David Attenborough Quote of the Day

"I don't run a car, have never run a car. I could say that this is because I have this extremely tender environmentalist conscience, but the fact is I hate driving."

Stephen Hawkin calls for Moon and Mars colonies

Stephen Hawking called for a massive investment in establishing colonies on the Moon and Mars in a lecture in honour of NASA's 50th anniversary. He argued that the world should devote about 10 times as much as NASA's current budget – or 0.25% of the world's financial resources – to space.

The renowned University of Cambridge physicist has previously spoken in favour of colonising space as an insurance policy against the possibility of humanity being wiped out by catastrophes like nuclear war and climate change. He argues that humanity should eventually expand to other solar systems.

But in a speech in Washington, DC, US, delivered in honour of NASA's 50th anniversary in 2008, Hawking focused on near-term possibilities, backing the space agency's goals of returning astronauts to the Moon by 2020 and sending humans to Mars soon after that.

The Moon is a good place to start because it is "close by and relatively easy to reach", Hawking said. "The Moon could be a base for travel to the rest of the solar system," he added. Mars would be "the obvious next target", with its abundant supplies of frozen water, and the tantalising possibility that life may have been present there in the past.

Full article here.

Mapping climate change

click for bigger

"I just came across this world map by Worldmapper on the new BBC Green website. The map looks pretty distorted, because each country has been resized to show the amount of greenhouse gas emissions it is responsible for.

The map factors in emissions of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide, which account for 98% of the greenhouse effect.

The countries that emit the most greenhouse gases are the United States, China, the Russian Federation and Japan. No surprises there. The UK doesn’t come off too well either. However, the most emissions per person are in Qatar: equivalent to 86 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year. Qatar has significant oil and gas reserves, and in 2002 was populated by 600,000 people. (In case you’re wondering Qatar is in the green section between a very skinny Africa, and India.)

Here’s how the world looks by land area, so you have a comparison:

What the BBC site doesn’t show, is another Worldmapper map - this one shows the world by carbon emissions decreases - an altogether different picture! Here the fatter the country, the bigger the decrease."

Story taken directly from here.

Mitsuru

Persona 3's Mitsuru Kirijou statue by Kotobukiya. Mine has a better base than this!

Chiho Aoshima

I just thought that I'd mention this amazing Japanese artist.

"Chiho Aoshima is a CG artist who creates her unique and extraordinary world through manipulation of Bezier curves, a feature of the computer software Adobe Illustrator. She constructs her works with such elements as bodily fluids, reptiles, insects, and old, concrete buildings. Chiho Aoshima's art works are audaciously enlarged and printed by heavy-duty printers, not only onto papers but also onto leather and plastic surfaces, giving her works the sense of transcendence of both art and illustration." - Chiho Aoshima.com


Some examples of her work:

These people make me hate the Wii even more

What turds.

How the existence of the Gameboy Micro eluded me

In modern terms, I am relatively new to the world of gaming. I didn't have any consoles growing up and the nearest I got to gaming at home was 3D Movie Maker and The Oregon Trail on my Windows 95 PC.

Having recently aqcuired a Nintendo DS, then finding a Gamecube cheap on eBay and then being leant a PS2, suddenly I've gone into game overdrive. The likelihood of me getting excited and making myself sick has increased since I've been able to sit in my lounge and look around at all the many fun game options I now have. But it was Zelda: Minish Cap that started it all. The heady days of sharing a flat with my sister and spending hours every night huddled around the tiny screen of my nephew's GBA, absorbed in the wonderful new world of Zelda. That was only 5 years ago.

So it comes as little surprise I suppose that I had never heard of the Gameboy Micro. But why had none of my friends either? Most of them have been gaming since they were kids and have probably, between them, played on every console out there. But still - they hadn't heard of such a thing as a Gameboy Micro. And yet, here it is:


















Mysterious...

My new toy

My friends and boyfriend bought me a Kaoss Pad mini for my birthday and it's awesome. At least that's one less piece of equipment I borrow...

Sir David Attenborough Quote of the Day

In an exclusive interview with Alan Titchmarsh in Saving Planet Earth - Live, David Attenborough said "How can we look our grandchildren in the eye and say 'I didn't bother?'"

**SPOILER** The real Ico ending **SPOILER**

Q: In the case of the ending of Ico, some people have said that finding Yorda on the beach or waking up on the beach is in fact the afterlife. I say that it's not, but the final words uttered by Yorda make me unsure of what to think in terms of the meaning of the ending. Can you clarify?

Ueda: If there is a meaning, then it's Ico's dream. It's over, and it's really over at that point, but in the ship Ico is dreaming. He wishes he could see Yorda one more time. I guess that's the real meaning.

So there you go. Full interview here.

Katamari crochet




















I found these on Etsy but they sold out ages ago unfortunately...

A WoW romance

Lego art






















Sorry for the SotC overload...

Katamari/SotC Cross-over

Shadow of the Colossus

Just like Ico this game is a 'must-play'. Contrary to Ico's quiet and subtle puzzle gameplay, SotC is an epic battle taking on boss after boss after boss. The bosses are huge structures/creatures/entities(?) called Colossi that roam the land and it's your job to take all sixteen of them down. You play as 'Wander' a young man who has come to this land drawn by a legend, one that says there might be someone there who is able to bring his beloved back from the dead. He's in luck - the disembodied occupant of the local temple offers to help him, on the condition that he can track down and destroy all sixteen colossi. With the help of his trusty horse, Agro and his magical sword which directs him to each colossi, he sets about to complete his mission.

Colossus 3 'Gaius' The Knight

Shadow of the Colossus retains the beauty of Ico with it's breathtaking washed-out landscape and ancient ruins. It might be a very simple game to play, offering just two weapons to choose from, but each colossi is a puzzle to solve, as you work out how to take him down. You must play this game.

For more info about this game visit the official site here.

Read an awesome article about the game here.

Sir David Attenborough Quote of the Day




















"Oh my capacity for guilt is enormous. I'm all the time thinking I'm not doing the things I should be doing, not doing enough of it, or I said I'd be vice-president of something or other, and what have I done? Nothing."

Not sure I agree with that Sir David.

Bomberman II

We will beat you eventually - you know who you are.

Katamari comic


























Click for bigger.

Found here.

Cosplay

Ico

"At a moment when cheap visual fluff is all too often framed by derivative game mechanics, ICO stands sound and elegant." - Gamespot UK




















If you've been playing too much Bomberman II and need something more relaxing and easier on the eyes, this game is for you.

The game opens with long cut scenes that set the story in motion: a young boy with bull horns on top of his head is shown being put inside some kind of tomb by his fellow adult villagers. By chance, a seismic fluctuation breaks open his tomb a short while later, freeing him. Upon his escape he comes across a beautiful young girl trapped inside a cage at the top of the huge tower containing the tombs. After freeing her, you take over as the young boy, Ico, and fight off the emerging black monsters who are trying to steal your new friend away from you. Now you most both escape and solve the puzzles ahead of you - but who is this mysterious ethereal young girl? What are those monsters?






















Ico is quite hard to get hold of but I've seen it here and here. Or you can borrow if from someone and wait for them to move away... *wink* *wink*

To read a full review of the game and for more screenshots visit Gamespot UK here.

Next stop: Shadow of the Colossus.

The World's Largest Cats?

Sir David Attenborough Quote of the Day

"This was the first trip I did, and this photograph is a fair indication of the technology at that time.That huge thing is a portable battery-driven tape-recorder, which had 12 big torch batteries; even then it hardly ran.

And it had valves in it, it didn't have transistors.
There was no link between sound and filming; all I'm doing is filming a track of frogs croaking in the swamp.

And I'm smoking!"

I love Katamari

I was recently introduced to this game, or at least a follow-up game called 'We love Katamari'. I am now immensely hooked. If you haven't played it before I recommend that you try to get hold of it soon.

The game's plot concerns a diminutive prince on a mission to rebuild the stars, constellations and moon, which his father, the King of All Cosmos, has accidentally destroyed. This is achieved by rolling a magical, highly adhesive ball called a katamari around various locations, collecting increasingly larger objects, ranging from thumbtacks to schoolchildren to mountains, until the ball has grown large enough to become a star.

'We love Katamari' contains various challenges for Prince and friends to attempt - one of which involves eventually rolling up entire islands. It's simple controls (using only the analogue joysticks on the PS2 controller) make it very easy to play for anyone - highly recommended to all.

Visit the Official Namco Katamari site here.
For fans of the game there's also an awesome wallpaper here.

Top ten music-related comedy moments (in my opinion)


1. Alan Partridge's air bass solo to Gary Newman's 'Music for Chameleons'. (I'm Alan Partridge)


2. Tyres raves to Tim and Daisy's phone. (Spaced)


3. One Track Lover'. (Garth Marenghi's Dark Place)


4. David Brent's Dance. (The Office)


5. The Tundra Rap. (The Mighty Boosh)

I'm not sure why I'm doing this...

Gimme Gimme Octopus

The Un-official Zelda movie

"This is the website for the Zelda Movie, a project by fans of the game series to create a Zelda film based around the events of the Unification War.

The Unification War has been referenced, mentioned and depicted in various Zelda games ever since A Link To The Past, and whilst that means that the events have almost been perfectly mapped out, Nintendo hasn't made any effort to create a game with the war as its theme.

Which is where this project comes in. We think its the perfect material for a film, with advantages over basing a film on a specific game such as getting the details to match the pre-concieved imagery, and it gives us more of a creative licence. Which means that we can go all out in order to provide the best possible Zelda based film that we can.

And as it's being created by fans, for fans, that means that you can get involved in the project as well!

We have our very own forums created with the specific intention of being a place where you can share your thoughts on the movie. Where you can share what you would want to see in it, what you wouldn't, how you imagine these events to look, contribute in musical or editorial ways, or just chill out with other people with similar intrests to you.

So, with that, i present to you the Zelda Movie site."

Visit the website here.

Tsuneo walking



I've been meaning to post this for a while.

Sir David Attenborough Quote of the Day

Hello Kitty

Make a Nerd (+2) check

Myself and my fellow Arkhamees can highly recommend this game. For fans of the Lovecraft mythos this is a nerdy good time...

Once you get past the initial game set up and learning how the game works, you get into a pattern and you never forget or get confused. It's like riding a bike... Although some of you may never learn to roll for that blessing during every upkeep.

To find out more about the game and where to buy it visit the Official Arkham Horror website.

Sir David Attenborough Quote of the Day

"It is very difficult not to be excited by 10,000 king penguins"

Best cake ever?

A sad day: Bellum defeated

Well I finally completed Phantom Hourglass and after all the desperation to defeat Bellum and finish, I'm now really sad...

It's a great game, with cute graphics and a really intuitive game play. For those of you who are stylus-skeptics, I think that this game would convert you: is there anything more fun than using that boomerang and hammering things?


For those of you playing this game I have a tip: when you reach the final boss and you're on your third and last fight with Bellum (trying not to give anything away here), tap him as many times as you can and then run either right or left (depending on which direction he steps) to avoid his sword slash then get right back to him for more attacks. The key is definitely speed and it took me a few attempts to realise this. He'll be dead in no time.


NOTE: The end credits are awesome.

Yes...?

Moofia series acquire new family members...


Something mysterious has happened to this series of cute dairy-related figures. Upon visiting my local Forbidden Planet yesterday, I noticed that they were stocking a different series of Moofia with a few changes to line up. 'Leche' and 'Japanese Milk' has been replaced by 'Strawberry Milk' and 'Rice Milk' but I can't find these anywhere on the web...

More tokidoki artwork please...

If you haven't already heard of this artist/company I highly recommend checking out his website. tokidoki is the Japanese-inspired lifestyle brand created in 2005 by Italian artist Simone Legno and his business partners Pooneh Mohajer and Ivan Arnold. All of the characters are designed by Simone Legno. There's now a whole range of vinyl toys, bags, skateboards and other accessories on the website - but sadly no art prints.

If you know of any going on sale, let me know.

Sir David Attenborough Quote of the Day

“It's very easy to say everything is outrageous. But if you have an oil company that's setting up its own environmental department, for example, what do you do? Do you spit in its eye, or do you make sure that what they do actually has some substance?”

"The People's Dog"


R.I.P. our good friend.