Tag Archives: Maya Angelou death

Rest In Peace, Rowdy Roddy Piper.

August 2, 2015 Eric Robert Nolan Leave a comment

I was never a wrestling fan, but I sure as hell remember the newly passed Rowdy Roddy Piper as the terrifically likable hero of John Carpenter’s “They Live” (1988). To this day, I still think it’s a pretty scary movie.

Piper was a great everyman — perfectly suited for this 1980’s underrated cult classic about an ordinary man-on-the-street fighting a sprawling alien shadow government conspiracy. His tough-but-lovable, working-class anti-yuppie was spot on. (Carpenter’s left-leaning sci-fi gem posed the bourgeoisie as alien impersonators and their wealthy human collaborators.)

Check out “They Live,” if you get a chance. And please … try these sunglasses. JUST PUT ‘EM ON.

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Christopher Lee reads Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven.”

June 11, 2015 Eric Robert Nolan Leave a comment

Rest easy, Christopher Lee.

I honestly had no idea that the newly passed thespian had so strong a following among modern horror, fantasy and science fiction fans. Many, many people are lamenting his loss today.

The poet Dennis Villelmi (who else?) posted this incredible performance by Lee of that old Gothic chestnut, Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven.”

This might be the best rendition of the poem that I have ever heard. Yes, that includes even the well loved reading by James Earl Jones and the reading by Christopher Walken (which was played straight and was quite good, despite his vocal idiosyncrasies). Seriously, this might be my favorite.

This is a perfect example of Lee’s legendary talent.

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“Vincent T. Bugliosi, Manson Prosecutor … Dies at 80” (David Stout, New York Times)

June 9, 2015 Eric Robert Nolan Leave a comment

I remember reading “Helter Skelter” in college, for a course about “The Psychology of Serial Killers.” It was a great, candid book that didn’t shy away from describing the crimes of Charles Manson’s “family,” but neither was it gratuitous. It also made police and judicial procedures easily accessible to a layperson.

Bugliosi was a hero. If Manson scares you, then the autobiographical account by the highly intelligent and dedicated man who put him away might be reassuring.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/06/10/us/vincent-t-bugliosi-manson-prosecutor-and-true-crime-author-dies-at-80.html?_r=1&referrer

Photo credit: “Charles Manson, Crime and Punishment Museum, Washington, DC,” by Sarah Stierch, via Flickr and Wikimedia Commons.

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from “On the Pulse of Morning,” by Maya Angelou

May 28, 2014 Eric Robert Nolan Leave a comment

from “On the Pulse of Morning,” by Maya Angelou

A Rock, A River, A Tree
Hosts to species long since departed,
Marked the mastodon,
The dinosaur, who left dried tokens
Of their sojourn here
On our planet floor,
Any broad alarm of their hastening doom
Is lost in the gloom of dust and ages.

But today, the Rock cries out to us, clearly, forcefully,
Come, you may stand upon my
Back and face your distant destiny,
But seek no haven in my shadow,
I will give you no hiding place down here.

You, created only a little lower than
The angels, have crouched too long in
The bruising darkness
Have lain too long
Facedown in ignorance,
Your mouths spilling words
Armed for slaughter.

The Rock cries out to us today,
You may stand upon me,
But do not hide your face.

— Thanks, Poetry Foundation: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/178949