Things I've found

Over the Easter break, which I stretched into an unprecedented five days, I found some awesome stuff on the internet.

What? How else did you think I'd spend my time? You're reading my personal blog here, if that isn't a red flag that I'm wasting my life on the internet then I don't know what is.


Garfield minus Garfield.
This was pointed out to me and is awesome. Someone, who I will refer to as "Smarter Than Me Jones", has reproduced a series of Garfield newspaper strips with the titular character removed. What you end up with is a comic about a guy named John and his battle with loneliness and ineptitude. A man saying "You're a selfish pig" to an empty room surrounded by emptiness is devastatingly bleak and hilarious at the same time. Pure genius.

The Rules of LOST.
Over on his blog, Geoff Klock is writing great reviews of LOST after it screens each week. He's written this piece about LOST and how it subverts the common practice of quickly establishing rules in storytelling. Basically, LOST avoids angering its audience by refusing to set out any rules at all. It works. I certainly didn't bat an eyelid when LOST decided time travel was on the cards, because it didn't break any rules.
It's clever because many movies and shows I've seen erode my good will by breaking their own rules. I know X-Men 3 angered me because Professor Xavier and Wolverine's behaviour was so different to the characters established in previous films. The departures from the comics didn't bother me, because they'd set their own rules for the movies. Time travel does this constantly - Deja Vu was less than satisfying for this.

Grand Theft scares Microsoft.
This obviously isn't an article about Microsoft's software being pirated into oblivion, because surely that never happens.
No, Microsoft is worried that the impending arrival of Grand Theft Auto IV will lead millions of people to buy a Playstation 3, sinking their XBox 360 console under a wave of politically incorrect gamers.
Funnily enough, the game will be sold on the XBox 360, and possibly work better there, but the franchise is traditionally a Playstation title, and the concern is that casual gamers, who aren't scouring the 'net and are still bashing away on a PS2, will just go and pick up a PS3 out of habit.
It's interesting to see the impact casual gamers are starting to exert on the industry.
To date, Microsoft's measures to attract GTA fans to the 360 are centred around XBox Live points and downloadable content, which will have no impact on the casual gamers they're looking to woo. Nice.

Shrine of the Mall Ninja.
This page ruined my day, as I spent hours reading and ended up with eye strain and the gut pain that is brought on by hysterical laughter.
Essentially a collection of message board posts from one man as his bombastic lies grow to increasingly epic proportions, it's worth a read if you've spent any time on a message board. Bonus points for liberal use of the term "butt virginity".