Turtle Mann submitted his fourth montage to the MPRRS – and they passed it, though a few reviewers thought it went a bit overboard on effects. (I’d agree with that, though for the most part it’s not too hard to figure out what’s going on.) We’re hosting a WMP9 version (67.7 mb) and a QuickTime version (63.7 mb) – grab the one that is easiest to watch for you!(Louis Wu 16:39:18 UTC)

A few days ago, a trailer for an upcoming machinima called ‘Oppression’ passed through the MPRRS; it came really, really close to passing. There was a single typo in some of the text, and this typo was mentioned by a large number of reviewers – we got uppity squirrel, the creator, to fix that typo, and we’re hosting the vid after all. Looks to be a dramatic film! The trailer is 14.6 mb in WMP9 format, or 14.1 mb in QuickTime format (it’s only 2 minutes long). Check it out!(Louis Wu 16:00:34 UTC)

Stuntmutt has posted a new blog entry, containing a whole bunch of user-submitted strips (I think my favorite is Tragic Nocturne’s take on the Vampire Earth controversy), along with some other random One One Se7en-related tidbits. If you feel as though you haven’t had enough One One Se7en stuff this week, swing by!(Louis Wu 14:47:35 UTC)

Over at Halo2Forum.com, Z points out sHyRe’s Montage Trailer for download – 41.6 mb, WMP9 format. It’s short… but it looks pretty good! Full montage vid coming later this summer. Go download. (No more registration needs to download from H2F.)(Louis Wu 14:42:06 UTC)

DropShock Radio has released episode 19 – 1.5 hours, 40 mb. Swing by their site to listen.(Louis Wu 18:38:33 UTC)

The Miscellaneous Art queue never stops; even when I clear it, it’s non-empty a day or two later. That means these days, when I can’t clear it in one shot, it’s even worse. I apologize (again) to submitters for the delay they must suffer before their work is seen by the public. Today, we’ve got 30 new images for you in the Miscellaneous Art Update – sketches, paintings, recreations of existing images, photos – it’s all there. Some really cool stuff; dig around. (It’s hard to pick favorites, but I love Darknesshasfallen’s Arbiter, Maggy Mafia’s Grunts, and TeHcAtZorD’s Hunters. ‘Lockout in Space’ is pretty darned cool, as well. And – oh, man. Never mind. Just look at EVERYTHING.) There’s still stuff in the queue, so please don’t panic if you don’t see your work.(Louis Wu 14:07:56 UTC)

Heh – an anonymous fan sent me this link from the Marathon’s Story Page forum – 1 minute Halo. (Spoilers, if you’re counting.) Made me laugh.(Louis Wu 12:17:13 UTC)

If speculating about movie details is your bag, check out this article on Stuff – it’s focused on Peter Jackson, but one of his two (known) upcoming projects is Halo, so a good chunk of the article relates to that film. Thanks, Custard.(Louis Wu 12:13:12 UTC)

IGN continues its look at the Halo Graphic Novel with another author interview – this time it’s with Jay Faerber, the writer behind ‘Armor Testing’. Interesting read – makes me want the HGN even more! Also contains some new artwork… check it out! Thanks, Black Guard.(Louis Wu 11:58:16 UTC)

Ouch – it’s happened again. A Halo-related team has gotten in over their heads, bandwidth-wise, and is asking for help. Visit Wave Of Lag’s forum post for more details. (What makes me saddest is that there’s PLENTY of bandwidth available – for free – for releases like this, if they’re set up in advance.)(Louis Wu 11:45:54 UTC)

The Weekly Update is up over at Bungie.net; details that should make the hardcore among you salivate, and the rest of you hate Frankie just a little bit more, plus a whole bunch of new Waahmbulance entries. (I’m not sure whether to laugh or cry, actually.) And a Mister Chief that looks like he was scanned out of something… I’m PRAYING it wasn’t the HGN, because I want that puppy to sell. Read it at Bungie.net – or read it in our Weekly Update Archive.(Louis Wu 01:59:33 UTC)

To John, With Love…
Stuntmutt sets his sights on the Halo 2 Vista port in today’s One One Se7en. …yeah.(Louis Wu 14:50:06 UTC)

Dojorkan’s been playing with unspawned characters again (potential spoilers ahead)… seems like this particular was never used for good reason; why build a bomb shield around a bomb?(Louis Wu 14:39:46 UTC)

Hrm. There are a couple of stories in the New Zealand Press (NZ Herald – thanks, David Warriner | Stuff – thanks, Custard) about Denzel Washington meeting in New Zealand with Peter Jackson about a new movie that Washington is planning to direct, with Jackson providing special effects. We already know that Jackson’s planning to provide special effects for the Halo movie – and it doesn’t have a director yet. This is not in any way saying that Washington is the new director for the Halo film – the timing seems off, for one thing (the new movie is supposed to be out in two years, which is longer than the original plan for the Halo flick) – but it’s something to think about.(Louis Wu 14:09:16 UTC)

Nineteen new pieces – stories and poems – up for you in the Fan Fiction section today – go see what you can find! (vector40’s long-unfinished fanfic (started in December 2004) has its final chapter posted today.)(Louis Wu 13:53:04 UTC)

Last year, we mentioned some work by Greg Horn, an artist who created a couple of Halo-related pieces for Toyfare Magazine. Stuntmutt discovered a gallery with very nice higher-res versions of two of his creations – go grab ’em!(Louis Wu 13:27:03 UTC)