The Vampire Wars... Rice versus Meyer!

Oooh... the internet and twitter has been a buzz lately because our old favorite author on vampires is now starting a fight with our current favorite author on vampires!

Yes! Yes!  It seems that Ms. Rice started to do some mudslinging using her characters from her book to deride the characters of Meyer's books!  On her facebook page, Ms. Rice posted a loaded question linking to an article of a North Dakota student:

 And then there is this other really pressing issue: should vampires sparkle? Think before you speak! This is probably the most important issue facing our time!!! (I have a suspicion that Louis, Lestat and Armand will refuse to discuss this. But then you know how contrary and difficult they can be.)...

 She then continued on to site what would her characters think of the vampires in Twilight:

Lestat and Louie feel sorry for vampires that sparkle in the sun. They would never hurt immortals who choose to spend eternity going to high school over and over again in a small town —— anymore than they would hurt the physically disabled or the mentally challenged. My vampires possess gravitas. They can afford to be merciful.

Oh Snap!!!  That has got to twinge even just a little...

Let the Vampire Wars via their authors begin...

mumbling my glee to the closest to a vampire war we will ever get..

An Unlikely Romance...

Hollywood has done it again!  Well actually, books have done it first.  We've had Vampire-Human Romance... Werewolf-human romance.. now?  We got us a Zombie-Human romance.  Say What?  Are you asking yourself if it's a typo?  Nope.  It says clearly... Zombies.

Yep, apparently, there's this book called Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion about a supernatural love story involving the normal human babe and the flesh eating zombie of our nightmares.  The gist of the plot is that a Zombie starts havinh feelings for a girl after eating her boyfriend.  Apparently, the zombie also ate his brains and has then absorbed his memories and his love for the girlfriend.  He then starts to follow her around intent on protecting her.(?)..  Of course there wil be a lot of issues here like how can she stand the smell of rotting flesh and can they kiss without anything falling off or will they do the nasty?

Hollywood has picked up on the book and is now planning an August 2012 release.  It will star Teresa Palmer (I am number four) and Nicolas Coult (beast from XMen first Class).

See more of the original article from Hollywoodcrush via MTV.com.

mumbling as I run away from the brain sucking zombies...

Wash the label away...

Don't you just hate it when you buy fruit and it has this old big label sticker that just refuses to come off??

Yeah you do.

So do I.  So this invention of Scott Amron takes care of that!  You only need to wash your fruit and voila!  The label turns into fruit soap to wash you fruit with!  Epically cool!

See the features of this invention here: http://www.amronexperimental.com/Fruit_Wash_Labels.html

mumbling a day... uh... keeps the doctor away?

Quantum Levitation may make hoverboards possible!!

I just gotta post this although by Internet standards, I am already pretty late.

There's a video that has already gone viral depicting QUANTUM LEVITATION/LOCKING.  You already know what levitation is but Quantum Locking is the ability to trap an object in 3 dimensional space thus also making it look like an object is levitating.  At least as I understand it.  I'm no Physicist so I maybe wrong in my definition.  What I do know is that isn't like the defense mechanism of the weeping angels (for Dr. Who fans!). 

This video proves to us that we are on the verge of a breakthrough in futuristic travel as long as they devise a way to make superconductors at room temp anyway.

Watching the video, you could easily see and feel the wonder as you see the disc glide over the track or below it...  it brings out the kid in you!  The kid that is still full of wonder and optimism unmarred by the reality of skepticism that abound in our daily lives.

For more information, hop on over to the It's Okay to be Smart website: http://jtotheizzoe.tumblr.com/post/11590151866/if-this-video-doesnt-make-your-jaw-drop-you

mumbling my amazement and dreams of the future...

Immaculate Conception of Pit Vipers

Okay.  So it's not exactly Immaculate conception. Okay! It's really not immaculate conception? Happy?  Sheeesh!

But it is similar since pit vipers like the copperhead snake (pictured above -- taken from www.livescience.com) have been found to be able to reproduce asexually! Asexawhat??  Asexually!  You know?  Like when Jeff Goldblum explains how the dinosaurs are breeding in Jurassic Park!  Now you know! 

But just to recap, it's the ability of certain animals  (and plants!) to reproduce from a single parent which does not involve fertilization... or you know... sex (what??? Where's the fun in that?!?).  When it does occur in vertebrate females, this particular mode of asexual reproduction is known as facultative parthenogenesis. Cool!

You can read the whole article here at the livescience.com site: http://www.livescience.com/16573-pit-viper-snakes-virgin-births-reproduction.html

The ancient one finishes marathon

True Story!

Fauja Singh is the first archaic guy ever to finish a marathon!  Really!  This guy is ancient and he friggin ran a marathon!!!  This old british runner completed a 26K run in eight hours and 25 minutes!  That's impressive given his age and he wasn't even dead last!  Damn!  He's really making guys like me look bad...

For those of you not familiar with the hardships of running, BBC news lists the tolls that entail when you run especially when you've already old:

"Long-distance running is hard on the body - and the older you get the greater the toll it takes.

The heart becomes less efficient at circulating oxygen - an average 60-year-old pumps 20% less oxygenated blood than a 20-year-old.

Muscle strength also declines sharply once you pass 70, at a rate of about 30% per decade, according to some studies.

Your ligaments and tendons become more brittle, making you more prone to injuries, and your lung tissue becomes stiffer and less efficient."

Just watch a video of the guy:

For most runners, Fauja has become an inspiration... to me he has become a bane... or maybe I'm just a lazy bastard...

I refer to you to the original BBC post: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-15344238 for more details.

*sigh*  mumbling as I sit down on the couch..

Prufrock451: Could I destroy the entire Roman Empire during the reign of Augustus if I traveled back in time with a modern U.S. Marine infantry battalion or MEU?

Prufrock451 ROCKS!!!!

There's this little subreddit over at reddit.com about a question.. no.. an idea!... not quite polished but the formings or premise of a great story....

Prufrock451 posted a what if storyline wherein he pits a modern US marine battalion against the very best of the Roman Empire (The Praetorians).  His story telling style can be considered flash fiction and fits right well with the fast paced action he is going to deliver. 

He pits the two team in the home turf of the Romans... in a yet unexplained phenomena, the 35th MEU was transported to the Roman times, in the time of Augustus, bringing with them a few thousand soldiers consisting mostly of US marines, some afghan soldiers some Italian soldiers and some ground engineers, tech people and a few scientists.  They have fuel that would last a few months as well as food that might last them for weeks.  They also have a number of artillery as well as a few tanks and 3 fighter helicopters.

The Marines: Appearing out of nowhere, the US Marines people consisted of 2,200 Marines. With them are about 150 Air Force maintenance and repair specialists. There are about 60 Afghan Army soldiers, mostly the MEU's interpreters and liaisons. There are also 15 U.S. civilian contractors and one mystery man.  They have the weapons and the technology.  On a quick glance, given the time period, they can be considered the most powerful force in the world...

The Roman Empire:  Being in their home turf, they number in the thousands... and they have the praetorian guards... the elite fighting force of the Roman Empire.  These praetorians are said to be so bad-ass that they kill their own emperors if they dont like him.

With the advance military hardware at the Marines disposal, could they topple the Roman Empire?  Common sense should say that this would be a one sided fight... and maybe it would be... at first.  But if the fight wears on, the Marines know that the bullets will not last, that the fuel will not last, their food, will not last, however good the are, they rely far too much on modern gadgets and weapons.

The Romans on the other hand, have the advantage of terrain plus those army of praetorians who have never known the comforts of air conditioning, heaters, cushions on seats...  have fought and won wars with nothing but the armor they are wearing and the swords in their hands.  Under a hot sun, in the cold grasps of winter, they have experienced it all and fought on with nothing but grit.

Prufrock451 have posted a great story which garnered the interest of many.  So much so, that he was approached by someone from that board to polish the story even further and then pitch it to some of the big wigs in Hollywood.

As of this writing, Prufrock451 has sold the premise to Warner Bros. and is in the process of finishing a script to be approved to be a major motion picture!!!  Which is a surprise because the trend in Hollywood right now is sequels and remakes and more remakes.  Quite refreshing to know that they are also interested in doing original movies.... heheh.

Great Story.  Great Writer.  Great Medium.  The internet is truly an awesome place.

You can still read the first 7 days of the story over at Reddit.com.  Here is the link : http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/k067x/could_i_destroy_the_entire_roman_empire_during/c2giwm4

Reddit user Prufrock451, who is more commonly known as James Erwin,  is apparently a "two-time Jeopardy winner".  As of this writing, Warner Bros. has asked him to stop redditing with regards to the storyline anyway...

Mumbling my awe at the great story unfolding...