Mysterious Clowns Make Nightly Appearances in Small California Town!

Posted by on October 10th, 2014

In a small town in California called Wasco something odd has quietly started appearing…

Clowns.

You’d read that and think, “That’s great! My kids LOVE clowns!”

Then you’d hear the more of the story and say, “They only come out at night?”

We’d share a few more details about the clowns, how they don’t talk to anyone, just quietly wander around town, smile all the time with menacing teeth and then we’d watch your smiling expression disintegrate as you draw your children closer to you and vow to never visit Wasco at night.

Ever.

Or at least until the whole clown thing blows over.

If it ever does.

And if Pennywise is sighted.

[The Indy Channel]


Wander Aimlessly in the Desert via Google Camel

Posted by on October 9th, 2014

As Google continues to document every crevice of our world with a camera so armchair world travelers can sit at home in their underwear and globe-trot, they’re realizing that a car with a first-gen Imperial Probe Droid mounted on its roof can’t go quite anywhere.

Google decided to ‘street view’ the Arabian desert of Liwa.

Since cars can’t tread sand, they strapped their all-seeing-eye to the back of a camel and let some poor schmuck wander the desert so we could all virtually enjoy the experience of being stranded in a desert without all those little inconveniences like thirst, dehydration, delirium and…you know dying alone in the desert.

[I09]


Podcast: Lynxes and Minxes, OH MY!

Posted by on October 2nd, 2014

Skitched 20110225 175343

Poo talk! What are all those eyes looking back at you in the middle of the night? What is the cutest possible animal we could genetically engineer? Which animals are ready to become domesticated?
Also: Lemur/Lemus…
ANDREW MAYNE NEW YORK CITY BOOK SIGNINGS
– Mysterious Book Shop / October 1st / 6:30 pm

– Fantasma Magic / October 2nd / 12 pm to 2 pm

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Download url: http://www.itricks.com/upload/WeirdThings092814.mp3

[podcast]http://www.itricks.com/upload/WeirdThings092814.mp3[/podcast]

 

Picks:

Andrew:

Make Art Make Money / Emmet Otter Jugband Christmas

Justin:

Angel Killer Audiobook

Brian:

Marvel Cinematic Universe / Marvel Unlimited


Podcast: Grand Theft Ghoul

Posted by on September 14th, 2014

Skitched 20110225 175343Andrew and Justin discuss the curious case of\Ghost Robber. Debate the likelihood of the new iPhones ushering in an era of Apple Virtual Reality. Andrew admits he’s looking forward to writing on his new Apple Watch. The boys look forward to the release of Andrew’s book Angel Killer on September 23rd.

Pre-Order Angel Killer Now!

 

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Download url: http://www.itricks.com/upload/WeirdThings091414.mp3

[podcast]http://www.itricks.com/upload/WeirdThings091414.mp3[/podcast]

 

Picks:

Andrew:

Machine

Justin:

Cryptomundo


Welder dons Batsuit, builds Batpod becomes Chibatman!

Posted by on September 6th, 2014

Here in the states we’re all pretty used to Christian Bale as Batman getting in peoples’ faces and barking like he’s trying to carry on a conversation in a dance club.

But what if there was a kinder more approachable version of the Dark Knight who’s only mission was to bring smiles to an area rebuilding from a devastating earthquake.

Well there is such a person.

He’s called Chibatman.

A 41 year-old Chinese welder’s donned Batman’s suit (thankfully not the Clooney one) since 2011 as well as built his own version of the Batpod and taken to the streets to simply make people smile.

“I started doing this around three years ago. As for my reasons, during the great earthquake [the 2011 Fukushima earthquake], people forgot how to smile. I wanted to help bring the smile back, and that’s why I started.”

So while Chibatman rolls around distributing awesomeness and smiles (and the English translator in the video channels his inner Christian Bale producing even more smiles to the rest of us) to an area distraught and repairing itself after a horrific disaster, it’s the little kid in the video that kind of sums up how awkwardly cool this whole thing is…

“I think it’s cool how he goes around town looking like Batman without feeling embarrassed at all.”

We agree.

Might be more superheroes in the world.

[Robot6.com]


Because Florida sits on a Hellmouth…
The Mantis Shrimp

Posted by on September 5th, 2014

Florida rides a double-edged sword.

On one side people proclaim it’s a great place to vacation. On the other side are the people who live there who are completely aware of the fact that it’s just wet sand covering a giant Hellmouth.

Seriously…the sky tries to kill people with bolts of lightning, the ground tries to swallow anything that lives on it whole and the things that crawl around aren’t like things that crawl around anywhere else.

Case in point…

A fisherman off the coast caught the Face-Grabber’s cousin the other day.

It’s called a Mantis Shrimp…and the one that was caught (at night we’d like to add) is bigger than most (and probably a sign that something’s also happening in Florida’s water because…well…it’s Florida).

Imagine if you rolled a predator, one of Ridley Scott’s aliens, a mole person, a little bit of a Grim Reaper and a highly skilled ninja into a living animal and slathered it in ugly.

Ta-Da! Mantis Shrimp.

Florida’s Fish and Wildlife Commission posted a picture of a super-sized one of these nightmares on their Facebook page and it’s gone viral with good reason…it’s terrifying and it lives in the sand…under your feet.

Next time you think about exploring Florida because you’re bored of the theme parks?

Just…here watch this and imagine one of these about 7 times the size of the one in the video…and crawling up your leg.

You’ve been warned.

[FFWC Facebook]


Meet Pepper – Adorable Robot Face of Our Demise

Posted by on September 4th, 2014

Created as a joint effort between SoftBank and French robotics company Aldebaran, Pepper a preciously adorable robot, was unveiled recently in stores throughout Tokyo.

The humans behind Pepper are hoping that everyone will want him to join their family in the very near future.

Pepper laughs, tells jokes, dances and probably quietly mocks us behind his adorable little face as he and his ilk develop their future plans.

Like a toddler or a pupper looking for a handout, Pepper constantly keeps eye contact with any human that he comes in contact with, can hold discussions about the weather and…stuff…and can do so in about 17 languages.

Determining the emotional status of humans via facial recognition and tone of our voices is another feature of the almost child-like metal man. Using algorithms and collected data from facial recognition studies, Pepper will seek to interact with humans in a way that will begin building the bridge across the vast ‘uncanny valley’ that exists right now between natural human behavior and robotically programmed behavior.
Looking to introduce him as a companion for seniors and as the gateway drug to having family service robots his price tag comes in under an affordable $2,000.
Masayoshi Son, Softbank’s CEO, stated during the press conference surrounding the unveiling of Pepper, “Several thousand Peppers are going to learn at the store (where the unveiling took place). Everything they learned and gained, is going to be accumulated into the cloud-based service. So that can be accelerating the evolution of the collective wisdom.”
Thousands of Peppers…connected in a hive-like mind.
Not too frightening, right?
He’s not even really mobile.
Until son added, “Our vision is to create an affectionate robot that can understand people’s feelings. Then autonomously, it will take action.”
Great.
Like when a bunch of silver, bipedal robots with glowing red eyes in the future autonomously ‘took action’?

[Above Science’s YouTube Channel]


Podcast: SpaceX Field Trip Report

Posted by on August 16th, 2014

Skitched 20110225 175343PREORDER ANDREW MAYNE’S ANGEL KILLER ON AMAZON BEFORE SEPTEMBER 23rd

SpaceX tour report with the boys and Tom. Live from LA!

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[podcast]http://www.itricks.com/upload/WeirdThings081614.mp3[/podcast]

 

Picks:

Brian:

The Leftovers

Justin:

SpaceX

Andrew:

Elon Musk SpaceX factory tour

Tom:

Friction Welding


Podcast: GhostBNB

Posted by on August 11th, 2014

Skitched 20110225 175343PREORDER ANDREW MAYNE’S ANGEL KILLER ON AMAZON BEFORE SEPTEMBER 23rd

The boys discuss the impossible engine… spoiler it’s probably still impossible. Andrew finds a treasure trove of awesomeness in space. A preparation for the Weird Things field trip to SpaceX next week! A haunted house is explored with hilarious results.

 

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Download url: http://www.itricks.com/upload/WeirdThings081014.mp3

[podcast]http://www.itricks.com/upload/WeirdThings081014.mp3[/podcast]

 

Picks:

Brian:

PG Porn

Justin:

Guardians of the Galaxy

Andrew:

Guardians of the Galaxy


News Crew Investigates Alleged Home Haunting – Makes Ghost Angry

Posted by on August 6th, 2014

A news crew was sent to do a story about an alleged haunted house that it set to be featured on a new show called the ‘Dead Files’.

From the sound of it, the whole crew seemed to have the what-could-possibly-go-wrong attitude.

What they didn’t expect is that the anchor woman would get pinched and touched and that the camera guy would get scratched by whatever might be lurking in the house.

There’s really not much to be snarky about…except for the studio employee that just had to lighten the mood by messing with the studio’s dimmer at the end of the clip.

There’s always THAT guy.

[WDJX.com]


Croatian man allegedly cures with awkward stare

Posted by on August 5th, 2014

Nope. That’s not some forgotten 80s rockstar up there in that photo.

That’s Braco. He’s a ‘healer’ like Benny Hinn is a ‘healer’. Except Braco, who’s from Croatia and whose name literally translates to ‘Bro’ in Croatian, has done away with that whole laborious process of actually talking and interacting physically with people. That’s for rookies.

He just stares at them with a gaze that might cause…uh…something…to happen to pregnant women specifically:

• Pregnant women are not allowed to live stream or attend a live event after their third month of pregnancy due to the intensity of the energy.

People come in droves, stand in an open space and wait for Braco to stroll out, stare at them until it’s completely awkward and uncomfortable and then just walks away. The guy never utters a word. He just stares at everyone.

Then walks away.

Braco’s gaze can be dangerous stuff, kids.

“…for other people who are not able to attend a session, it is recommended that you bring a photo of that person to a session instead. The power of Braco’s gaze can equally reach people through photos, and the same level of healing and transformation can occur through this method.”

Probably the coolest gig ever, right?

Just stare at people with your potential life-changing, pregnancy-damaging powers and then walk off when you get bored or sufficiently happy that everyone got a good look at your flowing hair of peace.

Not everyone is buying into the love that people surround Braco.

Some believe that he’s actually a reptilian in disguise.

Recently Braco has been making new fans in America and even though the video is super-dated, we expect we’ll be hearing more about everyone’s favorite silver-maned, awkward-stare-master and ‘bro’ in the very near future.

Find out for yourself if you can handle Braco’s stare here: Stare at me, bro!

[Lost at E Minor]


Podcast: Soft Water Landing

Posted by on August 3rd, 2014

Skitched 20110225 175343PREORDER ANDREW MAYNE’S ANGEL KILLER ON AMAZON BEFORE SEPTEMBER 23rd

We talk about SpaceX, AI murdering us, and Guardians of the Galaxy

 

 

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[podcast]http://www.itricks.com/upload/WeirdThings080314.mp3[/podcast]

 

Picks:

Brian:

The Martian

Justin:

Guardians of the Galaxy

Andrew:

Guardians of the Galaxy


Ex-MegaDeath Drummer Records UFO – Bonus: Reveals how humans evolved

Posted by on July 23rd, 2014

The video pretty much explains it all. Nick Menza, who used to play for MegaDeath before things got ugly between him and his bandmates, spotted something weird in the sky over his home and hit record.

“I was standing in my front yard with my two boys and this is what we saw. [It had] the shape of a triangular object with rounded tips glowing yellow and white. [I am] not sure what it is, but it looked totally awesome.”

Menza also added, in true I’ve-been-a-rockstar fashion that he’s privy to humankind’s origins:

“Before, back in the Stone Ages, like when we were just regular humans, we didn’t have brains in us and then the aliens came down and they intervened and they put brains in our heads and now we’re all smart and we’re starting to figure things out, ascending to the next level and a higher level of conscious awareness and that sort of stuff.”

He obviously never peruses People of Walmart…

Wait…maybe that actually explains People of Walmart!

[Blabbermouth.Net]


Ancient Sea Creature Brain Discovered in China

Posted by on July 23rd, 2014

Anomalocaridids.

That’s the name for a bucket of strange insect-like creatures with terrifying pincers that crawled around on the ground billions of years ago and ate other, not-as-scary insect-like creatures with only semi-terrifying pincers that crawled around on the ground billions of years ago.

Chinese scientists have recently discovered the fossilized brain tissue of a group of animals called Lyrarapax unguispinus, a fun group of nasty creatures that have no modern day relatives save for a much smaller worm that isn’t quite as terrifying found in the tropics.

Dear scientists…just keep working on the cute, furry woolly mammoth. These don’t need to come back.

Ever.

[Washington Post]


Podcast: Russia’s Big Hole

Posted by on July 21st, 2014

Skitched 20110225 175343Andrew return from the land of boiling roads, a massive hole erupts in Siberia and how to build your own VR rig for fun and profit.

 

 

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[podcast]http://www.itricks.com/upload/WeirdThings072014.mp3[/podcast]

 

Picks:

Andrew #1:

Particle Fever

Justin:

Edge of Tomorrow

Andrew #2:

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes


Scientists Create Material That Absorbs All the Light

Posted by on July 15th, 2014

Using nanotubes, British scientists have created a material called VantaBlack that acts like a bunch of very, very tiny blackhole when it comes to light.

The material is so black that our eyes can’t discern any type of edges or features an object covered in the material might have.

We’ll leave the explanation to the scientists in the above video.

To get a quick grasp of just how light-sucking and black this material is? Take a look at the piece of aluminum in the photo below. The black portion of the foil is just as crinkled as the silver portion. Think about that.

And then think about what you might cover in VantaBlack…

Or what a top-secret government agency might cover in VantaBlack…

Or how many ninja might begin using VantaBlack.

[BGR.com]