Video Game Immersion

Immersion is the point at which reality slides toward the background and whatever medium you're consuming takes over the foreground. In other words, you are fully "immersed" in the game, so that you become less aware of your "self" and more in-tune with what's happening onscreen. Immersion also occurs in movies and books and television and even music, to a certain extent, which is what gives them such monstrous appeal. We can ostensibly be in another universe for a limited time.

Now, losing the self is a pretty interesting idea, considering how self-aware and self-conscious we all tend to be most of the time. Think of the ways you act and react in public, given a certain situation. You're almost always cognizant of your body movements or facial expressions. When you're not, you are, again, basically immersed in reality, which is a strange idea in and of itself.

In video games, your face can often be an interesting marker of your level of immersion. The goofier or more intense the face, the more immersed you are in the game. That's why it's great that people have actually taken to studying this phenomenon. Robbie Cooper is a photographer and visual artist living in NYC, and this video is one in a long line in studies of this sort, called The Immersion Project.

You can read more about The Immersion Project here.

PSA - Texting While Driving

Intershame.com just posted one of the weirdest PSAs I've ever seen. And I've seen some creey ones. There seems to be a lost art to the awkward Public Service Announcement, but this one looks like it could have been made by Michael Scott on a baaaad day.

Occasionally I come across something on the Internet that's really hard to wrap my head around. I'm not sure if this is the most awesome public service announcement of all time or just sick and wrong.

I think I'll go with awesome.

There are (ostensibly) dead babies in this. That's right. Dead. Babies. That's how seriously they want you to take this. According to some studies, texting and driving is worse than drinking and driving. What better way to make your point than this video? I don't think there is one.

Pixelibrium - Last Five Minutes of 'Equilibrium' in MS Paint

As the title of the post suggests, this is the last five minutes of the movie 'Equilibrium' in Microsoft Paint. No, not Flash. Yep, that's right. PAINT! The thing I can barely draw a successful stick figure in. Excellent video; it's amazing someone could pull it off.

Japanese Goblin Shart...I mean Shark

Metallica - New Song/Video Leaked

I don't know how many people care anymore, but a song from the new Metallica album got leaked a few days ago via YouTube. The quality is poor, but there are tons of versions of the vid on YouTube. Enjoy. Or don't, depending if you like Metallica or not. The song is called Cyanide.

Modest Mouse - Float On

From Good News For People Who Love Bad News.

Bill-O - Losing His Cool-O

I'm the sort of guy who can be sort of flaky on picking a side on most things. I'm a fence-sitter in the least sexual sense of the word. Indeed, I am too much of a moral relativist to find fault with the actions of people, especially those making millions of dollars a year. It's impossible to think that someone can keep his cool every day, every year, for his or her entire life.




I can make an exception in this case. Bill O'Reilly is a humunculous toolbag, an ancient virus that needs the Ole Bleach-and-Water treatment. I saw an analyzation of this video on KO's show, but I thought maybe not all of you had seen it. So here it is. I hope you all enjoy it. Give me some feedback. Let me know what you think.

Happy Mother's Day!

Some say she spoiled her boys
Some say she drove them mad
But no one who found out has lived to tell
~Mother's Day Trailer

I know that the trailer for this looks like it came from the middle of 'Grindhouse' but I just couldn't help myself. It's an actual movie, and you can rent it and everything (I think).

Why Colin Cowherd is My Hero

I've been slowly stepping away from big-time Politics - notice with a capital P - at least for the time being, because I feel like I've been harping on it too much. My opinion is just that, and I feel that I bring out stories that aren't getting picked up as much. You see, I haven't touched the I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby verdict, because that's EVERYWHERE. I can give you my opinion, but that wouldn't take too long.

In short:

He's a jackass, a pawn of the lowest order, and, as a jackass, he's deserved everything he's gotten. Perjury, I'm sure, is still a crime, and I trust out legal system, so be it.

There. Done. Okay, now to the fun stuff. I highly recommend the video below, as it comes from one of my heroes on the radio, one of the guys who makes may pathetic, retail-job having life worth living, Colin Cowherd. I'm aware that most of you have never heard of him, but he's a big-time sports talk host, and the Youtube video, which is just an audio clip with pictures to illustrate the point, does him justice.



I'm in a good mood; I hope you're in a good mood. That's why I'm posting such a fun video today. This video illustrates that sports, as almost all subjects in today's world, have become contentious. Sports, I hate to say, no longer represent escapism from the "real world." There's big time money being pumped into this stuff and the NBA and NFL and MLB matter. Even college athletics matter, because millions and millions of people look up to athletes.

Oh, and if you're a Purdue fan, or a Big-10 fan, I'm sorry. Truly, truly, truly sorry. Not for the offensiveness of the video, but just because you're a Big-10 fan.

Can Bush Really Imagine This?

*A while back, a mix of George Bush "singing" Imagine got passed around the liberal airwaves, and somehow a video version ended up on YouTube.*

I don't know if any of you will like this video, but maybe you should give it a chance. It's pretty chilling.

There are some pretty disturbing moments in it, and some bad language as well, so watch with caution. But who would have ever guessed that we'd get our President, George W. Bush, singing a re-mixed version of John Lennon's Imagine?



I'm not a Peacenik, but I do think there's at least some validation in not starting war for little to no reason. I've disagreed with this policy since the very outset of the war, although I, for one, trusted the President in March of 2003 when our war against Iraq started.

PS: I've included another video - which is another version entirely - at the MySpace Blog. Stop by if you get the chance.