MacBook Pro Video Card Fail
(download)
A bit of primary evidence filmed while my laptop was in mid-crash. It's hooked up to the external monitor and I found out later the fact that they are both flickering and flashing indicates a busted video card. (If only one of them had been acting up, it probably would have been a monitor or screen issue.) Once I force-quit, my laptop went straight into a perpetual kernel panic and I didn't see the home screen again.
Apple is aware that this particular generation of MBP's has faulty video cards, and therefore the replacement service is on the house, although it's a week-long job. So if you experience something similar, take it in right away, regardless of whether you have AppleCare. This is my second "Our Bad!" MBP experience (see post on battery bulge) and yet I keep going back, and probably always will...
UPDATE: My MBP is back and working fine (knock wood). Apple replaced the entire logic board, since the video card is soldered to it. I also found this helpful article which provides a good summary of the situation: http://theappleblog.com/2009/06/01/apple-extends-macbook-pro-nvidia-geforce-s...
