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14-Year-Old Indicted on Charges of Raping, Murdering Math Teacher

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14-Year-Old Indicted on Charges of Raping, Murdering Math Teacher

On Thursday, a grand jury in Essex County, Massachusetts indicted 14-year-old Philip Chism on charges first-degree murder, aggravated rape and armed robbery. Last month, Chism allegedly raped and murdered Colleen Ritzer, his math teacher, in the second floor bathroom of Danvers High School before dragging her body into nearby woods.

“The indictments returned today detail horrific and unspeakable acts,” Essex District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett said in a statement, according to the Boston Globe. “This is the first step in a long process to secure justice for Ms. Ritzer and her family.”

Chism was indicted as an adult for the murder charge and as a juvenile on the aggravated rape and armed robbery charges.

[Image via AP]


Proust Is the Most Fun (and Easiest) iPhone Game of 2013

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Proust Is the Most Fun (and Easiest) iPhone Game of 2013

Before I even received the invite to check out the Proust app this summer, I was hooked. I watched my friend play it on his phone, dragging a list of five items (thematically linked or not) around on his phone to his satisfaction and then submitting it to the then-microscopic community of those with alpha versions arrived. I played it for about four hours straight once I received my invite, going through the entire slate of lists to rank and submitting a few of my own.

And that is basically all you do — you rank lists from best to worst (best on top), you submit your own, you chat about them with them with the people who submitted the lists in the first place (or the people who choose your list to rank). It's that easy.

You sign in via Facebook, so this is mainly a discussion app between friends (though it's possible to connect with strangers, especially if you select one of the chats they've submitted publicly).

After signing on you'll see a group of lists whose items are available for ranking:

Proust Is the Most Fun (and Easiest) iPhone Game of 2013

Sometimes the fun comes from the juxtaposition that comes from insufferable things. Sometimes the lists are tailored to be a logical ranking of extremely similar things.

Proust Is the Most Fun (and Easiest) iPhone Game of 2013

I tend to go very specific. When I had the alpha version (whose constituent lists have been selectively ported over to the current version), I made lists of bad Madonna movies (my ranking: Body of Evidence > Who's That Girl > The Next Best Thing > Swept Away > Shanghai Surprise), Judy Blue books (Wifey > Are You There God? It's Me Margaret > Superfudge > Blubber > Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself), and gay hookup apps (Grindr > Scruff > Jack'd > Growlr > Recon), among my several submissions. Also, there was this one, which I wrote soon after the VMAs. It has been ported over and is in the order of my preference:

Proust Is the Most Fun (and Easiest) iPhone Game of 2013

When someone answers your list, a chat screen comes up to tell you how closely your answers match what that person's ranking. There are various animations to tell you what you have in common. There's one for when you match entirely, one for when what you share in common the first ranking, one for whne you agree on the worst, one for when you agree on the best and worst, one for when your worst is the other person's best (or vice versa), and one for when you have nothing in common with the other person's ranking. And so on. It's just a slick way of giving you an entry point to conversation:

Proust Is the Most Fun (and Easiest) iPhone Game of 2013

And that is that. Keep playing till you can't rank no more. (You can always rank more.)

Here are a few more lists I wrote (in my order of preference):

Proust Is the Most Fun (and Easiest) iPhone Game of 2013

Proust Is the Most Fun (and Easiest) iPhone Game of 2013

Proust Is the Most Fun (and Easiest) iPhone Game of 2013

Proust Is the Most Fun (and Easiest) iPhone Game of 2013

Proust Is the Most Fun (and Easiest) iPhone Game of 2013

Proust Is the Most Fun (and Easiest) iPhone Game of 2013

And here's one I just found amusing.

Proust Is the Most Fun (and Easiest) iPhone Game of 2013

I think Proust is a great way of learning more about someone you may know little about or just talking about nothing in the name of doing so. Let's get to ranking.

Advice Columnist Pens Perfect Response to Anti-Gay Parent

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Advice Columnist Pens Perfect Response to Anti-Gay Parent

Washington Post advice columnist Amy Dickinson recently received an appallingly homophobic letter from a parent seeking help convincing their gay son to "stop being gay."

"He won’t listen to reason, and he will not stop being gay," says the parent, who expresses concern about what the local church group will think. "Please help him make the right choice in life by not being gay."

Rather than advise "Feeling Betrayed" on how to get the boy to become straight, Ask Amy instead suggested the letter writer fix the problem by becoming gay themselves.

"You could teach your son an important lesson by changing your own sexuality to show him how easy it is," she wrote. "Try it for the next year or so: Stop being a heterosexual to demonstrate to your son that a person’s sexuality is a matter of choice — to be dictated by one’s parents, the parents’ church and social pressure."

Some have cast doubt on the letter's veracity, but as has been pointed out by others, real or not, there are more than enough people who feel exactly the way "Feeling Betrayed" does.

And it doesn't change that fact that Ask Amy's response was perfect.

Read the rest of the exchange below:

DEAR AMY: I recently discovered that my son, who is 17, is a homosexual. We are part of a church group and I fear that if people in that group find out they will make fun of me for having a gay child. He won’t listen to reason, and he will not stop being gay. I feel as if he is doing this just to get back at me for forgetting his birthday for the past three years — I have a busy work schedule. Please help him make the right choice in life by not being gay. He won’t listen to me, so maybe he will listen to you. — Feeling Betrayed

DEAR BETRAYED: You could teach your son an important lesson by changing your own sexuality to show him how easy it is. Try it for the next year or so: Stop being a heterosexual to demonstrate to your son that a person’s sexuality is a matter of choice — to be dictated by one’s parents, the parents’ church and social pressure. I assume that my suggestion will evoke a reaction that your sexuality is at the core of who you are. The same is true for your son. He has a right to be accepted by his parents for being exactly who he is.

Advice Columnist Pens Perfect Response to Anti-Gay Parent

[H/T: Towleroad]

You teach high school math for 30 years, and everything's cool.

"I'm just happy things like that get made and people are employed.

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"I'm just happy things like that get made and people are employed. Otherwise they wouldn't be working. At least it brought things into consciousness. So I can't really knock it." - 12 Years a Slave director Steve McQueen on Django Unchained. Given his preceding comments, this counts as #shade.

The National Book Awards After-Party Shot Through A Roll of TP

At the same time that vast majorities of investment professionals say that bubbles are forming in pa

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At the same time that vast majorities of investment professionals say that bubbles are forming in parts of the stock market, Americans are pouring more money into the stock market than they have since the first tech boom. Don't worry though baby, they'll pull out in time ;).

Vancouver has updated its building code to ban doorknobs, even in private homes.

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Vancouver has updated its building code to ban doorknobs, even in private homes. All new buildings will instead be outfitted with levers, which are easier for the elderly and disabled to maneuver. Some people are mad about the decision. "Door knobs are lovely. They're the jewelry of the door," said an antique shop owner.


New York Times Saves Sex-Shaming App from Pits of Obscurity

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New York Times Saves Sex-Shaming App from Pits of Obscurity

Lulu, an app that lets women anonymously torment their dude Facebook friends with sexual feedback, is one of those you play with briefly and then forget. It's a gimmick—half malice, half prank, and all dumb, which is why it was plummeting in the app store. Until the Times stirred up the toilet bowl today.

It seemed like we'd all had our laughs, given that everything on Lulu is either a joke ("Hey, leave me some good feedback, it'll be funny") or skewed by spite ("I'll show that asshole!"). It's not exactly scientific! The novelty wore off:

New York Times Saves Sex-Shaming App from Pits of Obscurity

(Data via App Annie)

Until today. The Wall Street Journal's Evelyn Rusli first spotted Lulu's publicity comeback:

Being ranked 531 is the app popularity of a nightclub in Hoboken—no one wants to be there, and will do anything in their power to get the hell out. In terms of business, you might as well not exist. But thanks to a clumsy newspaper writeup that avoids all the social complexity of a revenge-libel app and approaches none of the sorta-fascinating weirdness, it's back.

For now. We can only hope that a new wave of curious downloaders will tire of the concept like the last time around, and we can all go back to defaming each other privately via text message.

(Disclosure: I'm currently rated a 7.6/10 on Lulu, including a claim that I'm bad at assembling Ikea furniture, which is FALSE, and a claim that my phone's call log is "sketchy," which is TRUE)

Thatz Not Okay: Can You Ask a Person Not to Put Their Feet on an ATM?

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Thatz Not Okay: Can You Ask a Person Not to Put Their Feet on an ATM?

Welcome to Thatz Not Okay, a regular column in which I school inquiring readers on what is and is not okay. Please send your questions (max: 200 words) to caity@gawker.com with the subject "Thatz Not Okay."


Last weekend, a media figure I follow on Instagram posted a picture, snapped from behind, of a jeans-clad woman apparently using her toe to operate an ATM. She captioned the photo"Girl in front of me at ATM using only her feet got mad at me for asking her to please use her hands."

But, as some commenters on the photo pointed out, it's unclear whether the woman actually has hands or arms.

Eventually, the photographer waded into the comments herself to defend her actions (and her assumption that the woman had arms), but I'm not convinced she was right about either.

Maybe the woman had two perfectly functioning arms and maybe she didn't. Either way: Asking a stranger to please use her hands—is that okay?

Thatz not okay.

Unless you are a peace officer or a magician, it is rarely good practice to command strangers to do things in public; the more aberrant their behavior, the smaller the chance you are the person who should be stepping in. (Obviously, exceptions exist if their behavior poses a danger to you, to them, or to others.) If it were your job to intervene, you would already know that. "Chief of police" is not a title bestowed upon a random citizen whose powers have magically manifested themselves over time.

The best you can hope for in such a situation is to be subjected to an eyeroll and ignored. (Maybe a "Fuck you," if the air is salty.) You are very likely to end up with your foot (or someone else's foot) in your mouth. Nobody ever gets corrected by a stranger and then calmly says, "You're right! I was being inconsiderate. My apologies for being a cad."

If you take it upon yourself to dole out corrections and demerits to every person whose behavior you deem abnormal, you're eventually going to find yourself chiding someone disabled ("Stop wheeling that chair around indoors! What are you, a car?") and probably also antagonizing someone who is mentally unstable ("Stop talking to yourself on the subway! Can't you see I am trying to read?").

If you find yourself in a situation in which, say, the person in front of you is operating an ATM with his or her feet, before barking at them that ATMs are for HANDS, not FEET, you should pause and consider the odds that a sane person would hobble up to an ATM and think "Maybe I'll operate this money dispensary with me toesies!" if they had any other option available. Those odds are probably slim, right?

A person doing this is probably already aware that ATMs are for HANDS, not FEET given the height of the machines and above-average pedalian dexterity required to manipulate them with toes. If the ATM foot ballet "[seems] very casually done, while chatting to her friend, who [isn't] helping," mightn't that be an indication that this person has done this before? Perhaps even habitually? Possibly because she has no hands? And maybe her friend isn't intervening because this person does not require her help, as evidenced by her very casual use of the ATM?

If you strike up a hostile dialogue with such a person and they inform you that there is another ATM around the corner, don't respond by sneering "I'm sure there is, but I'm in line here." I'm sure you are in line here, but that is also the kind of thing an asshole would say. If you object to this person putting their feet on an ATM because you don't want to touch an ATM that has been feet'd, you should regard the machine around the corner as a godsend. If you think that your path to sainthood lies in protecting this ATM on behalf of all potential bank customers who could feasibly need to use this ATM and might hypothetically be upset that a person has put their leg-hands where arm-hands should go, you are wasting your outrage. A grimy outdoor ATM is one of the few things that would not be rendered appreciably grosser by being exposed to someone's feet. You should always wash your hands (or whatever your equivalent of hands is!) after using one.

Arguably, even ruder than correcting a stranger is public is secretly snapping a photo of that stranger and then using it to illustrate a comical Internet story about how you corrected them in public. For one thing, it could hurt your case more than you help it, as when the photograph you have secretly snapped behind the back of a woman you have braggingly chastised for not using her hands sort of makes it look like she has no hands. On top of that, it's rude to photograph people without their consent, especially if you're doing it to broadcast to the world how rude they are. Imagine if someone had snapped a photo of you snapping a photo of that woman and posted it to Instagram with the caption "Rude psycho yells at strangers and takes pictures of them #smh #onlyinnewyork #twerkteamNYC." That probably would not feel great.

In conclusion, you should not be touching random outdoor ATMs with any body part. Think of the withdrawal fees.


I recently broke up with my boyfriend of 1.5 years last month in a mutual, amicable split (well, as mutual and amicable as it can be) because he will be working in another city after he finishes grad school and the relationship seemed like it was on its way out anyway. I've decided to give OKCupid a try to start going on a dates again and begin meeting new people. I've gone out on a few dates with guys with varying success, and I've been on a few repeat dates so far. I like the idea of casting multiple lines in the sea, but I feel guilty about dating multiple people simultaneously. I neither admit nor deny to my dates about the others' existences. Is that okay?

Thatz okay.

Amicable, no-fault break-ups are exhausting.

With an acrimonious split, you get to feel liberated when you start dating other people.

"That man was no good. I deserve better. Look out world because I am about to step out into you and commence doing me."

You get catharsis. You get commiseration. But no one writes empowering ballads about kickin' that man to the curb because he's actually moving to Savannah after grad school and he sounds like a really great guy—hope you all keep in touch.

Amicable break-ups rob you of that feeling of righteousness. You didn't date an asshole. You were in a relationship with someone good that had to end due to outside factors. But you're not anymore, so even though you might feel like the dirtiest, nastiest two-timing extra butter slutmuffin for getting lunch with a guy on Saturday and brunch with a different guy on Sunday, you're not. You're just dating!

Even if they haven't just gotten out of a 1.5 year (18 moon) relationship with someone, lots of people still feel uncomfortable dating multiple people simultaneously. This becomes a problem when these people make their first foray into online dating, a modern pastime that makes it very easy to date multiple people simultaneously. But feeling guilty about exploring your options with the beautiful, tiny people you meet inside your computer is akin to feeling guilty about taking a penny from the "Take-a-Penny/Leave-a-Penny" tray. Everyone who leaves a penny can spare one. Everyone who signs up for an online dating service is cool dating people who date people from online dating services.

You don't have to feel like the bad guy here. You can let OKCupid be the bad guy.

Here are two pieces of advice for dating folks on OKCupid:

One: Before every date, text your friends the name and location of the person you're meeting and tell them if they don't hear back from you by X o'clock (BE SURE TO SWAP OUT THE X FOR A NUMBER BETWEEN 1 AND 12), they are to assume you have been murdered or kidnapped and murdered.

Two: Assume all the people you meet on OKCupid are also meeting people on OKCupid. (Even sites like Christian Mingle acknowledge that simultaneous dating will occur. No one mingles with just one person. Not even a Christian.)

OKCupid is a dating site. It is a free dating site. It exists to maximize your efficiency. By creating a profile for yourself on OKCupid, what you are saying is "I want the most dates for the least effort. Here's my picture; my favorite movie is: Rushmore, a secret about me is: that I'm eager to date and bad at keeping secrets. Email me for lunch or sex. Please keep in mind I am poor and/or cheap, hence my profile on this free dating website."

If you were looking to date one and only one person, hopefully you would entrust the task of matchmaking to a cupid whose aim was better than "OK."

This is not to say you should start telling your dates about all the condoms you are casting into the majestic sea. The paradox of OKCupid is that, even though everyone knows everyone is dating other people, no one (with manners) ever talks about it. If you must refer to other dates, the polite thing to do is to speak about them as though they occurred in the distant, almost biblical, past. "I have mingled before, but it was a while ago. Back in the days of Christ," etc.

(If you still feel uneasy about your status as a lothario-in-training, it might help to know that the almost-strangers you are "cheating on" would probably feel way more uncomfortable if they knew you considered yourself wholly and exclusively bound to them after one coffee date and one free Young Persons Night at your city's art museum than if they found out you were dating other people too.)

How will you know when it's time to stop dating other people? That time will probably directly coincide with the moment you start to feel weird about maintaining an active OKCupid profile page.

Have fun. Say "Yes!" to love. Say "Hey girl, how have you been?" to intrigue.

Submit your "Thatz Not Okay" questions here (max: 200 words). Image via Instagram.

Deadspin Is RGIII A Douchebag?

The Ultimate Motherlode of DVD Box Sets for the Holidays

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The Ultimate Motherlode of DVD Box Sets for the Holidays All your friends have Netflix. We can all access a wealth of movies any time we want. But DVD box sets can still make fantastic gifts, if they're cool-looking enough, and contain stuff your loved ones will watch over and over. Here are the most beautiful (and cheapest) DVD box sets to give to your friends and family.

Objects of Desire:


Marvel Phase 1 Box Set.

All of Marvel Phase 1 comes in this awesome briefcase with prop replicas and other memorabilia. $159.52 on Amazon.


The Ultimate Motherlode of DVD Box Sets for the Holidays

X-Men Collection

All 6 X-Men films on Blu-Ray in Adamantium claw packaging for $129.99

The Ultimate Motherlode of DVD Box Sets for the Holidays

MST3K 25th Anniversary Tin

A must have for any hard-core MST3K fan, this collector's edition costs $49.99 and includes a ton of never before released/long out of print material. Most notably it includes the episodes that transitioned between hosts Mike and Joel.


The Ultimate Motherlode of DVD Box Sets for the Holidays

Pacific Rim Collector's Edition

For $41.22 you can get the Collector's Edition of Pacific Rim. The Jaeger shaped case will protect your special-features-packed blu-rays of Pacific Rim from anything—even Kaiju.


The Ultimate Motherlode of DVD Box Sets for the Holidays

Star Wars: The Clone Wars Animated Series Collector's Edition

This special edition includes all of Star Wars: The Clone Wars and includes The Art of the Clone Wars, a booklet containing concept art from all 5 seasons. Currently priced at $114.96.

The Ultimate Motherlode of DVD Box Sets for the Holidays

Star Trek: Stardate Collection

12 discs of Star Trek movies for $84.99, including all 10 pre-J.J. movies and 2 discs of bonus features. Notably, these are the theatrical cuts — meaning that Star Trek VI, in particular, is a lot more watchable.


The Ultimate Motherlode of DVD Box Sets for the Holidays

Akira 25th Anniversary Edition

This 25th Anniversary Edition includes both English dubs and the original Japanese audio track so the Akira fan in your life can listen any way they please. $29.73 on Amazon.

The Ultimate Motherlode of DVD Box Sets for the Holidays

The Man of Steel

At $44.99 this limited collector's edition of Man of Steel comes with PVC figurines of Superman and General Zod.

The Ultimate Motherlode of DVD Box Sets for the Holidays

Fringe: The Complete Series

This box set, containing all 109 episodes plus an insane amount of extras, came out last May — but now it's marked down from $200 to $87.72 on Amazon, making it actually somewhat affordable.


The Ultimate Motherlode of DVD Box Sets for the Holidays

Farscape Complete Series on Blu-ray:

This box set already came out in 2011, but now it's cheaper (just $75) and has a comic book included.

The Ultimate Motherlode of DVD Box Sets for the Holidays

Supernatural Seasons 1-8 Blu-ray Box Set

This is some weird import, and there's almost no info about it, but if you have a friend who's been wanting to get up to speed on the Winchester brothers — say, someone who reveres Ben Edlund and just found out he wrote a ton of episodes of this show — then you can give them the entire run for just $125.

The Ultimate Motherlode of DVD Box Sets for the Holidays

Game of Thrones Season 1-2 Set:

You can also get the first two seasons on Blu-ray for $10 less, but the three vinyl figures — including Drogo and a dragon! — might actually make this a way better gift for your friend who wants a refresher course in Westerosi lore. It's $90 on Amazon.

The Ultimate Motherlode of DVD Box Sets for the Holidays

Twilight Zone Episodes Box Set:

Holy cow — this is the entire run of the show, 156 episodes on 25 discs, for just $118.99. Some Amazon reviewers are pointing people to the superior Definitive Edition, which is priced just slightly more, for now at least.

The Ultimate Motherlode of DVD Box Sets for the Holidays

The Dark Knight Trilogy Ultimate Collector's Edition:

Seriously, even if you already have one or more of the Nolan Batman films on DVD or Blu-ray, this box set may just be irresistible. The packaging is stunning, including an art book. And the exclusive special features are just astonishing, including glimpses at very different versions of Nolan's Batman that might have been. This really is an indispensible edition. Just $74.99 on Amazon.

The Ultimate Motherlode of DVD Box Sets for the Holidays

Doctor Who 1-7 Blu Ray Box Set:

As far as we know, this is the only way to own the first four seasons of the rebooted Doctor Who on Blu-ray — they weren't shot in high-definition, but everybody says the picture quality of the Blu-ray versions is still surprisingly great. Plus loads of special features. And a sonic screwdriver! $299.99 on Amazon.

The Ultimate Motherlode of DVD Box Sets for the Holidays

Mad Max: The Complete Trilogy on Blu-ray

Supposedly this is the first time you can get Beyond Thunderdome on Blu-ray, although there's also a separate release that came out at the same time. In any case, the whole trilogy, plus a bunch of extras, is just $24.99 on Amazon now. Looks as though George Miller recorded a new commentary track, which might be interesting since he was in the middle of shooting a new Mad Max film.

The Ultimate Motherlode of DVD Box Sets for the Holidays

The Avengers: The Complete Emma Peel Megaset

Supposedly contains all the episodes featuring Emma Peel (Diana Rigg, currently rocking Game of Thrones) and it's just $42.48 on Amazon.


Cheap Sets and Cult Classics

The Ultimate Motherlode of DVD Box Sets for the Holidays

Drive In Cult Classics Collection

For $51.99, this 200 movie collection is a steal. It includes classic cult movies starring William Shatner, Richard Burton, Bruce Lee and Bela Lugosi. For a complete list, go here.

The Ultimate Motherlode of DVD Box Sets for the Holidays

3rd Rock from the Sun: The Complete Series

All six seasons of 3rd Rock, the classic alien sitcom featuring French Stewart and Kristen Johnson, plus a couple other guys you might have heard of, are just $20 on Amazon. And you can find it even cheaper on other sites. The downside: these are the edited-for-syndication versions, meaning some stuff is missing. Drat.

The Ultimate Motherlode of DVD Box Sets for the Holidays

Cries of Ecstasy, Blows of Death

Something Weird Video is a national treasure, preserving obscure cult films for a couple decades now. Their website [NSFW!] is a shining citadel of trash culture, and their films are generally available for $9.99 as DVD-Rs or downloads. Including this 1973 sexploitation classic, which takes place in the post-apocalyptic world of 2062.

Health and Safety Scare Films Vol. 18

The other recent release from Something Weird that would make an excellent gift — this is a compilation of weird and terrifying "health and safety" films from the 1950s to 1970s, including one where a see-thru robot warns workers about workplace safety, then says "I told you so" when they screw up.

The Ultimate Motherlode of DVD Box Sets for the Holidays

Bewitched: The Complete Series

Hopefully unlike 3rd Rock, this one isn't edited versions of the episodes — and it's still dirt cheap. Over on CD Universe, the whole set of eight seasons, both the Dick Sargent and Dick York eras, is just $41.99!

The Ultimate Motherlode of DVD Box Sets for the Holidays

The Sci Fi Invasion

Basically, just four low-budget science fiction action movies: Cosmos: War of the Planets (1978), Assignment: Outer Space (1960), Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet (1965), and Warning From Space (1956). Just $7.38 on Amazon.

The Ultimate Motherlode of DVD Box Sets for the Holidays

American Horror Stories

Cheapo DVD publisher Mill Creek Entertainment tries to capitalize on the popularity of American Horror Story, with this box set of horror films — including the original Little Shop of Horrors with Jack Nicholson, and Horror Express with Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing and Telly Savalas! Just $4.24 on Amazon.

The Ultimate Motherlode of DVD Box Sets for the Holidays

Best of the Worst 12 Horror Movie Collection

Another Mill Creek release, this one includes Manos the Hands of Fate and The Atomic Brain. Perfect for holiday marathons. Just $9.62 on Amazon.

The Ultimate Motherlode of DVD Box Sets for the Holidays

Monster Movie Pack

Another 12-pack from Mill Creek, featuring The Creeping Terror, Gamera the Invincible, The Crater Lake Monster, Attack of the Monsters, Bride of the Gorilla, Horror High, Horror of the Zombies, The Wasp Woman, The Horrors of Spider Island, Kong Island, Land of the Minotaur and Snowbeast. Just $5.00 on Amazon.

The Ultimate Motherlode of DVD Box Sets for the Holidays

4 Post-Apocalyptic Films:

Unlike the 12-packs from Mill Creek (and there are plenty more where the above ones came from) this is just four movies for $9.99. But they include the original Logan's Run and the excellent director's cut of Dark City.

The Ultimate Motherlode of DVD Box Sets for the Holidays

8 Movie Action and SF Pack:

For just $7.79, you get Christian Bale doing Gun-Kata in Equilibrium, Christopher Lambert having forbidden sex in Fortress, and much much more.

The Ultimate Motherlode of DVD Box Sets for the Holidays

TMNT 4 Movie Pack:

Catch up on the Turtles before the new Michael Bay film comes out, for just $9.33 at Walmart.

The Ultimate Motherlode of DVD Box Sets for the Holidays

Batman 4 film set:

Both Burton films, and both Schumacher films, for only $9.96 from Walmart.

The Ultimate Motherlode of DVD Box Sets for the Holidays

100 SF Classics:

Mill Creek does it again — and this one really does have everything. Including Galaxina! And Robo Vampire! So many films in here that everybody really ought to see at least once, and it's all just $16.49.

The Ultimate Motherlode of DVD Box Sets for the Holidays

15-Film Man Cave Sci-Fi Horror Pack:

Why "Man Cave"? No clue. But this includes ExistenZ, Cronenberg's underrated VR epic. Plus 14 other films that range from to WTF to watchable. It's just $8.82.

50 Horror Classics:

Mill Creek, once again. And with a number of films starring Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff in the mix, this isn't a bad deal for just $8.96.

The Ultimate Motherlode of DVD Box Sets for the Holidays

The Complete Ray Bradbury Theater:

And finally... the whole run of Ray Bradbury's TV show is now just $10.21 on Amazon. Hard to believe.

How I Met Your Mother's 200th Episode Celebration Is Adorable

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How I Met Your Mother's 200th Episode Celebration Is Adorable

I'll reserve my judgments on the How I Met Your Dad spinoff for today, because this How I Met Your Mother coloring book to celebrate their 200th episode is excellent. The best part? The crayon colors, which come in punny shades that die-hard fans will adore, such as "Yellow Umbrella," "Slutty Pumpkin," and "Have Ya Met Red?"

[Image via Instagram]

Dayna Morales, the New Jersey waitress and former Marine who received a hateful note in lieu of a ti

[Excited about the grand opening of Delaware hoagie chain Capriotti's first Washington branch, Vice

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[Excited about the grand opening of Delaware hoagie chain Capriotti's first Washington branch, Vice President Joe Biden put in his order right after 11 a.m. on Thursday. "The only way to eat these things is with hot peppers," Biden said, "but not everybody understands that. You know what I mean?" Photo by Carolyn Kaster via AP]


"Ricin Guy" Busted Trying to Send Another Ricin Letter While Jailed

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Tae Kwon Do instructor J. Everett Dutschke was arrested in April for the outlandish crime of sending ricin-tainted letters to public figures and then trying to frame his archenemy, an Elvis impersonator named Paul Kevin Curtis, with the poisoning attempts. The story immediately became freak-show fodder, complete with a long GQ article that went back to the origin of Dutschke and Curtis' rivalry. Today that story continues, as Dutschke has been charged with again attempting the same ridiculous crime, this time from behind bars.

The Associated Press reports:

The new indictment says Dutschke, while incarcerated, tried to recruit someone to make more ricin and send it to [U.S. Senator Roger] Wicker, R-Miss.

The indictment filed in U.S. District Court in Oxford says Dutschke, 42, was again trying to frame Elvis impersonator Paul Kevin Curtis, the same man he's accused of trying to set up the first time.

This new indictment will add another count to Dutschke's original charges, which you can read about below. Dutschke's trial is slated for May 27.

​Teenager Becomes Musical Genius After Suffering Head Injury

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​Teenager Becomes Musical Genius After Suffering Head Injury

Lachlan Connors was playing lacrosse in the sixth grade when he hit his head on the ground and sustained a concussion. Although he began to display "concerning behaviors," he was allowed to return to sports. Soon after, another concussion sent him to the hospital for weeks and Connors began suffering from epileptic seizures and mini-hallucinations.

The Colorado teenager was saddened to learn he could never play contact sports again, but while recovering from the head injuries, he realized he could suddenly play music with little effort. According to his mother, Elsie Hamilton, Connors had displayed no musical talent before the accident. "I would say 'Can't you hear what's next?' with something like 'Mary Had a Little Lamb' or 'Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star' and he'd say 'No,'" she said.

But now a junior in high school, Connors plays 13 instruments, including bagpipes (both Scottish and Irish), piano, guitar, mandolin, and karimba. According to Connors' physician, Dr. Spyridon Papadopoulos:

"This was not a small injury for him," Papadopoulos said.

"The thought is just a theory — that this was a talent laying latent in his brain and somehow was uncovered by his brain rewiring after the injury. Clearly something happened in his brain and his brain had to recover from injury and change happened. And change may have uncovered this ability no one knew he had."

Connors cannot read music and plays all of the instruments by ear. And while some do question whether or not a brain injury helped uncover his talent, Connors believes it did. "I honestly think something got rewired," he said. "Something just changed, and thank God it did."

[Screenshot via CBS4]

Fox Is Putting The Mindy Project And Dads On Hiatus

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Fox Is Putting The Mindy Project And Dads On Hiatus

After weak starts, Deadline reports that half of Fox's Tuesday night comedy block have been put on hiatus. Due to low ratings, The Mindy Project and Dads will be bumped to make room for steady performer Glee. Tuesday night's will now be Glee in the first hour, followed by New Girl and freshman comedy Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

Mindy had been on a three-week ratings decline, bottoming out at a season low rating of 1.2 in the 18-49 demographic (meaning that the show only captured 1.2% of viewers aged 18-49 that were watching television at that specific time). Despite being in its second season, the show never managed to break into the twos; which ratings-wise, is still rather low. The comedy premiered at a 1.9, and decreased steadily since. Due to its many big name recurring and guest stars, as well as the addition of series regular Adam Pally, sources tell me production costs were especially high, and the return on investment was low. It may have been all the guest stars that did them in—the clever show has been largely inconsistent this season, with no real character development for its regular cast, with the exception of Mindy Kaling's character Mindy Lahiri, and Chris Messina's Danny Castellano. Everyone else seems to swing through zany antics, provided as a sideshow to the revolving door of men Lahiri is dating. The show will return in April, after Brooklyn Nine-Nine wraps up its freshman season.

Dads, despite its controversial start due to allegations of racism amidst truly terrible jokes, managed to pick up a full season order from Fox. The network is now backtracking on that by putting the show on hiatus with no set date of return, or even plans to at least keep working on the show. The Seth Macfarlane-produced comedy has struggled to find its footing throughout its freshman season; once it bounced back from the uproar over its Asian jokes in the series premiere, it fell flat on its face from lazy writing and stale punchlines. Despite having Giovanni Ribisi as a lead, who is arguably great in multi-cams (his recurring role on Friends as Frank Buffay Jr. was truly exccellent), both Ribisi and co-star Seth Green were given no real material to work with, and instead reduced themselves to tropes of slacker and type-A best friend.

The Mindy Project will air its last episode before its break on January 28th. Dads last episode will air February 11th.

It's Sweater Season

Hunger Games: Catching Fire is a captivating tale of privilege and PTSD

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Hunger Games: Catching Fire is a captivating tale of privilege and PTSD

The second Hunger Games movie builds on the emotional intensity of the first, telling a harrowing story of what happens when you win a deadly game by playing dirty. Catching Fire is the rare film that's better than the original book. Even if you've memorized Suzanne Collins' text, you'll get something new out of it.

Minor spoilers ahead...

In The Hunger Games, young Katniss Everdeen took her sister's place in a deadly gladitorial contest organized by the oppressive rulers of a ravaged future United States. Winning the Games required not just raw cunning, but the ability to win over enough wealthy patrons to gain life-saving supplies, by faking a love story with the fellow contestant from her hometown, Peeta. And in the end, Katniss not only won but saved Peeta's life, by threatening to eat some poison berries.

In Catching Fire, Katniss' self-sacrifice has come to be seen as an act of defiance against the totalitarian Capitol — depending on how you view her motives. If she tried to kill herself out of love for Peeta, then there was no political subtext to her action. But if she wasn't suicidally in love, then the berry-eating can only be viewed as a kind of gustatory samizdat.

Hunger Games: Catching Fire is a captivating tale of privilege and PTSD

In any case, you might wonder why one tiny act of dissent could inspire such a huge furor. (And in fact, I wondered that a lot while reading the book version.) Part of it has to do with the way the Capitol turned Katniss into a celebrity, in its bloody reality-TV show. But also, the dystopian Panem is a place where even the slightest dissent is unheard of — and yet, where the social order is so fragile that even a tiny challenge can bring the whole thing down.

So in this new movie, the dystopian regime is trying to neutralize the threat of Katniss, by changing what she symbolizes, tarnishing her, or just destroying her outright. And Katniss, meanwhile, is just trying to protect her family and figure out what to do with her newfound status as Victor and as revolutionary symbol.

Night sweats and public appearances

Katniss has a really strong emotional arc in this film — in some ways, stronger than the book, even though we can't see inside her head the way we can in the book.

As a result of winning the games, she's been elevated to a new status as a Victor, who lives in a fancy house and gets pampered while everyone around her continues to struggle to get by. (The people in her District get a little extra for her victory, but not enough.) And meanwhile, she has a hellacious case of PTSD, which makes her wake up screaming and look for danger out of the corner of her eye.

Both of these things isolate Katniss (never a people person to begin with) and make her unable to relate to other people. Even before she's on the road doing public appearances where she's trying to project the right image of optimism (and romance with Peeta), she's already living in public, and trapped.

Hunger Games: Catching Fire is a captivating tale of privilege and PTSD

The relationship between Katniss' trauma and her elevated social position is fascinating — and the big revelation in this movie is that neither thing makes her more powerful. Instead, she's scarred and ripe for more manipulation. Jennifer Lawrence, who was a raw nerve in the first movie, is even more intense this time around and she absolutely sells Katniss' alienation.

There's one particularly revealing scene, where Katniss tries to use her exalted status to intercede with a Capitol thug who's brutalizing people in her town — and that gets her a whip in the face. She gets no special treatment when it counts, just when they need to trot her out in front of a crowd or the cameras.

And every nuance of her public appearances is scrutinized for its political meaning — something that terrorizes her, until she learns to start using it for her own ends.

Hunger Games: Catching Fire is a captivating tale of privilege and PTSD

Later in the film, when Katniss meets a bunch of her fellow Victors, there's a strange sort of cameraderie between them — they've all been through hell and reaped the dubious reward of being coddled puppets afterwards. We soon learn that you never really leave the Hunger Games, even if you win — the trauma stays with you, while you graduate to the arena of fame and politics.

So if Katniss doesn't gain empowerment from being a survivor or from being famous and notionally wealthy, what does she draw strength from? Over the course of the film, the answer becomes clear: by fighting back against the real enemy.

"She's one of us now"

The core of Katniss' privilege is that she gets to leave her social class behind, and get what almost nobody in this dystopian world has: upward mobility.

The people attempting to shape Katniss' new public image include President Snow (Donald Sutherland) and a new addition, Plutarch Heavensbee (Philip Seymour Hoffman). Every scene involving either one or both of those men is electrifying to watch, and they carry the bulk of the movie's political storyline between them. (And as with the first movie, this is a major advantage over the book, which couldn't show any events that Katniss doesn't personally witness.)

Hunger Games: Catching Fire is a captivating tale of privilege and PTSD

Sutherland, in particular, plays a smarmy creep with total conviction — and manages to convince you totally that President Snow is quietly terrified of a social collapse, and that Snow will commit any horrific act to keep his grip. Snow's scenes with the sly Hoffman are delightful, but so are his moments with his granddaughter, who turns out to be a Katniss fan.

And the one scene between Katniss and Snow early in the film — which plays out much the same as the book — is amazingly intense on screen, as Lawrence and Sutherland both stiffen and square off like practised killers in a gilded cage match. This sets up the rest of the film as a kind of dance between the two of them, in which Sutherland tries to control Katniss and she tries to survive his patronage.

Hunger Games: Catching Fire is a captivating tale of privilege and PTSD

And Snow's opening gambits consist of trying to coopt Katniss — to pull on the strings attached to her new privilege. Even later, when his early gambits fail, he and Hoffman cook up a scheme aimed at convincing the (they hope) gullible people of Panem that Katniss is "one of us now."

You stop wondering, at some point, why Katniss' mentor Haymitch (Woody Harrelson, fantastic again) is an alcoholic wreck.

The landscape is hostile even when it's not trying to kill you

Director Francis Lawrence was responsible for those haunting early shots of a deserted Manhattan in I Am Legend (i.e., the good part of that film). And here, he turns the wintry land of Appalachia into a character in the film, an unforgiving rocky country that will eat you alive. He sets the tone at the start of the film with a stark aerial view of the wilderness, which descends to visit Katniss, alone in the woods with her demons.

Later, Lawrence takes on a tour of Panem, in which industrial trainyards and rustbelt squalor give off a certain Orwellian hostility. If Gary Ross gave a 1930s, dustbowl aesthetic to the first movie, this time around, Lawrence is fixated on showing us un-nurturing vistas. Even the Capitol, which was so glam-rock in the first movie, feels more like a terrifying shopping mall this time around. The whole world around Katniss feels more expansive and real this time, but also even less comforting.

Hunger Games: Catching Fire is a captivating tale of privilege and PTSD

By the time we visit another actual Hunger Games arena — not really a major spoiler, it's in the trailer — Lawrence has already used visual cues to drive home the idea that every place Katniss goes is an arena. Especially since the Arena can be a different kind of environs every time (desert, island, mountains, or whatever), the central lesson of the Hunger Games is that arenas come in all shapes and sizes.

This fits very well with the nature of the second Hunger Games that our heroes spend time in, where it's the landscape rather than the other contestants that poses the biggest dangers. Katniss' trauma already has her looking for threats out of the corner of her eye everywhere she goes, until she reaches an environs where that becomes, once again, the only sensible response.

Hunger Games: Catching Fire is a captivating tale of privilege and PTSD

The other thing Lawrence does differently from Ross: in the first film, Ross uses lots of camera tricks, from static medium close-ups to shakey-cam, to convey the feeling of reality TV and turn the movie-goers into spectators watching a kind of TV show. Lawrence replaces this approach with a broadened frame and clever use of sound, to reinforce the idea that Katniss is constantly on the alert for danger around her.

A love triangle as political metaphor

And finally, just as Katniss' self-sacrifice for Peeta is either a romantic gesture or a political one, so too does her love triangle become highly politicized in this film. She and Peeta share in common the twin challenges of PTSD and celebrity, while her other suitor Gale represents the roots she's being taken away from, and the people who are ready to rise up. In her love triangle, she's choosing between two different versions of herself, but in neither of them can she be authentic.

One crucial scene between Katniss and Gale is changed pretty drastically from the book, to make it less about their possible romance and more about the revolution. In general, everything about Katniss' love triangle winds up being about her uneasy roles as survivor and contested symbol.

Because that's what both fortune-and-fame and post-traumatic stress do to you: Turn your relationships into things mediated by your status and your pain.

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