I have to be honest: I don’t get why Angry Birds is so big. It’s a perfectly enjoyable video game, and I can enjoy slingshotting birds across the screen as much as the next guy. But is it really worthy of the incredible superstardom it’s achieved? To find out, let’s look at some of the ways that Angry Birds has taken a bite out of pop culture. Read more »
Comic books are tremendous, classic comic books even more so. Comics still hold a soft spot in the hearts of many with films featuring comic book characters released seemingly every month, the recent conclusion of another Comic-Con, and new methods for sparking comic cravings. The books themselves (the good ones) are works of art, with one artist, Brandon Michael Barker, taking iconic comic book covers, envisioning them as art, using stained glass. Read more »
Many comics billed as horror comics simply fail to elicit that clammy, sweaty response that one would expect from the genre. The same cannot be said for one of the latest offerings from Oni Press, now into its second issue. Spontaneous deals with the story of Melvin, a boy cursed from childhood with the ability to perceive who stands at risk of spontaneous human combustion. At least, that’s how it appears on the surface. Melvin is one of those nobodies that we walk past every day and try to escape any conversation with. Much as we hate to admit it, I know this can strike a chord with everyone. Joe Read more »
No, I am not feeling morbid on this overcast Friday, but who can resist reading up on something called mushroom death suit? Inventor slash artist Jae Rhim Lee has taken on an immense project that crosses boundaries. On the one hand, she tackles the scientific aspect of training fungi to eat dead bodies. On the other hand, she tackles the prevailing attitudes of people towards death. Lee was interviewed at the New Scientist, where she talked about her mushroom death suit, which is part of the Infinity Burial Project. The premise: we live in a culture of death denial, where the norm is to preserve – albeit temporarily – the Read more »
Nintendo has announced that the price of the 3DS portable game console is being dropped from $249.99 to $169.99 on August 12th. If you do the math, that’s a 32% price cut for a console that’s less than 5 months old. Nintendo couldn’t have picked a louder way of announcing to the world that sales of the 3DS suck. Read more »
The 5-minute scene you’re about to watch cost Warner Bros. $10 million to make. It was meant to be the opening of Superman Returns, Bryan Singer’s 2006 big-budget film that heralded Superman‘s return to the big screen. But there’s a very good reason it didn’t make the cut: it’s dull as dirt. Read more »
A recent fad almost as popular as planking is the art of hacking electronic road signs. It’s remarkably easy to sneak up to these things when nobody’s looking and input your own message for passersby to read. A quick Internet search will turn up instructions on how it’s done; here are 25 of the most epic road sign hacks ever. Read more »
There is no other word for the iPad 2 Gold History Edition but outrageous. Wait, let me take that back. You can say preposterous, absurd, ridiculous, and all the other synonyms you can think of. There really is no other way to describe this new creation of Stuart Hughes. Remember him? He’s the well known British jeweler who comes up with luxury versions of practically anything you can find in the market. Televisions, mobile phones, cars, liquor – name it, he probably has a version of it. Still doesn’t ring a bell? How about the most expensive iPhone 4 I shared sometime last year? Yup, that was Hughes. If you Read more »
Don’t you just love it when you refresh your iPad’s store “Top” category and scroll down to find something you’ve been iffy about buying but now it doesn’t matter because it’s free? Well, you can say that for To-Fu the Trials of Chi, a best of show in the App store since its debut last month. I guess this is what you get for continuously refreshing the App Store screen or downloading one of those “Free App” notifiers. Well before you continue reading, I highly suggest downloading it now before the limited time offer expires! The cool thing is that after downloading To-Fu, you’re greeted with a refreshed app icon Read more »
On Saturday at San Diego Comicon, a panel gathered to discuss the effects of the digital market on the comics industry. It is amazing that in one breath a statement can be made that is both abhorrent to long time devotees of the medium yet is perfect common sense at the same time. As a former comic store manager, the words uttered by Mark Waid struck fear in me. “There was not a single Sony executive worried about the record store in my neighbourhood.” This was very true, and no one can deny the strength of the digital download market for music today. Indeed, I have to confess, the majority Read more »
