Posted by Steve Busti
I’m sure doomsday theorists will have a field day with this one (skimming over the part that it may not happen yet for another million years, of course).

Will it be a scene reminiscent of Luke Skywalker’s home planet Tatooine (as seen in the photo)? Only time will tell.

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The Earth could soon have a second sun, at least for a week or two.
The cosmic phenomenon will happen when one of the brightest stars in the night sky explodes into a supernova.
And, according to a report yesterday, the most stunning light show in the planet’s history could happen as soon as this year.
Earth will undoubtedly have a front row seat when the dying red supergiant star Betelgeuse finally blows itself into oblivion.
The explosion will be so bright that even though the star in the Orion constellation is 640 light-years away, it will still turn night into day and appear like there are two suns in the sky for a few weeks.
The only real debate is over exactly when it will happen.
In stellar terms, Betelgeuse is predicted to crash and burn in the very near future. But that doesn’t necessarily mean you have to rush out and buy sunglasses.
Brad Carter, Senior Lecturer of Physics at the University of Southern Queensland in Australia, claimed yesterday that the galactic blast could happen before 2012 – or any time over the next million years.
‘This old star is running out of fuel in its centre,’ Dr Carter told the Australian website news.com.au.
‘This fuel keeps Betelgeuse shining and supported. When this fuel runs out the star will literally collapse in upon itself and it will do so very quickly.
‘This is the final hurrah for the star. It goes bang, it explodes, it lights up – we’ll have incredible brightness for a brief period of time for a couple of weeks and then over the coming months it begins to fade and then eventually it will be very hard to see at all,’ he added.
The Internet is abuzz with doomsday theories linking the supernova to the Mayan calendar’s prediction of an Armageddon in 2012, fueled by the association of the word ‘Betelgeuse’ with the devil.
But experts claimed that even if the big bang is looming, it will still happen way too far from Earth to do us any harm.
‘When a star goes bang, the first we will observe of it is a rain of tiny particles called nuetrinos,’ said Dr Carter.
‘They will flood through the Earth and bizarrely enough, even though the supernova we see visually will light up the night sky, 99% of the energy in the supernova is released in these particles that will come through our bodies and through the Earth with absolutely no harm whatsoever.’
When it happens, the Betelgeuse supernova will almost certainly be the most dramatic ever seen.
It is the ninth brightest star in the night sky and the second brightest in the constellation of Orion, outshining its neighbour Rigel – or Beta Orionis – only very rarely.
It’s distinct orange-red color makes it easy to spot in the night sky.
If it was at the centre of our solar system, its surface would extend past the asteroid belt, wholly engulfing Mercury, Venus, Mars and the Earth.

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1349383/Betelgeuse-second-sun-Earth-supernova-turns-night-day.html

Posted by Santellana ( of “Tarot by Santellana”, one of the Sideshow Performers at the Museum of The Weird )
Two from BoingBoing. One is about an upcoming movie about Edgar Allen Poe starring John Cusack, and the other is a post about the mysterious visitor with a secret signal NOT showing up to visit Poe’s grave on his birthday.
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“As noted earlier here on Boing Boing, guestblogger and pal John Cusack is starring as Edgar Allan Poe in the James McTeigue-directed film The Raven, due out in Fall, 2011. Here’s a photo gallery of on-set snapshots just shared with us by Cusack, who looks impossibly bad-ass as Poe in these shots. I am so psyched to see this film. Happy birthday, Edgar Allan Poe.”

( Note from Santellana – The photo that BoingBoing blogged about was removed shortly after they posted. Something about a movie studio not wanting to actually publicize their film. )

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In 1993, the visitor began leaving notes, starting with one that read: "The torch will be passed." A note in 1998 indicated the originator of the tradition had died and passed it on to his two sons.

The sons didn’t seem to take the duty as seriously as the father. One left a note in 2001 referencing the Super Bowl and another in 2004 implying criticism of France over its objections to the U.S. invasion of Iraq, upsetting many of the traditionalists. When the Poe toaster didn’t show last year, Mr. Jerome theorized that the 200th anniversary of Poe’s birth in 2009 might have been considered the appropriate stopping point.

Or, it was thought at the time, perhaps the toaster just had a flat tire on the way to the cemetery.

But that’s the sort of happenstance unlikely to happen two years in a row. Mr. Jerome says he’ll return one more year. If the visitor fails to show in 2012, he’ll considered the tradition over and done.

"It’s sort of like a marriage that ends," Mr. Jerome said. "Part of you still wants the warmth that was part of it, and you go looking for the same woman. No, it’s over with. And if it’s over with, it’s over with. If people want to continue the tradition, it’s going to be without me."

Sources:
http://www.boingboing.net/2011/01/19/john-cusack-as-edgar-1.htmllivepage.apple.com

http://www.boingboing.net/2011/01/19/poe-grave-visitor-a.html

Posted by Santellana ( of “Tarot by Santellana”, one of the Sideshow Performers at the Museum of The Weird )
Just when you thought that MAN-BITES-DOG story could not be topped- here we have a men-snort-dog story

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It sounds like a scene from an inane comedy movie – three gormless burglars break into a house and snort what they believe to be drugs that turn out to be a dead man’s ashes.

However, it actually happened in the Florida town of Silver Springs Shores on December 15, according to a police report.

And the vacant stares in these police mugshots won’t do much to help the case of the accused.

Waldo Soroa, 19, Matrix Andaluz, 18, and Jose David Diaz Marrero, 19, have all been arrested on charges of burglary and grand theft.

They, along with two juveniles who cannot be named, allegedly stole the cremated remains of a man and two dogs, which they hoped might be cocaine, from a woman’s home.

As well as an urn containing the ashes of her father and another container with the ashes of her two Great Danes, they also took electronic equipment and jewelry, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office said on Wednesday.

Investigators learned what happened to the ashes after they arrested five teens in connection with another burglary attempt at a nearby home last week. ‘The suspects mistook the ashes for either cocaine or heroin. It was soon discovered that the suspects snorted some of the ashes believing they were snorting cocaine,’ the sheriff’s report said.

Once they realized their error, the suspects discussed returning the remaining ashes but threw them in a lake instead because they thought their fingerprints were on the containers, sheriff’s spokesman Judge Cochran said.

Police divers were trying to recover the ashes. The suspects were jailed on numerous burglary and other charges.

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1348820/Burglars-snort-ashes-man-2-dogs-mistaking-cocaine.html#ixzz1BcWvjKi0

10:00 PM CST, TONIGHT: Welcome once again, as we bring you another mind-expanding episode of “The Shadow Hour,” with your host, Chris Walden.

Exactly two months after this broadcast some of the most interesting people in the world of the paranormal will be gathering in Beaumont, Texas for the Texas Ghost Show. We’ll be talking to the show founder, Don Dennis, about what is happening this year.

As always, the lines will be open and we encourage you to call in with your questions. The call in number for tonight’s show is (347) 826-9662 or call toll-free at (877) 867-0829.

Listen right here with our blogtalkradio widget below. You can listen to past broadcasts at any time, or tune in tonight (Wednesday, January 19th) at 10pm Central for the live broadcast. See you in the shadows…

Posted by Santellana ( of “Tarot by Santellana”, one of the Sideshow Performers at the Museum of The Weird )
Man’s best,…meal?! Wow, this actually is a MAN-BITES-DOG story!
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Man’s best friend has long provided protection and companionship. But researchers now believe that 10,000 years ago, dogs were not only our loyal friends, but sometimes also our meals.
While this may not come as a shock to people in Korea where dog is still eaten to this day, the scientists found a bone fragment from what they are calling the earliest confirmed domesticated canine in the Americas.
From this, they have concluded that the animals were bred to be eaten as well as serving as hunting dogs and even pets. However, it remains unknown whether the dogs were eaten out of necessity.
Samuel Belknap III, a University of Maine graduate student, came across the fragment while analysing a dried-out sample of human waste unearthed in south-west Texas in the 1970s.
A carbon-dating test put the age of the bone at 9,400 years, and a DNA analysis confirmed it came from a dog – not a wolf, coyote or fox, Mr Belknap said. The fragment was found deep inside a pile of human excrement and was the characteristic orange-brown colour that bone turns when it has passed through the digestive tract.
Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1348546/Bone-fragment-confirms-dogs-bred-food-9-400-years-ago.html#ixzz1BVmUrbRu

Posted by Santellana ( of “Tarot by Santellana”, one of the Sideshow Performers at the Museum of The Weird )
Really, cows… was Wisconsin THAT bad? MOOOOOve along people, nothing to see here,…unless they manage to come back to life after three hours like Arun Bhasin?

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200 cows were found dead Friday on a farm in Portage County, Wisconsin. The dead cows had to be removed with semi-trucks. The rest of the farm has not been quarantined, as officials say no threat is posed toward humans or other animals, according the The AP.

The owner of the dead cows was working with a local veterinarian, who initially believed a virus such as infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR) or bovine virus diarrhea (BVD) could be the culprit, according to The Wausau Daily Herald. WSAW News reports that more recent updates have suggested pneumonia as the cause of the mass cow deaths, though such widespread cases of pneumonia are rare. Tests are still underway to determine what is responsible. See WSAW’s full video report here.

Though likely unrelated, many other incidents of mass animal deaths have been reported in the U.S. and around the world in the past month. Thousands of dead birds fell from the sky in Arkansas on New Year’s Eve, following a massive fish kill just 100 miles away days earlier. In the week following, other mass bird deaths were reported in nearby Louisiana and Kentucky. Birds were also reported to fall dead from the sky in Italy and Sweden, and more recently similar incidents have been reported in California and Alabama.

Mass fish kills have also been reported in Chicago, Maryland, Brazil and New Zealand, along with 40,000 dead crabs that washed ashore on England beaches. Many explanations have been offered for the various mass animal deaths, with everything from fireworks, semi-truck collisions, overeating and cold weather blamed for the birds’ deaths. Cold weather has also been pinned to likely be the cause of many of the fish and crab deaths, as well. According to The AP, mass animal deaths are not all that uncommon.

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/18/200-dead-cows-wisconsin_n_810248.html

Posted by Santellana ( of “Tarot by Santellana”, one of the Sideshow Performers at the Museum of The Weird )
Man defeats Death! For his next trick maybe he can defeat Taxes?
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A man whose heart had stopped was brought back from the dead after three and a half hours thanks to a machine that performed 20,000 life-saving compressions.

Arun Bhasin, 53, was found lying unconscious in Croydon in December temperatures of -10C. He was rushed to Croydon University Hospital but suffered a cardiac arrest.

Luckily for him he was under the care of two leading resuscitation doctors, who hooked him up to a revolutionary cardiac support machine.

The Zoll AutoPulse pump, which is battery operated, performed 100 compressions per minute. It maintained Mr Bhasin’s heartbeat for more than three hours while he was stabilised by medics and needed four full batteries to keep going.

He is now back at his home in East London and well on the road to recovery.

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1347074/Patient-heartbeat-brought-life-machine-3-hours.html#ixzz1BVkDcOSU

Posted by Santellana
In the “Truth in Advertising” Department comes today’s story reported by the Daily Health Report:
A popular candy bar made in Pakistan, the Nuclear Sludge Chew Bar by Toxic Waste has been recalled due to high lead content. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) allows lead content of 0.1 parts per million and these candy bars were measured as high as 0.24 parts per million.
The recall was voluntary by the company after discovering the high lead content during a lot test.
While all flavors of the candy bar were recalled (sour apple, blue raspberry, and cherry), a cherry flavored group was found to have dangerously high levels of lead. Levels so high, in fact, they could cause health problems for infants, children, and pregnant women.
As a cautionary measure, the company is working to recall all candy bars distributed since 2007.
No health reports have been made related to the candy bars, according to the FDA.
The candy bars were available at retail stores throughout the United States.
Due to the recall, the company has willingly stopped distribution of all flavors and is currently working to resolve the issue.
Source: http://www.dailyhealthreport.org/dangerous-lead-levels-cause-toxic-waste-candy-bar-recall/933/

So kids, instead of eating Toxic Waste candy, it might be safer to just eat the sugar directly…

Tetris Sugar designed by Danil Zdorov.

Source: http://www.likecool.com/Tetris_Sugar–Design–Gear.html

in fact, stop eating so much sugar and try eating some vegetables. At least that won’t kill you…
…or will it???

Source: http://laughingsquid.com/salad-alien-made-out-of-vegetables-by-till-nowak/

Posted by Steve Busti, Museum of the Weird owner
Remember those ghastly monster mags with names like Tales Of Voodoo, Terrors of Dracula, and Tales From The Tomb? These were just some of the macabre titles produced by Eerie Publications from the mid-60’s to the early 80’s, when the “monster kid” craze was at it’s height.
If you’re not familiar with the infamous Eerie Publications (not to be confused with Warren Publishing’s “Eerie” magazine), these comic magazines featured some of the most gruesome and gore-filled artwork ever to grace the printed page!

One of Eerie’s returning artists was our old friend, eye-poppin’ Dick Ayers, who had contributed the inks to some of my pencilled covers for Bizarre Fantasy and Fantastic Worlds back when I first launched Flashback Comics in the mid-90’s.

Well, recently I discovered this devilishly delightful animated video created by scarstuff.com’s Jason Willis that I just had to share with you. Jason spent a month painstakingly collecting, scanning, and animating cover art from several titles from Eerie Publications using a combination of Photoshop, Motion, and Final Cut Pro to produce this masterpiece homage to the genre. In addition, Jason synced up the artwork to what he describes as “the Worst-Best Halloween Record” ever made, the old Johnson-Smith Horror Record that used to be advertised in all the comic books of the day. If you grew up in that era like me, even if you may not have ever heard the record you almost surely were familiar with the iconic artwork of the ads.

I was so impressed by Jason’s animation that I had to post it here, I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.

Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about Eerie Publications, over at BoingBoing.net there’s a recent article about Mike Howlett’s new book The Weird World of Eerie Publications, which covers everything you ever wanted to know about the sordid magazine publisher.
And now you can also buy Mike’s book right here through our web store, luckylizard.net! Get it now before they’re all gone!

Sources: http://www.boingboing.net/2011/01/11/-myron-fass-publishe.html

http://scarstuff.blogspot.com/2010/10/cast-of-eerie-publications-perform.html

• Horoscope horror because Earth has ‘wobbled’ out of alignment with the moon
• Most who thought they were Virgo are actually Leo – but only in the East
If your horoscope has never made any sense to you, there may be a good reason why – it could be out of date.
Astronomers have called for the zodiac signs to be overhauled because they no are no longer accurate.
The ancient Babylonians based zodiac signs on the constellation the sun was ‘in’ on the day a person was born.
But during the thousands of years since, the moon’s gravitational pull has made the Earth shift on its axis and created a one-month shift in the stars’ alignment.
Astronomers are now proposing to move all the star signs back one month and introduce a 13th star sign, Ophiuchus, to help readjust the zodiac calendar.
The change will come as a shock to many who will discover they have been reading the wrong star sign their entire lives – and will not necessarily be happy with their new ones.
Those under dominant and creative Leo could now find themselves a Cancer, which means they are moody and sensitive.
A passionate Scorpio could become a more diplomatic and balanced Libra whilst if you were a Taurus, you could now find yourself a stubborn Aries.

The change was suggested by Professor Parke Kunkle, who teaches astronomy at Minneapolis Community and Technical College.
Astronomers study space and the stars from a scientific viewpoint whilst astrologers write horoscopes and claim that celestial bodies can give clues to personality traits.
Professor Kunkle said that those who read their star signs could have been reading the wrong one their whole lives and should readjust accordingly.
‘When astrologers say that the sun is in Pisces, it’s really not in Pisces,’ he said.
‘Historically, people looked at the sky to understand the world around us. But today I don’t think people who are into astrology look at the sky very much.’ The signs of the zodiac have roots in mythology and relate to the legend of how the 12 Olympian gods took animal shapes to flee the monster Typhon who was causing havoc on Earth.
They date back to Roman and Babylonian times and are based on the ecliptic, which is the path of the sun over the celestial sphere, or imaginary path around the Earth for a year.
In the beginning your star sign was indeed determined by the constellation in the sky that the sun lined up with at the time of your birth.
Since then, however, astrologers have adopted a mathematically equal division of the sky, so the position of the constellations is no longer relevant.
The proposed 13th star sign, Ophiuchus, is a constellation in space and existing prints of its symbol indicate it is a heavily muscled individual holding a snake to the sky.
Those born under Ophiuchus are said to have lofty ideals, enjoy longevity and are inventive. Those who are currently Scorpio or Saggitarius could make the switch.
The story has sparked controversy and debate around the world and instantly became the most popular topic of conversation on microblogging site Twitter, where some users were aghast at the change in their fortunes.
One woman summed up the feeling of many when she wrote: ‘I am now a Cancer. I went from being the top of the zodiac..Leo the courageous lion – to a crab!’ Daily Mail astrologer Jonathan Cainer vehemently denied Professor Kunkle’s claim and said that it was the work of a ‘jealous astronomer’.
‘He is right that the Earth has moved but astrologers have not for years based their predictions on the constellations,’ he said.
‘The star signs are named after the constellations of stars but they are not based on them or their positions in the sky.
‘For thousands of years we have used mathematically equal divisions of the ecliptic.
‘This is either willfully ignorant or mischievous and malevolent and shows that the scientific community reacts in a bigoted way when faced with mysticism.
‘There is no need for people to adjust their star signs or for a 13th star sign to be introduced. This is just a load of nonsense’.

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1347140/Horoscope-change-2011-Sidereal-astrology-reveals-13th-OPHIUCHUS-zodiac-sign.html