Hosea Ballou

"Education commences at the mother's knee, and every word spoken within the hearsay of little children tends towards the formation of character."

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Today's Featured Article, Website or Blog:Be the Best Secret Santa Ever

Buying secret Santa gifts is, frankly, a pain in the neck. The more time you spend searching, the less confident you feel in your selection. After all, what can you get for a person you don't know all that well without breaking a fairly low price limit?Well, forget about joke secret Santa gifts. With these ideas, you'll be able to wow just about anyone: Be the Best Secret Santa Ever

Did you Know...

... that today is Convenience Store Marriage Day? In 1996, Myrtle Bond and Owen Jack Tate got married in the 7-Eleven store where they had met six months earlier when Jack stopped in for coffee and met Myrtle working there. Congrats to the couple!

 

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J.C. Watts

"Character is doing the right thing when nobody's looking. There are too many people who think that the only thing that's right is to get by, and the only thing that's wrong is to get caught."

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Today's Featured Article, Website or Blog:Looking to Add a Personal Touch to Your Christmas Tree?

At one time in your life a teacher probably told you, "think outside the box." With these Christmas ornaments crafts, it's more fun and original to think inside the box! You can paint the outside of these ornaments, or use these Christmas ornament craft ideas and have a one-of-a-kind ornament hanging from your tree. Use these simple-step directions for fun kids Christmas ornament crafts that will allow you and your kids the creativity you crave: Looking to Add a Personal Touch to Your Christmas Tree?

Did you Know...

... that today is Maggie's First Word Day? Maggie, the youngest of the Simpsons, spoke her first word in the December 3, 1992, episode. Her first word (voiced by Elizabeth Taylor) was "Daddy."

 

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Top 10 Christmas Villains

(1970). As part of Santa’s supposed back-story, the Burgermeister was the mayor of the small village where Kris Kringle first passed out his toys. When the Burgermeister tripped on errant toy duck he banned toys. Even a brief flirtation with a yo-yo wasn’t enough to convince him to change his ways. By making Kris an outlaw he forced Santa to go down chimneys. See how important Christmas villains are? The Burgermeister was given life by venerable cartoon voice artist Paul Frees who also provided the voice for the other cartoon villain Boris Badenov.

9. Heat & Snow Miser

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Top 10 Worst Holiday Gifts

Everyone has vivid memories of the dreaded, yet seemingly always present, fruitcake. What are they? What are you supposed to do with them? No one really knows. In fact, there is no reliable information that they are even supposed to be eaten. Maybe the intent of this purported food stuff is decorative in nature.  Unfortunately, most fruitcakes have a stomach unsettling appearance.  Though one could argue the packages they come in are nice (remember when they use to come in those colorful, brown containers?). In reality, fruitcakes are one of those gifts that produce a smile when received but soon find its way into the trashcan when your guests have gone home.

9. Knitted Apparel

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Top 10 Santa Legends From Around the World

The Yule lads, or Yulemen, are a group of thirteen mischievous creatures that have largely taken the place of Santa Claus in the Icelandic celebration of Christmas. Their first major appearance can be traced back to the early thirties, when an Icelandic writer composed a short poem describing their role in the Christmas season. Since then they’ve gone through many different incarnations, from lovable gift-givers to annoying pests, and they’ve even been painted as bloodthirsty creatures that kidnap and eat children in the night.

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Top 10 Scary Santas

9. Santa Claus as Michael Myers from Halloween…with Rouge

I can hear the music to the movie Halloween when I see this frightening visage. The sheer terror in the little girl rivals anything Jamie Lee Curtis could act out.

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Top 10 Misconceptions About Kwanzaa

Kwanzaa is a celebration of culture and universal truths that transcend religious boundaries. While one could assert that there is a spiritual content attached to Kwanzaa, the celebration itself is not associated with any organized religion or deity worship. In the words of Kwanzaa’s creator, Dr. Karenga,

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Top 10 Sketch Comedy TV Shows

doesn’t have to be dumb entertainment. And for that it more than deserves its place on this list as one of the best loved TV shows of all time.

5. Chappelle’s Show

It isn’t by accident that most of the great sketch comedy shows are the products of a comedy troupe. Writing and performing even a bad show takes hours and hours of work. Trying to put together a great show takes that much more. Even if it were an average show, you’d still have to admire the work Dave Chappelle put into his brief but memorable Chappelle’s Show- but it was anything but average. Built upon the well-honed stand up of Dave Chappelle’s earlier career, Chappelle’s Show was a controversial mix of race, drugs, sex, and everything else on the star’s mind. A singular vision, it presented Chappelle’s unique take on the powder kegs of modern life. Watching Chappelle’s Show is like taking a tour of modern America through the eyes of one guy. A ridiculously talented, balls-out hilarious guy. That persistent voice and sense of humor makes it unique on this list and in the sketch comedy world. Here was one guy pouring out his mind and thoughts in the funniest way he could. Is it any wonder he burned out after two seasons? He worked way too hard to give us one of the best sketch shows there ever was.

4. Tim And Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!

Definitely the strangest show on this list and possibly the strangest show to ever air on television, Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! is supremely weird. The sketches are surreal and at times disturbing, the supporting cast is a mix of famous comedians and bizarrely untalented non-actors, and the whole thing is presented with production values that would embarrass the cheapest public access show. This deliberate strangeness might make for a uniquely terrible viewing experience except for one thing. It’s absolutely original and absolutely hilarious. With Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!, Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim have managed the rare feat of creating something simultaneously odd, unsettling, and incredibly funny. Anybody can do weird for weird’s sake, but Tim and Eric do it in such a unique, funny way that you can’t help but watch. Sitting down to the average episode is like watching a traffic accident. Except there are clowns there. And John C. Reilly in a wig. You can’t look away and you can’t stop laughing.

3. Saturday Night Live

It may be everyone’s favourite thing to hate these days, but no matter how many more substandard seasons they let it run, nothing can diminish the electricity and pure comedic energy of the first few seasons of Saturday Night Live. Coming out of the improvisation tradition created by The Second City (a movement that continues to be a major source of American comedy talent), SNL combined a murderer’s row of talent and a youthful fearlessness that pushed at the confines and strictures of what TV comedy could be. The Not Ready For Primetime Players (the nickname John Belushi, Dan Akroyd, Gilda Radner, Chevy Chase, Jane Curtain, Garret Morris, and Lorraine Newman gave themselves) may have started as a bit of self-deprecation, but it became just the opposite. They were too good for primetime. Too smart, too hip, and way too cool for TV. They made staying home on Saturday night what the cool people did- to not watch SNL was to be out of touch and left out of the cultural discussion. Like Monty Python, they were comedy rock stars who instantly became household names. At least for anyone in the house under 25. Even after 35 years and through the light of the some great and many terrible seasons since, those first four years stand as one of the best moments in American comedy history.

2. SCTV

The second of the two great sketch comedy shows to come out of the Second City improv tradition, SCTV was Saturday Night Live’s quieter, slightly more clever brother. Filmed in the relative obscurity of Toronto (compared to SNL’s New York City home, the media capital of the world) SCTV never became a cultural institution like its more famous cousin, it just became an incredible groundbreaking show. Founded on the genius premise that every sketch and parody was actually airing on a terrible local TV station, SCTV skewered every trend, genre, and celebrity that called TV home in the 70s and 80s. Even better, the conceit that they were a TV station allowed them to go behind the scenes and create a cast of rich, totally unique characters. From sleazy station owner Guy Caballero, hacky comedian Bobby Bittman, kiddie horror host Count Floyd, scuzzball host Johnny Larue to dozens of others, SCTV created an entirely realized world around the usual fare of parodies and impressions. This devotion to building characters, along with a cast that included comedy giants like John Candy, Martin Short, Eugene Levy, Andrea Martin, Rick Moranis, Catherine O’Hara, Dave Thomas, and Joe Flaherty among others made SCTV a show that rewarded loyal viewers. Their recurring characters were actual characters, not just catchphrases or silly costumes.

1. Monty Python’s Flying Circus

Sketch comedy existed before Graham Chapman, Terry Jones, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Michael Palin, and Terry Gilliam started Monty Python’s Flying Circus, but they made it an art form. With their brilliant satire, absurd yet instantly recognizable characters, and almost preternatural understanding of the tropes and tricks of television they created an entirely new form of comedy. Drawing on the social and cultural change around them yet maintaining enough distance to properly mock it, they made traditional comedy that was thoroughly modern. They were Oxford and Cambridge educated men who could riff on classical philosophy and Spam in the same episode. They were smart, stupid, clever and ridiculous all at the same time. It’s not without accident that they became comedy megastars and the acknowledged masters of the genre. Other groups have come and gone, some of them incredibly funny. But there will always only ever be one Monty Python. And they will always be the best sketch comedy group of all time.

For more funny footage, check out our YouTube playlist ‘Top 1o Sketch Comedy:’

By Geoff Shakespeare

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Surreal and Conceptual Photography by Chiara Fersini

Posted by me on 12/15/10 • Categorized as photography

Surreal and Conceptual Photography by Chiara Fersini aka Himitsuhana. More of Chiara’s photography on her website, flickr and you can follow her on twitter and facebook.

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Photography by Eliot Lee Hazel

Posted by me on 12/16/10 • Categorized as photography

Photography by Eliot Lee Hazel. More of Eliot’s great photography on his website and flickr.

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Alan Macdonald Paintings

Posted by me on 12/17/10 • Categorized as Art

Alan Macdonald Paintings. Great 17th century style oil paintings with modern brands and quotes from cool song lyrics. More of Alan’s paintings on his website.

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Illustrations by Ken Wong

Posted by me on 11/30/10 • Categorized as Art

Illustrations by Ken Wong. These are just some of his great artwork, for more visit his website.

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Dark Surrealistic Photography of Erlend Mørk

Posted by me on 12/01/10 • Categorized as photography

Dark Surrealistic Photography of Erlend Mørk. For more dark surrealism visit his website and facebook.

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Photography by Eolo Perfido

Posted by me on 12/03/10 • Categorized as photography

Photography by Eolo Perfido. For more great photography go see his website.

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Street art by Tian

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Photography by Gregory Crewdson

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Surrealism by Tetsuya Ishida

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Photography by Ryan Schude

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Berlin Dada Photomontages by Raoul Hausmann

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Photography by Fredrik Ödman

Posted by me on 11/25/10 • Categorized as photography

Detailed, surreal, frightening and amusing . More of his great work on his website and facebook page.

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Black and White Photography by Kristina Lerner

Posted by me on 11/26/10 • Categorized as photography

Surreal/abstract Black and White Photography by Kristina Lerner. Lots more of her work on flickr and livejournal.

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Street art by Dolk

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Surreal art by Otto Rapp

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Street art by Boxi

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Horror Photography by Holly Ferguson

Posted by me on 11/03/10 • Categorized as photography

. To see more great photography by Holly Ferguson visit her website here or facebook page here.

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Acrylic painting on photos by Sangho Park

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Cuddly Creepy Surrealism by Mark Ryden

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Photo Manipulations by Jan Oliehoek

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Sweet and Creepy Paintings by Ana Bagayan

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Street art by STRØK

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Art by Jean Jullien

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Street art and paintings by Zed1

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Street art by Vera

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Street art by JR

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Nuclear bomb playhouse and other artwork by Dietrich Wegner

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Shadow and Chalk art by Ellis Gallagher

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Middle finger and other sculptures by Maurizio Cattelan

Posted by me on 9/27/10 • Categorized as Art

Giant middle finger, other sculptures and artwork by Maurizio Cattelan.

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Street art by Above

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Street art and Urban art by SpY

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Pulp Art Photography

Posted by me on 9/06/10 • Categorized as Art

from Pulp art book, a collaboration between supermodel Joni Harbeck and photographer Neil Krug.

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Top 10 Super Bowl Performances of the Last Decade

K – New England Patriots – 2002

Yeah, I know that Tom Brady won the first Super Bowl MVP award of his career in this game, but I say it was Adam Vinateri that was the best player on the field in this contest as he coolly nailed the game-winning kick from 48 yards out to lift the Pats to their first Super Bowl title.

If any kicker ever deserved to win a Super Bowl title, it’s Adam Vinateri. Besides, Tom Brady completed just  16 of 27 passes for one touchdown, so it’s not like he actually led the Pats to victory with an impressive aerial performance.

8. Super Bowl XXXVII – Dexter Jackson

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Top 10 Ways Kids are Scared of Santa

The purest showing of terror: The Bloody Murder Scream. These children held nothing back and let their primal terror be heard. Will the screaming ever end? Not if Jolly Saint Nick has anything to say about it.

The Screaming Choir

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Top 10 Bizarre Christmas Traditions

it’s a bird) that is wrapped in seal skin and buried under a rock in the frost several months before Christmas.  The Christmas tradition is to dig up the kiviak, squeeze out the rotted guts, and then eat the auk.  No, I’m not kidding.  According to the few reports we could find, it smells a lot like Stilton cheese and tastes really tangy.  We’ll take your word for it, Greenland. Image source: http://foodlorists.blogspot.com/

9.    Hiding Your Brooms

Bad witches and evil spirits could exist here as well as Norway.  Norway takes preventative measures on Christmas Eve, when evil baddies and baddie witches might try to make off with your brooms.  Hide all your brooms! Apparently, Christmas Eve is a prime broom-joyriding time in Norway.  It could be here, too!

8. Kallikantzaroi & Pig Jaw Protection

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Top 10 Strangest Monarchs

The Ming Dynasty’s strangest emperor, Zhu Houzhao, aka the Zhengde Emperor, took to the throne of China at the age of 14. Not long after becoming Emperor, Zhengde became drunk with power. He neglected his duties as ruler, and instead chose to spend his time drinking and visiting brothels, which he filled with women of his choosing. He built lavish palaces to store exotic animals like tigers and leopards, and he would often have them turned loose so that he could hunt them down for his own amusement. Even weirder, Zhengde would have his servants go to great lengths to dress up the inside of his palace like a city block. He would then command all the court employees to pretend to be vendors and passersby, so that he could stroll down the

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Top 10 Movie Soundtrack Firsts

4. First Score Comprised Entirely by Electric Instruments

The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)

Legendary film score writer Bernard Herrmann’s first work after moving to America, the soundtrack for The Day the Earth Stood Still, was one of the most influential in science fiction history. The first film soundtrack to be comprised on electronic instruments, the soundtrack used electric violins, cellos, basses, two Theremins, vibraphones, and several other electric and amplified instruments. Berman also used overdubbing and tape-reversal techniques to make the soundtrack more unearthly and futuristic. The soundtrack would go on to inspire the music to many more science fiction films, including such masterpieces as Blade Runner.

3. First Hollywood Film with an All-Jazz Score

The Man with the Golden Arm (1955)

The Man with the Golden Arm was a film that was destined to break all of the rules. It dealt with the forbidden topic of drug addiction, spat in the face of Hollywood censors, and used a soundtrack by blacklisted Elmer Bernstein. Bernstein decided that jazz would be the most appropriate music to help replicate the turmoil felt by a recovering heroin junkie, crafting the very first all jazz score in Hollywood history. It would give the film a chaotic, urgent feeling that would set it apart from other Hollywood productions. Afterwards, Bernstein would go on to write jazz scores for the films The Sweet Smell of Success (1957) and A Walk on the Wild Side (1962).

2. First Film Score Entirely Written By a Popular Artist

Pat Garret and Billy the Kid (1973)

Sam Peckinpah’s 1973 Pat Garret and Billy the Kid is considered a forgotten classic of the Western genre – one of the most famous reasons is its soundtrack, written and performed entirely by Bob Dylan. While other films had been written and made around popular music (like The Beatles’ Yellow Submarine), this was the first time that a full-length musical score was written expressly for a film by a popular artist.

Dylan was hired after country music star Kris Kristofferson, who played Billy the Kid, brought him into the film. Even though Peckinpah had (somehow) never heard of him before, he hired him on the spot when he heard Dylan’s proposed title theme. While the soundtrack album received little critical acclaim, it is remembered for spawning the classic Dylan anthem Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door.

1. First All-Digital Film Soundtrack

Stop Making Sense (1984)

Nowadays, everything is digital but there was a time when digital technology was a huge innovation in the film world. The first time that a film used complete digital audio technology was the Talking Heads concert film Stop Making Sense. Directed by Jonathan Demme, Stop Making Sense was recorded on a 24-track Sony digital recorder. The film itself would go on to be described by critics such as Leonard Maltin as one of the greatest concert films ever made.

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Top 10 Video Game-Ruining Power-Ups

oh, wait, Nintendo gives you a big orange arrow on the map telling you where to go next to find it. And there’s no time limit either, so you can just go through the admittedly elaborate fetch quest the game requires you to travel on, and then you’ve got a sword that wipes out almost every non-boss in the game with precisely one hit. Yeah, that won’t drive down the difficulty curve or anything. (Image: hylianhelpdesk.com.)8. The Five-Seven in Splinter Cell: Conviction

Let’s go down the checklist:  Silenced? Check. Biggest magazine size? Check. Better accuracy? Check. After one upgrade, a function that lets you take out up to four enemies automatically? Check. So, explain to me again

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Top 10 Most Important Discoveries in Astronomy

The Discovery

It’s tough to wade through a couple thousand years of ancient Babylonian, Egyptian, Greek, Indian, Chinese, Mayan and Persian astronomical history to pick out the highlights, so I’ going to cheat and roll all of their achievements up into one entry. Maybe if their civilisations hadn’t died out they would have got a better spot on this list, but because they couldn’t keep their empires together the ancient world gets stuck with the number ten spot. That’ll learn

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Top 10 Controversial Billboards

With every president often comes some sort of disapproval; actually, with any type of politician there is always opinions, both good and bad. And of course Barack Obama is no exception to this long standing way of political life. With so many opinions, two very different political parties, it’s no surprise that someone won’t hesitate to speak out against the president. Across the country there are plenty of people who don’t approve of Obama’s course of action but in Texas, a man named Ellis Miller decided to take it to the next step. To show his high disapproval of the direction of the health care bill, he decided to purchase a billboard that simply said:

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Top 10 Unexpected Killers in Nature

If you’ve taken college biology, you may be familiar with the humble planarian, a primitive animal consisting of little more than a thin sheet of tissue with a minimal nervous system. Most species inhabit water, but a few can be found slithering on dry land, and these nearly brainless creatures are sometimes carnivorous. Various land planaria live off a diet of earthworms, which they dissolve into mush with the secretion of a digestive enzyme.

9.  Katydids

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Top 10 Most Famous Celebrity Deaths

when pyrotechnics set off during the filming of a scene for Twilight Zone: The Movie brought down one of the circling helicopters, decapitating the 53-year old actor and killing the two child actors he was holding in his arms at the time. The accident very nearly derailed the careers of director John Landis and producer Steven Spielberg, but both were acquitted on charges of involuntary manslaughter and child endangerment (though they did pay a hefty settlement to the victim’s families). The film, being a Landis/Spielberg production, was expected to do well but flopped at the box office

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Top 10 Most Unusual Christmas Trees

The divers of Manila’s Ocean Park installed a beautiful decorated underwater Christmas tree. They surprised their visitors by posing as Santa Claus and mermaids in front of the underwater evergreen, as part of the park’s Christmas show.

9. Mountain Dew Christmas Tree

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Top 10 Trashiest Christmas Gifts for Him

First let me point out that truckers are not trashy. They are often owner-operators who work long hours to support their families. At this time of the year they are right up there with Santa’s elves: making sure we get our parcels, our turkeys, and our toys.

The following items, however, are certainly trashy

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Top 10 Hot Christmas Toys of All Time

10. Mr. Potato Head

1952
1 million sold
Hasbro

The Christmas Story
Originally George Lerner’s idea for this famous toy spud seemed like it might be a dud. At first, no one seemed interested in his idea, but eventually a small family-run toy company called Hasbro began production. Mr. Potato Head became so popular that a Mrs. Potato Head was introduced the next year.

The Craziness
Mr. Potato Head was the very first toy advertisement on TV. Thank you Hasbro for starting the never-ending chorus of

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Top 10 Forgotten Child Stars

just not as long.

Let’s remember the throughout movie history:

10. Maia Brewton

No one can rock a Thor costume like Maia Brewton’s Sara in Adventures in Babysitting.

Co-star Keith Coogan may be grandson to silver screen child star Jackie Coogan, but Brewton steals the movie. Sara not only dresses the part of a superhero, but she acts like one, too. She’s the only one of the group who thinks riding subways with gang members, being chased by car thieves, speeding along with crazed truckers, and hanging from rafters is fun.

Maybe it’s the helmet.

You can also spot an even younger Brewton in a small role as one of Marty McFly’s young aunts, Sally Baines, in Back to the Future.

Where is she now?

Brewton graduated from Yale in 1998. She’s married to TV producer Lara Spotts and is busy raising twin sons.

9. Miko Hughes

Stephen King’s brain has given birth to many a disturbed child. Maybe you’ve blocked out the memory of little Miko Hughes slashing Herman Munster’s ankle as the resurrected demon-child in Pet Sematary. But Hughes wouldn’t be forgotten

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Top 10 Worst Sports Teams

Most terrible sports teams are expansion franchises, which is understandable; it’s tough for a brand new team to compete with established squads. But the 2003 Tigers had no such excuse when they went 43-119 in 2003, becoming the second worst modern baseball team in the process. At least the Tigers have company, because as you’ll see later they’re not the only franchise to embarrass Detroit.

9.  1962 New York Mets

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Top 10 Mad Scientists in the Movies

death star’ at Washington DC. He is cryogenically frozen in 1967 and revived thirty years later.

Real Science
In an effort to offset global temperatures, some scientists in the U.S. have called for research into simulating volcanic eruptions. Artificially produced particles in the atmosphere would deflect heat from the sun and reduce the effects of climate change. The U.S. military has carried out a lot of research on laser weapons, successfully developing a laser that destroyed mortars and rockets in tests. As for cryogenic freezing, some people have paid out a lot of cash for the privilege but the technology to revive them doesn’t exist yet and most scientists are pessimistic about it.

9. Dr. Caligari

Played by Werner Krauss in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)

Movie Science
The plot of this silent slice of German Expressionism is told in flashback. Set in a mountain village, Dr. Caligari and his sleepwalking assistant, Cesare, are a sinister freak show in a traveling carnival. They become suspects in a series of murders. The doctor uses mind control over Cesare, commanding him to do his evil deeds, but there is a twist

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Top 10 9/11 Conspiracy Theories

rather, it is meant to detail the most common conspiracy theories related to the events of that fateful and tragic day. While the theories listed below may appear to be expressed in the author’s own point of view, they are meant to reflect only the viewpoint of the Truth Movement itself. Nothing printed below is intended to serve as definite evidence of wrongdoing or criminal activity

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Top 10 Famous Mustache Guys Without Their Mustaches

The Mustache

Arguably one of the most famous bits of lip hair in the history of mankind, Hitler’s mustache has come to represent all that is evil and impure in facial hair. If anyone in the world ever misused their mustache, it was Adolf Hitler. Instead of using his mighty

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Top 10 Valuable Video Games

Pepsi Invaders sounds like the name of one of Pepsi’s many failed product lines, but it’s actually a game for the Atari 2600. Commissioned by Coca-Cola for their 1983 sales convention, the game is little more than Space Invaders with the aliens replaced by the letters that spell out Pepsi. Never intended for commercial release, only the 125 attendees of the convention received a copy. The number of cartridges that survive to this day is unknown, but the most recent one to surface was snapped up on eBay for 2125 dollars in early 2010.

9.  Ultima:  Escape from Mt. Drash

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Top 10 Over The Top Marathons

F or higher temperatures. Because of the conditions and length of the marathon, it’s often been called the toughest on earth. It has taken place since 1986 and is run throughout the Moroccan Desert. The location has definitely wreaked havoc on some of the runners, some participants have gotten lost in sand storms while 2 have died. Translated into Marathon of the Sands, this marathon literally takes place in a desert. This type of marathon is as long as 6 marathons put together and spans over 6 days and by the end of it all, runners will have travelled about 120 miles. As if the heat and distance aren’t enough, those who participate must carry all of their food and belongings with them during the race.

4. Great Tibetan Marathon

The Great Tibetan Marathon is held each year in northern India on the Tibetan Plateau where runners are able to enjoy the surrounding view of the Himalayan Mountains. Throughout the race runners get to experience the scenery within the Indus Valley. This marathon is especially different because it takes place in Buddhist surroundings at an altitude of 3,500m. At such a high altitude, runners have to learn how to deal with low oxygen levels which makes the race even harder to run as it is definitely much more of a challenge than a marathon at a normal altitude. Participants must spend time at 3,500m to allow the body to get used to the conditions before they can compete in the race. Also a day before the race, a 3km run is put into place so that runners can really get a grasp of the change in altitude. Athletes of all types can join into the marathon as they offer a half marathon, a 10km, and then a full marathon run.

3. Polar Circle Marathon

Just by the name, you can guess that the Polar Circle Marathon is definitely a little bit chilly. In fact, in many cases, runners have to make their trek in 14

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Top 10 Over Rated Acts in Music Today

9. Nirvana

This band isn’t around currently, for obvious reasons, though it seems always to be treated as though it fits in a larger pantheon of great rock musicians including the likes of the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, and Led Zeppelin.  This is a delusion.  With only three albums to speak of, it’s hard not to think that part of this rushed status has something to do with Kurt Cobain’s suicide.  There are much better examples of artists who emerged from the 90’s grunge movement- ones who didn’t make a conscious and painstaking effort to be so sonically dissonant (i.e. unlistenable).  Cobain despised the songs (Smells Like Teen Spirit in particular) his fans actually liked and actively sought to make music contrarily to this fact, playing poorly and sloppily to discourage enjoyment.  While Nirvana may be talent in its own way (its very own way) and the group may have tried to be true to self (which is highly respectable), people need to quit jumping the gun (no pun intended).  Start by using the phrase

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Top 10 Most Famous Women in History

find sanctuary in northern states over the next eleven years. Her efforts made her a hunted woman in the south, resulting in as much as a $40,000 price being put on her head at one point. When the Civil War broke out, her work with the Underground Railroad ended but her service to the Union cause did not.  During the war she served, in turn as: a nurse, a scout for the Union, and, at one time, even a Union spy. After the war, she remained a tireless advocate for civil and human rights and a figure in the woman’s suffrage movement right up to the year of her death in 1913. Widely known and well-respected while she was alive, after her death she became an American icon. She is frequently referred to as the

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Top 10 Otherwise Promising Movies Ruined by CGI

George Lucas’s strategy to create a saga in nonconsecutive order may have been a brilliant way to build suspense, but with suspense comes anticipation and ultimately heightened expectations.  Lucas could hardly hope to meet such expectations perfectly; so, it would seem, he hardly even tried to.  Continuity issues were the first issue to be addressed in such an ass-backward approach to film-making; you can’t embark on such an epic endeavor if you can’t maintain a consistent storyline.  For the most part, that wasn’t an issue: Anakin grew up to be Vador as planned (though, in order to procreate and produce Luke and Leia with Padme, Padme had to apparently lack the ability to age during Anakin’s adolescent years), the empire became corrupt, the rebel alliance came about, etc., etc.  The one thing not accounted for? The advent of CGI.  Somehow CGI existed in the first three but only puppets and Frank Oz’s voice did in the last three (the

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Top 10 Dance Crazes

, the tune for this dance was written in the late 1950s by a Swiss accordion player named Werner Thomas during the time he was tending a flock of ducks. It later emigrated to the United States in the 1970s, when New York publisher Stanley Mills acquired the U.S. publishing rights. Mills focused considerable time and energy selling the song, which began to grow in popularity in the 1980s.  By the late 1990s, he was licensing the tune for use on dance compilation CDs, karaoke collections and TV commercials for Burger King and the Chicken Dance was here to stay. Today it the dance is still featured at weddings and other events, guaranteed to get both talented and untalented dancers out on the floor, since everyone looks equally silly doing it.

9. The Hustle

This 1970s line dance craze began with the introduction of a song by Van McCoy and the Soul City Symphony called “The Hustle“. The dance rocketed to international fame after it got the spotlight in the 1977 movie sensation

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Top 10 Customized Vehicles From Around The World

Long thought of as a homogenous culture of cubicle drones, the Japanese can actually be just as creative and weird as anyone. Dekotora (an abbreviation of

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Top 10 Strangest Animal Behaviors

strange. Here is my top 10:

10. Naked Mole Rats

The Queen Gets Pushy And Runs In (Backwards) To 10

Most commonly known as naked mole rats (also called the desert mole rat and sand puppy), they are neither moles nor rats but a type of guinea pig. They are ugly animals, often described as resembling a bloated bratwurst with teeth. The behavior they exhibit, in all its hilarity, is their ability to run as fast backwards as they can forwards, in the dark and completely blind. Even stranger, the queen mole rat is the only one to breed and bear young, similar to the queen bee. In order to secure her exclusivity to mate she will push around other female mole rats in order to cause them stress. This releases hormones that make them unable to procreate.

9. The Bowerbird

Interior Decorator at Heart

For all those anal-retentive interior designers the Bowerbird enjoys decorating too. Not only does the Bowerbird make great efforts to adorn his nest, he even goes so far as to destroy the nests of his neighbors. In an effort to attract a mate, the male Bowerbird builds what are termed,

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Top 10 Thanksgiving Movies

Home for the Holidays (1995)

After losing her job, making out with her soon to be ex-boss, and finding out that her daughter plans to spend Thanksgiving with her boyfriend, Claudia Larson has to face spending the holiday with her family. She wonders if she can survive their crazy antics. Written by Cyndi Kessler

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Top 10 Nightmare Visions of New York

The quintessential urban hellscape, The New York of the 1979 cult classic The Warriors is a city so riddled with street gangs that they can hold a general meeting in one of the biggest parks in the city with little fear of reprisal. They even seem to have their own radio station. The gangs are so emboldened that their leader suggests they actually take over the city entirely as they outnumber the police 3 to 1. When he is killed, the Warriors of the title are forced to flee back to their home turf in Coney Island. The city they cross is dirty and filled with garbage, human and otherwise. As they dodge blood-thirsty gang after blood-thirsty gang, their numbers are slowly diminished. The New York of The Warriors is so brutal that even a hardened bunch of street fighters can barely survive one of its nights. But it isn’t all horrible. Even though the streets are crawling with murderous thugs, at least they go to the trouble of coming up with interesting themes and wearing colorful costumes. It makes getting the living snot beat out of you just a little more pleasant.

9.  Gotham City (Batman)

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Top 10 Most Visited Famous Grave Sites

In a Paris cemetery, Oscar Wilde, (1854 to 1900) was laid to rest in the prestigious Paris cemetery, Pere Lachaise, after residing in a grave in Bagneaux Cemetery on a plot of ground only available for temporary lease. Temporary lease? Yes, and for this reason, he was encased in quicklime so the corpse would decompose faster. The famous Irish writer, poet and playwright is visited frequently by fans and his work is still being read throughout the world today, 100 years after his death. Fifty years after his passing the remains of his longtime friend, Robert Ross, was placed in his tomb. His tomb was sculpted by the famous American, Jacob Epstein. Oscar Wilde rests in peace at number 10,

9.  Bruce Lee

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Top Ten Acts Dissed by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

in other words, these guys are the epitome of true rock stars. From all the hard partying days, scrapes with the law, through rehab and getting sober in the late eighties, they rocked! This band influenced scores of later bands, and deserves to be in the hall for that reason alone.

8. Styx

Yes, I have heard all the arguments about the commercial sound. In other words, this band played the music that people wanted to hear, and wanted to buy. I certainly don’t understand how that could be construed as something negative. Four consecutive albums certified multi-platinum, including The Grand Illusion through Paradise Theater.

7.  Electric Light Orchestra

One of the biggest selling bands in the 1970’s and early 1980’s, ELO was an English band that had much more success in the United States. After a career selling more than 50 million albums worldwide, including 12 different studio albums and more than four dozen singles, is there really any doubt that they belong in the Hall of Fame? And what about that crazy spaceship?

6. Judas Priest

I was tempted to say

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Top 10 Under Appreciated Silent Horror Films

but backwards.

8. The Student of Prague

1913

Directed by Stellan Rye and Paul Wegener

The Student of Prague is an early German horror film that contains a basic retelling of the classic Faustian tale.   It involves a poor student named Balduin becoming completely obsessed with a countess.  He ends up making a deal with a sorcerer named Scapinelli to give everything he desires, including great wealth.  In return, he must sign a contract.  You can figure out where the plot goes from there.  The film is notable for several different reasons.  First, it contained some very prominent special effects that were considered quite extraordinary for the era.  The most famous is where Balduin shares the screen with a double of himself.  Also, Scapinelli is an incredibly important figure in the development of horror films.  He was one of the first characters who would seduce the protagonist with deals and bargains instead of defeating him with demons and infernal magic. It was due largely in part to this film that the entire trope of

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Top 10 Scariest Video Games

a special ops branch of the US Army that deals with paranormal threats. You play as a new member of this team during an investigation into a facility where research into telepathic powers has gone wrong.

Heavily inspired by Japanese horror films, F.E.A.R. drops a creepy little girl into the middle of an otherwise standard first person shooter. She spends the game toying with you, popping up every now and then to taunt you or force you to experience unpleasant hallucinations. Wondering when she’ll show up next keeps you on your toes, to the point where it becomes draining to play for more than a couple of hours at a time. The contrast between being able to gun down most opponents with ease, only to be left helpless in the face of a little girl, is remarkably effective.

7. Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth

Dark Corners of the Earth is inspired by the work of famous horror writer H.P. Lovecraft and it faithfully recreates several of his most famous settings and creatures. You play as a private detective who’s been given the job of finding a missing person in the shadowy town of Innsmouth, an investigation that soon turns into an encounter with evil cultists, sea monsters and several ancient horrors.

To make matters worse, you’re forced to sneak through most of the game; enemies can easily overwhelm you if you’re spotted. And, much like in Eternal Darkness, you need to maintain your hero’s sanity. Expose him to too much horror and he’ll start to hallucinate, suffer from schizophrenia, and even kill himself. Nothing makes a game more nerve-wracking than being forced to listen to your character babble about how he has no hope of surviving.

6. Condemned: Criminal Origins

Condemned has you playing as a crime scene investigator who’s been framed for a double murder. You try to prove his innocence by tracking down the serial killer who was really responsible, a process that involves a mixture of crime scene analysis and beating homeless people to death with rusty pipes.

Don’t worry, they had it coming; they all turned into violent psychopaths for no apparent reason, which is another mystery you have to solve. And that’s part of what makes Condemned so scary- the brutal, hand to hand combat is genuinely unsettling. Factor in some tense exploration of dark and dreary abandoned buildings and all together you have a rather disturbing experience. Oh, and Condemned also managed to give us a lifelong fear of mannequins; watch the video clip to see what we mean.

5. Penumbra: Black Plague

No, this isn’t a game about the actual black plague. That would just be depressing. Instead, you’re exploring a ruined research facility where all the staff have either been killed or turned into zombie-like creatures that are looking to make a meal out of you.

Black Plague is ostensibly an adventure game, as you progress by exploring and solving a variety of puzzles. Unfortunately, it’s tough to crack riddles when you’re worried by the prospect of a monster jumping out and ripping your face off. You can fight back, but you’re weak, so  you’re better off avoiding conflict. Luckily, there aren’t a lot of monsters, but that’s actually part of what makes Black Plague so scary. There are just enough enemies to keep the tension running high while you explore the mysterious setting, and you know that if you’ve been safe for a while then there’s trouble coming soon.

4. Siren: Blood Curse

Siren tells the story of an American TV crew that’s come to Japan to do a report on a legendary

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Top 10 Athletes Who Lost Their Olympic Medal

Canada

Though born in Falmouth, Jamaica, Ben Johnson, during the Olympic Games, represented Canada as he migrated there during the 1970s. After living in Ontario, Johnson came into contact with Charlie Francis, a track and field coach, and eventually Johnson joined the Scarborough Optimists track and field team. With an Olympic coach behind him, Johnson was able to succeed and in 1982 was able to win 2 silver medals at the Commonwealth Games in Australia. In the 1984 Summer Olympics Johnson earned a bronze medal as well as another bronze medal at part of the Canadian 4x100m relay team. His first top success came in the 1986 Goodwill Games when he won first place. Johnson’s success continued as his endorsements continued to grow. In 1987 he was invited to be a member of the Order of Canada because of the fact that he had broken multiple records held by Canadians.

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Top 10 Feral Children

(cliffnotes.com). Those who believe in the nurture part think that humans learn according to how they are taught and what goes on around them. Those debating from the nature side say that we act according to genetic predispositions, as well as through animalistic instincts (i.e. Freud’s id).

What do you think? Are individuals a product of their environment, their genes, or a combination of both? Feral children are interesting aspects of this debate. A feral child is often defined as a young human being that is either abandoned or confined in some sort of situation that takes them away from any type of human interaction or communication. As a result, these children often lack social skills; even something as simple as speaking can be a skill they never learn. Many of these children are

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Top 10 Most Haunted Cities in the U.S.

this Halloween.

10. San Francisco, California

San Francisco’s rich cultural makeup, large immigrant population, and a history of natural disasters like earthquakes have helped it develop a reputation as a Mecca of all things haunted. Chinatown alone is home to countless ghost tours and creepy folklore, but the city also boasts a wealth of haunted hotels, mansions, and army bases. Of these, one of the most famous is the Queen Anne Hotel, which served as a school for girls in the 1890s and is said to be haunted by the ghost of its former headmistress, Mary Lake. There are also a number of stories concerning Mary Anne Pleasant, the so-called

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Top 10 Reasons Why Baseball is Better Than Football

Unfortunately professional football is normally played on Sundays.  With exception to Monday nights, and other mentions, football lovers simply don’t get to see their beloved sport on a normal basis throughout the week.

Baseball is quite the opposite.  Games are played on every day of the week, including the weekends.  We can even add day and night games to boot, which clearly puts football to shame with the possibilities of games.

9.  Longer Schedule

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Top 10 Funny Zombie Movie Moments

deadites’ featured in these films are actually demon-possessed corpses, not zombies.

If you don’t agree with my choices, please share your favorite funny zombie movie moments or zombie one-liners in your comments below.

(Note about video clips: I’ve included the location of each quote for longer clips

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Top 10 Grossest Halloween Candy

If you’re a true Muggle, you might not have any idea what these special jellybeans are all about. But true devotees of the world of Harry Potter are quite familiar with Bertie Botts and her confectionary concoctions. Borrowing a page from the best-selling novels and popular film franchise, this collection of jelly beans come in such delightful flavors as dirt, ear wax, rotten egg, soap and vomit. There are some regular good tasting jellybeans in each batch but buyer beware!

9. Sour Flush Toilet Candy

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Top 10 Best Movie Monsters

especially the ones that had a penchant for destroying whole cities or otherwise terrifying a clueless population with their wanton destruction. They also appeared to be indestructible

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Top 10 Disgusting Shots

Instructions: Mix one part tequila or whisky with one part Tabasco sauce, then add a sprinkle of pepper to taste.

Tabasco sauce is a staple of disgusting drinks, because it’s easily accessible and guaranteed to set your mouth on fire. You’ll be guzzling glasses of water immediately after shooting this, and it will do you absolutely no good.

9. Liquid Steak

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Top 10 Unusual Cemeteries

dark’ side of tourism, is a growing phenomenon around the world.

Here is my list of top 10 unusual and most visited cemeteries:

10. World’s First Public Pet Cemetery

Cimetiere Des Chiens

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Top 10 Zombie Costume Ideas

Make your face pale and apply the dark circles under your eyes and paint your lips black and you’re good to go. You can also find a rubber leg or arm to carry as a

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Top 10 Places to Fear on Halloween Night

Do Not Enter

In the weeks before the murders, strange events took place around Camp Scott.  Personal items began disappearing from the cabins and tents.  In one incident, a counselor reported that her doughnuts had been stolen, and inside the empty doughnut box was a disturbing hand-written note.  The author vowed to

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Top 10 Substance-Addled Writers

in Macbeth to explain the hijacking of normality by paranormal encounters, and even the Bible references a burning bush that apparently talked to Moses (hallucination or miracle?). There is a fine line between persistent divine intervention and a drug problem, the latter calling more for an intervention that involves family members and rehab admittance.

On the positive side, when such dalliances with illicit substances go unchecked, great literature is often the result. Substance-addled writers who fail to seek solace in a fellow human often find it on a blank page, which is always willing to listen without scrutiny to their deepest fears and darkest confessions (even if fiction is the medium). These folks pine for an outlet to quell the turmoil which rattles their brains, be it self-induced or not. In either case, one man or author’s pain/inner derangement is another man or reader’s spiked interest.

What follows is a list of the top ten substance-using-and-abusing modern writers that seemingly got high for our amusement, in spite of the consequences:

10. Charles Baudelaire

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Top 10 Australian Mythical Creatures

wherein the universe was created, mankind was created, and the Creators laid down the rules for how humans should interact with themselves and their environments.  During the Dreamtime, the Ancestor Spirits came to earth and gave birth to the land, plants, animals, and humans.  Afterwards they turned into other objects, such as animals and geologic locations such as hills.  If you are still confused, the topic of the Aboriginal Dreamtime is further discussed and detailed here on the internet.

10.  Bunyip

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Top 10 Inventions of the 21st Century

an embryo won’t be confined to humans either; by the year 2100 we might well have the ability to breed elephants no larger than a Golden Retriever or make a mouse the size of a house-cat. Who knows, we might even be able to merge DNA strands from two different kinds of animals and create a hybrid elephant/mouse mix. Ready to play God everyone?

8. Hypersonic Transportation

Just as the airplane revolutionized travel in the twentieth century, there is no reason to believe that evolution to ever faster speeds is going to end anytime soon. As such, it is likely that before the dawn of the next century people will be able to fly between London and Tokyo at Mach 10 speeds and arrive at their destination in just over two hours. It is said that by the end of the 19th century, the fastest a man could travel on a regular basis was 60 mph (by train). By the end of the 20th century, that speed had increased ten-fold, to 600 mph (by plane). By the end of this century, it is not inconceivable to predict that we’ll see another ten-fold increase, making it possible for the average man, woman, or child to regularly travel at speeds in excess of 6,000 mph! Imagine: a person could fly from Boston in mid-afternoon, grab lunch in Tokyo, and be home by evening. Consider the frequent flyer miles one could rack up doing that!

7. Free Energy

The holy grail of science has been the acquisition of energy that comes from non-polluting sources (i.e. oil, natural gas, coal, etc.). By the end of the century it is likely that dream will become a reality. However, it will come from several sources and in very different ways. Geo-thermal, wind, biomass, clean coal, nuclear and solar energy will be a part of the change, but other more exotic technologies may also emerge. Technologies such as fusion and zero-point energy generators, either of which would provide an inexhaustible source of non-polluting, non-radioactive energy. At this time, however, both energy sources are considered fantasy technologies- I imagine much the same might have been said about nuclear power a century ago.

6. Artificial Intelligence

It’s one thing to make a robot do daily chores around the house; it’s quite another to get it to think about how best to carry out its task. Welcome to the world of artificial intelligence, where machines will actually be capable of learning, planning, deciding, considering, comparing and even abstract thinking. They won’t be quite on par with the human brain

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Top 10 Biggest Internet Communities

there are plenty of discussion forums out there for you. Interested in vacuum cleaners? There’s a site that has you covered. Looking to find people who love Japanese schoolgirls as much as you do? They’re just a click away. Most Internet communities are small and specialised, because there are only so many people in the world interested in a certain TV show or disgusting fetish. But the following ten are so big they’ve become Internet landmarks.

10.  BuddyPic

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Top 10 Alfred Hitchcock Cameos

a body of work spanning half a century.

The Master of Suspense tipped his directorial cap to influential filmmakers D.W. Griffith and Charles Chaplin, both of whom stepped from behind the camera onto the silver screen.

As Hitchcock became bigger in fame and physique, so his cameos grew from simple walk-ons to key moments of comic relief, pin pricks of humor during stretches of taut suspense or subtle introductions to impending madness.

Here’s my top ten Alfred Hitchcock cameos in a game of

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Artwork by Anthony Lister

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Surreal art by Tomek Setowksi

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Photography by Jan Kriwol

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Reflections Photography by Anja Bührer

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