Ruin is a thing of Post-Apocalyptic beauty.

Ruin is a short film – around 9 minutes – by Oddball Animation. A simple story set in a post apocalyptic world.

And it is BEAUTIFUL. Stunningly animated with wonderful music.

Seriously. Look.

 

Ruin

Wasn’t that lovely? That is how I like my post-apocalyptic worlds. Overgrown, crumbling and filled with remnants of old tech. Someone needs to give Oddball Animation a boatload of money to make a feature length thing. I would watch it, and so would you.

The President of our post-apocalypse nation

Today, in America, it’s President’s Day. A day many of us have off of work so we can take time to reflect and celebrate… Well, we make sure to take time to honor… Okay, Wikipedia says:

Washington’s Birthday is a United States federal holiday celebrated on the third Monday of February in honor of George Washington, the first President of the United States. It is also commonly known as Presidents Day (sometimes spelled Presidents’ Day or President’s Day). As Washington’s Birthday or Presidents Day, it is also the official name of a concurrent state holiday celebrated on the same day in a number of states.

Titled Washington’s Birthday, a federal holiday honoring George Washington was originally implemented by an Act of Congress in 1879 for government offices in the District of Columbia and expanded in 1885 to include all federal offices.

Today, the February holiday has become well known for being a day in which many stores, especially car dealers, hold sales. Until the late 1980s, corporate businesses generally closed on this day, similar to present corporate practices on Memorial Day or Christmas Day.

(SOURCE)

Washington’s birthday and a great day to buy cars on special, perfect.

In the past, we’ve written about what post-apocalyptic government might look like but never really considered what a post-apocalyptic attempt at normalcy might look like. If we desperately cling to our ideas about democracy and society at the end of the world until we can group together enough people to elect a local sheriff who can eventually police a local election, who would we vote for? Continue reading “The President of our post-apocalypse nation”

Upcoming Post-Apocalyptic Game | The Last of Us

During the Spike TV’s annual Video Game Awards Naughty Dog announced a new, upcoming  post-apocalyptic video game via a two and a half minute minute cinematic trailer: The Last of Us.

Among the ruins and the wreckage, a man and an adolescent girl (his daughter?) make their way to safety. At first glance I thought they were doing something long the lines of Max Payne 3 for the Uncharted series because the man in the trailer, Joel, looked like an older Nathan Drake. Also, the young girl, Ellie, looked like Ellen Page.

Facing savage zombies (?) with well practiced skill, Joel and Ellie work together to save themselves and set up a pretty fantastic looking new game.

Not much has been announced aside from the video and the name of the game, The Last of Us, and the brief summary that goes with it:

Check out the announcement trailer for Sony Computer Entertainment and Naughty Dog’s new PlayStation 3 exclusive – The Last of Us!

The Last of Us is a genre-defining experience that blends survival and action elements to tell a character driven story about a population decimated by a modern plague. Abandoned cities are being reclaimed by nature and the remaining survivors are killing each other for food, weapons and whatever they can get their hands on. Joel, a ruthless survivor, and Ellie, a brave teenage girl who is wise beyond her years, must work together to survive their journey across what remains of the United States.

Visit the official The Last of Us website at: http://www.lastofus.com/
or visit Naughty Dog at: http://www.naughtydog.com/

Trailer:

[More about The Last of Us]

The Pros and Cons of Post-Apocalyptic Cults

I spent (and am still spending) the week at a giant national training mandated, organized, and run by my job. As I sat in theback of the auditorium and listened to people chant and cheer and say motivational things to one another and generally embrace the corporate culture, my mind began to wander.

What if motivational culture, structure, schedules, and tradition we all that some people brought with them through to the post-apocalyptic world. These things are what make many difficult situations tolerable. There is a shared language and bonding in the quirkiness and need for these tools.

However, if the situation did not call for these tools and the person on stage was not a motivational speaker but a tyrannical misanthrope, we’d have ourselves a cult [1. I have a very active imagination…].

I wondered what this would look like if that hypothetical tyrant on stage was speaking, not to employees, but to survivors. What would it look like, or even feel like if this was how every morning started before your rations were handed over. Many of your needs would be covered, from food to socialization and your survival would be based on community membership. The leader doesn’t even need to be a tyrant [2. but it’s more fun to think he is], Your leaders could simply be false prophets, motivational speakers, sales folk, a resourceful marketing team, a boy band, a cheer squad, or some other individual or small group with both charisma and a respect-demanding demeanor. Continue reading “The Pros and Cons of Post-Apocalyptic Cults”

Post-Apocalyptic Graphic Novels

Post-Apocalyptic Governance

Teamwork will be vital in the days, weeks and even months immediately following the apocalypse. Grab Tom, Dick and Harry and band together to eek out a meager existence.

However, once the mutants are contained and the infected have died off, leaving only a population of survivors, you’ll need some sort or population organization system.

Understand your options and the pros and cons they include.

Continue reading “Post-Apocalyptic Governance”

Post-apocalyptic Fashion: Resident Evil – Alice

When roving the desert cities that were once California or the untamed wilderness in Western Mass, what will you wear?

Some examples of post-apocalyptic outfit options from Resident Evil’s Alice.

Continue reading “Post-apocalyptic Fashion: Resident Evil – Alice”

Movie: STASIS

Stasis, by Jason Hite, is an 8 minute stop-motion film based on the idea of a future made of bio-mechanical… something. That’s really the most I could understand form reading the blurb and watching it. But, after reading the blurb and watching it, my imagination is running wild.

Continue reading “Movie: STASIS”