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06.08.11 by Widge @ 8:13 am  Mark Addy, kicking a formidable amount of ass as King Robert (Please note: the following was written with vague and minimal spoilers. However, if you're an ultimate purist and want to know nothing at all, then run away. But otherwise, you should be fine.) So we're nearing the end of the first season of Game of Thrones, marking yet another thing that I never thought would ever happen...or at least happen properly. And by that I mean, a giant epic fantasy series of novels turned into a giant epic fantasy series on television. Oh sure, we had hopes and dreams and aspirations, but in the no-longer-naive post-Phantom Menace world which we all live in, such dreams and aspirations are fed with organic whole-grain skepticism. With distrust on the side. And some hash browns. However: in a world where a zombie TV show can be one of the most critically acclaimed dramas of last year, all bets are off. Categorized as: Stimuli
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06.01.11 by Widge @ 8:21 am  Well, we've previously established that a conspiracy replaced George Lucas with a duplicate. These guys basically want to use a fictional trailer in order to help spread the word about this alien plague that takes our most talented directors from us. The result is a great mashup that will quickly point those that know towards Oldboy...although if you take that extrapolation too much towards its logical conclusion, then it becomes terribly disturbing. You know...just like Oldboy. Regardless, kudos to these guys for spreading the word. One day when we have full disclosure of the alien menace, we can get Lucas back, as well as Carpenter and now, it seems, Spielberg. Found via Graham Linehan. Categorized as: Stimuli
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05.24.11 by Widge @ 7:04 am  Here is something true: I do not know a time in my life when I have not had Bob Dylan with me. The #1 pick in this list, in fact, is not only the first Dylan song I recall hearing--but also the first song I remember hearing. And also my first extant memory...period. And that's why it is, without a doubt, my #1 Dylan song. But because I've never known a Dylan-less existence, it seemed like I needed to do something for his 70th birthday...which is today. For the longest time, my main source of Dylan was my dad's vinyl copies of Greatest Hits, Vols. I & II. So considering Dylan has written a ridiculous amount of material, it's been a lifetime of running across new albums and new songs. Usually it would be finding a fantastic song and realizing it was a Dylan cover. Then seeking out the original and its album. Slowly but surely I built my knowledge of Dylan's vast career. And it's...huge. It seems to me that a serious songwriter has to deal with Dylan in the same way that a serious rock band has to deal with The Beatles. It's a presence that's so looming you have to react to it somehow--embrace it or throw rude gestures at it, either way, but you're not able to simply ignore it. So anyway, happy 70th, Mr. Dylan. Thanks for giving my life a sort of drawn out, extended soundtrack. Here are my Top 10 Dylan songs, in differing versions to give us a bit of variety. And these are mine...so yours will no doubt be different, and you'll probably be wondering where certain staples of his repertoire are. They're all in rotation somewhere on my iPod, I assure you. Enjoy. If you wish to add to your own music collection, Amazon links for MP3 and CD (where available) are provided, and all kickbacks go to help support this site. Thanks in advance. Categorized as: Stimuli
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05.21.11 by Widge @ 3:38 pm  James Bond. When we're talking the "classic" version of the character--the first thing is who's playing Bond. And then, depending on the film, you want to talk about the Bond Girl or the Bond Villain. The other day I was chatting with Cosette and, as my brain is wont to do--especially inspired by an infusion of tasty margarita--it went in a random direction. Characters or people that were not Bond Villains but could have made great ones. And yes, we were talking "Bond Classic," since they were more prone to more insane notions. We love our more realistic Daniel Craig Bond, but these definitely wouldn't work with him. So we threw together some seven candidates. Additional notes before we get started: things we tried to avoid. Pairings that were too obvious. Because otherwise then fanfic has already been written on the subject and what good is that? They could be real people, they could be characters that weren't necessarily evil, or they could be characters so way out that we think it's very unlikely somebody's written the fanfic yet. But they should now. Let's get started. Categorized as: Stimuli
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05.19.11 by Widge @ 2:12 pm  Wes M., located in Chicago, started the trend and gets all the credit. Because he put forward the notion that after the Rapture, which is apparently happening Saturday, Chick-Fil-As will be sitting unmanned. And not even heathens can resist the meaty crack cocaine that is Jesus Chicken. So he claimed the Chicago locations for himself with--get this--plans to be open on Sundays! Genius! So I've in turn claimed the Atlanta metro locations. I urge all interested parties to claim their own particular location/area of choice. I've created a Facebook event that you can take part in. Feel free to stake your claim there or here. Do both, just to be safe. Some Frequently Asked Questions: Updated: 5/20 Q: Are we accepting applications? A: Yes, beginning Sunday morning. Since we expect the restaurants to be completely depopulated, we will have lots of job opportunities. Categorized as: Stimuli
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05.18.11 by Dindrane @ 4:39 pm  So there came a time in which Dindrane, our resident classicist and Knower of Latin, was given a singular challenge. This challenge was to take a song and translate the lyrics into Latin. The song that she was eventually tasked with was "GDMFSOB" by DJ Shadow. Specifically the UNKLE remix which features the rapping of Roots Manuva. (Embedded song below the jump.) She went away into her linguistic laboratory and--with the help of Doc Ezra and friends of Need Coffee Kevyspice and Double P--was able to come back in time with a complete translation. This took a great deal of effort on their part and Din, perfectionist that she is, was occasionally ripping her hair our and hiring people to come by her house so she could, in turn, rip their hair out as well. She shared with me a hilarious email where she was imploring someone for help with the term "hippy high heels" and what a Latin equivalent would be. Categorized as: Stimuli
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05.11.11 by R.M. Rhodes @ 1:48 am  R.M. Rhodes, comic creator and friend of French comics, returns to introduce the uninitiated to another classic artist, whose influence you've experienced even if you didn't realize it was him... Jean Giraud (aka Gir, aka Moebius) is probably the most famous living French cartoonist. His career started in the early 60s when he started drawing the feature Blueberry with writer Jean-Michel Charlier for the French comics magazine Pilote. Giraud was immediately noticed for the quality of his linework and distinctive visual style. Blueberry went on to be a smash hit, becoming one of the most popular features in Pilote, a leading comic magazine of the period. At the time, Pilote was edited by Rene Goscinny, whose point of view regarding the content of the magazine came into sharp conflict with Giraud and several other creators of his generation. The result of that conflict was the creation of a comic magazine with more adult sensibilities, called Metal Hurlant. Categorized as: Stimuli
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05.07.11 by Widge @ 6:33 pm  Whose Line is it Anyway? is one of the greatest improv shows of all time. It got people interested in getting up on a stage and acting like fools. It even got sold to the U.S. for an American version hosted by Drew Carey. And while it made sense that it would get sold and re-interpreted in other countries, it never occurred to me to seek out some of these other international versions out until recently. So I've decided to run around the net and find some snippets of various shows that Wikipedia (which is always right) lists as being versions of Whose Line in different parts of the world. I've chosen this clips based on general silliness, surrealism or if nothing else, how fascinating it is to watch games you know played in different languages and cultures. Also, the various sets are pretty freaking amazing. Since our readers span the entire world, if one of these shows isn't exactly Whose Line or there's a better snippet or even a show we missed, I encourage the comments section be used to help with this. Also, there's plenty of versions that I simply couldn't find an appropriate clip for. So help out if you can. Categorized as: Stimuli
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05.04.11 by PhantomV48 @ 5:40 am  This is an incredibly futuristic auto-disinfecting bandage The Doctor is wearing. It's most certainly not a scrap of poncho fabric around his head. It's just not. The Story So Far: Intrepid pop culture adventurers PhantomV48 and Fleshvine have decided to make the long trek through the history of Doctor Who, starting all the way back at jump. So they just met the Daleks and now they hit the next two adventures... So, we wouldn't be doing our jobs if we didn't mention this outright. The Whoniverse lost a rather important figure this past month, Elisabeth Sladen, better known to fans as Sarah Jane Smith. Though it'll be quite sometime before we meet her in these travels, we certainly know her character and her impact on the show. She's without a doubt the most famous of The Doctor's companions; for many the first--and for many still, the favorite. Far better words have been said about this, some on this very website, so we'll just direct you to those and continue on our mission. Categorized as: Stimuli
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05.04.11 by Widge @ 4:32 am  The Mary Whitehouse Experience was a show, first on radio then television, from the BBC. We're talking mostly the early 90s timeframe. Comprised of David Baddiel, Rob Newman, Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis (Google them...if you watch any British comedy on television, there's a better than average chance you've run across them--especially Hugh Dennis on Mock the Week), it was sketch comedy bits. I ran across this Doctor Who snippet and instantly thought of...well, a good portion of you. Except for Serv, of course. I've placed it after the jump for you. Enjoy. Just a note: sadly, none of their stuff--radio or television--appears to be available for sale, on either side of the pond. So you can take that for whatever you think it means. Categorized as: Stimuli
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