Walking Dead SE2 Trailer, & a Question About Your "Zombie Orientation"

Posted by Youtube user: J0hnCl0sed

There are only a handful of reasons I ever regret not having cable, Walking Dead is one of them. For those of you who haven’t watched, while the show is it not without it’s short comings and cliches, I think AMC's Walking Dead is the first new piece of zombie material to do zombies right for quite sometime, and is thus far, my favorite zombie story since the original Dawn of The Dead.

Love this show.

While we're on the subject of zombies. In an effort to illicit a little audience participation, I thought I'd try asking a question:

Shamblers or Runners?

Call me a purist if you like, but I grew up with Romero style zombies and to me, they will always remain the only true zombies.

Runners, just aren’t scary to me. In a cinematic sense, they can deliver more “gotcha” type scares, but I think hordes of mindless, hungry creatures, marching, slowly, relentless towards you, is much more frightening, and I much prefer gore and actual psychological terror, to things jumping out of closets at me. So that’s why I think, REAL zombies shamble, period.

What’s your preference? Let me know in the comments.

-CAINE-

You can also respond to this question on Tumblr, via: GGB on Tumblr or Compendium oF Strange. Of course, you will have to follow me there first (hint-hint).

Chinese Couple Sell Their Children To Play Online Games

As you may recall, there have been several occurrences here in the US over the past few years of young parents neglecting their children in the name of online gaming. One mother, 22-year-old Alexandra Tobias, from Jacksonville, Florida, was actually charged with the murder of her 3-month-old son Dylan Lee, after shaking him to death for interrupting her Farmville session; a particularly senseless crime given what an awful game Farmville is.

Well, while Tobias may continue to hold her crown as the worst offender in this rather odd sub-genre of parental neglect. A young couple from Dongguan, China, have managed to score a unique achievement of their own, by being the first set of parents, that I know of anyway, to actually sell their three children in order to support their online gaming habit.

According to the Sanxiang City News, Li Lin and Li Juan, both of whom are under the age of 21, met in 2007 and quickly bonded over their obsession for online games. A year later, they welcomed their first child, a son, by promptly leaving him home alone just a few days after his birth in order to go gaming at an Internet cafe some 18 miles away.

By 2009, the couple had a second child together, a daughter this time. But rather than merely neglecting her like they did their first born, Lin and Juan decided it would be a much better idea to sell her, and use the proceeds to fund their online activities.

But as you may well know, battling Orcs and Warlocks in an online fantasy land isn't cheap, and the profits gained from the sale of their second child, nearly 500 dollars, were soon all used up. So the young parents took the only logical path available to them and soon decided to sell their first born son as well, who, at a sticker price of around 4600 dollars, brought in nearly 10 times as much as his little sister.

Li Lin and Li Juan would go on to repeat this act one final time with the sale of their third child, another boy, who was born sometime later and sold for the same amount as his brother, before they were finally turned into the authorities by Lin's mother. When asked after their arrests weather or not they missed their children, Li Lin and Li Juan, who claim they did not know they were breaking the law, responded;

"We don’t want to raise them, we just want to sell them for some money.”

Well, at least they're honest I guess, terrible examples of human beings who should have their reproductive organs violently removed, but honest.

-CAINE-

Source: ABC News Radio VIA: Compendium oF Strange

Piff The Magic Dragon VS Penn & Teller

Posted by Youtube user: thehypnoguy1

This clip from Penn & Teller's "Fool Us", featuring John van der Put, AKA "Piff The Magic Dragon" ( no relation), has been making the rounds as, "Piff", is easily the standout favorite performer to appear on the show thus far. Regardless of weather or not he managed to fool them in the end, his trick and his delivery are both awesome, and he gets HUGE points in my book, if for nothing else, being able to maintain such a deadpan delivery even while under direct questioning from Penn. Not an easy task I'm sure.

For those of you who have yet to see the show (you can watch the pilot episode for yourself , minus part 3 which was removed by request from the performer, HERE), the idea behind it is pretty simple. Magicians come on and perform a trick, if Penn & Teller can't figure out how that trick was done, that performer wins a slot opening for P&T in Las Vegas, simple as that. A damn fine prize if you're a professional magician, and a pretty cool, not to mention original, idea for a show. I love it, but I'm a MASSIVE fanboy when it comes to Penn & Teller, so I'm definitely biased.

-CAINE-

You can also view this post on Tumblr.

Flaming Lips And Gummy Fetuses

From Last Week's Compendium:

So, do you like the Flaming Lips? Of course you don’t, YOU HAVE EARS!. But A gummy fetus on the other hand, that sound delicious.

In a rather obvious, and desperate attempt to shock people into remembering that they still exist, The Flaming lips have released three of their songs loaded onto a usb drive inserted into the back of, what I can only hope to be an edible gummy fetus. Cause, if you can’t eat the fetus, then what’s the point really?

Oh, if I had a dollar for every time I uttered those words….

Personally, what I find most shocking about this particular marketing ploy, isn’t the use of a potentially edible item formed in the shape of a human fetus, but the fact that a band like the flaming lips did it, and not some obscure death metal band Like say, oh… I don’t know… DYING FETUS!

Oh well, he who acts first I suppose.

-CAINE-

Source:Pitchfork Via:Compendium oF Strange

Pastor Joe Nelms Thanks god for All His Beloved Sponsors, and his Hot Wife

Posted by Youtube user: Paulk9pg

What sporting event (and I use the term EXTREMELY loosely in this case) would be complete without someone first asking the all mighty dictator in the sky, to take few moments out of it’s busy schedule of permitting believers to commit genocide in it’s name, and watching poor children starve to death; to turn it’s attention to the outcome of a meaningless contest being played by a few dozen bored millionaires?

Well, pastor Joe Nelms went above and beyond at a recent Nascar event, making sure to ask, not only for the lord to grant protection to all the drivers in the race, but to thank his deity for providing each and every sponsor of the event, as well as his own “hot wife”.

“In Jesus name, Boogity, Boogity, Boogity,…Amen!”

No really, that’s how the prayer ended. I don’t know what that means, but I would like to sponsor a law requiring all believers to identify themselves from this point on, by throwing their hands up and yelling “In (INSERT DEITY HERE)’s Name, boogity, boogity, boogity, AMEN!”, whenever they enter a public space. Not only would this make it much easier for me to identify people to avoid in social situations, but it becomes a whole lot harder to sell anyone your mindless bullshit, after they’ve seen you throw up your hands and shout gibberish at a crowded room full of strangers; I realize that seems sort of redundant, but this form of gibberish is much more obvious to a wider spectrum of people.

At the very least, we can always hope that this whole product placement thing will catch on, prompting the mighty-one to move on to a new business model, and instead of begging money from poor people in churches, it can go straight for corporate sponsorship. After all, look how well that same model is working for America!

Git R Done!

-CAINE-

VIA: GGB on Tumblr

Time lapse, "Sky", by Phillip Bloom

Sky from Philip Bloom on Vimeo.

Been a while since I posted a time lapse, so here's a really nice one from Phillip Bloom on vimeo. This probably looks particularly nice in HD, so feel free to turn it on if you can. I Of course, wouldn't know anymore because I can't, since comcast/xfinity has successfully choked the bandwidth on basic service down to the point where I can barely watch videos at all anymore, much less watch HD videos. But I'm not complaining or anything.

-CAINE-

Rainbow Toad Found After 87 Years

Image Credit: Indraneil Das

View this post on tumblr

First described in 1920, and last seen by European explores in 1942, the Sambas stream toad or Bornean rainbow toad, was recently rediscovered and photographed for the first time by a team from the University Malaysia Sarawak, lead by herpetologist Indraneil Das.

3 of the tiny, toxic amphibians, ranging in size from one to two inches, were discovered during the expedition, an adult male and female, as well as a juvenile. Each was found living in a different mature tree, along the ridges of the Gunung Penrissen range of Western Sarawak, a boundary between Malaysia’s Sarawak State and Indonesia’s Kalimantan Barat Province, on the island of Borneo.

The Bornean Rainbow toad is the second species on Conservation International's “World’s Top 10 Most Wanted Lost Frogs" list to have been rediscovered since the list was compiled in 2010.

-CAINE-

Source: Wired Science VIA:GGB on Tumblr

Holy Cornholio, The Epic Return of Beavis and Butthead!

Beavis and Butt-Head - MTV Shows

Two things I learned via reports from this weeks Comic-con:

1)MTV is apparently still a network, why?

2) They will be airing NEW episodes of Beavis and Butthead in October!

In the above first look at the new run, which looks and feels nearly identical to the original, Beavis' alter ego becomes the leader of a cult thanks to his stigmata, In an episode entitled "Holy Cornholio". See kids, it's a skeptical show! Like South Park, only funny. (yes I said it, and NO, is doesn't have anything to do with the Dawkins episode, I'm just not a fan)

As for the rest of the shows format, which, for those of you unfamiliar included breaks in each episode in which Beavis and Butthead trashed various music videos, that too has remained. But it looks as though this time around, instead of music videos, since MTV apparently doesn't play them anymore(what the hell does the "M" stand for then?), the duo will be spending their time on the couch in between scenes, trashing the networks own reality shows. Which is admittedly a pretty soft target, and a fairly repulsive bit of self-promotion on the networks part. But the end result is still funny, and I have to say, I do agree with Butthead's theory (well there's something I never thought I'd write) that tracing the sexual history of the cast of The Jersey Shore could potentially lead back to the origins of herpes.

In short, [in my best Butthead voice:]

This, is the greatest thing I have ever seen.

-CAINE-

VIA: Laughing Squid

Pluto Has a New Moon, & it Needs a Name

Image Credit: NASA/ESA/M. Showalter/SETI Institute

Using the Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have discovered a tiny new moon orbiting Pluto. This newest object, currently dubbed "P4", is estimated to be between13 and 34 kilometres across, and joins three other known satellites orbiting the former planet; Hydra, Nix, and Charon.

Moving past what some would call the strange irony, and even confusion, of an object no longer designated as a planet having it's own moons (if you STILL don't get Pluto's downgrade, try going HERE), Pluto's newest companion needs a name. And while there isn't any official way to go about suggesting one, there are a number of places to go where your suggestions could potentially be heard.

Personally, I suggest you visit the source for this entry on New Scientist, where Mark Showalter, who lead the team who discovered the object, left the following comment:

"I want you all to know that we're paying attention to this thread. We welcome any and all serious suggestions. The name must come from Greek mythology and be associated with Hades and the Underworld. We'll probably be making our recommendations to the IAU Nomenclature committee within a week or two. Sorry, no cash prizes."

You obviously shouldn't expect any recognition for your efforts either, as this is really more like casting a vote. But hey, if your suggestion does end up being chosen as the name of Pluto's newest moon, no one's going to stop you if you decide to go around bragging to your friends that they went with your personal suggestion. Of course, unless your friends are as geeky and uncool as I am, they probably won't care.

[sigh]

-CAINE-

Source: New Scientist

For more about Pluto, it's discovery, and yes, why it is no longer considered a planet, check out the following excerpt from an interview with Neil deGrasse Tyson, on WNYC Radio.


Posted by Youtube user: wnycradio

Full interview available HERE

Creepy Harry Potter Babies

Since I suspect there may a few Potter fans amongst you, I give you these creepy Harry Potter Babies, by Artful Babies. VIA:GGB on tumblr

Because regular babies just weren’t creepy enough on their own, Artful Babies decided to make extra creepy life-like replicas of them, in doll form, which you can “adopt” for your very own, starting at around 300 euros.

Then, Artful Babies doll artist,Tracy Ann Lister , decided to take the creepy one step further, and designed a custom set of extra, EXTRA, creepy Harry Potter themed babies, which you can see HERE in full, if you are so inclined.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’M NEVER GOING TO SLEEP AGAIN!

-CAINE-

VIA: Cakehead Loves Evil

Ghost House Pictures Confirms Evil Dead Remake in The Works

In what could potentially be the greatest, or the worst(depending on your feelings about remakes) news for zombies since the birth of George Romero, The web site Dread Central reported earlier this week that:”long-time Sam Raimi editor Bob Murawski (Army of Darkness; Spider-man, Drag me to Hell) has packed up and headed out to Detroit to begin work on the long talked about fourth entry into the Evil Dead franchise, which will be “a small indie thing like the first two.”

Shortly thereafter, Bruce Campbell confirmed the rumor via his very own shiny new twitter feed (@groovybruce), in a response to a fan commenting on the report who said, “I won’t believe in a new Evil Dead film until I see it. Or at least not until @GroovyBruce tells me to believe in it,” to which Campbell responded, “Believe in the remake, dawg! The project is real. In the works. Cool as hell. Scary as hell.”

Finally, on July 13th, Ghost House Pictures issued an press release, confirming that the project was official, and that writer Diablo Cody (Juno, Jennifer’s Body, United States of Tara), was currently revising the script.

Does that mean Ellen Paige is gonna be the new Ash?

I’m just kidding, kind of.

While it seems clear that Bruce will not be the lead in this newest version, which, admittedly makes me sad. The idea that Ash could potentially become a female lead, is PURELY SPECULATION on my part based on Cody’s previous work. Though to be honest, I think that if they could find the right girl, that would be pretty groovy.

But mostly I just wanted to see if I could make some die-hard’s heads explode by implanting the idea.

You’re welcome!

-CAINE-

Source: Dread Central

Sense-Roid, The creepy Japanese Device That Hugs You Back

From last week's Compendium:

A few weeks ago on Compendium, I shared THIS creepy Japanese kissing machine. Well, in news that’s seriously making me consider adding a “Creepy Japanese Thing Of The Week” post. Students at the University of Electro-Communications in Japan, have designed a pair of vests designed to let people hug and caress themselves. Really? Cause by my count, the last thing people need, is help “caressing” themselves.

Described by it's creators in the video description on Youtube as:

“What type of emotions could be obtained if you were able to hug yourself? When we hug someone, we feel a sense of ease coming from emotions such as belief, security and love. However, it is not possible to hug oneself, who is the closest person. To experience this situation, we proposed a tactile device called the Sense-Roid. The system is composed of a lay figure (In the case of this video, the “lay figure” in question, is a headless, armless, sewer’s mannequin. See, and you thought it was creepy.) with tactile sensors to detect the user’s caressing motion, and a tactile jacket with vibrators and artificial muscles to reflect the caressing motion to the user. As a result, users caress themselves through our Sense-Roid. We believe that this self-caressing experience will enlighten people about the value of caressing.”

The good news, depending on how strong your desire to someday own an interactive humping appliance may be, is that the creators of the Sense-Roid say there are no future plans for the device. And judging by the demeanor of the student demonstrating the invention in the video, it was all meant to be a bit tongue and cheek anyway.

Still, if the adult industry did manage to get a hold of this technology, ugly things WOULD happen. Ugly, dirty, filthy things…

-CAINE-

Source: popsci.com

Posted by Youtube user: mlepine

Got Swamp-Ass? Nathan Fillion Wants to Help

Posted by Youtube user: BreakOriginals

In this special PSA brought to you by BREAk and The Nerd Machine, Nathan Fillion addresses an important issue affecting gamers worldwide: Swamp Ass. I know it isn't easy to talk about, but it's real, and if "Captain Tightpants" himself can admit his own struggles with this issue, then so can you.

So please, if you or someone you know is currently suffering from this embarrassing and potentially painful affliction, then help support Nathan's campaign by posting this to twitter, followed by the hashtag: #endswampass. Your taint will thank you for it.

-CAINE-

VIA: Compendium oF Strange

Behemoth Frontman Facing Blasphemy Charges in Poland

I first wrote here about Adam Darski, AKA "Nergal", frontman and guitarist for my favorite band Behemoth, about a year ago. At the time, he had just released a statement refuting claims by the religious that he had found god as a result of his leukemia diagnosis; for which he was then awaiting a bone marrow transplant. I also mentioned that earlier that same year blasphemy charges brought against him in Gdynia, Poland, had recently been dismissed. While there's since been plenty of good news where Adam's cancer is concerned, it would unfortunately appear that I was wrong about those blasphemy charges.

The good news is that after a years worth of treatment and recovery, undergoing chemo therapy and a bone marrow transplant Nergal ( sorry, I just can't call him Adam again) , has made a near complete recovery and is reported to be doing well. Just last month the group released some new rehearsal footage on their Youtube channel with Nergal back on the guitar, and though still understandably looking a bit thin, he otherwise appears to be in good shape and says that the band plans to start playing shows again in Poland in October before moving on to other parts of the world. All of which, makes me very happy to say.

The bad news of course, is now that his battle with leukemia is thankfully nearly over, he still has to face the polish legal system for charges of having committed an "offense against religious feelings" (sec. 196 of polish Criminal Code). The charges themselves stem from a performance by the band 14 years ago in Gydnia, in which he (quite fairly in my opinion) referred to the catholic church as, "the most murderous cult on the planet", before destroying a bible on stage. If found guilty of the clearly unforgivable crime of having hurt NAMBLA's, I mean, the catholic church's feelings, he could potentially face up to two years in prison for his "crime". Nergal himself briefly commented on his most recent court appearance last month saying;

"I spent 5 hours In the court in Gdynia today, the case is back on track and there's still [a] few witnesses to be interviewed. It's way too early to give any further comment. I just hope the final verdict is gonna be positive for me. I have a feeling that I'm in this situation for right reasons and I'm not giving up. Cross fingers! The battle ain't over yet..."

As for the actions which earned him the charges in the first place, as today's video from a 2008 show in Tilburg, as well as a variety of other examples on Youtube clearly illustrate; Nergal obviously regrets what he's done in the past, and promises he'll never do it again. No really, swear to god.

Best of luck Nergal.

-CAINE-

Source: noisecreep.com

Posted by Youtube user: letthemetalflow
In case your curious (and to avoid whining about being able to understand them), here are the LYRICS.

Speaking of The Shuttle

While I missed the launch myself, since I’m an insomniac and Friday’s the day I generally try and make up for a week’s worth of no sleep; there are as always, loads of cool pictures to be found. My favorite thus far, is this one taken from above through the window of a Shuttle Training Aircraft.

-CAINE-

VIA: GGB on tumblr

Image Credit:@NASAKennedy on twitter

Felicia Day, Sean Astin- Behind The Scenes: When Galaxies Collide

Posted by Youtube user: SpitzerScienceCenter

With Yesterday’s successful launch of the shuttle Atlantis into space, the final mission for NASA’s long run shuttle program, I thought I should share something sciency, and spacey; given that I don't really have any original thoughts to share where the end of the shuttle program is concerned.

So here’s a funny little video from the Spitzer Science Center in which Felicia Day, tries to explain some of the real science behind Galactic Collisions to an overzealous producer looking for something a little more sensational. It’s also a depressingly accurate depiction of how the worlds of mainstream media and entertainment tend to treat such topics.

-CAINE-

Source: GGB on tumblr

Mokey Steals Camera, Takes Self-Portrait

From this week's Compendium:

Wildlife Photographer David Slater recently decided to take a trip to a national park in Sulawesi, Indonesia, to photograph a group black macaque monkeys living near a science base in the region.

Though never having had any previous contact with human beings, the group he found proved to be both friendly and inquisitive, allowing him to walk with them for several days, without ever displaying any signs of aggression. They did however show a keen interest in his equipment. And after leaving his camera unattended for a moment, one of the animals managed to knock it to the ground, setting it off.

“The sound caused a bit of a frenzy.”, Slater said.”They were quite mischievous jumping all over my equipment, and it looked like they were already posing for the camera when one hit the button.” “The sound got his attention and he kept pressing it.”-

Though most of the 100 or so photos the monkey managed to take before David finally retrieved his camera were of course out of focus, he did manage to take a few good shots, including one with David himself in frame, and the self portrait above.

Sadly, not only is this monkey a better photographer than me, but I make the exact same face whenever my picture is taken, which is one of the reasons why I never share pictures of myself.

-CAINE-

Source:: dailymail VIA: Compendium oF Strange

Image credit: Black Macaque Monkey

"Plot Device", From Red Giant Software

Posted by Youtube user: redgiantsoftware

In this short from Red Giant Software, a young film maker orders a strange device from the internet which ultimately turns his world into a revolving door of cinematic conflicts which each click of the mysterious device's single red button. While I’m not sure of the budget behind this one, or exactly how many people are involved, and I think it’s ultimately just meant to be a commercial for the company’s editing software. The end result is a funny, original, well made short, filled with genuinely impressive visuals. I really like it, and I thought you might as well. So check it out.

-CAINE-

VIA: Compendium Of Strange

Florida's Gots Giant Squids!

Despite all those ads selling it as a tropical Paradise, Florida is really a magical land filled with giant, often slimy and or scaly creatures. We've got overgrown spiders and flying palmetto bugs ( giant roaches, and yes, THEY FLY!), alligators, snakes, lizards, giant poisonous toads, sharks, sea turtles, walking catfish ( its exactly what it sounds like ), bears, bats, giant birds, and raccoons, just to name a few. We've even a few predatory cats left around, though we've sadly managed to get rid of most of those with out insatiable hunger for golf courses, strip malls, retirement communities, theme-parks, and paid parking areas.

Well now it would appear there is at least one new giant slimy thing to add to the list of confirmed south Florida residents, (not him, Trump's been here for years) GIANT SQUID!

Early last week a pair of local fishermen pulled one of the animals still twitching from the waters just off the shore of Port Salerno. They loaded the 24 foot long specimen into their boat, and brought it into shore, where they turned it over to the Florida museum of Natural History for study. Awesome.

As those of you who follow my twitter feed may already be aware, I really don't like it here. The weather sucks, the people are awful, and if you hate the beach, theme parks, and the sun like I do, there just isn't much for you here. But there are some things I do like about this place, and though I could certainly live without the flying roaches, the astonishing variety of strange, overgrown, and sometimes slimy non-humanoid creatures who also happen to live here, are pretty high up on the list.

Yes, I know I'm strange. Now stop staring at me and go do something else.

-CAINE-

Source: WPTV -There's some video coverage on the page but it's got an add I can't get rid of AND it ends before the report is actually over, so I decided it wasn't worth embedding.

Newly Discovered Quasar is the brightest, and Most Ancient Ever Seen

Image Credit:ESO/M. Kornmesser

VIA: GGB on tumblr-

Discovered by a team of European astronomers after five years spent analyzing data collected by The European UKIRT Infrared Deep Sky Survey as well as a variety of other Telescopes, including the ESO's Very Large Telescope (why do all space agencies feel the need to be so uncreative when naming things?), ULAS J1120+0641 , is the brightest, and most distant quasar ever found.

“This quasar is a vital probe of the early Universe. It is a very rare object that will help us to understand how supermassive black holes grew a few hundred million years after the Big Bang,” says Stephen Warren, the study’s team leader.

For those of you who are unfamiliar, Quasars are very bright, very distant, and therefore ancient galaxies that are believed to be powered by supermassive black holes at their centers. ULAS J1120+0641 is believed to be powered by a black hole with an estimated mass of 2 billion times that of the sun.

As for it's distance from the Earth and the age of the object, this newly discovered ancient galaxy is located so far from the Earth that the light being emitted by it is stretched beyond the visible spectrum, and is therefore detectable primarily in the infrared. That means that the light being emitted by the galaxy would have taken around 12.9 billion years to reach Earth. So from our perspective, the galaxy appears as it would have an estimated 770 million years after the Big Bang.

-CAINE-

Source:ESO.org

This ESOcast is about the discovery of the most distant quasar found to date. This brilliant beacon is powered by a black hole with a mass two billion times that of the Sun. It is by far the brightest object yet discovered in the early Universe.

Posted by Youtube user: ESOobservatory