L'Institut d'Egypte Destroyed

December 17, 2011

An incalculable treasure has been lost. Egypt's L'Institut d'Egypte, The Egyptian Scientific Institute, founded by FUCKING NAPOLEON in 1798 was burned to the ground on December 17th.

Everything has been lost although Egyptian "officials" are saying that "Protesters and volunteers have been working non-stop to try and salvage the manuscripts and books."

Here are two pictures of what those books look like now. A library of 200,000 volumes incinerated by fucking barbarians.





This is a tragedy somewhat akin or on par with the Alexandria Library loss.

We are personally devastated by this. The state of Egyptian Antiquities are highly unstable right now. WHERE IS THE PHARAOH?

As soon as Zahi Hawass was booted out, all hell broke loose. This is the worst disaster we could imagine short of a terrorist taking out the Sphinx.

One Molotov cocktail is supposedly responsible for this. ONE.

Dr. Hawass wherever you are, we hope you are able to withstand this senseless tragedy. We know you must be inconsolable or raging with anger. We are so sorry.

We just learned about this today. Does anyone know if this was covered by US media AT ALL?

"On 16 December 2011, Egyptian military forces violently attacked the three-week sit-in at the Cabinet building in Cairo. The protesters were demanding that the military ruling council hand over power to civilians.

Military police and central security forces continued to brutally attack, kidnap, kill, detain and torture protesters at Tahrir and in the surrounding downtown Cairo area, as well as systematically sexually assault and beat women. L'Institut d'Egypte, or the Egyptian Scientific Institute, was set on fire on Saturday morning, 17 December 2011.

L'Institute d'Egypte was a research centre created by Napoleon Bonaparte during the 18th century French Invasion of Egypt. It was home to thousands of rare books and manuscripts, including Napoleon's historic 'Description de l'Egypte.' Protesters and volunteers have been working non-stop to try and salvage the manuscripts and books."

Fucking Heathens! Everything Zahi tried to do for the past 40 years has been virtually wiped out and now this. His once grand Pharonic dream, of a new Egypt with new museums and a new bright future, will NEVER be.

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The Raven Trailer is HERE

We've been psyched about this movie since we first heard they cast John Cusack as Edgar Allen Poe. Check out the above pic and know that Cusack is going to nail this one to the fucking wall. We're outright-sight-unseen calling for him to get an Oscar Nom.

Here's the official trailer released TODAY.

The Shining Part 2?

Sounds too good to be true? Not to Stephen King. Or us!

According to the prolific and incredibly imaginative author, he has wondered all these years about what happened to Danny Torrance, the little boy in The Shining, after those events of his childhood. So he has decided to pen the sequel.

King wrote The Shining back in 1977 after staying at the Colorado resort, The Stanley, and having some unexplained paranormal events happen to him first hand. "Ghost Hunters" fans will recognize The Stanley for one of the most amazing disembodied voices ever recorded.

King's experience led him to create the Torrance family and their ill-fated job as seasonal caretakers of The Overlook Hotel.

In the book, Jack Torrance, Danny's father, played BRILLIANTLY by Jack Nicholson in the 1980 film, suffers the worst case of cabin fever in history. He slowly succumbs to madness as the ghosts of the hotel wreck havoc with his mind. In the end he goes crazy and tries to kill his wife and child...

Here is where the book and the movie differ. The ending of the book is vastly different from the film where the family escapes and the father freezes to death in a vain attempt to capture them in sub-zero weather.

However in both, the mother and little Danny survive...hence over 30 years later..a sequel is born.

Danny is now in his 40's and haunted from his past. His clairvoyant powers which saved him as a child are harnessed and used to ease dying patent's fears as he works as a hospice worker.

The novel will be called Dr. Sleep and includes psychic vampires called "The Tribe."

We can't wait. Of course in the usual King fashion we imagine it will be 1,000 pages of pure madness, mayhem and horror.

“This is an idea that I’ve had for some time. I wrote a novel in the ’70s called ‘The Shining’ … I always wondered what happened to that kid, Danny Torrance, when he grew up … I kept wondering, what’s Danny Torrance doing? What’s going on with him now? Where did he go after this terrible experience? And little by little, this story started to form,” King said.

The book, which is still in the works, “kinda goes back to ‘what’s the worst thing you can think of?” King continued. “I knew that there were bad people in this story that were like vampires, only that what they sucked-out was not blood, but psychic energy from special people like Danny Torrance. And I came to realize that these people were called The Tribe and that they move around a lot.”

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Stephen King.com

There and Back Again at 74

The Hobbit aka There and Back Again, was published this day in 1937. Ringers (and we are proud to be one) everywhere have been praising J.R.R Tolkien ever since.

"Since then, it’s estimated that the tale of Bilbo’s heroic quest defeat the dragon Smaug and reclaim the birthright of Thorin has sold somewhere between 35 million and 100 million copies. It’s also been translated into more than 40 different languages."

The Hobbit was published first, was a critical and commercial bonanza and lead to "The Lord of the Rings", which is itself 3 books altogether.

The Hobbit introduces us to Middle Earth and its inhabitants focusing on, of course, a Hobbit. One named Bilbo.

Here, let Leonard Nimoy regale you with his 1960's hit "The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins".

"For he was a little hobbit from the Shire that we all admire"



Ok. We just can't help laughing at that and shaking our head. WTF? How much acid was available in the 60's?

Bilbo's perfect world in Hobbiton is upset one day when he is beset by a dozen or so dwarfs who want his services as a thief to go with them to fight the evil dragon Smaug and steal his treasure. A thief! Who put that idea into their head? Why, who else but Gandalf the Wizard.

Well, after a lot of adventures we have the iconic Battle of the Five Armies and a happy ending.

For the full summary of the plot check out the Wiki page:

What makes this book so iconic is the world of Middle Earth that Tolkien creates and breathes life into on every page. It's just a magical, enjoyable and timeless adventure to treasure over and over again.

We highly HIGHLY recommend giving these books to 12 and 13 year olds. It will blow their mind in a way that Harry Potter never will. The books will become a time honored gift that, as they grow older, will lure them back time and again...as it did us.

Peter Jackson is currently helming the movie version and of course will nail it like he did LOTR. Most of the regulars will be back and some new characters, too.

One of them is played by Evangeline Lily (Kate on Lost) and she's a little nervous. Here is what she had to say recently about her new role:

"I am very concerned that people will watch, and I’ll be the black mark on the film. I know how adamant the purists are and I’m one of them! That said, upon reading The Hobbit again, as an adult, I can see why additional characters were needed to round out the story as an adaptation — especially female characters! The Hobbit didn’t include female characters at all. What they have done is all in perfect keeping with J.R.R. Tolkien‘s world, while adding a third dimension to an otherwise very two-dimensional story."

She's right about at least one thing. There are no women in The Hobbit. There were very few in LOTR either and PJ adapted that very well to give Arwen and Galadriel more "air" time.

We are very excited to see the movie The Hobbit for we've seen The Battle of the Five Armies in our minds for some 30 years now and can't wait to see it on the Big Screen. Not to mention THE DRAGON. Smaug will finally be as famous as Bilbo! It's going to be fucking awesome!

For all your Tolkien news and Hobbit updates go to:
The One Ring.net

Save The Poe House

The Edgar Allen Poe Museum in Baltimore is in danger of closing due to lack of funds.

City budget cutbacks have put the museum on the chopping block unless someone - a corporation - a sponsor - wealthy philanthropist - ANYONE - can step in and fund it.

The city actually axed the $85,000 a year budget two years ago and since the museum has existed on public funding. That isn't enough and so they will have to close soon if a solution isn't found.

The building is a historical landmark and will be preserved regardless of a functioning museum - however it would just sit there boarded up.

This place can't close," Jeff Jerome, museum curator, said as he stood in the museum's lobby, formerly Poe's parlor. "It would be an embarrassment to the city to have thousands of people come to the city to see a boarded-up house."

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The Top 100 Science Fiction and Fantasy Books

NPR has released the list of fan voted sci-fi and fantasy books.

We have to agree on almost every one of these at least being included, although we are surprised The Stand by Stephen King came in at #25. Really? Really?

Here is the top ten:

1 The Lord Of The Rings
by J.R.R. Tolkien

Tolkien's seminal three-volume epic chronicles the War of the Ring, in which Frodo the hobbit and his companions set out to destroy the evil Ring of Power and restore peace to Middle-earth. The beloved trilogy still casts a long shadow, having established some of the most familiar and enduring tropes in fantasy literature.

2 The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy
by Douglas Adams

In the first, hilarious volume of Adams' Hitchhiker's series, reluctant galactic traveler Arthur Dent gets swept up in some literally Earth-shattering events involving aliens, sperm whales, a depressed robot, mice who are more than they seem, and some really, really bad poetry.

3 Ender's Game
by Orson Scott Card

Young Andrew "Ender" Wiggan, bred to be a genius, is drafted to Battle School where he trains to lead the century-long fight against the alien Buggers.

4 The Dune Chronicles
by Frank Herbert

Follows the adventures of Paul Atreides, the son of a betrayed duke given up for dead on a treacherous desert planet and adopted by its fierce, nomadic people, who help him unravel his most unexpected destiny.

5 A Song Of Ice And Fire Series
by George R.R. Martin

As the Seven Kingdoms face a generation-long winter, the royal Stark family confronts the poisonous plots of the rival Lannisters, the emergence of the Neverborn demons, the arrival of barbarian hordes, and other threats.

6 1984
by George Orwell

Portrays life in a future time when a totalitarian government watches over all citizens and directs all activities.

7 Fahrenheit 451
by Ray Bradbury

A totalitarian regime has ordered all books to be destroyed, but one of the book burners suddenly realizes their merit, in a chilling novel of a frightening near-future world.

8 The Foundation Trilogy
by Isaac Asimov

A band of psychologists, under the leadership of psychohistorian Hari Seldon, plant a colony to encourage art, science, and technology in the declining Galactic Empire and to preserve the accumulated knowledge of humankind.

9 Brave New World
by Aldous Huxley

Huxley's classic prophetic novel describes the socialized horrors of a futuristic utopia devoid of individual freedom.

10 American Gods
by Neil Gaiman

On the plane home to attend the funerals of his wife and best friend, Shadow, an ex-con, encounters an enigmatic stranger who seems to know a lot about him. When Shadow accepts the stranger's job offer, he finds himself plunged into a perilous game with the highest of stakes: the soul of America itself.


We have to agree almost entirely with this top ten. Although we would have put The Stand in at #10.

To view the entire list go HERE

Piers Anthony's Xanth series is seriously getting jipped off at #99. It's at least a top 50 series. Especially when a stupid Star Wars book is at #88. Come on!

We are glad to see so many Isaac Asimov, Rad Bradbury and Arthur C. Clarke titles. But putting Rendezvous With Rama by Clarke at #76 is almost like...ok it IS a mortal sin. #76? It should be top twenty at least.

Ok. Since we are critiquing here, who are they kidding that Jules Verne - anything Jules Verne - is outside the top thirty? Journey to the Center of the Earth at #76 is just plain wrong.

The two worst sins of the entire list:
Robert E. Howard's Conan coming in at #68 instead of #2 is giving us a heart attack. Yes, NUMBER TWO. Robert E. Howard was one of the most gifted Pulp Fiction writers in the history of the world. His writing style and content are unsurpassed in the fantasy field. LOTR gets #1 because of its epic scale however for pure enjoyment its REH all the way.

And, Terry Brooks's Shannara series is listed at #67 instead of the top twenty it deserves. We're biased here, having met Terry and having him sign all of OUR Shannara books way, way back in the day. What a NICE guy.

We could go on and on as these are our fiction genre of choice. Way to go NPR! All in all a very good compilation and guide for those who want to catch up on "The Classics."

Happy Birthday, Graham Hancock

Our favorite author and iconoclast, Graham Hancock, turns 61 this week.

His books are a remarkable, awesome and life-changing look at archeology and it's current restraints.

In the majority of his books, Hancock sets out to change the norm which is the pathetic paradigm that our society as we know it is the apex of civilization as it ever was on the planet.

His latest non-fictional work, Supernatural, is his best yet. This book deviates from the archaeological "norm" of his prior works and explores the Shamanic Legacies around the globe, their common elements and connections with the other worlds "within". This book is the "Gateway Drug" that can open your mind to serious new potential. We had never heard of DMT* before and now we want to know everything.

1992: The Sign and the Seal: The Quest for the Lost Ark of the Covenant

1995: Fingerprints of the Gods: The Evidence of Earth's Lost Civilization

1996: The Message of the Sphinx: A Quest for the Hidden Legacy of Mankind. Published in the United Kingdom as Keeper of Genesis: A Quest for the Hidden Legacy of Mankind

1998: The Mars Mystery: A Tale of the End of Two Worlds

1998: Heaven's Mirror: Quest for the Lost Civilization

2001: Fingerprints of the Gods: The Quest Continues (New Updated Edition)

2002: Underworld: The Mysterious Origins of Civilization

2004: Talisman: Sacred Cities, Secret Faith

2005: Supernatural: Meeting with the Ancient Teachers of Mankind

2010: Entangled: The Eater of Souls, this is his first book of non-fiction. And if you think Graham is a stuffy old Brit, then be amazed! His "tripping" with ayahuasca has obviously opened his mind to an entirely new level. We LOVED it and can't wait for the sequel.

Graham Hancock's next book, The Master Game, is due soon and is another collaboration with the awesome Robert Bauval. Bauval is known for his Orion Correlation Theory.

Hancock's basic theory is that we are "a civilization, a species with amnesia". Here is a quote from Fingerprints of the Gods:

"..., there is a common legacy of all these world wide ancient civilizations that they do not even address. This legacy lies not in the 'modern' myth of Atlantis, but in the myths and legends of each of these civilizations which make common reference to cataclysms, especially floods, similar gods or god experiences, and precessional and other astronomically significant numbers, etc, etc. The writing, architecture, and agriculture of these ancients are by products of their development which had its roots in a lost civilization of 12,000 years ago."

Graham Hancock.com

* We HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend the book, DMT: The Spirit Molecule, by Dr. Rick Strassman. This is conconscious altering stuff, folks. The subject matter is pretty heavy, but the book is easy to read and follow as are Graham's books. It's WELL WORTH the read. This is knowledge everyone should have. An absolute must.

The Dictionary You've All Been Waiting For!

Relief from the N.W. palace of Ashurnasirpal II (883-859 B.C.)
showing anointing of the Tree of Life.
A winged god holds what appears to be a pinecone and a
pot with the anointing oil.
Above the Tree of Life is the royal signet of the god Ashur.
The god Ashur is depicted as a man with a bow inside a winged solar disk or as a winged solar disk.

Finally! After 90 years, plus or minus a few thousand, scholars have released a full Assyrian dictionary for all of us to enjoy.

Now you can research the language, learn it and read for yourself the "Epic of Gilgamesh" in it's original Babylonian/Assyrian glory.

Sick and tired of having to read someone else's translations of Hammurabi's famous Code? Rejoice! Now you can decipher it yourself.

Okay, we're being sarcastic for no obvious reason. We're actually very happy that this ancient language is being highlighted.

"This was the language that Sargon the Great, king of Akkad in the 24th century B.C., spoke to command what is reputed to be the world’s first empire, and that Hammurabi used around 1700 B.C. to proclaim the first known code of laws. It was the vocabulary of the Epic of Gilgamesh, the first masterpiece of world literature. Nebuchadnezzar II presumably called on these words to soothe his wife, homesick for her native land, with the promise of cultivating the wondrous Hanging Gardens of Babylon."

Kudos the researchers who struggled for so long to compile this unbelievable dictionary and give us a glimpse into the past.

As "student's of history" we revel in this kind of thing.

The Assyrians are from the Mesopotamian region (Iraq/Iran) and came right after the Sumerians, from whom all things we consider to be civilized were handed down "from the gods".

Hammurabi's Code is considered to the world's oldest law book and gives such commands as not stealing from a widow and criminal prosecution for those who steal livestock. Among many, many others.

New York Times Article

Desmond Tutu Gets It Right

Wow. Desmond Tutu's new book, 'God Is Not A Christian: And Other Provocations', contains some "explosive" stuff to all the Bible thumping die hards out there.

Read this excerpt that is posted on Huffington Post today to see why he thinks persecuting gays and lesbians is the ultimate injustice.

Here's a glimpse:

"A student once asked me, If I could have one wish granted to reverse an injustice, what would it be? I had to ask for two. One is for world leaders to forgive the debts of developing nations which hold them in such thrall. The other is for the world to end the persecution of people because of their sexual orientation, which is every bit as unjust as that crime against humanity, apartheid."

Way to go, Des! Comparing homosexuality persecution with apartheid is an awesome analogy and one that will certainly raise the hackles of all the religidiots out there. Good job!

The Martian Chronicles Are Coming! The Martian Chronicles Are Coming!

Fans of Ray Bradbury rejoice!

Paramount has just optioned the rights to Bradbury's CLASSIC and AWESOME novel "The Martian Chronicles"!

The joy and irony of this entire post is that we just personally re-read "The Martian Chronicles" for the first time since high school, literally 2 weeks ago. WE LOVED IT ALL OVER AGAIN.

The novel is actually a collection of short stories about the colonization of Mars. The entire novel is not a linear one-plot story, it's a multitude of stand alone tales that takes the reader on a bittersweet journey into the future from Earth to Mars. It's an EASY read, not overly complicated with some chapters encompassing only one page! Each story leaves you filled with anger, joy, sadness, bewilderment and in the end...awe...

We don't want to give too much away. Except, one chapter in particular is a real hoot. It's called "Usher II" and is a criticism of censorship (ala his seminal work "Fahrenheit 451") and is a marvelous tribute to Edgar Allen Poe in Poe's Usher House setting. You just have to read it for yourself. It's amazing. Bradbury is wildly talented and by all accounts without peer.

This novel and Bradbury the author were introduced to us way, way back in high school. Our literature class was helmed by a MARVELOUS, WONDERFUL, AWESOME Teacher, named Mr. Cusamano. His love of science fiction was infectious and subsequently gave us a life-long love of the genre too. Mr. Cusamano's crowning achievement was to introduce each year's classes to "The Martian Chronicles".

THANK YOU, Mr. C. You, out of all of our teachers, are the one we are most thankful for. YOU ROCKED.

Look for The Martian Chronicles movie to be produced by Predators/I, Robot producer John Davis. No word on when it would be out, but we imagine 2013 or so.

Martian Chronicles (From Bradbury's website)

"Bradbury's Mars is a place of hope, dreams and metaphor-of crystal pillars and fossil seas-where a fine dust settles on the great, empty cities of a silently destroyed civilization. It is here the invaders have come to despoil and commercialize, to grow and to learn -first a trickle, then a torrent, rushing from a world with no future toward a promise of tomorrow. The Earthman conquers Mars ... and then is conquered by it, lulled by dangerous lies of comfort and familiarity, and enchanted by the lingering glamour of an ancient, mysterious native race.

Ray Bradbury's THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES is a classic work of twentieth-century literature whose extraordinary power and imagination remain undimmed by time's passage. In connected, chronological stories, a true grandmaster once again enthralls, delights and challenges us with his vision and his heart-starkly and stunningly exposing in brilliant spacelight our strength, our weakness, our folly, and our poignant humanity on a strange and breathtaking world where humanity does not belong."



Excerpt:

The Martian Chronicles

Chapter 1: Rocket Summer

Rocket Summer

One minute it was Ohio winter, with doors closed, windows locked, the panes blind with frost, icicles fringing every roof, children skiing on slopes, housewives lumbering like great black bears in their furs along the icy streets.

And then a long wave of warmth crossed the small town. A flooding sea of hot air; it seemed as if someone had left a bakery door open. The heat pulsed among the cottages and bushes and children. The icicles dropped, shattering, to melt. The doors flew open. The windows flew up. The children worked off their wool clothes. The housewives shed their bear disguises. The snow dissolved and showed last summer's ancient green lawns.

Rocket summer. The words passed among the people in the open, airing houses. Rocket summer. The warm desert air changing the frost patterns on the windows, erasing the art work. The skis and sleds suddenly useless. The snow, falling from the cold sky upon the town, turned to a hot rain before it touched the ground.

Rocket summer. People leaned from their dripping porches and watched the reddening sky.

The rocket lay on the launching field, blowing out pink clouds of fire and oven heat. The rocket stood in the cold winter morning, making summer with every breath of its mighty exhausts. The rocket made climates, and summer lay for a brief moment upon the land....