If only he'd entered the White House this way....

In honour of Wade clearing out the FFF, I decided to post the lyrics to Still Alive, the credits song from Portal, because of how well they fit. If you haven't already seen one, NG has several great music videos of the song, including the one here.

Portal - Still Alive

This was a triumph
I'm making a note here, HUGE SUCCESS
It's hard to overstate my satisfaction
Apeture science
We do what we must because we can
For the good of all of us
Except the ones who are dead
But there's no sense crying over every mistake
You just keep on trying till you run out of cake
And the science gets done and you make a neat gun
For the people who are Still Alive

I'm not even angry
I'm being so sincere right now
Even though you broke my heart and killed me
And tore me to pieces
And threw every piece into a fire
As they burned it hurt because
I was so happy for you
Now these points of data make a beautiful line
And we're out of beta, we're releasing on time
So I'm glad I got burned, think of all the things we learned
For the people who are Still Alive

Go ahead and leave me
I think I'd prefer to stay inside
Maybe you'll find someone else to help you
Maybe Black Mesa
That was a joke, ha ha, FAT CHANCE
Anyway, this cake is great
It's so delicious and moist
Look at me still talking when there's science to do
When I look up there it makes me glad I'm not you
I've experiments to run, there is research to be done
On the people who are Still Alive

Believe me, I am Still Alive
I'm doing science and I'm Still Alive
I feel fantastic and I'm Still Alive
While you're dying I'll be Still Alive
And when you're dead I will be Still Alive
Still Alive, Still Alive

Woohoo.

17 Days
43 Blams
58 Saves

Hoo-rah.

Why is my Mood Phoenix purple?
It felt like it.

EDIT: Fixed the scores. Turns out I'm not as harsh a critic as I thought. :)

I'm currently in Leaving Certificate year in second-level education. For those unfamiliar with the Irish school system, In June I will be sitting the exams that determine what university courses I qualify and do not qualify for. The future (at least for the next four years) for every student in my year in this country will be decided on the basis of those exams. What happens on the day is all that matters (projects aside, if you're lucky enough to do a subject with a practical component). It's a whole lot of pressure.

A Leaving Cert student in my friend's school killed himself this morning. One can only assume that the exam strain he was under, plus some personal issues that I won't detail here, got too much for him. It's a tragedy, not just for his school, but for us all. Every Leaving Cert student in my home city of Cork will be shaken by this. After all, there's nothing but near misses between our own situation and that of the poor victim.

Everyone at some point in their life will be subject to severe emotional strain, unfortunate but true. What's worse is that it will drive many people to self-harm or even suicide, as happened to that student today. But this can be avoided. If you have problems, open up to a friend. It can be difficult, undoubtedly, but it can also make a massive difference. I know myself that just talking about a problem can be a massive release, and that things can seem so much smaller when they've been spoken about. So please, if you feel the need to speak, talk to someone about your problems. We can't keep losing people like this.

Ok, snow probably isn't the most interesting thing to most people on Newgrounds, but it's incredibly rare here in Ireland. We have a cold and rainy climate, but it almost never snows. Which is a serious pity. Snow is fun everywhere, but it looks so, so beautiful when it's covering the rolling Irish landscape, as it was today. I wish I'd had a camera handy while I was in a car going through some mountains...

(Yes, I know it's ironic to use a legendary bird of fire to end this post about snow, but [1] snow in Ireland is rare and so is the phoenix, and [2] a phoenix is awesome and could survive a snowstorm if it so chose.)

For those of you who don't know, the phoenix is my favourite mythological creature. I love them, the whole concept behind them is inspiring and the art based on them is usually cool too.

Anyway, I had an idea earlier: I would find pictures of the phoenix with Google, alter the colours, and use them to indicate my mood in blogs, and thus the Mood Phoenix wa born!

The one below is green-tinted, as you can see. I have no idea why I chose green as the colour to have my first Mood Phoenix in, but seeing as I now have to have a mood to suit it, I'm going to say I'm in the mood to celebrate my Irishness :)

(Yes, this did all come about from playing with PhotoShop. Don't judge me too harshly.)

This was...strange. It must have started with only two Flashes. That would make sense, because there was only two shapes. And suddenly, there was a rising tide, a flood, an avalanche of them, pouring through the submission slot, overcoming everything. It was like an artist had reached into the minds - no, the very subconscious - of his fellows, and pushed the start button on some of the prehensile, genetic knowledge inherent in them all:
"Triangles look BADASS in Flash."

I'm still trying to get my head around the craze that hit the site today. What actually happened, does anyone really know? What tripped the switch? There can't be just one simple answer, because of the sheer diversity of what actually rode in on the Two Shapes bandwagon. We had some rushes of creativity, writers suddenly unbound by the mores of art and detail were free to frolic in the land of literacy and throw their scripts in people's faces. We also had the artists who submit Flashes made in 10 minutes (submitted to "test the BLAM filter") suddenly having their work regarded for critical appraisal and treated with the same respect that is given to Flash artisans.

And of course, some people finally got to make a Flash pentagon. We're all so happy for you.

Most of what came through was understandable, on one level or another. You'll always have people who care more about writing than art (hence we have stickmen) and you'll always have people who like jumping on bandwagons. But here is where things got really screwy, where we actually smashed the looking glass and lunged headfirst through the frame: within hours of the first conversation between Square 'n' Circle, someone posted a parody of the Two Shapes videos. We all know that nothing on the Net has "made it" until it's been parodied, so here we are. Two Shapes has now become a legitimate medium for stories of any genre.

So, Newgrounds has once again led the way...right? That's what we should believe, isn't it? Surely that many artists couldn't succumb to a sort of mania at the same time for no reason. Or am I reading too much into all this? Perhaps I am, but if that's the case, you must be too. After all, you've read this much of my blog on the subject, and chances are you were one of the thousands of people who watched those videos. Maybe you were even one of the hundreds who voted on them (often to keep them, in fact). Whatever the case is, the question remains: where do we go from here?

Three Shapes?

Hello everyone! Yes, Newgrounds has yet another FNG to deal with. I've been a visitor for about five to six years now (and a regular one since finally gettting home broadband in '07 >.<) but it is only tonight that I've actually created an account. So, here's to new beginnings and the hope that I'll be useful around here!