LIT: Ayn Rand - [1938] Anthem [Dystopian Fiction Novella]

First devised as a play, then as a magazine serial, Rand reworked Anthem into a novella due to encouragement from her agent. With the writing completed in 1937, Rand submitted the work simultaneously to Cassell and MacMillan, her previous UK and US publishers respectively. Cassell immediately approved Anthem in 1938, however, it's US release was postponed until 1946 due to MacMillan believing, "the author does not understand socialism."

FILM: Shynola - [2003] Go With The Flow By Queens Of The Stone Age

Shynola, currently a trio consisting of Chris Harding, Jason Groves, and Richard Kenworthy, are a creative collective who have been producing distinctive, award-winning content since their first collaborative short, The Littlest Robo, in 1996. The original fourth member, Gideon Baws, unfortunately passed away in 2008 due to viral myocarditis at the age of 33.

MUSIC: Lodger - [2004] Hi-Fi High Lights Down Low [CD]

Lodger's 2004 debut album, Hi-Fi High Lights Down Low, was originally released exclusively in Finland to much critical acclaim. Cynical and nihilistic lyrics abound, with songs that condemn the drudgery of average individual's life, Western society's superficiality, overeager sexual consumption, blatant drug abuse, overzealous gambling, and the general truth concerning the conquest for "the American dream." The result was an album unmatched in originality, musicality, and lyrical content. After gaining a cult-following subsequently after the release of two self-produced album promoting music videos, the group remastered and reissued their debut album in 2005 to keep up with worldwide demand. The re-release featured a slightly different track list, dropping two original album songs in favor of adding a popular single released post-2004 debut.

GAME: Jason Rohrer - [2007] Passage [2D 8-Bit Short Art Game]

Rohrer excells in selecting massive concepts and distilling them down into a simple idea; his art game Passage is no different. Using a minimal 100x12 pixel playing area, Rohrer's "memento mori" piece is able to encapsulate life, love, age, and death all within a 5 minute time window.

LIT: Isaac Asimov - [1956] The Last Question [Sci-Fi Short Story]

Initially conceptualized for the November 1956 issue of Science Fiction Quarterly, Asimov's "The Last Question" was written with few edits in a short amount of time. It is arguably his most famous and most acclaimed short story; in addition, Asimov himself considers it his personal favorite short story of his own authorship.

FILM: Masaaki Yuasa - [2004] Mind Game [2D/3D Animated Film]

Mind Game (マインド・ゲーム), originally conceived as a Japanese comic by Robin Nishi, was adapted into a feature length film by director Masaaki Yuasa. Funded and animated by Studio 4°C, the film was initially a flop in Japan, but has since found success abroad, winning numerous animation awards worldwide, earning praise from renown animation directors Bill Plympton and Satoshi Kon, as well as gaining a cult following.

LIT: Vy Vincent Ngo - [1996] Tonight, He Comes [Speculative Film Script]

Tonight, He Comes is an original script written by Vietnamese American Vy Vincent Ngo in 1996. The script was praised for its brilliance and was picked up by multitudes of directors, producers, and studios alike; however, it was consequently dropped each time as it was considered "impossible to produce" due in part to the mature nature of the story. Nearly a decade after being conceptualized, Tonight, He Comes was purchased, rewritten, and reworked as it passed from director to director due to scheduling conflicts and creative differences. The script was eventually brought out of development hell, retitled to Hancock, and, unfortunately, sanitized for a more marketable PG-13 audience. Since the film's release, Ngo has stated that he will use the proceeds to build a school in his home country of Vietnam.

MUSIC: Villagers - [2010] Becoming A Jackal [CD/LP]

Villagers, a project headed and fronted by Irishman Conor O'Brien, culminated following the disintegration of his previous band The Immediate. O'Brien's sharp, definitive voice coupled with his uncommon playing style and eerie, heartfelt lyrics make their Debut album a hit, enough to earning them multiple awards and a nominations for the Mercury Prize. Hard to label as just alternative indie folk, as the terms tend to be generic. Dark and heavy lyrics throughout make this album beautifully depressing.

GAME: Paolo Pedercini - [2009] Every Day The Same Dream [Short 2D Flash Art Game]

Every Day The Same Dream

Every Day The Same Dream was developed by Paolo Perdercini under his concept game company, Molleindustria (meaning "soft industry"). Perdercini created the piece in just six days as an entry into Experimental Gameplay Project's 2009 "art game" themed game competition and has since been released under a Creative Commons license.

FILM: Shane Carruth - [2004] Primer [Sci-Fi Drama Feature Film]

The culmination of Primer is a feat of in and of itself. Shane Carruth not only single handed operated as writer, director, producer, cinematographer, editor, music composer, and co-lead actor, but also managed to accomplished it all with a five person crew, a five week filming window, and a budget of $7,000. Carruth, a mathematics major turned engineer turned filmmaker, taught himself film production and physics, resulting in a complex cinematic experience that contains an experimental plot structure, philosophical implications, complex technical dialogue, and a distinctive flat, overexposed look.

TV: Augenblick Studios - [2007-Present] Superjail! [2D Animated Series]

Superjail!, a US television series first created and initially produced by Augenblick Studios, is one of those rare shows that not only harks back to traditional animation but continues to push the envelope of the classic techniques. Extremely fluid motion, frantic artistic styles, bright psychedelic color schemes, stream-of-consciousness plot/setting shifts, and layers upon layers of (often times outlandish and gratuitous) cartoon violence fill each shot to ADHD-inducing amount places less stress on the dialog and more emphasis on the animation.

MUSIC: Xploding Plastix - [2001] Amateur Girlfriends Go Proskirt Agents [CD/LP]

The debut by the Norwegian duo is a mish-mash: smooth organic sax glides above rocky tumbling drums with digital snippets sprinkled all about. Hints of big beat, electro, and jazz (often labeled as nu-jazz) abound, Xploding Plastix has a sound entirely their own. Complete with rapid highs, complimentary, chill lows, and everything in between.

LIT: Robert A. Heinlein - [1959] "—All You Zombies—" [SciFi Short Story]

Robert A. Heinlein's "—All You Zombies—" is a science fiction short story first published in Fantasy and Science Fiction magazine's March 1959 issue. It has since been recognized as one of the most famous science fiction stories concerning time travel.
The story revolves around a single character who caught in a loop of paradoxes and time travel, bringing to light that individuals may be a means to an end in themselves.

FILM: Blender Foundation - [2006] Elephants Dream [3D Animated Short]

Elephants Dream is a fully animated short created utilizing nothing but open source software, mainly Blender. After being funded by DVD pre-orders, Blender Foundation, and the Netherlands Media Art Institute, Elephants Dream has since been released under a Creative Commons license.

MUSIC: Raleigh Moncrief - [2009] Combed Over Chrome [EP]

I'll admit, I thought the album art was shit, but man does Raleigh deliver. This is rare audio collage grasps bits and pieces, molds, shapes, and melts it down into a flowing mass, and somehow manages to create a distinguishing and coherent sound trip. I'm somewhat of a genre labeller, but Raleigh stands apart. Dubstep, Trip-Hop, and Glitch-Beat all rolled into one and toked...hard.