Monday, February 28, 2005

Optimus Prime Dies of Prostate Cancer

This is a brilliant bit of PR.

Godspeed Robot Chicken.

posted by Gavin Purcell @ 10:30 PM 0 comments

Boondocks Banned

The following strip was banned today from the Chicago Tribune.



The following strip ran as is:



Which is the greater tragedy?

McGruder rules.

posted by Gavin Purcell @ 9:28 PM 0 comments

Sunday, February 27, 2005

Blink + American Idol = Great

Okay, if you haven't read Blink, go get it.

Malcom Gladwell's writing reminds me of the best parts of the blogshpere, like he's personally showing me new stuff all the time.

At times even better than The Tipping Point, Blink has Gladwell 'thin slicing' his way to a better understanding of quick (read: unconscious) decisions and the scientific acualities behind those decisions. It's truly a fasciating read and I can't reccomend it highly enough.

One of the things he talks about in the book is a couple of psychiatrists who have studied the muscles in human faces to the point that they are able to read the minds of those that they study. Boing Boing just posted something cool about these guys and you can read more about it there.

So the other night, I was watching American Idol (no regrets, it may be some of the most interesting television being made right now, truly exposing pure emotion for better or for worse) and I paused the picture to get up and go get some thing from the kitchen. When I came back, my wife was laughing. A lot. I glanced at the TV as saw that this one girl had a look on her face I'd never seen on American Idol. This girl (I can't remember which one; at this point in the show it doesn't really matter anyway) had turned towards the girl next to her and looked like she was literally about to spit on her. Imagine the feeling you get when someone picks their nose directly infront of you. It was one of those.

We laughed and then pushed play and wow what a difference a split second made. Literally, a milisecond later the girl's disgust switched to a brilliant smile and she reached up to hug the girl with what looked like genuine affection. I say 'looked like' because without the pause I never would've caught it. We rewound the scene and watched the whole thing play out in real time. Nothing but smiles and happiness.

Suddenly we had a new game and a whole new way to watch TV. Do it for yourself. You won't believe it. Tonight's Academy Awards were a whole different experience.

Oh one last thing about this. You'll have more fun with high def programs.

posted by Gavin Purcell @ 9:28 PM 0 comments

Saturday, February 12, 2005

I'm A Robot

When music videos are done right, they can transcend both the track and the visuals.

I give you "Scent of a Robot".

And I'm programmed not to know.

posted by Gavin Purcell @ 12:16 PM 0 comments