mrneoluddite/bizarre

From the page: "Blood! Blood! Buckets of Blood!
By Robert Hubbard
Wed, October 29, 2008

As Halloween approaches like some Lovecraftian horror, lurking within the ken of our puny consciousnesses, vomit-inducing amounts of blood engorge our television screens, costume shops, and even the corpse that's suddenly appeared on our neighbor's front porch. It's all fake, of course -- or so we hope.

You can buy fake blood at your local Halloween shop, or you can be adventurous and make your own out of simple household items like water, milk, chocolate, food coloring, corn starch, paint, laundry detergent, or syrup. There's a full spectrum of blood recipes out there, and each one produces a slightly different end-product. For instance, adding syrup will make your blood stickier (and is great for getting it to cling to your victims); chocolate will give it a good congealed-blood effect when it sets; and water will make your blood runny, which is great if you want it to be of the gruesome, dripping variety.

The professionals (meaning those movie people) like blood with a Karo corn syrup base. Karo has the perfect sticky consistency and realistically changes color depending on the surface it's covering, the lighting, and its consistency.

Fake blood and movies have a long history together. In the days when black and white movies dominated theatres, simple chocolate syrup did the job: not only was it cheap, but, being brown, it showed up well. Once films migrated to color, chocolate would just no longer do. The first few decades of color film saw a variety of blood that was bright and opaque, not unlike ketchup.

The color and consistency of movie blood has varied wildly since then: sometimes runny, sometimes gooey; sometimes muted, sometimes bright and shiny. The general trend, though, has been towards darker, stickier, and more transparent blood. Most of what we see in contemporary movies is stylistically dark, sometimes even as dark as... well, as chocolate syrup."

Would you pay $26 per grape?

From the page: "We Predict That It's National Psychic Week
By Michelle Heimburger
Tue, August 5, 2008

Step into our parlor, dearie -- don't be afraid. We can see by your aura that you are feeling some confusion and are in need of spiritual guidance. Sit before the crystal ball and we shall transcend mere human perception and tap into a deeper consciousness to observe the future. Gaze deep into the otherworldly well of psychic knowledge, and focus your third eye to watch events from other times and places, unseen by those who lack The Gift.

The image grows clearer. We see the signs of a mystical event taking place now... or perhaps in the very near future. We see a large group of people over a wide geographic area -- a nation, perhaps. They are united at a common moment -- or maybe a little longer, for example, a whole week -- to recognize or observe something. It might be a shared interest, or a hobby of some sort -- but it is one with a deep personal meaning for those involved. Oh, but the glass grows murky. What is this event, great Spirits of Beyond? Reveal to us your secrets!

Ah, now the fog lifts. Many spiritual readers would not be able to command the mystic spirits, but we are known to them, and they recognize our energy in an ancient shared subconsciousness. Ah, yes -- now we see more clearly! This event -- it is in recognition of an interest, a belief that can even be a profession. This profession is something that is not always respected or admired, but its practitioners and followers persevere. Now the glass grows darker. We cannot see the details. There are skeptics, yes; those who would mock. Is it multi-level marketing? Are you an Amway distributor? No? Hmm... well, that is all the spirits will show us -- for now. Perhaps for another $20 we could persuade them to show us more..."

From the page: "They Just Keep Cropping Up

Unless you've been out wanderin' the fields, you may not have noticed that crop circle season is in full swing. Cereologists around the globe are busy chasing trampled grains from site to site, and we wouldn't want you to miss out.

Where do these miraculous masterpieces come from? Well one hypothesis, popularized in the 2002 film Signs, attributes crop circles to aliens, who are to be found zipping about in their UFOs or flitting through fields as balls of light. Another more likely explanation is that these formations are the work of humans. Not only have the hoaxers admitted as much, but the acts have been documented as well. Yet, despite such evidence, some crop circle enthusiasts maintain that some designs are simply too intricate to be man-made.

Whoever may be responsible, there's no doubt that many of the designs are downright beautiful -- and they're not as strange as some may think. Art visible only from above is hardly a new phenomenon. The Nasca created stunning art pieces in the Peruvian desert 2,000 years ago, and in Britain, the Uffington White Horse predates today's crop circles by 3,000 years.

Regardless of their origins, crop circles are an impressive contribution to modern day land art (and advertising). So take a walk in the wheat and check some out -- before the season is over."

Clusters of images tagged with Illuminati, or related terms