Smashing Magazine sheds (a dim) light on the grunge design style the has swept across the intertubes over the last few years. I agree with most of the comments that this style is really only appropriate for a handful of projects. I think people tend to take the idea a little too far. Subtle texture is often more effective than a design that looks like it has been drug behind a car and beaten out against a rock.

That’s right, The Last Starfighter, one of my favorite childhood movies is getting a sequel. Rumor has it that film will deviate from the standard remake hack-job that has plagued Hollywood lately and actually be a bona fide sequel. Some sort of “Son-Of” storyline. Even though this will likely be targeted strait at the kiddies I will definitely make it a priority to check it out.

check out a couple of the trailers for the Watchowski brothers’ rendition of Speed Racer. All in all it looks like a wild ride that will be worth checking out. The only downside I can see is the unnecessary use of Christina Ricci in a film. Oh well, you can’t win them all.

After much hullabaloo about a short lived book cover design contest on Freelance Switch, Collis Ta’eed chimes in to share his opinion regarding the practice of businesses hosting design contests as a way to get cheap/free design work. I tend to agree whole heartedly with what he is saying, designers are tradesmen like any other, and our time is just as valuable. Sure, we often design during time off, but that is for our own enjoyment. Much the same way a mechanic likes to fiddle with his car on the weekends, you would walk in to a garage and offer up the carrot of hope that if he fixes your car he’ll gain world renown for doing such an awesome job that people will be beating his door down. My final word hear is that Ifs and Maybes don’t put food on the table and a roof over your head, so don’t fall into the trap of giving it up for free.

Or the path to becoming a pasty basement dweller. New York Times pays homage to Gary Gygax.

Instructables sheds light on one of the great mysteries of life, how to create a gory splattering decapitation ala Kill Bill.

Kathy Ceceri over at Wired poses the question “Do You Teach Your Kids About Darwin?” She also wrote an article with a nice list of family friendly resources about Darwin and his Theory of evolution over at the Family Online blog. I for one would encourage parents to educate their children on the work of Darwin, so long as you have a rudimentary understanding of it yourself. Though I have never really had an issue with wrapping my head around it, I know others do because it contradicts so much of what they were taught in Sunday school. If anything the comments to Kathy’s Wired article are golden, enjoy.

Apparently all you need to do to jump start your music career is to have one of your songs included in the soundtrack to a sports video game. At least that is the impression you get from this article.