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Archive for March, 2012

Everything Is Different [Walking Dead Dissection]

Monday, March 12th, 2012

There has been a lot to criticize about this season. A lot.

But one thing that’s been beyond reproach for The Walking Dead. They know how to reach a destination, no matter how convoluted the path there might be. Sunday’s episode marked one key thematic shift in the series which to this point had been sorely lacking, events had real consequences and changed the dynamics of the characters.

Finger cuffed by death, let’s talk about the most satisfying episode of The Walking Dead… (more…)

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500 New Horrifying German Fairy Tales Discovered

Friday, March 9th, 2012

fairy tales.jpg

Who’s excited for reams and reams of new stories that are likely gloomy, brutal and horrifying only for them to be whitewashed into super child-friendly parables and then re-darkened into adult action-adventure yarns?

Well today is your lucky day!

Over 500 new fairy tales have been discovered in Germany.

Many of the stories in Von Schonwerth’s collection are found nowhere else. The tales include stories for adults as well as children. There are stories about magical animals, princesses, evil witches, farmers and more. In one of the stories a young woman escapes a witch by turning herself into a pond. The witch then drinks the pond and swallows the woman along with it. The woman then escapes by cutting herself out of the witch with a knife.

Pond changing? Witch knifing?

Get Tim Burton on the phone. I’m seeing Abigail Breslin as the young woman. Johnny Depp as a helpful frog who lives in the pond. And for the witch… who would be a good fit?

[Writers Write]

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First Look: Submarine that will Bring James Cameron to the Bottom of the Ocean

Thursday, March 8th, 2012

Yup, that’s it. Inside that piece of machinery will be James Cameron as he conquers the freaking ocean. For those unaware, in the next week or so, Cameron will descend for three and a half hours until he settles at the bottom of Challenger Deep, the lowest known point in the ocean.

The mission hasn’t come without a price.

He said the deaths early last month of his two crew members, Mike deGruy and Andrew Wight — both celebrated filmmakers who specialized in carrying viewers into the sea’s depths — initially prompted him to want to scrap the expedition. The two were preparing to film a sea trial of the Deepsea Challenger when their helicopter went down shortly after takeoff from an airstrip south of Sydney, Australia.

“It was a horrible day,” Mr. Cameron recalled. “We felt sick at heart. It caused us to question risk and the meaning of life. I personally did not want to continue at that point, but the team rallied.”

While incredibly sad that part of his crew lost their lives during the process, it’s awesome that Cameron will honor their memory by completing the task they worked so hard on.

[New York Times]

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Man Mugged By Fox

Thursday, March 8th, 2012

After a man left a grocery store, a fox stalked him and would not leave the man alone until he gave the fox some of his food. This was a fully grown man, by the way, weighing in at over 200 lbs.

“Despite making attempts to escape, the fox persisted and carried out a sustained attack on the food he had just bought from Tesco.

Eventually, Mr Baker claims, he resorted to offering the animal his loaf of garlic bread and the fox scampered off.”

Everybody knows foxes love garlic bread. However, wildlife experts do not think you should give in and give food to foxes, but should try and frighten them away. Perhaps with a weapon of some kind?