We are currently living in the age of the superhero movie, a financially-friendly genre that is at present flying its way around cinema screens on what is noticeably becoming a regular basis. With the earth-shattering advances in special effects over the past couple of decades, it’s becoming increasingly easy for super-powered vigilantes to make the transition from the pages of a comic book to being projected on the silver screen, which has resulted in a recent explosion of cinematic offerings from the superhero genre. Just this year we’ve already feasted on Kenneth Branagh’s “Thor” and Matthew Vaughn’s “X-Men: First Class,” and last Friday (June 17) we were presented with Martin Campbell’s “Green Lantern,” which shall be followed by Joe Johnston’s “Captain America: The First Avenger,” released July 22 in the US. It seems you can’t look at your local cinema listings without seeing someone in a cape or a mask or with their skin a funny colour (no racism intended). But what is the history of this genre? Where did it all begin? When did it really become popular? And what is with our current fascination with crime-fighters who have awesome, otherworldly powers?
Although I am not all that excited that 4th of July is on a Monday, I am ready to party it up. It’s quite interesting to see $111 Million is spent on popsicles alone on this day and did you know that July is known as National Hot Dog Month? Anyways, here’s a neat infographic showing some fun facts about the 4th of July. Enjoy!
Winchester Mystery House
Sarah Winchester, the widow of the gun magnate William Wirt Winchester sure seems to be surrounded by a spooky curse. After her husband’s death in 1881, Sarah began construction on what is popularly known as the Winchester Mystery House. Sarah was successfully convinced by a psychic that the house was haunted by all the people who had been killed by her husband’s guns!
So Sarah got to work. She had staircases built in the house that led to nowhere, doors to concrete walls, and many other such absurdities. Why? To confuse the ghosts!
The House built is a huge sprawling thing with 160 rooms which include 40 bedrooms! It is said that Sarah believed that if she kept building she could evade death which eventually came for her in 1922.
The end result of her curse? A delightfully strange house you can visit in San Jose, California.
This infographic takes a hard look at birth defects caused by prescription drugs. The sad fact about all this is that even though there are regulations, these companies still find a way to sneak these medications into the market. Take a look at what we are dealing with as it certainly isn’t pretty.
They say that the fear of fear is the worst fear in itself. That said, fear is probably the most common of all human emotions besieging people in strangest of times. Every one’s been scared of something or the other at some point – from that perspective, fear is one great leveler too!
Everyone supposedly has a fear of some sort, but not all of us can claim to suffer from the type of ‘pathological fear’ called a ‘phobia’. There are some phobias that are very well known: Agoraphobia, the fear of being in an open area or in a large crowd; Thanatophobia, the fear of death!
