Category Archives: Uncategorized

“The Stone Pickers,” George Clausen, 1887

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It’s here — November 2019.

How do you suppose we “Blade Runner” (1982) fans should celebrate?  How do we commemorate the final arrival of the setting for the greatest science fiction movie of all time — and arguably the greatest film of all time?

There aren’t many terribly good suggestions from the movie itself.  It’s not like “Animal House” (1978) or “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” (1975), which lend obvious themes to a party.   If you think about it, much of “Blade Runner’s” action consists of people having labored, intense conversations in dimly hit, high-ceilinged rooms.  There’s also a lot of screen time devoted to Harrison Ford brooding while he drinks alone.  Those things are not exactly the stuff that good times are made of.

I suppose that the idyllic drive through the mountains with a loved one at the story’s end would be a nice way to mark the occasion … but that particular coda is only part of “Blade Runner’s” theatrical release — and most people I know prefer the director’s cut.

And learning origami takes too much time.

Should we … flip a turtle on its back in the desert and resolve not to help it?

Tortoise.  I meant tortoise.

 

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“Head of a Young Girl,” George Clausen, 1888

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Throwback Thursday: “C.H.U.D.” (1984)!

Happy Halloween!  “C.H.U.D.” (1984) was another science fiction-horror movie that I and the kids on my street really enjoyed back in the day — it was a bit of a legend in my peer group, and it actually scared me a little.  The monsters were a lot of fun.  They were gross and ferocious, and they popped snarling out of the shadows of the New York City sewer system, and that’s the sort of thing that holds a middle school boy’s attention.

The movie boasts a young John Heard and Daniel Stern among its leads, and none other than a pre-fame John Goodman in a minor role as a cop.  (It was only his fourth film role.)

I’d love to hunt this flick down and revisit it.  I have no idea how well it’s held up since the 80’s, but I can’t say I’m hopeful — its audience score over at Rotten Tomatoes is just 32%.

Ah well.

 

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Cover to “Treasure Chest of Fun & Fact” #4, 1961

Publisher — George A. Pflaum.  I’m not certain about the artist, but it might be Graham Ingels.

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“Something Wicked this Way Comes,” by Ray Bradbury

Crystal water turns to dark
Where ere it’s presence leaves its mark
And boiling currents pound like drums
When something wicked this way comes…

A presence dark invades the fair
And gives the horses ample scare
Chaos rains and panic fills the air
When something wicked this way comes…

Ill winds mark it’s fearsome flight,
And autumn branches creak with fright.
The landscape turns to ashen crumbs,
When something wicked this way comes…

Flowers bloom as black as night
Removing color from your sight
Nightmarish vines block your way
Thorns reach out to catch their prey

And by the pricking of your thumbs
Realize that their poison numbs
From frightful blooms, rank odors seep
Bats & beasties fly & creep

‘Cross this evil land, ill winds blow
Despite the darkness, mushrooms glow
All will rot & decompose
For something wicked this way grows…

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“Departure for the Sabbath,” Albert Joseph Penot, 1910

Postcard.

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Do you like my facelift?

As you can probably tell, I’ve redesigned the site; I hope you guys like it.

If you have any suggestions about how I might improve it further, then I’m all ears.  Shoot me a note.

 

 

Poster for “Soylent Green” (1973)

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

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“We must especially beware of that small group of selfish men …”

“We must especially beware of that small group of selfish men who would clip the wings of the American eagle in order to feather their own nests.”

— Franklin Delano Roosevelt, State of the Union, 1941

 

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