Hellboy's Heart and Other Good News

Via Spectral Motion

It was a beautiful day (finally) in the Northeast and I wanted to talk about things that are making me feel at least a little better about the world, so here we go. 

The last celebrity story I remember reading about the Make-a-Wish foundation, involved Food Network's Evil Hamptons Ho, Ina Garten and her denial of a child's request to spend an afternoon cooking with her. F*ck you, Ina! This first part of tonight's post is about one celebrity who really went all out to make a kid's wish come true (Get out your tissues for this one).

Zachary's dream was to meet and be his favorite superhero, Hellboy, played in two pretty great Guillermo Del Toro movies (both of which begin in the most hilariously unlikely and inaccurate version of Trenton, NJ as only Del Toro could imagine) by beloved genre actor, Ron Perlman. To make Zachary's wish come true, Perlman spent hours in makeup to become Hellboy and spend the day with the boy. Then his makeup team turned Zachary into a young Hellboy. How awesome is Ron Perlman, folks? Suck it, Ina. I don't care how many gay friends you pretend to have, you're a terrible person.

You can link to Spectral Motion's Facebook page album at the link in the photo caption. Kudos, Mr. Perlman (as if we needed yet another reason to love you!).

And now on to another site I (and everyone else in the world) visit frequently, YouTube. Do you ever get sucked into the comments people make on some videos? Do you hate them, but still somehow get baited into responding to the trolls? Well then, the brainy zombies over at BoingBoing have the answer you may well be seeking. Herp Derp is a free browser extension that converts all YouTube comments to "herp derp herp herp derp." I trust the folks at BoingBoing - their reputation is without question and the thing works beautifully.  If you HAVE to see a comment, you can click on it. I found it funny and even though I rarely read YouTube comments, I downloaded it for fun. 

And now for something completely gay. Via The Accidental Bear (site may be NSFW), here are porn-star Conner Habib and 'psycho musician' Christeene giving advice to a guy whose boyfriend is ashamed of the commercialization of Pride. It's perfectly weird, funny, gay and actually offers two valid opinions.And it's safe for work at inclusive companies. I'm going to try and embed the clip, but AB seemed to have some issues and so I'm going to add the same link that he did to the original at NewNowNext if you have a problem viewing it here.

Get More: Watch Reality TV, Video and Movies, Logo TV

More, anon.
Prospero

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John Cusack Is a Freak

I've always liked John Cusack. I love Say Anything with its iconic scene of Cusack holding a boom box over his head, playing Peter Gabriel's 'In Your Eyes' in an effort to win back the girl he loves. So romantic. Or his hilarious turn as a hitman attending his high school reunion in Grosse Point Blank (which also features a bravura performance from his equally talented sister, Joan). Then there's the brilliant insanity of Being John Malkovich and the almost scary version of Stephen King's 1408. And let's not forget Sixteen Candles or the completely hilarious Better Off Dead ("...and to drink... Peru!"). Currently (and, I think, sadly) he is starring in Hot Tub Time Machine, a movie I have no intention of ever seeing, even when it shows up for free on TBS in about 3 months.

Anyway, Cusack is also currently a guest blogger on BoingBoing, the Science/Sci-Fi/Steampunk/Free -Speech/Arts-and-Crafts/Gadgets/Bananas/Whatever-the-Hell-They-Feel-Like-Posting-About blog run by Science Fiction author Cory Doctorow. Today, Mr. Cusack posted the video I am about to share with you.

If you have seen Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland and thought he must have been smoking some primo ganga while making it, I can't even imagine what you will think about Czech animator Jan Svankmejer's take on Lewis Carroll's seminal work of nonsense incarnate. As a long-time Alice aficionado (I once wrote a play called "Through a Looking Glass, Darkly"), I am always excited to find new takes on Reverend Dodgson's allegorical and politically satirical fairy tale. Svankmejer's disturbing stop-motion/live action short is nothing less than brilliant, though as insane as anyone can imagine:

Cusack also links to another Svankmejer short, Meat Love. I'll leave it to you to form your own opinion:

As if I needed another reason to love Cusack, his taste in bizarro filmmaking only cements my admiration of him further (Hot Tub Time Machine not withstanding).

Interestingly, BoingBoing contributor Mark Fraunfelder also posted this piece about the British Library's online version of Carroll's original manuscript, which is available for your perusal and delight, for free. As you may well imagine, Uncle P is ecstatic about this link. Despite owning several versions of both Alice books (including "The Annotated Alice"), this is the first time I've been able to actually see the original book in his own handwriting, complete with his original illustrations. Nonsense just doesn't get better than this.

If you aren't familiar with Mr. Cusack's or Reverend Dodgson's works, I highly suggest you go to Netflix and/or your local library, posthaste. I promise you will be disappointed by neither. And just as a side note, the best concert I ever attended was Peter Gabriel's in the late 80's. I believe my sister will also attest to that fact.

More, anon.
Prospero




More, anon.

You have read this article Blogs / BoingBoing / Books / Lewis Carroll / Links / Movies / Nonsense / Ramblings / YouTube with the title BoingBoing. You can bookmark this page URL http://tammycross.blogspot.com/2010/04/john-cusack-is-freak.html. Thanks!