In the 13th century there existed a legion of evil knights known as the Templars, who quested for eternal life by drinking human blood and committing sacrifices. Executed for their unholy deeds, the Templars bodies were left out for the crows to peck out their eyes. Now, in modern day Portugal, a group of people stumble on the Templars abandoned monastery, reviving their rotting corpses to terrorize the land.
You may expect foxy ladies, raw cinematography, creepy musical guidance and some slightly perverted undertones. The basic plot involves a creepy Spanish myth of devil-worshiping Templars who leave their tombs at night and dwell around the ruins of a deserted ghost town. The zombies look very filthy and they move in terrifying slow motion! The few sequences in which the blind dead (blind because their eyes were pecked out by crows) chase their victims on their doomed horses are brilliant and some of the most effective horror ever shown. Prepare yourself for a genuinely apocalyptic ending as well, one that'll leave you speechless!
Of course, the film is filled with improbabilities and some immense structure holes, but De Ossorio's ingenious visions are so surprising that you easily forgive him for this. Highly recommended!!
While earlier records are playful forays into the genre, The Velvet Touch of... (their third full-length release) is the result of endless touring and the confidence that comes with it. This time out, while still reverential of the past (their music honors the greats like Dick Dale and the Ventures), they wildly color the mix, with rewarding results. From the grinding swagger of "Rockula" to the blitzkrieg of buzzing guitars in "Hornet's Nest," Velvet Touch should appeal to rock fans of all persuasions. A hint of world music drifts through tracks like "Tabouli," with its sensuous Middle-Eastern feel, and the brassy, Tex-Mex flavored "Tijuana Boots." The band brazenly turns Louis Prima's "Sing, Sing, Sing," into a swinging surfabilly number, and the Telstar-treatment of "My Heart Will Go On" (yes, from Titanic) is a showstopper, played with a keen awareness of Hollywood melodrama. (The best part is that they seem completely sincere.) This is an outstanding rock record, perfect for a dose of fun anytime. [Lorry Fleming]
Los Straitjackets' third album, The Velvet Touch of los Straitjackets, contains more witty, knowing guitar instrumentals that appropriate the best of surf, jangly pop, rockabilly, and spaghetti Western soundtracks with aplomb. Driving surf numbers like "Tempest" and "Hornet's Nest" are mixed with sweeter sounds like "Close to Champaign" and a cover of "My Heart Will Go On" that places the song closer to the Pacific shoreline than Atlantic icebergs. Klezmer and Mexican elements flavor songs like "Tabouli" and "Tijuana Boots," and while the group's inherent cleverness and kitsch occasionally veer into self-parody, Velvet Touch is another solid effort from an always entertaining band. [Heather Phares]
This is one of my favorite Straitjackets slabs [along with ''The Utterly Fantastic...'', "Encyclopedia Of Sound" and "Supersonic Guitars"] and probaly one of their best. High energy Surf, Psychobilly, Exotica, Tex Mex instros in unbeatable LOS STRAITJACKETS style. Say... Kawanga!
Vivimos en una época de locurón por la moda. Las jóvenes (y también ellos) sueñan con ser its, bloguers, asistentes de front row, iconos, e incluso diseñadorxs. Ahora el guay del instituto no es el que se sabe todas las canciones del grupo más puntero, si no quién se conoce las colecciones de cada diseñador y consume sus posteriores clones en grandes almacenes. La moda, ha dejado de ser una industria simplemente práctica y rentable para convertirse en el símbolo aspiracional más evidente de los jóvenes. Las tribus urbanas de antaño, han devenido en grupos separados según el status de las prendas de vestir y los complementos. Siguen existiendo pijos, gente que "pasa" (hoy llamados "normcore" cuando hay cierta intencionalidad), y comprometidos sociales que exteriorizan su ideario... Pero existen un montón de matices que a ojos de los adultos pasan totalmente desapercibidos. Micromodas y detalles inventados en los colegios o copiados de estudiadísimas campañas publicitarias. La moda nunca ha estado tan viva como ahora; y lo más llamativo: es una disciplina cultural más.
Los museos albergan diseños y diseñadores; comienza a haber preparadísimos historiadores de la moda, y se intensifican, ramifican y mejoran notablemente los estudios y las titulaciones al respecto.
Los varones están siendo cada vez más absorbidos por esta vorágine. Da cuenta de ello, la edición española de Icon (al abrigo de El País), las crecientes líneas masculinas de firmas tradicionalmente de mujeres o la preocupación por vestir al hombre de hombre, de modistos de altura.
La figura del/la estilista es habitual en cualquier sector de cara al público, en cafés y tertulias se habla de la sucesión monárquica y de Margiela en el mismo tono, y hasta Calzados Mari Paz, copia a la alta costura. Pero vestir con estilo no depende del cuerpo o del dinero que se tenga (Como piensa Manu, de Rusos Blancos). De hecho, lo caro, la ostentación o el marquismo, es algo socialmente penado por la burguesía más pudiente, tal y como expone magistralmente la autora de este artículo. Dice "Se invierten los códigos, pero no del todo. La criada que el domingo se viste de señora reivindica un deseo, pero la señora que se disfraza de criada muestra un abismo social. La choni con el bolso de Vuitton cree que está más guapa si lleva un objeto que puebla las revistas y llevan las famosas. La rica que lleva un jersey roto de CDG, unos pantalones sucios de Margiela y unas ojeras pintadas con una base de YSL sabe que no va guapísima, pero que de esa forma innova y se distingue de sus amigas ricas imitando lo que ella cree que debería ser un pobre."
Vestir bien no es cuestión de dinero, si no de gusto y sentido artístico, ya que afectan las mismas nociones de armonía, color, proporción y textura que en cualquier otra disciplina. Y también, como en el arte, "el ojo se hace", se adquiere una experiencia sensitiva previa. Escoger una prenda y no otra, es decidir sobre uno de los "yo" que nos definen: el que queremos presentar al mundo. Los colores, las estaciones del año y los estados de ánimo influyen muchísimo en la sociología del vestir. Si me apuran es hasta una cuestión política: Se viste de una determinada forma para: "pasar desapercibidx", resultar sexualmente deseable, o demostrar cierta posición social. Siempre hay un objetivo último. La gran Araceli Segura, me dijo un día "No hay que vestir como lo que seas, sino como lo que deseas ser"; y me parece una de las grandes máximas de la vida.
El "secreto" por decirlo de alguna manera, sería que no exista disonancia entre nuestras aspiraciones y las prendas que vestimos. Miley Cyrus, por ejemplo, va hecha una fistra, pero le queda excepcionalmente bien, porque hace suyos los lookitos que lleva. Se lo cree. Arriesga, prueba, se equivoca, acierta... y por el camino disfruta y se define. (Ella y una docena de estilistas, seguro).
Termino con unos despieces de esos que tanto les gustan a ustedes, con unos ejemplitos muy diferentes, para captar la esencia general:
LUGARES CON GENTE BIEN VESTIDA
-Festival Sónar de Barcelona. Es una cita en la que prima la comodidad y la vanguardia. Ambas cosas juntas, dan grandes alegrías (y algún pequeño disgusto cuando los mozalbetes se quitan la camiseta).
-Terraza Disaronno en La Casa Encendida de Madrid. Hay terrazas en áticos que pretenden ser guays y no les sale. Ésta que les digo, se caracteriza por un agradable y distendido ambiente con todo tipo de gente. Todo está en su punto justo. Las chicas que llevan croc tops, los lucen con la misma gracia que los que se visten con una camisa abierta y desaliñada. Convive una saludable mezcla de edades y gustos, tan diferente como integradora. Abre todo el verano, y va a ser uno de mis lugares habituales para pasar los próximos atardeceres de mi vida. La vista (en todos los sentidos) es de lo más agradable y sólida.
(Aquí B Flecha, viniéndose arriba en la Terraza Disaronno)
-La calle Barrenkale en el Casco Viejo de Bilbao, aglutina el famoso buen gusto norteño a la perfección. Últimamente no paran de abrir exposiciones, barecitos, mercadillos y lugares donde se luce la gente y se engendran las tendencias.
LUGARES CON GENTE MAL VESTIDA
-El Mercado de Motores de Madrid. El público promedio es demasiado joven como para ser clásico y demasiado mayor como para innovar. Al final, los jóvenes padres (que es el público mayoritario) acuden allí con acomodaticias barbas, deseos no consumados de innovación y looks un par de años por detrás de las tendencias.
-Sección de "Pequeño electrodoméstico" de El Corte Inglés. Cuando he pasado por allí he encontrado mucho pantalón pirata blanco y ancho, mucha camiseta con chistecito (como las de "MariTrini" con el logo de Martini, cosas de esas), mucha prenda ajustada marcando lorza latina, y complementos miserables.
-Resorts de pulserita y cruceros masivos: La democratización de las vacaciones a ultramar ha traído nefastas consecuencias para las costas tailandesas y caribeñas y las cubiertas de ciertas embarcaciones masivas. Turistas recolorados y extragrasos, pretenden recuperar la armonía con la naturaleza que perdieron varios siglos atrás, y para ello se engalanan con surtidos espantos de Tommy Hilfiger, Dolce & Gabanna, Versace y muchos tirantes y brilli brilli.
GENTES BIEN VESTIDAS
María Rubio: La mayoría de ustedes no la conocen, pero los que sí (esforzados trabajadores del medio televisivo sobre todo) sabrán que es la Helena Bonham Carter española, siempre con mitones y ropajes colganderos, que pese a no gustarme, reconozco que sabe lucir con un estilazo único.
Linda Mirada es la comprobación empírica de que quien tiene buen gusto para algo, lo tiene para todo. Es tan talentosa y refinada musicalmente como con su armario, con el que tiene una relación de respeto, muy cortés y distinguida.
Johnny Depp cada vez se va volviendo más loco con su indumentaria. Tal vez vaya hecho un payaso, pero se le ve tan a gusto que dignifica el vestir masculino. Quiero saber hasta dónde va a llegar, porque seguro que es un buen sitio para la moda.
Andrea Caracortada, responsable de Ponytail. Nadie como ella sabe lucir una dulzura tan chunga.
-Karmele Marchante: Cuando me tocaba atender el teléfono de aludidos en Sálvame, había mucha gente -pero mucha- que llamaba para decir que le encantaba cómo vestía Lydia Lozano y lo mamarracha que era Karmele en cuanto a su atuendo. La verdad, a mí, encantándome las dos, me parece justo al contrario. Claro que atender aquel teléfono era poesía pura. Se sentía aludida media España, y llamaban diciendo "Pásame a Kiko hernández" o "Dile a Belén Esteban de mi parte que me da mucho asco verla comer, que soy Jose, de Cuenca" o "Es que padezco de la vesícula y me hacéis mucha compañía". En cualquier caso, Karmele tiene tino a la hora de arreglarse, y eso hay que reconocérselo.
-Ferran Pla, artísticamente conocido como Feréstec. Tiene un aspecto asépticamente agradable. Tira a clásico, pero jamás sentirá vergüenza al ver fotos suyas del pasado. Es comedidamente neutro y exquisitamente cautivador en su aspecto. (Su némesis en cuanto a vestimenta, sería Otto, la otra cara -arriesgada, inspirada y cubista- de la moda).
GENTES MAL VESTIDAS
-Maria Teresa Campos: Su proverbial mal gusto para lucir rabiosos estampados es ya un clásico en nuestras televisiones. Me produce cierto encono, porque ésta es una auténtica líder de opinión, una influencer en el más amplio sentido de la palabra. Y estaría muy bien que utilizara su fama para demostrar que una mujer sin ser guapa, ni joven, ni delgada, puede resultar muy estilosa. Pues nada, no hay manera...
-Hugo Silva: No veo atractivo ninguno a eso tan español de lucir un aspecto de "chavalote majo".
-Letizia Ortiz: Influye y para mal, estar seca y consumida. Todo queda sin gracia. Pero cuando se pretende ser elegante conforme a unos cánones tan rígidos, la cosa no llega a buen puerto jamás. Abusa de marrones y tonos pastel que no le favorecen nada. (El no comer, es lo que tiene, que el tono de piel es muy apagado). La falta de naturalidad tampoco ayuda, y si a esto le añadimos patronajes clásicos y sin riesgo, nos encontramos con una reina despersonalizada, sosa, dirigida y muy cutre, que no acertamos a conocer. Se nota que España es un país pobre al verla a ella. Siempre parecerá una dependienta mona de una boutique de barrio.
-Rita Ora (la cantaora). Se ponga lo que se ponga, parece que es de mercadillo barato y que huela mal.
-Pablo Motos: Con tanto ansia por chupar plano, debería equilibrar y saber ser protagonista con la ropa. Luce un constante estado de mediocridad con camisas de color negro o blanco. Así, vamos mal...
-Katia Aveiro: Es de esas personas que pierde (y mucho) cuando se arregla.
Hola, basta de ir por la vida como héroes y reconozcamos que hay cosas que aunque sean estúpidas o de hija de puta, molan y te proporcionan la felicidad de quien es un simple mortal.
1. Romper cosas follando. Mobiliario o ropa, los polvos salvajes molan.
2. Que tu ex utilice con su pareja las copas de vino donde tu aclarabas la cuchilla cuando te rasurabas. Tías, no uséis NUNCA lo que compró otra.
3. Adelgazar. Mira no conozco a nadie que no sonría al ver que pesa menos A NADIE, otra cosa muy distinta es no ser capaz de ser feliz por no tener un peso/talla determinado, OJO.
4. Comprarte la prenda de moda en Zara y que nadie más la lleve en el evento o si la lleva, le quede peor (casi que mola más).
5. Descubrir que tu archienemiga no era guapa, solo joven y delgada.
6. Que la tenga grande. A ver, grande sin exagerar. Ya lo dijo aquel: una, grande y dura.
7. Ver que te crecen las tetas cuando estás menstruando.
8. Que tus ex envejezcan mal. No hay nada más inmaduro ni nada que guste tanto, tal cual.
9. Soltar un “que le jodan” o pensarlo y sonreír de medio lado cuando te enteras que a alguien que te ha puteado le va mal. Quien quiera santos y mártires que lea la Biblia, esto es la vida.
10. Que quien te cae mal a ti, caiga mal también a los demás. Justicia poética lo llaman, o algo.
Moraleja: Titis, el truco para que proporcionen felicidad es ese, que molen no que bases tu felicidad en ellas. Porque cuando uno es feliz, se fija menos en los demás o en cosas superfluas, de verdad de la buena. ^^
Bonus track solo para quien tenga un hijoputismo alto: ver que tienen hijos feos gente que odias MOLA, lo siento pero es así y de mala persona nada, que tú no tienes nada que ver con la combinación de los genes.
Hoy en la sección que rinde tributo a las pelirrojas más irresistibles tenemos a alguien muy especial. Se hace llamar Lucy Goddess, es de Atlanta, Goergia, y demás de tratarse una jovencita pelirroja espectacular —y pelirroja de las que tienen pedigrí, nada de colorantes— que ejerce como webcamer profesional. Pero, ¡ojo!, no es una webcamer cualquiera: además de los típicos shows masturbatorios, Lucy suele poner frente a la cámara a su novio bisexual y ejercer como una verdadera dominatrix sus poderes de sumisión sexual. A veces incluso se coloca un strap-on dildo y... sigh.
Are you cool? Do people want to hang out with you? Would you hang out with yourself? You can spend a lifetime trying to find the cool or you can immediately up your cool factor with these 10 secrets:
1. Develop your interests: Cool people always have that thing going on that they like to do. Mountain climbing? Check. Collecting film noir posters? Double check. Making video mash ups? Why not? Take a look around, find out what interests you, and pursue that interest above a beginner level. You just gave yourself a bunch of cool points.
2. Don’t spend every weekend at the bar. It’s a wide world out there, so spending every weekend at the bar is an easy way to show everyone that you don’t have any hobbies beyond drinking. Plus, the drinking/hangover/recovery cycle is sure to not get you anywhere one year from now.
3. Stop over-using words that everyone else is using. Like “aggressive.” Yolo, cray, and hashtag anything are also over. Stringing together words for a hashtag picture caption will never make you witty or cool.
4. Ignore fashion trends. Cool people don’t just copy what they see other people wearing. If you’re buying a jean jacket because they’re in and getting a tattoo because that’s the thing these days, you’re on the dark path to uncoolness. And to looking like everyone else.
5. Find your style.Wear it. Instead of having a constantly rotating closet of items that are passing trends, find some quality pieces that you really like and that can be with you for the long haul (i.e., life). Wear those things repeatedly and with confidence, and make sure to take good care of them.
6. Never, ever name-drop anyone or anything. Being cool does not come from connecting your name to fame or pointing out the obvious. Uncool.
7. Curate your social media content. If no one has to wonder what you’ve been up to this weekend or what you’re thinking, you’ve effectively killed the mystery. Less is more here.
8. Stop going to parties just to be seen. No one remembers or cares that you made an appearance if you didn’t have a genuine conversation with someone at the party. It’s better to go to one party and really connect with someone than to hit five just to say you were there.
9. Read. Skimming the headlines and your Twitter feed doesn’t count. Cool people have depth, and you get depth from reading. Read things that fall outside of your comfort zone or challenge your brain. Write a letter to the editor or direct message the author your thoughts. If you get a response back—ultra cool.
10. Make friends with someone who is not like you. If you and your friends look like clones of each other, it’s time to branch out. Cool people have lots of different friends. Being friends with someone who is not like you will open you up to new ideas, new social circles, and maybe even a new way of looking at the world. It will also spice up your Facebook newsfeed.
We need a theory of jerks. We need such a theory because, first, it can help us achieve a calm, clinical understanding when confronting such a creature in the wild. Imagine the nature-documentary voice-over: 'Here we see the jerk in his natural environment. Notice how he subtly adjusts his dominance display to the Italian restaurant situation...' And second – well, I don't want to say what the second reason is quite yet.
Assholes: A Theory turns out to be a way of taking a subject that's naturally evocative and spicy, and digesting it until it becomes limp and bland and tasteless. James's exercise amounts to stating the obvious at a maximum word count.
1910 The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1910 short film, silent)
This adaptation was made to settle L Frank Baum's bankruptcy, though without his direct involvement. Drawing on a previous 1908 multimedia presentation Baum had made (that included some no-longer extant film clips), this short takes some liberties, including the inclusion of Hank the Mule and Betsy. Most notable is that the Scarecrow comes to life on Dorothy's farm, then is swhisked away with her to Oz.
L Frank Baum himself wrote and produced the next set of Oz adaptations, a trio of feature length silents he made for his own Oz Film Manufacturing Company. The first of which, The Patchwork Girl of Oz featured the Scarecrow, the Cowardly Lion, and the Tin Woodman, as well as iconic Baum creations like Ojo the Unlucky, the one-of-a-kind Woozy, Ozma, and the guilt-ridden carnivore The Hungry Tiger. Although based on the book of the same name, the intertitles featured little to no dialogue from the book, relying instead primarily on physical comedy. The film flopped so horribly that the second film, His Majesty, The Scarecrow of Oz saw limited release. That film, which brought back Dorothy and the Wizard, along with perpetually lost but cheerful Button-Bright and the evil witch Mombi would, in a reversal, later be used as the basis for a new book by Baum, The Scarecrow of Oz. The company's third and final Oz film, The Magic Cloak of Oz was also made in 1914, but only saw release in 1917, carved up into two shorter films, which were later reassembled as well as possible. Although based on Baum's favorite story he had written, Queen Zixi of Ix, the story actually takes place in "neighboring regions" to Oz and features none of the familiar Oz characters.
1925 The Wizard of Oz
L. Frank Baum's eldest son Frank Joslyn Baum concocted his own story for this 1925 silent feature that had little to no connection with the book, focusing instead on the battle between Prince Kynd and Prime Minister Kruel, subtlety be damned. This film also received limited distribution as its production company went bankrupt. Trivia: the film co-starred a young Oliver Hardy.
1933 The Wizard of Oz
The first animated take on the book came in 1933 and introduced to film the idea of showing Kansas in black & white and Oz in color. Though drawing on familiar aspects of the story, the cartoon eventually focuses on a magical egg that won't stop growing.
1939 The Wizard of Oz
You've, uh, probably familiar with MGM's big budget musical Technicolor feature version with Judy Garland. You may not, however, have seen Ray Bolger's magnificent deleted dance sequence from "If I Only Had a Brain." You also probably had no idea there was a deleted song, Jitterbug. You probably did know that you can watch it synced up to Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon in an experience beloved by stoned college freshmen everywhere known as The Dark Side of the Rainbow.
1956 Rainbow Road to Oz
Hot on the heels of the television debut of the 1939 film version, Walt Disney went out of his way to promote his own planned live-action television Oz adaptation, Rainbow Road to Oz, but despite even going so far as to shoot and air preview segments, the project was never completed.
1960 The Shirley Temple Show: The Marvelous Land of Oz (Hulu)
Shirley Temple's eponymous variety show devoted its debut episode to an adaptation of Baum's second Oz book, with an adult Shirley playing the role of Tip, the little orphan boy who, in a noteworthy twist, would later become Oz's beautiful and kindly ruler, Princess Ozma.
1961 Tales of the Wizard of Oz
Videocrafts, the company that would later become a household name as Rankin-Bass (the fine people who gave us holiday traditions Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, The Year Without a Santa Claus, and the like), brought Oz to television with 200 short cartoons featuring Dorothy and friends. Sample the first episode or go straight to this YouTube playlist of 64 different episodes.
1967 Off to See the Wizard
Dorothy and her friends also made it to tv in the short intros and outros for a tv anthology that featured family films.
1969 The Marvelous Land of Oz
Baum's Wizard of Oz sequel got a low budget feature adaptation for the kiddie matinees. This fairly faithful musical version was directed by Barry Mahon (who also made Errol Flynn's last film, the b-movie Cuban Rebel Girls.)
1972 Journey Back to Oz(Pt 1)(Pt 2) (Pt 3)(Pt 4)(Pt 5)(Pt 6)(Pt 7)(Pt 8)(Pt 9)(Pt 10)(Pt 11)(Pt 12)
The "spiritual sequel" to the 1939 Judy Garland version, this animated musical, also based on Marvelous Land of Oz, began its trouble production in 1962. Casting a young Liza Minnelli in her mother's iconic role as Dorothy, the production had ongoing financing issues that made production drag on for a decade. It featured an entire album's worth of' songs from Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen (authors of standards such as "High Hopes" and "Call Me Irresponsible.") A failure on its initial release, the film found success in syndication in the 1970s, with Filmation adding bizarre live action sequences with Bill Cosby as the Wizard to pad the running time.
1978 The Wiz
A film version of The Wiz: The Super Soul Musical, the hit Broadway show that reimagined Baum's Oz in the context of 1970's African-American culture, The Wiz featured Diana Ross as Dorothy and Michael Jackson as the Scarecrow and was directed by Joel "Bat Nipples" Schumacher. Watch the trailer or this clip of its signature song, "Ease on Down the Road."
1980 Thanksgiving in the Land of Oz (Pt 1)(Pt 2)
Dorothy and her friends somehow end up in an animated Thanksgiving special with Sid Caesar. In addition to the popular characters from the 1939 film, this special also featured favorites from the books such as Tick Tock and the Hungry Tiger.
1981 The Marvelous Land of Oz(Pt 1)(Pt 2)(Pt 3)(Pt 4)
This stage musical by Thomas W. Olson, Gary Briggle, and Richard Dworskywas taped and shown on television. Briggle also plays the Scarecrow.
1982 The Wizard of Oz(Pt 1)(Pt 2)(Pt 3)(Pt 4)(Pt 5)(Pt 6)
This time, Japan's Toho studios had its turn with Baum's classic tale. This feature-length anime version was dubbed into English for home video and syndication in the US. Aileen Queen (the star of the then-recent Annie film) played Dorothy and sang the songs, by Sammy Cahn and Allen Byrnes.
1985 Return to Oz(YT preview with link to rental)
1985 saw the most ambitious yet to film a theatrical sequel to The Wizard of Oz, in the form of Disney's Return to Oz, starring Fairuza Balk. The lone directorial effort from Oscar-winning film editor and sound designer Walter Murch, the film ingeniously sidesteps popular complaints about Baum's novels The Wonderful Land of Oz (no Dorothy) and Ozma of Oz (not actually in Oz) by combining the two into a rollicking adventure starring Dorothy and her trusty cohorts the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, and the Cowardly Lion, as well as Billina the Talking Chicken, Jack Pumpkinhead, and others. While wonderful in its way, it's also um... sort of terrifying. Starting off with Aunt Em depositing Dorothy at an insane asylum for shock therapy, the film also features the hideous, cackling Wheelers, Princess Mombi's interchangeable heads, and various other traumatizing moments. See also the doc Return to Oz: The Joy That Got Away (Veoh). (previously)
1986 Oz Mahotsukai, English title: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
A 52 episode Japanese anime adaptation of Baum's first four books, this series was dubbed and brought to HBO by actor/producer Tim Reid (aka "Venus Flytrap" from WKRP in Cincinnati) with Margot Kidder (Superman's Lois Lane) as narrator. Outside of redubbing, the pernicious earworm of a theme song, and accompanying abysmally dated CGI intro, the show was left mostly intact. Though some substantial changes do occur (the addition of Dorothy to The Marvelous Land of Oz storyline, for example), the series is considered by and large to be one of the most far-reaching and faithful of Baum/Oz adaptations. The first episode is online, as are scattered others. The complete set is not currently legitimately available in English, but there are condensed "film" versions on DVD.
1990 The Wizard of Oz (animated series)
Just a few years later, ABC aired a new animated series based on the 1939 film. It featured the songs and vocal characterizations of the classic film while putting Dorothy and friends on an adventure to save the Wizard from the Wicked Witch.
1990 The Wonderful Galaxy of Oz
This is pretty much what you'd guess it is: an anime sci-fi remake of The Wizard of Oz. Although a 76 minute feature version was made for US audiences, it's a tough one to find in English. Here's the intro to the English-language version.
1994 Adventures in Emerald City(Pt 1)(pt 2)(Pt 3)(Pt 4)
Are you a Russian person, afraid you're being left out? You're not. Alexander Melentyevich Volkov's "loose translation" of Baum's book ("cheeky rewrite" might be more accurate) had been adapted as an animated series in 1976, but there isn't much of that to find online. You can, however, watch this movie in its entirety. For those who don't speak Russian, watch this musical sequence which should work for all of us, because awesome doesn't need translating.
1996 The Oz Kids
In the "tradition" of such execrable 90s phenomena as "James Bond Jr." The Oz Kids gave us the animated adventures of Dot and Neddie (Dorothy's children), along with the children of various other Oz characters. Here are some clips from that show.
2000 Lost in Oz
Around 2000, Tim Burton tried and failed to get a film project called Lost in Oz off the ground. David Hayter (X-Men screenwriter) and Mick Garris (the guy who directs most of the Stephen King tv movies) managed to get a project with the same name to pilot stage. It starred Melissa George and Mia Sara and would have followed an adult woman who gets thrown into Oz. Here's the pilot. Some pilots get picked and become television programs. Some don't, become nothing. This is one of the ones that became nothing. The Lion of Oz(Pt 1)(Pt 2)(pt 3)(pt 4)(Pt 5)(Pt 6)(Pt 7)(Pt 8)
You know how the families of some deceased writers are fiercely protective of their relative's legacy? Roger Baum isn't like that. His series of books all but disregards his great-grandfather's books after the first one. This low-budget direct to DVD feature of his prequel story for the Cowardly Lion was the first adaptation of one of his books. The second, Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return just finished stinking up your local multiplex.
2005 The Muppets Wizard fo Oz
The post-Disney acquisition of The Muppets saw Kermit, Miss Piggy, and the gang take on The Wizard of Oz, along with Ashanti, Queen Latifah, and, for some reason, Quentin Tarantino. Remember how excited we all were when Jason Segel and the guys from Flight of the Conchords helped the Muppets make a comeback? This is what they were coming back from.
2006 Apocalypse Oz
This little oddity uses only dialogue from Apocalypse Now and the 1939 MGM version of The Wizard of Oz. (Pt 1)(Pt 2)
2007 Tin Man(trailer)
This "dark reimagining" of Dorothy's story, aired as a miniseries by the Sci-Fi Channel. Variety called it a "semi-surreal adaptation of The Wizard of Oz stitched together from bits of The Matrix, Blade Runner, and Snow White to create a brooding fantasy that—understandably given the variety of influences—proves a bit of a mess" and whose "look and action sequences don't fully deliver the goods" to the "target audience of fanboys and their imaginary girlfriends." It starred Zooey Deschanel and Alan Cumming.
2012 After the Wizard Here's a trailer for this low-budget independent film setting the familiar characters in the present day.
2013 Oz, the Great and Powerful(trailer)
A big budget "prequel" to Dorothy's adventures in Oz, this blockbuster from last year stars James Franco, Michele Williams, and Mila Kunis. While not based on Baum's work, this film drew inspirations for a variety of characters and settings from Baum's beloved series. With the film a worldwide hit, a sequel is in the works.
2014 Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return
We've covered this turd on the blue before. Here's the trailer, should you wish to subject yourself.
Self-esteem: Everyone wants it. Industries are built around getting it and keeping it. Wars are started by people who don’t have it (or have too much of it). The secret to having self-esteem is realizing that you are already perfect. Let us show you just how incredible, special, unique, cool, intelligent, and super fucking fuckable you actually are.
AWESOME
No harm can come to you if you are awesome. Fortunately, you are awesome. If you're not awesome, convince yourself that you are. Once you do, people will cling to you like moths to an awesome flame. You are that flame. Burn, baby, burn.
Getting drunk is a foolproof confidence booster. It’s called “liquid courage” for a reason. Getting drunk inside a bar, surrounded by other false-confident boozers, means you’ll get talked to, hit on, and treated like royalty. You'll feel better about yourself without actually doing anything to make you a better person, which is faster and easier than attempting to get to the root of your problems via tedious introspection.
Honorable mentions: birthdays, better than (as in "You’re better than everyone else"), breaking up with your partner
CRYING
Crying is usually a sign that you’ve felt something that made you feel bad. Maybe your dad skipped your dance recital. Maybe your dad showed up to your dance recital drunk. Find the nearest friend, relative, lover, or complete stranger and cry in front of them. Chances are, they will want you to stop crying so much that they’ll comfort you with a hug or some words of wisdom. Since it feels so good to be comforted, some people will actually pretend to cry just to get sympathy. We like to call these people “power users” in the MMORPG known as life.
Honorable mentions: Charlie Sheen (king of self-esteem), confidence, coming hard (cumsplosion)
DELUSION
If self-esteem is what you seek, delusion is your best friend. There's no such thing as failure when you're delusional. When people are saying you can't do something, mentally flip them off and convince yourself you can. You are the greatest—with or without actual talent.
Honorable mentions: dancing like no one is watching, dogs (who love you unconditionally), Donald Trump (the king of delusion)
EXCUSES
When delusion falls short, excuses are the next best thing. It's not your fault that there are so many obstacles in the way, stopping you from doing what you really want to do, and being who you really want to be. You would have been real successful if it weren't for your fucking parents and all those student loans. Have excuses handy for when you never even tried, and also when you do try and fail. It's hard to feel bad about yourself when nothing is your fault.
Nothing makes you feel better about yourself than knowing someone on this planet is down to get naked and rub parts with you. Getting laid is like a Five Hour Energy drink, but for your self-worth. Instead of five hours, though, it lasts for five days.
Honorable mentions: fuhgeddaboutit (childhood traumas, I mean), friends, Friends (the groundbreaking television program)
(YOU'RE) GOOD ENOUGH, YOU'RE SMART ENOUGH
...and doggone it, people like you!
Honorable mentions: giving, getting, groping
HATERS
The concept of the "hater" is the greatest gift God ever gave the human race. Any transgression you commit in life can be chalked up to folks being mad "jelly" about how tight you are. If life's got you down, just post that "haters gonna hate" GIF on your Facebook wall and call it a day. Telling your haters to fuck off makes you feel more powerful than that Scarface bro from that Goodfellas movie.
Honorable mentions: "Hang in there, baby," horse (once you fall off, get right back on), huge dick/boobs
“I AM” STATEMENTS
It’s all about you. And by “it,” I mean “everything.” You are the center of the universe. Solidify this fact by repeating a daily mantra constructed of "I am" statements. Examples include:
"I am the architect of my life. I build its foundation and choose its contents."
"I am superior to negative thoughts and low actions."
"I am whatever you say I am. / If I wasn't, then why would I say I am? / In the paper, the news, every day I am. / Radio won't even play my jam. / 'Cause I am whatever you say I am. / If I wasn't, then why would I say I am? / In the paper, the news, every day I am. / I don't know, it's just the way I am."
You don't want knowledge. Remember Adam and Eve? Their lives got fucked because she ate from the Tree of Knowledge. Knowing things makes life so much worse.
Honorable mentions: kush (smoke that shit), kale (you can be a piece of shit in all other aspects of your life so long as you treat your body like a fuckin’ TEMPLE)
A one-time fuck makes you feel good for five days, but romantic love makes you feel good for at least double that. It also has the added advantage of making you feel like life isn’t an endless, hellish ordeal you must suffer alone.
Avoid mirrors at all costs. When you're walking down the street, don't stare at yourself in storefronts. You'll always catch yourself at a bad angle. The stark emotional and physical truths that angle reveals will ruin your day.
Honorable mentions: money ("You’re so..."), magic (believe in it), miracles (you are one)
NEGGING
Negging is a pickup-artist technique designed to make women feel so insecure that they'll have sex just to repair their damaged self-esteem. Any time you are criticized, assume you are being negged. Boss yelling at you for not having a stronger work ethic? He's probably trying to fuck you. Dentist says you don't floss enough? Man, does she want you. Girlfriend says you aren't fulfilling her emotional needs? Dang, could she be any hornier?
Winning an Oscar is a great way to boost your self-esteem—unless you’re Marisa Tomei and everyone thinks you didn’t really win. Then you'll probably feel like shit the rest of your life. Just like Marisa Tomei.
Judging by the sick baby photos on all those hot social media sites, pregnancy is a surefire way to get attention like no other. You're brave for being pregnant—you're beautiful, glowing, and radiant. So always be pregnant.
Honorable mentions: Psychic (consult one), perfect (you are), playing hard
QUIT
Quitting is for losers. Winners never quit. You’ve worked so hard to convince yourself that you are the best, and frankly, it doesn't make sense for the best to quit. Sure you can take breaks, or put things on hold for a month or year or two. That's not quitting; that's taking a much-needed sabbatical from being a baller—as long as you get back on that horse and ride into a #WINNING sunset.
Honorable mentions: Quaaludes, Buzzfeed quizzes, Quagmire (that Family Guy character who thinks he’s the shit)
RETAIL THERAPY
It's amazing how buying something superfluous can make you legitimately feel better about yourself. Fuck conception—life begins at $500 smartphone! Are you out of money? Can you not afford to buy the hottest gadgets anymore? Take out a loan, or ask your mom and dad for some dough. Buying is the key to happiness. That's why money exists—to make people happier.
Honorable mentions: rich (more like $elf-e$teem, am I right?), running away (from your problems), rappers (love themselves)
It feels amazing to get "likes" on that sweet mug of yours. Few things can compare with the feeling of people electronically affirming that you are attractive. Look at Marilyn Monroe; she had the greatest self-esteem of all time—all because of that pretty face! You also have a pretty face... you just need some better lighting.
Honorable mentions: smile, shitty friends (the more you have, the better you feel about yourself), Shallow Hal
THERAPY (THE REAL KIND)
Therapists are pretty much surrogate parents who will ask you a bunch of questions about yourself and never interrupt you as you yell at them. They often have comfortable couches, leather-bound books, and look like Kelsey Grammer. Who wouldn't want to cry in Kelsey Grammer's arms?
You know what Victoria's Secret is? She a bad bitch! No one has more confidence than the women who walk around with the word "PINK" written on the ass of their glorified sweatpants.
It always feels good to take a vacation, preferably to a place worse than where you live. A quick jaunt to Tijuana will make your studio apartment seem like the Palace of Versailles!
Whining makes you feel better. This is why you blog. This is why you write think-pieces. This is why you express outrage on Twitter, even though only 224 people follow you. Those 224 people listen to you, and they call you “profound.” Ten years from now, your excessive whining will be winning you Pulitzers!
Honorable mentions: working out, working (being gainfully employed), workin’ it (on the dance floor)
We know you only date top quality people, but you should mix it up every now and then and date a total shithead. It might suck at the time, but remember that this person will provide you with a whole lot of happiness in the future when you Facebook-stalk them and see how they’re still a failure.
Honorable mentions: channel your inner Xena/Malcolm X, X chromosome (where my ladies at?!?), X names (you’ll always be one of a kind, Xolani!)
YES MEN
When you surround yourself with people who, for some reason, want to agree with you on everything, suddenly all your ideas are brilliant. That’s why George W. Bush still thinks he was the best president of all time.
When letters A through Y fails, you can always pop a happy pill. Or listen to Pharrell’s “Happy” on repeat. That always perks us up! In related news, we have lost our minds.
I’m not sure the last time you cut through the Lotte Shopping Center in Busan, South Korea, but for the last year or so a sculpture of Spider-Man (above) has been hanging from the top of the retail shopping center. And that sculpture of Spider-Man has had a raging boner.
According to Kotaku, artist Eunsuk Yoo has been taking flack from the local Facebook communities and the Korean blogosphere for giving Spidey a giant bulge, despite an explanation which seems far more mature than anything I would have come up with.
“My reason for [the boner] was that I wanted apply the natural physical phenomenon to a superhero,” Yoo wrote on Facebook (via translation). The sculptor said that he wanted to underline the importance of “whats’s natural in the morning without lies and superficial-ness in a comical way.”
The Lotte Shopping Center conceded to a community organization that has demanded Yoo either modify the sculpture or remove it from the premises entirely. “I’ve decided to take it down,” Yoo responded.
Why the Spider-Man erection sculpture was able to hang for several months without issue until now has not been explained. Yoo added that he felt “sad” about Spidey’s removal but can appreciate that the boner “could be potentially interpreted as lewd can be offensive at a place like shopping mall.”
Beloved pioneer of British alt comedy, Rik Mayall, has died today at the age of 56. Known primarily for his role as Rick the anarchist poet on the BBC2 sitcom The Young Ones, and later as a spastic imaginary friend in the American comedy film Drop Dead Fred, Mayall's boundless energy and kinetic facial expressions influenced generations of comedians who came up watching him on TV, and earned him praise from the English humor aristocracy that came before him.
"Very sad to hear of the passing of Rik Mayall," Monty Python's Eric Idle tweeted this morning. "Far too young. A very funny and talented man."
Mayall and his Young Ones co-creators modeled their groundbreaking comedy in part around Monty Python's Flying Circus, creating a surreal comedy landscape that frequently trampled the laws of physics, time and British etiquette. Centered around the four part ensemble of a depressed hippie, sadistic punk-rocker, shrewd capitalist, and Mayall's Thatcher-hating, clueless revolutionary all living as roommates while attending “Scumbag College,” the show found a devoted audience in London's burgeoning alternative comedy scene.
Only running for two short, six-episode seasons from 1982-84, The Young Ones was later picked up by MTV in 1985, presumably due to the live music performances from bands like Motorhead, Madness, The Damned or Dexys Midnight Runners contained in each episode.
The Young Ones cast originally met and gained a following performing at The Comedy Store (London), where Mayall and Adrian Edmondson (who would go onto play Young Ones' violent, skull pierced Vyvyan) first developed their comedy duo, The Dangerous Brothers, who would go on to be banned from Saturday Live — the UK's version of SNL — for being “too violent, too sexy,” only to stage a protest in the studio parking lot where they blew up a car.
Following The Young Ones, Mayall and Edmondson continued performing together over the next twenty years, delivering their kinetically violent style of slapstick in TV shows such as Mr Jolly Lives Next Door, Filthy, Rich and Catflap, and Bottom.
Aside from starring in a handful of early Nintendo ads, Mayall is best known to American audiences for his 1991 performance as the snot-flicking, dog-poo dancing, Johnny Rotten doppleganger in Drop Dead Fred. A mostly non-political version of his explosive Young Ones character, Drop Dead Fred was the intractable imaginary friend of a young girl who, after growing up, reencounters Fred as an adult and has her life torn to pieces by this ADD ball of destruction.
Mayall's comedic style of hyper physicality could be lazily compared to icons of silliness like Robin Williams or Jim Carrey. Though while Carrey and Williams would often employ goofy voices and manic-monkey expressions in their act, Mayall's brand of wide-eyed intensity often carried a recognizable context — whether directly lampooning the self-important motives of underground leftists in Young Ones, or embodying the I-can't-sit-still intoxication of childhood in Drop Dead Fred.
Os escándalos xudiciais e de presunta corrupción avocan a capital de Galicia a ter o seu terceiro rexedor do mandato. Currás perde o tirapuxa coa dirección do partido pero deixa no aire se continuará como concelleiro.
La Asociación Española de Psiquiatría ha denunciado hoy las prácticas irregulares de un médico de la clínica psiquiátrica Tranki, en Alicante, que recetaba embudos para la cabeza a algunos de sus pacientes. “Lo mío es la medicina tradicional y no los experimentos alternativos”, dice el...... Leer más
Karlesha Thurman is a 25-year-old mom and class of 2014 graduate of California State University Long Beach. Over the weekend she posted a picture of herself at her graduation, proudly breast feeding her baby girl.
She posted the picture to the Facebook page of Black Women Do Breastfeed, which reposted it to their own page. It exploded on Facebook and Twitter on Sunday.
The response on the Facebook page for Black Women Do Breastfeed was mostly positive, and the page posted it with a message of support: “Congratulations, mama!!!! Giving her daughter more gifts than one! Isn’t this beautiful?! #normalizebreastfeeding”
However once it made its way around the web, the reactions were predictably more sour, and juvenile:
@tyreks24 it was funny, but you don’t breast feed during graduation in the midst of EVERYONE w/ no blanket. That’s disgusting. Lol
The shaming of women for breastfeeding in public saw a major showdown in 2011 as a group of “lactivists” got a local law thrown out in Georgia that prohibited women from publicly breastfeeding children over two. And Thurman, for her part, stood happily defiant in the face of the haters, writing on her Facebook Page:
I found out I was pregnant my last year of college, had my daughter one week into my last semester, she was my motivation to keep going, so me receiving my BA was OUR moment, so glad I captured the moment and so glad you shared it with the world so thank you again.
Hey, get your mind out of the gutter–Stripgenerator is about comic creation, not clothing removal–though we wouldn’t claim that the two paths have never crossed. The site lets you build your very own customized comic strip in a matter of minutes. Choose from an array of characters and objects, and then bring your strip to life, one square at a time. If you’re feeling particularly adventurous, sign up to start your own “strip blog” and have your content featured on the site’s home page.
FMyLife encourages people to send in anonymous real-life stories of worst-case scenarios that came horrifyingly true–things you’ll just have to read to believe. The stories aren’t always G-rated, so visit at your own discretion.
A must-try for any music or film fanatic, LivePlasma helps you find new movies and music by building interactive maps around your current favorites. It’s like six degrees of separation, customized to your cultural interests.
The onetime competitor to Mad Magazine has reinvented itself as a Web site for all things funny. Cracked has an array of amusing lists, stories, and videos that’ll keep you laughing for days.
Add some pizzazz to your profile pic with BeFunky: Free Online Photo Editing and Collage Maker. The site’s Web-based application lets you easily morph any photo into a cartoony character or Warhol-like painting.
Grammar geeks will delight in Funny Typos, a site devoted to ridiculing the language-challenged among us. Why people cant menage to reed there writhing batter is simpy a misery to me.
Do park visitors generally need to be told “Please do not sit on crocodile”? Must employees at a company parking lot be reminded “Do Not Sleep Below the Vehicle”? Silly as these things sound, they’re actual warnings posted on public safety signs. Safety Graphic Fun works to compile the most ridiculous placards, outlandish announcements, and attorney-inspired posterior papering from around the world, some of which are astonishingly absurd. My favorite: “Touching wires causes instant death. $200 fine.”
Go old-school and play dozens of original Nintendo games online. Once you get accustomed to the keyboard-based commands, even the most determined Koopa Troopas won’t be able to pull you away.
Find a wider selection of time-wasting games at Pogo. See if you can spell success in Scrabble, dominate at Dominoes, or ride the Reading Railroad to a sweet Monopoly victory.
Interact with total strangers in the strange new world of Omegle. This simple site pops you into a one-on-one chat room with a random person, and there’s no telling where the conversation may take you.
Losing track of time is all too easy at Lifehacker. The blog teaches you tricks for navigating the complexity of life with fewer bumps, serving up advice on topics ranging from cooling a scorching car to clearing up circles under your eyes.
Answerbag is all about interesting and instant information. Post a query about almost anything and get answers within minutes, or browse through other people’s Q&A to be enlightened, disgusted, and entertained.
“Fail” is the blogger-adored modern stamp of disapproval for anything that falls below whatever arbitrary standard a critic feels like imposing. The proprietors of FAIL Blog open the “fail” doors to the world, encouraging readers to submit images of people, places, or things that in one way or another didn’t work out right, and then inviting all visitors to vote on how many thumbs down the depicted blunder deserves. Whether the specimen under the FailBlog microscope is a poorly designed building or a curious case of inconsistent pricing, the site’s findings are sure to generate some laughter wins.
Slashdot is the granddaddy of all tech time-wasters. Pursuing its mission of delivering “news for nerds,” Slashdot posts a cornucopia of geeky information, complete with snarky comments and community discussion.
When you want a tantalizing tale with a sensational twist, turn your browser toward Fark. The site collects the Web’s hottest and strangest stories, pointing you to standout content as well as to obscure local items that you might otherwise have missed.
Popurls makes it easy for you to keep up with all of the Web’s headlines. The jam-packed aggregator presents the most popular content from social media sites, news sites, and even video sites in a simple-to-use single page.
Step into the director’s chair with Fuzzwich, a fun site that lets you build your own video animations. You pick the setting and the characters, and then customize them with faces cropped from your personal photos. Then, you use the site’s editing program to move the characters around and have them interact. Once you get tot he stage of adding music and text bubbles, you’ll be hooked. Fuzzwich even offers embed codes so you can show off your creation all over the Web.
Parents and social media don’t always mix. See sidesplitting screenshots of what happens when generations collide at My Parents Joined Facebook, a blog about uncomfortable family encounters in the virtual world. Remember, you can choose your friends but you can’t choose your relatives.
Oh-no-she-didn’t. Indulge your inner Springer with a visit to Passive-Aggressive Notes, where you can take a long, leisurely inside look at other people’s petty, infantile squabbles, all laced with not-so-subtle passive-aggressive undertones and innuendo.
Videos that are just itching to go viral await you at Funny Videos, Funny Clips & Funny Pictures. You’ll find more funny, sexy, and scandalous clips here than you would in Paris Hilton’s entire home-video collection–and that’s saying something.
Yeah, yeah–everyone spends too much time on Twitter. But Twitterfall offers a new way to connect with your fellow tweeters and discover interesting conversations. Just type in the term of your choice or select an option from the list of current hot trends, and Twitterfall will start dropping in related updates, one by one. You can control how quickly the tweets fall, and you can stipulate any number of combined terms that the tweets must include.
For all of Twitter’s strengths, it seems to attract an inordinate number of tools whose tweets make you cringe. At Tweeting Too Hard, you can browse through Twitter’s most “self-important tweets,” voting up the worst offenders with sarcastic “back pats” as you go.
Cast a spell on your productivity with this virtual magnetic message board. Join other people in shifting big bright plastic-looking letters around, like the ones on your parents’ refrigerator when you were a kid, or draw on a collective scratchpad to see what comes out.
GraphJam gives humor a statistical edge by inviting users to create funny graphs or charts that illustrate various aspects of life. One recent submission attempted to break down the content of Yahoo Answers (65 percent material for FailBlog; 25 percent spam; 10 percent legitimate questions). GraphJam makes it a cinch to build your own satirical analyses; and with in-site voting and embed codes a-plenty, you’ll have no shortage of time-wasting toys.
Search for songs across the Web and play them to your heart’s content at Songza. The site finds both audio and video files from multiple sources, and then allows you to create playlists and share them via Facebook or Twitter.
Video isn’t its specialty, but iMeem excels at tracking down the music tracks you want. Find and stream your favorite tunes and save them to custom playlists. A quick caution: You do have to create a free account to gain access to the site’s full functionality.
Hello, sir or madam, may I interest you in a retractable table top for your toilet today? That’s just one of many wacky inventions featured on Patently Silly, which displays some of America’s most unusual patents.
Family photos are always awkward, but some go beyond the typical intergenerational tension and tiptoe into disquieting new territory.AwkwardFamilyPhotos.com pursues the mission of finding and flaunting the most unbearably awkward images from real photo albums submitted by real users. So what constitutes awkward? Oh, I don’t know…maybe having a medium-size marsupial on your arm, hovering near the back of a child’s head and eying his tousled hair as potential nesting material? Yeah. And you thought your sister’s braces were bad.
If only you could find out what all those college girls were constantly texting about. Oh, wait–you can. Texts From Last Night collects the most insane (and allegedly real) late-night texts from users, shame included. You can imagine the kind of language and subject matter involved, so click through at your own risk.
For slightly less succinct (and usually less salacious) confessions, surf over to Truu Confessions. There, people of all ages anonymously submit their deepest secrets and await your reactions.
With a decidedly less high-tech but far more innovative approach, PostSecret publishes actual postcards mailed in by people looking to share their deepest secrets. The site’s creators call it an “ongoing community art project.” (For more on PostSecret and other sites like it, read “Online Confessions: The Web Bares Its Soul.”)
I’ll bet you never noticed how much Perez Hilton looks like the Grinch, or how similar Daisy De La Hoya is to 80s singer Pete Burns. The user-driven community of Totally Looks Like did, though. Intrigued?
Who needs look-alikes when you can build your own face? Monoface, the brainchild of a Minneapolis-based ad agency, lets you play Mr. Potato Head with real people. Click to combine different eyes, noses, and mouths until you find a suitably funny combination. With nearly 760,000 possibilities, it’ll take you a while to run out of steam.
Play trivia and make a difference with FreeRice. Every time you get an answer right, the site donates 10 grains of rice to global hunger programs. FreeRice is run by the United Nations World Food Program and uses revenue from in-site ads to pay for the food.
A world of data awaits you at Digital Library of Free Books, Movies, Music & Wayback Machine. The site is home to the Internet Archive Wayback Machine, where you can look up versions of Web pages dating back to 1996. It also hosts the Live Music Archive, an impressive collection of free live concerts.
The Hot or Not craze of the early 2000s gets an aww-inducing update with Pets in Clothes, a site dedicated to cute animals wearing cute duds. From cats in sunglasses to dogs in nurse outfits, the cuddly images just keep on coming. Taking a cue from the Hot or Not model, Pets in Clothes progresses through photos by having you rate each image on a scale of 1 to 10. And of course, you can submit your own pet pics for inclusion.
Think your handiwork is bad? See some of the worst excuses for quick fixes at There, I Fixed It, an ever-expanding gallery of the most pitiful repair jobs performed all over the globe.
Cult favorite Homestar Runner is still going strong. Start with the latest Strongbad E-Mail missives and gain a whole new appreciation for the all-powerful Lappy 486 and, of course, scroll buttons and random. Keep on scrollin’ on, friends.
Agustín Hernández, hasta ahora conselleiro de Infraestruturas de la Xunta, será el nuevo regidor. Hernández cerraba la lista a las elecciones del 2011 y será el tercer alcalde de la ciudad en esta legislatura. La supuesta lista de nuevos concejales diseñada por Currás, y de la que habían trascendido algunos nombres, quedará en suspenso y el nuevo alcalde decidirá los nuevos ediles. SIGA AQUÍ TODA LA INFORMACIÓN
-Pablo Motos: Con tanto ansia por chupar plano, debería equilibrar y saber ser protagonista con la ropa. Luce un constante estado de mediocridad con camisas de color negro o blanco. Así, vamos mal...
Beloved pioneer of British alt comedy, Rik Mayall, has died today at the age of 56. Known primarily for his role as Rick the anarchist poet on the BBC2 sitcom The Young Ones, and later as a spastic imaginary friend in the American comedy film Drop Dead Fred, Mayall's boundless energy and kinetic facial expressions influenced generations of comedians who came up watching him on TV, and earned him praise from the English humor aristocracy that came before him. 
