The Hallstatt Skulls

In the 12th century, the Austrian city of Hallstatt faced a serious problem. Like everyone else in the 12th century, they were running out of room to bury their dead, so they came up with a genius solution: They started renting out graves. Bodies over there were only laid to earth for 10 to 15 years, after which time the bones were exhumed, bleached and displayed in the ossuary.

The tradition of skull painting began in 1790, when members of the deceased’s family started painting crowns of flowers and crosses because they didn’t have a grave to memorialize. Some of the skulls also have the name of the deceased painted on them, the dates of birth and death, and/or some kind of symbol depicting the cause of death.

Presently, Hallstatt has less than 1000 inhabitants and each one could keep their place in the cemetery if they wanted to. However, since 1960, cremation is mostly preferred. The last time a skull was placed in the ossuary was in 1997, but if anyone wants to have their skull hosted by this unusual tourist attraction, all they have to do is make a special request and it will be done.

Ashley Olsen Quits Acting in One of Hollywood's Most Tragic Losses

From cafemom, In what is surely the most shocking celebrity revelation of 2012, Ashley Olsen has announced that she plans to focus on the fashion empire she's created with her twin sister Mary-Kate.

While the diminutive blonde has been best known for her many contributions to the world of cinema and television—starting, of course, with her famous role on Full House and branching out to such critically-acclaimed shows as Mary-Kate and Ashley In Action! and Two of a Kind (not to mention her uncredited part in Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle)—Olsen revealed that it's finally time to step down from her position as Hollywood's most respected A-lister performer.

Tragically for the millions who have long worshipped her brilliant talent and her status as the unparalleled master of character, accents, and genres, Olsen says that she's never going to act again.

Where's Captain Stubing when you need him? The ship from ‘Love Boat’ is about to be demolished

From MSN, The Pacific Princess cruise ship that served as the backdrop to corny jokes and cheesy romance on "The Love Boat" is set to be scrapped. The folks over at E! News translated a story from Italy La Repubblica that said the ship has been sold to a Turkish demolition company for approximately $3 million. The ship, shown here when it was exciting and new, was built in 1971 and sailed for the cruise line between 1975 and 2002. Our hearts go out to Doc, Isaac and Captain Stubing during what we can only imagine is a very difficult time for them.

Home Alone house sold for $1.5 million dollars

WINNETKA, Ill. (CBS) — The Winnetka house made famous in the movie “Home Alone” has been sold for $1.585 million.

CBS 2 has confirmed that the sale of the house at 671 Lincoln Ave. in Winnetka closed Thursday. Coldwell Banker real estate brokers will not identify the buyer.

The asking price had been $2.4 million.

Current owners John and Cynthia Abendshien moved into the 92-year-old house in 1988, and were the residents when “Home Alone” was filmed. They decided to sell last year, despite the weak housing market.

“Home Alone” was released just after Thanksgiving 1990. All the shots in the kitchen, main staircase, and windowed first-floor landing were shot inside the house, according to the Web site MovieFone.

But the décor of the house seen in the movie was not chosen by the Abendshiens. The filmmakers papered over the walls to provide a more holiday-oriented feel, MovieFone reported. They also built a tree house that was torn down after the filming, the Web site reported.

The Abendshiens talked about their experience with the filming in a Coldwell Banker sales video posted last year.

“We for example learned that if snow doesn’t bounce off your shoulders or your head, it’s potato flakes that they’re blowing in your hair,” said Cynthia Abendshien.

Writer Hughes, who died in 2009 at the age of 59, was born in Lansing, Mich., and grew up in suburban Detroit, but moved to Northbrook with his family at the age of 12.

“John Hughes had a real interest in filming in community settings. He, I understand, grew up in the North Shore, and really wanted his sets and backgrounds to have a real world; a true neighborhood and a true-home-type ambience,” John Abendshien said in the Coldwell Banker video.

Um, congratulations? Dick Van Dyke Is A Newlywed

Joss Whedon Wants A More Personal And Painful Avengers Sequel

From cinemablend,If there's any problem that every bad sequel has in common, it's that they try to go bigger than the first film. It turned the zippy Iron Man into the bloated Iron Man 2, the thoughtful first two Spider-Man movies into the villain-overloaded Spider-Man 3, and whatever it is that happened between Transformers and Transformers 2, going too big was at least part of the problem. In a way The Avengers might be the end result of that kind of thinking, taking superheroes we've met in their own movies and mashing them all together, creating the ultimate superhero convergence. But if you ask the movie's director, Joss Whedon, the key to their success going forward will be to boil it all down to the essentials.

Asked by SFX (via Digital Spy) how a second Avengers could top the first one, Whedon had a plain answer for them:

"By not trying to. By being smaller. More personal, more painful. By being the next thing that should happen to these characters, and not just a rehash of what seemed to work the first time. By having a theme that is completely fresh and organic to itself."

Being Joss Whedon, he then threw in a Godfather 2 joke, but that doesn't cover up the fact that he said he wanted to take his Avengers sequel in a "painful" direction. That's pretty much the Empire Strikes Back mode of thinking about a sequel, taking your heroes from the first film and taking everything away from them before the grand finale in the (presumed) third film. But unless your Christopher Nolan, saying that you want your superheroes to be darker doesn't really get you anywhere, and the Marvel universe has set itself apart from the Batman films by being sunnier and happier. Will they let Whedon take things in a sadder direction?

That all depends, of course, on how The Avengers does when it opens May 4. But the fact that Whedon is talking somewhat openly about what he might do with a second film indicates he's happy with how this one turned out. Let us know what you would want from an Avengers sequel in the comments, and if you think Whedon is taking it in the right direction.

11 Rather Risqué Male Superhero Outfits

From toplessrobot, The litmus test for this list's entries is not whether the characters themselves are attractive (but feel free to debate in the comments) but whether the costume appears unsuitable for a heroic avocation. Basically, that means anybody who looks more at home as the entertainment for a bachelorette party than saving the world from superpowered megalomaniacs. I probably could've filled this list just with heroes who wear only briefs, but that doesn't leave much to write about for 11 consecutive entries (the "do underoos count as outeroos when you're not wearing pants?" routine gets stale fast). Instead you get a wider assortment of garment with strategically missing pieces. Characters wearing torn civilian clothes don't count because they should stop being lazy and get themselves real costumes. Now, let's fight misogyny with misanthropy!

See the list here

Paramount planning Mission: Impossible 5

From denofgeek, No surprise, this, given the success of Ghost Protocol. But Paramount wants to make Mission: Impossible 5…

It seems a long time ago now that Paramount was wobbling a little over making a fourth Mission: Impossible movie. You might recall that, after the box office takings for Mission: Impossible III fell a little below what they were after, the studio looked to retool the film that became Ghost Protocol, apparently to take a little of the weight off Tom Cruise’s shoulders.

Thus, in came Jeremy Renner, with the possibility that the lead in the series would ultimately pass to him.

Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol went on to become a sizeable hit for the studio at the end of last year, aided in no small way by the scale of the project, and Brad Bird’s smart direction. Cruise, too, was on fine form.

It’s come as little surprise, then, that Mission: Impossible 5 is being planned. We know this, thanks to the CEO of Viacom, the parent company of Paramount. Said CEO, Phillippe Dauman, was asked at a shareholder meeting if there were plans to produce another film in the series. His answer? “Oh yes”.

It’s not a radical answer, nor is it a surprising one. But given the umming and ahing over the fourth film, we think we can probably expect chapter five to happen just a little quicker.

Contest Results

I know, I'm a day late but it was for a really good reason. Honest!

So after much mulling and chuckling, I give it to AC for this caption to the above picture.

"Don't believe me? Smell!"

With a big nod to Octopunk for this caption of the same photo.

"And then, after my arm's in there up to my elbow, I go all jazz hands like this -- you'd never think a cave bear could make a noise like that, I'll tell ya."

Thanks for participating, come up with a good one AC.

Super Terrific Japanese Thing: Gurefuru Chuchu

From toplessrobot, Today's STJT isn't particularly terrifying, overwhelmingly evil, or even mindblowingly brilliant, either. It's a mix of clever and useless, in fact. The Gurefufu Chuchu is a device that you can attach to fruit like oranges -- a cute device with a little mustache, it should go without saying -- which allows you to essentially pulp the insides, allowing you to drink fruit juice directly from the fruit itself. It's seemingly meant for kids, but Japan Trend Shop -- where you can pre-order it for $38 -- suggests that once the fruit is gurefuru'ed, if you will, that adults can add a bit of booze for a fruit cocktail (*cough*). Of course, the real terror is the commercial above, whose ridiculous theme song and adorable juicing girl will haunt your brain for hours, if not days. Question: Those lemons look pretty happy to be dancing with a girl who has just brutally murdered and drank the insides of their fellow fruit countrymen. Are they traitors to their race, or simply terrified if they don't dance as instructed, the little girl will drink them next?

Uwe Boll is back with 'Basement'

Fromworstpreviews, Producers David Bond and Manda Manuel have been working on "The Profane Exhibit," which is a collection of thirteen international short horror films by different directors. Today, we have a first look at Uwe Boll's contribution, called "Basement," which stars Caroline Williams (Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2), Tara Cardinal and Clint Howard.

Plot: Howard and Williams play a married couple with an ordinary life - except for the fact that they keep their starving and abused daughter in a locked basement room that she has not left in years. In this perverse nightmare scenario that is unfortunately based on fact, all the young daughter (Cardinal) wants to do is go outside and into the sun. Instead she must endure daily cruelties. This is a tale of sexual depravity and psychological torture and a subversive look at the depraved realities of suburban life.

The company behind the film says that "Basement" may be too strong for general audiences. "The film is about evil that is absolutely real. There are no zombies, and the only monster is of the human variety. The film takes you to a very dark place. Viewers need to prepare themselves for this one."