This is Sparta!

I confess. I find silly image macros absolutely hilarious.

Dante's Inferno

Dante's Inferno has been kicking around the cultural playground for over 700 years. But it has never before been interpreted with exquisitely hand-drawn paper puppets, brought to life using purely hand-made special effects. Until now. Rediscover this literary classic, retold in a kind of apocalyptic graphic novel meets Victorian-era toy theater. Dante’s Hell is brought to lurid 3-dimensional, high-definition life in a darkly comedic travelogue of the underworld — set against an all-too-familiar urban backdrop of used car lots, gated communities, strip malls, and the U.S. Capitol. And populated with a contemporary cast of reprobates, including famous — and infamous — politicians, presidents, popes, pimps. And the Prince of Darkness himself.

Grrr. The movie seems interesting, but I can't get the web site to load. Anyway, IMDb has a trailer and some information, and if you're in San Francisco you can buy tickets at sf indiefest.

Hellboy and Hecate

Indeed, Hecate shows up in the new animated Hellboy: Blood and Iron movie. Pop over to Hellboy Animated to see a picture and find out what Hellboy's weapon of choice is.

Hellboy: Blood and Iron airs on Cartoon Network, March 10.

Eros in a Speedo

The costume designer outfitted the winged god Eros in a Speedo and made sure the other costumes didn't become see-through when the actors emerged from the water. She also gave one actor a pair of aqua socks to keep him from slipping on the wooden deck. (They were eventually abandoned because they made distracting slurpy noises.)

Mary Zimmerman's Metamorphoses is playing in Des Moines.

Penelopiad adapted for the stage

Margaret Atwood is adapting her book, The Penelopiad: The Myth of Penelope and Odysseus, for the stage in a format that the producers are calling a "cabaret." The Penelopiad will premiere in July 2007 at Stratford-upon-Avon's Swan Theatre, then open the 2007-2008 season in English theatre at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa next September.

Full story at CBC.CA


Penelope

The goat must burn

So what do you do when the damn Christmas goat in Gävle refuses to burn? You do what the keeper of the Honey House did, and arrange your own sacrifice.


Goat in flames

Uncle Al

Yes, I'm aware that I might have to rename this blog Myth, Magic, and Aleister Crowley in Popular Culture soon, but how could I possibly resist posting this mural from Bergen, Norway?


Uncle Al