Horror Scholarship announced!

I've learned of a great opportunity for macabre-minded college kids. Star Costumes, one of the top suppliers of costumes, makeup, and masks to the American public, is getting civic-minded for a select student! Below is their announcement of a horror scholarship. (How cool izzat?)

To apply, just click on the jack-o-lantern icon at the top of the column to the right.

______________

The 2010 Star Costumes Horror Scholarship

Star Costumes is awarding $1,000 to a student studying to work in the horror film industry.

Why a Horror Scholarship?

We love horror! We make our living selling scary costumes, makeup and masks, and we owe a lot of our success to the creative output of the horror industry. This scholarship is our way to give back, and to help the horror industry continue to terrify us in the years to come.

Currently, there are no other scholarships designed specifically for students planning to enter the horror industry. Our goal is provide assistance to help the brightest and most creative students meet their expenses and help launch their career in horror cinema.

Eligibility Requirements:

Horror Scholarship candidates must meet the following criteria:

• A student with a 3.0 GPA;
• 18 years or older;
• who's currently studying full-time at a undergraduate or graduate post-secondary institution.

The student must be studying in a field designed to prepare them for work in the horror industry. This could include careers such as:

• Makeup artist
• Special effects artist
• Costume designer
• Set designer
• Lighting designer
• Film sound artist
• VFX/CGI artist
• Postproduction specialist
• Film critic
• Screenwriter
• Cinematographer
• Director

_______________________

What great back-to-school noose! I wish there was something like this when *I* was a full-time college student and bodily complete!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RAY BRADBURY!

One of my all-time favorite authors turns 90 today.

I had the pleasure of meeting him on 3 occasions: Once at the 25th Archon show in the late '90s, where I had the privilege to thank him for being the author whose stories introduced me to the pleasures of fiction written for adults (I graduated from kid's lit with Bradbury's The October Country); at a lecture he gave at Washington University in St. Louis, where he propounded, in part, his message of having "enthusiasms" and throwing yourself fully into them; and at a book signing where I brought a paperback I had for him to sign. (He pleasantly upbraided me for not bringing a hardback.)

You can leave a birthday message for Ray here.

His works still resonate in memory and imagination for me. This summer I read his From the Dust Returned and enjoyed it very much. I recommend it to you.

An interview with Bradbury at the site "Wired for Books" can be heard here, and a video interview for Truthdig on "Literature and Love" can be seen here.

For laughs and grins, I also recommend this NSFW or children video by upcoming comic Rachel Bloom: F__ Me, Ray Bradbury

Trivial Thursday number five

TDSH--The blog that looks back at you!

From time to time I like to present weird trivia on Thursdays. Here's the latest edition:

Giant squids have eyes as big as watermelons.

A molasses flood killed 21 people and injured 150 people in Boston, Massachusetts on January 15, 1919.

In India, A 13-year-old boy urinated out winged beetles after eggs hatched inside his body.

In Britain, there are approximately 50,000 pubs with 17,000 different names.

Source: http://ebizarre.com/index.php

Squid eye image source: Post by "Mungus" found at this link.

R.I.P. Plissken

Plissken, our one-eyed snake whose name was chosen from contest entries by Hammer film star Shane Briant, has died of unknown causes. Age at time of death unknown.

He will be very much missed by Jane the Voodoo Queen and myself.

Weirdest Kid's Books of All Time?

This illustrated, very brief article presents an overview of what author Katla McGlynn calls "The Creepiest Children's Books Ever."

But sometimes she cheats a bit-- some are just "gross" titles and some are titles with unintended double entendres. But they're all entertaining.

Happy Day, Triskaidekaphobes!

Triskaidekaphobia is an irrational fear of the number thirteen. And today is the only "Friday the 13th" of 2010! So it must be an especially scary day for triskaidekaphobes. Enjoy the fear, my friends! Mwah ha ha ha ha!

From an article on Friday the 13th that appears at the National Geographic website comes this explanation of the phobia:

"Friday the 13th superstitions are rooted in ancient bad-luck associations with the number 13 and the day Friday, said Donald Dossey, a folklore historian and author of Holiday Folklore, Phobias and Fun.

"The two unlucky entities ultimately combined to make one super unlucky day.

"Dossey traces the fear of the number 13—aka, triskaidekaphobia—to a Norse myth about 12 gods having a dinner party at Valhalla, Norse mythology's heaven. In walked the uninvited 13th guest, the mischievous god Loki. Once there, Loki arranged for Hoder, the blind god of darkness, to shoot Balder the Beautiful, the god of joy and gladness, with a mistletoe-tipped arrow.

"'Balder died, and the whole Earth got dark. The whole Earth mourned. It was a bad, unlucky day,' Dossey said.

"There is also a biblical reference to the unlucky number 13. Judas, the apostle said to have betrayed Jesus, was the 13th guest to the Last Supper."

Read more at the link above.

According to howstuffworks.com, the fear of Friday the 13th specifically is known as paraskevidekatriaphobia.

Say that thirteen times fast!