Amanita Design's MACHINARIUM

Our friends over at Amanita Design have released their first full length game in the form of the visually intriguing and mentally taxing Machinarium. Try it out HERE for free by way of the first three levels and visit the Amanita website to try their other classics.

Links:
Machinarium
Introducing Amanita Design (SiouxWIRE)
Amanita Design

MIKE BOOTH, Graham Murkett, and the Bolex Brothers

Animator and director Mike Booth's work crosses boundaries often times with thoughtful and downright funny results. See some of his work below or follow the links as usual at the end of this post.

NOTE: Some his material is certainly not "work-friendly".

From Screenplay Productions Ltd. UK...

Mike Booth began working in animation in 1995 at Aardman Animations, and since then has worked as a freelance stop-motion animator on numerous commercials, short films, and a few children's series. In 1996 he wrote and directed The Saint Inspector, a short film produced by BolexBrothers that won twelve international awards and was nominated for a BAFTA. In 1998 he directed another award-winning short for Channel 4, Little Dark Poet, and was later one of the scriptwriters on Angry Kid, a series of comedic sketches that appeared on BBC3. He has written four feature film scripts of varying degrees of terribleness, and several sitcom pilots that were just too weird to ever see the light of day. Since 2000 Mike has been working more on 2D animated projects using After Effects and Flash. His series of animated vlogs Some Grey Bloke, voiced by Mike, has appeared fortnightly on YouTube since the summer of 2007.

What Facebook is for (2009)


Little Dark Poet (1999)

My ExWife 3 (2009)


The Saint Inspector (1996)

Links:
SomeGreyBloke (YouTube)
Graham Murkett & Other Odditites (Blog)
Bolex Brothers
Screenplay Productions Ltd.
Mike Booth (IMDB)

VEOLIA Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2009

The winning shot The Storybook Wolf from José Luis Rodríguez (Spain) for Veolia's 2009 Wildlife Photographer of the Year is stunning.

EDIT: José Luis Rodríguez was disqualified which in the terms laid down for this particular contest clearly detract from its achievement. That said, it still evokes a lot of feeling though, perhaps, with a little less dimension. How sad. LINK

"When José Luis realized he had got the shot of his dreams he couldn't believe it. His fear had been that the wolves would be too wary. Iberian wolves have been persecuted by people who see them as a threat to game and livestock and because of ignorance about the supposed danger they pose. Even though they have always lived close to humans, there are no verified incidences of them attacking people. In Spain, the population of Iberian wolves - a subspecies of the grey wolf - is thought to number 1000-2000 in the north, with a few tiny, isolated populations in the south. José Luis risked a slow shutter-speed to reveal the moonlit sky and conjure up the atmosphere of the place. He switched from using his Nikon D2X to a Hasselblad so he could get the exact framing that he had in mind. What José Luis hopes is that his picture, 'showing the wolf's great agility and strength,' becomes an image that shows just how beautiful the Iberian wolf is and how the Spanish can be proud of this emblematic animal."

Links:
Veolia Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2009
Wildlife Award Stripped (Guardian)

Leaping Wolf Snatches Photo Prize

HELMO: Colored Smoke

I am fond of this image from graphic designers Thomas Couderc and Clement Vauchez (HELMO) from their series Colored Smoke.

Links:
HELMO

NUJABES - Luv (Sic)

This video for Nujabes' Luv(sic) off the album Metaphorical Music is simple yet incredibly endearing. Watch it.

Links:
Hydeout Productions
Nujabes (MySpace)
Nujabes (Facebook)
Nujabes (LastFM)
Nujabes - Love(sic) (YouTube)
Nujabes Wiki