Phantasmic Links 2.6.05

I'm probably not the only person who isn't watching the Superbowl right now, but I'm certainly in the minority. I don't have anything against sports. I was never good at any of them but had fun playing them with friends, especially basketball. And basketball was definitely one of the sports I watched the most, especially in college where being a member of the pep band required my presence at every home game. They were definitely exciting. I've just never been inclined to follow them on television, between all the other shows and interests I have, so by the time the big game comes along it's pointless to watch. I didn't follow the season; I wouldn't know what's at stake. It'd be like tuning in for the 24th hour of 24 when I hadn't seen or cared about the first 23. Maybe if a New York team was playing, I'd have some of the enthusiasm my boss exhibited the other day with his jersey; he's FROM Pennsylvania originally. Instead, I've decided to steal borrow a page from my friend Curt and debut my version of his weekly links featurette. His blog is dedicated to marriage, whereas mine seems to focus on entertainment, escapism, and my misadventures along the road of life. That last one is covered in painful detail on this very site, but I can certainly find external links pertaining to the first two in this, the pulse pounding world premiere of PHANTASMIC LINKS:

Writer Neil Gaiman(The Sandman) pools his dark vision and imagination with that of artist Dave McKean(Arkham Asylum), and it's NOT a graphic novel. Mirrormask looks VERY cool, like nothing that's ever been seen on the big screen before. Hat tip to the Film Geeks for this one.

I am Iron Man, as Ozzy might say: I came across this test on Darrell of FilmGeeks’ other blog.

Apparently I am also:

Optimus Prime! The leader and most noble Autobot ever built! You hold the Autobot matrix of leadership, you do die, but you come back eventually! You're fearless, cool and you stop evil at all costs! You transform from a semi-truck to a powerful leader. You're sooo cool!
Which transformers, the movie character are you?
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I found this quiz in the archives of the Bayer Family, and did my best to answer honestly, even though I have the movie and many of the individual characters' mottos committed to memory.

Grimlock should NOT be a car. Batman Begins SHOULD be my next video game purchase.

Wil Wheaton's cat is home and doing better. We've always had cats, and each time one died it was like losing a family member. I could definitely empathize reading his various entries this week.

Hindsight tells me that not even this will save Enterprise.

A friend at work challenged me the other day with this puzzle. There are 15 images, each with the URL for the next one concealed somehow. I got as far as stage 3 before getting stuck, because I can NEVER seem to see those 3D images that require the viewer to blur his or her vision. I looked up the answer and got to stage 4, which required playing with the contrast of the image in another program. Stage 5 stopped me because it involves highlighting that apparently doesn't work on a Mac. Eventually I got to the end. It's a cool and challenging concept, and I'd love to hear how far other people can get.