Photo essays / explorations of abandoned buildings are always intriguing and, often, oddly serene in their sparse desolation. These photos of Abandoned Japanese Buildings totally fit the bill. There are loads of great images to see and you should do so immediately.

Via Kate.

8-Bit related art is a dime a dozen on the Internet but, occasionally, you just have to partake and enjoy the hard work that's gone into the creation. Such is the case with this Mario Brothers 3D piece done in a three quarter isometric style. The Flickr page has all the details on the characters if you'd like to wander down memory lane to remember exactly who Lakitu is.

Huge congrats to Casey Pugh for the ongoing success of Star Wars Uncut. The phenomena is catching on so much that he was recently featured on NPR for the project. It's a quick piece but it's a pleasure to know that such a simple idea is getting the recognition it deserves.

I'm taking a travel day today but wanted to get back into the swing of blogging after a long, and enjoyed, weekend off. So, surprise surprise! Sunday blogging (likely to be enjoyed on a Monday).

In the words of jnonfiction: "it's a Friday dressed up like a Wednesday with a whole lotta Saturday to follow." In other words, I'm planning on going on a mini hiatus until Monday but wanted to throw out some quick video entertainment to get you through the rest of the day. Here is the playlist.

• American Budget Shopping Network - Andrew Daily in a viral video series as promo for the new Avett Bros album. This works surprisingly well.
• Hamburger Time - I don't watch Metalocalypse but I'm guessing this is atypical of the show and entirely ridiculous. There is one, censored, naked lady in the mix.. so be warned.
• Maru in Slow Mo - be sure to skip to about 0:59 for a ridiculous leap. I am entirely unapologetic for my appreciation of Maru.
• Eagle Owl in Slow Mo - just to offset the good feelings of that Maru video be sure to watch this Eagle Owl about to tear into your flesh. Terrifying.
• Crossballs Episode 2 - apparently this was a Comedy Central show featuring a ton of notable comics debating absurd topics. Sort of like The Onion newsroom but with unsuspecting real guests. I've not watched this in its entirety yet but I plan on it.
• The Muppets: Bohemian Rhapsody - the entire song. Pure and awesome. I would point to a specifically awesome part but I legitimately love the entire thing.
• The Mai Shi: Maury Povich: "We Do This All The Time" - the lead up to the payoff is entirely worth it.. watch the whole thing without skipping.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving and enjoy some time off doing nothing.

I've no idea how long this will last but this page has instructions on how to get a sneak peek at a forthcoming Google prototype - always visible sidebar, categories of search results and big blue buttons included. It might take some getting used to but I'm pretty sure I like it.

Via Chad.

There is absolutely nothing I can add to this Pikachu Ski Mask that would improve the act of just seeing it. It speaks for itself.

WIRED has a great article on the process involved with making the film adapation of 'The Road.' Basically, director John Hillcoat decided to use as many real world settings / real footage to create his apocalyptic settings as possible; relying on CGI to alter scenes rather than create them entirely from scratch. After reading about the process I'm even excited to see the film, even if the trailer features a bit too much Charlize Theron for my taste. Excellent book to film adaptations are an extremely rare breed but it honestly sounds like this one has the possibility of nailing it.

Predictions of the future are almost always a terribly hilarious path to go down. However, this article - 5 Materials That Will Make The World as We Know It Obsolete - takes real emerging technologies and picks out those that are the most mind blowing and somewhat ridiculous. Granted, the fact that it's from Cracked.com might be a cause for serious doubt in its validity but, really, that just means the article will be a bit more vulgar and incredulous than it would be from another source.

I do see some serious cause for alarm for the "germ free materials." While it's true that germs get spread through surfaces I find it really odd that the basic concept of germs is always treated with such panic. Germs make your immune system stronger and, thus, you stronger.. so living in a more sterile environment is actually way more dangerous when a rogue agent does make it through. Food for thought I suppose.

I'm a fan of Jez Burrows - no doubt about it. I'm equally a fan of Kitsune Noir. So, when the two come together for The Desktop Wallpaper Project it's bound to yield some great results, right? Yep, it sure does. While KN is only serving as the delivery conduit in this situation it's still an excellent combination of forces. Go get it.

One of the greatest things about the whole Whiskerino community is that there is a lot of potential for exposure to new and great artists. For example, the work of Bill McRight came into my awareness thanks to Benjamin; who has been doing a running series of his own personal (great) art collection.

Long story short, the work of Bill McRight is new to me but I'm loving diving through the portfolio and seeing all the bizarre creature creations. The line style makes it feel like a historic print unearthed from some terrifying time long forgotten.

If you are unfamiliar with the work of Frank Chimero I will be surprised. You've seen the States illustrations at the very least. Long story short, he has a shop, it has some great prints and tees and they are all on sale for $10. My Associate Cornelius is having a $10 sale of their own - on every single print they've got available!

Just in time for the impending holidays, The Mighty Boosh have released a brand new tour DVD entitled Future Sailors. This is the second in a, hopefully ongoing, series of documentation of their live stage show. You can watch the trailer to get an idea of whats in store but personally I think you'll be spoiling some good surprises. I don't think the DVD is Region 1 friendly but there are ways around that. Whatever needs to be done to see this, you should partake.

The GPU Accelerated Flash 10.1 Test shows a pretty hefty increase in performance when it comes to video. This is good news for any Flash developer that has dealt with the heartache of getting optimum playback and seriously fantastic news for anyone that uses the web and watches video (aka everyone).

Nostalgia for a time you never personally experienced can be a real pain. The slew of images / photo essays from The Selvedge Yard seem to do just that. It paints a picture of a time gone by where custom vans were legitimately amazing, Andre the Giant was awesome and had no posse, Grey Gardens had nothing to do with Drew Barrymore, Playboy somehow seemed classy and on and on and on. It's sorta like Shorpy but without Depression era imagery dragging you down.. All Cool, All the Time.

The second annual Attention Span Film Festival is right around the corner but there's still time to put together a submission if you're intrigued by it. Every video in the festival is 30 seconds or less so you've got loads of time to put something together by the due date of November 30th. Get to it!

The Big Picture has posted a bunch of photos of the recently reactivated Large Hadron Collider and they never cease to inspire awe in me. The magnitude of that thing mixed with the intense intricacy of each working part is just baffling. Sure it might undo the world and can be taken down with a baguette but nothings perfect.. I accept the flaws of the Large Hadron Collider and welcome it fully into my life.

I'm a huge fan of Supergrass and was overly pleased to read that Gaz Coombes and Dan Goffey have teamed up with Nigel Godrich to form The HotRats; an endeavor dedicated to recording covers of "their favourite tracks." I highly suggest partaking:

• Damaged Goods - Gang of Four
• Can't Stand It - Velvet Underground
• Drive My Car - The Beatles

More on their official site.

This story amused me to no end because of its brevity. Apparently The Little App Factory got a cease and desist from Apple insisting that they change the name of their iPodRip software to exclude the term "iPod." The head of the App Factory sent a long letter to Steve Jobs explaining why they should be able to keep the name of their app as is. Why they chose to write the head of the company instead of the people that actually handle appeals is beyond me but Mr. Jobs actually wrote back:

Change your apps name. Not that big of a deal.

Steve

Sent from my iPhone

Hilarious.