For the spring semester of 2015, Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York offers a course on Doctor Who. Anthony Rotolo, a futurist and public speaker, will teach it. He also teaches a course on Star Trek and is noted for his innovative use of Twitter in the classroom.
(Image: Anthony Rotolo)
The class is open to the public and free. It does not bear course credit unless a student registers for it as an independent study. Students will watch classic and modern episodes of the show and discuss the significance of Doctor Who.
Eric Hart is a professional prop maker in Burlington, North Carolina. His infant son is hospitalized. Hart wanted his boy to experience Halloween and to have “a costume that would help him feel brave.” Iron Man was a natural choice. Hart created a pattern with paper, then cut the pieces out of red and yellow foam.
Horror movies aren't normally thought of as hot licenses for merchandising, but manufacturers keep making strange products based on scary movies anyway.
Here's an unlucky 13 different licensed, and totally bizarre, products based on horror movies and tv shows:
1. Psycho shower curtain-
Hitchcock's Psycho was the original slasher flick, with an unforgettable shower scene that made an entire generation start looking over their shoulder while they scrubbed their backs.
Now, thanks to this licensed Psycho shower curtain by Kikkerland, you can recreate that terrifying scene every time you take a shower!
This was a promotional item distributed by Rogue Pictures before the movie's release in 2004, and a totally original way to advertise a film with 'seed' in the title.
The message behind the item is pretty clear- choose safe sex and pregnancy prevention over a world full of Good Guy doll lovin' brats!
The zombie craze reignited by the hit TV show The Walking Dead has resulted in many strange licensed products being made based on the show, like this family friendly game Zombie Yahtzee.
So that's what zombies have rattling around in their skulls!
4. The Rocky Horror Picture Show Dr. Frankenfurter rubber duckie-
He's one of the strangest characters in genre movie history, and now you can let him take a bath with you, if you're brave enough to resist his advances...
However, some of the flavors sound appropriately scary, like Tomato Hot Pepper Freddy and Apple Carrot Chucky, and they even made a second series featuring the coolest creep of them all- Pinhead!
We already knew that the principle photography for the seventh Star Wars film had wrapped, but when Disney announced that fact, they also unveiled the name of the movie. Star Wars: The Force Awakens will hit theaters in little over a year, which leaves plenty of time for editing, re-shooting, overdubs, and added lens flares. It also gives fans plenty of time to speculate on what the title means. I hope it doesn’t mean we have to talk about Midi-chlorians. I don't think Obi-Wan ever mentioned those to Luke. -via Uproxx
Tom Schutt, a high school math teacher in Washington, D.C., received treatments for cancer. As a result of his chemotherapy, he lost his hair and a lot of weight. So while in a Starfleet uniform, he looked a lot like Captain Jean-Luc Picard from Star Trek: The Next Generation. After his cancer went into remission and his chemotherapy ended, Schutt regrew his hair. Remove one rank insignia pip and he looks like Commander Will Riker!
This firepit is sure to rule them all, or at least to wow them all. The impressive steel design featuring the inscription on the One Ring is available for sale on Etsy for $500. The black finish is tempered to withstand high temperatures, so your wonderful piece will stay in great condition for years to come.
Check out more pictures and find out where you can get your hands on the firepit over on Homes and Hues: One Firepit to Warm Them All
Brian McElhaney, a comedian who forms part of the duo BriTANicK, shot this gloriously geeky photo. Behold the majestic battle between Joss Whedon, the producer of Firefly and Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, and Nathan Fillion, an actor from those two shows.
Just about every Harry Potter fan has wished, at one point or another, that they could attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. While muggles still can't take any courses in magic from the school, you can at least enjoy the feeling of staying in the school's famous dormitories thanks to the Georgian House in London, which has converted two of its rooms into Harry Potter dreamsuites.
The suites each feature four beds and are adorned with all kinds of fun Hogwarts-inspired accessories like spell books, trunks, potion bottles and cauldrons. It's a perfect place to stay after you finish exploring the Warner Bros studio where the films were shot and King's Cross Stations' infamous platform 9 3/4.
Like his father, Sean Pertwee is an actor. When David Tennant left the show a few years ago, rumors circulated that Sean Pertwee wanted to replace him as serve as the Eleventh Doctor. In an interview with the Daily Telegraph, Pertwee described the origin of this rumor:
No, I never said I wanted the part, but there is a financial tale behind how the rumour started. For a laugh I tried putting a £50 bet on me to play the next Doctor because I thought I was in with a chance, but all the boys I knew in Islington decided I must have some inside info so they piled in behind me. When the betting shop staff asked who I was, the boys told them my father had played Doctor Who so they called head office about it and then declared all bets off. The next thing I knew I was in the news as running for the part, but I think it stemmed from trying to put £50 on myself. I'd love to have a guest part, but when it comes to the main role my father was too big an act to follow.
You’ll discover all kinds of articles online about the best, most iconic, coolest and craziest album covers ever created, but what about those that simply don’t make the cut?
In every collection of crappy cover art there must be one example from a beloved band, and in this case that cover art fail comes from the Black Sabbath album Sabotage:
October 29th is National Cat Day, founded in 2005 by Colleen Paige to raise awareness about animal adoption and raise money for welfare groups like the ASPCA, but most people aren't even aware that Cat Day is a thing.
This year Marvel Comics tried to raise awareness about the existence of Cat Day by sharing some fantastic feline superhero art created by Jenny Parks on their website, each piece more purr-fect than the last.
Jenny has a masterful way of making felines look even more fantastic, and perhaps her artwork will inspire Marvel to create a whole new world in their multiverse to house her heroic kittehs.
Heavy Metal is one seriously hardcore genre of rock, and metalhead musicians who grew up listening to bands like Black Sabbath, Deep Purple and Judas Priest wanted to take heavy metal in an even heavier direction, so subgenres like Thrash, Death and Black Metal were born.
It's safe to say that metalheads, both musicians and bands, are a pretty serious bunch, which makes it all that much more hilarious when you discover comedic moments like these set to a heavy metal beat.
1. Black Metal commercial from Finland-
Selling products by using a heavy metal soundtrack may seem strange, but when the product is a throat lozenge it makes perfect sense!:
Just because you grow up and start a family doesn't mean you have to leave your heavy metal years behind you, just ask the dads in this hilarious Dad Metal sketch from Funny or Die:
Black metal bands like Dimmu Borgir try to look as terrifying as possible on stage, from their spike laden clothes to their corpse paint, but Ronald McDonald proves his paint makes for a far more terrifying stage presence:
Neil Cicierega grew up with Star Wars and Star Trek. He previously introduced us to the common non-human species on Star Trek. Now he's giving us a tour of the peoples of the Star Wars universe, including several of the named characters, such as Admiral Ackbar of the California Raisins and the crime boss Jabba the Hump.
November first is Ewok Appreciation Day, a holiday that started only last year, as far as I can tell. We were introduced to the Ewoks in 1983 in the movie Return of the Jedi. To many fans, it was obvious that the characters were designed with merchandising in mind, so there was an “Ewok backlash.” That was later eclipsed by hatred of Jar Jar Binks from the prequels. But now enough time has passed since Return of the Jedi that there is significant number of Star Wars fans who loved the Ewoks as children.
David Mizejewski is one of those fans, and the first Ewok Appreciation Day inspired him to construct an elaborate Ewok diorama using his childhood toys! He also bought new ones, and the result is a little slice of Endor, unveiled today. The above picture doesn’t do it justice, because there are a lot of tiny scenes, with multiple levels, fire, living plants, and alien invaders.
This Halloween people will be sitting around campfires telling scary stories, but those stories won't be about boogeymen or hook handed killers, they'll be about a different kind of fiend- the eccentric entertainer.
They can pop up out of nowhere, their behavior is totally unpredictable, and they have so much money and notoriety that they can get away with just about anything.
Bill Murray Stories is a comedy short by Jon Bershad about a group of friends discussing the strange appearances of the beloved, and totally eccentric, actor.
Bill has become the stuff of legend since he's able to appear anywhere, and his uncanny ability to solve people's problems with sage advice and a bit of bartending makes his appearances hard to believe.
If you encounter Bill Murray in the wild make sure you snap a pic or nobody will ever believe you!
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