Roumen.ganeff

The Neil Gaiman novel American Gods, about an ex-con named Shadow who, thanks to a powerful and mysterious old man, is drawn into a conflict between gods old and new, has been in development for TV for a long time. Now the American Gods TV series is really going to be a thing, as Starz has given the green light to a series from showrunners Bryan Fuller and Michael Green.

There’s no cast announcement yet; in fact, the official press release talks about the beginning of the process of casting Shadow, noting that the beginning of production on the series is tied to that casting.

Can this show be as big and weird as Hannibal? We can hope. It doesn’t have the immediate recognizance of Hannibal, but Starz seems interested in making a splash with new series such as Ash vs Evil Dead, and we’re hoping that Fuller and Green have the freedom to make this one wild.

For those unfamiliar with the story, the novel’s plot goes like this, via a blurb from Starz that reveals a thing that the book keeps only very slightly secret until partway through:

A war is brewing between old and new gods: the traditional gods of biblical and mythological roots from around the world steadily losing believers to an upstart pantheon of gods reflecting society’s modern love of money, technology, media, celebrity and drugs. Its protagonist, Shadow Moon, is an ex-con who becomes bodyguard and traveling partner to Mr. Wednesday, a conman but in reality one of the older gods, on a cross-country mission to gather his forces in preparation to battle the new deities.

American Gods was once in development for HBO, and Gaiman wrote a pilot script that featured a lot of material he did not use in the original novel. That new material was actually a sticking point for HBO. Freemantle Media picked up the rights last year, but we don’t know if this series will incorporate that material Gaiman created for the HBO incarnation.

Here’s the rest of the press release, with happy quotes from all involved:

Beverly Hills, Calif. – June 16, 2015 – Starz has given a greenlight to FremantleMedia North America’s (FMNA) adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s acclaimed contemporary fantasy novel American Gods. Bryan Fuller (“Hannibal,” “Pushing Daisies,” “Heroes”) and Michael Green (“The River,” “Kings,” “Heroes”), will pen and showrun the series. Gaiman will also executive produce the series. FremantleMedia North America will produce. Start of production is dependent on casting the lead role of “Shadow Moon.”

Starz CEO Chris Albrecht said, “STARZ is committed to bring American Gods to its legions of fans. With our partners at FremantleMedia and with Bryan, Michael and Neil guiding the project, we hope to create a series that honors the book and does right by the fans, who have been casting it in their minds for years. The search for Shadow begins today!”

Commented Neil Gaiman, “I am thrilled, scared, delighted, nervous and a ball of glorious anticipation. The team that is going to bring the world of American Gods to the screen has been assembled like the master criminals in a caper movie: I’m relieved and confident that my baby is in good hands. Now we finally move to the exciting business that fans have been doing for the last dozen years: casting our Shadow, our Wednesday, our Laura…”

Commented Bryan Fuller and Michael Green, “Almost 15 years ago, Neil Gaiman filled a toy box with gods and magic and we are thrilled to finally crack it open and play. We’re grateful to have STARZ above us and FremantleMedia at our backs as we appease the gods, American or otherwise.”

Craig Cegielski, Co-CEO, FremantleMedia North America said “’American Gods’ has been the passion project for us at FMNA since Stefanie Berk brought this exceptional piece of literature to the company when she joined two years ago. Chris, Carmi and the entire team at Starz are committed partners, sharing the same creative vision and ambition for this series. Neil’s novel is a brilliant work of art, and together with the talented Bryan Fuller and Michael Green, we are committed to delivering a series that is nothing short of extraordinary.”

The post Starz Greenlights ‘American Gods’ TV Series From Bryan Fuller and Michael Green appeared first on /Film.

You’ve had a chance to explore the gorgeous and creepy haunted house of Guillermo del Toro‘s dreams; now meet some of its equally gorgeous and creepy inhabitants. Universal and Legendary have released four jewel-toned Crimson Peak character posters featuring Mia Wasikowska, Tom Hiddleston, Jessica Chastain, and Charlie Hunnam. Check ’em out after the jump.

Crimson Peak centers on young Edith (Wasikowska) who falls for a man (Hiddleston) who’s hiding a whole bunch of secrets. Like, a whole house full of them. His sister (Chastain) seems none too pleased with this new relationship. Nor does Edith’s friend (Hunnam), who clearly carries a torch for her.

The Crimson Peak character posters offer a strong sense of the film’s rich, moody tone, as well as some hints about each character’s role in the story. Hunnam looks relatively normal and boring because he’s supposed to; he’s the sweet, well-meaning alternative to the sexy and mysterious stranger played by Hiddleston. Chastain’s poster burns bright, while Wasikowska looks like she’s halfway to becoming a ghost herself.

While the posters aren’t terribly upsetting, the movie itself promises to be quite scary. When the master of horror himself, Stephen King, thinks a movie is “just fucking terrifying,” you know it’s doing something right. Crimson Peak definitely looks like one to watch out for when it opens October 16, 2015.

Legendary Pictures’ CRIMSON PEAK, a co-production with Universal Pictures, is a haunting gothic horror story directed by the master of dark fairy tales, Guillermo del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth, Hellboy series, Pacific Rim), written by del Toro and Matthew Robbins and starring Mia Wasikowska, Jessica Chastain, Tom Hiddleston and Charlie Hunnam. In the aftermath of a family tragedy, an aspiring author is torn between love for her childhood friend and the temptation of a mysterious outsider. Trying to escape the ghosts of her past, she is swept away to a house that breathes, bleeds… and remembers. Thomas Tull, Jon Jashni, del Toro and Callum Greene produce, and Jillian Share executive produces.

The post ‘Crimson Peak’ Character Posters Introduce the Inhabitants of Guillermo del Toro’s Haunted House appeared first on /Film.

Update from Editor Peter Sciretta: FX has released two new teaser trailers for my favorite currently-running television series Fargo. The new teasers give us a better look at Peggy (Kirsten Dunst) and Sheriff Hank Larsson (Ted Danson). Hit the jump to watch them now.

 

Fargo Season 2 Teaser: Break Time

Fargo Season 2 Teaser: Curl Up & Dye

The original June 18th 2015 post from Angie Han follows:

No time like the dead of summer to prepare for your next trip back to the frozen Midwest. FX has just released the first Fargo Season 2 teaser, and you can check it out below. The new Fargo spot, titled “Peck, Peck, Boom, Boom,” went up on YouTube.

Admittedly, the Fargo Season 2 teaser doesn’t reveal all that much about Season 2. Instead it sets a tone by juxtaposing a mundane detail of Midwestern life with a hint of brutal violence. It’s not so different from the approach that the FX marketing team took with Season 1.

In any case, we already know quite a bit about Fargo Season 2. It unfolds in 1979 and centers on Lou Solverson, Molly’s dad played by Keith Carradine in Season 1. Here, he’s a state police officer just back from Vietnam, and he’s played by Patrick Wilson.

Lou investigates a case involving turf war between a local crime family and a major Mob syndicate. Helping him on that front is Sheriff Hank Larsson (Ted Danson), his father-in-law.

The homegrown gang is led by Otto and Floyd Gerhardt (Michael Hogan and Jean Smart), who have three sons (played by Jeffrey Donovan, Angus Sampson, and Kieran Culkin) with agendas of their own.

Meanwhile, a Kansas City crime syndicate is looking to expand in the area, and sends Joe Bulo (Brad Garrett) and his enforcer (Bokeem Woodbine) to take over.

Other key characters include Lou’s wife Betsy (Cristin Milioti), and locals Peggy (Kirsten Dunst), Ed (Jesse Plemons), and Karl Weathers (Nick Offerman). In addition, Bruce Campbell has a recurring role as future POTUS Ronald Reagan.

Thematically, Fargo Season 2 will deal with “the cultural transformation that was going on at the time,” revealed FX president John Landgraf earlier this year. That includes feminist issues, and “the sense that the war has come home.”

Fargo returns to FX in September. Noah Hawley returns as showrunner.

The post ‘Fargo’ Season 2 Teaser Trailers: Break Time and Curl Up & Dye appeared first on /Film.

Though Robin Williams was known mostly for his comedic work, he was a versatile actor who could also tap into his dramatic range to moving effect. That’s the side on display in the first trailer for Boulevard, his final onscreen performance.

Williams plays Nolan, who on the surface seems to be doing just fine. He has a decent, well-paying job, and a peaceful marriage with a nice woman named Joy (Kathy Baker). Secretly, however, Nolan is struggling with being gay. His issues come bubbling up after he makes an impulsive decision to pick up a young street hustler (Roberto Aguire).

Dito Montiel directed, and Bob Odenkirk co-stars as Nolan’s best friend. Watch the Boulevard trailer after the jump.

Boulevard is quite a change of pace for Montiel, who has made his name on tough-guy crime dramas like A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints, The Son of No One, and Empire State. But it seems to work, thanks in a huge part to Williams. Nolan isn’t an outwardly emotional sort, but Williams manages to convey his deep loneliness in subtle ways.

For those keeping count, this is Williams second-to-last role. He still has one more coming up in the Terry Jones comedy Absolutely Anything, but he doesn’t actually appear in that one — he voices a dog who hangs out with Simon Pegg.

Boulevard gets a limited release starting July 17. Here’s a summary of the film in Tribeca:

Dito Montiel (The Son of No One) takes a refreshing direction with his latest film, Boulevard, a subtle and moving drama following a devoted husband and dutiful bank employee who begins to confront his own secrets. What starts as an aimless drive down an unfamiliar street turns into a life-altering decision for the curious Nolan Mack (Robin Williams). For many years, Nolan and his wife Joy (Kathy Baker) have embraced their marriage as a convenient distraction from facing reality. When he meets a troubled young man named Leo (Roberto Aguire) on his drive home, Nolan finds himself breaking from the confines of his old life. Robin Williams gives an adept performance as the enlightened but unraveling Nolan. Montiel’s seasoned direction builds just the right amount of tension between the players and their now questionable relationships.

The post ‘Boulevard’ Trailer: Robin Williams Goes Dramatic for One of His Final Roles appeared first on /Film.

Warning: Full spoilers from the Orphan Black: Season 3 finale follow.

After last week's groundbreaking episode with the Castor Original, Orphan Black's season finale ended on somewhat of a cluttered note -- albeit plenty eventful. For example, we learned more about Kendall Malone and her place in the Leda/Castor hierarchy. I was glad, up top, that Scott explained why Kendall looked nothing like either of the clone factions, using her split-cell DNA as a clever way to sidestep that. Regardless, Kendall's history with Duncan and the Neolutionists proved to be deeply tied to the clones -- specifically Sarah, who, as it turned out, was guided to Mrs. S by Kendall as a way of making up for "finishing" her daughter's lost love John. Of all the scenes this week, I think S and Kendall's were some of the strongest.

Continue reading…

Welcome to Jurassic Park ... facts.


Image: Giphy

With "Jurassic World" making box-office records go extinct, everyone has dinosaurs on their minds. But there's one guy who never stopped thinking about them. He is renowned paleontologist Dr. John R. "Jack" Horner, the real-life inspiration for Dr. Alan Grant.

In addition to making hugely significant discoveries in his career, Horner has also served as a technical advisor on all of the "Jurassic Park" films. "My job was really just to sit next to Steven [Spielberg] and answer questions for him," Horner explained to The Huffington Post. Recently, the real Dr. Grant chatted with us about the franchise and revealed some behind-the-scenes facts you probably didn't know:

1. Scientists are using "Jurassic World"-like technology to create a dinosaur today.


Image: BuzzFeed

The source of all the conflict in "Jurassic World" comes from the Indominus rex, a genetic potpourri of various animals that resulted in a hybrid dinosaur. Horner explains, "We’ve got an actual project on the way to do this sort of thing." Though he's not talking about creating an ultimate killing machine like in the movie, Horner says he's currently working on manipulating genes to turn a chicken into a dinosaur. He predicts this will happen within the next 10 years.

When asked what he's going to call the new dinosaur, he laughed and said, "Everybody keeps asking. I'm gonna call it 'Thank God It's Done.'"

2. Even Steven Spielberg had doubts that "Jurassic Park" would be good.



"One day we were shooting, and the set people were moving something around, and Steven Spielberg turned to me and he said, 'Well, Jack, you think this movie will do okay?' And I realized then that, you know, it’s always true. They never know," said Horner.

3. The raptors were almost waving forked tongues around in the "Jurassic Park" kitchen scene.


Image: JurassicPark.Wikia


Horner says that one of the biggest contributions he made to the franchise was in the famous kitchen scene. He explains, "They were going to have raptors coming in there waving their forked tongues around. We know they didn’t have forked tongues, so I took that out." He continued, "Instead, they snort and fog up the window. In doing that, in other words, in not waving their forked tongues around and [now] snorting on the window, we've taken them from being very reptilian to being warm-blooded."

4. The actors sometimes had trouble pronouncing the dinosaur names -- one in particular.



In addition to giving Spielberg suggestions, Horner says he had another job that wasn't always the easiest. "I'm also there to make sure the actors pronounce the words and dinosaur names right. Parasaurolophus was hard for some of them," says Horner.

Dr. Horner's reaction after someone finally says a name right?


Image: Giphy

5. Dinosaur teeth were added in movie scenes to show what it would really be like.


Image: ScreenRant


Horner says there's a big reason you see random dinosaur teeth lodged in things in the movies. "Every once in a while, there’s a tooth laying around. We know dinosaurs can replace their teeth through their life, so they would’ve left teeth embedded in things," said Horner.

6. Horner suggested the Spinosaurus because it was bigger than a T. rex and "cool-looking."


Image: Tumblr

"I was pretty much responsible for putting Spinosaurus in ["Jurassic Park III"]. We wanted a bigger meat-eater that could take T. rex out. So Spinosaurus was the largest carnivorous dinosaur we know of, and it’s got the big fin on its back, so it’s really cool-looking."

(Spoiler alert!) Some fans may have noticed that "Jurassic World" actually has a "JP3" Easter egg involving Spinosaurus. T. rex gets some revenge by smashing through a Spinosaurus skeleton during the film.

7. The raptors in "Jurassic World" are actors, not just graphics.


Image: Giphy

"The raptors, rather than being animatronic, are people," says Horner. "They're actors that are moving around, and then they lay the actual image of the Velociraptors over the top of these people, so there actually are people for the actors to act against."

8. There was a conscious decision not to make the dinosaurs feathery in the movies.



Though it's widely accepted that many dinosaurs had feathers, Horner said the scientific inaccuracy in the movie was intentional. "We didn’t make them colorful like they are, and we didn’t make them feathery because they're scarier when they're not," said Horner. "Just keep in mind that it’s a fictional film and not a documentary. So it is what it is."

And what it is, is pretty great.

Now we just hope they make a "Jurassic World" sequel, something Dr. Ian Malcolm seems pretty confident about.


Image: Giphy

All images Getty unless otherwise noted.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

At the Paris Air Show earlier this week, Boeing showed off a few of its 787-9 Dreamliner's tricks, including a near vertical takeoff. This new YouTube video shows the flight demo from several angles: one has the fuel-efficient plane in full view, ano...

Nokia CEO Rajeev Suri (pictured below) seems to have finally given up on saying that his company will not return to the smartphone market. Following one denial last year and another in April of this year, Suri now says the company is in fact planning on putting its name on new smartphones starting in 2016. There is a catch, however. Nokia will use the same strategy for its re-entry in the smartphone space as it did for creating the N1 tablet. Namely, while the Finns will design the devices and the company's name will be used, Nokia won't actually be producing the handsets. That task will be fulfilled by "suitable partners" Suri is hoping to find from this point on. That said, given how much brand recognition Nokia still has, this should not be an issue. Foxconn, which is the licensee for the N1 tablet, could be one interested party. Nokia can't even do this licensing dance before the second half of next year because of the terms of the deal through which it sold its mobile division to Microsoft in 2013. Since the N1 tablet runs Android, we assume future Nokia-branded phones will go the same route. While Microsoft hasn't been able to grab any significant smartphone market share after acquiring Nokia's mobile business, maybe Nokia itself will once again rise in that space even without any production capacity of its own. Source (in...

Swedish producer and multi-instrumentalist Peter Tägtgren (HYPOCRISY, PAIN) recently spoke to Bloody Disgusting about LINDEMANN, his new project with vocalist Till Lindemann of German industrial metallers RAMMSTEIN. Asked how the idea for the project first came about, Peter said: "In 2013, Till invited me to a festival in Sweden that RAMMSTEIN was headlining. When I got there, he said, 'Hey, I'm going to have two years off. I want to write some music with you.' I said, 'Okay. Let's do it!' And that's really how it started." He continued: "[Till] was always a fan of PAIN's music. He wanted to do guest vocals on PAIN songs, but when I was free, he was busy, and when he was free, I was busy, so it never worked out. So, finally we started to do one song, which was 'Ladyboy', and it was just like opening a funnel. The ideas just crawling out left and right and now we have 12 songs. It's insane." Peter also spoke about Till's decision to sing in English for the first time in his career. Tägtgren said: "I don't miss the German, let's put it that way. [Laughs] His voice is so strong, I just think it's genius. I know the hardcore RAMMSTEIN fans might not be happy, but when he sings in English, you don't miss the German language. It sounds fucking killer. It's really fucking amazing." He continued: "It was good, because some songs he started writing the lyrics first, and I got inspired by the words. I started writing music on that. He would call me and ask what I'm doing. He told me once that he was in Canada on the Yukon River and I was, like, 'What?!' And he was telling me about how he wrote lyrics for this river and how he wanted me to write a song. So, he sent me the lyrics and it inspired me to write music. That's the way we've been working together. It feels very unique. Once, he was singing into his iPhone and he sent me the file and I built music around it. That's how we got 'Praise Abort'." According to Peter, there are already ideas for LINDEMANN's follow-up to the "Skills In Pills" album, which will be released on June 23 via Warner. "We're rolling already!" he said. "We were already writing stupid lyrics when we were drunk and shit. We're going at it. We're going to go as long as we have inspiration. Maybe it stops at five songs but at least we have half an album done, you know? It's just so easy to write music together. No pressure. We do it because we can." Photo courtesy of Warner Music / Tomaso Baldesarini

Due to injuries sustained in Dave Grohl's fall from the stage during FOO FIGHTERS' June 12 show at Ullevi Stadium in Gothenburg, Sweden, doctors have required the cancelation of the remainder of the band's dates in Europe. After undergoing surgery Monday, Dave's full recuperation time is still to be determined. It was previously announced that FOO FIGHTERS' June 14 appearance at the Pinkpop festival and June 16 show at the AFG Arena in St. Gallen, Switzerland were canceled. The following dates have now been canceled as well: June 19-20 - London, UK - Wembley Stadium June 23 - Edinburgh, UK - BT Murrayfield Stadium June 25 - Werchter, Belgium - Festivalpark Werchter June 26 - Glastonbury Festival 2015 Said Dave in a message to his followers: "Two songs into our set at Ullevi Stadium in Gothenburg, I made a mad dash to the right of the stage during 'Monkey Wrench' to shred some tasty licks for the kids up front. It was a beautiful night, beautiful stadium, 52,000 screaming people….dream gig! Well….wait for it….I definitely shredded something (ZING!) Wound up feet first over the edge (pun intended), dropping about 12 feet, dislocating my ankle and snapping my fibula like an old pair of take out chopsticks. Whoopsie daisy. Not good. Without realizing the extent of my injuries, I stood up to get back onstage and crumbled like a sack of Joe Theismanns (look it up, kiddies). That shit was B-R-O-K-E. "As I lay there on my back, I just thought, 'Are you kidding me? We haven't even gotten to the screamy bit of the song and the gig is fucking OVER?' So, I asked for a microphone and told the audience I'd get fixed up and come right back to finish the show ASAP. "Shock? Probably. But, I couldn't stand the thought of such a perfect night going to waste! I looked at our drummer Taylor, and said, 'Bust out some CHEVY METAL covers while they fix me up!' So, as the band kicked in to 'Stay With Me' by THE FACES, the medics poured me onto a stretcher, took me off to the side, cut my favorite pants off (so bummed) and popped my ankle back into place. I asked if I could get back onstage to finish the show, but they said I needed a cast (which was 20 minutes away at the hospital) to hold my ankle in place. So I looked my EMT, Johan, in the eyes and said, 'Well, then you're coming up there with me right now and holding it in place until they can bring the cast here. Ready?' He stared at me wide-eyed for a second and said, 'OK, let's go…' "I don't know who was more scared, me or Johan. Five minutes later, I don't know who was having more fun, me or Johan. (I actually looked at him in between songs and said, 'This is pretty fun, isn't it?' He smiled and nodded yes.) "Like clockwork, the cast arrived, I walked offstage for a song or two as they put it on me, and then came back to finish the gig. Let's just say that singing our song 'Walk' with a straight face was pretty goddamned hard. 'These Days' was a good one, too. (Easy for you to say! Your leg has never been broken!) All in all, it was without a doubt the single most bizarre FOO FIGHTERS show in the entire 20 years of being a band. Hands down. What seemed like a tragedy at first turned into a triumph, and we all walked away with a new sense of appreciation for what we've got… "Straight to the hospital for x-rays, where we finally saw the extent of the damage. That's when things got really real. I was told I needed surgery to fix the break. I decided to fly back to London and find a doctor that could see me ASAP. (Thanks for the recommendation, Paul!) An MRI and a few x-rays later, we set a date and prepared for the operation. "Operation went well. Had a great team and nice stay in hospital. Good curry, too! Thank you to everyone involved. "So….here I am, recovering with six metal screws in my leg, thinking about a lifetime of holding up TSA lines from here to Kalamazoo….damn. "Here's the not so witty bit… My doctors have advised me to lay low for a while. The most important thing now is for me to recover from the surgery, to keep my leg elevated so as to keep swelling down and prevent any infection/complication that could do long term damage. I'm not out of the woods yet, folks… "Which means, and it kills me to say it…..the doctors have told us to cancel shows. I'm really so sorry, guys. You know I hate to do it, but I'm afraid it's just not physically possible for me at the moment. We're doing our best right now to work out a plan, so bear with us. You know we're good for our word. But for now, I need to make sure we have YEARS of gigs ahead of us…. "You have always stood by our band, and we will always stand by you. Like I say at every show, we wouldn't be here if it weren't for you guys. And I mean that. I thank you from the bottom of my heart. And I will do everything I can to come back and give you a night to remember for the rest of your lives AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. "Until then… my sincerest apologies." FOO FIGHTERS are scheduled to kick off a massive North America tour in Washington D.C. on July 4, the 20th anniversary of the release of the band's first album.

In a brand new interview with RockSverige.se, RAMMSTEIN frontman Till Lindemann offered his thoughts on the current state of the music industry. "The only thing I can say is that I don't wanna start a band these days," he said. "It's quite impossible to live off of it. The record companies don't give you a chance, like in the old days when they went, 'Here's a pile of money. Go make a good record!' Music these days, in my opinion, is fast produced and homemade and all digital and low budget. As a newcomer, you have no chance. Everything is cheap and low budget, in my opinion, and there's nothing good coming out these days, except for DJs. There's a whole new and modern DJ culture, like Skrillex and those guys. There's a total changeover in the music and the quality in music and the taste in music is totally different. We're never gonna see bands like LED ZEPPELIN or BLACK SABBATH again. It's over." Lindemann's comments deviate slightly from those of JUDAS PRIEST singer Rob Halford who said in a recent interview: "Will there be another great, big rock-star giant like Ozzy Osbourne? Will there be another great, big rock-star giant like Axl Rose, for example. Does that really matter? I don't know. But it's shifted, it's changed. The good news is there's an extraordinary display of talent coming from all different quarters in all different genres of rock and roll. So the future looks bright." Halford added: "My mate Gene Simmons [KISS] said 'rock and roll is dead' [a few months] ago, which caused a bit of a ruckus. I don't believe it's dead. I think it's thriving, I think it's great, and I think the future's bright. Not only the bands that are coming up now, but the bands that are starting where we started forty years ago, making noise in the garage or whatever. It's great." VENOM vocalist/bassist Conrad "Cronos" Lant echoed Halford's sentiments in a recent interview, saying: "I was telling some press guy recently, where the fucking hell are all the frontmen? Where have they gone? It seems like that's one of the biggest things that's missing at the minute, is where's the new people like... and I'm not saying copycat... but I'm saying the next charismatic figure. Where's the next Ozzy Osbourne? Where's the next fucking Alice Cooper? It's just girls at the fucking minute, 'cause when you see the stage show for artists like Pink and even these fucking Aguileras and all the rest of these fucking Katy Perrys, they are putting on incredible shows and they're fucking kick-ass bitches with a fucking attitude! And it's like, 'Wow!' Frontwomen. I'm up for that. [Laughs]"

IRON MAIDEN's eagerly awaited new studio album, "The Book Of Souls", will be released globally on September 4 through Parlophone Records (Sanctuary Copyrights/BMG in the U.S.A.). It was recorded in Paris with their longstanding producer Kevin "Caveman" Shirley in late 2014, with the finishing touches added earlier this year. However, the band decided to delay its release so that vocalist Bruce Dickinson, who was recently given the all-clear from a tumour, would have time to recuperate sufficiently to join in the preparations for the album's launch. The stunning cover art was created by Mark Wilkinson, who has worked with the band previously, and because this 11-track album has a total running time of 92 minutes, it is IRON MAIDEN's first-ever double studio album. There's a broader split on the songwriting compared to previous MAIDEN records, with bassist and founder member Steve Harris contributing to seven of the tracks; six of them with MAIDEN's guitarists and one sole composition. This is also the first time since 1984's "Powerslave" that an IRON MAIDEN studio album also features two tracks written solely by Bruce Dickinson, one of which is the longest song MAIDEN has ever recorded! And also two Dickinson/Smith collaborations. Steve comments: "We approached this album in a different way to how we've recorded previously. A lot of the songs were actually written while we were there in the studio and we rehearsed and recorded them straight away while they were still fresh, and I think that immediacy really shows in the songs, they have almost a live feel to them, I think. I'm very proud of 'The Book Of Souls', we all are, and we can't wait for our fans to hear it, and especially to take it out on the road next year!" Bruce continues: "We're really excited about 'The Book Of Souls' and had a fantastic time creating it. We started working on the album in late summer 2014 and recorded it at Guillame Tell Studios in Paris, where we'd done the 'Brave New World' album back in 2000 so the studio holds special memories for all of us. We were delighted to discover the same magical vibe is still alive and very much kicking there! So we immediately felt at home and the ideas just started flowing. By the time we'd finished we all agreed that each track was such an integral part of the whole body of work that if it needed to be a double album, then double its going to be!" The full track listing is: Disc 1 01. If Eternity Should Fail (Dickinson) 8:28 02. Speed Of Light (Smith/ Dickinson) 5:01 03. The Great Unknown (Smith/ Harris) 6:37 04. The Red And The Black (Harris) 13:33 05. When The River Runs Deep (Smith/ Harris) 5:52 06. The Book Of Souls (Gers/ Harris) 10:27 Disc 2 07. Death Or Glory (Smith/ Dickinson) 5:13 08. Shadows Of The Valley (Gers/ Harris) 7:32 09. Tears Of A Clown (Smith/ Harris) 4:59 10. The Man Of Sorrows (Murray/ Harris) 6:28 11. Empire Of The Clouds (Dickinson) 18:01 Formats: * 2CD deluxe hardbound book limited edition * 2CD standard edition * Triple heavyweight black vinyl * High res audio (24-bit Mastered for ITunes and non-Mastered for iTunes) * Standard res audio (16 bit/ 44.1 kHz) "The Book Of Souls" is IRON MAIDEN's 16th studio album since their eponymous debut in 1980 charted at #4 in the UK, in a career achieving sales of over 90 million albums worldwide. Their previous album, 2010's "The Final Frontier", was MAIDEN's most successful chart-wise to date, reaching Number One in 28 countries and was their highest chart debut in the U.S reaching #4 in The Billboard 200. Due to Bruce's illness, the band had to delay touring plans but promise to be out on the road again early next year, giving time for Bruce to make a full physical recovery to be ready for the rigours of MAIDEN live performances.

rainnecassidy:

scottlynch78:

matociquala:

A Maryland woman, a widowed mother of four, received the note above concerning her display of rainbow solar jars in her own yard. (Story at the Portland Edge, here.)

That’s the relentless gayness that might harm the children. Rainbow solar jars.

The woman in question is apparently awesomesocks, however, and has started a GoFundMe campaign in response, in order to gay up her yard enough to be worth complaining about. You can find it here. 

YOUR YARD IS BECOMING RELENTLESSLY GAY.

I’ll take “Shit You Just Can’t Make Up for $500,” Alex!

relentlessly gay

It's no longer a challenge to get astonishingly sharp photos of the Earth from space, but video? That's another matter. UrtheCast is about to open the floodgates, however. It just released the first batch of full-color, high-definition video of Earth...

Following the lead of Google, Wikipedia and Facebook, Reddit announced on Wednesday that it will begin encrypting all of its traffic by the end of the month. Once July rolls around, users will see the increasingly common HTTPS header in Reddit URLs. ...

A Fallout 4 fan has found an clever way to pre-order Bethesda's recently-announced open-world game.

Ever since playing Fallout 3 for the first time, Imgur user GatorMacheteJr has been saving bottle caps for the past 7.5 years. As Fallout 4 is now available for pre-order, they have amassed an estimated 2,240 bottle caps (over 11 pounds) with the intention of covering their pre-order using Fallout's iconic legal tender.

"If it's not obvious, I'm a pretty big fan of the series," Gator said in a letter to developer Bethesda. "Needless to say, I got pretty excited when I started seeing more and more of Fallout 4. I've also noticed you're now accepting pre-orders. I only saw prices listed in pre-war dollars, and I wasn't exactly sure what the exchange rate is these days, so I went ahead and sent everything in I've been able to save since I played Fallout 3 for the first time."

Continue reading…

A while back I wrote a long article about all the ways the government is making it nearly impossible to employ low-skilled labor.  I worried that because it is getting harder and harder to profitably employ low-skill labor, the country would soon sort itself into those with skills and jobs and those on government assistance, with little or no opportunity for people in the second category to move to the first.

As part of that article, I observed that much of the capital in this country is flowing to new business models that use minimal numbers of employees.  I wrote:

Is it any surprise that most entrepreneurs are pursuing business models where they leverage revenues via technology and a relatively small, high-skill workforce?  Uber and Lyft at first seem to buck this trend, with their thousands of drivers.  But in fact they prove the rule.  Uber and Lyft are very very careful to define themselves and their service in a way that all those drivers don't work for them.  I would go so far to say that if Uber were forced to actually put all of those drivers on their payroll, and deal with they myriad of labor compliance issues, their model would fall apart.

Well, we are going to find out if my last statement is true.

The California labor commission has ruled that an Uber driver qualifies as an employee, not a contractor, of the company.  As a result Uber will have to reimburse a driver for expenses accumulated in the line of duty. That includes $256 in tolls and the IRS rate of $0.56 per mile for use of a personal vehicle for business purposes.

The actual issue in this case of reimbursement of expenses is pretty narrow, and actually kind of stupid.  Uber is already paying drivers effectively by the mile by giving them a percentage of the mileage-based fee customers pay.  All this will do is cause Uber to reduce the share of revenues drivers get by something like 56 cents a mile and then hand the $0.56 to them in a separate check.  Its an extra accounting and paperwork hassle, but business people deal with mitigating such government-imposed stupidity 10 times a day.

No, the real danger of this ruling lies far beyond expense reimbursement.  A few top of head thoughts

• This would obviously make Uber drivers subject to minimum wage.  How does one even figure that out?  Now that there are local minimum wages (e.g. LA soon to be $15 an hour) how do you compute minimum wage for a trip that begins outside of LA but ends inside the city?  Or vice versa?
• Uber drivers currently only get paid for transporting passengers, but what about their time driving around waiting for a passenger?  Will that be classified as standby time for which the employer must pay for?  You can expect the standby time class action in California in 3..2..1..
• This changes the whole relationship between Uber and its drivers.  Currently, Uber does not have to worry about driver productivity or work ethic, as long as they get good customer ratings when they do drive. Why?  Because Uber is not paying them except when they haul a passenger.  Now, if they have to pay them by the hour, Uber suddenly must police them for productivity and set minimum revenue generation targets for drivers.  The flexibility that drivers love will be gone.
• And then there is Obamacare.  If drivers drive more than 29 hours a week, Uber would have to provide health care or pay really expensive penalties.  Will Uber find it necessary, as my company has and many other service businesses have, to cap driver hours at 29 hours a week max?
• What about California break law?  Employers have an affirmative duty to make sure employees take a 30 minute unpaid meal break after X hours.  And just allowing for it (ie allowing drivers to put themselves in unavailable status) is not enough - employers have to have processes and documentation in place to make sure the employee takes their break (I kid you not).
• What about CalOSHA?  Is Uber suddenly responsible for working conditions and safety in the vehicle?  And how does it do that if it does not own the vehicle?
• Every employee is essentially his or her own manager.  Does that now make Uber subject to ensuring every driver has all state-mandated manager training, such as sexual harassment training?
• Employers are typically liable for actions by their employees, even if those employees are breaking the rules and ignoring the employer's wishes.  Is Uber now liable for a driver who, say, verbally harasses a passenger?  In the past, that gets sorted out pretty fast by the rating system, but does Uber have to take a more direct hand now do avoid a deluge of lawsuits?
• As of July 1, California employers must provide paid sick leave to employees.  They must provide unpaid leave under the family and medical leave acts.  In fact, California requires employers provide and track literally dozens of forms of mandatory paid and unpaid leave (including leave for victims of stalkers, just as one example of the scope of these requirements)
• The taxes and required fees owed by employers for each employee are myriad.  State and Federal income tax must be withheld, Social Security and Medicare taxes paid, California state disability tax paid, unemployment tax paid, and workers compensation premiums paid.
• Unemployment could be real nightmare.  Can drivers choose to drive for a while, then take unemployment for a while, maybe while tourist season in San Francisco is slow, then go back to driving?  You think that can't happen?  A number of my seasonal employees work in the summer, then take unemployment all winter despite having no intention of trying to find work in the winter.  I pay 7% of wages in California as unemployment taxes and would pay more except that scale is capped and I can't get in a worse category than my current F-.
• Then there are a myriad of smaller issues that probably can be solved but consume bandwidth of a company's management that would otherwise be innovating.  As one small example, one has to post about 20 different state and Federal labor posters in CA where all employees can see them.  Where would that be for Uber drivers?

Stephen Elop, the former Nokia CEO who helped engineer Microsoft's acquisition of that company's mobile arm, will soon be leaving Microsoft. The software giant announced a management restructuring this morning which lists Elop as one of three executi...

RBS has just stepped into another IT nightmare. The company, which owns the Royal Bank of Scotland, NatWest, Coutts and Ulster Bank, has admitted that 600,000 customer transactions weren't completed last night. It hasn't revealed the exact nature of ...

Perhaps it's that all the levels have simple, left-to-right objectives, or maybe it's just that they're so iconic, but for some reason older Mario games have long been a target for those interested in AI and machine learning. The latest effort is cal...

File under: Latest News

Photo credit: YouTube / Leo Burnett There's nothing more frustrating than getting stuck behind a slow HGV on a twisty road and never quite being able to see if it's safe to overtake. continue reading

An Estonian cup match ends up 36-0, with a defender reaching double figures in the game - but falls well short of the world record.

Swiss prosecutors investigating claims of Fifa corruption are probing 53 cases of possible money laundering reported by banks, the attorney general says.

Guitar Hero Live showed off its guns when it was first announced in April, and we were able to try our hand at playing it. But even after a lengthy introduction, the specifics of one of the game's more ambitious features - GHTV - seemed rather vague. Put simply, it's a music service where players can find and select the songs they want to play. But instead of having band mates and a crowd cheer you on or boo according to your performance like in the Live portion, GHTV lets you play songs with the music video playing in the background. We recently met up with FreeStyle Games creative director and studio head, Jamie Jackson, to get more details about GHTV's functions.

For those who are unaware, Guitar Hero Live uses actors to simulate playing a live performance in front of huge audience. Play well, and your band mates will compliment you while the audience cheers wildly. Playing poorly earns you the opposite reaction. The custom guitar has six fret buttons on it, arranged in three upper black and lower white keys. Although it's an efficient system, it takes some getting used to compared to the traditional toy guitar, especially when switching back and forth between upper and lower frets. New songs that were not seen in the previous demo include 45 by Gaslight Anthem; Little Monster by Royal Blood, and King for a Day by Pierce the Veil.

While the Live mode can be regarded as the game's story based campaign, made up of two big music festivals (so far) and 10 bands to play alongside, GHTV is like an open online MMO. Players drop into songs at anytime and start playing in leaderboard competition against each other.

It starts by hitting the GHTV button, located near the bottom of the guitar's body. Players can hit the button at any time, even while in the middle of Live mode, to go directly to GHTV without having to flip through menus. From there, players can jump into whatever song happens to be playing. Hitting the button again brings you to the GHTV main menu, which is arranged in different shows, and lets you know what songs will be coming up next at what time. Shows are curated playlists built around different themes, and they start and end at pre-designated time schedules. So, you can plan around play a rock show at a certain time, much like tuning into a TV show.

Players will also be greeted to a custom welcome screen, with the types of music they play most organized into boxes. Guitar Hero Live will track player preferences as they play different songs on GHTV, and the opening screen will reflect those tastes. So, if you mostly play classic rock songs, the system will automatically assume that it's what you like best, and won't bring up featured Pop music. GHTV content will be updated constantly in the background with new shows and a broader music selection. The custom music screen highlights the new content you might be interested in. However, I should state that the GHTV interface is still a work in progress, so it's possible that the final version will change significantly.

Jumping into a song brings you to a music video, with the interactive music highway overlaid on top of it, and people playing the song at the same time shown on the left side along with their current scores. Chances are, songs will already be underway when you start up, but you can still jump straight in and play whatever remains of the song. The game will know if you were late to the party and will give you an option to replay the song when it's over. Unlike the Live mode, there's no way to fail out of a song. So, you're free to mess up as much as you want, or you could just sit back and just listen to the song if you don't care to compete.

However, playing and scoring applies to more than rankings. Playing GHTV earns credits, which can be used to purchase Play tokens, which are used to pick whichever song you happen to be in the mood for. Plays are free, and are earned simply by playing GHTV, gaining experience, and leveling up. Yes, GHTV has a progression system. Leveling up unlocks new gear, like custom designs for the music highway, and the in-game credits are used to purchase them. There will also be bonus powers available, like Invincibility, which will temporarily lock your score when you activate it, so you can get through really tough parts of a song. As of this writing, there is no word on what the maximum level will be or what all the bonus abilities are.

Probably the most impressive use of the in-game currency will be to gain access to Premium shows. These shows may consist of special themes, unreleased albums, or pre-recorded live shows that players will have a chance to participate in. Other ways to join the Premium show, if you don't have enough credits, is to complete a series of tiered game challenges, which typically means playing through a group of songs and getting a minimum score. The credit system just lets you bypass the challenges. I asked if it would eventually be possible for these shows to support live sessions as they're happening, and Jackson stated that although it's not possible now, the feature shouldn't be completely ruled out for the future. Other features that will be implemented in the future will include player-to-player challenges and sharing custom playlists,

As expected, GHTV will also feature a real-world currency system which I'll refer to as Hero Credits (HC), although that might not be the final name for it. HC is used exclusively for purchasing songs for your library, so that you can play them anytime you want with having to use a Play token. For now, the system is limited to purchasing individual songs. There's no word yet on whether players will eventually be able to purchase entire albums. Purchased songs will only be available on the system you're playing on, and cannot be transferred between consoles and the mobile version.

Playing alongside music videos is a pretty straightforward means of playing Guitar Hero Live, and it lacks the sort of real time performance feedback you get from the Live mode. However, GHTV's main goal is not so much to replicate the Live experience, but to offer a means of discovering new music that can be played on demand. The developers will keeping a constant eye on the data, and will expand popular or highly requested genres. As evidence of its effectiveness, the first time I loaded up GHTV, I happened to get dropped into a song that I'd never heard of, but really enjoyed and wanted to learn more about. In that moment, I discovered a new band simply by going into GHTV.

There are still a number of kinks to work out. There need to be some more social aspects, like passing along song recommendations to friends. Then there needs to be a more efficient way to see if a song you like is available. Right now, there still a bit of menu switching and searching involved. It would be great if the game could integrate an app like Shazam or SoundHound to quickly search out music players might have heard on the radio. But the system is continuously evolving, so the developers will have plenty of time and opportunity to fix any issues that might arise.

Guitar Hero Live releases this fall for the Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3, PS4 and Wii U.

The fifth season of "Game of Thrones" came to a close on Sunday night, leaving us in a pool of tears after that character's death. It was a devastating finale that packed in a surplus of storylines, but also left fans with a ton of questions.

Spoiler alert for Season 5, Episode 10, "Mother's Mercy."


Image via HBO/HuffPost

Just one of the many events from the finale leaving us with endless questions is Jon Snow's death. (First of all: why???) We've speculated over the possible ways in which Jon (Kit Harington) could return to the series eventually, especially after George R.R. Martin gave us more hope for Jon in the books. But still, a lot went down in "Mother's Mercy" that has everyone confused. Here are all the things we're still wondering about after the Season 5 finale:

• Is Jon seriously gone forever?


• Will Melisandre resurrect him?


• If not, why is she even at The Wall?


• Will Jon's body be burned so he won't turn into a Wight?

Image via Tumblr

• Where is Ghost and why didn't he save Jon from the attack?


• Is Stannis actually dead?


• If so, why didn't they show Brienne fully kill him?


• Where was Roose Bolton during the battle?


• Speaking of that battle, um, why didn't we see it?


• Hey HBO, can you increase the "Game of Thrones" budget so we can see the battle, please?

Image via Tumblr

• Is Ser Davos going to avenge Shireen after her death?


• Did Sansa and Theon actually survive that insane jump? (If so, how?)


• Is Myrcella gone for good?


• Is Jaime going to turn that ship around and seek revenge?

• Why were the Sand Snakes so lame?


• Where was Tommen during Cersei's Walk of Shame?


• Are Margaery and Loras still in prison and will they be freed?


• Can Ser Pounce please come back?


• Is Dany in grave danger with the Dothraki?


• Are the Dothraki really not going to find the ring Daenerys dropped right in front of them?


• Is Drogon still napping?

Image via Tumblr

• How pissed are Rhaegal and Viserion for missing out on all the dragon action?


• Are we eventually going to see what Qyburn did to The Mountain?


• If Qyburn can save The Mountain, can't he save Jon somehow? (Please.)


• Where is Benjen Stark, for real?

Image via Tumblr

• On that note of missing persons, where the heck are Rickon and Osha?


• Oh, and where is Gendry??


• What has Bran been doing this whole time?


• Will Jorah get jealous and try to kill Daario during their trip?


• Is Jorah going to die from Grayscale?


• Isn't Mace Tyrell like, "Uh, where's Meryn Trant?"


• How long will Arya stay blind?

• Also, what the heck happened when Jaqen drank the poison and Arya swiped off all of the faces?


• Where is Littlefinger and what is he planning?


• What are the White Walkers doing?


• Can we be team White Walkers now??

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

You know nothing, HBO

Warning: Full spoilers from the episode follow.

"Helluva twist, isn't it?"

Um, yeah, Kendall Malone, it definitely is! So let's start this review off by talking about Sarah, S and Felix's trip to London, which got right down to business with shady deals, murder sprees and song numbers. First, I love how Mrs. S is always more connected and on top of things than we initially suspect. The fact that she already had a lead the moment they arrived was a nice change of pace from the sometimes dragged-out detective work on the show. There was even time for Mrs. S to play a set with her old bandmates, which was great.

One thing that made these scenes especially tense was the return of Topside's Ferdinand, who had almost as much of a jump on the Castor Original as S did. I'm still a bit vague on what exactly he wants out of this, but I have a feeling we'll know soon enough. For Project Castor, time seems to be of the essence since Rudy is now exhibiting the same symptoms Seth did near the beginning of the season.

Continue reading…