Carl Pettit
Carl Pettit is a columnist, editor and writer working for an array of colorful publications. He specializes in cultural and social issues, as well as East Asia, politics and satire.
The universe is a pretty amazing place, from the unimaginably large, right down to the incredibly small. There’s an awful lot going on in this field we call "existence."
If you’re a TV and cinema buff, as well as a barfly, you just might be able to combine your passions together. The characters inhabiting our film and television fantasy worlds need places to hang out, just like we do.
Everyone knows that vampires suck … your blood!!!! Seriously though, do you know the history behind modern vampire lore? These creatures of the night have been lurking around for a very long time, although the princes and princesses of darkness have taken on different guises and mythologies throughout the ages.
When the moon is full, do you have an uncontrollable craving for raw meat, or perhaps the desire to rip off all of your clothes and run through the forest screaming your head off? Get in line, buddy. But if twice a month you notice a lot of excessive hair growing all over your body, and you turn into a wolf, ummmm ...then you're probably a werewolf.
The search for Jimmy Hoffa, the Teamster union boss who was purportedly murdered by the Mafia in 1975, still flares up from time to time — even though Hoffa was declared legally dead, absent his body, in 1982. It seems that good ol’ Jimmy just doesn’t want to go away: he still might turn up in (or rather, beneath) a Michigan driveway.
The United Nations deals with some pretty serious business, especially in a world climate as dangerous as this one, but even so, this august body of world representatives can get pranked now and again. It just so happens that two very audacious Canadian radio talk show hosts managed to pull a fast one on U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Our comedic brethren up north called into the U.N. this week and pretended they had Stephen Harper, the Prime Minister of Canada, on the line.
How low can you go? Tim Storms might be tired of that question, but he’d probably be willing to bet you a large sum of money (if he’s a betting man) that he can sing a heck of a lot lower than you, or anyone you know, can. Tim’s deep register is so low, in fact, that Guinness World Records named his voice as the lowest human voice on the planet.
Mermaids have long captured the imagination of the public. They’ve thrilled us in "documentaries", paintings fairytales and in the cinema. Sometimes these seafaring fish-ladies come to the aid of men (helpful!), and sometimes they just want to hug you to death and drown you (less helpful). Here are a few "facts" about these mythical creatures you might want to know before your next boat trip.
It’s tough being young and wild, especially if you live in a small Colorado mountain town. Sometimes kids just have to invent their own kind of fun. Perhaps 18-year-old Shelby Figueroa was thinking just that when she slammed her car into the back of an unmarked police SUV in Clear Creek, Colorado. The five-foot-tall suspect was subsequently detained and placed into the back of another police SUV. And then the real excitement began.
If you love 'Harry Potter,' you just might be happier than a Muggle with a new wand after you go through this list. What better way to indulge your Potter fantasies than by visiting some of the actual places made famous by the films? Check out these spots and start planning your Harry Potter adventure today!