Everyone deserves his or her own theme song, even a Faceless Man. Everyone’s favorite servant to the Many-Faced God, Jaqen H’ghar from Game Of Thrones, gets his courtesy of Practical Folks and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. Using Titus’ song “Peeno Noir” (an ode to black penis) from the latter, the YouTube users crafted “Jaqen H’ghar,” which has more internal logic than Titus’ version (and a distinct lack of Tom Berenger references). It’s surprisingly catchy and will be stuck in people’s heads for days upon hearing it, but also acts as a good little recap of Arya Stark’s journey through the treacherous world of a George R.R. Martin narrative. It’s simple, but it’s also incredibly entertaining.
Randy Howard, a country music singer who has performed with the likes of Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, and Charlie Daniels, died Tuesday night at the age of 65. Bizarrely, his death seems to be the result of a shootout with a bounty hunter who had arrived at his home to serve him with a warrant. According to localNashville NBC News affiliate WSMV, Howard was facing charges in Marion County for “fourth offense DUI, possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of a gun while intoxicated and driving on a revoked license.”
After failing to show up in court at the appointed time to contest the DUI charge, a bounty hunter named Jackie Shell was dispatched to Howard’s residence to serve the warrant. Shell claims that Howard fired the first shots, but both men were hit, and Howard died from wounds sustained during the shootout. There is no word yet on ...
Paul Feig’s Ghostbusters reboot is only two days into shooting, and it’s already taking fire on some hoary old specters: idea specters, that is. News broke today that Chris Hemsworth has been cast as the group’s receptionist, firing a big, proton-pack-powered blast at the dead idea that answering phones could be, like busting ghosts, a job with gendered connotations.
Hemsworth will be taking on the position held by Annie Potts’ Janine Melnitz in the original movie, rolling his eyes and declaring that he’s quit better jobs—fighting Ultrons, presumably—than this one. Of course, all the disdain will melt away once he finally gives in to his emotional passions, falling in lust with an overly logical Leslie Jones (or whichever member of the cast draws the most inspiration from Harold Ramis’ Egon). But sorry, Manine Guynitz; science trumps love, and you’re going to end up ...
2K Games and the strategy-game masters at Firaxis have announced a sequel to XCOM: Enemy Unknown, their 2012 reboot of the classic alien-invasion series. XCOM 2, which somehow made it this far in its lifespan without a subtitle, is bringing back all the turn-based alien battling, but this time around, you’ll be playing as an invading human force. The sequel takes place in a world where humanity surrendered to its alien invaders, who then spent the next 20 years gaining our trust and building a futuristic dystopia. What remains of the XCOM initiative, formerly a clandestine international defense force, is now fighting back against the alien overlords and their human allies as a resistance group with the goal of exposing the regime’s dirty deeds and dismantling it for good.
Since you’ll be leading a globe-hopping guerilla army, a focus on stealth is going to be one of ...
For the past few playoff games at Amalie Arena, the Tampa Bay Lightning have used their now-ubiquitous 3-D ice projection system to display a simulation of the classic Nintendo Blades of Steel game onto the playing surface—using the actual goals and everything. It’s the best usage of the technology we’ve seen so far:
A project by Michael Pecirno, Minimal Maps is a collection of US maps that each depict only a single subject with high-resolution data, from deciduous forest cover to cornfields. Here's where grass grows in the US:
Very little grassland coverage in New England...that's surprising. Prints are available.
I am blown away by this new series of art prints by French illustrator Marie-Laure Cruschi aka Cruschiform. Originally created for a new book released by Taschen, her “Cabins” series includes 30 mid-sized giclees with small editions for €70-€150 each. See them all at SergeantPaper.com.
"As the story goes, Elton Brand—having just played in the national championship game against UConn and won the John R. Wooden Award as the most outstanding player in the country—was leaving Duke after two seasons to enter the NBA draft, where he would be drafted No. 1 overall by the Chicago Bulls. One intrepid Duke alumnus wrote to Brand regarding his decision:
From: Taylor, Jennifer
Sent: Friday, April 16, 1999 2:55 PM
To: Brand, Elton
Subject: Leaving Duke
I graduated from Duke last May and just wanted to express my disgust for your decision to leave the Duke program after only two years. As an alum, not only do I hold the school in high regard, but the basketball program as well, especially since both have deservedly garnered such a great deal of respect for their accomplishments.
As part of our basketball program, you represent Duke as a whole. We are first and foremost an academic school, you clearly did not belong at Duke in the first place if this was the extent of your commitment to Duke and a college education in general. You have not only insulted the current students who are putting in four years at a school they love, but also the thousands of alumni who have realized the value of a Duke education and what an honor and privilege it was to be there for four years.
If you do not realize the opportunity you has infront of you to play for Coach K and at the same time attain a Duke diploma, then that is certainly your loss. I just wish that you has spared us the notion that you were continuing in the tradition of being a Duke student-athlete, in emphasizing excellence in both academics and athletics. You will not be considered part of the Duke family, in my mind as well as many others. You have by no means proved yourself worthy of that title.
Sincerely,
Jennifer Taylor And Elton’s response, which he later confirmed that he’d written:
From: Elton Tyron Brand
Sent: Sunday, April 25, 1999 8:05 PM
To: Taylor, Jennifer
Subject: Re: Leaving Duke
Thank you very much, for reminding me of the reason why I left Duke. People like you can not and will not ever understand my situation. I’m sure daddy worked very hard to send your rich self to college. While real people struggle. I would also like to extend an invitation for you not to waste your or my time ever agin. Never being considered a part of your posh group of yuppies really hurts me to the heart. Yeah, right. Because I don’t care about you or your alumni.
Sincerely,
Elton Brand #42 NBA"
Today is a nice day for Duke fans. The Deadspin staff is not unmoved by this, so we thought we might share one of our favorite memories involving a Duke player.
This was a major childhood dream. Cool to read about the inside scoop from two former winners, especially how accomodating they were (you could essentially pre-choose the types of items you wanted, and they'd make sure it was easy for you to grab them either via tags or changing the store layout totally).
In entertainment, an awful lot of stuff happens behind closed doors, from canceling TV shows to organizing music festival lineups. While the public sees the end product on TVs, movie screens, paper, or radio dials, they don’t see what it took to get there. In Expert Witness, The A.V. Clubtalks to industry insiders about the actual business of entertainment in hopes of shedding some light on how the pop-culture sausage gets made.
Held annually throughout the ’80s and ’90s and subject to insane amounts of frothing rapture from kids everywhere, the Nickelodeon Super Toy Run gave one lucky winner five minutes to run rampant over a toy store. Whatever they took home, they kept, and that was that. It was a commercial-hungry kid’s dream come true, and a great bit of brand synergy between Nickelodeon, Kay Bee Toy Stores (now KB Toys), and Toys“R”Us ...
@ Davison - so sad! Those subs will forever be legendary
The neighborhood just lost some of its greatest Italian subs.
Williamsburg sandwich legend Graham Avenue Meats and Deli, known for its Willie's Italian Special and Godfather subs, appears to have closed its doors without warning or explanation after 30 years. As one Eater reader reports in the forums: "The workers are in the process clearing it out. Confirmed dunzo forever by the staff. It's been dark for a week or so." An employee at Beaner Bar next door told the Village Voice: "It's been over a week since their gates have been down and we honestly don't know what happened." Ex-employees don't seem to know what transpired either. No sign was posted in the window and the phone line has been disconnected, but both Yelp and Foursquare are reporting a shutter. Strangely, three days after the business went dark, the team tweeted:
So we've been having a little debate in the kitchen, and we need your help. Which is better -- the first bite or the last?
