Image Via Top Tenz

The fun part of going to a horror movie is repeating that phrase your parents taught you when you first saw one as a kid: it isn't real, it isn't real. But what about those rare occasions when the horror movie you are seeing is based on some aspect of a true story?

The reality is, there are far more horror movies out there based on some semblence of fact that any of us would like to openly admit. Top Tenz put together a nice little list of horror films that were partly inspired by true stories, as well as the stories that go along with those films. 

For example, did you know:

In 1950, four Philadelphia, Pennsylvania policemen reported the discovery of “a domed disk of quivering jelly, 6 feet in diameter and one foot thick at the center.”  When the men touched the substance it dissolved into an “odorless, sticky scum.”  In 1958, the story inspired a collection of filmmakers to develop an independent movie named The Blob.

Of all the horror films based on true stories, who would have thought The Blob was one of them? That is just one amazing example. But be forewarned before you read it. You may never look at that doll you keep in that rocking chair in the corner of your kid's room the same way again.

As many of you know, the cronut has been a serious staple of the pasty world for the last few years. Part crossiant, part donut, and all delicious. Though the fervor has died down a bit, it seems now would be the perfect time for you to make cronuts for some guests, friends, or fellow revelers and blow their minds with your awesome culinary skills. The reality is, they are not has hard to make as the world wants you to believe. 

I thought to further reitertate this point, what better thing to do than to post a simple to follow YouTube recipe for how to make your own Cronuts at home. Sorted Foods on YouTube have some great stuff on their page, so when you are done whipping up your cronuts, you should go check it out.

(YouTube Link)

A couple of things I will warn you before making this recipe. One, these things are addictive, so don't make dozens (as you may eat dozens). Two, when you offer them to people, pretend making them was like trying to climb Everrest. It will just make them respect how good they taste even more.

Image via  Zen Shaman

Sometimes we look back in history (especially the history of philosophy and such) and we give the people who helped form the movement a little too much credit. We forget that, in between all their critical and existential thinking that was spot-on, they had some setbacks, too.

On RealityCarnival today I found a piece about some ridiculous beliefs of the world's most acclaimed thinkers, and it really blew my mind (Reality Carnival is a great site to go to when you need your mind blown).

For example, did you know that Pythagoras thought beans were made from people and should NEVER be eaten? Yes, he actually thought that, among all his briliant musings. That, my friends, is just one glorious example. It only gets wackier from there.

Ridiculous Beliefs of the World's Most Acclaimed Thinkers

So the next time you find yourself wondering if you can ccross breed a dog with a robot, and then you think to yourself that is a stupid thought, just remember: there were people far more intelligent than you or I thinking far stupider stuff.

AllThatIsInteresting

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October is anti-bullying month. Though every single month of the year needs to be anti-bullying month, October is a great start. One of the companies that is taking October and the idea of anti-bullying one step further is Marvel comics. They know they speak to a huge demographic of kids who are picked on or who can relate to being picked on. For that reason, Marvel has a slew of really powerful variant covers they are realsing with some major titles next month to show just how much of in impact bullying can have.

Marvel is working with StompOutBullying to help make this all happens, and it seems a wonderful move fo the mega comic company to make. The above picture tells an epic story using only visuals and is something that most of us, at one time or another, can relate to.

Some other comics to look out for that have special covers in October are:

Rocket Racoon

Captain America

Guardians of the Galaxy

Captain Starlord

Kinda cool to see they are using the popularity of Guardians of the Galaxy and using it for good. Very powerful stuff that will hopefully help open eyes to the epidemic of bullying in the country (and world).

NerdApproved

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Pixar does something to the soul. Something magical. We all walk away from most Pixar films filled with a genuine sense of joy. Their next movie, Inside Out will probably affect us all that way, too. But like with most Pixar films, they also have a short film set to play before Inside Out called Lava. As you can see from its main character above, this is Pixar at its typical finest.

His name is Uku, and he will be the main character for the new short, Lava, and as you can see from the following early footage, he is another Pixar character you just want to embrace. Of course, we don't recommend embracing active volcanoes, but that is your call.

Here, Peep Uku in action and get ready to be even more impressed.

(YouTube Link)

First they make you fall in love with your toys all over again, then they make you fall in love with a trash compactor robot, and THEN they make you fall in love with an ornery old man who lost his wife but wont give up on her dream. Now, they have us loving a volcano. See, Pixar does something to the soul. Something magical. Every single time.

ToplessRobot via Yahoo

Image Via CNN

We knew it was going to happen.  The Robopocalypse. Our inevitable downfall at the hands of the machines WE build. We also figured it would be sometimes in the 2000's (because that just makes it feel even more dystopian), but the above robot you see, named Pepper, will be available for purchase in the U.S starting next year. That means, if science fiction is right, as well as my own shoddy calculations, this gives us three years until the streets are filled with self-aware Pepper's, taking out humans left-and-right.

Okay, okay, present fears aside, I guess Pepper the robot is actually pretty cool. Created by Masayoshi Son and SoftBank. These robots will dance, makes jokes, and do its best to guesstimate human emotion based on the expression it "reads" the wearer making. 

All I can say is I hope it learns the face of abject fear and knows that is a good time to stop dancing. The end is nigh, people, and it looks like a pretty cute robot.

Reminds me of this one, though. No thanks. No Peppers for me.

Bloomberg

This summer has certainly seen its share of big movies, from Guardians of the Galaxy to Godzilla. Right about now is when movies start to release a little slower and tend to be a little smaller in scope and have its sights set on awards season. But undeniably, summer is the greatest time to see "fun" films. Movies that take us out of our lives for a moment and transport us somewhere fantastic (and sometimes wonderfully absurd).

The Movie Clips Trailer page on YouTube put together a nice little mashup of some of this summer's biggest movies, and squashed it all down to two minutes for easy viewing satisfaction. Keep in mind, if you haven't seen these due to a busy summer, it is like seeing a dozen films in two minutes. Not too shabby. Also, dancing baby Groot for the win.

(YouTube Link)

So what was your favorite movie of the summer? Hit up our comments section and let us know!

Image Via

Last week, I wrote a piece about cats doing un-cat like things, and it just felt natural to follow that up with a dog version of the list. The kicker is, with dogs, it is completely different. If a cat is barking like a dog, it is doing that under its own direction. In most cases, when a dog is doing something un-dog like, they are trained to do so. You see a dog dancing Salsa (quite well, I might add), that dog did not just get up one day and teach itself how to Salsa. No, that dog was trained how to Salsa. Cats just do strange stuff to do it (or because they are aliens slowly assimilating our planet, as I have stated before), whereas dogs do strange stuff because we insist they do, and we reward them for it. The dog dancing the Salsa knows, at the end of this, he gets a treat. The cat barking like a dog has no incentive. So as much as they may seem like similar lists, you will see that could not be further from the truth. That disclaimer out of the way, there are SOME dogs on this list who seem to be doing insane or awesome things of their own accord, but for the most part, it is trained and learned behavior. That makes it no less remarkable and no less watchable, thankfully.

1. Dog Dances Salsa

(YouTube Link)

You cannot write about a dog dancing Salsa in the intro of a list and then hold that back. That is just not fair to the readers. Also, like stated in the intro, this is obviously an incredibly well-trained dog. But let it be known that you could try to teach me this same routine, and I am pretty sure I would mess it up about six times. So don't undermine how awesome it is just because the dog was trained to do it. Pretty sure I know a good chunk of humans who could not be trained to do that.

Also, it is a dog dancing Salsa. If your day is not immediately better, you must be on fire or being chased by bears.

2. Dog With Awful Poker Face

(YouTube Link)

Okay, so this dog is clearly not trained to do this. Pretty sure the dog is just busted, and is having trouble concealing its guilt over the course of the interrogation. At first, you cannot tell if it is guilt or pride, as the second dog being confronted looks uncomfortable, yet still tries to throw off its owner with a tail wag.

We see as the interrogation continues, the dog seems less and less able to hide the fact that it ate the cat treats. Say what you want about this dog, but his inability to lie just makes me like him more.

Image Via

Though I am sure none of us travel to space enough to know the above photo occurance is rare, but it is rare. While many of us weened of film look at that and immediately think of the movie Gravity, stop and ponder for a second how this is real. That is a space shuttle Endeavor docked to the International Space Station, as they both float around in outer space.

It is the kind of thing that just kind of steals your breath for a moment when you imagine the reality of it. How quiet it must be up there. How scary it must be while docking. To the astronauts on the Endeavor, it is just another day. To the rest of us, it is nothing short of jaw dropping.

For those curious, a departing supply ship took the photo. The weirdest part? I can see my house from here.

NASA

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Sometimes, the web is full of irreverence and silliness, which can be a good thing. But sometimes, in some far flung corner of the interwebz, you will find a story that feeds your soul a bit. For me today, this was that story. Essentially, a girl who has a brother who is borderline Autistic went to see Gaurdians of the Galaxy. For those who don't know, the Drax character cannot understand metaphors or sarcasm and seems to take everything literally. The girl noticed her little brother instantly relating to Drax as he never had with an on-screen character before:

I took my little brother (who falls on the autism spectrum) to see Guardians of the Galaxy and after this scene he lit up like a Christmas tree and screamed “He’s like me! He can’t do metaphors!” And for the rest of the film my brother stared at Drax in a state of rapture.

So for the last 6 days I have heard my brother repeatedly quote all of the Drax lines from the movie verbatim (one of his talents), begin studying vocabulary test words, and tell everyone he knows that people with autism can also be superheroes.

You can click the link below the read the full story, and I suggest you do. Pretty sure this might be the best thing that has ever come out of a summer movie with a talking racoon (no insult to this fun and enjoyable film, but who knew it could have such an important impact?).

Well played. A superhero who can make a kid who feels ostracized feel normal? Now that, to me, defines superhero.

MerryWeatherBlue

I don't know if you know, but those super expensive Beats by Dre headphones that you see everyone wearing? Well, um, they are not so great. You know what they are great at? Trying to point out to people you have no problem shelling out two hundred dollars or more for headphones that offer the same quality as ten dollar headphones, just so you can get the social status that goes along with donning a pair of them. Well, never before have I heard the whole "Beats by Dre" thing explained as perfectly as it is explained here. Please send this video to your friends who wear these things everywhere they go like some sort of crown. It will bring them back to reality a bit.

(YouTube Link)

The creator of this piece, Marques Brownlee has a bunch of stuff on his YouTube page worth checking out. But mainly, revel in the fact that this dude had the stones to come out and say what so many people have been thinking about these Beat by Dre headphones for years now. I see people wearing them to the grocery store and want to slap them off their heads. This proves the majority would clap if I did (but I wont).

Wimp

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If you are not familiar with the work of art collective La Machine, we suggest you do so immediately. Known for huge, moving, working art instillations that they then use to walk around and interact with people and surroundings. Though all their work has been nothing short of awe-inspiring, their latest piece seems to be setting the art world on fire.

I said that because it is an actual working dragon who breathes fire.

The project is being titled Long Ma Jing Shen, which roughly translates to "The spirit of the horse dragon". Check out more about it here at Screenburn. 

Besides the amazing joints and flaming mouth and scultpure work, the fact that there are kids on the sidewalks openly weeping tells me these guys made a pretty awesome creation and definitely breathed some life into it. Honestly, a fire-breathing dragon making kids cry in the streets of France? I think few can deny just how awesome that is.

Super Punch

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Candles are slowly beginning to realize they can melt away and leave awesome (and in this case, kind of creepy) surprises for adults. Sort of like a flaming Cracker Jack box. The Pyro Pet Candle is just such a creation. Initially, the candle just sort of looks like a pink cat. But as the waxy facade starts to melt away, the real creature is revelealed!

Well, not so much the real creature as a thin, metal skeleton of a cat. It may sound morbid (and kind of is) but it is also an undeniably cool conversation starter. "Excuse me, but is your cat candle slowly turning into a metal skelton? Why yes, yes it is!". I didn't say it would start long conversations.

But hey, with Halloween just around the corner, seems a perfect time to get a pyro pet candle. Or just get one to show your cat who's boss.

Laughing Squid

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It can't be easy being a super hero. Generally, as much as we may think their cool, they often have to go through hell to become the heroic person we eventually see them as. Parental deaths and losing loves and children and not being able to save people every single time would have to weigh on someone. Safe to say that these heroes are not sleeping well at night, put it that way. But what about those moments when the superheroes who are normally really cheerful and optimistic finally snap and turn dark? As you can tell from the above pic, it happens.

Topless Robot put together a list of some comic stories where the good guys went a little bezerk and it ends up being a very intereting read. From Spiderman going all Wolverine on someone, to a Green Lantern plot twist that would be more at home on The Wire than in a comic book. It is bleak stuff, but also shows us in a flash (see what I did there?) that not all comics are aimed at kids, and even the good guys snap sometimes.

We mean REALLY snap.

ToplessRobot

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It has been amazing to witness the leaps and bounds street art has come over the course of the last 20 years. What started as something that was shunned and misunderstood has completely evolved into a respetable and appreciated art style (by most), with more and more street artists reachng superstar status. One of those street artists is Shepard Fairey, who most know best from his Obama, two-toned HOPE poster, though he has been doing this for most of his life.

A recent new piece sprung up on the Lower East Side of Manhatten that was created by Shep. It bodly states: We Own The Future, and seems to harken back to his OBEY days (old schoolers will understand that his Obey pieces are what initially made him known).

In my opinion, all that does is make the city more beautiful. It adds splashes of color and ecourages free thought. What is better than that?

Juxtapose