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July 30, 2007
R Rated Trailers Give You that "Special Feeling"
You know what I mean? It's like you're watching stuff too dangerous for regular movie goers eyes. Stuff so horrifying that only the internet is where it finds safe harbour.
Or maybe I'm reading way too much into this new 30 DAYS OF NIGHT trailer.
Get More Terror at TerrorFeed.com
It does look better and better with each passing trailer.
(via terrorfeed.com, horror movies.ca, and The Engine)
Posted by Groonk at 07:45 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Movies, Trailers
Nerd Prom 07: It's Long Past Over
Did you find anything interesting?
Did you?!?
If not you didn't look hard enough.
Stormtrooper Elvis sure as hell does get around.
(all photos courtesy of: SDCC 2007: San Diego Comic Con International)
Posted by Groonk at 06:34 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Culture, Flickrlicious
July 27, 2007
Suicide Bot Takes One for the Team
Another instant of robots taking jobs from hard working mammals.
"It's a kamikaze vehicle, a suicidal robot," said Mathieu Kemp, a scientist with Durham, N.C.-based Nekton Research, LCC, which created the Transphibian.The 3-foot-long device, which will some day carry 14 pounds of plastic explosives and attach itself to an underwater bomb before igniting, can be maneuvered by a joystick, which Kemp demonstrated last month at the Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Fest, an annual two-week gathering of researchers who design robots for military use.
Experts with the Panama City Beach-based Naval Surface Warfare Center say such robots eventually will replace minesweeping ships and perform dangerous jobs now done by specialized divers.
By "specialized divers" you just know he means K-Dog. Come to think of it, I'm sure K-Dog will be grateful Suicide Bots will blow stuff up.
(via myway and 7d)
Posted by Groonk at 06:45 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Robots, War
NASA-geddon: Sabotage and Drunken Pilots Edition
When did NASA become the Drama Club?
Scratch that. I went to school with those future NASA engineers and scientists. They have more drama than any coked-up, talentless, waste of a being that the entertainment biz can offer.
Aviation Week & Space Technology reported on its Web site that a special panel studying astronaut health found that on two occasions, astronauts were allowed to fly after flight surgeons and other astronauts warned they were so drunk they posed a safety risk.The independent panel also found "heavy use of alcohol" before launch — within the standard 12-hour "bottle-to-throttle" rule, the magazine reported.
[...]But Gerstenmaier had more news. He revealed that an employee for a NASA subcontractor had cut the wires in a computer that was about to be loaded into the shuttle Endeavour for launch.
The subcontractor, which he wouldn't name, contacted NASA 1 1/2 weeks ago, as soon as it learned that another computer had been damaged deliberately, Gerstenmaier said. Had the contractor not discovered the problem, NASA would have uncovered it by testing the computer before launch, Gerstenmaier said. Safety was not an issue, he added.
He refused to speculate on the worker's motive. He also wouldn't say where the sabotage occurred. He said it did not happen in Florida and had nothing to do with an ongoing strike at the Kennedy Space Center by a machinists' union.
(via yahoo news)
Posted by Groonk at 03:41 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Science
Nerd Prom 07: Yes, That is a Real One-Legged Model
Now that's true Grindhouse marketing. For unknown reasons she modeled for DEATH PROOF rather than PLANET TERROR.
The height of this re-sized picture is 666 pixels. I don't know. Just sayin'.
(via San Diego Dreaming)
Posted by Groonk at 03:12 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Marketing, Movies
RESIDENT EVIL 5 Trailer makes Me Care about Gaming Again
Goddamn!
(EDITOR'S NOTE: I could go into the obvious "they're finding more ways to vicariously kill foreigners(see: Africans)" rant but I have a sneaking suspicion the take will be "a superpower uses the third world for own interests and those interests come back to bite that superpower on its ass" angle.
I'll bet you a coke.
If it's not, I may have to be very angry.)
Posted by Groonk at 02:32 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Trailers
July 26, 2007
Attack the Darkness
Tragic and true.
(via wiki and eggradio.com)
Posted by Groonk at 04:19 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Video
Nursing Home Cat Predicts Your Death
Or as Ponzu tells me, "finally a cat that's good for something."
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Oscar the cat seems to have an uncanny knack for predicting when nursing home patients are going to die, by curling up next to them during their final hours. His accuracy, observed in 25 cases, has led the staff to call family members once he has chosen someone. It usually means they have less than four hours to live."He doesn't make too many mistakes. He seems to understand when patients are about to die," said Dr. David Dosa...
[...]
The 2-year-old feline was adopted as a kitten and grew up in a third-floor dementia unit at the Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. The facility treats people with Alzheimer's, Parkinson's disease and other illnesses.
After about six months, the staff noticed Oscar would make his own rounds, just like the doctors and nurses. He'd sniff and observe patients, then sit beside people who would wind up dying in a few hours.
[...]
Most families are grateful for the advanced warning, although one wanted Oscar out of the room while a family member died. When Oscar is put outside, he paces and meows his displeasure.
(via buzzfeed)
Posted by Groonk at 02:44 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals, Quotables, Research
Nerd Prom 07 Mega Linkage
San Diego Comic Con has begun!
Links will gather here for those who could not make it this year. Those people like me.
Writer Rich Rohnston will get funny emails and texts:
http://markandrich.googlepages.com/sandiegodreaming
Most amusing one so far:
"26/07/07 01:22 EMAIL: Gaiman fans self harm because of their inner turmoil. Ellis fans self harm cos it's bitchin"
Warren Ellis will CRY about lack of Red Bull:
http://twitter.com/warrenellis
Photos will be shared:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/sdcc2007/pool/
I hear David Hewlett(SG: ATLANTIS' Dr McKay) has been convinced by Scfi.com People to twitter his experiences.
http://twitter.com/dhewlett
I bet round of beers that there will be "A Dog's Breakfast" whorebaggery.
More as I find them...
Posted by Groonk at 02:21 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Comics, Linkable, Quotables
July 25, 2007
"Don't Let Your Blackberry(email) Turn into Exploding Cats"
(via 43folders)
Posted by Groonk at 05:01 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Video
The Tesla Sports Cars a Reality this Fall
It's electric and it's expensive.
The Green Folk will love/hate it.
The Detroit Carmakers will hate/love it.
Bottom line: it will be a shit-disturber. Much like Tesla himself.
(via buzzfeed)
Posted by Groonk at 04:38 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Technology, Tesla
The Not so Glittering World and Diamond Centered Stars
A solid diamond inside a white dwarf star? That's the stuff a Dr Who villain creams his pants over. Where was I when this was reported?
The discovery three years ago of a white dwarf star with a solid diamond core bolstered theories that the carbon-containing atmospheres of the large outer planets were celestial diamond factories even closer to home.
Oh, and Uranus' skies would make graphite and not little diamond clouds.
(via discovery chewy diamond centered BPM37093)
Posted by Groonk at 04:21 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Science
BLIND CLICK 14: Fat Map
(via digg)
Posted by Groonk at 10:15 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Health
The Strange Death of Tammy Faye (ex-Bakker)
On the day of Tammy Faye's death, a corner of San Francisco's Castro Street got turned into an improvised Tammy Faye shrine with taped pictures of her and I believe flowers laid down on the pavement.
I just blew your mind, didn't I?
On to the more formal obit.
Asked if she had a message for her fans, she replied: "I'd like to say that I genuinely love you, and I genuinely care, and I genuinely want to see you in heaven someday. I want you to find peace. I want you to find joy."
(via the engine and cnn)
Posted by Groonk at 10:03 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of People Who Died
July 23, 2007
Remember when Eric Tipton Broke the Internet?
(via internet-less YouTube and mgratzer's blog)
Posted by Groonk at 06:49 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Funny, Video
July 21, 2007
BLIND CLICK 13: Japanese TV doing Strange/Wonderful Things...AGAIN
You have to watch that link to believe anything I just wrote. And when you watch it, prepare to have your shit rocked.
Officially.
(via geekologie and real-timed bullet-time you tube)
Posted by Groonk at 05:04 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Art, Only in Japan, Video
BIG DOGS landing on My Face!*
She was born with a genetic defect which has left her looking like the Incredible Hulk of Hounds.She weighs 4st4lb - twice as much as she should - and has bulging neck muscles, burly shoulders and haunches like a baboon. And unlike ordinary whippets known for their lithe and narrow frame, this four-year-old pedigree doesn't just have a sixpack stomach, she has a 24-pack.
Sadly, her mixed-up genes mean she may have a shorter life expectancy than most breeds.
I joke but really, how sad.
(via ectomo and Daily Mail)
(*A No-Prize to those who figure out where that's from.)
Posted by Groonk at 03:11 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals
The Internet was made for This: Filipino Inmates do "Thriller"
After watching that, I'm beside my self with awesome. Once you get past the transvestite "girlfriend" and the soft realization hits you square in the brains. 'I've just watched 1500 Filipino Inmates Do Thriller.'
Your life won't ever be the same again.
(via ectomo)
Posted by Groonk at 02:59 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Just Freaking Neat, Video, Weird
July 20, 2007
Mars Attacks Spirit and Opportunity with Dust
Both rovers squeezed 3 years out of a 3 month mission. If they die today, they die mighty.
For nearly a month, a series of severe Martian summer dust storms has affected the rover Opportunity and, to a lesser extent, its twin, Spirit. The dust in the Martian atmosphere over Opportunity has blocked 99 percent of direct sunlight to the rover, leaving only the limited diffuse sky light to power it. Scientists fear the storms might continue for several days, if not weeks. "We're rooting for our rovers to survive these storms, but they were never designed for conditions this intense," says Alan Stern, associate administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington.
(via science@nasa)
Posted by Groonk at 05:55 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Mars
Hide Your Potter-Love with Snazzy(Fake and Dirty) Book Covers
The following are for grown-ups who are ashamed of being in love with a kids book for so long. I don't count myself among the shameful. Rowling's book is an excellent read. And a good read is a good read, no matter who it's marketed towards.
But for you lame asses who can't handle this kind of logical thinking, there's a flurry of fake Harry Potter book covers waiting for you to print them out and hide your shame.
(via buzz feed)
Posted by Groonk at 04:03 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Books
Elvis Honky Tonk Man* Clocks Thor with a Guitar
I have no idea how this came to happen. I'm thinking this is a moment best not explained. It has a certain elegance in it's simplicity.
I'm roughly 4 months behind on this Engine thread. Oh, the sweet images that await my eager eyes.
(via The Engine: The Greatest Single Panel in Comics)
*Dunc corrected my wrong thinking. This was not Elvis but in fact some 80s wrestler named Honky Tonk Man. Why and how he knocked the fuck out of Thor is still blurry.
Posted by Groonk at 04:09 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Comics
There are Days that Comics Break the Cool-o-meter
It was described to me here . I'm told that this gem can be found in Punisher #4 of the Marvel Knights line. You can bet your sweet ass I'm looking this up at my local comic shoppe.
The idea I live in the same world as a bear-punching Punisher. It gives me strange hope.
(via The Engine: The Greatest Single Panel in Comics)
Posted by Groonk at 03:54 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Comics
July 18, 2007
Virtual Un-Damming
Thanks to sophisticated new computer modeling techniques, a series of dam removal projects planned throughout the United States can be attempted with a realistic look at the results.
(via wired)
Posted by Groonk at 08:42 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Technology
The "Unbiased" iPhone Review
I've been hit with this site twice in the last few days by two different friends. This means one of two things. My friends have good humor and I keep them around for good reason or this thing is becoming one of dozens of those internet phenomenom I hear about.
Or both.
Either way, this is the best part.
(via ponzu and dirt)
Posted by Groonk at 07:14 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Funny
July 17, 2007
Jon Lovitz Gains Forever Cool Points, Kicks Andy Dick's Ass
Mostly there's a lot of drama over the loss of their friend Phil Hartman. The meat of the matter is this:
According to witnesses, Lovitz then grabbed Dick by the hair and smashed his head into the bar several times, yelling, "I don't want to be in your movie! I don't want to be in your life!""All the comedians are glad I did it because this guy is an asshole," says Lovitz. "I'm not proud of it... but he's a disgusting human being."
If only I could have been in that bar last week. I've never seen Lovitz be more truthful.
(via dose.ca)
Posted by Groonk at 01:13 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Quotables
July 16, 2007
CROOKED LITTLE VEIN is Set to Tease
The first chapter of CROOKED LITTLE VEIN lives online at your local internet Amazon.com dealer.
I'm sure there will be no "swishing" or "flicking." Horcruxes are pretty much right out.
(via warren ellis)
Posted by Groonk at 10:50 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Books
BLIND CLICK 12: Nature FTW
Posted by Groonk at 10:34 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals, Just Freaking Neat, Photos2
Walking Upright = Energy Efficient
Bipedalism — walking on two feet — is one of the defining characteristics of being human, and scientists have debated for years how it came about. In the latest attempt to find an explanation, researchers trained five chimpanzees to walk on a treadmill while wearing masks that allowed measurement of their oxygen consumption.The chimps were measured both while walking upright and while moving on their legs and knuckles. That measurement of the energy needed to move around was compared with similar tests on humans and the results are published in this week's online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
It turns out that humans walking on two legs use only one-quarter of the energy that chimpanzees use while knuckle-walking on four limbs. And the chimps, on average, use as much energy using two legs as they did when they used all four limbs.
The main thing they're ignoring, they're teaching chimps to walk on treadmills. The next thing you know, the walking bastards are buying expensive coffees and wearing bluetooth headsets even when they're not on the phone. After that, oblivion for the human race.
(via yahoo news)
Posted by Groonk at 06:57 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Science
July 15, 2007
Man Turns Down $5b to Keep His Land
That's very brave and noble of him, but I can't say that I would do the same.
"This is my country. Look, it's beautiful and I fear somebody will disturb it," he says, waving his arm across a view of rocky land surrounded by Kakadu National Park, where the French energy giant Areva wants to extract 14,000 tonnes of uranium worth more than $5 billion."There are sacred sites, there are burial sites and there are other special places out there which are my responsibility to look after," Mr Lee told the Herald.
[...]
Mr Lee, who works as a ranger in Kakadu, said incorporating Koongarra into the park would allow him to see that the land was protected.
"Being part of the park will ensure that the traditional laws, customs, sites, bush tucker, trees, plants and water stay the same as when they were passed on to me by my father and great-grandfather," he said.
As the sole surviving member of the Djok clan Mr Lee does not have any children to pass the land on to.
"I'll have to see what I can do about that," he said.
(via ponzu and the sidney morning herald)
Posted by Groonk at 02:18 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Culture
July 12, 2007
The Internet Circa 1994. And Oh Boy, was it Going Places.
(via ponzu, download squad, old school youtube)
Posted by Groonk at 06:25 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of History, Video
July 10, 2007
Cape Cod Man is No Sarah Silverman
"You say on your form that you're not a fan of homosexuals," Nickerson said."That I'm a racist," Ellis interrupted.
"I'm frequently found to be a liar, too. I can't really help it," Ellis added.
"I'm sorry?" Nickerson said.
"I said I'm frequently found to be a liar," Ellis replied.
"So, are you lying to me now?" Nickerson asked.
"Well, I don't know. I might be," was the response.
Ellis then admitted he really didn't want to serve on a jury.
( via ponzu and you can't escape civil service cnn)
Posted by Groonk at 08:37 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Quotables
Genius!
(via WHAT AM I! youtube)
Posted by Groonk at 03:42 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Video
July 05, 2007
BEHOLD: When Schoolgirl Zombies Attack
You *will* waste 2 minutes of your life watching this if only because you're curious.
(via stacy youtube)
Posted by Groonk at 07:04 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Movies, Only in Japan, Trailers, Weird
Chinese Villagers are Eating Dinosaur Bones...for Sexual Healing
The article didn't say that but you just know they were.
BEIJING - Villagers in central China dug up a ton of dinosaur bones and boiled them in soup or ground them into powder for traditional medicine, believing they were from flying dragons and had healing powers.Until last year, the fossils were being sold in Henan province as "dragon bones" at about 4 yuan (50 cents) per kilogram (2.2 pounds), scientist Dong Zhiming told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
Dong, a professor with the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said when the villagers found out the bones were from dinosaurs they donated 200 kilograms (440 pounds) to him and his colleagues for research.
"They had believed that the 'dragon bones' were from the dragons flying in the sky," he said.
(via yahoo news)
Posted by Groonk at 06:29 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals, Myth, Research, Science
The Zazou: The French Might be Re-writing their History Again
whether or not the Zazou were real, I can’t say. French recollections of collective resistance seem to be exaggerated wishful fantasies to disguise the fact that they basically just rolled over. But of all the possibly imaginary demarcations of the French Resistance, the Zazou are the ones I most hope to have been real.The Nazis description of the average Zazounian: ““Here is the specimen of Ultra Swing 1941: hair hanging down to the neck, teased up into an untidy quiff, little moustache a la Clark Gable… shoes with too-thick soles, syncopated walk.” An armada of listless youths, taking to the streets in their zoot suit uniforms, swaggering and swinging their pocket watches on their chains, to fight the fascists with the power off le jazz hot!
Digging deeper: 1940-1945: The Zazous | grow-a-brain
(via the marvelous new blog Ectoplasmosis)
Posted by Groonk at 06:04 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of History, On the French, WorldWarII
Man Changes Name to Megatron
Please. Stop.
Posted by Groonk at 04:22 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Culture, Flickrlicious
The Melbourne City Council paid You to do What?
The warning came after the Melbourne City Council last night decided against resuming its former policy of paying private investigators to have sex in illegal brothels, to gather evidence of a breach of planning rules.
(via digg, theage.com.au)
Posted by Groonk at 04:13 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Quotables, Sex
