Auto-Tune is a piece of software that was originally designed to “disguise or correct off-key inaccuracies, allowing vocal tracks to be perfectly tuned despite originally being slightly off-key.” One of its first major uses was on Cher’s song “Believe,” but for every evil use there’s a good one. It can also be used to turn the spoken word into song, and John Boswell uses it to set the words of Carl Sagan, Richard Feynman, Bill Nye, Neil DeGrasse Tyson, and many others to music. His first effort was A Glorious Dawn, and his latest is this marvelous remix of Mr. Rogers.

You can also check out the Symphony of Science website, where you can view the videos, download the MP3s, and read the lyrics. Similar projects are forthcoming, so keep an eye on the site for future updates.

It’s time for another round of Death is Not an Option! The rules, again, are simple: Given the choice of a pair of people, you have to decide which one you’d sleep with; choosing death instead is not an option. This time we’re letting two movie juggernauts go head to head.

The Heroes with Humble Beginnings Matchup
Harry Potter	vs.	Frodo Baggins

The Gutsy Heroines Matchup
Hermione Granger	vs.	Arwen

The Loyal Sidekicks Matchup
Ron Weasley	vs.	Sam Gamgee

The Ultimate Bad Guy Matchup
Voldemort	vs.	Sauron

The Excessively Hairy Dude Matchup
Hagrid	vs.	Gimli

The Blond (Male) Matchup
Lucius Malfoy	vs.	Legolas

The Blond (Female) Matchup
Luna Lovegood	vs.	Éowyn

The Creepy Little Bald Guys Matchup
Dobby	vs.	Gollum

The Badass Wizard Matchup
Dumbledore	vs.	Gandalf

The Scruffy-Looking Hero Matchup
Sirius Black	vs.	Aragorn

The Scary Black Hooded Thing Matchup
Dementor	vs.	Nazgul

The Bad Guy Who Dies Doing the Right Thing Matchup
Severus Snape	vs.	Boromir

Leave your choices in the comments (feel free to expand on why you made each choice). And remember…Death is not an option.

Death and Dementia – Massive link repository that covers everything from instructions for articulating skeletons to a pagan search engine. Plenty of NSFW, so click at your own risk. (Hat tip to Cookie)

Goth Opera Singer Wows Judges – Heartwarming video of a goth kid’s Susan Boyle moment.

Cards Against Humanity – Interesting-looking party game; from the reviews it sounds sort of like a really twisted version of Apples to Apples. The first set is also available as a free PDF on their site. Expansion packs are available as well.

Steampunk Ray Gun – Great-looking mod of a toy plastic gun.

C for Cookie – “Movie trailer” depicting a futuristic world where the consumption of cookies is controlled by the government.

Cthulhu Poppet – Lovecraft meets primitive folk art. I like that the listing describes it as a “Sweet, little ultimate embodiment of evil.” (Hat tip to Pensive Pumpkin)

Chocolate Brain from MRI Scan – Instructables member Inition used a friend’s MRI to create a 3-D chocolate model of his brain. He’s posted details if you have an MRI lying around that you aren’t sure what to do with.

Harry Clarke Illustrations for Poe – Great high-res illustrations.

Scandals of Classic Hollywood – Analysis of vintage Hollywood scandals, from a woman who has a doctorate(?) in the subject.

Zombie Bust Cake – This is a darn impressive use of a standard heart-shaped cake pan.

ShareBrained Technology offers this wonderful and ridiculous open-source clock…thingie. You can buy it fully assembled, as a kit, or as a raw circuit board. If you’re really brave and/or have too much time on your hands, they even sell the circuit board layout so you can print your own.

The Chronulator starts life as a clock, showing the hours and minutes on two old-school analog panel meters. Dress it up to look like old test equipment, audio VU meters, or motorcycle gauges. Mount it in a picture frame, shadow box, computer case, plush toy, pumpkin… Customize the code and hardware to make the meters indicate something other than time — network traffic/lag, outside temperature, freeway congestion, terror threat level, stress level, whatever! Let your imagination run free.

The image shown here is a sort of steampunky design, but users are encouraged to share their own models on the site’s forum.

They’ve also just launched a new design, the Monulator, which can be wired up to report anything you want: “chance of precipitation, time until your next meeting, Twitter mentions, CPU load, stock market change, or a million other things.” So you could stick one in a ouija board and use it to count down the days to Halloween.

Man, I can’t wait until Shadowboy is old enough to learn to solder. These would be a hoot to build with him.

If you told me 100% of serial killers were “morning people” I’d believe you.
— capricecrane

For the first time since my father died, I’m okay with the fact I’m never getting my nose back.
— sween

Pick your hotels according to one criteria: If I get murdered here, would this be a fun place to haunt?
— bobpowers1

If I was in charge of children’s parties I’d fill the piñata with intestines and give the little darlings good reason to scream.
— Paxochka

Eeyore was emo before emo was emo. He’s like the hipster of depression.
— TheBloggess

“Oh wow, way better!” -Jedi Knight trying out a gun
— GuyEndoreKaiser

There are fates far worse than death. For example, having your death reported in an online article with comments enabled.
— badbanana

Angelina Jolie looks like she eats a lot of spider webs
— IamEnidColeslaw

Evite tip, drum up some “buzz” by adding “OF DRACULA” to the name of your event. “You are invited to the Pampered Chef party…OF DRACULA!!”
— KenJennings

Next time I do LSD I’m definitely going to stay away from anyone that looks delicious.
— iamnotdiddy

(No prizes, but if you can answer them all without googling you get bragging rights.)

1. What was the name of Wednesday Addams’s pet spider?
   A) Homer
   B) Vladimir
   C) Marie
   D) Cuddles
   E) Henry
2. This British werewolf movie stars Kevin McKidd, Sean Pertwee and Liam Cunningham as British Army soldiers fighting werewolves in the Scottish highlands.
3. In Greek mythology, there are five rivers in the Underworld. Which of these is not one of them?
   A) Lethe
   B) Akheron
   C) Kokytos
   D) Styx
   E) Limos
4. On the tribute album “We Will Follow,” what U2 song does Rosetta Stone cover?
5. This magician starred in the movie The Man from Beyond, in which he played a man thawed from an icy encasement to discover his reincarnated love of a hundred years past.
   A) David Blaine
   B) Criss Angel
   C) Doug Henning
   D) David Copperfield
   E) Harry Houdini
6. In what horror movie does one of the characters write a book which contains only the line “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” repeated over and over again?
7. Today, Bram Stoker is best known as the author of Dracula. However, during his lifetime he was much better known as what?
   A) Newspaper reporter
   B) Theatre manager
   C) Law clerk
   D) Civil engineer
   E) School teacher
8. The influential Confessions of an English Opium-Eater was written by whom?
9. The first Lollapalooza tour featured only one goth band. Who was it?
   A) Joy Division
   B) Fields of the Nephilim
   C) Siouxsie and The Banshees
   D) The Sisters of Mercy
   E) Southern Death Cult
10. Who played the monster in the 1974 film Young Frankenstein?

(Answers below the fold)

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Peter Schneider has created a supercut of 39 of the all-time creepiest children in horror. A full list of the movies is available on his site.

For best effect, watch right before bedtime.

(Hat tip to Empress Pam)

Creepy Dolls – Large variety of handmade dolls which are, indeed, creepy.

Jordu Schell – Sculptor of a-ma-zing monsters. Monster Brains has a large gallery of his work.

Dirty Work – Interactive “gruesome” dark comedy series about a crime scene clean-up crew. The premise sounds interesting.

The First Halloween – Kickstarter project for a ridiculously cute Halloween-themed Nativity set. I particularly like the Three Wise Zombies.

Victorian Street Life in London – Fascinating slice-of-life photos.

T. rex Trying… – Sketches of poor T. rex and his teeny little arms attempting to do various things.

Sweet Steam – A “steampunk chocolatier.” The Tesla cameo is cute.

A Math-Free Guide to the Math of Alice in Wonderland – An interesting look at a few of the pokes that the story takes at the “new math” of the mid-1800s.

Making Bangles Nerdy – Easy idea for customizing a bracelet with artwork of your choice.

Haunted Carousel Pony – Appealing “My Little Pony” modded with polymer clay.

Awwww…cute.

Werepups is an adoption agency for orphaned Lycanthropes. When werewolf hunters kill the parents, dens of their helpless offspring are often left to starve. That’s when Werepups steps in, to “find loving homes for orphaned Lycanthrope babies, preserve the species, and eliminate the need for human blood in the diet.”

Artist Asia Eriksen’s original line of werewolf babies were hand-painted 11″ poseable latex dolls. The dolls inspired a movie, and her work to create more realistic “pups” for the film led her to offer similar life-size silicone dolls with hand-rooted hair. They are really adorably creepy.

Each doll comes with an adoption certificate and an “emergency silver bullet,” which is a nice touch. The artist also offers many customization options as part of the base price; at $70 for the painted latex and $500 for the furry silicone versions, it’s really not a bad deal for the werewolf-obsessed person in your life.

Additional photos are available on their Facebook page.

(Hat tip to Maven)

Homemade bath beads are a super-easy project that are nice as a gift or simply to indulge yourself. They’re also a good way to use a favorite scented herb.

Here are two recipes, one for a milk-based bath and one for a diffusing oil. Everything for the first one (with the exception of the essential oil) should be available at your local grocery store. The citric acid and oils for the second recipe can be found at health food stores or online. Essential and fragrance oils are widely available at craft stores and online.

Milk Bath Beads

Ingredients
1 C powdered milk; you can use powdered goat’s milk if you’re feeling indulgent, but plain dry milk powder works fine.
1/4 C borax powder
1/4 C cornstarch
2-4 T strong herb tea (see below)
10-20 drops essential oil or fragrance oil of your choice (see below)
2-3 drops food coloring (optional)

To make the herb tea, cover about 1/4 C of dried herbs with 1/2 C boiling water, let steep for 10 minutes, then strain and cool. Strongly-scented herbs such as lavender or peppermint will provide the most fragrance, but you can use any herb that appeals to you, from dried rose petals to green tea. (Make sure that whatever plant material you choose isn’t a skin irritant, and if you collect it from your garden ensure that it hasn’t been sprayed with pesticides or other chemicals.)

Choose an essential or fragrance oil in a complementary scent, and ensure that it’s also skin-safe; some “fragrance” oils are formulated for household rather than personal use, and some essential oils can irritate skin or eyes.

Mix the milk powder, borax, and cornstarch in a bowl. In a separate small bowl mix 2 T of herb tea with about 10 drops of fragrance oil (don’t be surprised if the smell is rather strong; it will be muted quite a bit in the finished product). Mix in a few drops of food coloring if desired–using too much will throw the liquid ratio off and could potentially stain the tub, so if you want a really deep color use a little soap pigment instead. Thoroughly blend this liquid into the dry ingredients, adding small amounts of additional tea if necessary, until it reaches a claylike consistency. Be careful not to add too much liquid or the mixture will turn to sludge. Add a few more drops of fragrance if the scent isn’t strong enough to suit you.

To form balls, roll the dough into pieces about the size of a golf ball; if you’re making a lot of them you might want to wear latex gloves to prevent skin irritation. You can also shape the balls using something like a fillable plastic ornament as a mold; rub the inside with a bit of vegetable oil to help the dough release. Dry the balls on waxed paper for 24-48 hours depending on size, until firm to the touch. Store in an airtight container. To use, simply toss in warm bath water and let it dissolve.

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