It’s always hard to put into words what it is I believe about “belief” and what I believe about the world I exist in. This video does a bloody good job of capturing the beauty of the existence… at least for me.

From YouTube, the transcript:

Is there any value in spirituality? As an atheist you may expect me to say no; but if I’m being honest, I’d have to consider myself a spiritual person. Of course I’m not talking about some ghostly ethereal soul that lives inside my body. There’s no reason to think there’s anything like that. I’m talking about the essence of human. There aren’t many words in our language that capture what that is. at least for me. And so I use the word spirit, in the same way I use the phrase bless you. For rhetoric’s sake. I can only describe it as the action or ability to see beauty. to feel wonder. and to be in awe.

Religion and all groups faith of course serve only to prostitute the awe, and the mystery we all feel as humans. they bottle our essence and try putting lid on the wonder we naturally feel. They fail of course. Religion points to the man behind the curtain in an attempt answer the mystery. when in reality, there is no man. the mystery is just that. a mystery.

But even though I don’t believe in the supernatural, I try to be as honest as I can to myself, about my spirituality.

On my trip out west just a couple months ago I remember a moment standing in a field that looked up at the grand tetons. the tetons in wyoming are these massive glacier capped mountains that just cut into the sky. I remember thinking to myself. Something much greater than me must have caused this. I know it.

I also remember sleeping out underneath a cool and clear sky next to the dunes in white sands national park. Looking up all I could see was just a pile of stars. More than I’d ever understood to exist. Looking at them all, still and perfect, and vast beyond my ability to comprehend, I felt uncommonly humble. And grateful just to be alive.

There are moments when I’m with good friends, where it just feels good to breath. The taste of chilled apple butter on a warm buttermilk biscuit is often more than delicious, to me it feels enlightening. And a soft kiss to me can honestly stop time and space.

At times I can be so overwhelmed by the sensation of being alive, that I cry. or I laugh. or I scream. or I just breath deeply.

And no, I never once imagine that to be supernatural. I understand, that the thing that is so much greater than me, to have caused the Tetons has a name. and it’s called plate tectonics.

That being humble is simply the feeling of recognizing the reality of ones small significance to a universe so massive. And being grateful to be alive doesn’t require a person to be grateful toward.

I recognize that being happy in a comfortable social setting is a evolutionary trait of my species. That my body naturally craves specific foods for nutritional or maybe even psychological reasons. And that the intoxication of romance is most likely driven by the need to procreate.

But I am one with the universe. Not metaphysically, but physically. I am as much the universe as a supernova. made of the same particles, governed by the same forces. I am Genes that mutated randomly, then were selected naturally based on their success at survival.

And I love applebutter on a biscuit. I collapse in awe at the magnificence of this place. I crave romance. and I breath appreciation for it all..

I have to, with all my essence. with all my spirit. because imagine, in all the universe, we may be the only things that can, and that’s beautiful.

Music: Brooks was here
By: Thomas Newman

Well, I can’t contain myself any longer and I must put this somewhere. I wrote a script a few months back while taking a break from Raven Nevermore. I wanted something more episodic-based that I could come to here and there and tell closed stories with a threaded main arc–much like television episodes. The two day brainstorm and concept crunch document put together this baby: Tyr Wyrmwood: Dragon Hunter!

I found an artist via the web–I think on ConceptArt.com after seeing his portfolio–and reached out to him because I loved his dynamic line work and felt it’d be perfect for a new project of some sort… even though I had no idea what. His name is Giannis Milonogiannis, an artist from Greece, with a style I just had to have on SOMEthing. he has both a DeviantArt site and  Flickr gallery worth checking out. You can say that his art somehow influenced my brainstorm since I was back-and-forthing with him to iron out what HE would be interested in taking on before “Tyr Wyrmwood” was even figured out as a title and name of the main character.

He is an extremely quick artist due to his loose linework, very responsive and creative with design requests, and most importantly a positive joy to work with! The first issue was done in just over 2 weeks, maybe 3. It’s a 22-page black and white comic and I will likely letter this one.

I’m very certain I’ll be releasing this one free on the web somehow–not sure yet, but I’ll keep you informed! In the mean time, Giannis finished the cover and I tweaked it and did layout for what might be a final version… also, no idea yet as it’s still early on.

I just know I am eager to keep this one going. It’s a fun departure from the intensive “high concept” story threading that exists in Raven Nevermore.

PS: The above image is the SECOND design I tweaked after saving over the first one by accident with another file then closing Photoshop. Ya… noob mistake, but in the end I kinda like the second round better anyways. I’ll post the first as it exists only in jpg form now for kicks below.

See more funny videos and Technology Videos at Today’s Big Thing.

Holy crap… this is the best use of space I’ve ever seen! Hong Kong is known for its extremely tight spaces. Here’s an example of pure architect genius at work maximizing the living space he’s used to in his culture.

I’ll be converting the trunk space of a Honda Odyssey over the next month and can’t hope to be THIS efficient… but this sure is an inspiration! I can’t put sliding walls into a car’s cargo area, but I plan on using many hinge setups.

What a glorious piece of work this video is. It follows the journey of a solitary creature as he deals with loneliness and inner turmoil. This independently produced animation is done entirely in Flash CS3 by animation artist, Adam Philips. Digging up info on him I came to discover he left Disney in 2004 to create his own ideas with this Brackenwood series and has become one of the highest ranked artists on Newgrounds. That alone becomes a great inspiration to me.

I particularly enjoyed reading his thoughts on the direction for Bitey and his opinions on “controversial” uses of narration (which I find quite enjoyable):

Sure he’s a spiteful little turd, but he’s not evil to the core. I now want the world to know who he really is and why.. to prove that there’s more to the character and his world than anyone imagined. For that purpose, I believed narration to be a suitable expository technique, despite how unfashionable it may be in the eyes of today’s screenwriters and snobbish film students. I know (just as some others wish) I could have made this movie entirely without narration, but I’ve said a number of times since LotD’s release that I have a soft spot for the spoken storytelling tradition which is something that I grew up with.

This totally needs to be made into a feature film. I love hearing stories like these and am always in support of ideas that go against traditional (and tiresome) commercial executions and delivery of entertainment. Kudos to Philips and much luck!

I just can’t get enough of alternate Batman concepts–probably because I really REALLY dislike underwear-on-top-of-pants superhero designs. I think they are dated and goofy and work against modern day aesthetics. Alas, each has their own thoughts on the matter. But that’s mine. So these crazy concepts are a breathe of fresh air…

Well, not so sure this guy is breathing any fresh air. He kinda looks like he died, went to hell and came back as a Hellspawn. This piece is by artist Halil Ural, his DeviantArt gallery has other great stuff.

What?! Seriously? Akira was one of the first animes I watched in my early teens when we had to rent VHS cassettes. Good times.

Not really actually…

But look what we get out of a big Akira fan’s imagination 2 decades later! DeviantArt user, Ulises Farina gives us Batman done in an Akira style. How cool is this? God it’s so grungy and “street” that it may just make Mark Millar’s Kick-Ass look like it’s owned by Disney (oh, wait… no no it’s not technically…) or Frank Millar’s Dark Knight look like “your father’s Batman” (oh, wait, technically, it is nowadays…)

Update: Wow, I just came across a 2nd piece of Farinas featuring Batman–this time it feels like a Batman Mixes it up with I Am Legend. Instead of making a new post I’m updating this one and keeping it all together! Wicked stuff!

Here’s an animation by Andy Hueng done in 2005. This is interesting, creepy and thought provoking. Here’s the short blurb from YouTube:

A machine with a doll face mimics images on television screen in search of a satisfactory visage. Doll Face presents a visual account of desires misplaced and identities fractured by our technological extension into the future.

What are the odds I’d come across this wonderful animation about “Lil Cthulhu” done by Zachary Murray with the voice of Erika Fontana based on characters from the mythos created by H.P. Lovecraft?

Synopsis from YouTube landing page:

Want a child-friendly way to introduce your little one to the traditions of the Old Cult? Meet little Cthulhu, who lives in the magic city of R’lyeh with all his friends, as you and your child embark on a fun and educational journey through the world of the Great Old Ones, meeting all kinds of new buddies from the Necronomicon along the way, from Azathoth to Yog-Sothoth! This series has won multiple awards and has been enthusiastically approved by the department of child-developmental psychology at Miskatonic University.

AWESOME! Seriously, what a great, awkward and awesome reason to bring young ones into the Cthulhu fold in a non-horror and madness-inducing way! Maybe…

I’m kinda a sucker for Cthulhu-inspired art and stories. It wasn’t always that way, but in the early 90s I started digging into a bunch of horror. I was captivated by the relationship that grew between H.P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard (creator of Conan). The shared alien-god-mythos lore that cropped up in their works just spoke to me (maybe that’s a bad thing, considering–you know–the whole madness thing…).

“Miss Monster“, otherwise known as Melita Curphy created monster-themes art pieces; many of them are out of wood. This Cthulhu head cropped up and allowed me to discover that she’s got tons and tons of tentacle-ly artworks! You can see a bunch more stuff on MissMonster’s DeviantArt Gallery as well!

I came across a piece of art that I thought was ammusing enough to share. I’m not a Doctor Doom fan–but who can hate the Not-So-Good Doctor when he’s playingthe part of an Icecream Man?

This art is done by artist Aaron Jasinski for Subtext’s Meanwhile at the Hall of Justice art show. From Aaron’s DeviantArt landing page:

The theme was super-heroes caught doing things that were not so super. I flipped the concept and decided to do a villain doing something not so villainous. Dr. Doom’s gentle side.