Just a quick link to an old-ish article detailing 150 online flash games. Included are many favourites listed previously on this blog including Fantastic Contraption, five Tower Defence variants, Commander Keen, etc etc.

This game might seem a little bewildering at first, but stick with it, because Fantastic Contraption is an excellent game.

The game consists of a series of puzzles, all based around trying to get a pink wheel into a pink area of the board by building fantasic contraptions to move it there. Clear as mud? It's very hard to describe, just give it a try. The contraptions, which can be built from materials provided at the top of the screen, follow basic rules of physics, so there is a logic to the whole process.

At the last count there were 21 levels to play, but I believe one of the priorities of the author is for there to be 40 levels. One really great inclusion is that having built a successful contraption, you can then see other people's contraptions for that level, and some of them are truly fantastic!

For those of you (like Sim) who have unusual and compulsive desires to watch poorly crafted movies that, over time, have somehow attained "cult" status, you may wish to visit MrBaliHai's Psychotronic Guide to Archive.org. This is a compilation of movies from the Internet Archive, each one of which has the distinction of having been included in Michael Weldon's Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film.

Only the brave should follow the links to such classics as Santa Claus Conquers The Martians, Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter, Werewolf in a Girl's Dormitory, and the like. Being on Archive.org, each of the many listed movies is downloadable in full, as well as being discussed, dissected, and analysed, but apparently rarely enjoyed.

Of course, I'm not referring to Exotic Trousers' own Procrastinatorial Sim. I imagine Sim might be able to complete 200 comics in under 12 years. Maybe. Under extreme and unique circumstances.

No, I'm referring to a column from Cracked.com. Someone challenged Nedroid to complete 200 three panel comics as fast as he could, and he managed it in under 12 (admittedly non-consecutive) hours. Cracked.com have put them on show. There's four pages of this stuff, so set aside some time if you want to read all the comics.

This cartoon is about a series of unusual events which happened to Philip K. Dick in March of 1974. It's one of those things which you have to see for yourself. Drawn by Robert Crumb.

It seems that the exceptional Perry Bible Fellowship will be coming to an end this week. The author, Nicholas Gurewitch, said:

"I'm making this decision for a variety of reasons, but mainly because I want to do other things besides be a cartoonist"

Well, good luck Nicholas. PBF has been a breath of fresh air, and many people will be sorry to see it go. I'm afraid Sim does intend to keep publishing his work here on Exotic Trousers, although it seems it will be at increasingly longer and irregular intervals.

Edited Saturday 8th March 2008

It seem that I was happily misinformed about the demise of the Perry Bible Fellowship. The cartoon will continue, but not as regularly as before:

"It's really not as big a deal as it might seem," Nicholas said today. "I'll simply be producing comics at a pace I'm more comfortable with."

A bit like Sim, then, although I suspect that Sim's output of toons could get considerably more "comfortable" if he was allowed to.

One of the great things about the Dilbert comic strip is that you can read it, have a laugh, and yet think, "This is what happens in these large organisations!" Like many great comedians, Scott Adams has the knack of taking reality and presenting it in a way that makes you think twice about some of the ludicrous situations which occur in life.

Now, Adams has taken inspiration from the real story of a casino employee named Dave Steward who was fired by his bosses for posting a Dilbert cartoon on the office bulletin board. The strip in question was one where Dilbert likened his bosses to "drunken lemurs".

Adams acknowledged in an interview that Steward's firing was the impetus for this week's series of comics.

"I know good comic fodder when I see it," he said, "and any chance to mock the humorless is worth the effort."

At the time of writing, there are two strips in the Dilbert "drunken lemurs" series, posted on Wednesday 20/2 and Thursday 21/2. I'll be interested to see the remaining strips.

Steve Morley, the human resources manager* at the casino that sacked Steward, declined to comment on the new "Dilbert" comics.

(* What a curious job title.)