Beatiful Horrors -or- Can You Imagine?

I love that we've come to a point that we can basically just translate stylized art into videogame form pretty much without losing a beat.  Why?  Ever seen a piece of cover art, or maybe a scribbled drawing on the inside of an old Blizzard game instruction manual, then said to yourself "Man, I wish the game looked like that".  Concept art for anything usually goes above and beyond the final product if only because the artists making them aren't limited by anything but their imaginations.

Dark Souls makes me smile.  This is the kind of imaginative madness you don't often get to see brought to life, let alone with such realistic qualities.

The monsters of Dark Souls - Playstation.Blog

Get Some Common Sense -OR- At Least Be Self Aware of Your Thought Process

Just a great article over at Discover Magazine I wanted to share.  All about human perception and reactions to risk assessment. But really it's interesting.


Now personally I would call someone who would disregard global warming based solely on the fact it's snowing outside, where they are, a moron.   Not saying its real or fake (It's real. Moron.) but you need more information to base your oppinion on then an unrelated local weather report.  That's just common sense to me.

Basically its all about the idea that people will step in front of a moving bus thoughtlessly, killing themselves, because they were afraid they'd get hit by a meteor if they didn't move off the sidewalk, an event that had no realistically probability of actually happening.  Where as walking into traffic suddenly and without looking should have a very obvious and immediate risk value attributed to it.

Here's an excerpt that I really thought horrifically ironic:

"During the year following the September 11 attacks, millions of Americans opted out of air travel and slipped behind the wheel instead. While they crisscrossed the country, listening to breathless news coverage of anthrax attacks, extremists, and Homeland Security, they faced a much more concrete risk. All those extra cars on the road increased traffic fatalities by nearly 1,600. Airlines, on the other hand, recorded no fatalities."

Spooky huh? But that's the most sensationalistic bit in the article, mostly its more immediate stuff that we could effect positive change over by exploring this aspect of human nature.

HAPPY OCTOBER!! -or- Skeleton Jack Might Get You In The Back

Happy October, month of choice for Halloween and all things spooky.  Including claymation ghouls covered by Marilin Manson. Enjoy.