JustDuckie

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Vanessa Helsing TV Series Coming to Syfy. Get It? Get IT?! (http://io9.com/vanessa-he... http://i.kinja-img.com/ga... )

9 years ago from Bookmarklet - Comment - Hide - - [ 2 ] -

"In this new interpretation, the central character is now a female, Vanessa Helsing, the next in a lineage of warriors who must lead mankind against a world controlled by vampires. When Vanessa is resurrected five years in the future, she learns vampires have taken over the world and that she possesses unique power over them. She is essentially humanity’s last hope to lead an offensive to take back what has been lost." - JustDuckie - -

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I liked Van Helsing for what it was, and as a "B" movie with a better budget, it did not disappoint. I would give this a go, honestly. - Jennifer D. - [ 1 ] -

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13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. CXLXI) | Messy Nessy Chic (http://www.messynessychic... http://static.messynessyc... http://static.messynessyc... )

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"Late Victorian mountaineers, including a lady fully dressed and corseted, cross a crevasse in the Alps, 1900 (from Getty Images’ book “Decades of the 20th Century—1900s” by Nick Yapp, scanned by WeirdVintage)." - JustDuckie - -

"Has someone died in your house? Found via The World’s Best Ever." - JustDuckie - -

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In Praise of the Horrid Gothic Novel ‹ Literary Hub (http://lithub.com/in-prai... http://d3rde5ck80dcsn.clo... )

9 years ago from Bookmarklet - Comment - Hide - - [ 1 ] -

"I am unequivocally here for the Gothic novel, and not only because I’m inclined to like anything that upper class English people think is horrid. It’s taken literary theorists a long time to figure out what to do these books because of their structural predictability. It was not uncommon in 1801, or in 1960, or even in 1980, when Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick called the Gothic form “pervasively conventional,” to list the elements of Gothic works to illustrate their repetitiveness. “Once you know that a novel is of the Gothic kind (and you can tell that from the title), you can predict its contents with an unnerving certainty,” she claimed, which is true, but since that statement gains have been made in understanding how, instead of a mark of low quality, that rigid structure, especially for female authors, makes for a powerful exploration of themes of oppression, repression, obedience and sexual rebellion. Scholars have called this, among other terms, the feminine Gothic, and even Gothic feminism. Diane Long Hoeveler has my favorite definition: “The gothic feminist always manages to dispose of her enemies without dirtying her dainty little hands.” The act of reading a salacious, illicit scene is a powerful thing, though it might masquerade as ambivalent. That double consciousness is what’s made Gothic fiction influential on so many writers, male and female, from Edgar Allen Poe, to Angela Carter, Joyce Carol Oates, and Elena Ferrante." - JustDuckie - -

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Honestly, that's one of the reasons I enjoyed Northanger Abbey so much. The first night, when she freaks herself out about something that might be in the wardrobe? So damn funny - at least in part because who /hasn't/ accidentally spooked themselves at one point in time? - Jennifer D. - [ 1 ] -

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Drunk drivers in Georgia claim too drunk for DUI tests | www.ajc.com (http://www.ajc.com/news/n... http://media.cmgdigital.c... )

9 years ago from Bookmarklet - Comment - Hide - - [ 1 ] - [ 1 ]

"A Georgia Supreme Court ruling earlier this year has created a legal trick by which drunk drivers are getting key evidence against them thrown out, by arguing they were too drunk. Drivers are convincing judges that they were not thinking clearly when they agreed to take the voluntary breath, blood, or urine tests, due to intoxication." - JustDuckie - -

:-/ - JustDuckie - -

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Rejected Goosebumps Novels for Business Professionals | The Offing (http://theoffingmag.com/w... http://theoffingmag.com/w... )

9 years ago from Bookmarklet - Comment - Hide - - [ 1 ] -

"The Horror at Camp Trustfall" - JustDuckie - [ 1 ] -

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*snerk* (https://pbs.twimg.com/med... )

9 years ago from Bookmarklet - Comment - Hide - - [ 4 ] -

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Haunted house attractions in Japan are more immersive and intimate than in America. (http://www.slate.com/arti... http://www.slate.com/cont... )

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"I gasped as my tiny light exposed a tall woman wearing a long white tattered dress, eyes hidden behind long black ratty hair down to her waist. She was standing perfectly still in the tiny circle of my flashlight. I stood, mouth open in shock. Do I keep walking? I took a step forward, and all at once she started charging at me in a full sprint, arms outstretched. She was running straight at me, and I started screaming, shrieking really, and instinctively began backing up until I hit the wall behind me and there was no place left to go. I pressed tightly into the corner and pulled my arms and shoulders into my chest, hoping to somehow shrink away from the onslaught. “Oh my God!” I shrieked. “Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God!”" - JustDuckie - -

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Our local 'haunted corn maze' taught me that I'm really not up for that sort of thing. Partially because I laugh like a crazed person when frightened, and because I tend to react poorly when people aggressively invade my personal space under those conditions. Also, being chased by a huge dude wielding a chainsaw, however blade-less, is less fun than it sounds. - Jennifer D. - [ 2 ] -

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What’s the best way to become smarter? (http://www.slate.com/blog... http://www.slate.com/cont... )

9 years ago from Bookmarklet - Comment - Hide - - [ 3 ] -

I'm fairly sure the top answer should be "Do not take advice from a 25-year-old writer/fitness model/entrepreneur/self-development coach who is more interested in *appearing* smart than in actually learning something." - JustDuckie - [ 4 ] -

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"...that is not the fault of The Facebook." -- Given the way FB algorithms work, it might be the fault of Facebook. - John B. - [ 4 ] -

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McSweeney’s Internet Tendency: My Halloween House of Horrors. (http://www.mcsweeneys.net... )

9 years ago from Bookmarklet - Comment - Hide - - [ 5 ] -

"Room 1 I enter a dance studio filled with sunlight and new age flute music. The scents of patchouli and hemp waft through the air. A calm, middle-aged woman in soft beige loungewear suddenly appears and invites me to “explore this healing space with your free form body movements.” In the corner, a hippie named Hambone slowly beats a tribal drum while I claw at the Batik wall coverings for the exit." - JustDuckie - -

"Room 3 I take a seat between two large men. The man on the right laughs through his nose at the Adam Sandler movie on his Surface Book Pro. The man on the left pulls tuna sandwiches out of his backpack, and joylessly clips his toenails on the tray table. A voice over the PA crackles that there will be another two-hour delay on the tarmac, and the cabin’s air conditioning is now broken. My attempt to slit my wrists on a metal armrest fails because my fucking seatmates are hogging both of them. Three air-sickness bags hold my screams of despair." - JustDuckie - -

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The Bones/Sleepy Hollow Crossover You Never Wanted Led to a Halloween You Kind of Did (http://io9.com/the-bones-... http://i.kinja-img.com/ga... )

9 years ago from Bookmarklet - Comment - Hide - - [ 2 ] -

"For a show on ice as thin as Sleepy Hollow’s (we can still see both of Katrina’s corseted demon pregnancies through it, that’s how thin it is), it’s a shame its characters had to be thrown into a plot pretzel for a Halloween episode. Halloween is what Sleepy Hollow lives for! It shouldn’t have to share! I mean, ideally it should have been an episode of them all hanging out and bowling, but if there had to be a plot, David Boreanaz didn’t need to be anywhere near it. But it happened. Let’s do this. " - JustDuckie - -

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"Here, Betsy Ross is launching Greek Fire at undead Redcoats with a crossbow and fleeing the Great Fire of New York." This is why I watch this show. More this, please. - JustDuckie - [ 1 ] -

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Some Photos from the Cemetery to Bring You Comfort - The Toast - The Toast (http://the-toast.net/2015... http://17rg073sukbm1lmjk9... http://17rg073sukbm1lmjk9... )

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9 years ago from Bookmarklet - Comment - Hide - - [ 4 ] -

"It’s so good that there’s a door-knocker. Excellent. Always polite to let inhabitants know when you are planning on visiting. They can hear you." - JustDuckie - [ 1 ] -

"Nothing is slowly but inexorably scraping away at the wood every night. No. This is all fine. Up to code. " - JustDuckie - [ 3 ] -

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Standoff in Boulder, Colo.: Prairie dogs hold Buddhist college at bay - LA Times (http://www.latimes.com/na... http://www.trbimg.com/img... )

9 years ago from Bookmarklet - Comment - Hide - - [ 2 ] -

"For years, Naropa has battled some 150 persistent prairie dogs over 2.5 acres of prime real estate on its Nalanda campus. One side wants to build more classrooms, the other more tunnels. The struggle is especially poignant in this famously liberal college town, where Buddhists and prairie dogs occupy exalted positions within the local ecosystem. Naropa complains that incessant burrowing has turned a verdant lawn — where Buddhist nuns once batted volleyballs — into a burgeoning moonscape. "We bought this land in 2004 to expand on and the first prairie dogs showed up two years later," Rigler said. Killing them seemed out of character for a university dedicated to Buddhist precepts of compassion and a motto of "First do no harm." So they did nothing." - JustDuckie - -

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Rooftop car: Michigan home acquires Ford Mustang after driver loses control | US news | The Guardian (http://www.theguardian.co... https://i.guim.co.uk/img/... )

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"A red Ford Mustang veered off a major highway in Michigan on Monday, only to land on a nearby house’s roof. The car, which was travelling at roughly 60mph, veered across all lanes on the eastbound side of Interstate 69 in Shiawassee County, Michigan, according to witnesses. The driver, who suffered a medical problem, soon lost total control of the car, drove through several bushes and trees, and crashed through a fence and yard before ending up teetering on top of the house. The building, approximately 20 miles north-east of Lansing, is next to a hill, with the roof nearly at ground level, according to the Argus-Press of Owosso." - JustDuckie - -

The Guardian has the best headlines. - JustDuckie - [ 2 ] -

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Taipei 101 hit by another drone, police investigate - Taipei Times (http://www.taipeitimes.co... http://www.taipeitimes.co... )

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"Another aerial photography drone crashed into Taipei 101 on Tuesday, further highlighting the dangers that drones pose to public security and privacy. Since the screening of documentary film Beyond Beauty — Taiwan from Above (看見台灣) many people have purchased photography drones and sought to replicate the scenery in the film. However, this year Taipei 101 has seen drones hit the building on June 15, June 20 and July 21, Taipei 101 spokesperson Liu Chia-hao (劉家豪) said yesterday, adding that one of the drones dropped within 2m of a pedestrian walking near the building." - JustDuckie - -

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The Unbelievably Sad, Strange Story of a Girl and Her Poltergeist | Broadly (https://broadly.vice.com/... https://broadly-images.vi... )

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"The poltergeist, it seems, is a bit of a time traveller. And the ghost clearly has preferences: small towns and rooms where there are objects eager to be overturned and destroyed. Most importantly, poltergeists prefer young women. In nearly every reported poltergeist case, the troublesome ghost seems to have cozied up to a woman—and particularly vulnerable are those on the cusp of recognizable adulthood. Indeed, if the poltergeist cases the stunned and scared communities from 19th century Ireland to 1980s Ohio revealed anything, it was that the source the disturbances were all young women." - JustDuckie - -

"Stuck in the heady years of transition, suspended between girlhood and womanhood, the teenage girl seems like the poltergeists' best friend. If childhood is a tangent to adulthood, then teenagers occupy a kind of transitional state. In traditional haunting narratives, children possess strange mediumistic powers facilitated by their innocence. "I see dead people," a cherubic Haley Joel Osment whispered in The Sixth Sense. The child's innocence allows him to see the dead, and for others to believe in the reality of his macabre powers. Yet teenage girls have little of that childhood magic left: Their childhood preciousness stripped, they are restlessly irritating and sexually tense. But perhaps that's why the irksome poltergeist prefers the company of teenage girls—they're of a kind. Unsurprisingly, once they haunted girl fully matures to adulthood, the poltergeist abandons them, disappearing as quickly as they appeared, no doubt eager to find another willing body." - JustDuckie - -

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Inside the Disgusting Los Angeles Haunted House Where They Touch You | Atlas Obscura (http://www.atlasobscura.c... http://assets.atlasobscur... )

9 years ago from Bookmarklet - Comment - Hide - - [ 1 ] -

"It’s more disgusting than scary, but perhaps that's partly because we have a haunted house heckler in our group—a bro wearing cargo shorts and a Boston 10k t-shirt who’s on a date and clearly feels the need to show what a tough guy he is by saying dumb shit to the actors, like, “Whoa! Your breath sure is kickin’, little man!” and, “I’m not scared of you, bozo! I’m so high right now!” The haunters repay the favor by specifically going after him like monsters on a mission. Listen, these actors talk behind the scenes and you don’t want to be known as a troublemaker. That’s how you get roaches put in your mouth." - JustDuckie - -

"While I crouch in the corner, different characters sporadically open the doors to spray water in my face and grab my ankles (I take pride in the fact that I haven’t shaved recently so whoever is grabbing me is just feeling my bristle leg hairs. WHO’S HAUNTING WHOM?)." - JustDuckie - -

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Critic’s Notebook: ‘Bones’ and ‘Sleepy Hollow’ Cross-Pollinate - The New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/20... http://static01.nyt.com/i... )

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"The crossover episode seems not to be as common as it once was, but Fox dusts off the concept on Thursday night and gives it a noteworthy twist. Not only does the network serve up a double dose of crossover, but it also tries the unusual mixing of a series set in the real world with one that ventures into the fantasy realm. And, viewed in the right spirit, the stunt is amusing, even a little thought-provoking. In an episode of the long-running “Bones,” Ichabod Crane (Tom Mison) and Abbie Mills (Nicole Beharie) wander in from “Sleepy Hollow” to help solve a homicide. Then, in the “Sleepy Hollow” episode that immediately follows, Brennan (Emily Deschanel) and Booth (David Boreanaz), the central characters in “Bones,” make their way into Crane and Mills’s demon-infested world. It’s not the smoothest cross-pollination, but the awkwardness itself is interesting. And the chutzpah — sure, it’s a ratings gimmick, but everything on television is a ratings gimmick — deserves a hat tip." - JustDuckie - -

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China to End One-Child Policy, Allowing Families Two Children - The New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/20... http://static01.nyt.com/i... )

9 years ago from Bookmarklet - Comment - Hide - - [ 1 ] -

"China’s Communist Party brought to an end the decades-old “one-child” policy on Thursday, when leaders announced that all married couples would be allowed to have two children in a bid to reverse the rapid aging of the labor force. The announcement came after the party’s Central Committee concluded a four-day meeting in a heavily guarded hotel in western Beijing where the committee approved proposals for China’s next five-year development plan, which starts next year. “Improve the demographic development strategy,” said the official communiqué, or summary, of the meeting issued through the Xinhua news agency. “Comprehensively implement a policy that couples can have two children, actively taking steps to counter the aging of the population.”" - JustDuckie - -

Reminds me of Beijing, where my coworkers asked how much my parents paid in fines for their three surplus children. - JustDuckie - -

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When did Halloween get so tawdry? (http://www.slate.com/arti... http://www.slate.com/cont... )

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"In the 1970s. Costuming has been a part of Halloween since at least the 19th century, when Scottish and Irish children went “guising” house-to-house in exchange for coins. The Victorians enjoyed a good costume ball on Halloween, and some daring getups, like Gypsy outfits, were popular. But risqué costumes were not pervasive until right around Gerald Ford’s presidency, when gay communities in the United States adopted Halloween as an occasion for revealing, over-the-top attire." - JustDuckie - -

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FUNNY WOMEN #123: Cover Letter Template - The Rumpus.net (http://therumpus.net/2014... http://therumpus.wpengine... )

9 years ago from Bookmarklet - Comment - Hide - - [ 1 ] -

"{Date} {Dear Company Name Here}, I was excited to see your posting because I couldn’t help noticing the eerie coincidence that your company has job openings and that my skills and experience align me closely with both what your company does and with the human process of existing, which includes ingesting food, and my thought is your company might be exactly what I need in terms of continuing to exist because of ingestion of food. Dynamically." - JustDuckie - -

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Autopsy: Robin Williams had Lewy body dementia - Salon.com (http://www.salon.com/2014... http://media.salon.com/20... )

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"LBD is fairly common, with 1.3 million people suffering from the illness in the United States, although it largely remains undiagnosed since it shares symptoms with better-known diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Biologically, the disease stems from abnormal protein deposits in the brain stem where they stop the production of dopamine. In LBD, the deposits spread throughout the brain, including to the cerebral cortex (responsible for problem solving and perception). The main symptom is progressive dementia, although people with the disease may also experience complicated visual hallucinations that could include smells and sounds, trouble sleeping, changes in attention and symptoms generally associated with Parkinson’s disease (which Williams also had)." - JustDuckie - -

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Should Literary Journals Charge Writers for Submissions? - The Atlantic (http://www.theatlantic.co... http://cdn.theatlantic.co... )

9 years ago from Bookmarklet - Comment - Hide - - [ 1 ] -

"Though I’ve published short stories in the past, I’m not submitting any this year, and if things continue the way they have been, I may stop writing them altogether. The reason, in a nutshell, is reading fees—also called submission or service fees—which many literary journals now charge writers who want to be considered for publication. Writers pay a fee that usually ranges from $2 to $5—but sometimes goes as high as $25—and in return, the journal will either (most likely) reject or accept their submission and publish it. Even in the lucky case that a piece is published, most journals don’t pay writers for their work, making it a net loss either way." - JustDuckie - -

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Yeah, this looks like a winning formula for getting consistently homogeneous content. I will not be surprised when readership plummets. - JustDuckie - -

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Russia: Police catch speeding hearse full of caviar - BBC News (http://www.bbc.com/news/b... http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/n... http://ichef-1.bbci.co.uk... )

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"The vehicle's driver claimed to be transporting a body to a funeral in the city of Khabarovsk, but when officers searched inside they instead found dozens of cans of the prized delicacy. The local Gubernia news website posted footage of caviar stashed inside a coffin and concealed underneath funeral wreaths. On its windscreen, the hearse had a sign reading "funeral" and even a picture of the supposedly deceased person. The seized shipment is reported to be worth upwards of 10 million roubles ($156,000; £100,000)." - JustDuckie - -

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Why Are Old Women Often The Face Of Evil In Fairy Tales And Folklore? : NPR (http://www.npr.org/2015/1... http://media.npr.org/asse... )

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"Tatar says old women villains are especially scary because, historically, the most powerful person in a child's life was the mother. "Children do have a way of splitting the mother figure into ... the evil mother — who's always making rules and regulations, policing your behavior, getting angry at you — and then the benevolent nurturer — the one who is giving and protects you, makes sure that you survive." Veronique Tadjo, a writer who grew up in the Ivory Coast, thinks there's a fear of female power in general. She says a common figure in African folk tales is the old witch who destroys people's souls. As Tadjo explains, "She's usually a solitary woman. She's already marginal. She's angry at something — at life, or whatever — and she will 'eat' — that's the expression — people's souls, in the sense that she's going to possess people and then they die a terrible death. And everybody knows it's the witch; it's the old woman."" - JustDuckie - -

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FUNNY WOMEN #133: Ladies! You Should Talk Different - The Rumpus.net (http://therumpus.net/2015... http://therumpus.wpengine... )

9 years ago from Bookmarklet - Comment - Hide - - [ 1 ] -

"It’s simple: if we want to achieve true equality with men, then we must fundamentally change the things about ourselves that annoy men so much. And men haaaaaaate the way we talk. My fellow women, I’m sorry, but here’s some advice for how to completely overhaul the way you speak so that you will finally be heard! Don’t say you’re sorry so often, but also don’t apologize for your apologetic preamble. Let your sentence stand on its own, but also have a hint of a question? But only if you’re asking a rhetorical question. Are you? If you’re asking an actual question, then write it down on a piece of paper and have the male-gendered person standing nearest you ask it out loud. You are undermining your own authority if you use Vocal Fries—the way you speak when you attempt to tell someone you’re choking on fries." - JustDuckie - -

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A Girl With a Disability Appears as Princess Elsa in Target's Halloween Ad | Adweek (http://www.adweek.com/adf... http://www.adweek.com/fil... )

9 years ago from Bookmarklet - Comment - Hide - - [ 3 ] -

"Not long after removing the gender labels in its toy section, Target has once again impressed the social justice wing of the Internet—this time by using a model with braces and arm crutches in a Halloween ad for children's costumes. The model in question is a little girl wearing a Princess Elsa costume from Disney's Frozen. The ad itself went viral after the mother of a child with a disability posted it on Facebook. "Dear Target, I love you," she wrote. "Thank you for including a child with braces and arm crutches into your advertising campaign!" " - JustDuckie - -

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