Throwback Thursday: the trailer for “Lifeforce” (1985)!

This is probably a very odd way to remember Patrick Stewart following his passing, but I feel certain that my social media will be filled today with clips of the legendary actor’s role in the “Star Trek” and “X-Men” franchises. The first time I ever saw Stewart on screen was Tobe Hooper’s brain-busting 1985 horror/sci-fi opus, “Lifeforce.” (I don’t think I saw it upon its release … I’m pretty sure I caught it on either television or VHS.)

Stewart had a minor role. He is hardly in the trailer at all, though you can see him briefly around the .48 mark. (I am linking here, by the way, to the Youtube channel for Arrow Video.)

I think “Lifeforce” is one of those movies that is genuinely both good and bad. It’s … often incomprehensible, in my opinion. But the creature and special effects were top-notch, and the movie successfully conveyed an epic global monster-apocalypse. (The baddies that you see are space vampires.) You can’t really say that it failed as a horror movie … and it sure scared me a lot when I saw it as an adolescent. It might actually be overdue for a rewatch.



Rest easy, Patrick Stewart.

Stewart died yesterday at the age of 86.



Photo credit: Gage Skidmore.

“Birch Trunks,” Arkhip Kuindzhi, 1876-1890

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“Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.”

— Norman Vincent Peale (attributed)



This enhanced image of the Moon was taken with the NOAO Mosaic CCD camera using two of the National Science Foundation’s telescopes located at Kitt Peak National Observatory near Tucson, AZ. The image of the Moon itself was taken through the U-band filter at the 0.9-meter telescope. It is superimposed on a deep R-band image of the background sky taken at the Mayall 4-meter telescope. This composite image demonstrates the large field of view of the 0.9-meter telescope when using Mosaic, a view that covers more than five times the area of the Moon. It furnishes this large field of view without sacrificing high resolution – details as small as a few kilometers across can be seen on the lunar surface. PHOTO CREDIT: Unless specifically noted, the images, videos, and music distributed on the public NOIRLab website, along with the texts of press releases, announcements, images of the week and captions; are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, and may on a non-exclusive basis be reproduced without fee provided the credit is clear and visible.”

“Steppe. Cloudy Day.” Arkhip Kuindzhi, 1890’s

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Check out Irish History Unfiltered

So I’ve been trying to get better acquainted with the history of Ireland, which is a subject about which I am embarrassingly ignorant. By far and away, my favorite resource so far has been Fin Dwyer’s superb Youtube channel, Irish History Unfiltered.

Each episode tends to be brief. (Most of the ones I’ve watched are less than 10 minutes.) But … the briefer running time is offset by the fact that Dwyer speaks a bit quickly. And his obvious enthusiasm makes the videos engaging and the information easier to retain.

You can find it right here.



Rest easy, Walter Koenig.

The “Star Trek” actor passed away on Sunday at the age of 90.

Variant cover to “Nightwing” #124, Dexter Soy, 2024

DC Comics. Cover A.

“Tristan und Isolde,” Rogelio de Egusquiza

Nurse Your Favorite Heresies in Whispers