Look at that poster! At least FOUR riot-control bulldozers — with cow-catchers! — in this crazy future world. Didn’t they think we’d invent pepper spray?

Man, the far-future world of Soylent Green in just over a decade away. That’ll be an interesting viewing experience come 2022.

Poster, by the way, from the very excellent Film on Paper site. You should definitely check that out.

 

There’s a six-part show coming in February, but for now, feast your eyes on this trailer, and the start of a web promotional series.

Go to danger5.tv for more

Glass-blown steam engine

 Posted by Grant Hamilton on 4 November 2011  Vintage/Retro
Nov 042011
 

This cool video has been open in a browser tab for long enough that I can’t trace where the link came from. But it’s a really cool example not just of the mechanics of a steam engine, but also of glass blowing.

I knew a girl who was a glass blower once. It always sounded like a cool, unique hobby to have — like falconry.

 

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The grown-up, ethical part of me wants to protest at the inhumane treatment that lions must endure to be “tamed” — but the rest of me is sitting, mouth agog, at this wonderful pre-Internet newsreel footage.

‘Tis the human condition.

(British Pathe, via Boing Boing)

 

I love how this turns the tables on the ol’ haunted house trope and puts the “trick” back in trick-or-treat.

(via BB)

 

Ha! Although the special effects don’t quite look as convincing as they could, I think I’m definitely ready for a bit of cheese with my rotting flesh.

Plus, how can you say no to a made-for-TV movie that stars Ving Rhames with a sledgehammer? And is that The Crabman from My Name Is Earl that I see at the start? Hope he makes it!

“Zombie Apocalypse” premieres tonight (Saturday) on the SyFy network, if you get it. I don’t — and apparently can’t — so I’m going to have to torrent it later.

Halloween is truly my favourite time of the year. Unless they start making Christmas zombie movies, that is.

Oh, and while I was watching this clip, I also noticed this list of 10 real-world places that would be awesome to hole up in during a zombie apocalypse.

How beer saved the world

 Posted by Grant Hamilton on 25 October 2011  Modern Life
Oct 252011
 

It’s a documentary! About beer! And about how it saved the world. Heck, saved it? More like created it! And built the pyramids. And invented math and poetry!

And in the future? Beer’s taking us to space, man. For reals.

Source: How Beer Saved the World | Watch Free Documentary Online.

Oct 202011
 

[Edit 1: Boo-runs, the video can't be embedded -- check it out here, or at Wired, below.]

[[Edit 2: And now it can. Huzzah!]]

Oh my this is hilarious. And I’ll bet if you were a maker, you could make your own for a few hundred bucks. Anyone want to make me one?

More info at Wired: Interactive Periodic Table of Swearing Extends Your Rude Vocabulary | Underwire | Wired.com.

 

Do you ever get the feeling that some nights there are awesome parties going on somewhere that you just weren’t invited to?

Me neither.

But, boy oh boy, there are amazing parties going on where awesome people hang out together. For example, check it out:

Who wouldn’t want to be at a party where Pee-Wee Herman, Rodney Dangerfield and David Lee Roth were hanging out?

Or with Charlie Chaplin and Albert Einstien?

So maybe you and I don’t get to go to these parties, but we can see pictures of awesome people hanging out together at the aptly-named Awesome People Hanging Out Together tumblr site.

And with the world of hurt that I’m sure I’d be feeling after partying with Hunter S. Thompson, John Cusack, Johnny Depp and a blow-up doll….maybe just checking out the photos isn’t all bad.

(all photos courtesy of Awesome People Hanging Out Together)

 

I see no reason why this couldn’t easily be adapted to a a bottle of vodka or rum, if wine isn’t your style.

And, best of all, since it probably won’t fit on swoopy, faux-retro, single-gear cruiser bikes, it is FULLY HIPSTER-PROOF!

Buy one here — only $30, plus shipping. Via here. All I need now is a leather cheese holster….

(Thanks, Colleen!)

Saturday Song

 Posted by Amy Breen on 28 May 2011  Music
May 282011
 

Grant and I decided to go for an afternoon drink at a local watering-hole today, and while there, while listening to the random tunes from the jukebox, my love of Bad Company was rekindled.

Yes, the band.

I loved Bad Company in high school. Their first, self-titled album (on cassette!) was a mainstay for me. I think it was actually my step-dad’s, which I pilfered for my own enjoyment.

The jukebox was playing “Feel Like Makin’ Love,” which is of course awesome, but I’ve always been partial to “Bad Company.” So bad ass.

May 202011
 

I am thinking about buying this T-shirt, which makes me hahaha. But also feel righteous. Because I like vinyl, I really do, even if my last turntable got left behind in my last house :( and all my most favourite records are actually framed in record frames instead of being played.

But the shirt’s like $20, and that’s pretty awesome and if you do go out and buy it, you should also add this 7″ to your order which, I kid you not, features a Zach Galifinakis track on the A-side, and Ted Leo on the B-side. Oh, there was something about Jon Brion and Fiona Apple on there, too, but you won’t spend $5 on Ted Leo, then Jon Brion’s not going to make you crack your wallet.

(via Draplin)

May 122011
 

One sheet of plywood, some clever cutting, and little bit of screwing or gluing? Sounds awesome.

Cover it with old carpet, of which I have loads, and the result is cat heaven. Which my cat needs.

Full instructions here.

(via Boing Boing)

 

I flipped through this article in the drug store the other day, but had to go find it online. It’s EXACTLY the type of long walk trek that I’ve dreamed of doing for years. Writing in Esquire, Luke Dittrich describes his hike from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico, along (as best as possible) the U.S.-Mexico border:

The buffer zone between the two fences is reserved exclusively for the use of the U. S. Border Patrol, with one exception: At the top of the hill, there is a little door in the northern fence, and a sign informs that twice a week, Saturdays and Sundays from 10:00 A.M. until 2:00 P.M., U. S. citizens are allowed to enter. Then, if there happen to be Mexicans on the other side of the second, southern fence, the Americans are allowed to look at them and talk with them, though reaching through the fence or attempting “physical contact with individuals in Mexico” is prohibited. A portion of the American side of the visiting area has been paved with cement, in the shape of a semicircle, and there is an identical semicircle on the Mexican side of the fence.

The official name of this place is the “Friendship Circle.”

The story is the first in a year-long series describing the whole hike. Awesome. Exactly the type of long-form journalism that magazines do best, and easily worth the subscription fee. (Aside: Subscribing to magazines is ridiculously cheap.)

It’s like the article was written specifically for me, since it’s not just long walks that fascinate me, but borders as well. They’re so … odd.

(photo by Vance Jabobs, in Esquire)