The subtitle of this post is, “Aaaaaaaaaaargh,” since I’m feeling rather thwarted at the moment.
For those not familiar with Pinterest, it’s a “virtual pinboard:” A visual bookmarking tool that lets you collect stuff from all over the Web and put it all in one place. It’s great for things like planning a redecorating project or putting together an outfit. It also lets you browse pinboards curated by other users, so you can piggyback off others’ inspiration.
What it doesn’t do worth a damn, however, is preserve original source information.
So, I found this lovely tattoo on a tattoo pinboard, and I’d love to give you more information about the artist, but it’s credited to “Tumblr” and that is not exactly useful.
Anyway, I think this is lovely and wish I could tell you more about it. I really like the creepy tree and the gothic-looking tombstones, and am curious whether it ends at the haunted house or extends further along her back. If a tat of this size wouldn’t win me an instant divorce, something similar would definitely be at the top of my wish list.
Update: Jessica, whose Google-fu clearly exceeds mine, tracked down the original photo here. It’s a self-portrait by Stephanie May, a photographer in Nashville. Still no information on the tattoo artist, but if you’re in the Nashville area I suppose you could go ask her. Thanks, Jessica!
This trailer premiered at Comic-Con, and the description alone is worth the price of admission.
In this comedic fantasy adventure, Joe (Ryan Kwanten) is a heavy metal rocker who’s just gone through a painful breakup with his girlfriend, Beth (Margarita Levieva). His concerned roommates (Steve Zahn, Peter Dinklage) kidnap him to their LARP (Live Action Role Playing) gathering, where he enters a realm of fantasy escapism in which pretend knights, elves, and barbarians clash with foam weaponry on a mock battlefield. When Joe’s “sorcerer” roommate (Zahn) inadvertently summons a deadly succubus that takes Beth’s seductive form, bloody reality crashes down upon their fantasy world. Once LARPers start to turn up dead, the make-believe wizards and warriors must join forces with other adventurers (Summer Glau, Danny Pudi) to become the real life heroes they have been pretending to be and conquer the unleashed evil.
Between Ryan Kwanten displaying his core competency of looking slightly addled and Peter Dinklage in chainmail, how could this possibly be any more awesome?
Top 25 Halloween Makeup Tutorials – Roundup of video tutorials for various makeup effects. Most of them seem to be in the medium-to-hard range, but it’s worth taking a look for the leopard-print lipstick alone. (Hat tip to MaDonna)
The Witch’s House – Some great photos of the Spadena House in Beverly Hills.
Frida Kahlo Cake – An astoundingly detailed Day of the Dead-themed cake. The whole photostream consists of this artist’s custom cakes, and they are just astonishing. (Hat tip to Empress Pam)
BoneLust – Etsy store offering all sorts of bone-related goodness.
Here’s a fun little time-waster: A Flash-based game wherein you play a ghost trying to rid your house of noisy party guests.
There are 30 guests scattered around a multi-floor house. Use the arrow keys to maneuver your ghost around the house. You can “possess” various objects (furnishings, toys, etc.) by hovering near them and hitting the spacebar, then use the arrow keys to cause various actions: The bathtub walks across the floor, portraits scream, a teddy bear growls, and so on. If you do spooky things in front of guests you can frighten them out of the room and (eventually) out of the house; the goal is to scare all 30 people away.
Scaring people will increase your haunting abilities and allow you to do more powerful things, but if you frighten anyone too badly you run the risk of causing them to panic and accidentally kill themselves. Also, children and a few of the giddier adults tend to take your paranormal activities in stride, so there’s some skill involved in being juuuust scary enough.
The game is whimsical and cartoony instead of creepy, so there’s no risk of causing nightmares in small children.* Whether you’re trying to set a record for the fastest time chasing everybody away or just wandering around and seeing what you can cause various objects to do when you possess them, it’s certainly worth a play or two.
*Shadowboy loves this game, and is much better at clearing the house than I am. Being pwned by a seven-year-old is humbling.
The Nefertem shawl is a lace-knitting pattern by Kristen Kapur of Through the Loops Designs. It’s currently only available as part of a pattern/yarn kit through The Loopy Ewe, but the pattern will be available by itself in October.
There’s a little more information about it in the Ravelry library, plus a photoset on Flickr where it’s also shown being worn as a scarf. Red Pepper Quilts has a review of the pattern and some more photos.
I love the delicate, spiderwebby look of this piece, and have to say that I think I like it better in the dark purply-grey yarn of the kit than I would in plain black. This would be a perfect light wrap for an evening out or, as Hinkenhook suggests, a bridesmaid’s gift to be worn in a Hallowedding.
Billing itself as, “The World’s Only Dating Website for the Living-impaired,” Gravedate is currently just a shell, but it’s got a dynamite promotional ad:
Darkfin Gloves – Gloves that give you “webbed fingers” which supposedly improve your swimming. I don’t care about that; I just want a pair to wear around and make people nervous.
Friday the 13th – This little illustration of various horror villains is adorable.
Locke & Key – Interesting set of graphic novels with a “dark supernatural” theme. There’s a very positive review at BoingBoing.
Kitty in a Casket – “Pop punk” band with highly entertaining lyrics. (Hat tip to Kitten Herder)
I recently ran across an EMF Detector app which purports to detect the same “ghostly” energies that paranormal investigators look for, and wondered what other smartphone apps might be available for the gothier amongst us. As it turns out, there’s a bunch of ’em.
There are several other flavors of EMF apps, including iEMF (which seems to have a more detailed readout), EMF Meter + (appears to be aimed more at scientists than ghost hunters), and Paranormal State EMF Reader (associated with A&E’s Paranormal State program ; I don’t know how much useful data it collects but the interface is well-suited to costume parties).
Other ghost-hunting tools include:
Ghost Recorder – Claims to record ghostly sounds beyond the range of human hearing.
Paranormal Recorder – Another EVP recorder, this one triggered by unusual EMF readings.
iOvilus – The description of this recorder is sort of vague, but it appears to function(?) on the theory that external forces can cause changes to the phone’s sensors,
Ghost Words – An EVP recorder that is triggered by motion or infrared.
Ghost Radar – Offers a variety of sensors (EMF, vibrations, sounds, etc.) and some interesting management capabilities.
Ghost Hunter – Another multi-function ghost hunting toolkit.
Ghost Detector Pro – Claims to use the phone’s environmental sensors to track ghosts on a radar-like screen. I like that the tagline is, “Protect yourself from the ghosts in 2011!”
I recently ran across an 