of Beards

For as long as the internet has been a series of tubes and not a big truck, beardophiles have been posting their freestyle creations.

And for equally as long, there has been a clear cut winner. I speak of the famous, windmill beard.

Today, history is made.

It took almost twenty years to surface, but I think we can all agree that a champion in the beardosphere has emerged.





Fx, you have some catching up to do.

Visualising the Decline of Empires

Visualizing empires decline from Pedro M Cruz on Vimeo.


This was on Boing Boing this morning, and I rather liked it, and thought you all would as well, but I am increasingly ill as of late, and I have loads of work to do before my Sunday departure date, and so have little to else to say today.


Shalom.