November 2009

2012, We're All Gonna Die! (Or Not)

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First of all, we have to dispel the myth that the Mayans predicted apocalypse for December 2012.  There is absolutely nothing correct about this statement.  The Mayans had a cyclical concept of time, and at the end of their Long Count calendar, the count of days would be reset - just like an odometer rolling over to all zeroes.  An interesting event, and presumably something of a paperwork hassle, but not the END OF DAYS.

In fact, the ancient Mayans themselves were not in agreement about what the end of their Long Count calendar meant.  The general consensus among archaeologists was that it would be a big party.  The concept of "apocalypse" was not spoken or alluded to.  And in fact the Long Count is only one of several calendar systems that the Mayans used.  

"V" The Freeper Remake

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Being a child of the 80s, I was mildly excited to see the "V" remake.  "V" was a seminal television series when I was a kid, we talked about it all the time at school after it aired in 1983.  Plus I had pet hamsters, so after "V" aired, pretty much everyone who picked up one of my hamsters pretended to eat it.  (Yes, hilarious.  Just as funny the 10,000th time as the first.  Honest.)

I re-watched the original "V" a few years ago and… I did not feel that it had held up.  Some things play better to a ten year old audience than a thirty year old audience, you know?  In some ways, the original series was still as powerful, but in other ways (particularly the special effects and costumes) it just seemed campy.

Presumably the remake of "V" would have better special effects, but would it be less campy?  The answer is "No, but in a really weird way."

Poe Fans Give The Raven's Writer a Reburial

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We often hear about how poor and destitute yet brilliant people were given meager funerals, barely recognized for their genius during their time. While many of these accounts may not be true (such as in the case of Christopher Columbus), others have been proven to be quite accurate.

One such funeral was that of gifted master of the macabre, Edgar Allan Poe. His funeral, only three minutes in length, was so short, with almost no one in attendance, that he wasn’t even given a sermon. He wasn’t given a headstone, either. Though he was exhumed and reburied in 1875, and several poets were invited to attend, only Walt Whitman came to the reburial.

Online Seance Held By Twitter Tries to Reach Michael Jackson

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If you’ve ever attended a séance, you know that the ambiance of the room is one of the most—if not the most—important parts. Whether it’s real or fake, either way it’s got to have some wicked effects to be exciting. Maybe the room features billowy curtains, or dim lighting with red and black candles; whatever the effects are, they have to be spooky enough to make the attendees at least feel like something special is going on.