Thursday, February 28, 2013

"The 11 Most Traumatizing Moments From 'Return To Oz'"

"Dorothy befriend’s the creepy Jack Pumpkinhead, who asks her if he can call her mom."

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

"Male Frog Extracts and Fertilises Eggs From Dead Female"

NatGeo:
For a small Amazonian frog called Rhinella proboscidea, death is no impediment to sex. The males form huge mating balls in which dozens of individuals compete to fertilise a female. These competitions are so intense, and the combined males so heavy, that the poor female sometimes drowns in the struggle.

But for the males, that’s not a deal-breaker.

Monday, February 25, 2013

"High Debt and Falling Demand Trap New Vets"

NYT:
the cost of vet school has far outpaced the rate of inflation

...

But starting salaries have sunk by about 13 percent during the same 10-year period, in inflation-adjusted terms, to $45,575 a year

...

Today, the ratio of debt to income for the average new vet is roughly double that of M.D.’s

Famous weapons



Famous Weapons by Daniel Nyari, available as a print.

Sunday, February 24, 2013

Logo for Zheleznogorsk



Logo for Zheleznogorsk, a Russian town involved in nuclear research.

"No More Working From Home for Yahoo Employees"

Gawker:
When Marissa Mayer took over as CEO of Yahoo, she was tasked with turning around a fading Internet giant. Yesterday, she got rid of one of the best perks of a job in the tech world — working from home.

Lego Emperor Picard with Slave Wesley




By Iain Heath:
STNG as it should have been... Emperor Picard The Magnificent upon his throne, surrounded by his loyal subjects, Princess Troi-Leia (slave girl and fortune teller), Sergeant Buff (Klingon barbarian bodyguard and Sushi chef), Bone Crusher (witch doctor and dungeon mistress), and the fool. 
Kinda makes me wish STNG had done a "Mirror Universe" episode!
*Buy Wil Wheaton toys at Amazon.

Saturday, February 23, 2013

Friday, February 22, 2013

Link roundup

1.  Warren Ellis on using panels and dialog to manipulate a comic book reader:
you’re not locked to one minute per page, like a screenplay. You can make time run so fast that the reader thinks that your comic has been injected into their eyeball, or so slow and heavy that the reader feels like you’ve boiled a doorstop novel into some condensed informational substrate.
2.  Forbes: "Here's How You Buy Your Way Onto The New York Times Bestsellers List":
Yet ResultSource’s methods aren’t exactly secret. The company’s website features an endorsement from Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh and a breakdown of the campaign it mounted behind his book “Delivering Happiness.” Via a spokeswoman, Hsieh confirmed that he hired the firm and detailed the services it provided. (You can read Hsieh’s full statement at the bottom of this post.)

Still, Amazon disapproves strongly enough of ResultSource’s methods that it told WSJ it will no longer sell to the company. What about the publishers of the various bestsellers lists — particularly the all-important New York Times list?
3. "NBC To Finish Fifth In Sweeps For First Time; Network Falls Behind Univision."

My kindergartener wrote some grim tales

My youngest son spontaneously started writing short stories on his iPod.  Here they are:
The Monster That Was Terrifying A Choose Your Own Adventure Book 
Once a upon of time there was a monster. He was hungry so he started looking for food. While he was walking he came to a house. He ate the house but he was still hungry so he kept walking. On the way to the apartment building he ate the apartment building but he was still hungry so he kept walking. On the way he came to a donut shop. He ate the donut shop. He got a stomachache so he went back home to lay in bed. The end of that was terrifying.


Once there was a key. The key allowed you to open every door in the world so somebody started looking for the key. There was obstacles on the way to get to the key. The key was in a tunnel. The man got lost inside the tunnel. There was no light. The man couldn't see anything. What should the man do? The man decided to walk backwards until there was some light so he could see. Eventually he was able to see some light. He turned around so he could see where he was going. Right when he turned around somebody was there and shot him and took the key. The end of the key that was never found.


The story of lion and the monster. 
A lion was hungry so he started looking for something to eat. On the way he came to a monster and the monster was blocking the way and it was too hard to carry. So the lion tried to go around but it was still blocking the way. So he tried to go to the left but it was still blocking the way. So he tried to ask the monster politely but the monster said "no go back where you came from." So the lion went back home. The end of the lion and the monster.


The dog ran into street. And he got in his car. He played hide and seek. And he got in a car accident when it was a red light. And he had to pay $900.78. But he didn't pay 900 dollars and he didn't pay 78 cents. So he went to jail. The end of the dog and the car.

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Plush Bantha, Rancor, Wampa and rag doll Vader



Plush Bantha, Rancor, Wampa and rag doll Vader available for preorder ($11-15 each).

Highlight



Logo for Highlight.

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Our Lady of Immaculate Rebellion



"Our Lady of Immaculate Rebellion" (or "Leia" for short) is a 5" tall, 3" wide resin idol, designed by by Scott Kinnebrew to be hung from the wall. Each of the 15 Leias that Scott created for this sale is cast in a different color of resin and uniquely painted. The Leias are blind-bagged and priced at $30 each, and will go on sale this Sunday February 24th at 3PM EST at Tenacious Toys.

Link roundup

1.  More speculation on the secret hotel room.

2.  NY Times:
For decades, mice have been the species of choice in the study of human diseases. But now, researchers report evidence that the mouse model has been totally misleading for at least three major killers — sepsis, burns and trauma. As a result, years and billions of dollars have been wasted following false leads, they say. 
The paper, published Monday in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, helps explain why every one of nearly 150 drugs tested at a huge expense in patients with sepsis has failed. The drug tests all were based on studies in mice. And mice, it turns out, can have something that looks like sepsis in humans, but is very different from the condition in humans.
3. Destructoid on Aliens Colonial Marines:
A number of Twitter accounts, which were only set up recently and seem spectacularly preoccupied with Gearbox and Gearbox products, are lavishing [Gearbox CEO Randy] Pitchford with praise for Colonial Marines

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Link roundup

1.  Strange hotel room in Houston that's not supposed to be rented.

2.  A Redditor on The Thing:
A friend of mine, back when he was an assistant, spent a great deal of time with John Carpenter doing interviews and the like for video games and comic projects. I was discussing my conversation with Larry Turman with this friend and he said "You know, I asked John Carpenter about The Thing." 
"Oh yeah? What did he say?" I asked. 
"He said he never understood where all the confusion came from. The last frame of The Thing is Kurt Russel and Keith David staring each other down, harshly backlit. It's completely, glaringly obvious that Kurt Russel is breathing and Keith David is not."
3.  Tumblr vs. Facebook:
Tumblr actually became huge because it is the anti-blog. What is the No. 1 reason that people quit blogging? Because they can’t find and develop an audience. This has been true of every blogging platform ever made. Conversely, blogs that do find an audience tend to keep adding that type of content. This simple philosophy boils down to the equation: Mo’ pageviews = mo’ pages.

But Tumblr does not conform to this calculus, and the reason is that a large percentage of Tumblr users actually don’t WANT an audience. They do not want to be found, except by a few close friends who they explicitly share one of their tumblogs with.

Becky Cloonan's Dracula




Dracula with 50 illustrations by Becky Cloonan is currently on sale as a $3 download at Amazon.

Monday, February 18, 2013

Amethyst Princess of Gemworld: Level 5 - Battle in the Stormy Peaks



Amethyst Princess of Gemworld: Level 5 - Battle in the Stormy Peaks.

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Captain America/Thor/Iron Man mashup by Jared Cain



Jared "Nikejerk" Cain was commissioned to make this Captain America/Iron Man, Thor mashup figure.

Amelie



By Jeferson Barbosa.

Animal Kingdom

From The Animal Kingdom opening tonight at Gallery Nucleus:


Mindy Lee.




By Rodrigo Luff.



Megan Hughes.

Thursday, February 14, 2013

"Tennessee Congressman Steve Cohen Has a Secret Daughter, Not a Secret Lover Like Everyone Thought"

Gawker:
This is a weird one. The day after President Obama's State of the Union, there were reports of Tennessee Congressman Steve Cohen sending what, at the time, seemed like flirtatious tweets to Victoria Brink, a 24-year-old model and former Texas State University student. Those tweets, which were quickly deleted and included messages like "nice to know you were watchin SOTU(state of the union). Happy Valentines beautiful girl. Ilu," seemed like your standard social media mishap by a middle-aged horndog politician.

"In the mid-1990s, people in the United States and Canada began to notice something grotesque. The frogs in their local ponds were sprouting extra legs"

Carl Zimmer:
As news of the deformed frogs spread, the Minnesota state government set up a hot line for sightings, and soon they got hundreds of calls from 54 out of 87 counties. “I’ve seen a lot of frogs over the years, and I’ve never seen anything like that,” a University of Minnesota herpetologist told the New York Times in 1996. 
Citizens and scientists alike feared that whatever was altering the frogs–pesticides perhaps–was also having an effect on humans. But researchers didn’t find any compelling link between frog deformities and humans diseases such as cancer. In fact, within a few years it looked as if the frogs were getting their legs naturally–through the manipulations of a parasite.

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

CBS News in Los Angeles put a crank caller on the air during the Dorner coverage



CBS News in Los Angeles put a crank caller on the air during the Dorner coverage - - he refers to the Howard Stern show almost immediately, but no one figures it out until he finally blurts out: "You're a real dumb ass — you still don't know this is a prank?"  Via.

EGM loved Aliens: Colonial Marines



One of these things is not like the others.

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Link roundup

1.  Interview about the end of blog Regretsy:
There would be days when I would be on the couch with my laptop for 16 hours, just exhausted and in tears.
2.  Relatedly, bitter brand managers on Twitter:
Twitter had created a system that demanded the attention of intelligent people, individuals capable of assuming the entire false persona of a global brand without lapses, but there was no reward for that attention. Quark Cola were obliged to maintain a Twitter page, which meant an individual was obliged to maintain the page. As Samantha had hinted in his original interview, it was a responsibility, not an opportunity.
3.  NY Times:
Beginning in the 1930s the Texas-born filmmaker Melton Barker spent nearly four decades scurrying across America with a script and a camera, methodically making and remaking the same two-reel film.

... 
His life’s work — “The Kidnappers Foil,” a hokey short about a band of kids who outsmart two dozing criminals, then perform a series of song-and-dance routines — preyed upon the loving delusions of small-town mothers and fathers. Equipment in tow, Barker would roll into town, offering starry-eyed parents a chance to see their children, billed collectively as the Local Gang, ham it up on a big screen — for a fee.

The Adventures of Conan at Universal Studios



Gary Goddard has designed a huge number of attractions at theme parks and in Las Vegas, including the old Adventures of Conan at Universal Studios, and an Aliens 3D ride that was never  made:

Swissted: Vintage Rock Posters Remixed and Reimagined



The latest poster book from Quirk Books:
Swissted takes rock concert posters of the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s and remixes and reimagines them through a Swiss modernist lens.

Monday, February 11, 2013

Empty Love Stories



By Alex Ross, available at Amazon.

Inflatable Companion Cube Ottoman



Inflatable Companion Cube Ottoman available for peorder at Entertainment Earth.

Link roundup

1.  School board member in Southern California convicted of pimping, running prostitution ring.

2.  AOL Still Earns Most of Its Money From Dialup Subscribers.

3.  Raiders Will Reduce Seating Capacity To The NFL's Smallest In Attempt To Avoid TV Blackouts.

4.  It's raining spiders in Brazil.

Tales From Lovecraft Middle School lenticular book covers



$11 each at Amazon.

Sunday, February 10, 2013

Monday, February 4, 2013

Promotional advertisement for Cobra is basically the same as genuine US military ads




Cobra propaganda poster, promotional video, and accompanying site for the new G.I. Joe Retaliation movie.

"the British were the first to completely copper the bottoms of their entire fleet beginning around the time of the American War for Independence"

Discussion of the technological advancements in warships in the 1700's.  For example:
the British were the first to completely copper the bottoms of their entire fleet beginning around the time of the American War for Independence. This factor had a radical impact upon hull durability and speed, comparable with almost any changes in actual ship design. It was hugely expensive but kept ships out of dry-dock and improved their weatherliness and speed and helped assist uniform the speed characteristics of the whole battle fleet when in formation. This crucial change in itself was comparable in impact to the 20th century's incorporation of the microprocessor into modern naval electronics.

Friday, February 1, 2013

Link roundup

1.  How a rogue pilot misbehaved for years in a B-52 squadron, and so killed 4 people. The prologue:
"What's the deal with this guy?" Captain Bill Kramer asked, indicating a car conspicuously parked in the center of the red-curbed "No Parking" zone adjacent to the wing headquarters building. It was a short walk from the HQ building, commonly referred to as The White House, to the parking lot where they had left their own vehicles while attending the briefing on the upcoming airshow. As they passed the illegally-parked car and then the various "reserved" spaces for the wing and operations group commanders, Lt Col Winslow turned to Captain Kramer, and replied, "That's Bud's car. He always parks there." After a few more steps the Captain inquired, "How does he get away with that?" The Lieutenant Colonel reflected for a moment and responded, "I don't know--he just does."
2.  Teaching a second grade class grammar by having the students edit the Tweets of professional football players.

3.  "The Iranian Monkey Space Launch Is Likely, Probably, Almost Definitely a Fraud"

Portugal soccer jersey by Nike



"inspired by the volcanic rock associated with the country"