Fantasist's Scroll

Ever wonder what happened to Charlie?
You know, after the whole Chocolate Factory incident? Well, wonder no more! Behold, through the wonders of web-based Wonkavision, Chocalypse Now! A web-comic based on a mashup of the aftermath of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with Apocalypse Now. Surreal and chocolatey at the same time. What more can you ask for on a Friday?

Go ahead, no one’s looking, click the link!

Geez, don’t these guys watch B-movies?
Apparently, the scientists at Pittsburgh’s Safar Centre for Resuscitation Research have succcessfully brought technically dead dogs back to life. According to the article on News.Com.AU, the scientists replaced the dogs’ blood with a very cold saline solution of unknown properties, though I suspect it was more than just saline. Three hours later, they put the blood back and gave the dog an electric shock to restart its heart. Apparently, they were quite successful and the dog showed no ill effects. They eventually plan to try this on humans.
I realize this is all about getting a process for suspended animation, but the idea of bringing something back from the dead… Well, I’m sure I’m not alone when I find this a little disturbing. And, seriously, I wonder if they’ve seen Reanimator. Maybe they should be require to before they get human test subjects.

Think about that this weekend and enjoy your freaky Fun Friday Link!

Making art is fun and easy!

I’ve never understood people who spend all the money on high-end graphics software only to claim they still can’t produce any art. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, it’s not the tools, it’s the workman. I’ve seen artists who painted with coffee and rusty water. I know a guy who takes old bill-board canvas and makes collage art out of that. (In fact, I hear it sells for a pretty penny!) But, me, I’m a computer geek, so I make computer art. Hmm, I wonder if it’s worth putting a copyright statement on these?
Oh, you may notice that this is a square instead of my regular full-screen rectangle. “Why?”, you ask? Well, simple. I was over at Cingular, looking at graphics, and it occured to me that I could use their custom picture tool to send a nice picture that I created to my new phone. So, I made a square graphic that I can compress with their program and fit onto my phone’s little, square screen. It may have taken all night to render, but, I think it was worth it.
In any case, I hope you enjoy it.

Just in time for werewolf season.
Ha! I’m kidding about that. There is no werewolf season! You can shoot them anytime. But, only if you have a silver bullet. Not exactlly something you can pick up at the local gun store. So, what’s a would-be werewolf kilelr to do? Make your own!
Thanks to Boing Boing, Fantasist.net is proud to bring you Popular Science’s How To Cast a Silver Bullet. No joke. Popular Science. Is casting silver bullets really all that popular? Well, anyway, now you can kill that pesky werewolf that’s been stealing your chickens or sniffing around your daughter.

(Please note: Fantasist.net does not endorse random gunplay or irresposible werewolf slaying. If you can’t prove to authorities that you just shot a werewolf, you WILL be prosecuted for murder. Actually, you may be prosecuted for murder even if you CAN prove you shot a werewolf. Even lycanthropes have rights!)

Yes, I keep making more art.
I know, this has got to get boring for you few regular readers, but I’m having fun. I’m really enjoying making some pictures of things that have bounced around inside my head for ages. Vue d’Espirit really lets me take some basic shapes and objects and combine them into very interesting pictures. The islands floating in the sky in this picture has been a theme for me ever since I first saw Views by Roger Dean. He had the most wonderful paintings of floating islands that just fired my imagination beyond belief. So, you can imagine how thrilled I am to be able to create my own visions of that theme. You can expect to see more!

Okay, movie hype has reached a “whole new level”.
Look , I like Batman. I read the comic books. I watched the original series. I watched all the different cartoons, and still do, when I can manage it. I love the movies. Even the bad ones! But, when Forbes is running an article about how to be Batman, well, I think we’ve gone a little to far. Though, they haven’t gone as far as HowStuffWorks, who has a How the Batsuit Works page and a How the Batmobile Works page.

Well, what the heck, it is Friday, after all. Click on one of the links. They’re all good!

Another Christopher Moore novel down.
I really like his work, in general, and this one was no different. Fluke: Or, I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings is about, well, whales. Of course, in typical Christopher Moore fashion, it’s also about a whole lot more. And, it’s pretty complicates, a little convoluted, and more than a little funny. But, it’s a dry funny. The basic plot follows a whale researcher, his research assistant, a photographer, his girlfriend, his ex-wife, their moderately rich benefactor, and a Rasta-surfer gopher as they try to discover the meaning behind the whale’s songs and who might want to stop them from finding it. Moore hits all the big themes here. Everything from whale conservation to loyalty to sex and the meaning of life. It’s all in there, just like almost every one of his books.
It was a good book, but, not quite as good as I remember Practical Demonkeeping or Lamb : The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal or even Bloodsucking Fiends, but it was still good. I like his style. Dry wit and a slightly skeptical view of the world that just seem to fit together well when telling a story of such strangeness that even the characters have a hard time suspending disbelief. But, he does always manage to pull it off, somehow. And, any of his work is a great, light read that’s perfect for the beach.

What if Darth Vader were a chick?
Okay, so I saw “Revenge of the Sith” last week Sunday afternoon with a friend and it was good. Not great, but, considering we all knew how it would end anyway, it was pretty good. Special effects were first rate and seeing it on the IMAX screen was, well, like the “old days” of movie going. Well worth the $10.
Anyway, someone said something the other day that got me thinking… How different would all these movies have been if Anakin Skywalker had been, say “Anne” or “Annabelle” Skywalker? How much more tragic would that scene in Episode V have been when Darth told Luke the truth? “Luke, I’m your mother!” After all, mothers are supposed to be the source of all comfort and care and light. Imagine the horror of your own mother turning to the Dark Side and trying to twist you to a path of hate, fear and anger. What a powerful image that is!
Now, do any of you faithful readers, either of you, dare to re-write the Star Wars story with that one twist? I dare you.