Mar 12th 2010 By Asylum Staff

LEGO 'Star Wars' Watches*

LEGO and "Star Wars" have had a long standing relationship that they're taking to the next level with these LEGO "Star Wars" Watches. The timepieces feature LEGO's signature "Star Wars" figurines on the faces and interlocking pegs on the band come in adult and children's sizes. The difference is that the children's size comes with a complimentary LEGO mini-fig which is further proof that youth is wasted on the young. Head over to StreetLevel to see all the watches on offer. (via StreetLevel)

Mar 12th 2010 By Drew Kearse

Korean Man Marries Pillow

Here in America, some people claim that a man marrying another man ruins the sanctity of marriage. We wonder how those same people would feel about Lee Jin-gyu, a Korean man who recently wed a pillow.

Yes, the 28-year-old is now happily married -- to a pillow. Well, not just any pillow. That would be weird. Lee has fallen in love with a dakimakura, a large body pillow adorned with the face of an anime beauty.

But don't worry, this isn't a marriage of convenience (throw pillows don't cut it) -- this is a marriage of love. For months, Lee has been taking the pillow out to eat, going to amusement parks and, you know, fluffing it.

In honor of the special day, Lee got his bride a brand new wedding dress. Hopefully, he also washed her. The nuptials were held in a special ceremony presided over by a bona fide priest. Presumably, the marriage was consummated afterward on a bed with some of the bride's friends and family members looking on.

Challenges lie ahead for the happy couple. For instance, Lee can no longer go to Bed Bath & Beyond without his bride getting jealous. Still, if he's sent to the couch, he might get to sleep with her sister.

Mar 11th 2010 By Asylum Staff

Hot, Fresh Links -- Served When We Feel Like It

25 Visual Puns
More subtle than this one. (Holy Taco)

15 People Caught Sleeping When They Shouldn't (Uncoached)

Old School MMA Awesomeness (Cage Potato)

"The Perfect Gift," The Funniest Video on (Atom)
Tim and Eric
Puberty. (Adult Swim)
Korean Man Marries Pillow
For real, yo. (Huffington Post)
Darth Vader's Winter Vacation
Darth Vader hangs out like a frat guy. (EGO TV)

Mar 11th 2010 By Nicholas Nadel

'Final Fantasy XIII,' 'Yakuza 3,' 'Racquet Sports' and More in New Video Games

Required playing from the week in video games.

The long-awaited "Final Fantasy XIII" features a cutting-edge battle system, seamless cinematics and ... wait a sec, you're playing it right now, aren't you? If you aren't on board with "Final Fantasy" at this point, you probably never will be. Though may we recommend the "Kingdom Hearts" games as a good entry point? Pairing FF characters with Donald Duck and Goofy is pretty much the greatest idea ever.

Also in stores:
-- Sure, "Yakuza 3" features plenty of "Grand Theft Auto"–style murdering and mayhem. But it's the mini-games -- everything from darts to karaoke -- that are the real selling point. There is even something called "aromatherapy massage." Hey, the game still needs some illicit vice.
-- "Racquet Sports" lives up to its name with Wii versions of badminton, squash, beach tennis and more. When are we going to get a good old-fashioned lawn tennis game?
-- The survival horror game "Calling" lets you use your Wiimote as a cell phone or flashlight. Weirdly enough, the Wiimote gives you 4G coverage. Is there anything it can't do?

Mar 11th 2010 By Ryan McKee

Big Butter Jesus Has Googlers and ATI Up in Arms Over False Advertising

We can't believe it's not butter! Big Butter Jesus is a 62-foot statue of Christ that is misleadingly not made of butter. Located between two flea markets in Monroe, Ohio, the statue has been getting a lot of attention online for its sheer absurdity.

Other nicknames for the figure are "Touchdown Jesus," "8-Ball Jesus," "Quicksand Jesus," and "MC 62 Ft. Jesus." Click ahead to hear resident trend investigator Ryan McKee explain why so many locals hate it.

Mar 11th 2010 By Michael B. Dougherty

NY Artist Turns Hummer Into Horse Cart

New York–based artist Jeremy Dean has come up with a novel approach to performing some aftermarket modifications on a Hummer H2: he cut it in half.

It's all in the name of art with a message, and what better vehicle to choose than the Hummer, a brand that went from Arnold Schwarzenegger's personal chariot to something too toxic even for China.

We caught up with Dean for the Hummer Cart maiden voyage through NYC to ask, "So ... how and why?"

Mar 11th 2010 By Jeremy Taylor

Scientists Peg Fat As the Sixth Taste

Our happy hour fact to amaze your drinking buddies with.

The tongue recognizes fat, just as it does the five other basic tastes.

The five "official" basic tastes that our tongues have receptors for are sweet, sour, salty, bitter and savory (which we just learned about). Australian researchers have now discovered that taste buds also process the flavor of fat as they do the previously recognized tastes. In fact, the more sensitive your tongue is to fat's flavor, the more likely you are to pig out on French fries and bacon.

"We are now interested in understanding why some people are sensitive and others are not," said Russell Keast, who worked on the study. "We believe (this) will lead to ways of helping people lower their fat intakes and aid development of new low-fat foods and diets."

Now that fat is a taste, we look forward to science acknowledging other previously unrecognized tastes that we've clearly experienced: fear and rejection, for example.

Mar 11th 2010 By G. Xavier Robillard

Is March Madness Bracketology the Science of Sports Gambling?

First of all, we're going to come clean and say we're not quite sure if Bracketology is a science. Or even a word. But indulge us.

HowStuffWorks has studied the science of March Madness Bracketology, and it has some helpful tips on how to win your office pool. Their pointers are backed by statistics, such as the probability of 16 seeds beating 1 seeds. (Hint: It's zero).

Here's a surefire strategy for bracket betting: Use the March Madness brackets as a test. Don't bet money. Don't join any pools. Just fill out the brackets using the HowStuffWorks system, then see if the system worked.

The next and infinitely more important bracket coming up is the FIFA World Cup. That's the ultimate tournament in soccer to us Yanks -- football to the rest of the planet. If your March Madness bracket worked out, bet the farm on the World Cup. Just remember: Only seven countries have ever won the World Cup. Can you name them?

Mar 11th 2010 By Asylum Staff

Masterclash Takes on the Apocalypse With Help From Some 'Ugly Americans'

This week, Masterclash tackles the end of days, better known as the Apocalypse. Joining us in the studio to discuss the world's eventual demise are animator Devin Clark and producer Dan Powell of the new Comedy Central series, "Ugly Americans." We've also got Asylum's resident Schwarzenegger expert, Jake Goodrich, offering his favorite Apocalypse-themed films, and we wrap up with Rob Kutner, former "Conan O'Brien" and "Daily Show" scribe, who penned the book "Apocalypse How."

Apocalypse Masterclash

Click here to subscribe to the Masterclash on iTunes.

Mar 11th 2010 By Dan Solomon

The Vacation Spots Most Threatened by Natural Disasters

If 2010 has taught us anything so far, it's the fact that an earthquake, a tsunami or a storm can show up and wreak havoc on an otherwise normal place at anytime.

And, while it's crass to think about the devastation that's been inflicted on Haiti and Chile -- as well as what nearly hit Hawaii -- strictly in "What does it mean for me?" terms, we couldn't help but grab the nearest atlas to see how close some of our dream vacation spots lie to the Ring of Fire.

As a service to those concerned that nature might pick their next getaway as a time to show mankind who's boss, we tracked down a few other hotspots that might be at risk of some monumentally bad luck.

Amsterdam
In this town situated slightly below sea level, Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" is more horror flick than documentary. The city's survived for centuries thanks to a network of dams and dikes, and thousands of water pumps push the runoff back to the sea. However, as the Boston Globe reported a couple of years ago, if the pumps ever stopped working, the entire city would start to experience severe flooding within six hours, and the place would be a swamp six months later.

Keep reading for three more cities at risk.