firehose

Call me “Snake”

Beep beep

It's less "shocking revelation" and more "no-brainer inevitability," yet word of a new roleplaying game in the beloved Dragon Quest franchise still comes as big news simply by virtue of the series' hallowed pedigree. According to a Gematsu...

Read 1 remaining paragraphs | Comments

Read 4 remaining paragraphs | Comments

A teeny-tiny Burberry-clad yorkie pulls a 30-pound piece of luggage through an unnamed airport in this 2011 video posted by bigdogLITTLEBODY.

via SayOMG

The Clippers owner is now starting to feel the consequences of his words in his pocketbook.

The fallout from a recording of a racist rant alleged to be by Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling continued on Monday when several corporate sponsors announced they would stop advertising with the franchise. State Farm, Kia, Virgin America and CarMax have each vowed to stop sponsoring the Clippers following the latest in a long line of disturbing racial comments by Sterling.

State Farm, who has made Clippers point guard Chris Paul the centerpiece of an ad campaign the last two seasons, said it will suspend its deal with the team and monitor the situation as it moves forward. State Farm released this statement:

Official Statement: pic.twitter.com/m3gnko2ex4

— State Farm (@StateFarm) April 28, 2014

Kia also has a visible deal with the Clippers' other star, power forward Blake Griffin. Griffin has been starring in commercials for Kia for years and even jumped over one of their cars for his final attempt in the 2011 NBA Dunk Contest. Kia is also suspending their partnership with the franchise.

CarMax, who has sponsored the team for nine years, and Virgin America announced deals with the Clippers have been canceled completely. AquaHydrate is also suspending its sponsorship with Sterling's team.

It’s true. Coffee giant Starbucks has been taking a break from buying beans over the last month, as coffee prices continue to log ridiculous gains.

Snow Leopards in the Himalayas are rare and elusive, making them nearly impossible for a photographer to capture. But many still try. Wildlife photographer Adam Riley says…

Seeing a wild Snow Leopard is every wildlife enthusiast’s dream, probably the ultimate and most elusive wildlife experience on the planet. This Holy Grail of sightings was until quite recently, virtually impossible, requiring months of extreme endurance for even the slimmest glimmer of hope.

In February, Riley and his team were in India’s Hemis National Park and were thrilled one morning to look through their telescopic lenses and see one over 2.5 miles away playing, sunning itself, and then chasing some sheep and coming up empty.

But they wanted more and kept trekking. They were rewarded for their efforts when, a few days later, they came within 300 yards of a snow leopard. They watched it as it watched its prey, nearby stragglers from a herd of blue sheep.

Can you see the cat in these next two pictures? (Scroll down to the last two pics if you can’t.)…

Can’t find it? Neither could the sheep, unfortunately for the one in the rear as they ran away. Of course, when the cat made its attack, it gave up its camouflage, making for some incredible shots, which Riley thinks may be the first ever photos of a snow leopard kill…

Riley did not take this experience for granted…

This was truly an incredible encounter we had been so, so fortunate to witness; a full Snow Leopard hunt from beginning to end including the take and kill. Our Snow Leopard spotter had been working in Hemis for 16 years and he had never seen this happen before nor knew anyone else who had been as fortunate as us… I am exhilarated therefore to be able to share my images and story of this hunt with you.

Read more and see a lot more photos at Indri Wildlife Tours.

Oh, and if you’re still wondering where the predator was in those first two pics…

griddlemethis:

A small Totoro, by request of glitterfrick

In this new video, Google explains how they've been testing their self-driving car in some potentially sticky conditions including construction zones, passing a truck parked on the side of the road, and a railroad crossing. Especially interesting, though, is what's happening with cyclists. The car classifies cyclists as a special class of obstacle and uses the riders hand signals (and how they change) to predict how he or she might be moving next.

When bartender Christina Summitt’s tattoo of a dog paw was noticed by a customer last weekend, she explained her love of animals and recounted some of the pets she’d rescued. During the conversation she mentioned her current struggle to pay a $2,700 vet bill for surgery to remove a tennis ball her Lab/Great Dane mix Tucker had swallowed.

Summitt was prepared to sell her car to pay the bill, but the stranger from out of town had something else in mind…

(via Most Watched Today)

living with lag - an oculus rift experiment (by umeaenergi)

“On Twitter, you compared this team to the Goonies. What Goonie-ish qualities do you see in this squad?

The Goonies are a close-knit group. They believe in themselves, even though there are doubters throwing darts at them outside. I posted that catch phrase a couple times, “Goonies never say die.” That’s pretty in line with the mentality of our team.

I asked Damian [Lillard] if he had seen Goonies. He said no. I’m questioning how many people on this team have actually seen the movie.

You said you’re the Chunk of the team.

There aren’t too many clean parallels between people and their characters. I definitely do think Wes [Matthews] is Mouth. As far as Chunk goes, I think we’re both very ridiculous, maybe in different ways.

”

- Trail Blazers links: Starring Robin Lopez as Chunk from ‘Goonies’ | OregonLive.com

It’s Always Sunny in Portland

I don't think it's an understatement to say that it feels like there is a lot riding on yet another game where you shoot things in the face—for Bungie, for Activision, and for eager fans. And after what I played earlier this month, I'm not sure Destiny can shoulder that burden.

The winners have been announced for the 18th Annual Webby Awards, including those chosen in by the People’s Voice voting. The awards ceremony, hosted by comedian Patton Oswalt, takes place on May 19th in New York City and will be broadcast via the Internet. The full list of winners is available on the Webby Awards’ website.

Here are the Special Achievement Award winners:

Webby Lifetime Achievement: Lawrence Lessig
Webby Breakout of the Year: Kickstarter
Webby Athlete of the Year: Jamaican Bobsled Team
Webby Artist of the Year: De La Soul
Special Achievement: Freddie Wong
Webby Agency of the Year: Ogilvy Paris

image via The Webby Awards

Amid concerns that the practice doesn’t comply with state law, Creel Elementary School in Florida has ceased giving students small cups of Mountain Dew before the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, which were intended as a motivational treat.

In Only God Forgives, Nicolas Winding Refn tells a blood-drenched story of violence, Oedipal weirdness, and karaoke all set in a grotesque and neon-lit Bangkok. It’s not surprising that Refn (Drive, Valhalla Rising) delivered a brutally violent film with iconic visuals. But what is surprising is how much the low budget film relied on visual effects to embellish those violent images as well as clean up distracting location elements and film equipment. In the video below, VFX supervisor Martin Madsen reveals how much work was needed to really splatter those brains and to accomplish some of the impressive dolly shots that Refn wanted in his film (all set to “Bride Of Chang” from the film’s score by Cliff Martinez). Too often we think of VFX as Michael Bay-style overblown elements of explosions or nigh-incomprehensible robotic carnage, but Madsen’s video shows that when used judiciously and thoughtfully, they ...

Read 4 remaining paragraphs | Comments

In a series that has been razor-thin, it's the Portland Trail Blazers that have found a way to come out ahead in tight games against the Houston Rockets. But the experience has been draining for both teams.

PORTLAND — Players gathered around a giant flat-screen television mounted on the wall in the Trail Blazers locker room Sunday. Portland had just finished an emotional overtime victory, 123-120, over the Houston Rockets, and SportsCenter was on the screen. LaMarcus Aldridge, Damian Lillard and others stood watching their own highlights, as ESPN's Stan Verrett went play-by-play through the wild finish at the Moda Center.

On a chair across the room, Wesley Matthews sat upright, clearly exhausted. He scored 21 points and picked the pocket of Rockets guard Patrick Beverley on the final play of overtime to stop any chance at a game-tying three-pointer. When asked if the extra time victory was his kind of game, Matthews smiled.

"Yeah, it was," said Matthews, chuckling lightly to the crowd of reporters around him.

All of the games between Portland and Houston have been decided by seven points or less, with three going to overtime. Houston's victory on Friday saw a broken play and a friendly bounce give former D-League player Troy Daniels the game-winning shot with 11 seconds left in the final period. On Sunday, it was the Blazers' turn for payback.

With 30 seconds left in regulation and Portland trailing, 104-102, Jeremy Lin grabbed rebound off a Nicolas Batum miss and went sprinting toward the sideline. Mo Williams tipped the ball out Lin's hands from behind, where Matthews scooped it up for a layup of his own. The shot bounced off the rim, and after a scrum in the corner for the ball, Lillard emerged victorious. The Blazer point guard dropped the ball off to Batum, whose skip pass lined Williams up for the go-ahead three.

"I just had to shoot it with confidence," Williams said. "I was struggling shooting the ball all day, but at that point, you've got to shoot it with confidence."

The dagger by the Blazers' backup point guard with 18 seconds left was the biggest of the game and perhaps of the entire series. Portland, up 2-0 after two road victories, was gut punched after losing its first game at home on Friday. Now, with a lead of 3-1 heading back to Houston, the long series seems remarkably shorter.

Both emotionally and physically, this has been the most draining series in the first round of the 2014 NBA Playoffs. Margins of victory and the room for error have been razor thin, with the final play of the game often standing as the deciding factor.

With Portland taking a series lead, it wasn't relief that was in the air after the game. While players stood around watching themselves eke out a playoff victory on the big screen, the calm demeanor of the team's veterans set the tone for the Portland locker room.

"Both teams are in the same spot," Batum said. "We've played a lot of minutes, and we're kind of tired. They've played a lot of minutes, and they're tired, too."

Starters in the series have racked up an incredible amount of playing time. Between the two teams, Batum and Lillard are far and away the individual season leaders, having played in 74 percent of their team's available minutes. In Round 1, Rockets and Blazers starters have combined to play 82 percent of available minutes.

The loss seemed to take a greater toll on the Rockets players, whose failing at the end of Game 4 has them fighting for their playoff lives. After the game, a stone-faced Patrick Beverley sat staring at the ground in front of him. The room quiet, Dwight Howard took a seat next to him. Whatever was said between the two, it didn't affect Beverley's outward expression. When Howard left the second-year guard to return to his own locker, Beverley remained in his seat, unwaveringly dispassionate.

In front of reporters, Howard was noticeably quieter than he was on Friday. His answers said more to himself than to those asking the questions, Howard's demeanor was of a player who had given all he had to give and yet, watched his team come up short on the road.

"It's like we're giving games away," Howard mumbled. "We can't quit."

Where Portland remained consistent offensively, the Rockets slowed down toward the end of the game. Chandler Parsons, who was Houston's leading scorer through three quarters, didn't have a single bucket in the final period of regulation or in overtime. Parson's last field goal came with 3:40 to go in the third. As he addressed the media after the game, the distressed forward put the onus on himself for his miscues in the closing moments of Game 4.

"I've just got to continue to stay aggressive. I can't just sit back, I've got to be a part of the offense," Parsons said.

Even with home court in Game 5 and an adjusted Parsons, the Rockets have an uphill battle ahead of them. Houston will have to overcome the daunting fact that only eight teams have come back from a 3-1 deficit in the playoffs.

As the slow creep of confidence and veteran leadership binds the Blazers locker room, so too has the identity of a team that once held the NBA's best regular season record. Williams' three-pointer on Sunday personified Portland's central storyline, all wrapped up in one chaotic, exciting and unexpected play.

"That's us. That play was our team, our season. We don't give up," Batum said. "Like [Robin Lopez] says, 'Goonies never die.'"

For her Battle Angel Alita costume, RuffleButtCosplay took a cool approach to making armor: she covered craft foam with metallic spandex. This is a creative alternative to painting craft foam with tons of layers, and the shiny fabric gives the armor a really cool look. This method would be great for building a cyborg arm like the Winter Soldier has.

The supplies include sheets of craft foam, metallic spandex, a pallet knife, contact cement, and hot glue. After you’ve cut your pattern pieces from foam and fabric, do the following:

Coat your fabric in contact cement. Be liberal, but don’t overdo it. If it globs too much, you’ll be able to see it. Coat your foam. Let the pieces dry for 2-5 minutes and press your foam pieces onto the fabric.

See the full tutorial at DeviantArt. Top photo by Dr_Teng.

pepperjunkie:

Russian nuclear-powered icebreaker..