I found this praying mantis on one of my Autumn walks, up north of downtown Roanoke. He looked like he was hastily leaving the city. Maybe he was fed up with pesky people taking his photo.
Tag Archives: Eric Robert Nolan
Yikes, Crumbles! That’s a hell of a Halloween display!
The Bates Motel sign is an especially nice touch.
(Kirk Avenue in Roanoke, Virginia.)
Holst your horses.
A spammer named Inger Holst keeps sending me messages.
I can’t train my mind not to notice because that name sounds so much like a severe, minimalist German film director who wants to adapt my writing.
Update — maybe she IS a German director. I dunno. When it comes to foreign film, I’m pretty Ingerant.
“Hello, Darkness, my old friend.”
This kind of thing is gonna get old real fast.
Pal of mine made a Halloween cake.
And I thought it turned out pretty damn good. What you see are monster claw marks.
Y’know … speaking of claw marks … it occurs to me now that I still haven’t gotten to see a bear since I arrived in Southwest Virginia. I need to remedy that somehow, but I’m not sure how to go about it.
More from the spooky season watchlist!
I saw three terrific movies during my annual effort to set the tone for Halloween. All three were book adaptations.
First up was this year’s “Mr. Harrigan’s Phone,” adapted from Stephen King’s 2020 novella (which I have not read). It deftly follows the right formula for a successful King adaptation (or any successful horror movie, really) — it methodically portrays characters that viewers can truly like and care about, and then imperils them. For me, it wasn’t just Jaeden Martell’s personable young protagonist — it was also the great Donald Sutherland’s titular Mr. Harrigan, whose ghost is the story’s putative (?) antagonist. (I like how the movie leaves that just a little open ended; I’ll bet the novella has a lot more to say there.)
Still, some seasoned horror fans might feel that the film just isn’t scary enough. By the time its thoughtful denouement rolls around, it feels more like a dark drama with horror movie elements than it feels like a “scary movie.” (The term “post-horror” was gaining currency a few years ago, and I don’t know if that’s still a thing.) After all, the ostensible ghost here appears to actually want to aid the protagonist. The movie might even feel like it is missing a third act — I counted only two victims of the vindictive entity, whose deaths occurred offscreen. The ending was well written and poignant, right down to its closing line, but it will still feel like an anti-climax to some.
Next up was the new adaptation of Clive Barker’s “Hellraiser.” This was pretty damn scary. It should be seen by only more intense horror hounds — it’s a predictably violent gorefest about sadomasochistic demons that literally torture their summoners, along with any innocents who are unfortunate enough to be nearby. I know it isn’t high art, but it was well executed, with capable acting and some really creative direction. (Odessa A’zion was quite good in her role, and the van scene was an especially nice touch.) If you can stomach its ultraviolence, then you might really enjoy this movie.
Finally, I revisited another King adaptation — 2019’s “Doctor Sleep.” You guys already now how zealously I love this movie, so I want burden you yet again with my fanboy adulation of it.
The Internet — ALWAYS a source of reliable information.
[singing to the tune of “My Sharona”]:
“FRIED BALONEY!!!!”
It’s good stuff. Thanks, Internet!
Might have to try that “fried green tomatoes” thing next, I dunno.
Update: I’m in the middle of watching “Doctor Sleep,” so YOU wash the frying pan.
Concrete forest.
It looks like they’ve started constructing the framework for the next set of buildings on Campbell Avenue where the former bus station was razed. This picture doesn’t quite do it justice — but it has a postindustrial, otherworldly look to it around twilight. I thought it was neat.
I almost wrote “infrastructure” instead of “framework” in the first sentence above. But I’ve read that engineers roll their eyes at the word, because laypeople invariably use the term incorrectly.
Throwback Thursday: Dial-a-Joke ads
These commercials were ubiquitous in the early 1980’s in the New York metropolitan area. Here’s the weird thing — I grew up in New York, and I didn’t know a single person who actually dialed this number.
But there was evidently a market for this. There have been a few pay-call services like this since the 1970’s. Weird world — one of the first was operated as a hobby by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak.
