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October 30, 2006
Nazi Home Movie Found in Church
A 10-minute home movie made by Nazi officers during World War II has been found in a church in rural Devon.It shows members of the SS running a slave labour camp in southern Russia. In the footage, troops force prisoners to work and officers are seen relaxing.
No one is sure how the film came to be stored at Cullompton Baptist Church but historians say it is unique.
[...]
"It looks very much like this is something somebody shot to show where they are working to take home to show the wife and kids."
Fuck zombies, werewolves, aliens and all that noise. People are the scariest monsters on Earth.
(via bbc news and warren ellis)
Posted by Groonk at 12:37 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of History, Religion, WorldWarII
The Eye of OMAC
That's so wrong:
(via cbr:lying in the gutters volume 2 column 75)
Posted by Groonk at 12:25 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Art, Comics, Sex
The Dog Who "Did Kermit"
Best quote in the audio interview(and there are many), "...winter was gonna come and we were gonna have a dog who didn't have toad:"
"We noticed Lady spending an awful lot of time down by the pond in our backyard," Laura Mirsch recalls.
Lady would wander the area, disoriented and withdrawn, soporific and glassy-eyed.
"Then, late one night after I'd put the dogs out, Lady wouldn't come in," Laura Mirsch says. "She finally staggered over to me from the cattails. She looked up at me, leaned her head over and opened her mouth like she was going to throw up, and out plopped this disgusting toad."
It turned out the toads were toxic -- and, if licked, the fluids on their skin provided a hallucinogenic effect.
(via NPR)
Posted by Groonk at 12:18 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals, USA, Weird
October 25, 2006
Mint Royale Shares a Tune
(listen or right click to download or both)
The nice folks at Mint Royale's MySpace were kind enough to share a movie mix of their awesome track "From Rusholme With Love." A track I first heard on the(much talked about by me) british comedy series SPACED.
This track was made special for the movie SERENDIPITY. Now this is a movie that if I were given a gun and a choice of watching said movie or shooting my eye out forcing myself to forever live life with a pirate-y gaze, I'd choose the gun each and every time.
Twice on Sundays.
But Mint Royale's music I could listen to for days upon weeks. Here's what they have to say about the re-found track:
...the directors wanted to use From Rusholme With Love as his signature tune, but wanted it performed by a Shenai player (by the way, a Shenai is an Indian oboe).So we got together with the guy who wrote the original sitar based version which we sampled in From Rusholme With Love, John Mayer, and a few of his friends, and recorded an authentic Indian version for the film. Then, we actually got asked to go to Toronto and play the part of John Corbett's band in the film itself - we are there, blink and you'll miss us!
(via mint royale myspace)
Posted by Groonk at 01:13 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Digital Share, Music
October 22, 2006
DEATH OF A PRESIDENT Speculates Life Without Bush
Funny I haven't seen this advertised in many places:
Winner of the International Critics' Prize at the Toronto Film Festival," "DEATH OF A PRESIDENT" is conceived as a fictional TV documentary broadcast in 2008, reflecting on another monstrously despicable and cataclysmic event: the assassination of President George W. Bush on October 19th, 2007. The "documentary" combines archival footage and carefully composed interviews, presented in a respectful and dignified manner. Exciting and questioning, it refashions the event into a riveting story.
UPDATE: People who have seen this movie liked the heck out of it.
THE assassination of U.S. President George Bush has been warmly received, by movie audiences, at least.It was a popular attraction at last month's Toronto International Film Festival.
The audience applauded at the end and several more times during a question-and-answer session with the film-makers.
"I really liked it. It seemed very real. It was hard to believe the people were acting. I found myself mesmerised," said Linda Walsh, a real estate agent from California, who said she is not a Bush supporter.
"I'm always hoping when anything like this comes out that it will cause people that perhaps haven't thought about things to think about them," Walsh said. "About the war, about the Patriot Act, about our judicial system."
Director Gabriel Range told the crowd afterward that he does not believe Death of a President would incite anyone to attempt an assassination.
(via ontd and adelaide now)
Posted by Groonk at 07:14 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Movies, One Sheets
New Bacteria Lives without Sunlight
The first known organisms that live totally independently of the sun have been discovered deep in a South African gold mine.The bacteria exist without the benefit of photosynthesis by harvesting the energy of natural radioactivity to create food for themselves. Similar life forms may exist on other planets, experts speculate.
The bacteria live in ancient water trapped in a crack in basalt rock, 3 to 4 kilometres down. Scientists from Princeton University in New Jersey, US, and colleagues analysed water from the fissure after it was penetrated by a narrow exploratory shaft in the Mponeng gold mine near Johannesburg, South Africa. The shaft was then closed.There were many species of bacteria present, but RNA sequencing showed most were a previously-unknown type of bacteria dubbed Desulfotomaculum.
(via new scientist)
Posted by Groonk at 07:09 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Science
October 21, 2006
What are "the Stakes," Again?
One tactic. Two political parties. 40 plus years difference.
Now:
The US Republican Party has launched a controversial terror-linked TV advertisement to bolster support ahead of mid-term elections next month.Democrats have hit out at the commercial, calling it scaremongering. US voters go to the polls on 7 November to elect members of Congress…
In 1964 the infamous political ad by Lyndon Johnson against Barry Goldwater. The first words in the ad are. "These are the stakes.":
("the smell of fear" and "the stakes"(YouTube) via warren ellis)
EDITOR"S NOTE: After watching Mr. Conservative: Goldwater on Goldwater, i gained more insight on the issues around this ad. It aired only once and Goldwater threatened to sue Johnson if it ever aired again. There's more but you really should Netflix,buy, or watch the documentary on HBO for all the details. One of the many points of interest was how Goldwater hated how the religious right was gaining more power in politics. Goldwater believed in the separation of church and state. And coming from a conservative, that's saying a lot these days.
Posted by Groonk at 08:46 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Politics, Video
October 20, 2006
And the Milky Way was Full of Earths
...Based on the number of planets identified and the number of stars in the Milky Way, the scientists estimated that as many as 6 billion Jupiter-size planets exist in [our] galaxy.
[...]
More than 200 extrasolar planets have been discovered around relatively nearby stars, primarily through the Doppler line shifts owing to reflex motions of their host stars, and more recently through transits of some planets across the faces of the host stars. The detection of planets with the shortest known periods, 1.2–2.5 days, has mainly resulted from transit surveys which have generally targeted stars more massive than 0.75 Mcircle dot, where Mcircle dot is the mass of the Sun. Here we report the results from a planetary transit search performed in a rich stellar field towards the Galactic bulge. We discovered 16 candidates with orbital periods between 0.4 and 4.2 days, five of which orbit stars of masses in the range 0.44–0.75 Mcircle dot.
(via boingboing | photo via Astronomy Picture of the Day " The Milky Way over Utah")
Posted by Groonk at 09:11 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Research, Science
Hot Fuzz is Ready to Tease
Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and Edgar Wright are at it again. They're doing their damndest to prove me wrong. I didn't think making a buddy cop comedy was the best idea after the hilarious Shaun of the Dead. The Police Academy movies(7 in all with an 8th in the making, kids) killed all my interests in that genre along with half my will to live.
Super Troopers was a good effort and the one exception to that rule.
Then I watched the Hot Fuzz teaser trailer #2:
I was so wrong guys. I'll never doubt the Wright-Pegg-Frost genius again.
(via iwatchstuff and google video)
Posted by Groonk at 01:58 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Movies, Trailers
Scientist Make a Thing Disappear
They've come a long way since March 2005.
The new work points the way for an improved version that could hide people and objects from visible light.
Conceptually, the chance of adapting the concept to visible light is good, Schurig said in a telephone interview. But, he added, "From an engineering point of view it is very challenging."
The cloaking of a cylinder from microwaves comes just five months after Schurig and colleagues published their theory that it should be possible. Their work is reported in a paper in Friday's issue of the journal Science.
"We did this work very quickly ... and that led to a cloak that is not optimal," said co-author David R. Smith, also of Duke. "We know how to make a much better one."
Viewers can see things because objects scatter the light that strikes them, reflecting some of it back to the eye.
"The cloak reduces both an object's reflection and its shadow, either of which would enable its detection," Smith said.
The cloak is made of metamaterials, which are mixtures of metal and circuit board materials such as ceramic, Teflon or fiber composite.
In an ideal situation, the cloak and the item it is hiding would be invisible. An observer would see whatever is beyond them, with no evidence the cloaked item exists.
(via yahoo news)
Posted by Groonk at 12:29 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Science, Technology
October 19, 2006
The Truth About the Internet is Told
Asher Carlin's comic was featured on BoingBoing a few weeks ago.
I wonder what writers did for distraction before the internet. I mean, it's not everyday you get to have cake with dinosaurs.
(via boinboing)
Posted by Groonk at 04:34 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Comics, Just Freaking Neat
Lance Bass Saves lives
Skimming through YouTube revealed to me that Lance Bass won a Visibility Award from the Human Rights Campaign.
Watching the HRC national dinner video informed me that his People cover appearance saved a man's life.
If I say anything snarky or sarcastic about this I'm gonna seem like a complete and heartless asshole aren't I?
Can't have that.
(via humane-ish YouTube)
Posted by Groonk at 04:02 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Quotables, Video
Optimus Prime Might Say Something Stupid
The Transformers movie submission gig is over. The phrases are in and the lion's share of them are twice as dumb as fuck.
When the popular phrases are, "Do a barrel Roll!" or "These pretzels are making me thristy," I realize the world isn't ready to be a screenwriter.
Oh well, the Prime Speak voting debacle is ready for your vote.
(via iwatchstuff)
Posted by Groonk at 03:37 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Marketing, Movies
October 18, 2006
Flash Earth Sees Planet Through Many Eyes
Flash Earth combines other map apps(lke google, microsoft, NASA and yahoo) into one mashup of a map service.
I tried to zoom in on Baghdad with NASA's daily updated map but the image was incomplete. So was the city of Huntsville.
Hutsville and Iraq are obfuscated. How strange.
Posted by Groonk at 11:00 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Apps, Flash, Technology
Ms Dewey is Chock Full of Bitchtitude
Ms Dewey is the latest attempt to anthropomorphize the web. I'm not sure why a body would need a search engine to question and ridicule their every click. Is it some perverse need to feel married without the peskiness of a warm body nearby?
Fuck if I know.
Personally, I like my women sassy and my search engines cold to the click. That way my nights are entertained and my web research blissfully quiet.*
(via geekologie and the paraphrased wisdom of Dominar Rygel XVI)
Posted by Groonk at 10:22 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Flash, Technology
Marvel Comics has Lost its Damn Fool Head
I dared not read the full article in one sitting for fear that my head would 'xplode.
A backup tale in select Marvel titles starting Oct. 25 will find Marvel’s New Avengers visiting the town of Springfield, home to the frothy passions and dastardly deeds of "Guiding Light."
Then, on Nov. 1, an episode of the soap titled “She’s a Marvel” will pay tribute to Marvel as one of the “Guiding Light” characters gains superpowers.
[...]
Marvel characters and "Guiding Light" characters fight side by side, he says, with the ending "very much a soap-opera cliffhanger."
McCann left the ending open-ended, he says, “because Marvel and Procter & Gamble, along with 'Guiding Light,' are having such a great time that we both hope this can continue.”
(via Dunc! the Daring)
Posted by Groonk at 09:19 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Comics, Marketing
Florrie Fisher is a Stranger with Motivational Candy
It's no secret that the 70s ex-drug addict/prostitute turned motivational speaker Florrie Fisher was the inspiration to Comedy Central's now cult classic Strangers with Candy(also in movie form).
But I never knew how marvelously off-putting Fisher was until I watched her vid "The Trip Back" in glorious You Tube.
I believe that she believes in what she's preaching, but she's just so damn odd and woefully politically incorrect I can't find myself taking anything she says seriously.
This part is to Amy Sedaris. Holy shit! You nailed the hell outta her character. You should get a special prize or something. Like a box full of puppies.
(via ONTD (all 3 are there) and numerical YouTube: One, Two, Three)
Posted by Groonk at 09:19 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of USA, Video, Weird
Celebrities Make Awesome Role Models
Fell the sarcasm. Feel it in your brain:
Wesely Snipes is a Cheat
An arrest warrant for the actor has been issued, officials said, adding that his whereabouts are unknown.
(via dunc!)
Mike Tyson Likes to Fight Women
But the 40-year-old former heavyweight champ promised an entertaining show Friday night when he launches the "Mike Tyson's World Tour" in Youngstown.
Wolfe, from Waco, Texas, is 21-1 with 15 knockouts.
I have a hope that she puts an ungodly hurt on his lame ass.
I also hope he gets in the ring with Chyna and she finishes what's left.
Posted by Groonk at 09:08 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Culture, USA
October 16, 2006
Snake Wine Makes You Sexy
I've always wondered what was missing in my life. Now I know. I need a batch of Snake Wine.
As for the title, I don't know. I had nothing else in my head. Although Ying states that snake wine is, "known for increasing sexual perfomance," I'm pretty sure if I had a snootfull of Snake Wine on hand, I'd feel anything but sexy.
(via warren ellis but taken by Ying in Guangzhou)
Posted by Groonk at 03:30 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Weird
October 15, 2006
Gnarls Barkley is "Gone, Daddy, Gone"
Because this one was a Violent Femmes cover, I liked it first and best on the Gnarls album.
Now it has to compete with "Smiley Faces."
(via need coffee and musically whimsical YouTube)
Posted by Groonk at 07:51 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Video
CBGB Dies. A Little Bit of History Goes with It
December 1973? Huh. It was as old as I am.
Blondie singer Deborah Harry performed at CBGB on Saturday, part of a weeklong send-off for the club.
With a capacity of barely 300, CBGB was founded as a place of freedom for different musical acts. Its letters stand for the music Kristal originally planned to present there — country, bluegrass and blues — but it quickly came to represent the physical epicenter of early punk and the storied downtown scene of 1970s New York.
(via yahoo news)
UPDATE: ONTD posts a retrospective while FreeIndie.com shares an essay
Posted by Groonk at 07:05 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Culture, Music
Fin Walking Sharks and Other Freaky Creatures
Tons of new undersea critters found off the coast of Indonesia:
"Above and below water, it's simply mind blowing," (said Mark Erdmann of Conservation International.)
Feel that, people. Just when you think it's gone, evolution knocks on your door and returns your cup of borrowed sugar.
(via boingboing)
Posted by Groonk at 06:48 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals, Science
Fingerskilz, for when Hand Puppetry Just isn't Enough
This is a testament to what cubicle work does to your mind.
Also, it's flamin' odd.
Their girlfriends must love them.
(via 7d and the fingerskilz blog)
Posted by Groonk at 06:28 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Sport, Video
Mammals Don't Survive Earth Wobbles
Paleontologists have long puzzled over fossil records that, remarkably, suggest mammal species tend to last around two and a half million years before becoming extinct.
Climate experts and biologists led by Jan van Dam at the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands, overlaid a picture of species emergence and extinction with changes that occur in Earth's orbit and axis.
Posted by Groonk at 06:23 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Science
October 13, 2006
Saturn has a Pearl Necklace
You don't get any more straight forward than that.
Jupiter must have been on a strip club bender again. That always gets him wound up and ready for action.
A bit of meteorological magic has unveiled a string of pearl-like formations in the planet Saturn’s atmosphere.
Seen here dotting the upper portion of Saturn, the pearl-like chain of formations spans some 37,000 miles (60,000 kilometers) as seen from the Cassini spacecraft currently orbiting the ringed planet.
Cassini’s visual and infrared mapping spectrometer observed Saturn to record its internal glow from thermal heating. The bright “pearls” here are actually clear spots in the planet’s deep atmosphere, with more than two dozen of them dotting the planet at regular intervals across a region found at 40 degrees north latitude
(via ze frank's the show "10-13-2006" and space.com and new scientist)
Posted by Groonk at 08:39 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Science
Double-13 Friday Gives Crazies Pause
Paraskevidekatriaphobics think on numbers too much.
The phenomenon hasn't happened in 476 years, said Heinrich Hemme, a physicist at Germany's University of Aachen who crunched the numbers to find that the double-whammy last occurred Jan. 13, 1520.
"Pure chance," the good professor told the press yesterday.
But it's not exactly TGIF for the 21 million Americans who fear the day. Some may not travel or even get out of bed, said Donald Dossey, a North Carolina psychologist who coined the term "paraskevidekatriaphobia" 20 years ago. He estimates that the nation is out $900 million in lost productivity because of Friday the 13th sick-outs.
"It's just ingrained in our culture -- one of those collective, unconscious fears stretching back about 2,800 years," Mr. Dossey said. "But it will be all gone tomorrow. By the time you learn to pronounce 'paraskevidekatriaphobia,' you're cured."
Friday the 13th has had unlucky baggage for centuries, with references to "bad" Fridays cited in the Bible, Norse mythology, Chaucer, French and British history, numerology and folklore sources, Mr. Dossey said.
Presidential hopeful John Edwards must be phobia-free. The former Democratic senator from North Carolina begins his 13th campaign trip to Iowa today, according to the Des Moines Register.
(via 7d and the washington times)
Posted by Groonk at 08:32 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Grammar, Holiday, Myth
Ghost Town Offers a Savage Beast Soothing Month of Music
The Ghost Town blog is doing a 31 Days of Halloween thing as well. Only theirs is dubbed 31 Days of Pure evil. Did I miss out on an meme email or something?
Ghost Town's Halloween gig is that they're dropping a new mp3 on their site every day. By month's end, you'll have the chance to download an especially eclectic GT inspired mix tape from hell.
If you are so inclined.
(via ghost town)
Posted by Groonk at 10:59 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Blogged, Digital Share, Holiday, Music
And on the Thirteenth Day, there was Vincent Price
I thought I was getting a bunch of podcasts of Edgar Allan Poe stories via Senses Working Overtime. I thought wrong cause every file I grabbed was unusable.
At least there are pretty pictures.
Still, they are doing a 31 Days of Halloween bit that might have other usable Halloween downloadables.
(via senses working overtime)
Posted by Groonk at 10:35 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Blogged, Digital Share, Holiday, One Sheets
"The History & Hauntings of the Waverly Hills Sanatorium"
"Those Who Linger" is a site pushing a book about a haunted hospital in Louisville, KY. It was shared to me by Charles in June. June is not an especially pagan month but October is. And so it was posted.
[...]
By 2001, this once regal and majestic hospital had been ravaged by time, the elements and vandals and was a shell of its former self. Waverly Hills had now become every town’s “haunted house”. Vagrants took to living here and kids broke in for the rush of finding a “ghost” or just to get high. It started to get the reputation of being haunted and rumors had it that satanic rituals were taking place within its walls. There were tales of a little girl running up and down the third floor solarium playing hide and seek with trespassers, of a little boy playing with his leather ball, of rooms lighting up as if there was still power to the building, doors slamming, disembodied voices, a hearse driving up and dropping off coffins and an old woman running from the front door with her wrists bleeding screaming “help me, somebody save me!” The years went by and the owner decided to sell the property to the new owners, who took possession in 2001.
The "body chute" concept has more ick factor than any ghost you can think up.
Posted by Groonk at 10:18 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Books
October 12, 2006
Mars has Many Faces
On the left:
On the right, the better image.
(via Astronomy Picture of the Day 9/25/06 and 9/26/06)
Posted by Groonk at 11:51 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Mars
Tech Geeks Debate the Google/YouTube Deal
"The community is very honest," says Supan, laughing at her understatement. "That's the beauty of the community -- everyone has a voice."
Luke Barats, who with his comedy partner Joe Bereta has parlayed their popular YouTube sketch videos into a pilot deal with NBC, is happy for YouTube's creators. His concern, though, lies with increased advertising.
"If the advertising is kept as unobtrusive as possible, I doubt there will be much backlash from the YouTube community," says Barats. "The fact of the matter is that YouTube still offers a great product -- a widely used embeddable player that works on both PC and Mac."
Stern fears an increase in advertising will take up precious space on YouTube's home page, which lists featured videos.
"In order to become widely popular on YouTube, it's almost imperative that you get featured on the front page," says Stern, 28. "YouTube has already begun selling off its top front page real estate to advertisers and Google, one of the top internet advertising brokers, is not going to make matters any better."
Of course, more ads. I suppose the deal could work for You Tube, if Google leaves their basic operations alone.
Is nice to see Barats and Baretta got a comedy pilot from all this.
(via wired news)
Posted by Groonk at 11:05 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Technology
Joy Behar Puts the Smack Down
What kind of world do we live in when the fucking View becomes interesting?
Joy and Elisabeth debate the war and that lawbreaker's illegal acts.
Never thought I'd type this... Team Joy.
(via ONTD and bought out YouTube)
Posted by Groonk at 08:45 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Politics, Video
"Embrace the new Openness. Nothing is Sacred. Nothing is Secret."
Normally I wouldn't bother with this gimmick but it struck me as very Flux. In "Utopia or Deuteranopia?" an information awareness policy(involving the government's leader prancing about naked and preaching an openness policy while cameras are installed in every corner of the city). Obviously, the policy was a veiled attempt at spying on the government's citizens.
Not that this guy is doing the same thing.
I don't even know him.
BARCELONA, Spain -- Albert Rivera's nude body is everywhere to be seen _ just what he wants as he runs for president of Catalonia. Rivera has filled the streets of Barcelona and other Catalan cities with thousands of posters of him in the buff, modestly shielding himself with his hands.
The 26-year-old lawyer knows his campaign to lead this powerful northeastern Spanish region is a long shot. But he hopes at least to get voters talking about something else besides their role within Spain and whether they should speak Catalan or Spanish.
"We believe that we need a modern Catalonia where nationalism is not the only thing on the agenda," Rivera said in an interview. "Public money that's sunk into projects like Catalan-only sports teams or a Catalan national anthem should be destined to projects that encourage social equality."
[...]
Beside Rivera's picture, the poster reads: "We don't care where you were born. We don't care which language you speak. We don't care what kind of clothes you wear. We care about you."
"If major brands are so daring in their ad campaigns, why can't a political party be?" he asked,
(via washington post)
Posted by Groonk at 08:45 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Politics
Danger Doom Solves All Life's Problems
Matthew Lesko pushes the Doom. How fucking awesome.
(via myspace Danger DOOM)
Posted by Groonk at 07:26 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Albums, Just Freaking Neat, Marketing, Music, Video
October 10, 2006
The All Blacks Haka on Ice
I would be one fearful mofo if I saw the opposing team perform the haka in hockey skates.
Other haka instances on GNET:
» Return of the Haka
» Haka
(via All Blacks and 7d)
Posted by Groonk at 03:58 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Culture, Video
"The Prestige" is Like Trippy, Man!
(via iwatchstuff)
Posted by Groonk at 02:30 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Marketing, Movies, One Sheets
Rep. Frank Lasee says, "First Arm all the Teachers
I've not met a teacher I'd trust with a gun.
I've also met few teachers I'd trust with a book and a room filled with hungry minds. But that's neither here nor there.
"All options should be on the table," he said, including "encouraging teachers and other school officials to carry firearms."
(via The Colbert Report"10-9-06" and Wisconsin State Journal)
Posted by Groonk at 02:09 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Quotables
October 09, 2006
Dueling Album Covers or When Music Art Rocks Out
Dunc sent me this on a Saturday. Best Week Ever Blog posted it on a Monday.
I found it weird and wildly cool. In a weird way.
If your a selectively curious bastard(like me) you looked into the Ugly Pictures name at the end of the video and found them quite easily.
(via dunc and bestweekever blog who's probably hosting this embed...so, here's to you mates and socially loved YouTube)
Posted by Groonk at 03:13 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Funny, Music, Video
October 07, 2006
It Just Ain't Halloween without some Monster MASHUP
Ghouls with Attitude was entertaining me, until it plumb got on my nerves. Don't get me wrong. It's a fun mix of old horror movie trailers, vintage songs and TV themes, and a dollop or two of remixes.
But I'm done with Ghouls for the week.
I've moved on to The Bride of Monster MASHUP with bonus cuts and a pdf mag. All the DJ sounds I've come to know and love over the last 10 months are in there. Along with some new ones.
ALBUM:
1. DJ Schmolli - Satan.Omen.Death
2. dj BC - The Witch Doctor vs The Exorcist
3. DJ NoNo - County Sound
4. KrazyBen - Monster of the crypt
5. Pilchard - Jack The Ripper
6. DJ Engineer - Happy Mash-O-Ween
7. Cheekyboy - Nowhere To Run, Nowhere To Hide
8. EARLYBIRD - ...that I put a spell on her.
9. Irn Mnky - Tongueless Ghost Of Sin
10. DJ Clive$ter - The Megablast Of Dragula feat. Pinhead
11. Mr. Fab - Cannibal Zombie Mom
12. Divide & Kreate - Highway Reaper
13. Fettdog - The Haunted Mashion
14. Essexboy - Freaky Teethbusters
15. Apollo Zero - Don't Scream, Halloween's Paid in Full
16. Autopilot - Devil Went Down on Betty
17. Juxtaposeur - The Demonique Dimotane Co
18. DJ Boasty - Purple People Eater
19. Solcofn - Release Yo' Nightmare
BONUS CD:
1. AberNStein - Halloween ist Krieg
2. Cheekyboy - Somebody's Sunglasses
3. DJ Clive$ter - Blue Monday 4 American Witches
4. DJ Engineer - Vampire Nation
5. DJ Earlybird - Halloween Puppetz
6. Mr. Fab - Dark Shadows Cha Cha Cha
7. RIAA - Caspar The Friendly Queen
8. BuG - Happy Devil
9. Cheekyboy - Halloween Haunted Megamix
You can download track by track or in a mega mp3 chunk or embrace the bittorrent love.
Know this: You need BoMM in your headspace. It'll make you right. It'll make you good. It may even make you dance.
Scary.
(headsup via myspace solcofn)
UPDATE: Blog of Monster MASHUP keeps you up to date on new tracks.
Posted by Groonk at 05:56 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Blogged, Digital Share, Holiday, Just Freaking Neat, Music
WATCH: A Soldier Get the Bejeezus Scared Out of Him
For the record, it is bloody awesome as all hell. Also, Kill Some Time's embed player sucks all sorts of rubbish. But it can be viewed on their site easily.
Other flyby moments.
WATCH: A Limey Piss His Pants
(via 7d and killsometime)
Posted by Groonk at 03:44 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Video
T-Mobile to Send Mixed-Signal Phone
The only difference is that the call is then transmitted using VoIP, or Voice over Internet Protocol, the technology used by Internet phone companies such as Vonage Holdings Corp. (VG)
T-Mobile has previously acknowledged it was testing UMA, which can help ease the burden on the limited call capacity of a cellular network while also providing users a stronger wireless signal when they're inside a building.
Dotson said the company will offer handsets comparably priced to cell phones but declined to say how much the service will cost.
(via my way news and 7d)
Posted by Groonk at 03:09 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Technology
Bad Astronomy = Good Geek Site.
He's a writer, astronomer and skeptic. He runs the site Bad Astronomy which I found while canning the 2006 Bloggie winners.
He has many pictures of Mars. He likes to talk science. He has a decent sense of humor.
(via bad astronomy)
Posted by Groonk at 02:33 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Blogged, Mars, Science
"Tibetan refugees shot dead as Everest climbers watch"
omg.
The killings highlight the yawning gap between China’s state propaganda, which cast it as the friend and protector of the Tibetan people and the harsh reality of a brutal military occupation as experienced by three million Tibetans. The shootings also revive concerns about Beijing’s human rights record as it prepares to host the Olympic Games in two years.
Posted by Groonk at 02:30 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of World
Scientists want a Geek President in 08
And who can blame them, really?:
Scientists and Engineers for America plunged into politics last week with the aim of campaigning for particular candidates, starting with the 2006 mid-term elections. SEA says that "scientists and engineers have a right, indeed an obligation, to enter the political debate when the nation's leaders systematically ignore scientific evidence and analysis."
SEA's main targets will be the Bush administration and the Republican leadership, says executive director Mike Brown. "[They] are the source of a lot of the problems we've identified."
They should build a better president.
Literally.
(via warren ellis and New Scientist)
Posted by Groonk at 02:04 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Politics, Science
Limbo is Going to Hell
Most people don't cotton to the idea of little babies being left to the nethers just because they had the misfortune of dying young(before they could be baptised).
Apparently, the idea of limbo has not been taught since the early 1990s. And now the current pope will simply "do away" with it:
The Pope may be about to abolish the notion of limbo, the halfway house between heaven and hell, inhabited by unbaptised infants. Is it really that simple?
Pope Benedict XVI's anticipated pronouncement on limbo will have been informed by the International Theological Commission - a group of leading Roman Catholic theologians who have been meeting to consider the issue.
The Pope, himself, has been quoted in the past as saying that he would let the idea of limbo "drop, since it has always been only a theological hypothesis".
He was quoted as saying that limbo has never been a "definitive truth of the faith".
[...]
It was Abelard who introduced the idea of limbo. The word comes from the Latin "limbus", meaning the edge. This would be a state of existence where unbaptised babies, and those unfortunate enough to have been born before Jesus, would not experience pain but neither would they experience the Beatific Vision of God.
(via warren ellis)
Posted by Groonk at 01:20 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Religion
October 06, 2006
It's Halloween, So there should be Costumed Art
(via julian Beever/Kurt Wenner and pentacleus)
Posted by Groonk at 03:40 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Art, Holiday
Plant Virus Memory Device Created
(via physorg and warren ellis)
Posted by Groonk at 03:34 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Science
Denmark Scientists Teleported a Thing
Until now scientists have teleported similar objects such as light or single atoms over short distances from one spot to another in a split second.
"It is one step further because for the first time it involves teleportation between light and matter, two different objects. One is the carrier of information and the other one is the storage medium," Polzik explained in an interview on Wednesday.
The experiment involved for the first time a macroscopic atomic object containing thousands of billions of atoms. They also teleported the information a distance of half a meter but believe it can be extended further.
Science, it works!
(via warren ellis and cnn science and space)
Posted by Groonk at 03:21 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Science
EXTRAS: Ricky Gervais, See His Pug Nosed Face
Extras is a delightful Ricky Gervais comedy about him and his friend being extras in various movies and theatre productions.
Celebrities appear, as they do, playing twisted versions of themselves.
It's a right funny show.
Showtime's taking too long to air season 2.
Must have more funny.
(via ontd and it'll be gone in days YouTube)
Posted by Groonk at 02:37 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Funny, Video
October 05, 2006
Ex Representaitve Foley Thinks Booze makes You Chat-up Underage Boys
The short answer to that is, "it fucking doesn't."
"I am deeply sorry and I apologize for letting down my family and the people of Florida I have had the privilege to represent," Foley said in a statement released by his office last week. Two days later he checked himself into rehab for abusing alcohol and "other behavioral problems."
Not only are you "sorry," you're a lawbreaker. You BROKE the law like so much tender kindling.
Why aren't you in jail, again?
(via bay area reporter which i picked from a random google news search cause you can't swing a dead kitten without seeing someone talk about lawbreaker Foley)
Posted by Groonk at 05:45 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Politics, USA
George Lucas would have Ruined Lord of the Rings
The following isn't exactly comedy genius. But it doesn't ride the short bus, either. It does have chuckle worthy points now and then. And those points were funny cause you know it would be true.
(via YouTube and some fanboys with too much time on their hands)
Posted by Groonk at 05:24 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Funny, Video
300 Trailer Evolves from Simple Anger into Blood Fury
I mentioned the promo trailer some days back.
Now the official trailer is out. I didn't think a thing could become more kick-ass in the space of a week. I was so damn wrong.
The trailer video embed is hiding in a tricky place that I cannot find at the moment. But clicking either of the above screen captured images will take you to the viewable apple trailer 300 site.
March 9th 2007 is too damn far away.
(via 300myspace and cbr)
editor's note: Just took a look at I Watch Stuff's post on the 300 trailer. I don't know how but we managed to use the same image to promote the seeming awesomeness that is 300.
I don't know why they're trying to be like me but it's embarassing guys. Step into your own, fellas. It's ok. It's only cold and forbidding the first few hours.
j/k.
Posted by Groonk at 04:16 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Just Freaking Neat, Movies, Trailers
October 04, 2006
Peter Cullen: The True Voice of Prime Speaks
An interview with the 20 year Optimus Prime voice actor reveals a humble soul.
PopCandy: How did the role of Optimus Prime come along?
Peter Cullen: It was a cattle call, really. I rememer being very, very confused. I said, "What is this? A toy?" I had no idea what it was all about. Then I read the character breakdown, and it was pretty straightforward. One of them was to be the lead of the Autobots, and his character was described as a leader ... I had always kind of kept in the back of my mind the idea of what a hero would sound like if I ever got the opportunity. It fit really well.
PopCandy: So they didn't give you any instruction on how he should sound ...
Peter Cullen: No. Like all characters, they'll give you the words, and they'll give you a picture of what the character looks like, and it's up to you to come out with what you think it would sound like. When I do animal cartoons or funny cartoons, I always look at the body structure to see how big a frame they have or how small ... would he sound like tuba, or would he sound like a trumpet?
I think Optimus was more -- his voice came more of substance of character. I kind of modeled Optimus Prime's voice out of many people I had known over the years, my family especially. My brother was a captain in the Marine Corps, and a very big hero in my life. His approach to serious situations was always calm and controlled an authoritative. So my brother is in there. Even my dad, too, (and) former friends who have now departed but are strong in my memory.
How neat.
(via popcandy)
Posted by Groonk at 07:21 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Interviews
Let's Look Back to World War I
--British Army Capt. S. Sassoon, July 1917
Posted by Groonk at 04:46 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Quotables, War, World
Make the Tranformers Movie Suck a Little Less
Vote you little 80s freaks. Vote like your very childhood(memories) depend on it.
Cause they do.
(if the form below doesn't work, go here.)
Vote early, vote often, and spread the word.
(via Iwatchstuff and the superficial)
Posted by Groonk at 10:37 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Marketing, Movies
October 03, 2006
George Clooney is a Cunning Bastard
Clooney's plan to thwart the paparazzi? Get more ass than a toilet seat.
And by ass I mean dating.
I think.
"People would still buy the magazines, they'd still buy the pictures, but they would always go, 'I don't know if these guys were putting us on or not.'"
That's it George, keepem guessin.
(via myway and 7d)
Posted by Groonk at 01:09 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Quotables
October 02, 2006
Hug Shirts: Share Your Love Remotely via Bluetooth
The Hug Shirt (F+R Hugs) is a shirt that allows people to exchange the physical sensation of a hug over distance. Embedded in the shirt there are sensors that feel the strength of the touch, the skin warmth and the heartbeat rate of the sender and actuators that recreate the sensation of touch, warmth and emotion of the hug to the shirt of the distant loved one.
The Hug Shirt is a Bluetooth accessory for Java enabled mobile phones. Hug shirts don’t have any assigned phone number, all the data goes from the sensors wirelessly to your mobile phone and your mobile phone delivers the data stream to your loved one phone and seamlessly is transmitted Bluetooth to the other person’s shirt (sounds complex but the operation takes the same few seconds it would take to send an SMS, or text message). You will be able to send hugs while you are on the move, in the same way and to the same places you are able to make phone calls (Rome to Tokyo, New York to Paris).
Where are the Hug Pants? Scotch guard enhanced, of course.
Or Hug Shoes? That way folks could discover what it's like walking a mile in them.
Let's flip that idea completely. Hate Shirts. Send shocks of snideness from across the country. Or give that despised one the taste of sharp needles up and down their spine.
This gift would only be good once, so you'd have to make that one time count. Unless you're an S&M freak.
If that's the case, you'd be in hog heaven.
(via rocketboom and CuteCircuit)
Posted by Groonk at 06:27 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Technology
KITT got a Makeover and a Movie
This is a possible one sheet for the new Knight Rider 2008 movie. I say possible cause the ONTD poster, isntdaveone, isn't sure and I sure as heck ain't sure. There are too many good photoshoppers out in this here world.
"knight will fall"... wth?
All I can say is they better include a Bonnie-like chick and not that blonde bimbo that popped up in the later episodes.
And keep this fool's cameo to bare minimum.
(via ONTD)
Posted by Groonk at 06:04 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Movies, One Sheets
Trip to Mars Not Exactly Like Going Down the Street for a Hunka Cheese*
Hey, Mr Scientist Guy! Can you say, "DUH!"
I knew you could.
Here's a thought. Let's figure out what the obstacles are, like you did so well in two wordy papers. Next step, overcome the bastards.
Where's the paper on that?
Get cracking, lab coat wearing man. I can't be snarky and flip about over coming scientific odds that are way above my thinking level forever.
In two new papers, Donald Rapp, formerly with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, reviews the current state of our understanding of life support and radiation safety and concludes that significant additional research will be required before safe and affordable human missions to Mars can become a reality.
Rapp reviews the current state of the understanding of life support for human missions to Mars and concludes current plans for life support contain optimistic assumptions regarding the degree of recycling and reliability that can be achieved and the amount of mass that life support systems may require.
In his second paper, he compares and contrasts the levels of radiation shielding required for human missions to the moon and Mars and finds currently planned missions to both bodies are not without potentially serious radiation risks.
The two papers in downloadable question:
(via physorg.com)
Posted by Groonk at 04:20 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Mars
Coelophysis didn't Eat its Young...Probably
[...]
The five-decade-old misinterpretation of Coelophysis just shows how long an incorrect idea can persist and how important it is to re-examine evidence — especially if it is used to make extraordinary claims, said Rogers.
On the other hand, the de-cannibalization of Coelophysis does not mean they did not eat each other, said Rogers. And Nesbitt agrees.
(via discovery channel)
Posted by Groonk at 03:32 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Science
Behold the Genesis Island
In fact, island mammals evolve about three times faster than their mainland counterparts, says Dr. Millien, who based her findings on an analysis of the documented evolutionary rates of 88 island mammal species, about half of which were rodents.
[...]
Isolation, climate differences, the absence of natural predators and, in some cases, adequate food sources all contribute to the unusual evolution of island mammals such as the dwarf elephants whose fossilized remains have been found on the Italian island of Sicily, Dr. Millien noted. It is known, for instance, that mammals in cold environments grow larger than those in warmer environments, she explained, citing the difference in size between black or brown bears, which live in warmer climates, and the larger polar bears that populate the North.
(via warren ellis and physorg.com)
Posted by Groonk at 02:50 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Science
October 01, 2006
88 Years later, New Robert Frost Poem Found
So good things do come from research papers.
The 35-line poem, called "War Thoughts at Home" and dated 1918, was apparently inspired by the death of a fellow poet in World War I.
Student Robert Stilling said he was alerted to the poem by a 1947 letter by Melcher in which he referred to an unpublished poem handwritten in a copy of Frost's book "North of Boston".
Stilling said in a paper that when he read the letter it set off "little scholarly alarm bells" and sent him looking for the book at the Charlottesville university library. Frost died in 1963 aged 88.
It took several months to verify the handwriting and check whether the poem had been published before, said Kevin Morrissey, managing editor of The Virginia Quarterly Review which has permission from Frost's estate to publish the poem.
Two stanzas have been released so far.
"We must just watch our chance
And escape one by one-
Though the fight is no more done
Than the war is in France."
Than the war is in France!
She thinks of a winter camp
Where soldiers for France are made.
She draws down the window shade
And it glows with an early lamp.
I must remember to look for the rest of the poem this week.
(via reuters and Robert Frost)
Posted by Groonk at 07:04 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Books, Research, War
