Longest name in the world

A British woman has changed her name to the record-breaking mouthful seen below in order to raise money for charity. Which is wonderful, of course, except for the fact that you know there will be celebrity babies whose parents are going to take one look at this and saddle them with, "Keep Going Captain," "Evolution" or "Neon Sheep."

"A CHARITY worker from Hartlepool has broken the record for the world's longest name, it was announced yesterday. The name, Red - Wacky League - Antlez - Broke the Stereo – Neon Tide - Bring Back Honesty – Coalition – Feedback – Hand of Aces – Keep Going Captain – Let’s Pretend – Lost State of Dance – Paper Taxis – Lunar Road -  Up! Down! Strange! – All and I – Neon Sheep – Eve Hornby - Faye Bradley – AJ Wilde – Michael Rice – Dion Watts – Matthew Appleyard – John Ashurst – Lauren Swales – Zoe Angus – Jaspreet Singh – Emma Matthews – Nicola Brown – Leanne Pickering – Victoria Davies – Rachel Burnside – Gil Parker – Freya Watson - Alisha Watts – James Pearson - Jacob Sotheran-Darley - Beth Lowery – Jasmine Hewitt – Chloe Gibson - Molly Farquhar - Lewis Murphy – Abbie Coulson – Nick Davies - Harvey Parker - Kyran Williamson - Michael Anderson - Bethany Murray - Sophie Hamilton - Amy Wilkins - Emma Simpson - Liam Wales - Jacob Bartram - Alex Hooks - Rebecca Miller - Caitlin Miller - Sean McCloskey - Dominic Parker - Abbey Sharpe – Elena Larkin – Rebecca Simpson - Nick Dixon – Abbie Farrelly – Liam Grieves – Casey Smith – Liam Downing – Ben Wignall – Elizabeth Hann - Danielle Walker - Lauren Glen - James Johnson – Ben Ervine - Kate Burton - James Hudson - Daniel Mayes - Matthew Kitching – Josh Bennett – Evolution – Dreams, made it into the record books after the 41-year-old decided it was time for a change. Dawn McManus decided to change her name after she set up a children's charity - Red Dreams - following the sad death of her son Kyle. She asked people to donate to the charity and If the target was broken, Dawn would then change her name to honour those who the charity had helped since it was established in 2008. Dawn, who has been praised locally for her efforts in positively engaging young people, said: “I decided to change my name with The Legal Deed Poll Service to raise further awareness for the charity and maintain the necessary funding we need to make Red Dreams a success. "Myself and my husband both gave up our jobs to pursue this full time for the good on the community, but there is only so much we can do before we need financial support in the form of charitable donations.”

Daily Express via Jezebel.

Your late-morning cry

Via The Daily What.

John Cusack gets a star on the Walk of Fame

His sister Joan (Shameless for the win) and that guy with the goatee and the occasional anger problem, Billy Bob Thornton, spoke at yesterday's ceremony.

REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni & AP Photo/Matt Sayles

Stan Lee introduces World of Heroes channel

Game of Thrones renewed for a third season

Well, duh. And couldn't they just do us all a favour and renew it "until there are no more books to film?" Would that be so difficult? EW has the good news:

"You haven’t seen anything yet: Game of Thrones has been officially renewed for a third season by HBO. The network ordered another round of the fantasy hit, which recently debuted its second season to record ratings, then followed up with a nearly identical performance this week. The third season is expected to be more or less based on the first half of George R.R. Martin’s A Storm of Swords — the third novel of his “Song of Ice and Fire” series of fantasy best-sellers. Long a fan favorite of the book series,  Swords has several dramatic twists and confrontations (so … save the date!). Given the book’s length (the paperback edition is 1,216 pages) and action-packed content, producers plan to break up the novel into two seasons. HBO is not confirming if season three is another 10-episode order."

To celebrate, let us, once more, enjoy 10 minutes of Tyrion slapping the snot out of Joffrey.

Your new best zombie survival tool

Surrounded by zombies? Unsure where to go? Wondering if you should have stocked up on ammunition instead of collecting sea shells and vintage teddy bears, you idiot? Supposing the internet hasn't been eaten by the undead, head to Map of the Dead where you can find resources available in your neighbourhood.

Caveat: I'm a little concerned that The Centennial Infant and Child Centre on Yonge Street is listed as a military installation. You don't want to think you've finally made it to a place where automatic weapons are readily available, only to be met be a horde of drooling baby zombies. They're the worst. While you're busy considering the moral implications of killing a sort-of-baby, five others have climbed up to your head and started snacking.

And, btw, I don't live on Bay Street. That address just came up when I searched for Toronto. I live in an unnamed location. Underground. Surrounded by barbed wire and zombie-proof attack dogs.

 

Ashton Kutcher is going to space

At some point when Virgin's space program tourist thingy gets going and 499 other people have taken the trip, Ashton will be strapped in and go for a ride. So, it's not happening today.

Richard Branson writes on his blog: "Great news today news from our Astronaut Relations team at Virgin Galactic: our 500th future astronaut customer has just signed up! Even better news is that number 500 is Ashton Kutcher. I gave Ashton a quick call to congratulate and welcome him. He is as thrilled as we are at the prospect of being among the first to cross the final frontier (and back!) with us and to experience the magic of space for himself. As you can see from the video, our spaceships are not only very beautiful but are built and flying in the final stages of our exhaustive test flight program. We are guided by safety and so will ensure that everything is just as safe as it can possibly be before we start commercial services – particularly as I will be on the first commercial flight with my kids! Virgin Galactic is the most exciting business that we’ve ever launched and I still sometimes have to pinch myself that it’s for real. Ashton is joining a fast expanding group of true pioneers who are on their way to a life changing experience and a place in the history books. It’s great to have him on board."

And here is the video in question. (And, fyi, Richard: I personally have trouble imaging anything I'd like to do less than take a trip to space. So that probably means I'm utterly devoid of curiosity. I can live with that. So, no need to have your Astronaut Relations Team, which sounds like something cool that isn't real, contact me.)

Kutcher image via That 70s Show tumblr.

George Takei's happy dance

Before and after pics: How to

So you're  in front of the TV battling insomnia at 3 am when a weight loss/exercise informercial comes on showing an amazing transformation of someone's body. And it makes you even more depressed than you already are. (And when I say "you" I mean "you," not "me.") Fortunately for your mental state, here's an explanation of how this transformation may have been achieved. Via The Daily What. Warning: one bad word.

David Beckham doesn't stuff his underwear

So, stop insinuating that he does. You're just jealous. And I just wanted a reason to post one of those H&M photos again.

"I've never, ever ... padded out my pants, or shoved socks down there though. I've never had to for any of the photoshoots I've done because, hopefully, I don't need to. Well, let's just say I've been told I don't need any help in that department. I think I'm pretty OK!"