Her beloved dogs were by her side when she passed away

'The flag is not Yemeni. The flag appears to be American'

'Expected to make a full recovery'

Creating a list of the ten best Elton John b Sides is almost as tricky as creating a list of the 10 best Elton John songs or even the top 10 underrated Elton John songs. Elton John has released almost more material than any other artist in history. His output between 1970 and 1976 was unparalleled and astonishing. No one will ever come close to releasing as many great songs and albums as Elton John did during that incredible run in the 1970s. Some Elton John fans believe that the fantastic run ended with Blues Moves. Of course‚ some will argue The post 10 Best Non-Album Track Elton John B Sides appeared first on ClassicRockHistory.com.

Last week‚ GNN reported on a specialty highlandwear company reproducing the world’s oldest known tartan for sale today based on a 16th-century sample preserved in a bog. In other highlandwear news‚ master kilt tailor Marion Foster has created a unique online course and accreditation program that will help preserve the art form among professionals and […] The post One of Scotland’s Last Master Kilt Tailors Creates Unique Online Course to Keep the Artform Alive appeared first on Good News Network.

Discovering your furry friend growling over a bone can be unsettling. Dogs often guard their prized chews‚ displaying what’s known as resource guarding. Our guide here will show you effective ways to calmly address this behavior and teach your dog trust around food and toys — ensuring peace of mind for both you and your... What to Do if Your Dog Growls at You While Eating a Bone

Did you remember that Chris Pratt appeared in Timur Bekmambetov’s big Hollywood debut‚ the 2008 action film Wanted? The one based on the Mark Millar comic that starred Angelina Jolie‚ James McAvoy‚ and also some looms? I did not remember this. (I did remember the looms‚ though.) But it means that the upcoming film Mercy‚ from Amazon MGM Studios‚ is a reunion for the actor and director. Mercy‚ according to Deadline‚ “follows a detective (Pratt) who is accused of a violent crime and forced to prove his innocence.” The screenplay is by Marco van Belle‚ who wrote a 2015 film called Arthur and Merlin. Deadline quotes Bekmambetov as saying‚ “Amazon is the ideal partner for telling this crucial story about the future challenged by artificial intelligence and for engaging in this conversation with a wide audience.” The film is apparently part of a series of movies that Amazon MGM plans to release theatrically. Producer Charles Roven has quite a track record (including Christopher Nolan’s Batman films) and was just nominated for his second Oscar‚ for Oppenheimer. While Chris Pratt is basically a household name thanks to Guardians of the Galaxy (pictured above)‚ Bekmambetov has been somewhat less visible since either Wanted or 2012’s Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter‚ depending on your tastes. (He also directed a poorly received Ben-Hur adaptation in 2016.) His breakout film‚ the vampire adaptation Night Watch‚ was released in the U.S. in 2006‚ and was inventive‚ bloody‚ and impressive; I’ve been waiting for another movie like it for a very long time. Will this be that film? Tough to say. icon-paragraph-end The post Chris Pratt and Timur Bekmambetov Reteam for the Sci-Fi Film <;i>;Mercy<;/i>; appeared first on Reactor.

It’s nostalgia o’clock. The Ghostbusters franchise continues with a new trailer for Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire—a trailer which really banks on how much affection you may (or may not) have for the original Ghostbusters cast‚ original Ghostbusters ghosts (the library lady‚ Slimer‚ the not-so-stone lions of the New York Public Library)‚ and even lines lifted from the original Ghostbusters jam‚ “Bustin’ Makes Me Feel Good.” Also there is a big freeze demon and a vaguely climate-change related threat (a new Ice Age‚ but supernatural‚ so it’s not humanity’s fault!). Bustin’ is a Spengler family business these days‚ but the authorities don’t approve of a minor hanging out the side of the Ectomobile‚ and try to shut the whole thing down. But wait! Hark‚ a new threat! A new threat which seems to bring about the return of Bill Murray‚ Dan Aykroyd‚ Ernie Hudson‚ and Annie Potts. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire does have one thing going for it: It is absolutely packed with beloved actors‚ from the original cast to Paul Rudd to Carrie Coon to Mckenna Grace (who has played young Carol Danvers and young Sabrina Spellman) to omnipresent nerd icon Patton Oswalt to Stranger Things star Finn Wolfhard to Kumail Nanjiani. The movie is directed by Gil Kenan (Monster House) from a script he co-wrote with Jason Reitman. Hell—or at least Manhattan—freezes over in theaters on March 22nd. icon-paragraph-end The post <;i>;Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire<;/i>; Gets the Old Bustin’ Gang Back Together appeared first on Reactor.

Thanks to the commenter who recommended Laurel Hightower’s short novel in connection with the Mothman phenomenon; it’s just what I was looking for. It captures the mood of the legend: it’s dark‚ mysterious‚ and at times horrific. It reads to me as a dialogue with The Mothman Prophecies—both book and film—taking the elements of the story and viewing them through the lens of the horror genre. Addy‚ the protagonist‚ is newly divorced. She’s driving alone through the mountains of West Virginia to attend a horror convention. Friends are waiting for her‚ and she’s looking forward to a future free of her obsessively controlling ex. Brian‚ the ex‚ spent thirteen years trying to turn Addy into a weak shadow of herself. It’s a classic abuse scenario: isolating the victim‚ destroying their ability to function apart from the abuser‚ rendering them helpless to think or act for themselves. Addy is driving alone to the convention to assert her independence. She needs to do this‚ because Brian would have convinced her she can’t. Brian is still very much with Addy as she drives. His voice fills her head. He weighs in with negative comments on everything she does. She steels herself to ignore him‚ but he never shuts up. Addy needs to get to her destination before dark: her night vision is poor and the road is winding and steep. To make matters worse‚ the weather is deteriorating. There’s a snowstorm coming‚ and she hopes she can get through the mountains before it hits. She nearly crashes into a vehicle stalled across the road. The driver is a disturbing figure‚ a man in black‚ whose face is set in a rictus grin. The encounter leaves her deeply shaken. She stops at a truck stop to pull herself back together. There she meets a trucker‚ an affable guy named Mads‚ who offers to convoy with her to the nearest lodging‚ thirty miles away. This part of the road is a notorious dead zone for cell signals‚ and it has a reputation for weirdness. Mads loans her a CB radio and regales her with his life story while the dark closes in and the storm worsens. His easygoing‚ cheerful voice almost drowns out Brian’s litany of her flaws and failures. On the steepest‚ most treacherous section of the road‚ in a blinding blizzard‚  a huge‚ shadowy winged creature with glowing red eyes looms up ahead. Mads’ truck skids off the road‚ which at this point is a bridge over a chasm of unknown depth‚ and Addy’s car almost follows it. There’s no cell service here‚ and no way to call emergency services. In a logical world‚ Addy would leave the scene‚ drive until she has cell service‚ and make the call. But this is horror world. The CB comes alive with Mads’ voice—it seems he survived the crash. Addy leaves her car and makes her way down into the ravine to try to help him. And then things get worse. Much‚ much worse. And much stranger. Much more ghastly‚ too‚ shifting quickly from weird and frightening to outright horrific. Hightower shows a clear familiarity with both John Keel’s book and the 2002 film. Addy’s drive through West Virginia recalls film-John’s strangely time-shifted detour to Point Pleasant‚ with echoes of his wife’s Mothman sighting and the car crash that results from it. The creatures Addy meets are familiar from John Keel’s investigations: Mothman‚ the Men in Black‚ the grinning man‚ the secret—maybe government‚ maybe not—experiments. And‚ inevitably‚ strange lights in the sky‚ whether they’re UFOs or‚ as John Keel believes‚ some form of interdimensional phenomenon. Addy never gets answers to her questions. Who is Mads‚ really‚ and why is he transporting such peculiarly awful cargo? Who is the grinning man and what does he want‚ besides Addy’s silence about what she’s seen and experienced? What is the red-eyed monster‚ and why is it stalking her? What are the things in the cave‚ and how and why does its entrance disappear once she ventures inside? What are the lights in the sky? Where do they come from‚ and what is it all for? In the end‚ none of it really matters. Addy’s journey isn’t about investigating the paranormal. It’s about freeing herself from a lifetime of learned helplessness‚ and making her own way forward. Every challenge she meets‚ every horror she encounters‚ helps her to find her strength. It’s an interesting read after the film and Keel’s book. The film is a personal journey‚ too. It fridges John Klein’s wife (who sees Mothman in progressively more fevered visions as her brain tumor grows) in order to get him to Point Pleasant in time to investigate the events that culminate in the collapse of the Silver Bridge. John Keel’s journey is much more diffuse‚ with many more ramifications and side excursions‚ and no wife to dispose of—but it leads him ultimately to the theory of ultraterrestrials. For Addy‚ what matters is her own inner life. The scale is correspondingly smaller and more focused. The town of Point Pleasant and the bridge over the Ohio shrink to a truck stop‚ a narrow mountain road‚ and the bridge over Silver Creek. In place of the abandoned chemical plant and the expansive acreage of the wartime installation‚ we have the cave at the bottom of the ravine. There’s no friendly law enforcement here; the sheriff treats Addy just as all the other men in her life have‚ except‚ to a point‚ Mads: he ignores her‚ talks over her‚ and tells her what she saw‚ regardless of whether she actually saw that particular thing. John Keel and movie-John are stalked by strange electronic phenomena and eerie‚ unexplainable voices. They’re primarily external; they’re warnings of disaster and signals from either outer space or another dimension. Addy’s voices are distinctly personal. They’re speaking to her specifically. They either try to diminish her‚ to render her helpless‚ or they encourage her to escape from that helplessness. For Addy‚ the phenomena that Keel studied and movie-John tried to understand are aspects of her own inner landscape. They show her how to escape from the patterns she’s been locked into. She has to go down deep‚ and face her worst demons‚ in order to be born into a new and freer self. Then she can silence the hectoring male voices and make her own way into the light. [end-mark] The post From the Cosmic to the Personal: Laurel Hightower’s <;i>;Below<;/i>; appeared first on Reactor.