2012 isn't the end of the world, Mayans insist

Yahoo News (MEXICO CITY) – Apolinario Chile Pixtun is tired of being bombarded with frantic questions about the Mayan calendar supposedly "running out" on Dec. 21, 2012. After all, it's not the end of the world.

Or is it?

Definitely not, the Mayan Indian elder insists. "I came back from England last year and, man, they had me fed up with this stuff."

It can only get worse for him. Next month Hollywood's "2012" opens in cinemas, featuring earthquakes, meteor showers and a tsunami dumping an aircraft carrier on the White House.

At Cornell University, Ann Martin, who runs the "Curious? Ask an Astronomer" Web site, says people are scared.

Secret of Atlantis

Tsunami may have inspired Atlantis legend

MSNBC.MSN.com-- The volcanic explosion that obliterated much of the island that might have inspired the legend of Atlantis apparently triggered a tsunami that traveled hundreds of miles to reach as far as present-day Israel, scientists now suggest.

The new findings about this past tsunami could shed light on the destructive potential of future disasters, researchers added.

The islands that make up the small circular archipelago of Santorini, roughly 120 miles southeast of Greece, are what remain of what once was a single island, before one of the largest volcanic eruptions in human antiquity shattered it in the Bronze Age some time between 1630 B.C. to 1550 B.C.

Frozen Blood Sculpture

factum-arte.com-- Quinn's signature piece is often considered to be Self , a frozen sculpture of the artist's head made from 4.5 litres of the artist's own frozen blood taken from his body over a period of five months. This work is repeated every five years and will result in a unique record of the artist aging.

The edition is based on a photograph of the frozen sculpture printed with pigmented inks on a gesso coated aluminium panel. Using Factum Arte's specially designed flatbed printer, each panel is overprinted 3 times, in order to achieve the intensity of colour necessary.

self is published by Paragon Press (London, England) in an edition of 59 copies. Each panel is signed and numbered by the artist on the reverse. In addition to the edition, a number of the panels have been over-painted by the artist to produce a group of unique works ( Handpainted Self ).

Ghost Hunters Academy promo

Ghost Hunters has gotten bigger: Ghost Hunters Academy

GHOST HUNTERS, THE #1 PARANORMAL FRANCHISE ON TELEVISION, HAS JUST GOTTEN BIGGER

'Ghost Hunters Academy' Premieres Wednesday, November 11, at 10PM (ET/PT), Joining Popular Series 'Ghost Hunters' and 'Ghost Hunters International'

New York, NY October 12, 2009 The #1 paranormal franchise on television has just gotten bigger. Building upon the enormous success of Ghost Hunters and Ghost Hunters International that has made it the top cable network on Wednesdays at 9PM among Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54, Syfy is launching Ghost Hunters Academy, premiering Wednesday, November 11 @ 10PM (ET/PT).

Kicking off with an investigation at Fort Mifflin, Pennsylvania, Ghost Hunters Academy features a group of aspiring ghost hunters exploring some of the most haunted locations in the country and around the world. Led by veteran ghost hunters Steve Gonsalves and Dave Tango, the students train, hands on, in the paranormal arts.

It's The End of the World! It's an Alien Invasion! No, It's a Cloud.

Discovery.com-- Parts of the Interwebs have been, for want of a better pun, all a-twitter in recent days over this video of what appears to be a spectacular glowing ring in the skies above Moscow.

The video, which was shot last week, has prompted much fevered speculation. Could it be the Eye of Sauron? The end of the world as we know it? Informed paranoia leaned heavily toward a UFO mothership.

Former Area 51 Workers Discuss Spy Aircraft

ReviewJournal.com-- Mystique about alien spaceships and little green men at Area 51 took a back seat Thursday to the real men who worked there for the CIA and the spy planes they flew during the Cold War.

In fact, a question about a link between the secret installation 90 miles north of Las Vegas and speculation about flying saucer debris and dead aliens from a 1947 crash site near Roswell, N.M., was glossed over as fiction during a panel discussion at the Atomic Testing Museum.

The discussion capped a two-day event at the museum titled "The Spy Planes of Groom Lake."

Video of the Kenova Pumpkin House

The Kenova Pumpkin House

Neatorama.com-- This is an awesome story of a West Virginian man who, along with volunteers, carves over 3,000 pumpkins and display them on his house every Halloween!

Ric Griffith, the man behind the famous Kenova Pumpkin House, has carved over 25,000 pumpkins since 1978. Every year, he puts thousands of carved jack-o’-lanterns on the porch, roof, and yard of his 115-year-old Victorian house. It’s kind of like a pumpkin wonderland (see a few more pics at WVPics‘ gallery)

The Daily Independent Online published this 2006 interview with Ric, on why he goes through all that trouble:

On Thursday, Griffith went around drawing faces on hundreds of pumpkins, getting them ready for carving. He said he only gets about four or five hours of sleep during the month of October as he works diligently preparing for the thousands of visitors who will come on Halloween night to see his pumpkins.

“People ask me every year, ‘Why to you do this?’ I always said it was something for the children and adults who enjoy coming to the ‘Pumpkin House.’ But an elderly woman said something to me one Halloween that really gave meaning to all this,” he said.

“She was crying and she said, ‘It’s so easy for adults to lose the wonderment of childhood. When you get older, you never feel like you did when you woke up on Christmas morning. Well, I want to tell you that I got that feeling here.’”