Candleblog

Chronotron - awesome flash game

Via Gerry Canavan (who is obsessed with good flash games), this is Chronotron, a "flash game involving multiple interactions between a single time-traveling robot and itself." Yeah, it's teh awesome. My brain hurts.

Projects brewing...

Okay, now we're cooking with gas. Here is a rundown of some of the projects I've got brewing (on this metaphorical gas-fueled stove)...

I'm taking a week off from work this month to focus on the Pants documentary. No, I'm not a liar, and no, my pants are not on fire.
I met with Mike Townsend from the Burlington Free Press yesterday about going into their newsroom and talking to them about blogging sometime next week.
It looks like I might run the filmmaking club at Burlington High School in the fall.
Next semester's CCV filmmaking class is all set -- Thursday nights, 6-9.
I've been invited to participate in the Snelling Center for Government's symposium on "Building Community in a Connected Age," which is taking place at Champlain College on the 29th. They want me to "live-blog" the event. I'll limber up my typing fingers. Perhaps I'll live-video blog it too.

Things I learned from Twitter today...

The following is a list of things I would not have known today were it not for Twitter...

Mike Gravel and Obama Girl made a hilarious YouTube video together.
It's difficult to find good pictures of great auks.
George McGovern says "Obama is the one." Best Keanu voice: Whoa.
Robot Kasten has teh awesome flickr stream.

Hit by a Mink Car

Emily shot some video of the Adams Bros. TMBG show on Saturday. Here's Arthur doing Mink Car. Enjoy.

Good morning, internet

My crazy weekend is over and I'm back at work taking care of some loose ends. Here are some links for your Monday perusing...

Behold! The glorious Space Boomerang!
The top 100 comic runs, as chosen by Comics Should be Good readers.
Okay, now I'm taking tis global warming thing seriously.
Lists of sexually suggestive lines from the original Star Wars trilogy. (thanks Eve!)

Two great tastes...

Ricky Gervais and John Hodgman are working together on a new film and Gervais asked Hodgman a few questions via email for the film's blog...

RG.   Write something funny for the film blog. I'm running out of things to say. Please complete this questionaire

1. Although you've never said it publicly, you consider Ricky Gervais to be not only a handsome man, but also a genius. Why? Why have you not said it publicly?
JH.   I consider Gervais a handsome man because he gives people rides in horse-drawn carriages. I consider him a genius because he does it FOR MONEY. Also, he has a brilliant comic mind. His eyepatch is hilarious, and not just for the usual reasons (lack of eye).

RG.  2. Like all intellectuals you both need and despise your fans. What do you hate about them most?
JH.  On the contrary, I love my "fans", and that is why I keep an ongoing conversation with them via my blog, areasofmyexpertise.blogspot.com and my twitter account, www.twitter.com/hodgman. The only thing I really despise is advertising.

RG.  3. Would you rather have giant frog feet or lobster claw hands? Why?
JH.  Frog feet, obviously. My carny days are over, and I like typing. I also hate it when people try to eat my hands with butter.

RG.  4. Who would you have play you in a biopic; Phillip Seymore Hoffman, or Gary Coleman? (Be careful. This is a trap to see if you are racist or not)
JH.  Philip Seymour Hoffman as "young hodgman--the carny years." Gary Coleman as "old hodgman." and Gary Oldman as "immortal hodgman in his castle, 1000 years from now."

RG.  5. Why are you a racist?
JH.  I am not a racist. I just think that the people with lobster claw hands now enjoy an institutional advantage over other Americans that isn't fair in a supposed society of equals.

I hope this helps you fill up your blog. See you soon. Thank you, and

That is all

Weekend nerd checklist

Candleblog offers the following nerd checklist as a public service. Do everything on the list for bonus points.

Play GTA4.
See Iron Man.
Get your free comic on Free Comic Book Day.
Go see The Adams Bros. do an all-TMBG set at the Radio Bean Saturday night.
Listen to (or be on) Poli-Sci-Fi Radio on Sunday afternoon.
Go see Nerdcore Rising at Palace 9 on Sunday evening.

S-PGUON.

Middle School Confidential

I spent the morning at Edmunds Middle School in Burlington today helping an 8th grader do his "Capstone Project," which is a short film he wrote about bullying. It's a Twilight Zone-inspired story. I'll link to it here when it's done, assuming it goes online. I'm on the front page of the Edmunds site today too. I'm not sure how long it will stay like that, so don't be confused if you click there and don't see me.

EMS students work with a VCAM professional to create a short documentary highlighting the impact of bullying on middle school students. The project is a "Capstone Project" being done by an EMS student.

There's only two songs in me...

In Re: the all-TMBG set of music on Saturday night...

Nerdgasm

UPDATE: OMG, I was just reminded (by a Wil Wheaton Twitter, TYVM) that Saturday is also Free Comic Book Day. What a nerdtastic weekend!

It's a pretty nerdy week. I've been playing GTA4 quite a bit. Not as much as this guy, but enough to make me feel guilty about all of the other things I ought to be doing, like grading papers and editing films and preparing for the big weekend events. Here's a rundown of what's going on in my life this week (insert lame apology for not being a diligent blogger here)...

I taught my last class of the semester on Tuesday and I still have to do final grades and stuff but the light is bright that the end of that tunnel.
The afore mentioned GTA4 came out and it's consuming my life. Plus the first copy I got was defective, but I replaced it today and the new one seems to be working fine.
The publisher of the Burlington Free Press just invited me to go talk to the Freeps news room about blogging. I'm not sure what I can tell them that they don't already know, but maybe I can at least relate some relevant personal experience.
Arthur "Blammos" Adams is coming into town this weekend and he and his brother Jordan will be doing an all-TMBG set at the Radio Bean on Saturday night... and I'm going to join them on a few numbers!
Sunday is a busy one, with the tech set-up for the Nerdcore screening happening in the morning, followed by the radio show with Nerdcore director Negin Farsad in the afternoon and the Nerdcore film itself in the evening.
Oh yeah, and I have to squeeze in an Iron Man show somewhere in there.