Entangle

I blame Jason Kottke for this one (as usual).  He linked to this wonderfully addictive web-game the other day and I've spent far too much time playing it recently. It's similar to those "Pipe Dream" games of yore, but with something of a twist. There is no time limit, just a bit of chance and a bit of luck. As you keep playing, you'll start to develop a bit of strategy as well (and know just how likely you are to get back out of a corner).

Seriously. Do not click the link below if you have anything to do in the next 30-90 minutes.  And yes, the image above shows my current high score: 77 85.

» Found at: Entanglement

Octopus

Sometimes you see something and it makes you smile. This is one of those times. I don't need any more websites or portfolios (as it is, I'm not updating most of them), but this one has some really talented people using the service and such a great, colourful, fun website to boot.

The sign-up buttons are my favourites ... "Sign-up for Meh." and "Sign-up for Whoo!" (complete with unenthusiastic period for "Meh." and over-the-top exclamation mark for "Whoo!"). Perfect.

I don't know anything about the company, but if you're looking for a nice, simple photo/art/video portfolio site, perhaps you should check this one out.

» Found at: Carbonmade.com

Emotion

I've been a fan of Jonathan Harris' work for some time now. Years ago I seem to remember linking (somewhere) to his 10x10 project; I think this might have been what originally introduced me to him. In his own words, Jonathan "makes projects that reimagine how humans relate to technology and to each other. Combining elements of computer science, anthropology, visual art and storytelling".

This particular piece, his most recent effort, is actually a physical book titled We Feel Fine: An Almanac of Human Emotion. The result is based on "a database of more than 12 million individual sentences collected over 3 years from personal blogs on the Internet" that he's compiled; it's a visual look at human feelings, emotions and expression. The link (below) takes you to the project page on his personal website where you can view other pages from the book.

I encourage you to have a look at this piece, as well as the other work he's done. Be sure to check out his photo-a-day collection as well; there are some simply amazing shots included here.

» Found at: Number 27 | Jonathan Harris

Scott

Author Bryan Lee O'Malley took a bunch of "behind the scenes" photos during the filming of the movie Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (which is, obviously, based on his series of graphic novels).

This image shows director Edgar Wright, apparently, moments after he ever-so-briefly sat in his director's chair. The one (and only) time he ever did. Edgar also did his own 'photo a day' thing while filming the movie; it's also worth checking out.

The movie, SPvtW, opens today. It's getting great reviews, especially from the gamer/comic fans.

» Flickr: “38. (ON-SET) Chaos Theatre” – uploaded by radiomaru

Graphite

I found this through the MyExtraLife forums today and my goodness is it impressive.

In case you don't realize what you're looking at right away, this is a carving done on the tip of a (construction) pencil! The handle of the saw is carved from the pencil wood; the blade is from the graphite. The artist, Dalton Ghetti said,

At school I would carve a friend’s name into the wood of a pencil and then give it to them as a present. Later, when I got into sculpture, I would make these huge pieces from things like wood, but decided I wanted to challenge myself by trying to make things as small as possible. I experimented sculpting with different materials, such as chalk, but one day I had an eureka moment and decided to carve into the graphite of a pencil.

This artist has done a number of other pieces; in fact, on the linked article (below), he has a 'graveyard' of sorts of pieces that broke just before he finished them.  I can't find a website specifically for this artist, however, a quick Google returns several articles (all with the same images, text, as I've linked to); I'm sure this won't be the last we hear of him.

» Found at: Odd Stuff Magazine article