Shared posts

04 May 23:44

Austin City Limits Accidentally Posts 2015 Lineup

by Pretty Much Amazing
Rachel

(possibly) New music.

The folks over at ACL were a little too excited to announce their lineup. Originally planned…


Read more articles like "Austin City Limits Accidentally Posts 2015 Lineup" on PMA - Pretty Much Amazing.

The post Austin City Limits Accidentally Posts 2015 Lineup appeared first on PMA - Pretty Much Amazing.

30 Apr 02:19

Did You Know You Can Paint a KitchenAid Mixer? — Apartment Therapy

by The Kitchn
Rachel

Oooh! I hate the color of mine (it was a gift...). This would make me really nervous to do but I totally want to!

29 Apr 22:45

Newswire: Josh Radnor and Mary Elizabeth Winstead join Ridley Scott’s PBS Civil War drama

by Sam Barsanti
Rachel

!!

After playing the absurdly long-winded Ted Mosby for so many years on How I Met Your Mother, a PBS drama seems like the perfect fit for Josh Radnor. As long as that sweet donation money keeps rolling in, no snotty kids will criticize him for taking nine years to tell a story that he could’ve told in a few seconds. As reported by Deadline, Radnor has joined Mercy Street, the Civil War-era drama produced by Ridley Scott that focuses on a hotel being used by the Union army as a makeshift hospital. Radnor will be playing Jedediah Foster, a “surgeon who grew up in a privileged Southern slave-owning household.”

Mary Elizabeth Winstead will be joining Radnor on Mercy Street as Nurse Mary Phinney, “a feisty New Englander and widow” who is new at the hospital. Winstead’s Phinney will reportedly be one of the leads on the show ...

29 Apr 14:13

STAR WARS R2-D2 Blue Milk Ice Cream

by Jenn Fujikawa
Rachel

Thank god we live in Wisconsin where we can just buy Blue Moon ice cream, melt it, and pour it into the mold.

If there’s anything that’s vital to the survival of the Rebellion, it’s definitely ice cream. Start with a creamy Blue Milk ice cream base — and if you don’t have a bantha handy for milk, blue gel dye will work just as well.

Frozen in a silicone R2-D2 mold, this droid will beep-boop its way into your heart…. and stomach. You’ve never seen such devotion to ice cream before. Don’t tell the Empire, but I think Wilrow Hood may have had something to do with this recipe.

Star Wars R2-D2 Blue Milk Ice Cream recipe-04272015

R2-D2 Blue Milk Ice Cream
(serves 4)
ingredients:
-1-1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
-1-1/2 cups whole milk
-1/2 cup white sugar
-2 teaspoons vanilla
-blue food gel dye

You’ll need:
-Kotobukiya R2-D2 silicone mold

In a large bowl, combine the heavy cream and the milk.

Whisk in the sugar until dissolved. Stir in the vanilla and blue gel dye.

Pour into the R2-D2 silicone mold and freeze until solid, approximately 5 hours.

Carefully unmold onto a plate, slice to serve.

What sort of treats are you making for May the 4th this year? Let us know in the comments below or on Twitter and Instagram!

28 Apr 22:11

Photo

Rachel

For the next three weeks, this blog is basically my favorite thing ever.







26 Apr 00:33

Nawt ForEBBER!

Rachel

Yep.

24 Apr 19:52

Amazon Shrugs, Decides to Sell the Kindle Fire HD 7 for $79 Today

by Shep McAllister, Commerce Team
Rachel

"Oh, my God, we’re having a fire. Sale. Oh, the burning! It burns me! Evacuate all the schoolchildren! (Screaming. Singing “Amazing Grace.”) This isn’t a fever! (Continues singing.) Can’t even see where the knob is! (Dramatic sigh.) And scene."

Today only, Amazon's knocking a whopping $60 off the price of the surprisingly-great Kindle Fire HD 7, bringing it down to just $79. That's $30 less than the previous all-time low price, and even $20 less than the Lilliputian Fire HD 6. You could go so far as to call it a <clears throat> "fire sale."

Read more...








23 Apr 16:43

Newswire: Fred Armisen joins the haute couture world of Zoolander 2

by B.G. Henne
Rachel

...and I just lost 100% interest in this movie.

SNL veteran and maker of handcrafted, artisanal weirdos on the recently-renewed Portlandia Fred Armisen is being tapped to join Zoolander 2. The Hollywood Reporter confirms that Armisen has packed his bags and is heading for the fashion runways of Rome, where the sequel is currently in production. Armisen himself broke the news on Instagram:

The original Zoolander’s release was unfortunately timed following 9/11, but the story of a male model who must use both of his brain cells to stop an international assassination plot has become a beloved cult hit over the years. The sequel has been gaining steam since its walk-off announcement in March, with really, really, ridiculously good-looking person Penelope Cruz joining the cast, and some pretty cool news about the return of your friend Billy Zane.

As one half of SNL’s art-dealer couple Nuni and Nuni Schoener, Armisen already explored the strange world of ...

20 Apr 13:34

TV Club: Outlander: “The Devil’s Mark”

by Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya
Rachel

This episode finally got me to really forget that I've read the books. It was really great! I finally liked the show characters for themselves. Side note: No Roger news.

Even though many Outlander episodes follow more-or-less the same structure—Claire finds herself in trouble as the result of her outsider status and then either uses her own knowledge and skills to work her way out of it or is saved by a last-minute Jamie rescue—the show doesn’t pull its drama and excitement from the same well week-to-week or even within just one episode. It sounds silly to say a show has “everything” or “it all,” because such phrases are pretty empty exaggerations, but when it comes to Outlander, I sometimes do hear the voice of Bill Hader’s Stefon saying “this show has everything.” The writers use each of the show’s many genres to create different shades of dramatic stakes. The sexy side of the show is often as engaging as the action-adventure side—often more so.

This week, Outlander adds another genre to the mix ...

20 Apr 03:47

You Will Always Be Our Gilbert Blythe

by Posh Deluxe
Rachel

SO SAD! :(

You Will Always Be Our Gilbert Blythe

Jonathan Crombie has died at the age of 48, and as Anne Shirley would say, I am in the depths of despair.

Crombie brought Glibert Blythe, my first fictional love, to devilishly handsome life in the 1985 Canadian mini-series, a show that my mother recorded onto VHS so that I could dream along with Anne over and over again. She and I were certainly kindred spirits, but when it came to Gilbert, I wanted to punch her in the face for being SUCH an idiot. The way he winked at her! The way he stared longingly at her! The way he straight-talked to her about that lameass Percival character!

Crombie was (and is, and always will be) Gilbert Blythe. From his tousled curls to the playful twinkle in his eye, he was Anne's equal, even when she didn't realize it. His lips were meant for whispering, "Carrots," and his head was destined for that classroom slate. Whether he was teasing Anne or wooing her (which usually happened at the same time), Crombie perfectly embodied the spirit of Gilbert, so much so that I began building a collection of dance cards, because I couldn't imagine anything more romantic than a boy stealing one from me at a ball.

I still maintain that collection, and today, I'd like to dedicate it to Jonathan Crombie. Sure, that's a little melodramatic, but I know Anne Shirley would approve.

Gilbert Blythe: It'll be three years before I finish medical school. Even then there won't be any diamond sunbursts or marble halls.
Anne Shirley: I don't want diamond sunbursts, or marble halls. I just want you.

Jonathan Crombie, you brought a living, breathing Gilbert Blythe into our lives, which is a thousand times better than diamond sunbursts or marble halls.

Thank you.

15 Apr 23:16

Fall of the South: “Now He Belongs to the Ages”

by Erik Sass

We're covering the final days of the Civil War exactly 150 years later. This is the ninth installment of the series. 

April 14-15, 1865: “Now He Belongs to the Ages” 

Arguably the most famous murder in history, the assassination of Abraham Lincoln was simple in its execution but spectacular in its effects – nearly all of them unintended. Above all, it removed America’s greatest statesman just when he was needed to help heal the country from the horror and hatred of the Civil War. Although it’s impossible to know how things would have turned out had Lincoln lived, it’s hard to see how it could have been much worse: in his absence, Reconstruction led to decades of bitter division followed by a dirty backroom deal that left the people who most needed help and protection – the freed slaves – at the mercy of their former masters. 

The Assassin

The most sensational element of the story was the killer himself: long before he wrote himself into history as the archetypal vainglorious villain, John Wilkes Booth was one of the most famous and successful actors in the country, instantly recognizable and widely admired by theatergoers across both North and South. 

Perhaps strangest of all was Booth’s background. In 1821 his father, a famous British stage actor named Junius Brutus Booth, left his wife Adelaide Delannoy Booth and his first son and ran way to America with his mistress, a London flower seller named Mary Ann Holmes. Alcoholic and possibly bipolar, the eccentric Booth senior moved his mistress to rural Maryland, where they owned slaves and lived in almost total seclusion, raising ten children (six of whom survived to adulthood, all but one born out of wedlock) including John Wilkes, born in 1838. Junius won acclaim for his Shakespearean roles but also had some brushes with the law, including writing a series of threatening letters to President Andrew Jackson, on one occasion vowing, “I will cut your throat whilst you are sleeping” (he later apologized). He finally received a divorce from his wife and married Holmes in 1851, just a year before he died. 

In the early 1850s, while at boarding school John Wilkes Booth became involved in the nativist Know-Nothings, a xenophobic, anti-Catholic political movement mainly targeting Irish immigrants. After his father died he left school and eventually decided to imitate his brothers Edwin and Junius Jr. by following in his father’s footsteps, pursuing a life of fame and fortune in the theater (below, the brothers appear together in Julius Caesar; John Wilkes Booth is on the left). The task was made easier by his name, good looks and remarkable talents for acting and memorization. Called “the most handsome man in America,” Booth made a fortune playing dramatic roles and won legions of fans thrilled by his realistic acting style and appearance, including the poet Walt Whitman, who raved, “He would have flashes, passages, I thought of real genius.”

But like his father Booth was also prone to fits of unbalanced rage, which increasingly focused on the growing threat to his beloved South, and especially the institution of slavery. In December 1859, following anti-slavery militant John Brown’s raid on the armory at Harper’s Ferry, Booth traveled to Charles Town, Virginia and volunteered for the militia assembled to foil any attempts to rescue the would-be insurrectionist, ensuring that he hanged. After the Civil War began Booth only became more agitated, according to his brother Edwin, who recalled his family “used to laugh at his patriotic froth whenever secession was discussed. That he was insane on that one point, no one who knew him can well doubt. When I told him I had voted for Lincoln’s re-election he expressed deep regret, and declared his belief that Lincoln would be made king of America; and this, I believe, drove him beyond the limits of reason.” Similarly in 1864 Booth wrote to a friend: “This country was formed for the white not for the black man. And looking upon African slavery from the same stand-point, as held by those noble framers of our Constitution, I for one, have ever considered it, one of the greatest blessings (both for themselves and us) that God ever bestowed upon a favored nation.” 

The Conspiracies 

In order to preserve this “blessing” and Southern independence, Booth began using his fortune to fund amateur cloak-and-dagger operations to aid the Confederacy. For example Booth purchased quinine, an important anti-malaria prophylactic, and used his privileged position as a traveling actor to personally smuggle it across the battle lines for use by the Confederate military. Booth carried on these covert activities even as he continued touring Northern cities, including a performance for the president in Washington, D.C.: in November 1863 Lincoln saw Booth perform in the play "The Marble Heart," and his young son Tad even sent a note of admiration to Booth, who responded by sending the boy a rose. 

As the tide of war turned against the South, Booth’s anger and ambitions grew commensurately, and by the end of 1864 he was conspiring with other Confederate sympathizers to kidnap President Lincoln to secure the release of Confederate prisoners of war. Around this time Booth also became infatuated with Lucy Lambert Hale, the daughter of an abolitionist Senator from New Hampshire, and secretly became engaged to her in February 1865 (Lucy was also courted by Lincoln’s oldest son Robert; coincidentally, Booth’s brother Edwin had saved Robert’s life on a train sometime in 1864 or 1865). 

However Booth’s fantastic plans to kidnap Lincoln came to nothing, while the Confederacy’s fortunes declined precipitously in the first part of 1865, adding to his sense of urgency and turning his thoughts to assassination. Booth was apparently present at Lincoln’s inauguration on March 4, 1865, and later told a friend he had “a splendid chance… to kill the president where he stood,” regretting that he hadn’t done so. Booth and his fellow conspirators planned one final kidnapping attempt on March 17, 1865, assembling by the road to waylay his carriage, but it failed when Lincoln changed his travel plans. After Lee surrendered on April 9, the last straw for Booth was Lincoln’s suggestion, during a speech delivered from the White House balcony on April 11, that at least some African-Americans should receive the right to vote. Booth, in the audience gathered below, turned to fellow conspirator Lewis Powell and exclaimed: “That means nigger citizenship. Now, by God, I’ll put him through. That is the last speech he will ever make.” 

The Premonition

According to Lincoln’s friend and informal bodyguard Ward Hill Lamon, that evening the president – who’d participated in séances organized by his wife and claimed to have premonitions of his own death – supposedly told his wife and friends about an eerie dream he’d had not long before: 

“About ten days ago, I retired very late. I had been up waiting for important dispatches from the front. I could not have been long in bed when I fell into a slumber, for I was weary. I soon began to dream. There seemed to be a death-like stillness about me. Then I heard subdued sobs, as if a number of people were weeping. I thought I left my bed and wandered downstairs. There the silence was broken by the same pitiful sobbing, but the mourners were invisible… Determined to find the cause of a state of things so mysterious and so shocking, I kept on until I arrived at the East Room, which I entered. There I met with a sickening surprise. Before me was a catafalque, on which rested a corpse wrapped in funeral vestments. Around it were stationed soldiers who were acting as guards; and there was a throng of people, gazing mournfully upon the corpse, whose face was covered, others weeping pitifully. ‘Who is dead in the White House?’ I demanded of one of the soldiers, ‘The President,’ was his answer; ‘he was killed by an assassin.’ Then came a loud burst of grief from the crowd, which woke me from my dream. I slept no more that night; and although it was only a dream, I have been strangely annoyed by it ever since.” 

Ford’s Theater 

Still, Booth’s vow might have remained in the realm of fantasy along with his other half-baked plots, if not for a coincidence on the morning of April 14 – Good Friday – when he went to Ford’s Theater to pick up his mail and happened to overhear that Lincoln would be attending the performance of the romantic comedy “Our American Cousin” that evening. Over the next few hours Booth gathered supplies and met with Powell and another conspirator, George Atzerodt, to plan the assassination of Lincoln that night. Incredibly the men also planned to assassinate Vice-President Andrew Johnson, Secretary of State William Henry Seward, and general-in-chief Ulysses S. Grant that same night, in hopes of maximizing the chaos and giving the Confederacy a chance to recover. 

On the evening of April 14 Lincoln’s party arrived at Ford’s Theater around 8:30 pm, after the curtain had already gone up, and as they took their places in the presidential box the actors paused their performance to salute him, while the band played “Hail to the Chief” and the audience gave him a standing ovation. After acknowledging the crowd Lincoln settled down along with his wife and their companions for the play, Major Henry Rathbone and his fiancée Clara Harris, who were attending in place of Grant and his wife. Lincoln appeared to be enjoying the play, a farce about transatlantic relations (and differences) at a time when many respectable but impoverished English aristocrats were marrying wealthy, uncouth Americans. 

Meanwhile Booth easily gained access to the theater, where he had performed in the past and had many professional connections, without arousing suspicion. As no president had ever been assassinated before there was no formal secret service guarding Lincoln, so no one searched Booth or prevented him from entering the hallway leading to the presidential box with his derringer concealed in his coat pocket (below).

Timing his attack to coincide with the play’s funniest line – “Don't know the manners of good society, eh? Well, I guess I know enough to turn you inside out, old gal – you sockdologizing old man-trap” – Booth quietly opened the door to the box, barred it to prevent anyone from coming to Lincoln’s assistance, and then at 10:13pm shot Lincoln once in the back of the head at point blank range. Rathbone later testified: 

…while I was intently observing the proceedings upon the stage, with my back toward the door, I heard the discharge of a pistol behind me, and, looking round, saw through the smoke a man between the door and the President. The distance from the door to where the President sat was about four feet. At the same time I heard the man shout some word, which I thought was “Freedom!” I instantly sprang toward him and seized him. He wrested himself from my grasp, and made a violent thrust at my breast with a large knife. I parried the blow by striking it up, and received a wound several inches deep in my left arm .... The man rushed to the front of the box, and I endeavored to seize him again, but only caught his clothes as he was leaping over the railing of the box. The clothes, as I believe, were torn in the attempt to hold him. As he went over upon the stage, I cried out, “Stop that man.” I then turned to the President; his position was not changed; his head was slightly bent forward and his eyes were closed. I saw that he was unconscious, and, supposing him mortally wounded, rushed to the door for the purpose of calling medical aid. 

Other witnesses claim that Booth said “sic semper tyrannis,” a Latin phrase meaning “thus always to tyrants.” One theatergoer, W. Martin Jones, recalled the scene as viewed from the main audience: 

All was still. Sharp and clear, amid the silence that reigned in that vast theatre, sounded the report of a pistol. All eyes were turned whence came the unwelcome noise… It was but an instant, and the slim form of a man with face of livid whiteness, stopped in front of the box in which was seated the President. The words “Sic Semper Tyrannis” was hissed between compressed lips. Another instant and the form had vaulted over the balustrade and upon the stage below – a distance of over twelve feet. 

According to some accounts, in leaping over the balcony Booth injured his left leg, fracturing his fibia (lower leg bone) when it became entangled in the bunting on the front of the president’s box or when he landed on the theater floor; however other historians have argued that he only injured his leg later, when his horse threw him in back of the theater. In any event, Booth somehow injured his leg as he fled Ford’s Theater, and around 4am on April 15 he visited Dr. Samuel Mudd in southern Maryland; Mudd had to cut his boot off because his ankle was so swollen before he could set his broken leg. 

Almost simultaneously with Booth’s attack, at 10:15pm, Powell broke into Seward’s house, where the Secretary of State was confined to bed recuperating from a carriage accident, and stabbed him several times and inflicted a serious wound on his face – but failed to kill him. George Atzerodt, assigned the mission of killing Andrew Johnson, didn’t even get this far: at the last minute he lost his nerve, sat down and got drunk in the lobby of the hotel where the vice-president was staying. 

“Death Certainly Would Soon Close the Scene” 

Meanwhile the audience at Ford’s Theater was reeling from shock as soon as the crime was confirmed. The first physician to reach Lincoln was Charles Augustus Leale, a 23-year-old surgeon who had just graduate from medical school a month and a half before. Leale hurried to the presidential box where he

saw the President sitting in the arm chair with his head thrown back. On one side was Mrs. L. and on the other Miss Harris. The former was holding his head and crying bitterly for a surgeon while the others . . . were standing crying for stimulants, water, etc., not one going for anything . . . I sent one for brandy and another for water, then told Mrs. L. that I was a surgeon, when she asked me to do what I could. He was then in a profound coma, pulse could not be felt, eyes closed, torturous breathing.  

On examining Lincoln Leale discovered the bullet hole in his skull, and testified: “I then knew it was fatal and told the bystanders that it was a mortal wound.” Nonetheless at the order of Dr. Robert King Stone, the Lincoln family physician, the dying president was carried across the street to a brick townhouse belonging to William Petersen, where a boarder let them in. Here Stone was able to examine the wound and confirmed Leale’s judgment: “I at once informed those around that the case was a hopeless one; that the President would die; that there was no positive limit to the duration of his life, that his vital tenacity was very strong, and he would resist as long as any man could, but that death certainly would soon close the scene.” 

Given the state of contemporary medicine, there was nothing doctors could do for Lincoln except try to make him comfortable while a succession of family members and cabinet members came to pay their final respects. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, recalled: 

We entered by ascending a flight of steps above the basement and passing through a long hall to the rear, where the President lay extended on a bed, breathing heavily… The giant sufferer lay extended diagonally across the bed, which was not long enough for him… His slow, full respiration lifted the clothes with each breath that he took. His features were calm and striking… After that his right eye began to swell and that part of his face became discolored… About once an hour Mrs. Lincoln would repair to the bedside of her dying husband and with lamentation and tears remain until overcome by emotion…

In the early morning hours of April 15 Welles stepped out to get a breath of fresh air, then returned to the vigil: 

A little before seven I went into the room where the dying President was rapidly drawing near the closing moments. His wife soon after made her last visit to him. The death struggle had begun. Robert, his son, stood with several others at the head of the bed. He bore himself well but on two occasions gave way to overpowering grief and sobbed aloud, turning his head and leaning on the shoulder of Senator Sumner. The respiration of the President became suspended at intervals and at last entirely ceased at twenty-two minutes past seven. 

Fighting back tears, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton said quietly: "Now he belongs to the ages."

Reaction 

On Saturday April 15, as  Stanton mounted a huge national manhunt for Booth and his accomplices (top, a wanted poster) the nation reeled from the news that the Great Emancipator, who had steered the nation through its worst trials, was now dead. As bells tolled across the United States, great and ordinary people alike began the elaborate ritual of Victorian mourning, shaped by Christian theology as well as romantic notions of death. By the following day, Easter Sunday, many houses and public buildings were draped in black, while preachers in their sermons inevitably drew parallels between Lincoln and Jesus Christ, both martyred for their work to redeem humanity. 

The news took some time to spread across the huge country, especially in rural areas not yet reached by telegraph service. One observer, Isaac Newton Arnold, recalled the way a great tragedy could bring strangers together, if only for a moment: 

People who had not heard the news, coming into crowded cities were struck with the strange aspect of the people. All business was suspended, gloom, sadness, grief, sat upon every face. Strangers who had never seen the good President, women, and children, and strong men, wept. The flag, which had everywhere, from every spire and mast-head, roof, and tree, and public building, been floating in glorious triumph, was now lowered; as the hours of that dreary 15th of April passed on, the people, by a common impulse, each family by itself, commenced dressing their houses and the public buildings in mourning, and before night the whole nation was shrouded in black… the poor negroes everywhere wept and sobbed over a loss which they instinctively felt was to them irreparable.

Southern Fears 

Although many Northerners assumed that their recently defeated foes would revel in the news of Lincoln’s death, for the most part this wasn’t the case, as more perceptive former Confederates realized it would almost certainly entail further hardship for the South, not least because Andrew Johnson – a former indentured servant from Tennessee who loathed the plantation aristocracy – was now president. 

Dudley Avery, a former Confederate soldier from Louisiana, remarked in a letter to a friend: “I think that in the present condition of the Country it is a misfortune to the South. Johnson seems to be a man void of principle and honor... Next to our being subjugated I regard his being raised to supreme command our greatest calamity.” In Georgia a former Confederate supporter, Eliza Andrews, reached the same conclusion: “It is a terrible blow to the South, for it places that vulgar renegade, Andy Johnson, in power.” And on April 17 the Richmond Whig, a leading Southern newspaper, opined: “The heaviest blow which has ever fallen upon the people of the south has descended.” 

These views were shared by the Southern elite: in North Carolina General Joe Johnston told William Tecumseh Sherman during their surrender negotiations that Lincoln’s death was “the greatest possible calamity to the South.” And Confederate President Jefferson Davis would later write: “For an enemy so relentless in the war for our subjugation, we could not be expected to mourn; yet, in view of its political consequences, it could not be regarded otherwise than as a great misfortune for the South.” 

The Cortege 

On April 19 tens of thousands lined the streets to watch Lincoln’s funeral procession from the White House to the Capitol, where huge crowds stood in line for hours to pay their respects. William Gamble, who served in the honor guard at the Capitol, wrote to his wife:

During my time of duty 39,000 people passed through and viewed the corpse, the front of the lid being open. The coffin was covered with flowers, and a staff officer stood at the head and another at the foot to keep people from touching the coffin or the corpse, and I assure you it was difficult to prevent it. I never saw such a variety of emotions in human nature in my whole life. Some would burst into tears and sobs, others would flush up with fire and indignation and mutter curses loud and deep on the cowardly assassins and their instigators. While I was standing at the head of the coffin preventing people from touching it, one old lady over sixty years old watched me closely, and quick as thought darted down her head and kissed the President in spite of me. I could not find it in my heart to say a word to her, but let her pass on as if I did not see it. You can form no idea of the scenes I saw.

This was just the first of a series of dramatic, heartfelt memorials held across the North as Lincoln’s body was transported back to Springfield, Illinois. From April 21 to May 3, the train covered 1,700 miles, stopping at most of the cities and towns Lincoln had visited in his triumphant journey from Illinois to the White House four years before, giving an estimated 1.3 million mourners in Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York City, Albany, Buffalo, Cleveland, Columbus, Indianapolis and Chicago a chance to see their president one last time (below, the funeral procession in New York City, right, and Chicago, right). Over ten million more saw the train. 

Lincoln’s death triggered an outpouring of artistic and literary tributes, but perhaps the finest came from Walt Whitman, who admitted, “After my dear, dear mother, I guess Lincoln gets almost nearer me than anybody else.” His 1866 poem “O Captain! My Captain!” reads: 

O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done,

The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won,

The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,

While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring;

                         But O heart! heart! heart!

                            O the bleeding drops of red,

                               Where on the deck my Captain lies,

                                  Fallen cold and dead. 

O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;

Rise up—for you the flag is flung—for you the bugle trills,

For you bouquets and ribbon’d wreaths—for you the shores a-crowding,

For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;

                         Here Captain! dear father!

                            This arm beneath your head!

                               It is some dream that on the deck,

                                 You’ve fallen cold and dead.

My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still,

My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will,

The ship is anchor’d safe and sound, its voyage closed and done,

From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won;

                         Exult O shores, and ring O bells!

                            But I with mournful tread,

                               Walk the deck my Captain lies,

                                  Fallen cold and dead.

See the previous entry here. See all entries here.

14 Apr 22:48

Exclusive: Timothy Omundson Joins KINGS OF CON

by Amy Ratcliffe

Richard Speight Jr. and Rob Benedict are the Kings of Con. The duo is best known for their roles on Supernatural–they were the Trickster and Chuck, respectively–and like they joke, they’re super famous for 13 weekends a year as they travel to conventions around the world and meet fans. Hey, 13 weekends is better than no weekends. They’re taking their convention experiences and turning them into a new web series that they describe as “Broad City meets Party Down with the comedic honesty of Curb Your Enthusiasm and Louis CK.” Yeah, I’m on board.

Speight and Benedict launched an Indiegogo campaign for Kings of Con two and a half weeks ago and have already surpassed their initial goal by leaps and bounds. And in crowdfunding territory, that means it’s time for stretch goals. Since they’ve hit the $150,000 milestone they’re now making five episodes and they’ve announced a super special guest star: Timothy Omundson! You know him from Supernatural, Galavant, Psych, and now… Kings of Con. He might not seem super thrilled in the announcement video, but it’s all a ruse. Omundson shared the following statement:

“Dear Loved Ones.

Don’t let my video’d rage fool you. I sincerely can’t wait to be a part of Kings of Con and jump into this hilarious project with Rob and Richard.

Sincerely,
Timothy Omundson”

The Kings of Con Indiegogo campaign is happening for about another month. You can lend your support at amounts ranging from $5 to $20,000. Rewards include selfies of Rob and Richard, signed posters, and the opportunity to appear in an episode. If you go for the latter option, I’m going to go ahead and guess that there will be shenanigans.

14 Apr 13:59

Newswire: Olivia Munn is X-Men: Apocalypse’s Psylocke

by Sam Barsanti
Rachel

Wait, what?! No Wolverine? wtf?!

Are there any X-Men who aren’t going to be in X-Men Apocalypse? Wolverine might not show up, but director Brian Singer is still looking to fill it with as many mutants as he possibly can.

We already know about Lana Condor’s Jubilee, Kodi Smit-McPhee’s Nightcrawler, Oscar Isaac’s Apocalypse, the young versions of people who were in the other movies, and everybody returning from X-Men: Days Of Future Past. Now we can throw purple-loving (and pants-hating) telepath Psylocke onto the pile, with Variety reporting that she’ll be played by Olivia Munn.

Like all X-Men who have been around for a while, Psylocke’s history in the comics is weird and confusing. Her real name is Elizabeth “Betsy” Braddock, she’s the sister of Captain Britain, and she has psychic powers. At some point, her mind got put into the body of a Japanese ninja and she ...

09 Apr 17:04

todayinhistory:April 9th 1865: The American Civil War endsOn...

Rachel

It's been a long 5 years, folks. Let's do this again in 50 years. (I don't think I've shared a single thing about the Civil War.Weirddisappointed


Depiction of Lee's surrender to Grant (left)


Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885)


Robert E. Lee (1807 - 1870)


McLean house where Lee surrendered

todayinhistory:

April 9th 1865: The American Civil War ends

On this day in 1865, 150 years ago, Confederate general Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union general Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse in Virginia, thus ending the civil war that had ravaged America since 1861. Sectional tensions over slavery, which had existed since the nation’s founding, came to boiling point with the election of the anti-slavery Republican Abraham Lincoln as president in 1860. The outraged Southern states feared the government would attempt to emancipate their slaves, whose labour provided the basis for the Southern economy, and thus seceded to form the Confederate States of America. Hopes for peace were dashed when shots were fired upon the Union Fort Sumter in April 1861, and the nation descended into civil war. The Confederacy, largely led by General Lee, initially had great success and defeated the Union in key battles including at Manassas and Fredericksburg. However, the Union’s superior resources and infrastructure ultimately turned the tide of war in their favour, crushing the Confederates at Gettysburg and with the destruction of Sherman’s march to the sea. Lee surrendered to Grant when hope of Confederate victory was lost, though Grant - out of respect for Lee and his desire for peaceful reconciliation -  defied military tradition and allowed Lee to keep his sword and horse. While more armies and generals had yet to surrender, Lee’s surrender essentially marked the end of the deadliest war in American history, which left around 750,000 dead. Union victory ensured the abolition of slavery, opening up questions about what was to be the fate of the four million freedpeople. These debates, as well as how to treat the seceded states and how to negotiate their readmission into the Union, defined the challenges of the postwar Reconstruction era. The Civil War remains a pivotal moment in American history and in many ways, 150 years later, the nation is still struggling to unite the sections and cope with the legacy of slavery. 

“The Confederates were now our countrymen, and we did not want to exult over their downfall.”
- Grant upon Lee’s surrender

150 years ago

09 Apr 15:17

Logan Lerman Dines Out With Family After Sarah Gadon Joins '11/22/63'

by Just Jared
Rachel

I've been toying with unsubscribing from this gossip blog for a while but this might be the reason I let it go...wtf is up with that description?

Logan Lerman Dines Out With Family After Sarah Gadon Joins '11/22/63'

Logan Lerman heads back to his car after dining out with his family at Palm Restaurant on Tuesday night (April 7) in Beverly Hills, Calif.

The 23-year-old actor walked alongside his mom and sister after the news that Sarah Gadon will join him and James Franco for Hulu’s nine-part miniseries 11/22/63!

Based on “Indignation” by Philip Roth, the mini-series will be set in 1951 and focuses on Marcus (Lerman), the 18-year-old son of a kosher butcher in Newark who grapples with anti-Semitism, sexual repression and the escalating Korean War as he comes of age at a Midwestern Lutheran college.

Into his life comes Olivia Hutton (Gadon). Blonde and pretty, Olivia goes on a date with Marcus and is attracted to his intensity.

10+ pictures inside of Logan Lerman

09 Apr 02:39

How Much Should I Be Dreading TV Revivals? Your Pressing TV Questions, Answered

by Margaret Lyons
Rachel

I wonder how many people who are now 'over' AD watched it when it was first on anyway? Fairweather friends. Assholes.


Welcome back to Stay Tuned, Vulture's TV advice column. Each Wednesday, Margaret Lyons answers your questions about your various TV triumphs and woes. Need help? Have a theory? Want a recommendation? Submit a question! You can email staytuned@nymag.com, leave a comment, or tweet @margeincharge with the hashtag #staytuned.

How should we feel about remakes/reboots/revivals? Twin Peaks, Heroes, X-Files, Coach, Arrested Development … I'm sort of filled with dread, honestly. —JD

This is a tough one. I'm genuinely excited for The X-Files, but against my better judgement. I was medium excited about a revived Twin Peaks — until David Lynch dropped out, which ruins the whole point of returning to Twin Peaks. I was not a Coach person, so I am a human shruggie re: Coach.

Arrested Development is sort of a different beast, since that show has already been revived, and this is more like a renewal of that revival. That said, there are easily 100 shows I'd rather see revived in some capacity before I'd ask for a second season of revived AD. Like a full 100, I think: Ally McBeal, American High, Andy Richer Controls the Universe, Beat the Geeks, Better Off Ted, Bored to Death, Brat Camp, Brooklyn Bridge, Carnivale, Chicago Hope (WITH PATINKIN), Daria, Deadwood, Dinosaurs, Dirt, Doug, Dream Job, Eli Stone, Enlightened, ER, Four Kings, Friday Night Lights, Gallery Girls, Garth Marenghi's Dark Place, Get a Life, Ghostwriter, Gilmore Girls, Grosse Pointe, Grounded for Life, Guts, Hey Dude, Hoarders, Huge, Idiot Savants, If You Really Knew Me, Instant Star, Invasion, Jackass, Jake in Progress, Joan of Arcadia, King of the Hill, Kitchen Confidential, LA Complex, Life Unexpected, Love Monkey, Made, Magnum PI, Make It or Break It, Men in Trees, Millennium, Moesha, My So-Called Life, Northern Exposure, noTORIous, Nowhere Man, O'Grady, Once and Again, Over There, Party Down, Platinum Hit, Playmakers, Point Pleasant, Profit, Pushing Daisies, Radio Free Roscoe, Reaper, Rich Girls, Rollergirls, Salute Your Shorts, SCTV, Second Noah, Sifl and Olly, Significant Others, Singled Out, Sisters, Space Ghost, Sports Night, Square One, St. Elsewhere, Terriers, The Brendan Leonard Show, The Critic, The It Factor, The L Word, The Mickey Mouse Club, The Middleman, The Office (but only if it were about the camera crew), The Paper, The Save-Ums, The Tick, Today's Special, Undeclared, Underemployed, Veronica Mars (AGAIN), Viva Variety, The West Wing, Wishbone, Wonder Showzen, Wonderfalls, Xena: Warrior Princess, Young Americans. And those are just the first hundred I thought of. Anyway, I'm over Arrested Development.

I share your wariness when it comes to these reincarnations, because … we've been burned before. Burned by plenty of shows that just started to suck, burned by reboots that degraded the spirit of what we once loved, burned by the persistent agony of simply trying to survive in a sad, mean world that turns everything into stinky garbage. Conventional wisdom, then, would tell us not to get our hopes up. But I say fuck that. What else are you supposed to do with hopes? Getting them up is what makes them hopes. If they were in the middle, they'd just be "moderately sour thoughts I expressed on the internet," and trust, we have plenty of those.

The new end product may or may not be good, that's true of all things. Let's chose to walk a path that seeks joy. Not all reboots/revivals/resurrections are created equal, so here are the questions I ask while trying to foster a hopeful attitude (and please note that these apply only to TV and not to movies):

Are the original creators involved?
If the original creator — or the original driving creative voice of the show, whether or not that person was the series' creator — is deceased or infirm, then okay. But if that person or group of people were ousted for creative or budgetary reasons, that's a red flag. (Above, when I said I wanted Gilmore Girls and West Wing, those would obviously be with Amy Sherman-Palladino and Aaron Sorkin, respectively. Or maybe not respectively? Those two could swap shows and make all my dreams come true! Pardon me while I yank out an eyelash or two and make some wishes.)

Does the premise still resonate? Or can it be made to?
Maybe this is what doomed the 24 revival for me: I was just no longer in the market for a rogue torturer who likes to do things His Way and also AMERICA. (Was I ever in the market for that? I don't remember.) I suppose the premise of Full House still makes sense, especially the idea that it would take at least four adults to be able to afford to live in that house in San Francisco. Arguably the most successful reboot of our time is Battlestar Galactica, and the Ron Moore version absolutely found a way to make the original show's concept relevant in a contemporary capacity. We can't hold everything to a BSG standard, though. It's not fair.

Are other shows or cultural products providing similar stimulation?
I'm among the biggest Melrose Place fans in the world. I loved OG Melrose very much. But revival Melrose was a non-entity to me because there were plenty of other avenues for plenty of better soapy stories. Desperate Housewives was still on. A Heroes revival? I have plenty of superpower-driven entertainment to keep myself occupied, thank you very much, and if I want to watch Zachary Quinto being evil, I can watch the most recent season of Girls. No other show is really getting Friday Night Lights' inspirational qualities, though, for example.

Have sequels, follow-ups or previous attempted revivals failed in significant creative ways?
This gives me pause for both Twin Peaks and The X-Files: We had a not-that-great X-Files movie in 2008. Fire Walk With Me is … not my favorite. I don't know what would make these new attempts inherently better, other than the idea that practice makes perfect.

Do I truly, fully believe new or more or updated installments of this can bring me specific, otherwise unattainable delights?
This is the question where "yes" is what validates the whole premise of remakes at all. There's an ER-shaped hole in my heart, and no other show — no doctor show, no Chicago-set show, no nothing — will ever fill it exactly. I know Dr. Green is gone forever, but could Carter treat someone maybe? Could I get an update on Doug and Carol? Just let me know that Keri Weaver is still kicking ass, please, oh please. All other hospital shows seem extra-phony compared to ER, even shows I love. Compare that to, say, NYPD Blue, which I also love tremendously: Other cop shows and shows about the Sadnesses are meeting my needs just fine. I am sure that another Veronica Mars movie would please me in a way no episode of iZombie can. I have watched just about every teen show the world has thrown at me, but Angela Chase is my be-all, end-all. Even a one-minute webisode about which play Mr. Katimski is directing this year would set off synapses in my brain that have not been activated in years.

I get why some people think high expectations set shows up for failure, but I'm just not a low-expectations person. Dismissiveness is not an insurance policy on something sucking — assuming something will be bad and then having those expectations met doesn't somehow make that thing better, it just makes you less happy for all those months where your imagination could have enchanted you. Once a show is bad, sure, let's all take a hundred million dumps on it and never look back. But until then, let's live in a world of TV possibility.

Read more posts by Margaret Lyons

Filed Under: stay tuned ,tv ,revivals ,90s nostalgia

08 Apr 02:41

Newswire: Joss Whedon says there’s no post-credits scene in Age Of Ultron, but he might be lying

by Sam Barsanti
Rachel

I don't trust him one bit. He killed Wash.

There’s a scene in 2008’s Iron Man that’s so monumentally important that future generations of film students will have entire textbooks devoted to it. After the credits have rolled, Samuel L. Jackson arrives, introduces himself as Nick Fury, and asks Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark if he can talk to him about “The Avengers Initiative.” Suddenly, every movie—especially every Marvel movie—needed to have a post-credits tag/stinger that either set up a sequel, acted as the payoff for a joke, or, preferably, did both.

Recently, though, the Marvel movies have become bloated and unwieldy, all thanks to their post-credits stingers—as well as an increasingly complicated mythology, but that’s beside the point. The Avengers, Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and Guardians Of The Galaxy all had multiple stingers, forcing audiences to hold their bladders and sit around for the ...

07 Apr 19:10

Brian Grazer Says 17 More Episodes of Arrested Development are Coming

by Spencer Perry
Rachel

Huzzah!

The fan-favorite series will return for more episodes

The post Brian Grazer Says 17 More Episodes of Arrested Development are Coming appeared first on ComingSoon.net.

07 Apr 15:28

Why Cereal Is Still America's Favorite Breakfast Food — Food News

by Kristin Appenbrink
Rachel

I get to tour the Grape-Nuts factory this summer!!! Summer vacation for the win!

Pin it button big

Why is it that so many Americans start the day with a bowlful of cereal?

According to Serious Eats, we have one man to thank: Dr. John Harvey Kellogg. Kellogg ran the Battle Creek Sanitarium, a wellness resort in Michigan, and advocated for a vegetarian diet — heavy on nuts and grains.

READ MORE »

07 Apr 02:17

Can We Examine Roger Sterling’s New Mustache for a Minute?

by Lindsey Weber

Sunday night's Mad Men mid-season premiere had a lot going on, but truly nothing as wonderful and pleasantly surprising as Roger Sterling's new mustache. Why? Well, just see for yourself:

Damn, that's a good 'stache. The '70s are here, in case you haven't noticed. Thanks, Roger's new mustache, for giving us such an exact place and time to work with. Like the hero he is, John Slattery won't reveal whether Roger's mustache is authentic. As he told Vulture: "I’m not gonna tell you whether the mustache is real or fake. Then it becomes a 'thing.' But I like that mustache. I wasn’t sure I was going to, but I think it’s really funny actually. It’s just another in a long line of attempts by Roger to reinvent himself." You know what, Slattery? It is a thing.

More mustache? Okay:

A closer look? Sure:

Just a little closer, please:

Oh, yeah.

(And I know we're focusing on Roger right now, but did anyone get a good look at Stan? That hair! That scarf! Those jewels. Stan stays stylin'.)

Zoom in on that turquoise cuff and ring set for me?

The '70s are treating our Mad Men pretty well, it seems.

Read more posts by Lindsey Weber

Filed Under: mad men ,roger sterling ,john slattery ,tv ,welcome to the seventies ,roger sterling mustache

07 Apr 01:49

Neil Patrick Harris Shares an Adorable Family Photo on Easter!

by Just Jared
Rachel

Have I mentioned this before? Their kids look like both parents!

Neil Patrick Harris Shares an Adorable Family Photo on Easter!

Neil Patrick Harris and his husband David Burtka pose for this adorable family Easter photo with their kids Harper and Gideon, 4, in this new pic posted to Twitter.

“Happy Easter from the Burtka-Harris bunnies and one lil’ chick!” the 41-year-old actor wrote on his Twitter account, along with the cute pic.

On Good Friday, Neil updated his Twitter account with another photo of Harper and Gideon in the rain! “Even though it’s raining, the warm weather of NYC makes for a very #GoodFriday. Enjoy your weekend!” he tweeted. Too cute! See that photo below.

31 Mar 03:14

The SUPERNATURAL Rewatch Project: Angels and Demons

by Amanda Klase
Rachel

Thank god I still have these to look forward to every week.

The SUPERNATURAL Rewatch Project: Angels and Demons

The Road So Far

Welcome to week eighteen of the rewatch project, superfans! If you’re anything like me, you love it when a nice guy goes temporarily bad (see, e.g. Angel/Angelus and The Ripper/Stefan Salvatore). Darlings, if you ever longed to see Sweet Sammy turn his pouty lip-purse into a sneer, then these episodes are for you!

Let’s toast to the saints who sin.

THE OFFICIAL FYA SUPERNATURAL DRINKING GAME:

Take a drink every time:

•  Dean or Sam flashes a badge

•  A demon possesses some hapless schmuck

•  Sam tries to talk about feelings only to be spurned by Dean

•  Dean crams his face full of junk food

•  Anyone makes a deal with a demon

•  Either brother picks a lock

•  Someone employs a Titan of Classic Rock as an alias

•  The Glorious and Faithful Impala is damaged in the line of duty

2x13: Houses of the Holy

Monster of the Week: Angel/Self-important ghost

A woman flips through late night TV, finding nothing on but a televangelist.


Been there, girl.

The preacher seems to be talking directly to her and her whole apartment begins to shake. Blinding light appears from her hall. It’s an angel!

I hate it when the Eye of Sauron drops by uninvited.

Later, the same woman has been locked up in a mental institution for stabbing someone. But she’s at peace because she did so under the orders of the angel who told her to wait for a sign and then to kill the evildoer he pointed out.

While discussing the case, Sam says that the amount of lore on angels leads him to believe they might exist. Dean disagrees, in a very Dean-like fashion, pointing out  “there’s a ton of lore on unicorns too. I hear they ride silver moonbeams and shoot rainbows out of their ass.”


They also swill cocktails and squee over the finest teen literature, obvs.

The boys begin their investigation at the last victim’s house. On his porch, they find the sign the woman spoke of.


Angels are unfortunately rather literal creatures.

They also find a body buried in the victim’s root cellar. He was evil after all. So is the next victim, stabbed after the angel appears to some other hapless schmuck. When Sam and Dean break into this second victim’s house, they find evidence on his computer that he was a pedophile.

Dean notices that all the victims went to the same church. They visit it, speaking with a priest who tells them the neighborhood has gone to seed. In fact, a few years ago, another priest was gunned down on the church steps. The current father has been praying for divine intervention ever since.

That’s all Dean needs to convince him the dead priest is responsible for the murders. Sam is still stuck on his avenging angel theory though. And he soon gets confirmation. When they visit the dead priest’s grave, Sam is struck with the same religious vision as the killers.


And he never thought he’d see anything prettier than Dean.

It tells him to KILL KILL KILL! He’s immediately on board. Dean convinces him to at least try to summon the dead priest to check before he straight up murders someone. But when they pick up supplies, Sam sees the guy he’s supposed to kill.

Dean tricks Sam, driving off to tail the guy while leaving Sam to perform the séance solo. Before too long, the guy Dean’s following tries to rape the girl he’s on a date with. Dean rescues her and then hops in the Impala, giving chase as the man flees. It ends when a piece of rebar flies off a truck, and pierces the rapist through the chest, Final-Destination style.


Thanks for taunting me with my most oddly specific fear, show.

Meanwhile, the priest catches Sam’s little séance at the dead priest’s grave, but not before he completes the ritual and summons the dead priest’s spirit. Dean was right; it wasn’t an angel, after all. The living priest is horrified about the murders. He convinces the dead priest he isn’t an angel and administers last rites, effectively exorcising him.

Brotherly Angst Quotient: Doubting

After Dean’s faithful mother died, he became convinced there’s no higher power, “just chaos and violence and random unpredictable evil that comes out of nowhere and rips you to shreds.”

When Sam finds out Dean was right about the deaths being ordered by the ghost of the dead priest, he’s depressed. He wanted to believe in a higher power because he feels like he’s drowning in evil and hoped that there was someone else besides Dean trying to save his soul. Stricken, Dean gives Sam hope, telling him of the rapist’s freakish death and saying it looked like God’s will at work.

Yellow-Eyed Demon: Not here.

How Drunk Are We?: Almost sober, the horror! Only one drink for Sammy’s ever-handy lock-picking skills.

The Quotable Winchesters: “Well, I think I’ve learned a valuable lesson: always take down your Christmas decorations before New Year’s or you might get filleted by a hooker from God.” –Dean.

Moment Most Likely to Inspire Troubling Fan-Fic:


Dean really likes the motel’s Magic Fingers. It makes Sam uncomfortable, probably in his pants.

Notable Cameos:


David Monahan of Crossing Jordan and Dawson’s Creek, plays the dead priest

2x14: Born Under a Bad Sign

Monster of the Week: Sam/Meg

Sam’s been missing for a week! When Dean finally finds him, he’s at a motel, covered in someone else’s blood.


I know this is dramatic, darlings, but I can’t stop staring at the room separator. Are those shrimp? Penises? I MUST KNOW!

Sam says the last thing he remembers is eating a cheeseburger in Texas a week earlier. (Respect. I’ve had cheeseburgers that good.) Retracing Sam’s steps, the Winchesters find out that in the last week he lifted a car, terrorized a convenience store clerk, stole a forty, and smoked some cigs. Damn. Amnesiac Sammy is the funnest Sammy. He also murdered a hunter. Oops. Nevermind.

After they discover the body, Dean says they’ll have to cover their tracks before other hunters figure it out. Sam, freaking out, says he’s evil and Dean has to shoot him. Dean says he’d rather die. Sam, smirks, telling him he’ll live to regret that. Then he pistol-whips him.

Dean wakes at the motel, alone. He tracks Sam to Duluth, which is coincidentally where Jo has been hiding out from her mother. Sam strolls into the bar she’s working at, demanding free beer. He tries to flirt with her, and when she’s clearly not into it, he attacks! She fights, but as we often forget, Sam is ginormous and he overpowers her, slamming her head against the bar.

When she wakes?


Not good.

Being smart, she realizes right away that whoever this is isn’t Sam. He must be possessed! Demon Sam is uber-creepy, stroking her hair with a knife while interrogating her about how her dad died. After she chokes out the tale, he says she’s wrong. Papa Winchester shot her father to put him out of his misery after he was maimed in a demon attack.


Cool taunt, bro.

Thankfully, Dean shows up. Demon Sam immediately begins playacting, saying he’s tried to stop himself, but he can’t help being evil and Dean should shoot him before he hurts Jo. But Dean won’t do it. But he will toss some holy water in his face.
Oh snap.

That’s right, Dean knows his little brother well enough to know something’s up. The pair play a game of cat and also cat out on some nearby docks. Demon Sam gets the upperhand, shooting Dean who falls into the water. After Demon Sam escapes, Jo finds Dean and patches him up.


Somehow, I’m not surprised he isn't a good patient.

Afterwards, she wants to go with him. But Dean says he’ll re-tie her to the post if she tries to follow. Realizing that was a bit harsh to a woman just victimized by his enormous, demon-possessed brother, he softens, saying he’ll call. “No you won’t,” Jo says to herself, and my heart breaks. Stop screwing up, Dean! You’d be so cute together.

Meanwhile, Sam shows up on Bobby’s doorstep. He welcomes him inside and gives him a beer. A beer filled with holy water! “Don’t try to con a conman,” Bobby says.


Like Beyoncé, Bobby is fresher than you.

Bobby and Dean lock Demon Sam in a devil’s trap. But their attempt at exorcism doesn’t work. Demon Sam laughs, and begins a Latin recitation that makes the house shake. It’s then that Bobby sees the mark on Sam’s skin.

It’s a binding link, keeping the demon in Sam’s body. The devil’s trap cracks under the shaking, and Demon Sam gets free, whaling on them both. After a little bit of villain monologuing, Dean realizes only one demon could be so tiresome: Meg. That’s right, the gal we’d love to hate if we didn’t hate to see, is back for revenge. Not for long though.  Bobby grabs a hot poker and burns Sam’s arm, scalding off the mark. Meg exorcises in a huff of smoke. Sam sits up and says “Did I miss anything?” and Dean socks him in the face.

Bobby gives them both a short time to recover and then makes them leave, though not before giving them charms to prevent future demon possession. THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN HELPFUL EARLIER BOBBY. Arg. But since you killed Meg, I forgive you.

Brotherly Angst Quotient: Never Letting Go

After it’s all over, Sam says that he was awake when Meg used his body for her rampage of terror. He is confused why Dean, knowing he’d killed the hunter and tortured Jo, wouldn’t have killed him. Dean says it’s simple: he’s going to save him instead, no matter what it takes. D’awwwww.

Yellow-Eyed Demon: Interestingly enough, though his daughter Meg makes an appearance, she says it’s not on behalf of Daddy’s master plan. She’s just really pissed about the boys exorcising her earlier.

How Drunk Are We?: Buzzed! Take two drinks courtesy of demon possession and Sam’s use of Richie Sambora as an alias.

The Quotable Winchesters:  “Dude you…you like full on had a girl inside you for like a whole week. (laughs). It’s pretty naughty.” –Dean, sticking to what’s important.

Moment Most Likely to Inspire Troubling Fan-Fic:


That awkward situation when the demon who kinda used to have a thing for your brother possesses him and then uses his meatsuit to alternately caress and beat you. 

Notable Cameos: None this week!

Next week: TRICKSTER!

27 Mar 15:09

Coach Is Coming Back to NBC With Craig T. Nelson

by Sean Fitz-Gerald
Rachel

In slightly less exciting 90s revival news...wtf?


Coach Hayden Fox will return to the gridiron, Vulture has learned. NBC is ordering 13 episodes of Coach, with its original lead Craig T. Nelson attached to star. The revived '90s multi-cam sitcom won't be a reboot, but a sequel, picking up 18 years after Coach left ABC. Nelson's character will ditch present-day retirement to become the assistant coach of his son's Ivy League team in Pennsylvania. The show's original creator, Barry Kemp, will write, and both he and Nelson will executive-produce. Casting and production-timeline info are under wraps, but you can get pumped up with this. Go Screaming Eagles! Or whatever this new, not-Minnesota team will be.

Read more posts by Sean Fitz-Gerald

Filed Under: revivals ,coach ,tv ,craig t. nelson ,nbc

26 Mar 03:44

Lord John Grey Will Appear in Season Two of ‘Outlander’

by Sarah Ksiazek
Rachel

He better be. He's in the book.

Gabaldon-Dragonfly-in-Amber-220x332

**There are spoilers in this post if you have not read Dragonfly in Amber.**

Executive producer Ronald D. Moore confirmed to Digital Spy that Lord John Grey will appear in Season Two of Outlander.  He also talked about incorporating the spin-off book series centering on Lord John Grey by Diana Gabaldon.  Will it end up being a spin-off TV series?

“It’s in the back of our minds as a potential thing,” he said. “But right now our minds are pretty firmly set on just delivering the second season. We’ll see what happens down the line on Lord Grey.”

 

Source: Digital Spy

26 Mar 02:39

Fox Mulder and the Problem of the Romantic Conspiracy Theorist

by Lindsay Ellis
Rachel

For Carol: X-FILES IS COMING BACK! :)

X-Files

There’s this thing called the “Twenty Year Rule” that pertains to collective cultural nostalgia, and if one is to give credence to this idea, then the recent resurgence of interest in The X-Files comes as no surprise. IDW Publishing has been running a well-received comic adaptation over the last several years, and just a few weeks ago Fox confirmed that they’re in talks to reboot the series, original cast and everything. And the nerdosphere rejoiced! Are you excited? I’m kind of excited! Kind of.

Okay, “mixed feelings” is more the appropriate descriptor.

[Read More]

Read the full article

26 Mar 02:22

Newswire: Adam Brody to play a 40-year-old man in a new CBS comedy pilot

by Matt Wayt
Rachel

Fuuuuuck. Old age=not cool.

According to Deadline, The O.C.’s Adam Brody has been cast as one of the leads in CBS’s untitled comedy pilot about “a group of friends and family at three different times in their lives.” Brody will play Andrew, a 40-year-old eternal optimist who sees his chance at a happy ending when a former crush reappears.

It’s somewhat startling that Brody has been cast as a 40-year-old man. After all, he comfortably played a teenager on The O.C., and that wasn’t so long ago. Sure, we’ve observed a few lines etching their way across our foreheads since the show wrapped, and, yeah, we now have to stretch more to keep our lower back from hurting. Okay, fine, we also tried to use the TV remote upside-down when we couldn’t find our glasses the other night. But none of that justifies Brody playing a ...

25 Mar 23:15

Steven Spielberg to Direct Ready Player One

by CS
Rachel

Hmm, not sure how I feel about this.

Ernie Cline's bestseller is headed to the big screen through Warner Bros. Pictures and Village Roadshow

The post Steven Spielberg to Direct Ready Player One appeared first on ComingSoon.net.

25 Mar 14:01

Which Mad Scientist Is the Best?

by John Farrier
Rachel

Uh, why is Zoidberg on this? He's a doctor...

If I consistently needed a mad scientist in my employment, I’d go for Princess Bubblegum. She’s smart, resourceful, multidisciplinary, and reasonably ethical. But as Sanjay Kulkarni pointed out, most “mad scientists” are actually just mad engineers.

Chloe Cole and Tristan Cooper of Dorkly made this chart. Are there other mad scientists that belong on it?

20 Mar 21:16

Lawsuit Claims Several Brands Of Wine Contain “Very High” Levels Of Arsenic

by Mary Beth Quirk
Rachel

I just want to drink my cheap wine.

Before you tip back a glass of your favorite wine to salute the glorious arrival of the weekend, you might want to consider how you feel about potentially drinking arsenic: A new lawsuit claims that some low-cost brands from various winemakers have “very high” levels of arsenic in their products.

The lawsuit filed Thursday in California Superior Court claims that 28 wineries knowingly violated state law by producing wine contaminated with arsenic, and failing to inform consumers about potential dangers, says a company called BeverageGrades on a website for the lawsuit, TaintedWine.com.

The federal government doesn’t have regulations that set the acceptable limit for arsenic in wine, but the lawsuit says that some of the wines tested had up to four and fives times the maximum allowed by the Environmental Protection Agency for drinking water.

BeverageGrades says it conducted testing on more than 1,300 bottles of wine, with almost a quarter of them containing levels higher than the EPA’s maximum for drinking water, which is 10 parts per billion.

“Some very, very high levels of arsenic,” the company’s founder told CBS News, adding that he noticed a pattern in the results.

“The lower the price of wine on a per-liter basis, the higher the amount of arsenic,” he said.

Included in that list: Trader Joe’s famed Two-Buck Chuck White Zinfandel (at three times the drinking water limit); a bottle of Ménage à Trois Moscato (four times the limit) and a Franzia White Grenache that clocked in at five times the EPA limit for drinking water.

He handed his data over to a law firm after unsuccessfully reaching out to wine companies, he says. The lawsuit is a proposed class-action lawsuit that accuses more than 24 winemakers of misrepresenting their wine as safe.

So are these levels dangerous? Allan Smith, an epidemiologist and associate director of the Arsenic Health Effects research program at U.C. Berkeley says that the highest level found in one of the bottles tested came in at 50 parts per billion of arsenic, which could be deadly over time. Again, based on drinking water studies, which is the only drink that has a set arsenic limit.

“We estimate that approximately 1 in 100 people who drink water like that throughout their life will die from the arsenic, ultimately, due to mostly cancers from it,” he told CBS.

But a spokesperson for The Wine Group, which is one of the companies named in the lawsuit, points out that there’s a difference between drinking wine and drinking water.

“It would not be accurate or responsible to use the water standard as the baseline” he said, because people tend to drink a lot more water than they do wine. And in Canada, where the government does set limits for arsenic in wine, the highest level of arsenic cited in the lab results is “only half of Canada’s standard for wine, of 100 parts per billion.”

Under California law, businesses must warn consumers if their products contain “a chemical known to the state to cause cancer,” with a threshold of 10 parts per billion. However, an advocacy group for California lawmakers says the industry already provides warning signs that can be posted in retail stores.

Trader Joe’s sells Two Buck Chuck, and told CBS that “the concerns raised in your inquiry are serious and are being treated as such. We are investigating the matter with several of our wine producing suppliers.”

The lawsuit doesn’t name a dollar amount, but seeks “injunctive relief, civic penalties, disgorgement and damages.”

The attorney who filed the lawsuit says his goal is “to get the winemakers to recall these wines, to get them to refund the money that people paid for these wines, and ultimately to clean up the wine industry in California.”

“Very high levels of arsenic” in top-selling wines [CBS News]

19 Mar 13:53

These Movies & TV Shows Are Coming to Netflix in April 2015!

by Just Jared
Rachel

Hot Fuzz! I will be watching that every night.

These Movies & TV Shows Are Coming to Netflix in April 2015!

Netflix just released the list of television shows and movies coming to the streaming service beginning this April!

Possibly the most notable addition is Daredevil, the Netflix and Marvel joint original series starring Charlie Cox. All of the episodes will become available on Netflix beginning on April 10.

Lots of new titles from the last year are also becoming available – be sure to check out the list below!

Click inside to see a list of movies and television shows coming to Netflix in April…

Available 4/1
“And Now … Ladies and Gentlemen …” (2002)
“Bandolero” (2000)
“Barnyard” (2006)
“The Beautician and the Beast” (1997)
“Bound” (1996)
“Buffalo Soldiers” (2001)
“The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course” (2002)
“Down to Earth” (2001)
“Leprechaun 3″ (1995)
“Leprechaun 4: In Space” (1997)
“Leprechaun 6: Back 2 tha Hood” (2003)
“Suicide Kings” (1997)
“Sunset Strip” (2000)
“Underworld” (2003)
“Whiteboyz” (1999)
“Wrong Turn at Tahoe” (2009)

Available 4/2
“Life Partners” (2014)
“Sinbad: The Fifth Voyage” (2014)

Available 4/3
“All Hail King Julien” (Season 1) Five new episodes
“Derek” Netflix original special
“Starry Eyes” (2014)
“The Quiet Ones” (2014)

Available 4/4
“Delta Farce” (2007)

Available 4/7
“Preservation” (2014)
“Wilfred” (Season 4)

Available 4/8
“Halt and Catch Fire” (Season 1)

Available 4/9
“Crank” (2006)
“Pioneer” (2013)

Available 4/10
“The Awakening” (2013)
“Broken” (2013)
“Burning Bridges” (2014)
“Confusion Na Wa” (2013)
“Finding Mercy” (2012)
“Finding Mercy 2″ (2014)
“Flower Girl” (2013)
“Forgetting June” (2013)
“Knocking on Heaven’s Door” (2014)
“Lagos Cougars” (2013)
“Lies Men Tell” (2013)
“Mad Couple” (2014)
“Mad Couple 2″ (2014)
“Marvel’s Daredevil” (Season 1) Netflix Original
“Matters Arising” (2014)
“October 1″ (2014)
“Onye Ozi” (2013)
“Ties that Bind” (2011)

Available 4/12
“The Identical” (2014)

Available 4/13
“Video Game High School” (Season 3)

Available 4/14
“The Babadook” (2014)
“Goodbye to Language” (2014)
“Kink” (2013)

Available 4/16
“Hot Fuzz” (2007)

Available 4/17
“Baby Daddy” (Season 4)
“Chris D’Elia: Incorrigible” Stand-up
“They Came Together” (2014)

Available 4/18
“Noah” (2014)

Available 4/21
“A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night” (2014)

Available 4/25
“Sons of Anarchy” (Season 7)

Available 4/26
“The Nutty Professor 2: Facing the Fear” (2008)

Available 4/27
“National Treasure” (2004)