Make Fake Blood
If you’re going for the gruesome look this Halloween, nothing adds special effects like realistic-looking blood. There are many ways to concoct it, ranging from edible blood made from kitchen ingredients (especially useful for kids, and when going for the “bleeding from the mouth” look) to chemically mixed, chillingly realistic blood used on movie sets. Whatever your preference, here’s how to put it together.

Non-Toxic Blood (edible)
Combine 1 part water with 3 parts corn syrup (golden syrup in the UK).

Add red food coloring and mix gently by shaking or stirring. Continue adding drops until the shade resembles that of real blood. Add a small amount of blue food coloring to achieve a more realistic shade.
Add a thickener.
Dry thickener - Add sifted flour or corn starch to your mixture, and gently mix it all again. You may get small lumps forming at the top of the mixture. Wait about a minute and they will float to the top where you can remove them.
Wet thickener - Stir in chocolate syrup until the desired consistency is reached. It will also add a realistic brown tone to the blood.

Let the mixture sit for ten minutes in a warm environment. This will give it some time to thicken. And then you can freak people out with it, it is a lot of fun.
More after the jump…

Posted under Did you know?, Educate, WTF

Posted under Do Something, Signing, The Beautiful People

Upcoming releases. OCT. 29th, 2008
More after the jump…

Posted under Leaked, The List

Well, Meltdown University has been a success. So much so, that we’ll be starting a second session on Wednesday nights, 7:15-9:15 beginning October 29th! Still $20 per person per session. Still taught by instructor Jim Higgins.

SPACE IS LIMITED. On both nights. If there are too many students in a session, then the students will not receive the attention they deserve. So before showing up as a new student on either Mondays at 7:00 or Wednesdays at 7:15, you MUST contact instructor Jim Higgins at mlt_u@meltcomics.com to see whether there is still room available. And he’ll also give you the lowdown on what you need to bring, read, etc.

Posted under Art, Did you know?, Do Something, Educate, Meltdown_U, News, The Beautiful People

Comedy Meltdown 11: MOONRAKER

“Hugo Drax: Mr. Bond, you persist in defying my efforts to provide an amusing death for you. ”
Date: Friday, October 24th
Time: 8:30 p.m.

Place: The swanktastic Meltdown Gallery at the rear of the store which is located here:
7522 W Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90046-3408, US
http://meltcomics.com/

Whom: DANA GOULD
STEPHANIE ESCAJEDA
MATT PETERS
ED GREER
RON LYNCH
Hosted by: Fred Belford

Sponsored by: ASAHI & TeaZazz

L.A. Weekly’s BEST OF L.A.!

www.comedymeltdown.com
In addition to this stellar line-up we are charging NO COVER!
Please drink responsibly or designate a driver.
Something to be aware of: parking in this neighborhood is dodgy, so please plan accordingly.

“Hugo Drax: James Bond. You appear with the tedious inevitability of an unloved season. “

Posted under Comedy Show, Hollywood

BOOM! Studios’s EIC Mark Waid can be seen on tonight’s episode of LA Ink on the Learning Channel, giving comic advice. He doesn’t get a tattoo, though. From the listing:

LA Ink
Comic Relief
TV-PG (DL)
Oct 16, 10:00 pm
(60 minutes)

Hannah attempts to transform the crew at the shop into larger than life comic book characters and meets with comics guru Mark Waid. Naheed has her work cut out for her with the serious business of managing the shop while trying to bond with the crew at the same time.

Thanks to The Beat and Newsarama.

Posted under Did you know?, Hollywood, News, Nightlife, The Beautiful People, Watch This!

Hey all, My good pals at LA Eyeworks just send me a heads up postcard for their BIG SALE this weekend. Notice the LA COOL, New Wave lineage of the art. As a glasses wearing Nerd, I look forward to this event every year, be ready to get elbowed wile I reach for any black frame with green trim on Friday.

More info below.

G.

TRANSFORMATION YOU CAN BELIEVE IN!

2008 L.A.EYEWORKS BIG SALE at Melrose Avenue!

Hot frames and sizzling sunglasses at staggering discounts of 30% to 80% off!

20% off prescription and new sun lenses for sale-purchased frames from October 20 - October 24, 2008

Location: 7407 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles, CA  90046, (323) 653-8255, http://www.laeyeworks.com/

ONCE A YEAR — DON’T MISS OUT!

please forward this notice to optically-minded, fashion forward friends who relish uncensored visions

Posted under Did you know?, The Beautiful People

One of the biggest bits of news coming out of Comic-Con was the announcement that Neil Gaiman would be writing Batman — a two-parter, one for Batman, one for Detective Comics, to follow “Batman R.I.P.” For his part, Neil announced that he wouldn’t be talking about it, at least not much.

“So I don’t have to write lots and lots of emails back to all the journalists,” he blogged. “1) Yes, I am writing a two part Batman story. 2) Yes, Andy Kubert will be drawing it. 3) Yes, it will be two oversized issues. 4) No, I don’t plan to say anything else about it until it’s all written and drawn.”

Still, we had to try. So when he was in town for his “Graveyard Book” tour — and the book is number one on its respective list, congrats, Neil — we asked about his “Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader” two-parter. At first, he sat mute, with an almost smile on his face. Then, after a bit, “Oh, no. I’m not saying anything,” he said. Then, after a bit more, he relented.

“What can I tell you about the Batman thing?” Gaiman mused. “It is a two-parter, it’s being written by me, it’s being drawn by Andy Kubert… I’ve seen the first thirteen pages so far, and the artwork is absolutely lovely, making me feel almost guilty for putting word balloons on it. And my favorite bit so far is the conversation between Selina Kyle and Joe Chill.”

Gaiman anticipates the issues will be out in February.

“It’s one of those things where they phoned me up and said, ‘This is what we’d like you to do,’” Gaiman started to say. “It wasn’t even ‘This is what we’d like you to do,’ it was, ‘This is what’s going to be happening with Batman. Would you like to write the last issue of Batman and the last issue of Detective Comics?’ And when they make an offer like that, you say yes.”

Source: Splash Page

Posted under News

Posted under WTF

Is it finally time to take your punishment? Frank Castle, a.k.a. the Punisher, is one of the great Marvel Comics characters but you sure wouldn’t know it from the two clumsy Hollywood adaptations. The 1989 Dolph Lundgren movie took away his skull-logo costume and the 2004 Thomas Jane affair took him out of New York’s urban jungle and plopped him down in South Florida … what are you people thinking?

Now comes a third try with the Lionsgate film “Punisher: War Zone,” which stars Ray Stevenson and hits theaters Dec. 5. Thankfully, this time it actually looks pretty good. One of the trailers:

Posted under Hollywood, News