Sundance Short FIlms: Apocalypse ( Ideas That Make Your Head Explode)

My Favorite Show EP05: Bring Out Your Dead

My Favorite Show EP02: Poor Little Doodle

Creepy/Weird Japanese Thing of The Week: Shiri The Emo Robo-Ass

Creepy-Weird-Not Japanese, Thing of The Week: Kiss Transmission Robots From Lovotics

Remember THIS story, about a group of Japanese students who invented a remote kissing machine for the Internet? Remember how creepy we all thought it was, and how you could never imagine why anyone would build such a thing? Well, just in case you thought the Japanese were the only ones trying to make robot humping a reality, I give you: AI researcher Hooman Samani.

Hooman, as you may have guessed by now, has actually invented an Internet kissing machine all of his own, through a robotics project called “Lovotics”. Yes, That’s right- creepy Internet kissing machines have been independently invented at least twice now.

Instead of a little white box with a plastic bendy straw attached to it, like the device those Japanese students came up with. Samani’s remote kissing toys are made to look like cartoon pigs with giant silicon lips. Which I'm thinking is a not so subtle comment on the potential users of the device, but that's just speculation on my part.

So if you happen to be a shut in with a desire to make out remotely with strangers over the Internet, or even if you just happen to have a thing for anthropomorphized pigs, then today, is YOUR lucky day. All ya gotta do now is grab yourself one of these sweet Internet kissing pigs, and one of those iPad fleshlight mounts I told you about -which also turned out to be a real thing BTW- and you can finally live your twisted little monkey dreams of virtually humping your favorite cartoon seductress, or iOS device.

ENJOY!

You depraved little freaks you.

-CAINE-

Archie Mcphee's Cult of Unicorn And Magical Unicorn Mask

From this week's Compendium:

Are you honest, forthright with the truth, and maybe a little weird? Well then you too might be a secrete Unicorn! And have I got the cult for you. No, I’m not talking about those creepy otherkin kids, they’ve obviously got issues. But not you. YOU are a SECRETE UNICORN. And now there’s a magical unicorn mask that you can wear to let the world know your true self!

Still not sure if the Cult of Unicorn is right for you? Find out now by reading the COU manifesto, HERE.

-CAINE-

Image credit: Archie Mcphee

VIA:laughing Squid

Octopus Kites by Tamas Kalman

Man Attempts to Survive Soley on Wife's Breast Milk

From This Week's Compendium:

See that? THAT, is an entire freezer full of human breast milk. More importantly, THAT, is an entire freezer full of human breast milk produced entirely by one human being. No, really. Why would someone have a freezer full of breast milk, much less what looks to be multiple gallons of the stuff?

When a couple’s newborn had to spend time in the NICU, mom became concerned that she might stop lactating. So, she began pumping -and storing. Eventually, the baby came home, and the milk the couple didn’t end up using for their own infant, was donated to milk banks; cause apparently that’s a thing you can do. It wasn’t long before the couple was once again, with child, -cause, ya know, the first time around went so smoothly- and once again, that child would spend time in the NICU, prompting mommy to resume her pumping regime. Like their first, the couple’s second child eventually made it’s way home, where their was -if nothing else- certainly plenty to eat. But this time, the couple was unable to donate the excess milk mommy made -at least where milk banks were concerned, I presume they overlooked the: “random fetishists on the internet” option- because of certain medications she was taking at the time of pumping; thus leaving the couple with a freezer full of unused -potentially, chemically tainted- breast milk.

As so often happens when starting a family, the couple was soon faced with a move, and paying the high cost of transporting a freezer full of mommy juice; seriously, think about how much of this stuff you have to have in order to determine it to be, TOO EXPENSIVE TO MOVE! Not wanting to throw out the precious fluid, cause, ya know, what kind of sensible person would do that? Daddy, soon had a solution.That solution of course, was to try and see just how long he could survive, on nothing but mother’s milk. Cause, Ya know, There’s nothing creepy or weird about that.

Just how far will this experiment go? And what will the results be? Well, it looks like we'll never REALLY know the answer to either of those questions, as the couple had intended to blog about Pop’s little experiment, but appear to have rather quickly discovered that the internets, is not always a kind place, as that blog is already down. Now if I could just keep my lunch that way, everything will be fine.

And you guys thought Ice cream made from human breast milk was creepy.

-CAINE-

Source: Gothamist.com

VIA: Compendium oF Strange

How to Make Mouse Embryos Transparent with Pee & Anti-freeze

When I first found this story, I assumed the headline attached to it, "How to Make a Transparent Mouse with a Few Simple Ingredients", really meant, as is typically the case, something far less unusual than it sounded. Turns out, I was wrong. Scientists from Riken, a natural sciences research center in Japan, have actually developed a solution that really does make tissue transparent, dead tissue of course, but it was the transparent part that I was suspicious of. Oh, and did I mention that there's urine and anti-freeze involved? Well, sort of.

Using a simple recipe containing urea (see, I told ya), a cell membrane-softening detergent (Ooh, does that mean that Snuggle comes in "Flesh softening" now?) called Triton-X (oh, guess not) , and Glycerol, a component of antifreeze; researchers were able to create a solution called Scale (yes, the "l" is italicized on purpose, I don't know why). Other clearing agents similar to this already exist, but the degree to which they render tissues transparent varies, and they can often interfere with fluorescent tags inserted into the tissues for study. A two week soak in Scale, on the other hand, eliminates both these problems. And because this newest clearing agent allows researches to look as deep as they like into tissues, such as the brain, without interfering with their tagging agents, researchers hope that Scale will provide a simpler and more effective way to trace circuits of the brain in order to create better connectivity maps of the organ; delicate work, that is currently still being done by hand.

It should go without saying that a two week soak in urea, Glycerol, and flesh-softening detergent, would be, not only unpleasant, but not particularly conducive to allowing living tissue to remain that way. So for now, at least, Scale's applications are limited to dead tissues. But researchers do hope to develop a milder version that could be used on living tissue as well. Which could be great news for teenagers of the future, who could no longer be limited to tattoos, piercings, ridiculous clothing, and silly hair cuts, to piss-off their parents; and could instead, be getting things "transparented".

I can hear it now:

"TRANSPARENT IS BEAUTIFUL TOO!" and "I'm totally having my skin transparified to protest racism and animal cruelty. Organs are beautiful man, not food! And there is no hate, if we're all see-thru."

-CAINE-

Source: Discover Magazine VIA: GGB on tumblr

Strange Attractors, a Book About How Aliens Might Have Sex

How to Make "Bullet Proof" Skin From Spider Silk

Working in collaboration with researchers from the Forensic Genomics Consortium Netherlands, dutch artist Jalila Essaidi's managed to grow human skin cells infused with genetically engineered spider silk, that can stop a .22 calibre bullet when fired at reduced speeds.

Named 2.6g 329m/s, after the maximum weight and velocity of a .22 calibre Long Rifle bullet from which a Type 1 bulletproof vest is meant to protect you; the skin was created by first acquiring the protein which makes the spider silk itself -which is several times stronger than steel- from the milk of goats genetically modified to produce the protein in their milk. Once extracted, the protein was then woven into a lattice work of fibers, which was in turn sandwiched between two layers of otherwise normal human skin cells grown on top of the silk matrix.

As for the goats themselves -since I'm sure you're curious- they were created using a method developed by researcher Randy Lewis and his team from Utah State University, in which the gene responsible for producing the silk is extracted from the spiders which would naturally create the substance, and ultimately inserted into a goat's egg.

While Essaidi's final product was ultimately unable to reach the minimum standard for modern bullet proof vests by stopping a .22 cal riffle bullet shot at normal speed, and the notion that we might someday replace the keratin in our skin with this silk using the same methods as those used to create the modified goats, though entirely plausible, is at best, a distant dream. In the short term, Lewis asserts that the most exciting part about Jalila's experiment is that they were able to grow the skin cells on top of the fibers in the first place, and the potential applications for the skin today in skin grafts and other treatments.

-CAINE-

Source: techcocktail.com

A Pitcher Plant Catches a Bird

I have a rather predictable affinity for carnivorous plants, and not just because I'm morbid and strange, which I am. But because they are without question some of the most unique organisms on the planet, and I happen to think they're pretty. What? I said I was strange.

Though they do not necessarily require animal proteins to stay alive. Carnivorous plants, like the pitcher plants seen above, have evolved a number of methods for trapping insects and other small animals, which they then breakdown using digestive enzymes, in order to supplement their diets to make up for the lack of nutrients present in the soil in which they typically grow. While they usually only manage to catch smaller creatures like insects and frogs. Pitcher plants, which tend to grow larger than other varieties of carnivorous plants, have been known to catch larger animals like mice, and even rats.

The above photo is believed to be only the second ever documented case of a pitcher plant eating a bird, which presumably became trapped while trying to pull out insects floating in the liquid inside the plant.

-CAINE-

Source: BBC News

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

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

Creepy Harry Potter Babies

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

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

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

Mokey Steals Camera, Takes Self-Portrait

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

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.

Necropants, The Pants Made From Human Flesh

Looking for a quick, easy, path to financial prosperity? Of course you are! That’s why YOU, need NECROPANTS! What are Necropants you say, and where can I buy a pair of these miraculous garments?Necropants, or Nábrókarstafur, are pants made from the skin of a dead man’s lower torso; and you don’t buy them silly, you make them!

Here’s how it works:

First, you’ll need to dig up a body from a church yard, but not just any body. Remember, the lower potion of the torso must be FULLY intact in order for this to work, and those dangling man bits tend to deteriorate quickly after decay sets in, so don’t go waiting too long after the body’s been put in the ground before you go gettin’ yer “Gein” on. More importantly, always remember that you must first obtain permission to wear your new Necropants from their previous owner BEFORE he’s done with them in order for them to work their magic.

Once an agreeable doner has been found, and you’ve managed to successfully dig up the body, you’ll obviously need to remove your new pants from the previous wearer’s legs. While there are no special rites or rituals required for this step in the process, you’ll want to avoid damaging the pants during removal, which is why knowing how to properly skin and dress an animal carcass, is an advisable skill set to have. Once that job is done, your new pants will be nearly ready to wear!

All you need now, is a coin stolen from the man’s poor widow, which must be kept in the scrotum of your new Necropants, along with a piece of paper bearing the special symbol displayed to the right.

BUT REMEMBER KIDS:These items must remain in the scrotum of your Necropants at all times in order for the Magic to work. Forget this step, or use your new scrotum as place to carry your keys or cellphone, and you’ll just be wearing another man’s decaying junk over your own, and that’s a fashion no-no, not to mention a possible threat to your manhood- and no one wants that.

On a personal note, when shopping for Necropants, I recommend choosing a partner who’s reasonably close to your own size. Pick someone to small, and all your work could be for nothing when you discover that your new pants wont fit! Even worse, pick someone too big, and you could wind up looking fat! So always remember to shop around.

-CAINE-

Source: The Museum of Icelandic Sorcery and Witchcraft VIA: Compendium Of Strange