STUFF: News, Technology, the cool and the plain weird

[MIKA27]

IWC PORTUGIESER CHRONOGRAPH RATTRAPANTE GENÈVE WATCH

Created to celebrate the opening of their new store in Geneva, the IWC Portugieser Chronograph Rattrapante Genève Watch is a highly exclusive edition. The double chronograph can record two separate times at once thanks to a split-seconds hand. Both telemeter and tachymeter scales are present on the dark dial, which is also adorned with rose gold-plated Feuille hands and Arabic numerals. Also inside the stainless steel case is a hand-wound 76240-calibre movement offering a 44-hour power reserve. Finished with a brown alligator leather strap, it's limited to just 50 examples and available exclusively at the IWC Boutique Geneva.

[MIKA27]

HIGHSPIRE RYE WHISKEY

Back in 1823, when Rye Whiskey was the drink of choice for Americans, Highspire Rye Whiskey was one of the best you could buy. During prohibition, however, it was one of many brands that didn't survive. Nearly 100 years later, Highspire Rye is back and is once again made using 100% rye. The grain is grown on the Waldeck Farm in Crestwood, Kentucky, which is located right next to Kindred Distilled Spirits, where Highspire is distilled.

[MIKA27]

THE DEUCE

Taking queues from Ewan McGregor and Tom Hardy, James Franco plays twin brothers with mob ties for a new HBO series. From the creators of The Wire, The Deuce goes back to Times Square in the 70s when drugs, HIV, and porn was on the rise. Also starring Maggie Gyllenhaal, the series is set to premiere on September 10, 2017.

[Fuzz]

6 hours ago, MIKA27 said:

Antarctica Just Plopped A One Trillion Tonne Iceberg Into The Ocean

 

 

I knew one day Apu would go too far to get ice for the Kwik-E-Mart.

 

[MIKA27]

Cops Bust Alleged Masterminds Behind Giant Canadian Coin Heist

In 2007, Cananda unveiled an enormous, 100kg gold coin with a face value of one million Canadian dollars and a metal value of around five million of the same (or about $5.1 million Australian). Then, somebody stole it. On Wednesday, German police arrested two people they believe to have been involved in the heist.

The Gold Maple Leaf coin that authorities have been hunting was stolen back in March from the Bode Museum in Berlin, where it had been on loan since 2010. It would seem that the thieves knew exactly what they were after. According to a museum spokesman, the burglars entered through a window, broke into the cabinet that housed the coin, and left. Authorities say that they proceeded to drop the coin into a wheelbarrow and roll it across a railway bridge to a waiting getaway car.

Masked police officers in Berlin raided multiple homes on Wednesday, taking two men were taken into custody with their faces obscured, but the coin has not been located. Though authorities say that they are still searching the homes, they fear that the coin may have been melted down for its gold. That would explain why the thieves went after that one coin and nothing else — it's way easier to offload 100 kilos of gold than it is to fence a priceless painting.

Measuring one inch thick with a diameter of over 51cm, the coin was one of only five and had the highest metal value of the limited edition, boasting 99.999 per cent purity.

It's believed that the coin was likely damaged in the heist because of a large impact mark below the window that the burglars escaped through. In an interview with Deutsche Welle, the collection's director Bernhard Weisser said that he hopes to display the coin again regardless of its condition. And honestly, why not? Being part of a daring heist just makes it cooler.

[MIKA27]

German Enigma Machine Found At Flea Market Fetches $67,000 At Auction

A professor of cryptology has auctioned off a rare and fully-functional Enigma machine used by the Nazis to encrypt messages during the Second World War. Incredibly, the collector found the machine at a flea market in Bucharest — which suggests Romania may house other machines still waiting to be discovered.

As reported in Deutsche Welle, the unnamed collector knew what he had stumbled upon at the flea market, and cooly snatched it up for 100 euros ($150). He then put it up for sale at the city's Artmark auction house with a starting bid of 9,000 euros ($13,369). On Tuesday, the rare cryptographic machine sold to an unnamed online bidder for 45,000 euros ($67,227). A very healthy return on investment, to be sure.

Enigma machines were invented by the Germans in the 1930s and were used by its armed forces to transmit encrypted messages during the Second World War. Romania was allied to Nazi Germany at the time, so it makes sense that the unit was found in the Balkan country. Famously, the breaking of the Enigma system by computer scientist Alan Turing at Bletchley park (with prior help from Polish spies and scientists) contributed to the defeat of Nazi Germany in WWII.

The unit which sold on Tuesday is in pristine condition and it's still useable. An Enigma 1, it was produced in Berlin by Heimsoeth & Rinke in 1941, and it's still in the original wooden box.

Around 20,000 Enigma machines of various types were manufactured in the 1930s and 1940s, but only a handful have survived. Around 50 Enigma machines of various sorts are currently on display at museums around the world, with many more in the hands of private collectors.

In 2015, an even rarer Enigma M4 machine sold at auction for a record $US365,000 ($475,354). The M4, named for its four rotors (the Enigma 1 has three rotors), was manufactured during the latter stages of the war. Only 150 remain from the 1,500 ever built.

[MIKA27]

New Trailer for ‘Birth of the Dragon’ Reveals Bruce Lee’s Most Controversial Fight

One of the most dramatic and controversial fights of Bruce Lee‘s career did not take place on the silver screen or even in front of a cheering crowd but rather behind closed doors, a private mano a mano contest between martial arts masters. Believed to have stemmed from a conflict over Lee teaching Chinese martial arts to Caucasian men, the tension escalated to the point that Lee and instructor Wong Jack Man came to blows in a bout for honor. A new trailer for Birth of the Dragon sets up this story in dramatic fashion.

To be clear, this film isn’t a straight biopic of Lee’s life and career but rather takes inspiration from this legendary fight. It took place before Lee’s Hollywood star status really took off, though he had already been acting in Chinese films from an early age. A couple of years after this match, he would star as Kato on both The Green Hornet and in a few episodes of Batman before embracing his feature film status. Also of note, Birth of the Dragon originally premiered at TIFF 2016, but this is a new cut of the film.

George Nolfi directs from a script by Stephen J. Rivele and Christopher Wilkinson. Phillip Ng, Xia Yu, Billy Magnussen, Jin Xing, Jingjing Qu, and Simon Yin star, with Martial Arts Supervisor Corey Yuen overseeing the all-important fight sequences. Look for Birth of the Dragon in theaters on August 25th.

Here’s the official synopsis for Birth of the Dragon:

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In 1964, Bruce Lee took on Wong Jack Man in one of the most controversial fights of all time. Watch the trailer for Birth of the Dragon, the film inspired by this true event.
 
Set against the backdrop of 1960s San Francisco, BIRTH OF THE DRAGON is a modern take on the classic movies that Bruce Lee was known for. It takes its inspiration from the epic and still controversial showdown between an up-and-coming Bruce Lee and kung fu master Wong Jack Man – a battle that gave birth to a legend.

 

[MIKA27]

How ‘Fate of the Furious’ Made Movie History with Its Ambitious Opening Scene

Havana, Cuba is home to some of the richest muscle car aesthetic on the planet. So it’s no surprise that the folks behind the Fast and Furious franchise were among the first to roll through town after President Obama eased American travel restrictions to the long-embargoed nation in 2016. After all, nobody loves American Muscle more than Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel), the patriarch of the Fast family, whose globe-trotting adventures have raced to more than $5 billion at the worldwide box office.

The Furious films have been jet-setting around the globe ever since Justin Lin joined the fray and transported the action to the streets of Tokyo with 2006’s sequel Tokyo Drift. Since then, the franchise has traveled to Brazil, Abu Dhabi, and now, Cuba, where Fate of the Furious and director F. Gary Gray (Straight Outta Compton) made history as the first American tentpole filmed in the streets of Havana in decades. Movie Magic has long transformed foreign countries into Havana. The 007 films headed to Puerto Rico and Spain for James Bond’s Cuban adventures. Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights also used Puerto Rico as a double for Cuba, while The Godfather, Part II and Sydney Pollack‘s Havana were filmed in the Dominican Republic. To see Havana itself on-screen is rare, to see it in an American blockbuster is all but unheard of.

Naturally, that made for an ambitious and challenging shoot, but not necessarily in the ways you’d expect. According to Richard Klein of McLarty media, who served as the film’s international political supervisor with who I chatted with in Havana where we toured the filming locations, both the American and Cuban governments were in full support of the production. “[The Cuban government] knew the film franchise, knew how popular it was around the world, and knew that it came with no controversy. There’s nothing political, there’s nothing sensitive,” he said. “The American government wanted this to happen and succeed, because it represented the change in tone between the two countries, the fact that you could work together and succeed together, and again, it wasn’t political.”

As they say, the devil is in the details, so while the production was set in motion with support and enthusiasm, the biggest challenges arose in the form of complex, nuanced laws and on-the-ground practicalities. “They’re not difficult,” said Klein. “They just take time.” Above all, infrastructure and equipment were the biggest hurdles that had to be cleared. “They clearly don’t have the infrastructure to support a movie of this size,” Gray recalled when I caught up with him on the phone earlier this month. “We’re bringing in big-time actors and hundreds of crew and the technology we needed in order to shoot a tentpole movie. We brought in everything. I think we brought in everything from helicopters to a bottle of water.”

Klein echoed those sentiments, “We had to bring everything. Because the technical needs of this movie are so extreme. Car chases, crashes, explosions, aerial photography. We had to bring everything. We floated a barge from Florida to carry everything. So on the one hand, it’s making sure you have everything. And it’s also, because of everything you’re bringing, you have to make sure you’re declaring it on both ends, so people know what’s coming in and what’s gone out.”

As if filming in Cuba wasn’t going to be challenging enough on a technical level, the Furious films are known for some of the biggest blowout action scenes in the biz, and the production in Havana was no different. Gray and his team sent cars barreling down the narrow alleys at 100 mph, they raced a car backward along the Malecón, closing down the streets to capture the action. “This would have been so much easier if it was a Woody Allen movie, with four characters, walking around the city,” said Klein said with a laugh. “We brought the mother of all films down here, to learn on. Right? Car chases, crashes, explosions, stunts, helicopters. That was a big, big challenge for everybody.”

And they did it all for a few minutes of screen time, designed to open Fate of the Furious with a bang. “It was a massive logistical undertaking unto itself,” said Gray. “Just that sequence itself, only because the resources manpower and effort with all the effort we put into shooting in Cuba, I think it matches with what people put into shooting a full, feature-length film.”

But once you’re in Havana, it’s immediately clear that the ambiance is worth the effort. It’s the perfect setting for a Furious film. You may expect to see a handful of Vintage cars in Havana. You might have the misconception that the postcard pictures of the city selectively pick and choose the vehicles. In truth, the revamped muscle cars are everywhere, and like Fate tells us, they’re treated as heirlooms passed down the generations, lovingly maintained with coats of mismatched paint and it whatever it takes to keep the engine running. Occasionally you’ll see more modern cars from recent decades sprinkled throughout traffic, but at every turn, down every alley, you’ll see the vintage vehicles. “You see 1950s Chevy’s here the way you see Toyota Corollas at home,” Klein explained, “It’s like one out of every three cars.”

It was also the perfect follow-up to Furious 7‘s massive international set piece, which saw Vin Diesel and Paul Walker driving full-speed through the Etihad Towers in Abu Dhabi. Havana offered a complete change of pace; a city with new texture and character to add to the franchise. “Abu Dhabi’s all glass and steel,” Klein explained. “What’s the opposite end of that? We started having conversations about, sort of older, colonial, classic but also really weathered and cities with texture. And Havana was very early in the conversation of beautiful, colonial city that kinda hasn’t been developed in 50 years.”

If that cultural texture was unusual and historic when they shot it, it may ultimately prove to be something of a preserved moment in time now that the current administration has decided to reinstate some of the pre-Obama travel restrictions. “What we did was rare and now, it’s even more rare,” said Gray.

Looking toward the future of the franchise, which will no doubt travel to more exotic and richly textured locales, Klein has a dream destination in mind — the old city of Jerusalem. “I think that these narrow alleys and this mid evil architecture and these locations that are 1500 years old and are beautifully preserved.” As for franchise star Tyrese Gibson, who I also spoke with in Havana, he wants the films to end up in Africa at some point. “I think it’s time to travel to Cape Town, Johannesburg. We’ve done well in the Latin community. We’ve done well in the Middle East with Abu Dhabi. I think it’s about time we take us to Cape Town and Jo-burg and really tap into that energy over there. I would love to do it, so I’m going to keep campaigning for it.”

“You know, after Abu Dhabi and after Havana,” said Klein, “the challenge is, what’s the location that becomes a character in the movie?”

The Fate of the Furious is now available on Digital HD, 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, DVD and On Demand from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.

[MIKA27]

‘Mr. Mercedes’ Trailer Reveals the Stephen King Serial Killer Series

The Stephen King adaptations never stop, but this year in particular has been a hell of time for fans of the prolific genre author. On the film end two of King’s most beloved and long-anticipated movie adaptations are finally upon us with IT and The Dark Tower, and on the small screen, 2017 has already brought us Spike’s The Mist series. Up next is AT&T Audience Network’s adaptation of his serial killer thriller, Mr. Mercedes.

Described by King as his first hardboiled detective story, the adaptation comes from David E. Kelley and stars Harry Treadaway (Penny Dreadful) as Brady Hartsfield, a psychopathic killer who reemerges from a high-profile cold case to to torment Brendan Gleeson‘s Bill Hodges, a retired detective who’s off his game, but still bothered by the one cold case he never solved. What follows is a cat-and-mouse between the two men as Hodges makes it his mission to track down the creepy killer no matter the cost.

Executive-produced by King, Kelley, and Jack Bender (Under the Dome), the series also starsMary-Louise Parker (Weeds) as Janey Patterson; Justine Lupe (Younger) as Holly Gibney; Scott Lawrence (Legion) as Detective Peter Dixon; Kelly Lynch (The L Word) as Deborah Hartsfield; Ann Cusack (Better Call Saul) as Olivia Trelawney; Robert Stanton (True Story) as Anthony “Robi” Frobisher; Holland Taylor (The Practice) as Ida Silver; and Breeda Wool (UnREAL) as Lou Linklatter. Look forward to more when the team makes their introductions at San Diego Comic-Con next week, but for now, watch the Mr. 

Here’s the official synopsis for AT&T’s Mr. Mercedes series:

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“From Executive Producers Stephen King, David E. Kelley and Jack Bender comes the story of a demented serial killer who taunts a retired police detective with a series of lurid letters and emails. This forces the ex-cop to undertake a private, and potentially felonious, crusade to bring the killer to justice before he can strike again.”

[MIKA27]

RIP George Romero, The Man Behind The Modern Zombie

George Romero, the legendary filmmaker who changed the horror world forever with Night of the Living Dead and its sequels, has died of lung cancer at the age of 77.

Romero will be forever remembered for his iconic contribution to horror, not just through his birth of the zombie genre as we know it today in 1968's Night of the Living Dead and its litany of sequels all the way up to 2009's Survival of the Dead, but for his work on Creepshow, Monkey Shine, The Dark Half, and dozens of other film and TV projects. Romero was still working even this year, recently unveiling plans for a new of the Dead film about NASCAR zombies.

Romero is survived by his wife and three children, and our thoughts go out to his family at this sad time.

[MIKA27]

Get A Closer Look At Star Wars Battlefront 2 And Its Complex, Unique Storyline

The D23 Expo has already unleashed a peek behind the scenes of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and now we've got a closer look at another highly-anticipated project from a galaxy far, far away: Star Wars Battlefront II.

This "Behind the Story" video is exactly that, fleshing out how it will approach the world of Star Wars from an Imperial perspective. Lucasfilm creative executive Steve Blank explains, "The story of Battlefront II is absolutely an essential story... and we're going to see it from this Imperial point of view. [Main character] Iden is presented with an extreme challenge: the destruction of the Death Star II and the death of the Emperor.

What sort of choices would somebody in that situation have to make about who they are, and what the galaxy was going to become?"

Star Wars Battlefront II will be out November.

[MIKA27]

Walt Disney World Resort In Florida Is Opening A Completely Immersive Star Wars Hotel

Disney just announced that the Star Wars areas of their theme parks will be called Star Wars Galaxy's Edge. The studio also gave a few more teases of how this highly interactive land will work. Also opening: the world's first totally immersive Star Wars hotel.

A few months ago, Disney employees hinted to fans that actions would have consequences in the lands. We didn't quite know what that meant — but at D23, Imagineers explained a bit more.

For example, you may see Chewbacca around talking to Hondo. They're up to no good and could be recruiting a group of people to go on a mission. So then you'd go on the Millennium Falcon ride, one of two in the park. Based on how you and your crew does on that ride (the ride will allow each individual person to have their own job aboard the Falcon), you could get some extra republic credits afterward, or maybe a stern talking-to. If you're really, really bad though, bounty hunters might hunt you throughout the park, like a new one named Harcos.

There will also be a Cantina — it was a hinted there may be booze there — and the music will be courtesy of a new DJ. It's Rex, the former pilot of Star Tours.

That's just one example of how things will work. However, another major announcement has to do specifically with the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando. There, it was announced, Disney is planning a 100 per cent immersive Star Wars hotel. That means everyone there will act like they are in Star Wars. You become a citizen once you check in, and every minute of your experience will be Star Wars. You may even have the option to dress up as the character you want to be. The photos you see here are of that.

Apparently, you are part of the story every minute you are at the hotel for your entire stay. Which, frankly, sounds a little scary. What if I want to sleep? We'll have to wait and see exactly what this entails, but the concept art shown was pretty badass, including the fact that every room at the hotel will have a view into "space."

While both Star Wars Galaxy's Edge parks will open in 2019, the one at Disneyland in Anaheim will officially be first.

[MIKA27]

Bad Lip Reading's 'Mayweather Vs Conor McGregor' Delivers A Knockout Performance

Bad Lip Reading has delivered some gems over the years. While we remember the movies and TV shows it parodies, the popular channel also covers sports... and what's big in sports right now? UFC's Floyd Mayweather Jr versus Conor McGregor. Which means it's big for BLR.
The clip is short at a little under two-and-a-half minutes, but honestly, that's all it needs.

The first minute is great, but it gets really interesting once Mayweather Jr cracks out his rendition of "Watch Out Rinoldo [sic]".

Never heard of that song? No one else had either... until now.

[MIKA27]

French Army Performs Daft Punk Medley

At a Bastille Day event on Friday, the French army marching band did something unusual and amazing: They played electronic music unplugged. And not just any electronic music, either. The horns and drums and woodwinds performed a stunning medley of Daft Punk's greatest hits. Donald Trump apparently did not enjoy it.

Do you know who looks like he loved the celebration of French culture, though? French president Emmanuel Macron, and pretty much everyone else at the event (except maybe Melania Trump).

The medley itself features the legendary French electronic duo's mega hits such as "One More Time", "Get Lucky", "Digital Love" and "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger". Daft Punk fans will quickly realise that this medley is quite similar to the Daft Punk tribute that Pentatonix released in 2014.

Unlike an a cappella group, the French army marching band actually marched, sometimes spelling out the names of French cities. To capture the effect, it looks like a news agency or the French government used a drone. Why they decided to make the images look like a drone attack is either a bad choice or a curious dig at the United States military.

Who knows why Trump did his frowny face throughout the whole performance. Maybe he isn't having fun in Paris, where he can't buy a proper Quarter Pounder with cheese. Maybe he doesn't like to celebrate other countries' holidays or cultural achievements, since the act clearly doesn't put America first. Maybe he just hates Daft Punk. Sad!
 

 

[MIKA27]

Martin Landau, Star Of Space: 1999, North By Northwest Dies At 89

Just hours after learning of the passing of horror genre legend George Romero, TMZ is now reporting that Martin Landau, star of the groundbreaking science fiction series, Space: 1999 and of Ed Wood, Cleopatra, and North by Northwest, has died at the age of 89. They are reporting that he passed away at 1:30 PM PST at the UCLA Medical Center after suffering complications during a brief hospitalization.

Before finding a career as an actor at the age of 22, Landau had been a cartoonist for the Daily News, working on Billy Rose’s column, Pitching Horseshoes and later working on the Sunday Strip.

Landau had been nominated for the Best Supporting Actor by both the Golden Globes and the Academy Awards, and winning the former for his role in the 1988 Tucker: The Man and His Dream. He finally did win on Oscar in 1994 for his work in Ed Wood. His nearly 200 acting credits spanned more than six decades.

 

 

[Duxnutz]

On 13/07/2017 at 4:02 PM, MIKA27 said:

THE DEUCE

Taking queues from Ewan McGregor and Tom Hardy, James Franco plays twin brothers with mob ties for a new HBO series. From the creators of The Wire, The Deuce goes back to Times Square in the 70s when drugs, HIV, and porn was on the rise. Also starring Maggie Gyllenhaal, the series is set to premiere on September 10, 2017.

Saw trailers for this tonight on the GoT series premier. Looks great. 

[MIKA27]

New Blade Runner 2049 Trailer Shows More Of The Dirty, Desperate Future

We just got a bunch of new footage from the hotly anticipated sequel to Ridley Scott's dystopian sci-fi classic, courtesy of a brand new trailer. And Harrison Ford's Deckard says something so potentially huge you'll be reeling.

Previous glimpses have shown that Ryan Gosling's Officer K has been tasked with finding Deckard, and this new teaser hints at why. Ever since the first Blade Runner, the big question about Ford's character has been whether or not he too is a replicant. When he says "we were being hunted," it could either be referring to the other replicants or a red herring to makes viewers think that.

Thirty years after the first Blade Runner, the Los Angeles of 2049 — or at least parts of it — looks hollowed out and haunted. That can also be said of just about every character with dialogue in this trailer. We'll find out what they're looking for when Blade Runner 2049 hits theatres on October 5.

[MIKA27]

Here's Our Best Look At Star Trek: Discovery's New Ship

When it comes to Star Trek, the ship is vital.

This new poster comes as Star Trek: Discovery prepares to have its very own San Diego Comic-Con panel. We saw bits of the ship last year, but it was shared as part of a larger Star Trek panel. Now the newborn show is all grown up.

I legitimately love the colours on this poster — and the gentle homage that streaky rainbow pays to The Motion Picture.

We can also see that the design of Discovery has undergone a bit of a change since we first saw the ship at Comic-Con last year.

For one thing, you couldn't really tell in this image that the saucer section had a double-ring, whereas it clearly has gaps in the new poster. The nacelles have changed a fair bit — they're pulled back and are more streamlined. The variable colouring on the hull (from plating, I guess?) is still there, but the light under the saucer isn't pointing forward any more. There's a whole lighted dome.

It's a good design, and putting the nacelles below the saucer instead of over it, like in the original Enterprise, isn't quite the same as Ralph McQuarrie's original concept art for a new Enterprise, but it's similar. It's sort of like Enterprise, that design, and the original show's ship had a baby. A baby about to go where no one has gone before.

Star Trek: Discovery debuts on Netflix September 25.

[MIKA27]

Horrified Surgeons Discover 27 Contact Lenses In Woman's Eye

While prepping a 67-year-old female patient for routine cataract surgery at England's Solihull Hospital, physicians noticed a strange bluish blob in one of her eyes. On closer look, the blob turned out to be 17 contact lenses stuck together. Another 10 lenses were subsequently discovered in the same eye. The surgeons have never seen anything quite like it.

As reported in the British Medical Journal, the unnamed patient was unaware that the contact lenses were missing. Incredibly, the 27 lost lenses, which had drifted behind her upper eyelid, weren't causing her any serious distress. She figured her dry eyes and periodic discomfort were just a product of old age.

"None of us have ever seen this before," noted surgeon Rupal Marjaria, who filed the BMJ report, in Optometry Today. "It was such a large mass. All the 17 contact lenses were stuck together. We were really surprised that the patient didn't notice it because it would cause quite a lot of irritation while it was sitting there."

The Solihull Hospital surgical team decided to postpone the cataract surgery due to the increased risk of endophthalmitis — inflammation of the inner eye. This condition can lead to vision loss and even loss of the eye itself, and is a common complication of cataract surgeries. The surgeons were concerned that a build-up of bacteria in the clump might trigger it.

The patient had been using monthly disposable contact lenses for about 35 years, but hadn't visited her optometrist in quite some time. What's more, she didn't mention any symptoms during her pre-operative assessment. Marjaria thought it important to write a case report about the incident, showing that it's possible for a person to retain a lot of contact lenses without experiencing too much discomfort.

"She was quite shocked," Marjaria told Optometry Today. "When she was seen two weeks after I removed the lenses she said her eyes felt a lot more comfortable. She thought her previous discomfort was just part of old age and dry eye."

This case is obviously extreme; most people experience significant discomfort and redness, as well as an increased risk for infections, when contacts get stuck in their eyes. It isn't immediately obvious why this patient was so asymptomatic, but it may have had something to do with her "deep set eyes," according to the BMJ report.

Wearers of contact lenses know how frustrating and unsettling it can be to displace a lens. Here's how you get a contact lens out from the top of your eye, according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology:

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The first step is to be sure the contact lens is still on the eye. The contact lens can fall out of the eye and it may be assumed that it has merely moved under the eyelid. It is important to note also that the contact lens can only go as far as the crease in the conjunctiva under the upper eyelids and it cannot go behind your eye.

To remove the lens you should first wash your hand carefully and relax the eyelid and see if you can feel the lens through the eyelid. It may help to apply some sterile saline or artificial tears to help float the contact lens out from under the eyelid. If a corner of the lens can be visualized in a mirror you can use a finger to slide it back down over the cornea where it can be removed normally. If the lens is suspected to be under the upper eyelid, it may also help to bring the lens in to view by looking downward as far as possible. Another technique is to gently massage through the eyelid down towards the cornea or you can try to lift or "flip" the eyelid to make the lens visible. Lastly, if you cannot retrieve the lens or if the eye is bothersome, you should call and schedule an appointment to see your ophthalmologist as soon as possible.

 

The last sentence is the critical one. If at any point you feel this is beyond your abilities, just go see your eye doctor. As this bizarre case study shows, don't just leave it in there.

[MIKA27]

The First Look At The Ataribox, Atari's New Console

Gamers have been wondering what Atari was thinking when they announced they were making a new console. Finally, we're starting to see what was on their mind.

Atari showed off the exterior of their box and discussed some of the principles around its design in a newsletter published online. There wasn't any mention of specific specs or what kinds of games the Ataribox would play, although the newsletter did mention that there would be two editions - a black/red version and a wood version - and the console would come with an SD card slot, HDMI output and four USB ports. The images also show an ethernet port at the back, and what looks like a headphone jack/line out.

Damn it looks nice.

But perhaps the most interesting aspect of the newsletter, however, is this line:

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As you can guess, those ports suggest modern internal specs. It also means that while we will be delivering classic gaming content, we will also be delivering current gaming content.

The post went on to suggest that "there are a lot of milestones, challenges and decision points in front of us in the months ahead", perhaps indicating that the console won't be ready for release in 2017. But as we find out more, we'll keep you posted.

[MIKA27]

Anthony Bourdain Is Writing a Comic Book Based on Samurai Ghost Stories

Anthony Bourdain is writing a comic book about chefs who tell each other scary food stories, which seems about right. Vulture reports the comic, called Hungry Ghosts, echoes a samurai warrior tradition of telling progressively scarier stories to other samurai warriors to try to freak them out—you know, battle prep. The game was called 100 Candles. Bourdain will replace the samurai with chefs for Hungry Ghosts—perhaps the chefs will also be dead?—and the stories will be about food.

The comic will be released in four issues from Berger Books, a new comic book line from famed Vertigo editor Karen Berger. Bourdain's co-writer is Joel Rose, who worked with Bourdain on Get Jiro!, a futuristic graphic novel about a sushi chef who wages a ruthless culinary war and slashes patrons' throats. Gritty stuff.

Bourdain's got some good scary food stories from his own travels, including the "fur, sand, shit" flavor of three-day-old warthog, and his travels to Russia to talk life and politics with Boris Nemtsov, a Putin critic who was killed in front of the Kremlin a year later. Bourdain also once owned an impressive comic book collection, but he said he sold it off for drugs at a "low point in the '80s." So basically, he's been living his life for the soul purpose of telling scary chef stories. Hungry Ghosts will be available January 31.

[MIKA27]

New ‘Wind River’ Trailer Teases a Chilling Thriller from ‘Sicario’ Screenwriter Taylor Sheridan

The Weinstein Company has released a new trailer for Wind River, the crime thriller and directorial debut from Academy Award-nominated Sicario and Hell or High Water screenwriter Taylor Sheridan. Sheridan directs from his own script for Wind River, which stars Jeremy Renner as a local game tracker in Wyoming who finds the body of a young woman on Native American territory. When an FBI agent is assigned to the case (Elizabeth Olsen), she teams up with Renner’s character to solve the mystery.

Sheridan’s screenwriting work has demonstrated a distinct voice driven by investigating the austere and unforgiving American frontier, and this trailer certainly looks like that has translated into his directorial debut. He’s one of the most exciting screenwriting talents out there right now, so if he’s got the knack for filmmaking as well, Sheridan could emerge as a driving voice in cinema.  Reviews out of the Sundance premiere were almost unanimously positive for the thriller, including Matt’s review, which praised a well-crafted narrative despite some techinical stumbles.

Check out the new Wind River trailer below and click here to read Adam’s extensive nterview with Sheridan about the film. The film also stars Julia Jones, Jon Bernthal, Gil Birmingham, Graham Greene, and Kelsey Asbille. Wind River opens in theaters on August 4th.

[MIKA27]

‘Leatherface’: First NSFW Trailer for the ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ Prequel Is Bathed in Blood

Get ready to revisit the Texas Chainsaw Massacre mythology with Leatherface, the new horror film that returns to the origin of the infamous killer. The film’s first trailer teases just what sort of movie fans of the franchise are in for. I say “teases” because this first look is really just a collection of creepy scenes that should be familiar–a mask made of human skin, bloody violence, Sawyer Family dinners, etc.–though with contemporary changes afforded by modern effects work and an all-new cast. The story is secondary to the gore in this trailer, but here’s the gist of it:

Four escaped mental inmates, played by Jessica Madsen, Sam Coleman, Sam Strike, and James Bloor, get the bloody party started by kidnapping a young nurse (Vanessa Grasse). They’re pursued by local law enforcement, played by Finn Jones and Stephen Dorff; the latter plays Hal Hartman, a deranged Texas Ranger on a mission of revenge against the killer who will become known as Leatherface. And what would a Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie be without the Sawyer Family? Keep an eye out for Lili Taylor, whoo stars as the cannibalistic matriarch, Verna.

Leatherface, directed by Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo, is rated R “for strong bloody violence, disturbing images, language and some sexuality/nudity.” Leatherface will enjoy an exclusive DirecTV release on September 21th, with a limited theatrical run and full VOD release through Lionsgate on October 20th.

[MIKA27]

SNOW PEAK SAKE

As long as people have been hiking, they’ve been bringing bottles of booze along with them. Usually whiskey. Sometimes rum. But almost never sake. Snow Peak, the Japanese outdoor retailer, is teaming up with Asahi Shuzo to change that.

Snow Peak is no stranger to Sake. Last year they released a titanium sake bottle along with a couple pair of cups intended for use out in the woods. While well received, it apparently didn’t quite sate their thirst for rice-wine. This September they plan on releasing a special sake developed with Asahi Shuzo – and they’ve really gone all-out. The collaboration bottle will be sold at both select liquor stores and a number of Snow Peak retail locations – all of which are now in the process of getting liquor licenses. And the bottle itself was apparently prototyped something like 30 times before landing on the black-on-black design. Around 48,000 of these are going to be made in the first year of production, so hopefully we can manage to get our hands on a few.

[MIKA27]

The Seca jacket

The Seca Jacket by Taylor Stitch draws inspiration from the A-2 jackets worn by WWII fighter pilots, and its name pays tribute to Northern California’s storied Laguna Seca Raceway, making it the perfect garment for days spent behind the wheel. Made from hand-stained, full-grain steerhide in a modern silhouette, this timeless jacket is lined in virgin wool while satin-lined sleeves make it easy to slip on and off. Other details include a brushed wool lining, double-ribbing, and fishhook throat latch on the collar to provide the necessary warmth in the cockpit.