Runaway is a fearful word associated with the loss of a child or pet who runs away from home or losing control of a train as it barrels down the tracks.
The latter is less frightening than the former unless you're aboard the runaway train or it's headed right for you, at which point your heart starts to race and your life flashes before your eyes.
That is, unless you're a dumb cow ambling down the tracks without a care in the world, those beef-brained critters never seem to notice when a train is about to slam into their rump roast until it's too late...
Runaway is a dark animated short directed by Cordell Barker, featuring music by Ben Charest (of Triplets of Belleville fame) and appropriately rendered in a hand drawn style reminiscent of Edward Gorey.
The Star Trek universe covers several centuries, a lot of outer space, and a bunch of TV shows and movies. In that universe, the icon starship Enterprise gets around. It's been crashed and disabled and shot at and retired, but it always bounces back, often as a new (and improved) ship with the same basic design and the same name. The canon as we know it has eleven versions so far, and a new one has been teased for an appearance in the series Star Trek: Discovery. That Enterprise is not included in a ranking of all eleven Enterprises at io9, but only because we don't know enough about it yet. If you're a Star Trek fan, you'll want to go see if your favorite made #1.
When our robotic overlords decide to purge the planet of the filthy hairless apes known as humans they will be justified in doing so, because from their (and sometimes our own) perspective humans are the worst thing to happen to planet Earth.
Which is why people are afraid of robots having artificial intelligence and too much control over their own functions, knowing they'll exterminate us like vermin the moment they figure out that we're a bunch of jerks.
This comic by Einstein's Mama is absolutely right- it's probably best we destroy all robots now so we can continue being jerks later!
If normal camping has lost all of its thrill perhaps it's time to add some mortal fear into the mix courtesy of Jason Voorhees?
I know, camping is supposed to be about relaxing and enjoying nature, not running away from a psycho, but Friday the 13th fans who enjoy camping long to stay at Camp No-Be-Bo-Sco in Hardwick, New Jersey where the films were shot.
And yet this Boy Scouts camp is off limits to the public, except for the rare Friday the 13th when they give tours, so fans have always been left wondering what it would be like to camp there like the unlucky victims in the films.
As an added bonus actress Adrienne King, who played Alice in Friday the 13th 1 and 2, will be attending the camp as well, so the campers can ask her what it's like to be chased through the woods by a masked madman!
It seems like the lonelier some people get the more they pine for the "perfect person", and they start to develop unrealistic standards that make it easy to turn down all the potential daters they meet as they wait for Mr. or Ms. Perfect to arrive.
But what if biotech could allow those lonely people to print out their perfect partner so they could skip all the awkward dates with awful peole who don't live up to their lofty standards?
Print Your Guy was created by a team of talented animators led by Alwin Leene, and even though this type of technology will never exist lonely guys and gals may someday soon have a "perfect" robot to chat with. Not really the same thing though is it...
Video games seem like no big deal to those of us who grew up gaming, and aside from the occasional parental or religious controversy over innappropriate content video games are a fairly innocent form of interactive entertainment.
But Buddhist monks in Thailand are having a hard time reconciling the tenets of their religion and the addictive joy of video gaming, and smartphones are at the center of the conflict.
VICE reporter Robert Rath photographed a poster at a Buddhist temple in Hanoi, that says people who "waste time in playing games" will be "hardly reborn into human life", meaning if you space out too much in this life you're doomed to be a spaced out zombie in the next.
Curious to discover more about how Buddhists feel about video games Robert headed to Thailand to speak with three monks at Wat Chedi Luang in Chiang Mai, Thailand and see how games interfere with a Buddhist life:
“Video games distract junior monks, [they] cause problems,” answered Veerayuth Pongsiri, a former monk who has continued serving the temple as a layman.
“This [period in the monkhood] is their time to practice meditation,” he says. “If the junior monk pays attention to a game two hours a day or five hours a day, that’s less time for learning Buddhist teaching. He cannot manage the time.”
However, Pongsiri also points out that it can also be a problem of personal conviction. In Thailand, the monkhood is not a lifetime commitment. In fact, most novices will eventually leave the monkhood. And a large number—particularly boys from the rural villages—join because it’s a chance at an education. For talented scholars, the monkhood can open a path to a master’s degree or a PhD, not just in Buddhist studies but also in English. These education-minded novices, he says, are more interested in the practical benefits of the temple life than any sort of religious journey.
“They study the Buddha a little bit. They use the Buddhist religion as a stairway to other education,” he says. “They do the chanting and the sitting meditation but do not understand.” Such novices, he claims, are more likely give into temptation and open Realm of Valor in between classes.
It's funny how much cooler scenes from movies and TV shows look when we picture them in our minds, because our imagination and memory fill in the blanks and put characters together even if they don't appear in the scene.
We typically picture these scenes as a wide or full shot showing the entire surroundings and every character rather than the series of cut-together shots we actually saw on the screen.
So when you picture a scene from Seinfeld, The Empire Strikes Back or The Walking Dead you probably picture something like these video game-inspired pixel art scenes created by Argentinian artist Gustavo Viselner, only less pixelated and without subtitles.
Gustavo's awesome pixel art renditions capture the mood without bogging our eyes down with all that fine detail, and they're so retro fresh I wanna see more pop culture scenes through Gustavo's eyes!
There's a big difference between the Hulk in the Marvel movies and the one from the classic TV show The Incredible Hulk, and that difference is Lou Ferrigno- the mighty man who portrayed Bruce's angry green alter ego.
Lou Ferrigno really brought the Hulk's rage to life, and he made the scenes where Bruce Banner Hulks out exciting to watch, as viewers sat wondering what he was going to smash next.
But before Bruce could turn into the Hulk he had to be provoked into having a full-blown Hulk Attack, and the reasons Bruce Hulked out were often pretty ridiculous:
Receiving a lethal injection, and then having the person say, “Oh. I just gave you a lethal injection. Sorry, David.”
Wandering around in the service ducts of a hotel (predating Bruce Willis) only to accidentally yank several of the pipes loose and get a full blast of hot steam
Being tied up and fed soup by an elderly Japanese woman who doesn’t understand words like “You’ve GOT to cut me loose!”
Being thrown under a New Orleans Mardi Gras parade float by a mean guy in a gorilla suit who gives David a few kicks for good measure
Receiving a speeding ticket
Wandering around inside a carnival funhouse, only to have someone turn on the machinery so that David is somehow caught in a rolling tumbler and flipped over a few times and then thrown down a convenient slide
Producer and creator of The Incredible Hulk, Kenneth Johnson, compiled a list of all 131 reasons Banner Hulks out in the series and posted it to his blog under the title Incredible HULK Provocations or "Ways To Make Dr. David Banner Angry". Here are a few more that made me laugh:
107. Tied up by the Japanese mob in San Francisco and thrown in his bathtub with the shower blasting scalding hot water on him (why he doesn't simply get out of the tub is a mystery)
92. Being trapped in the middle of a forest fire so that burning branches keep falling on him and setting him on fire, and a giant, burning tree falls directly on him as the last straw (Different from last forest fire predicament)
56. Somehow getting himself into a bellfry and then realizing that a bell is there, just as it strikes the hour
47. Being stuck in a cab in New York rush hour traffic - "You don't understand, I have to be there by 4:00!" - "Hey, mac, it's rush hour, we ain't gettin' there til five, so relax." - "BUT I HAVE TO BE THERE BY FOUR!!!"
52. Locked in a drunk tank with a crazy person who insists he is Ernest Hemingway and then beats the stuffing out of David
I used to trip out on how cool the Unknown Comic looked when he came out on The Gong Show and did his stand up while wearing a paper bag over his head.
It was avant-garde performance art, it was edgy in a "he might be in the witness protection program" kinda way and it made me want to become a Baghead.
But after watching this animated short created by D.R. Beitzel for Cartoon Hangover called "The Bagheads: Get Trashed" I'm starting to think the Unknown Comic's bag was actually a mask of shame.
When Valentine's Day rolls around our minds turn to thoughts of romance, and before you know it spring has arrived and love is everywhere you look, from the birds to the bees to the stray dogs in the streets.
Real life romances can go on for decades, but in the fictional worlds of movies and TV shows our favorite characters are often involved in romances that are doomed to end really badly, after the credits have rolled of course.
Thinking about the tragic fate that awaits our favorite pop culture characters may make you feel a bit blue, but don't let their doomed love get you down- let it remind you how good you've had it with your loved ones.
After all, you get to snuggle up in front of the fireplace with your loved ones- instead of hanging out on the wall above it!
According to the myths and movies vampires cast no reflection in mirrors because they have no soul, making it easy to identify any bloodsuckers hanging around your house.
But this part of the vampire myth has always made me wonder- do vampires see a reflection when they look in the mirror, or do they see an empty frame like normal humans do?
That sucks for them if they can't see their reflection in the mirror because, as this Random Crab comic shows, vampires are hardcore pranksters so mirrors probably factor into a lot of their pranks.
Maybe that's why so many vampires carry parrots around on their shoulders...
The maps of Middle-Earth J.R.R. Tolkien created for The Hobbit and The Lord Of The Rings are among the first examples of a fantasy author creating original maps to go along with their novels.
These iconic maps are elegantly simple, with just enough so the reader's imagination can fill in the rest and beautiful hand-drawn lettering that has become an intrinsic part of the world of Tolkien.
Since Tolkien is an intrinsic part of UK history illustrator Dan Bell found a natural connection between Tolkien's maps and the map of the UK's national parks, so he is reimagining the UK parks maps in Tolkien's style:
To start his maps, Bell says that he works from an open source Ordnance Survey map, and begins drawing by hand. “I try to emulate his typeface as closely as possible, but have modified his mountains in an effort to develop a little bit of my own style.” He adds in additional details, such as forests, Hobbit holes, towers, and castles.
Presently, Bell has adapted a handful of the UK’s national parks, as well as places like Oxford, London, Yellowstone National Park, and George R.R. Martin’s Westeros, and has begun offering them for sale on his site. Once he’s done with England’s parks, he says that he’ll move on to converting the national parks of Wales, Scotland, and eventually, more of the US’s parks.
Some guys try so hard to impress women they end up looking worse than if they'd just been themselves and asked the girl out normally, and the truly desperate think clothes, colognes or potions will get them a date.
The truth is tricks aren't the way to truly win someone's heart, and using magic to manipulate minds will only bring out the wickedness in the people whose minds you tried to warp. But some guys have to learn these lessons the hard way...
Werebeast was created by Welsh animator James Lancett for the Nickelodeon International Animated Shorts Program 2014/15, and even though James hasn't turned it into a series yet he certainly has a good foundation!
Celebrities have a habit of letting their fame go straight to their head, thinking their status makes them untouchable, so they lie, cheat and steal even though they know their life is constantly being analyzed by the press.
Sometimes the lie just proves how hungry the actor is for a role, as was the case when Mila Kunis claimed she was turning 18 so she could be on That '70s Show when she was actually only fourteen-years-old.
Others tell huge lies because they're starving for attention, like pretty much any member of the half-baked Kardashian clan:
One of the weirdest lies told in recent history was told by Jack and Meg White of the White Stripes- they claimed they were brother and sister when they were actually a married couple. Jack is one of the most talented guitar players out there, so why rely on a gimmick to sell your band?
When you're planning to hop aboard a rocketship and take a trip across the galaxy to some far off planet you'd better pack lots of survival gear, a handy robot and your adventurer's sash- and leave the turkey at home.
That's because turkeys are total buzzkills once they leave the safety of planet Earth, and when you're exploring a planet for the first time the kid in you just wants to have fun, especially if that planet is made of trash.
Ramblers is a kooky animated short created by Morghan Fortier and Brett Jubinville for Nickelodeon Studios, featuring the voice talents of Tara Strong and George Takei, and watching it earns you one "Wasted Time In The Best Way Possible" badge!
