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15 Aug 04:47

The Berenst(E)ain Bears Conspiracy Theory That Has Convinced the Internet There Are Parallel Universes

by Mack Lamoureux

The bears in action. Screenshot via YouTube

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Ah, the Berenstain Bears.

These fuzzy critters are hands down some of the most beloved children's literature characters of the modern age. Whom among us hasn't learned a valuable (if not a little heavy-handed) lesson from Brother and Sister Bear?

The Bears taught us such varied lessons as: you should stop being a greedy little asshole and share, and if you bite your nails you're a gross, disgusting person who deserves to be a pariah among your family.

The treehouse-living Bears love us so much that they're still teaching us—technically grownups—important lessons today. And they have one final major lesson in store for us: We all live in an alternate reality and nothing we know is real.

You could say that they are our Ursidae Neo.

The Bears are communicating these newfound realities to us through their name. Take a cold hard look at the wording above. Does something look wrong to you? Do you remember it being Berenstein with an E, not Berenstain with an A?

If you do, you're not alone. There are many who remember it this way. In fact, there are so many Berenstein believers that people in the know will cite that as proof that this is a glitch in the matrix. I've dubbed these individuals Berensteinites. I talked to quite a few people I know, and most of them remember the bears surname being spelled with an E.

"I only realized that 'A' reading to my kid about eight months ago," one of my friends said. "That was a disturbing bedtime."

To be completely honest, I am one with the believers of the E. I personally remember, vividly, the Berenstain Bears being spelt with an E and calling it that for years. Even during the writing of this piece, the misspelled name is right there on the tip of my tongue. I constantly need to go back and change all of the Berensteins to Berenstains because my mind is so set in its way.

Learning that I have been wrong all these years has caused what can only be described as a personal crisis of sorts.

I always figured something would eventually break me mentally and emotionally. I never thought it would be the Berenst(a)ein Bears.
— Mack Lamoureux (@MackLamoureux) August 5, 2015

The Berenst(E)ain Bear theory has been around for a few years. But it exploded last week when Run the Jewels rapper/music producer, and possible Berensteinite, El-P, went on, I assume of course, a weed-powered tweeting spree about it.

Unlike many other conspiracy theories, the doctrine of the Berensteins seems to be gaining traction due to the fact that readers can take a side. There's Team Stein and Team Stain and some of the people misremembering the fact, whatever they think that fact is, see that misremembrance as proof of a different, and possibly darker, timeline.

Several theorists in particular think that the Berenst(E)ain Bear conspiracy is proof of the Mandela Effect.

The Mandela Effect is the brainchild of Fiona Broome, and it pulls its name from when a large group of people all had vivid memories of Nelson Mandela dying in prison. A thing that in this timeline, as they say, never happened. The theory reasons that if there is a large population of people who all share a similar false memory then the phenomenon is "related to alternate history and parallel realities."

The whole thing makes total sense, right?

Like all complex and important issues, you must first understand the history if you want to understand the theory, and what a long and enchanted history the Berensteinites have. The first time someone noticed the bears attempt to warn us was back in 2009 on a dreadlock-dedicated forum. A user by the name of Burke posted in Dreadlock Truth asking why the pronunciation of his favorite childhood books has changed. In these days, no one grasped the issue at hand and the severity of the bears' true message. Other users just offered solutions that the Berenstein name "sounds Jewish" and the change could've been a result of neo-Nazi aggression.

The theory remained dormant for a number of years before it popped up on the humorist website the Communist Dance Party in a lengthy 2011 post. Although the words were written in jest, the writer—the false prophet—blows the whole Berenstain Bears theory open and relates it to the Butterfly Effect.

"At some point between the years 1986 and 2011, someone traveled back in time and inadvertently altered the timeline of human history so that the Berenstein Bears somehow became the Berenstain Bears," he wrote. "This is why everyone remembers the name incorrectly; it was Berenstein when we were kids, but at some point when we weren't paying attention, someone went back in time and rippled our life experience ever so slightly."

Little did he know how important that notion would come to be in the movement.

The next appearance of the theory came in the form of a 2012 post on the blog The Wood Between Worlds by a user named Reese, called "The Berenstain Bears: We Are Living in Our Own Parallel Universe." These 1,600 words would prove to be the main literature of this modern movement. It is simply the Berensteinites' New Testament, their Vedas.

In it, the blog's author makes a "modest proposal," one that implies that all of us are "living in our own parallel universe." He propagates that there are at least two universes; the "stEien" universe and the "stAin" universe. The author attempts to prove the theory as true, and breaks down into mathematical and scientific terms.

Here's a tidbit:

I propose that the universe is a 4-dimensional complex manifold. If you don't se habla math jargon, that means I propose the 3 space dimensions and the 1 time dimensions are actually in themselves complex, meaning they take values of the form a+ib, part "real" and part "imaginary."

From there, the theory gestated until it started appearing last year on a subreddit with the apt name Glitch in the Matrix. This is when the gospel began to spread. The subreddit is dedicated to those things that "we usually tell ourselves to forget, because they're just too out of step with what experience tells us reality should be like." The Berensteinites first major Reddit appearance occurred when they took over a post asking if anyone had ever seen a picture of Henry VIII eating a turkey leg. They have called this corner of the internet home ever since.

The Mandela Effect became such a popular subject that a subreddit dedicated solely to the idea was started in 2013. It exists as a place where people can see if misremembering the release date of "Boom Boom Pow" is proof of parallel universes. It is a bastion of intellectual thought. A recent post on the subreddit by dedicated Berensteinite Roxxorursoxxors laid out the plans for a 20-year experiment on his or her two-year-old to see if the theory is valid.

"I'm going to do my best to forget this debate even exists, not bias her, and make sure she has berenstAin bear books until she turns about 10," Roxxorursoxxors wrote. "At that point I will take them away. When she turns 25 or so I'll ask her to what they're called and have her write down the answer."

To try and get a handle on what may be the most important scientific theory to arise in the 21st century, I thought I would go to an expert. Dr. Henry L. Roediger is one of the foremost experts on false memories in North America, so I wrote him about the Berensteinites to get his thoughts. His response made it clear he believes what's happening is more Occam's Razor than X-Files.

"I'm not sure that misremembering one letter in a long name is a major league false memory," he wrote VICE in an email. "My guess is that in this case that "stein" is remembered because it is a common ending of many names—Einstein, Frankenstein, Goldstein, etc."

He's obviously a shill in the great Berenstain conspiracy.

I knew I couldn't believe this sole expert's account in regards to this notion, as Reddit is never wrong. So I wrote Random House, the publisher of the books since 1962, in an attempt to confirm this theory. In the email I asked if they had always spelled the name with an "A" and if they were certain there were no titles printed under the Berenstein name. Almost immediately after I sent the email I received a reply from the publishing house. It was supernaturally fast. Almost like they knew it was coming.

"Thank you for contacting the Random House Children's Books publicity department," they wrote me. "Please note that due to the volume of emails we receive daily, it may take some time for us to respond to your request."

A likely story.

They know the Berensteinites are on to them.

Follow Mack Lamoureux on Twitter.

15 Aug 04:45

VICE Vs Video Games: ‘Actual Sunlight’ Might Be the Most Painfully Real Video Game You’ll Ever Play

by Ed Smith

All screenshots via actualsunlight.com

Actual Sunlight is the story of Evan Winter, a 30-something man, living in Toronto. He hates his job. He hates his apartment. He hates himself. But never have his energies or introspections manifested; an angry, iconoclastic prophet Evan is not. Rather, he's trapped and inert, determined to do something, but equally driven to nothingness and stasis.

Contrary to almost every video game, Actual Sunlight tells of a protagonist who doesn't achieve, who never improves, whose lack of agency, inexplicable to both himself and others around him, has become the defining part of his character. Anyone who's laid awake at night wondering what they're doing with their lives, who's noticed their ambitions receding in slow motion, and managed only a shrug in response—they are Evan Winter. This is not a game about success, or the karmic rewards of personal struggle. Created by Will O'Neill, an independent developer also from Toronto, Actual Sunlight is the story of a career you never wanted, a gym you never joined, the novel you didn't even start.

"A lot the things I wanted to write, about being stressed or being overweight, were hampered by the idea that you had to have a narrative that went somewhere or developed positively—where the main character would turn it all around," explains O'Neill. "But that really didn't read true. I wanted to do something that captured the finality of that state of mind, and the idea that there are some things that are not going to get better."

Described by O'Neill as "almost 100 percent autobiographical," Actual Sunlight is painfully true. As Evan, you navigate your apartment, your workplace, and Toronto's public transit, and reflect in kind on your banal, immovable dissatisfaction. In comparative terms, the mechanics of Actual Sunlight—walk and examine objects—are limited. Along with Evan's inescapable situation, they reflect his hard-wired sense of inertia.

"I was able to make that game because I don't really have anyone in my life who would care if I did it or didn't," says O'Neill. "I am that person in Actual Sunlight. The apartment is modeled very closely after my own. Even things I softly allude to are things that were going on in Toronto at the time.

"But I couldn't have made this game in my 20s. It would have been too raw and too personal to admit this was the direction my life was headed in."

From the mindset that comes with long-term depression, somehow both febrile and resigned, to the subtle confines of a white collar job, Actual Sunlight examines the day-in, day-out life of a trapped but moneyed individual, on his way to middle age. Video games, naturally, are a part of Evan's life. With that facet of his character in mind, O'Neill found the crux of his story.

"Once I understood that a lot of what I wanted to write about was video games and having your life revolve around them, that's when it felt right to do it as a game," he explains. "But for a game that criticizes games and gaming culture, releasing Actual Sunlight has only made me double-down on my engagement with that culture. All of a sudden I'm not just a loser addicted to games. I'm a game developer with something to say."

Article continues after the video below


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O'Neill says that in the past he has worried whether or not the game is accessible. Today however, he's less apologetic. Even and especially considering the hardcore gamer crowd, Actual Sunlight, he says, is for everybody.

"I want everyone to play my game, and I don't think the writing that I do is inaccessible," O'Neill explains. "I think the vast majority of people, certainly the people you think of as stereotypical 'gamerdudebro' types, they could get a lot out of Actual Sunlight. Whenever I see a review on Steam that's like, 'I don't know what the fuck this game's talking about,' and they've got something like 7,000 products registered to their account, they know what this game is about—they know exactly what it's about."

"I think we just haven't reached the point yet where we put games into two separate baskets. Nobody in literature confuses a Harlequin novel with a high-end piece of fiction. And nobody says, 'Which of these two things should really exist?' But in games—on Polygon—they (commenters) still argue about what should get a higher score between Gone Home and the latest Call of Duty, even though that argument makes no sense."

Though only in North American for the time being, Actual Sunlight is now available on PlayStation Vita. O'Neill has since moved onto his next project Little Red Lie, the short story of two characters who each use lying as a means to navigate their day-to-day lives. It's being made in Unity and a demo is due this month.

"When the events management agency I worked for when making Actual Sunlight crashed out of business I transferred to being a freelancer," says O'Neill. "For a while it felt good and like I was an independent businessman. Now it feels less like I'm an independent businessman, and more like I'm just part of a precariat, a freelancer who doesn't get offered benefits or the other things that are associated with full-time employment."

"One character in Little Red Lie is an unemployed woman who's looking after her parents, and has to use deception just to navigate her daily existence and survive. The other is going to reflect that F. Scott Fitzgerald idea that the rich are different, that they just don't see the world like you and me. He's also influenced by Rob Ford. That's kind of a local angle, but he showed how you could be totally full of shit out in the open and still thrive because you're just that rich or that powerful."

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In response to perceived false emotions, both in video games and real-life, O'Neill describes Little Red Lie as depicting a "post-emotional world." Like Actual Sunlight, where despite his frustration, his determination, and his introspection Evan never accomplishes much, in Little Red Lie, characters' thoughts and feelings are rarely a substitute for power, money, or employability.

"The games a lot of people acknowledge as mature or emotional are really only achieving those things through spectacle," O'Neill says. "Raw emotion that is evoked through sad music or blurry camera angles, it has no context and it isn't really about anything. It's like that internet expression: 'It hit me right in the feels.' People want emotions that have no context because it's too painful to confront things that actually do. They just want to feel sad or melancholy without really thinking about why."

"People now are just so emotional about everything, and I don't know if they're prepared for a world where those emotions won't matter. You have no money. You're in trouble for real and now you don't have a cell phone to go complain about it. I want to avoid the overt politics of it and just say this is the state it's going to be if we keep going the way we are. Things will become so stark economically. It won't matter how you feel."

Follow Ed Smith on Twitter.

15 Aug 04:43

VICE Vs Video Games: ‘Quest for Glory’ Was the Game That Taught Me Patience

by Giaco Furino

A detail from the box art for 'Quest For Glory'

When I was coming up in the video gaming world, it was all about jumping on the goomba, slashing the shrubbery, and powering up your charge-shot. Running, jumping, dashing, platforming: In the early 1990s, as a console kid, I knew only to move and to move fast. Time was running out; the screen was pushing my character, me, to the right; the enemies were closing in. So when I first played Sierra Entertainment's Quest for Glory: So You Want to Be a Hero, I actually kind of hated it.

Move slowly, look at everything on the screen, type in your commands. What? I've never been comfortable with PC games, I find the sheer volume of buttons you can press overwhelming, and in Quest for Glory it felt like I could do anything. Needless to say, I wasn't initially a fan. But a friend pushed the floppy disks into my hand (all nine of them), and told me to give it time, saying I'd get used to the typed commands. Now, looking back some 20 years later, I realize how right he was. And I think Quest for Glory may be one of the best video games ever made.

The game, full of bright pixels, silly animations, and puns that threaten to overwhelm the uninitiated, offered the player a simple choice when first booted up: Did you want to be a Fighter, a Magic User, or a Thief? From there, you could spend a certain amount of ability points on building up your hero. And then you're off: no real instruction, just a keyboard, a town full of non-player characters waiting to spill their info, and an intriguing, engrossing plot.

I'd wanted a game that pushed the player, rushed the player, but this wasn't that game. So You Want to Be a Hero showed me the value in paying close attention to details. As the years have gone by, I've become particularly enamored with this game. It, and its four sequels, hold a rarefied place in my nostalgia. Like staying up late on a Friday night to watch Mystery Science Theater 3000, the QFG games elicit a special, strange, internet 1.0 thrill.

'Quest For Glory' screenshot via YouTube

If you've played this series of games, a couple of names are sure to stick out to you. Corey and Lori Ann Cole, the husband and wife team of co-developers of the first four Quest games, are synonymous with the adventure/RPG series.

I reached out to the Coles, in part because I've idolized these game developers for the last two decades, but also because I wanted to understand the conditions that went into making QFG. Calling in from their office in Oakhurst, California, we talked about how they came to make such a wonderfully weird set of games.

Article continues after the video below


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VICE: Why did Sierra want to make a game like Quest for Glory?
Lori Ann Cole: It was a series of fortuitous incidents that led to us getting hired at Sierra, one of them was the fact that Sierra had published previous Ultima games and Lord British (moniker of Ultima series creator Richard Garriott) decided to take them away. And Ken Williams (co-founder of Sierra) really wanted to have an RPG.

Corey Cole: He said, "OK, Sierra owns the entire adventure game market," which it did at the time, "but there's this other roleplaying game market and we don't own that yet, and we'd like to." So he was trying to make the same amount of splash with roleplaying games that they had with adventure games.

I've read somewhere that your experience with Dungeons & Dragons, the tabletop roleplaying game, helped you land the job at Sierra. Is that true?
Corey: We had a friend who we knew through science fiction conventions, and she was a contractor for Sierra. She did all the animation for Kings Quest 4, and she was in our meetings with Ken [Williams] and he had said, "We want to find a top-level, prize-winning, tournament-level dungeon master to write these games for us." Which was a completely ridiculous phrase to say. But she'd played in D&D games with us, and we'd had another roleplaying game system we'd invented, that was skill-based, rather than the level-based advancement of D&D. And that got us as far as the phone call.

Did your experience as dungeon masters influence your development of QFG?
Corey: We had an interesting challenge; they were looking for a roleplaying game, they didn't want an adventure game from us. But the Sierra tools were specifically designed for adventure games. And they were really, really good for making Sierra-style graphical games, but they weren't designed for doing math, and moving square by square. It was designed for scenes, for "rooms." Each room of the game, whether it was indoor or outdoor, it was called a room.

So given these tools, what kind of roleplaying game could we make? Our tabletop games were always about actual roleplaying. Each character had a persona, and you were visiting caverns and all that stuff. And we thought OK, that we can do. So it looks like an adventure game, but it plays like a roleplaying game.

The thrust of this article is how the slowed-down pace of the game, the way it asked players to really take their time, was a huge influence on me. I'd never come across a game that wasn't forcing you through from one platform to the next. Can you tell me about that process?
Lori: The only way we had to create this sense of continuity and sequence was the idea that makes an RPG feel right, which is there are areas that you can't go to only because you can't deal with them. You're not strong enough to handle them. So that became the gating mechanism of the game.

Corey: And technology played a part in that. The restrictions that we had actually worked really well in getting us movie-like, script-like sequencing. Because back then most players didn't have hard drives at all. The game had floppies, and every time you went from one area to another you had to swap out a floppy disk. And we ended up shipping the game, the low-res version actually took nine disks. And we couldn't have people constantly switching disks so we had to really break it up into areas. So you got to one area at a time. Strangely enough, even though it was incredibly frustrating for us, it helped us with story structure and pacing.

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'Quest For Glory' screenshot via YouTube

After the success of the original Quest for Glory, you went on to create several more inspired games in the series before "retiring." But now you've just successfully Kickstarted a new game, called Hero-U: Rogue to Redemption. How did QFG influence the development of this new game?
Corey: We went through many different iterations of what this game should be. First we tried building a text-based game, and we thought that wasn't good enough. And then we considered a web-based with clickable hyperlinks, and that wasn't good enough, and it turns out what Sierra was doing originally was pretty close to good enough! But we are taking advantage of having 3D space.

Lori: The reason we went 3D is that we really did want to open up the world. Even with Quest for Glory it was all about immersion and making sure that the user interface was invisible and easy to not think about. We want you to be there in that game as part of that world, as part of that character.

So much for retirement, then?
Corey: We actually retired about ten years ago, around 2005, when game companies decided they all wanted 20-somethings and we couldn't get jobs in the game industry. And essentially this game pulled us out of retirement.

Lori: It isn't Quest for Glory, and yet it is. What we did was take the best parts, the parts that fans loved about Quest for Glory, and created something really different.

Corey and Lori Ann Cole, now of Transolar Games, are currently hard at work bringing the successfully funded Hero-U to life.

Follow Giaco Furino on Twitter.

15 Aug 03:50

How the most beautifully complicated watch movements in the world tell time

by Casey Chan on Sploid, shared by Maddie Stone to Gizmodo

Tick, tock. Tick, tock. With these watches, telling time is so much more beautiful and intricate and complicated than that. These are some of the most sophisticated watch movements in the world with a ton of complications added to them and just to see all the fancy ways the mechanical engine moves is a delight. It’s a wonder that all those gears can be wound up to keep time.

Read more...











14 Aug 21:21

'Straight Outta Compton' Is Producing the Internet's Greatest Memes

by criotta@mic.com (Chris Riotta)

In anticipation of Straight Outta Compton premiering in theaters, Universal Pictures created a meme generator called "Straight Outta Somewhere" for the Internet to revel in before the August 14 release. 

Users upload any image, normally of a person, and are encouraged to write in their hometown. Then, a sticker appears in front of the image that says "Straight Outta" followed by any given word. So, of course, the Internet has used the generator as an innovative tool for jokes, puns and shots fired. 

My contribution to the #StraightOuttaCompton meme <3 pic.twitter.com/0tJfBfgSoq

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CL-r2gGUcAAiTZo.jpg:largeAs the Compton memes started trending across social media, it was clear no one was safe from the shade being thrown around, as per usual. The Internet hasn't forgotten the Drake vs. Read More
14 Aug 03:44

“infra:REAL - The Art of Imaginative Realism” at Jonathan LeVine...

















infra:REAL - The Art of Imaginative Realism” at Jonathan LeVine Gallery.

Currently on display during August 2015 at Jonathan LeVine Gallery in New York City, New York is the group exhibition “infra:REAL - The Art of Imaginative Realism” curated by collector and historian Patrick Wilshire.  Imaginative Realism is the step beyond contemporary realism, as it exists somewhere upon the frays of what we know as reality and depths of the imagination.  Works preserve a classical ideal in their technique and present the impossible in trustworthy, realistic yet unreal scenes.  The exhibition features 37 artists, a few of whom I’ve featured above: Brad Kunkle, John Jude Palecar, Ian Miller, Anthony Palumbo, Rick Berry, Matthew Stewart, Jim Pavelec and Dorian Vallejo.  

13 Aug 03:02

Hazmat Surfing: My Photos Predict A Poisonous, Dark Future For Our Oceans

by Michael Dyrland

I traveled to Los Angeles in October 2014 to take photos for my childhood friend who lives there. I was really looking forward to this trip because I wanted to make the most of it and try my hand at surfing. One night it started raining really hard and being from Bellingham, WA I am used to rain and didn’t think twice about it. When I woke up the following morning, I asked my friend when we could go out and he said “Are you crazy? No one goes in the water after it rains. You could get MRSA, hep C, virus, respiratory infection, etc.” I was shocked. Because it rains so infrequently in LA, all the sewage, garbage, oil, and shit (literally, human fecal matter) runs right down the streets into the sand and the ocean. During a typical rain storm as much as 10 billion gallons of rain runoff enters the ocean.

Upon returning to Bellingham, I kept thinking about not being able to go surfing while I was down there. The inability to enter the water for three days was crazy to me so I decided to raise awareness surrounding the decreasing water quality of our oceans. I developed the idea for this photo shoot and called it “HAZMAT Surfing”. I think if we continue with this pollution trend we are in right now, in 25 years people will have to throw on a hazmat suit to go surfing in order to protect themselves from all the contaminates and pollution in the ocean. Ever heard of Garbage Island?

More info: DYRLANDproductions.com

When visiting Los Angeles, one night a rain storm started

The next morning I was eager to go surfing, but my friend said no one goes in the water after it rains

You could get MRSA, hep C, virus, respiratory infection…

Because it rains so infrequently in LA, all the sewage, garbage, oil, and shit (literally, human fecal matter) runs right down the streets into the sand and the ocean

During a typical rain storm as much as 10 billion gallons of rain runoff enters the ocean

I kept thinking about not being able to go surfing while I was down there. The inability to enter the water for three days was crazy to me

I decided to raise awareness surrounding the decreasing water quality of our oceans

If we continue with this pollution trend, in 25 years people will have to throw on a hazmat suit to go surfing

I hope more people, companies, and communities may want to jump on board and spread the word to take the next steps towards improving ocean’s pollution

A conversation needs to start and we have to start somewhere

These photos are a great easy way to visually communicate with people about the potential direction of our ocean’s future

Photos by Michael Dyrland & Mike Marshall

12 Aug 21:17

Photo



12 Aug 21:14

arceandwawa: BREAKING NEWS: Shipment explodes in Tianjin, China...







arceandwawa:

BREAKING NEWS: Shipment explodes in Tianjin, China port

“A massive explosion has hit China’s northern port city of Tianjin, reportedly injuring many people.

According to Chinese state media, the explosion occurred when a shipment of explosives blew up at about 23:30 (16:30 GMT).

Pictures and video shared on social media showed flames lighting up the sky and damage to nearby buildings.

Latest reports in state media suggest that hundreds of people have been taken to hospital.

Xinhua news agency said a fire started by the explosion was “under control” but said two firefighters were missing.

Shockwaves from the blast could apparently be felt several kilometres away from Tianjin.”

[video]

All thoughts and prayers go out to those in Tianjin. Hoping the casualty count is low.

12 Aug 21:11

Photo



12 Aug 21:11

Love is the drug

12 Aug 21:10

Equinox Creeper Caught Climbing Into Women's Locker Room Through Air Vent

by Danny Jensen
Equinox Creeper Caught Climbing Into Women's Locker Room Through Air Vent A man was caught climbing into the women's locker room after crawling through the air vent at Equinox in Glendale. [ more › ]








12 Aug 14:40

Thimbleweed Park trailer shows a Maniac Mansion-style murder mystery

by Griffin McElroy
Bridget

xbone?

Thimbleweed Park, the upcoming point-and-click adventure game from Maniac Mansion creators Ron Gilbert and Gary Winnick, was showcased during the Xbox Gamescom press conference with the trailer posted above. If you're a fan of classic adventure series like Monkey Island, it's going to look extremely familiar — both in terms of its pixelated art style and its bizarre item combination mechanics.

Thimbleweed Park is headed to Xbox One and Windows 10 next year.

12 Aug 08:08

R.I.P.: SoCal's Goodyear Blimp Took Its Last Ride After 13 Years

by Jean Trinh
Bridget

but it never got to say ice cube's a pimp?

R.I.P.: SoCal's Goodyear Blimp Took Its Last Ride After 13 Years After 13 years of faithfully flying through SoCal's skies, our trusty ol' Goodyear Blimp is being put to rest. [ more › ]








12 Aug 08:07

Oy, Triple-Digit Heat Wave Is Likely To Toast L.A. This Weekend

by Danny Jensen
Bridget

oh fuck that

Oy, Triple-Digit Heat Wave Is Likely To Toast L.A. This Weekend A heat wave is expected to hit L.A. this week with temperatures expected to spike 15 to 20 degrees between today and the weekend. [ more › ]








12 Aug 08:06

Terra Flamma: Stunning Long-Exposure Photographs of California Wildfires by Stuart Palley

by Christopher Jobson
The El Portal Fire burns on a hillside  in the Stanislaus National Forest and Yosemite National Park on Sunday evening July 27, 2014. The community of El Portal was under a mandatory evacuation. By Tuesday the blaze had burned nearly 3,000 acres.  Long exposure image.

The El Portal Fire burns on a hillside in the Stanislaus National Forest and Yosemite National Park on Sunday evening July 27, 2014. The community of El Portal was under a mandatory evacuation. By Tuesday the blaze had burned nearly 3,000 acres. Long exposure image.

The Etiwanda Fire burns shortly after dusk on April 30, 2014 in Rancho Cucamonga, CA. Long exposure image.

The Etiwanda Fire burns shortly after dusk on April 30, 2014 in Rancho Cucamonga, CA. Long exposure image.

The news of deadly wildfires ravaging California has been as awe-inspiring as it is terrifying. Great swaths of forests, mountains, fields, and entire neighborhoods can be incinerated in moments leaving nothing unscathed. For the last few years, Los Angeles-based photographer Stuart Palley has been shooting these fires as they rage across Southern California as part of a series he calls Terra Flamma.

More than just capturing flames or firefighters, Palley focuses instead on the entire landscape surrounding each event. By utilizing long exposure techniques he incorporates trails of sparks, the lights of firefighting aircraft, and even the stars above to create images that speak more to the strange beauty of wildfires than simple editorial documentation.

Though Palley often jumps at the opportunity to photograph a fire at a moment’s notice, he’s also well prepared. He takes a number of precautions including completion of the US Forestry Service’s “Introduction to Wildland Fire Behavior” to better ensure his safety.

You can follow more of Palley’s work on Instagram. (via PetaPixel)

The French Fire burns overnight in the Sierra National Forest near the town of North Fork, CA on August 1st, 2014. The blaze was burning in steep, rugged, and remote terrain.

The French Fire burns overnight in the Sierra National Forest near the town of North Fork, CA on August 1st, 2014. The blaze was burning in steep, rugged, and remote terrain.

The Way Fire burns on August 19, 2014 in the Sierra National Forest near Kernville, CA overnight.  Long exposure image.

The Way Fire burns on August 19, 2014 in the Sierra National Forest near Kernville, CA overnight. Long exposure image.

The Meadow Fire burns overnight near Half Dome in Yosemite National Park early Monday September 8, 2014. As of Wednesday the fire had burned over 4,500 acres and was 10% contained.  Long exposure image.

The Meadow Fire burns overnight near Half Dome in Yosemite National Park early Monday September 8, 2014. As of Wednesday the fire had burned over 4,500 acres and was 10% contained. Long exposure image.

The Shirley Fire burns at night off of Old State Rd near Lake Isabella, CA while a helicopter circles overhead and crews work on a slopover. Long exposure image.  The Shirley Fire burns overnight near Lake Isabella, CA on the evening of June 15, 2014. By morning the fire had burned 2200 acres and was 10% contained. At least two structures were lost. Date 20140615 Date 20140615

The Shirley Fire burns at night off of Old State Rd near Lake Isabella, CA while a helicopter circles overhead and crews work on a slopover. Long exposure image.

The Lake Fire burns in the San Bernardino National Forest Thursday June 18, 2015. By evening the fire burned over 10,000 acres and was 5% contained. The Lake Fire burns along it's northern flank at night in the San Bernardino National Forest Late Thursday night. The Lake Fire burns in the San Bernardino National Forest Thursday June 18, 2015. By evening the fire burned over 10,000 acres and was 5% contained.

The Lake Fire burns in the San Bernardino National Forest Thursday June 18, 2015. By evening the fire burned over 10,000 acres and was 5% contained. The Lake Fire burns along its northern flank at night in the San Bernardino National Forest Late Thursday night.

The Lake Fire burns in the San Bernardino National Forest Thursday June 18, 2015. By evening the fire burned over 10,000 acres and was 5% contained. The Lake Fire burns along it's northern flank at night in the San Bernardino National Forest Late Thursday night. The Lake Fire burns in the San Bernardino National Forest Thursday June 18, 2015. By evening the fire burned over 10,000 acres and was 5% contained.

The Lake Fire burns in the San Bernardino National Forest Thursday June 18, 2015. By evening the fire burned over 10,000 acres and was 5% contained. The Lake Fire burns along its northern flank at night in the San Bernardino National Forest Late Thursday night.

The Lake Fire burns in the San Bernardino National Forest Thursday June 18, 2015. By evening the fire burned over 10,000 acres and was 5% contained. The Lake Fire burns along it's northern flank at night in the San Bernardino National Forest Late Thursday night. The Lake Fire burns in the San Bernardino National Forest Thursday June 18, 2015. By evening the fire burned over 10,000 acres and was 5% contained.

The Lake Fire burns in the San Bernardino National Forest Thursday June 18, 2015. By evening the fire burned over 10,000 acres and was 5% contained. The Lake Fire burns along its northern flank at night in the San Bernardino National Forest Late Thursday night.

The Lake Fire burns in the San Bernardino National Forest Friday June 19, 2015. By evening the fire burned over 13,000 acres and was 10% contained.

The Lake Fire burns in the San Bernardino National Forest Friday June 19, 2015. By evening the fire burned over 13,000 acres and was 10% contained.

The Lake Fire burns in the San Bernardino National Forest Friday June 19, 2015. By evening the fire burned over 13,000 acres and was 10% contained.

The Lake Fire burns in the San Bernardino National Forest Friday June 19, 2015. By evening the fire burned over 13,000 acres and was 10% contained.

12 Aug 03:56

Watch a thousand people die in this epic GTA V crash

by Joe Veix
gta-v-crash-mainAn accurate representation of LA traffic. More »
11 Aug 19:56

Photo



11 Aug 12:15

denyalcorner: Jesus Geralt, get it together



denyalcorner:

Jesus Geralt, get it together

11 Aug 08:55

Baby & Bulldog Born On Same Day Think They’re Brothers And Do Everything Together

by Dainius

Dog’s are often called “man’s best friend,” but what about babies? When Chicago mother Ivette Ivens, 25, saw a French bulldog puppy that was born on the same day as her baby son Dilan, she knew it was a sign. “I saw Farley’s birth date and just knew it’s meant to be,” she told the Daily Mail.

Farley, the little bulldog pup, joined the family about five months ago and has been following around baby Dilan ever since. “I’m pretty sure Dilan thinks they’re both the same species, as they walk at the same level and are both going through the stage of chewing on everything.”

We recently featured Ivens and her breastfeeding photo series “I breastfeed my toddler,” which was exhibited in Chicago; later this year, she is releasing her photo-book, Breastfeeding Goddess. Ivens also specializes in family photography.

More info: ivetteivens.com | Facebook | Instagram

“I saw Farley’s birth date and just knew it’s meant to be”

baby-dog-friendship-french-bulldog-ivette-ivens-1

“I’m pretty sure Dilan thinks they’re both the same species”

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“Farley patiently plays with him and tries not to snore while they both nap”

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“It’s honestly the most loving connection – pure, unconditional, irreplaceable and inseparable”

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“Farley is very gentle and clumsy at times – we have to remember he is still only a baby, too”

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“My little Dilan is a chilled-out baby and he’s always happy, but for some reason Farley really cracks him up. I love seeing them together”

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“He cleans up Dilan’s mess after he eats, and always licks Dilan’s neck if he is crying, so he starts laughing out loud”

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baby-dog-friendship-french-bulldog-ivette-ivens-6

baby-dog-friendship-french-bulldog-ivette-ivens-10

Dilan also enjoys spending time with the rest of his family

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11 Aug 08:54

Predators Vs Prey: I Created A Funny Experiment By Swapping Animal Eyes

by Dan Cretu

I did this visual experiment using Photoshop. I placed predator eyes in the eyes of prey and vice versa.

More info: Instagram

11 Aug 08:51

Ferguson




St Louis Dispatch




@huyMach





Ferguson

11 Aug 08:14

The Witcher 3, As Told Through Beautiful Screenshots

by Luke Plunkett

I finished The Witcher 3 over the weekend, and I’m currently feeling a little...well, empty. But also reflective, on how it was such a remarkable game, not just for its writing, but for more superficial things.

Read more...










10 Aug 22:07

twigtea: design-is-fine: Keys, 17th-19th century. Collection...





















twigtea:

design-is-fine:

Keys, 17th-19th century. Collection Cooper Hewitt

ateacupfairy
10 Aug 20:59

Hannibal Buress To Perform At Bootleg Theater

by TheScenestar
New York comedian Hannibal Buress has just announced that he will be in town this weekend! Fans can see him perform a 21+ show at the Bootleg Theater this Saturday, August 15, and tickets are on sale now via Ticketfly...
10 Aug 20:07

bugcthulhu: filbypott: rafzombie: i know its a stingray but...







bugcthulhu:

filbypott:

rafzombie:

i know its a stingray but it looks like cthulhu popped his head up to say hi

I thought it was a giant squid.

holy shit they get this big?

10 Aug 20:04

Photo



10 Aug 20:01

Photo

by hellabeautiful




10 Aug 03:58

Photo

by hellabeautiful


10 Aug 03:16

This is a GIF of Tesla’s creepy “solid metal snake” plugging...

Bridget

hentai



This is a GIF of Tesla’s creepy “solid metal snake” plugging itself into a Model S. I am so, so sorry.