Kent State, the 40th Anniversary

Today is the 40th anniversary of the massacre at Kent State in 1970. I was in junior high school and clearly remember the shock. I date a lot of my political sensibilities from this event.

NPR has a retrospective, interviews and a slide show. USA Today has an article observing the anniversary:

That was Kent State University, May 4, 1970, a few days after Richard Nixon, who'd campaigned for president on an implicit promise to end the war, widened it by invading Cambodia. Across the nation, students protested. At Kent State, where two days earlier the ROTC building was burned down, National Guardsmen fired into a crowd and killed four unarmed students, the closest of whom was nearly a football field away.

and compares it to student activity today:

Unlike Vietnam, the wars America now fights have never really come home. Students don't worry about getting drafted. The campus anti-war group is inactive. The big cause is Haiti, the big issue the cost and availability of parking.

The New York Times interviews some students:

Torey Wootton, now a freshman, wants to lie in one of those sites, to understand what her uncle Paul Ciminero felt on that warm and sunny day 40 years ago as he stood watching Jeffrey Miller, a fellow student, die in that spot. Mr. Miller was shot in the mouth by a National Guardsman.
...
And until she graduates, Ms. Wootton will follow the advice her parents, both Kent State alumni, gave her when she left for college. “We don’t want to see you in the news,” they said, “and we don’t want to see you get shot.”

Vietnam Protest Video~Kent State Shooting


Here are the lyrics to the Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young anthem:

Tin soldiers and Nixon's comin'.
We're finally on our own.
This summer I hear the drummin'.
Four dead in Ohio.

Gotta get down to it.
Soldiers are cutting us down.
Should have been done long ago.
What if you knew her and
Found her dead on the ground?
How can you run when you know?

...

Tin soldiers and Nixon's comin'.
We're finally on our own.
This summer I hear the drummin'.
Four dead in Ohio.
Four dead in Ohio.
Four dead in Ohio.
Four dead in Ohio.
Four dead in Ohio.
Four dead in Ohio.
Four dead in Ohio.
Four dead in Ohio.
Four dead in Ohio.

There are web sites devoted to this subject, among which are this one and this one. Here is the story of one of the survivors, left paralyzed after the attack.

The wikipedia article says,

The Kent State shootings, also known as the May 4 massacre or Kent State massacre, occurred at Kent State University in the city of Kent, Ohio, and involved the shooting of students by members of the Ohio National Guard on Monday, May 4, 1970. Four students were killed and nine others wounded. The students were protesting the American invasion of Cambodia which President Richard Nixon launched on April 25, and announced in a television address five days later.

Be-Bop-A-Lula

Be-Bop-A-Lula is a 1956 song recorded by Gene Vincent and His Blue Caps:



The Rockabilly Hall of Fame has a story about the song. This song is on the list of 500 Songs that shaped Rock and Roll from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum.

Xenogenesis

Xenogenesis is a 1978 short film directed by James Cameron.



/film notes that "It is easy to draw comparisons between this short and Cameron’s later work." JamesCameronOnline says,

Rumor has it that Cameron spent a half-a-day dismantling the rented 35mm camera package just so he could understand how to run it. Cameron co-wrote, directed, edited, designed the sets and even did all of the camerawork. Self taught in the field, Cameron created most of the special effects himself on the cheap.

HT: FilmChatBlog

Night Mayor

Night Mayor is a 2009 short film written and directed by Guy Maddin.



Criterion calls it "a film of psychotropic, collagelike beauty, one that vividly illustrates its own concept of “ordinary things combined and made miraculous.”" Cinematical calls it "A beautifully conceived and executed piece marked by a dreamy narrative and intriguing imagery". Quiet Earth quotes the National Film Board of Canada:

The short tells the story of inventor Nihad Ademi, who harnesses the power of the Aurora Borealis in 1939 Winnipeg. Ademi uses the power to broadcast images of Canada to its own citizens from coast to coast, but in the process angers the government.

Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir

Performing Lux Aurumque (via Exploring Our Matrix):


and Sleep:


Composer/conductor Eric Whitacre has an official web site where he blogs. He explains how he made Lux Aurumque:

I made my own conductor track, filming it in complete silence, hearing the music only in my head. Then I watched the video and played in the piano accompaniment part to my conductor track...Then I offered the sheet music as a free download. As singers began posting their individual tracks, I called for ‘auditions’ for the soprano solo...

He goes on to talk about how it was put together and his hopes for future projects.

20 Best Zombie Movies

Retrocrush has a list of 20 best Zombie movies -I'm running into lots of lists lately!- and has video clips from most of them:

1. NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968)
2. DAWN OF THE DEAD (1978)
3. RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD (1985)
4. THE EVIL DEAD 2 (1987)
5. ZOMBIE (aka ZOMBI 2) (1979)
6. SHAUN OF THE DEAD (2004)
7. THE SERPENT AND THE RAINBOW (1988)
8. RE-ANIMATOR (1985)
9. 28 DAYS LATER (2002)
10. DEAD ALIVE/BRAIN DEAD (1992)
11. TOMBS OF THE BLIND DEAD (1971)
12. PET SEMATARY (1989)
13. NIGHT OF THE COMET (1984)
14. VERSUS (2000)
15. PLAN NINE FROM OUTER SPACE (1959)
16. DAY OF THE DEAD (1985)
17. CHILDREN SHOULDN’T PLAY WITH DEAD THINGS (1972)
18. I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE (1943)
19. SHOCK WAVES (1977)
20. WHITE ZOMBIE (1932)

I've linked to my posts when I have them. I can see there are some DVDs I need to be on the lookout for between now and next October.

HT: SFSignal

Inside Sumo

National Geographic Explorer has an episode on Sumo:



This is from season 3.

Must-See SF Films from the 50's

Classic Sci-Fi Movies has suggestions for must-see 50's science fiction films. I'll link to my posts if I have them:

1. When Worlds Collide ('51)
2. Day the Earth Stood Still ('51)
3. War of the Worlds ('53)
4. Creature from the Black Lagoon ('54)
5. Gojira (54)
6. Them! ('54)
7. Invasion of the Body Snatchers ('56)
8. Forbidden Planet ('56)
9. The Blob ('58)
10. Time Machine ('60)

10 Best SF Detective Novels

io9 has an annotated list of the "Top 10 Greatest Science Fiction Detective Novels Of All Time":

A Philosophical Investigation by Philip Kerr
The Retrieval Artist novels by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
When Gravity Fails by George Alec Effinger
Tea From An Empty Cup by Pat Cadigan
The Automatic Detective by A. Lee Martinez
Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan
Gun, With Occasional Music by Jonathan Lethem
Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams
The Yiddish Policeman's Union by Michael Chabon
The Caves Of Steel by Isaac Asimov

The only one of these I've read is in bold print. The author lists more in an "Other notable titles" section, but I've read none of those. Yet another sub-genre of which I'm woefully ignorant.

While you're over at io9, measure the speed of light using chocolate and a microwave oven and find the answer to the question "What's the expanding universe expanding into?"

The Anachronism

The Anachronism is a 2008 steampunk science fiction short film written and directed by Matthew Long. It won 7 Leo Awards. There is an official site. There is a Facebook page, which sets up the film this way: "On a sun-dappled summer day a science expedition propels two children towards an enigmatic encounter at the edge of their known world."

The Anachronism (Full Film) from Anachronism Pictures on Vimeo.

This film makes me ashamed of mothers everywhere.

HT: No Fat Clips

Murder!

Murder! is a 1930 Alfred Hitchcock film starring Herbert Marshall. Also in this are Donald Calthrop, who played Cratchett in the Seymour Hicks Scrooge, and Una O'Connor in her first film.

Watch it online:


Variety praises the writing and the acting. DVDTalk likes it and says, "The Hitchcock Touch is here in force, from humorous bits of business to clever play with technique." TCM has an overview. RottenTomatoes.com gives it a rating of 100%.

Blackmail (1929)

Blackmail is a 1929 Alfred Hitchcock film. FilmReference.com says,

Hitchcock's last silent film, Blackmail was also his first sound effort—and one of the first British "talkies" as well. A resounding popular and critical success, Blackmail prefigures some of the director's most famous themes and demonstrates techniques for which he would be noted.

It started out as a silent film and was converted to sound during filming. Both silent and sound versions are available, the silent version being released because most British theaters at the time weren't equipped for sound. The Chief Inspector is played by a different actor in the sound version than in the silent. The sound version is embedded below::



Variety says it "is most draggy" and "has no speed or pace and very little suspense." The New York Times says in a review from the time of its release, "Altogether, one gathers the impression that "Blackmail" may possibly not make such a strong appeal to the general public as it deserves to because of its artistic qualities." TCM has an overview. The British Film Institute has an article on the silent/sound filming and an overview and some video clips. The BFI says,

Blackmail displays many of the stylistic elements and themes with which Hitchcock would come to be associated: particularly a fascination with male sexual aggression and female vulnerability.

Rotten Tomatoes gives it a score of 89%.

Alfred Hitchcock

Today is the anniversary of the death in 1980 of Alfred Hitchcock. The Museum of Modern Art has an exhibition which includes a lengthy 1963 interview with Hitchcock. Senses of Cinema has a long, foot-noted article. The BBC has excerpts from audio interviews. PBS devotes part of its American Masters site to him. Images Journal has several articles. Bright Lights Film Journal has photos highlighting Hitchcock's recurring themes. FilmReference.com has an article and extensive resource lists. BFI has a print interview from 1967. Salon.com takes a contrarian view, saying he "may be the prime example of a film legend whose reputation has come to overpower any realistic view of his work." There's a big Alfred Hitchcock Facebook page. There's a list of his cameo appearances in his films here.

FilmStudiesForFree has embedded a 1973 6-part video interview with Tom Snyder and Hitchcock. Hulu has full episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents.

I have blog posts on the following Hitchcock films, many of which are viewable online:

Blackmail (1929)
Murder! (1930)
Number Seventeen (1932)
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934)
The 39 Steps (1935)
Secret Agent (1936)
Sabotage (1936)
The Lady Vanishes (1938)
Jamaica Inn (1939)
Rebecca (1940)
Shadow of a Doubt (1944)
Lifeboat (1944)
Notorious (1946)
Under Capricorn (1949)
Strangers on a Train (1951)
Dial M for Murder (1954)
Psycho (1960)

Who does this sound like?

If you guessed someone receiving the perfect back scratch, you guessed right!

It's Snuffles, the dog from the Quick Draw McGraw Show, just in case you happen not to recognize this particular relic from cartoon history. It was on tv in the early 1960's and in re-runs through the mid-60's.

Guards! Guards!

"There are many horrible sights in the multiverse. Somehow, though, to a soul attuned to the subtle rhythms of a library, there are few worse sights than a hole where a book ought to be." (p. 88)

This is the 2nd book in a row I've read that contains the word "widdershins". Now what are the odds of that, I wonder. Guards! Guards! is the 8th book in the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett. Death makes a few appearances. This is one of my favorites so far.

from the back of the book:

Here there be dragons...and the denizens of Ankh-Morpork wish one huge firebreather would return from whence it came. Long believed extinct, a superb specimen of draco nobilis ("noble dragon" for those who don't understand italics) had appeared in Discworld's greatest city. Not only does unwelcome visitor have a nasty habit of charbroiling everything in its path, in rather short order it is crowned king (it's a noble dragon after all)

Meanwhile, back at Unseen University, an ancient and long-forgotten volume -The Summoning of Dragons- is missing from the library's shelves. To the rescue come Captain Vimes,Constable Carrot, and the rest of the Night Watch who, along with other brave citizens, risk everything, including a good roasting, to dethrone the flying monarch and restore order to Ankh-Morpork (before it's burned to a crisp). A rare tale, well done as only Terry Pratchett can.

SFReviews.net says it is "as enjoyable a Discworld opus as most any of the others, and an important volume in the series' evolution from "silly and diverting" to "silly, diverting, stone brilliant, and on everybody's reading list."" SFSignal suggests it as a good entry point for the series.

I have read these other books from this series:
The Color of Magic
The Light Fantastic
Equal Rites
Mort
Sourcery
Wyrd Sisters
Pyramids

Border Caballero

Border Caballero is a 1936 Western directed by Sam Newfield and starring Tim McCoy.

Internet Archive has it online:


TCM has an overview.

Alexander Scriabin

Today is the anniversary of the death in 1915 of composer Alexander Scriabin. There is a Scriabin Society of America and a Facebook page. ubuweb has audio for download and an interesting article that closes with this:

To today's listener, Scriabin still touches nerves of esthetic beauty. Both consciously and unconsciously he explored the furtherest reaches of musical possibility. He was one of the strangest phenomena that ever existed in music, and he returns to us again and again.

Ashkenazy plays the Black Mass Sonata:


Horowitz plays Sonata no. 10:



More here, including a 1910 recording of Scriabin playing his own Patetico Etude in D# minor.

The Robot vs. the Aztec Mummy

The Robot vs. the Aztec Mummy is a 1957 Mexican horror/sff movie. IMDB offers this: "See the relentless machine battle the gruesome corpse". K. Gordon Murray produced the English language version. The first 45 minutes or so is told as a flashback, narrated by the main character. The robot and the mummy don't meet until the final couple of minutes.



It opens with this:

How far can the human mind penetrate the mysteries of the great beyond? Who knows? This picture is based upon an extraordinary experiment carried out by Drs. Hughes and Tooney of the University of Los Angeles. There is no doubt as to its authenticity. Testimony of people participating in the experiment sworn to by notary public preclude the possibility of any fraud. This picture is a combination of factual data mixed with fiction.

TCM has an overview.

Earthquake Weather

Earthquake Weather is the 3rd book in the Fault Lines trilogy by Tim Powers. I had some trouble getting through this one. A lot of things seemed to happen for me to have found it so slow, but maybe it's because it seemed to me that there were a lot of the same kinds of things happening. I have read the other 2 in this series: Last Call and Expiration Date. This is by far my least favorite of the three.

from the back of the book:

A young woman possessed by a ghost has slain the Fisher King of the West, Scott Crane. Now, temporarily freed from that malevolent spirit, she seeks to restore the King to life.

But Crane's body has been taken to the magically protected home of Pete and Angelica Sullivan, and their adopted son, Koot Hoomie. Kootie is destined to be the next Fisher king, but he is only thirteen years old--too young, his mother thinks, to perform the rituals to assume the Kingship. But not too young, perhaps, to assist in reuniting Scott Crane's body and spirit, and restoring him to life.

Dave Langford's review says, "Once again I'm awed by Powers's ability to stitch together a syncretic modern myth from fragments old and new." SFSite says, "Earthquake Weather is full of the action, suspense, twists, supernatural and home-baked magic Powers fans crave. And it's got a climax that'll make your head spin."

Cthulhu Bobblehead

You, too, can have your very own:


Pre-order one now for $12.99 for delivery in September.

From the sunken city of R'lyeh to your home, the terrifying beast known as Cthulhu is one of the Great Old Ones...and he wants a place on your shelf! Stands approximately 6-inches tall. Order yours today!

I want to put him in my car where bobble heads belong.

HT: Horror Squad