Jerry Curl

The Marquee Blog reports : Here's your chance to own a piece of Hunger Games history. You know that abandoned mill town in North Carolina where much of the blockbuster movie was filmed? Well it’s for sale, courtesy of its owner, reports the Guardian . The price tag for Henry River Mill Village, which covers 72 acres, is reportedly $1.4 million. It's where many scenes for Hunger Games heroine Katniss Everdeen's District 12 were filmed, but in real life, the yarn mill that the town was centered around shut down in the 1960s, and the last resident packed up in 1987. The mill itself burned down in 1977 but at least 20 other structures remain - including a company store that was turned into a family bakery for the film, where Katniss meets Peeta Mellark in a flashback.

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College Humor cooked up some retro posters with urgent Hunger Games messaging. More at the College Humor site . (Via Towleroad )

Photo caption: Amelia Earhart in 1928 with her biplane 'Friendship.' She disappeared in another plane in 1937. The State Department plans to join a new effort to find the plane of pioneering aviator Amelia Earhart, 75 years after she mysteriously disappeared over the South Pacific. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood will take part in a ceremony this morning announcing the joint public-private search at the State Department, The Wall Street Journal reports . The event, "Amelia Earhart, a Pacific Legacy," which is pitched as a celebration of the U.S.'s pan-Pacific ties, was streamed live on the State Department's website , a spokesman for the agency said. Earhart's twin-engine Lockheed vanished July 2, 1937, as she and her navigator, Fred Noonan, left New Guinea (now Papua New Guinea) on their way to Howland Island in the South Pacific as part of an attempt to circle the Earth. The half-million-dollar search, fi...

MSN reports : The next secret ingredient on the Food Network? The e-book version of Natural Harvest: A Collection of Semen-Based Recipes is now available , ending the refractory period on cooking with sperm. Although the experimental repasts, including Hollandaise sauce flan, may not offer any real health benefits, sperm could prove a smart staple in a faltering economy. As the Lulu description indicates, it's "inexpensive to produce and is commonly available in many, if not most, restaurants and homes." Not everyone is impressed with the gastronomical gimmick. One Lulu reviewer complains "it takes a lot of balls (so to speak) to publish a book like this," bemoaning that the main ingredient seems to be added in as an "afterthought." In related news: With a population of just 5.5 million people, Denmark has far greater reserves of deposited sperm than it can use at home. Now the country is trading on its reputation for Nordic good looks and healthy l...

A brilliant mini-documentary on the famous 'Keep Calm and Carry On' World War II poster, which has become one of the most iconic images of the 21st century after being rediscovered in a second-hand bookshop in 2000.

Let's face it: Miami is pretty much the last place anyone expects to see a random act of kindness, much less one of culture that doesn't involve a covert sex act in a public bus or a parking lot off Biscayne. But passengers at Miami International Airport were treated to quite a surprise and highbrow burst of the arts last Wednesday when several among them began singing . Members of the Florida Grand Opera emerged from coffee shops and ticketing lines to perform two-minute operatic selections at six different airport gates, foregoing ball gowns and bow ties to take center gate in casual clothes and a lot less makeup. The six performances were all part of the Knight Foundation 's Random Acts of Culture series, classical versions of flash mobs and videobombs. More at the Huffington Post Miami .

The Miami New Times provides this gem: The auteurs behind Miami porn company Bang Bros -- who made their name filming men in vans purportedly picked up "innocent" women from sidewalks, and then sweet-talking them into filmed fornication on the road -- seem to have turned to public transit for their newest series. A reader recently sent the Times a link to the web series called "Project City Bus," which will either horrify or titillate you. And Miami-Dade Transit is less than thrilled to see their bus routes in such scandalous settings. Here's the common plot of the films therein, which they've gleaned courtesy of a 2-day trial for $4.95. Man rides bus. Other man films and narrates. Bus picks up hot dude at bus stop. Hot dude helps himself to some bills from narrator's wallet. Man rides man. So are these man-on-man encounters actually happening on Miami buses? To find out, the intrepid folks at the Times studied the videos for more clues.

The Marquee Blog reports : This month marks 60 years of spud-tastic memories for an iconic toy industry staple that remains a household name. Mr. Potato Head hit the market in 1952 and has been inspiring imaginative play ever since. For many preschool aged children, ownership of a Mr. Potato Head represents a rite of passage as well as the passing down of a tradition from generation to generation. Mr. Potato Head was the first-ever toy to be advertised on television and remains one of Hasbro's most beloved characters. By the numbers, over 100 million Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head toys have been sold to date; more than 30 licensed Mr. Potato Head characters have been created; and there are over 350 Mr. Potato Head parts and pieces available. That's no small potatoes! Not only is Mr. Potato celebrating his 60th birthday, but he and Mrs. Potato Head renewed their vows this year. Thankfully, neither got cold (removable, interchangeable) feet. Not one to shy away from the limelight (unl...

Last year’s wedding of Prince William to Kate Middleton inspired the fantasies of millions of little girls around the world. Now, they can play out their dreams with Royal Wedding William and Catherine Barbie dolls. Mattel, Barbie's maker, plans to release the set in April, to coincide with the happy couple’s first anniversary. The figurines wear replicas of the clothing that the real William and Kate wore on their wedding day, even though their faces are more Barbie and Ken than Duke and Duchess. Still, they capture the right attitude: Barbie Kate is regal in a floor-length, long-sleeved, ivory taffeta gown trimmed with lace and faux pearl buttons, modeled after Kate's Alexander McQueen dress. The faux-duchess even has a lace veil, diamond earrings and sparkling tiara. William’s red Irish Guard uniform is decorated with a royal blue sash, metallic cummerbund, golden buttons and medallions. They are available for pre-order now on BarbieCollector.com for $100. (Via Today )

Thanks Kristin!

Snow fright! One grown woman took her love of animated fairy tales to the next level by covering her entire back with tattoos of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs characters. Annfaye Kao, 27, of Taichung, Taiwan had the intricate artwork – a colorful collage of her favorite film's top characters (including the evil queen) – completed in a three-month inking session. The hard work paid off, as Kao won an award at an international tattoo convention. "As a child I used to imagine I was Snow White in a fairy tale, so it seemed like a good thing to have tattooed on my back," Kao said in an interview with the UK Daily Mail . "It hurt really badly to get a full one on my whole back. At times I was in such pain that I wanted to hurry it up, but luckily I didn’t give up and got it finished." As for her own happy ending? Kao says her Prince Charming will have to love her, and all her tat-toons. "'If they can’t accept it then we won’t really be compatible people....

The Daily Mail reports : Dressed in matching skin-coloured caps, round spectacles and grey moustaches, these young children are taking part in a lookalike record attempt like no other. The 485 children donned matching outfits in honour of Mahatma Gandhi, the iconic Indian spiritual leader who was assassinated 64 years ago to the day. As well as the peace leader's trademark round glasses and moustache, the boys also sported white robes to mimic his traditional Indian dhoti and shawl, as well as holding walking sticks. Their march was an attempt to bring alive memories of Gandhi's historic Dandi march in March 1930 which sparked India's independence movement. More pictures here .

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ArtsBeat reports : A bronze disk recently discovered in the mud near the Putney Bridge in London seemed innocent enough, but on close inspection it has turned out to be one of the oldest pieces of British pornographic art, according to the Guardian . The bronze, which has been turned over to the Museum of London, dates to around the first century A.D., when London was a Roman outpost, and shows a couple in flagrante delicto. Historians say it is a token of a kind used in brothels across the Roman Empire; the bearer would exchange it for the sex act depicted. While Brits may jokingly describe the coin as a “pound of flesh,” it is thought to offer a glimpse of arcane art history. Jonanthan Jones, an art writer for the Guardian, argues that the erotic imagery on such tokens was familiar to artists in Renaissance Italy, where they likely influenced the birth of modern pornography.

In related news: I'd like to go to Disney at some point this holiday season! A how-to guide on visiting the park and more pics here .

In lighter news: Results from the Czech Republic's new census unveiled this month reveal that 15,070 citizens of the country listed their religion as Knights of the Jedi. While that may pale in comparison to the 1.08 million people who self-identified as Catholics and over four million who declined to list their faith, it's still a sizable portion of people who believe -- or jokingly claim to, in reaction to an intrusive census -- in the intangible energy made famous by the Star Wars films. Though the Czech Knights of the Jedi wrote in their choice, other nations, such as New Zealand and Great Britain, already list the Jedi Church amongst the formal religion options. According to Time Magazine , over 390,000 Britons said that they practiced the religion in 2001. The Church of the Jedi's website pitches their faith as less bizarre than it may seem. The Force, they say, is "an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us, penetrates us, and binds the gala...

The Marquee Blog : Disney/Pixar's award-winning 2009 film Up made such an impact on one California couple, they've shelled out around $400,000 to live in a Utah-based replica of the movie's brightly colored house. The ability to live in the real-life version of the Up home is a fantasy realized for Lynette and Clinton Hamblin. "When we heard about it over the summer, we thought, 'Oh, that's probably a multi-million [dollar] home," Lynette Hamblin told KSL . "We didn't think that it would be attainable. So, when it all fell into place...it was a dream come true." The builders of the 2,800 square foot replica previously told the Salt Lake City station that they wanted to create such a living space because of the film's message, and the appeal of Up 's story is also what drew in the Hamblins. The Oscar-winning film depicted a 78-year-old who, after tying balloons to his multi-hued home, sets off in the house to the wilderness of South...

China’s wealthy can now get up to 2.5 kilograms of gold via ATMs in the city’s upscale clubs and private banks, state media reported. The machines made their debut in a Beijing shopping district on Sunday, according to AFP. Limit for maximum withdrawal is set at 1 million yuan, or about $157,000 worth of gold. Cash or credit card accepted. The machines, manufactured by TG-Gold-Super-Markt.De in Germany, first debuted in Europe in 2009 and by late 2010 arrived in the U.S. Since the credit crisis, the value of gold has skyrocketed as a safe haven investment choice, selling for just over $500 an ounce in 2007 to recently cresting near a record high of $1,900 per ounce in August. However, the timing of the new ATMs for China’s nouveau riche could be better. In recent days gold prices have plummeted, dropping $100 on Friday alone – the steepest drop since 1980. Why the sudden drop? Fears of the slowing of the global economy raises the specter of deflation. "People are quickly coming to...