Interesting article from TIME: “The ’00s: Goodbye (at Last) to the Decade from Hell”

Bookended by 9/11 at the start and a financial wipeout at the end, the first 10 years of this century will very likely go down as the most dispiriting and disillusioning decade Americans have lived through in the post–World War II era. We’re still weeks away from the end of ‘09, but it’s not too early to pass judgment. Call it the Decade from Hell, or the Reckoning, or the Decade of Broken Dreams, or the Lost Decade. Call it whatever you want — just give thanks that it is nearly over.

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Some of you may have seen Conan O’Brien’s “In the Year 2000″ sketch. Well, here’s another version.

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Here’s some more October creepiness: Project Facade

Basically it’s plastic surgery from WWI. From the site:

The First World War was a war dominated by high explosives and heavy artillery. Battlefield casualties included an unprecedented number with horrific facial injuries - injuries so severe the men were commonly unrecognizable to loved ones and friends. Often unable to see, hear, speak eat or drink, they struggled to re-assimilate back into civilian life. This secondary tragedy - the living unable to “live” - catalyzed Surgeon Sir Harold Gillies to transform the fledgling discipline of plastic surgery based on his unrivalled observation of the profoundly wounded and his ability to push the parameters of the profession beyond all known techniques.

Check out some of the case studies on the site (links on the left).

WARNING: NSFW or not recommended for those with weak stomachs.

If you’re too lazy to check the site out, continue reading. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

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From “Tests on skull fragment cast doubt on Adolf Hitler suicide story

Some historians expressed doubt that the Führer had shot himself, speculating that accounts of Hitler’s death had been embellished to present his suicide in a suitably heroic light. But a fragment of skull, complete with bullet hole, which was taken from the bunker by the Russians and displayed in Moscow in 2000, appeared to settle the argument.

Until now. In the wake of new revelations, the histories of Hitler’s death may need to be rewritten – and left open-ended. American researchers claim to have demonstrated that the skull fragment, secretly preserved for decades by Soviet intelligence, belonged to a woman under 40, whose identity is unknown. DNA analyses performed on the bone, now held by the Russian State Archive in Moscow, have been processed at the genetics lab of the University of Connecticut. The results, broadcast in the US by a History Channel documentary, Hitler’s Escape, astonished scientists.

According to Connecticut archaeologist and bone specialist Nick Bellantoni, it was clear from the outset that something was amiss. “The bone seemed very thin; male bone tends to be more robust,” he said. “And the sutures where the skull plates come together seemed to correspond to someone under 40.” In April 1945 Hitler turned 56.

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(Yes, yes I know, I’m a day late. Happy 9/9/09 anyways.)

9/9/09…

What a number combination. We’ll be seeing these pop up for a while now. Here’s to 10/10/10 next year! WHOOPIE-DEE-DO!

So what’s the significance on this day?

Well, on 9/9/9 (yes, September 9th, 9 A.D.) Arminius’ alliance of six Germanic tribes ambushed and annihilated three Roman legions of Publius Quinctilius Varus in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest.

But enough of history, ON TO VIDEO GAMES!

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Interesting article on Wikipedia today, under “On this day…August 24″:

1857 – The New York City branch of the Ohio Life Insurance and Trust Co., collapsed following widespread embezzlement, leading to a severe recession that forced about 5,000 businesses to fail.

Huh…interesting…

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I had a brief discussion with Eric about secret Nazi weapons in development during the end of WWII. I mentioned there was an article recently which talked about a stealth bomber. He asked, “oh, you mean the Amerika Bomber,” in which I replied, “I don’t think so; I think the article called it something else.”

Well, here’s the article, and it was about the Horten Ho 229.

Here’s a picture, stolen from Wikipedia:

And a picture of a restored version, stolen from Foxnews:

I just wanted to clarify:

The Amerika Bomber was an attempt at a long range bomber aimed at the United States.

The Horten Ho 229 was an actual stealth bomber which would’ve been used against Britain.

On a somewhat similar note, who’s ready to see Inglorious Basterds?

Here’s a little something extra for those of you who enjoyed my first post on a similar topic, specifically the “redemption hero.” I mentioned briefly that a lot of ideas borrow from classic literature and mythology; for this post I’m going to expand on that idea with the “journey” story.

In my previous post, I briefly mentioned “The Odyssey,” which is an epic poem about a journey (even the word “odyssey” means journey) and is the most basic of all stories - someone or a group of people have to go somewhere. That’s it. You can’t get simpler than that.

Before we get started, I’d like to zip over to the East. Don’t worry now, I’ll take you back.

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Everyone has noticed by now the flurry of Hollywood remakes and franchise reboots (Indiana Jowned, Last Poop on the Left, X-Men 4, Friday the 430th, ad nauseam….). There’s even talks about rebooting other franchises: Teenage Mutant Ninja Poop, Superpoop, Poop to the Future, etc, etc….

There are no more original ideas.

It goes beyond this. Before movies were franchises. Waaaay back.

Have you ever heard of the expression that all modern stories are basically derived from things like the Odyssey or the Iliad?

It might not be a fair assumption though. The original epics were basically compilations of stories from various people; they began first as oral tradition until people invented writing. The claim that it was written by some dude named Homer is pretty much bullshit.

So let’s cast that idea out. I’d like to broaden it up a little bit and claim that all modern stories are based off of ancient poems (or the more general theory, “anything you’re thinking of, doing, or making, someone has already done it”). I’ll use my favorite story as my example, which I like to call the “redemption hero.” It tends to be a favorite, so it’s not surprising that modern interpretations of it do so well.

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