R.I.P. Tom 2

Mediaverse reports that the Memphis Tigers mascot was put to sleep yesterday. He was 17 years old and had cancer. The Tigers site says:

A memorial is planned for the Tigers' Homecoming game versus Southern Miss on October 25. The Tiger Guard asks that any memorials be sent to the Highland Hundred via the Tiger Football office at 136 Athletic Office Building, Memphis, TN 38152.

The Daily Helmsman has this story.

The Deadly Mantis

We've been seeing a Praying Mantis on the patio for the last several days and have been enjoying her sojourn among us, so this 1957 Universal film The Deadly Mantis, more "preying" than "praying", is offered in her honor. The movie stars William Hopper.

trailer:

1000 Misspent Hours has this to say:

And of all the dubious films in the genre to bear the Universal imprint, perhaps none is so eminently worthy of its creators’ shame as The Deadly Mantis.

and

The damn thing is only 78 minutes long, for God’s sake, but it seems to take at least three times that because so little of that time is spent moving the plot along. But it has a really cool, really crappy monster, and ultimately, that’s all that matters.

Moria calls it "predictable" and "fairly routine".

The Salaryman's Wife

The Salaryman's Wife by Sujata Massey won the 1997 Agatha award for best first novel. By the end of the book I didn't care who did it. I didn't care about the victim of the crime or any of the characters except, perhaps, for the protagonist. I didn't care enough about her, though, to seek out any of the others in this series. This is just another mystery novel. OK, I guess, but not a stand-out for me.

from the back of the book:

Japanese-American Rei Shimura is a 27-year-old English teacher living in one of Tokyo's seediest neighborhoods. She doesn't make much money, but she wouldn't go back home to California even if she had a free ticket (which, thanks to her parents, she does.) Her independence is threatened however, when a getaway to an ancient castle town is marred by murder.

Rei is the first to find the beautiful wife of a high-powered businessman, dead in the snow. Taking charge, as usual, Rei searches for clues by crashing a funeral, posing as a bar-girl, and somehow ending up pursued by police and paparazzi alike. In the meantime, she manages to piece together a strange, ever-changing puzzle--one that is built on lies and held together by years of sex and deception.

Curse of the Demon

Curse of the Demon is the name under which the 1957 British horror film Night of the Demon was released in America. Dana Andrews stars in this, and Dana Andrews is always worth seeing. It was directed by Jacques Tourneur, who directed Cat People.

1000 Misspent Hours praises it and sums up by saying, "In short, this is an immensely satisfying film." Moria also likes it, saying, "This is regarded as one of the genuine classics of the genre. And it’s not hard to see why". DVD Journal calls it "a modest but effective gothy thriller of necromancy and deviltry that's a high point in British cinema".

There's a quote from Coleridge's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner in the film:

Like one who, on a lonely road,
Doth walk in fear and dread,
And, having once turned round, walks on,
And turns no more his head;
Because he knows a frightful fiend
Doth close behind him tread.

I'm surprised this one isn't better known.

10/3/2009:House of Mirth and Movies has a post.

Creature with the Atom Brain

Creature with the Atom Brain (no wikipedia entry) is a 1955 horror/SFF movie about a Nazi scientist who uses zombies to help a mob boss exact revenge. At just over an hour, it had its theatrical release on a double bill with It Came from Beneath the Sea.

1000 Misspent Hours likes this one, as does Daily Film Dose.

2/25/2009: WTF-Film.com has a review.
3/21/2010: Arbogast on Film says, "it's all in good fun and at 69 minutes the film's flaws are far from fatal."

The Day of the Triffids

The Day of the Triffids is a 1962 British science fiction film very loosely based on the John Wyndham novel with the same name. It stars Janette Scott (Crack in the World) and Kieron Moore (Crack in the World).

Foster on Film discusses its influence on the horror genre. Moria notes that "This film of the John Wyndham novel is mostly – and rightly so – lambasted for the complete demolition job it does of the book." DVDTalk declares they have "always loved The Day of the Triffids - there's something wonderfully real about the post-apocalyptic menace in John Wyndham's 1951 novel." 1000 Misspent Hours opens with "This is another movie that I like a great deal more than I can really defend."

StompTokyo says,

As a post-apocalyptic survival story, The Day of the Triffids scores surprisingly well, with a number of horrific developments that come about from mankind's sudden collective blindness.

Classic Sci-Fi Movies calls it "one of the big B sci-fi movies of the early 60s." Need Coffee offers it as part of their 32 Days of Halloween series.

The Eyes of the Mummy

The Eyes of the Mummy is a 1918 silent film.

via Youtube:

1000 Misspent Hours says that "the director’s unwillingness shows in Eyes of the Mummy’s every second," but Silents are Golden has some background information that indicates director Ernst Lubitsch wanted to move from the short comedies he was known for into more dramatic films. There is more information on the film at the web site of Pola Negri, the female lead, including hints on how to approach the film:

The first thing most people think when they see the title The Eyes of the Mummy is that the movie will be an old-time horror film. But when watching The Eyes of the Mummy, the first thing you need to do in order to best appreciate it is to not expect a horror film. Forget every horror picture you’ve ever seen and let the picture tell its own story. Keep in mind that this is 1918, and the horror film as we know it today had not been invented yet. The Eyes of the Mummy is really a drama picture with supernatural and horror elements

The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms

The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms is from a story by Ray Bradbury and has Ray Harryhausen's creature effects. This movie has a credit in Cloverfield. Cecil Kellaway plays the elder paleontologist Dr. Thurgood Elson. I guess I first saw this actor as the head of the sanitarium in the film Harvey, but he was in quite a few of the old movies and is delightful here as the dedicated scientist.

trailer:

from 1000 Misspent Hours:

it isn’t necessary to dig below the surface to appreciate The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, which works perfectly well as a straight-up monster flick. Technically speaking, this is one of the four or five best-made movies of its type that I’ve seen.

and closes by saying this:

the animation of the Rhedosaurus is some of the smoothest ever filmed, making it by far the most believable of all Harryhausen’s frankly fantastic creations (by which I mean to exclude such things as the giant crab in Mysterious Island and the chess-playing baboon in Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger). Beyond that, the design of the monster has an elegance— even beauty— about it that has rarely been equaled since; apart from its excessive size (it looks to be about 150 feet long from snout to tail), the Rhedosaurus has the appearance of an animal that might really have lived at some point during the Earth’s prehistory. Even if the nuclear angle hadn’t made it the first representative of an idea whose time had come, The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms probably would have spawned imitators solely on the strength of its own inherent quality.

Sunday Psalm

Psalm 106
verses 1-6; 19-23

1 Praise ye the LORD. O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

2 Who can utter the mighty acts of the LORD? who can shew forth all his praise?

3 Blessed are they that keep judgment, and he that doeth righteousness at all times.

4 Remember me, O LORD, with the favour that thou bearest unto thy people: O visit me with thy salvation;

5 That I may see the good of thy chosen, that I may rejoice in the gladness of thy nation, that I may glory with thine inheritance.

6 We have sinned with our fathers, we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly.

...

19 They made a calf in Horeb, and worshipped the molten image.

20 Thus they changed their glory into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass.

21 They forgat God their saviour, which had done great things in Egypt;

22 Wondrous works in the land of Ham, and terrible things by the Red sea.

23 Therefore he said that he would destroy them, had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach, to turn away his wrath, lest he should destroy them.

KJV

From Dusk till Dawn

The Offspring are watching another one I've already seen, so I'm skipping a second viewing of From Dusk till Dawn.

trailer:

This 1996 vampire movie is full of violence and sleaze, with the New York Times review calling it "violent, gory, sexist and exploitative in ways that, for all its facetiousness, are real." Roger Ebert gives it a thumbs-up in his video review.

Killers from Space

Killers from Space, starring a very young Peter Graves, is a 1954 alien invasion movie that includes an atomic bomb test.

I liked the pneumatic tube messaging system. I got quite tired of him running his hands through his hair while he stared at the "giant" creatures. He stares, then runs his hands through his hair... over and over...

via Youtube:

1000 Misspent Hours says, "Killers from Space is a film which, in other hands, might have turned out exceedingly well."

Cloverfield

Cloverfield, a 2008 monster movie, seems inspired by Godzilla.

/film gives it an 8 out of 10 and closes its review with this:

Cloverfield is a fun movie. Plain and simple. It’s sit back, relax and go. It’s a roller coaster ride. JJ Abrams wanted to make an American monster movie, and he has done just that. Cloverfield is not a Godzilla rip-off, it’s the reinvention of the monster film. This is the story about characters trapped in a monster film. They aren’t the characters that would be in the big Hollywood blockbuster version, or even an D-level take by The Asylum or Troma. These characters are the people running away from Godzilla. They have no urge to defeat the monster, they just want to get away and reconnect with their loved ones. This is a human story which just happens to take place during this gigantic moment of fear.

Roger Ebert says,

Mercifully, at 84 minutes the movie is even shorter than its originally alleged 90-minute running time; how much visual shakiness can we take? And yet, all in all, it is an effective film, deploying its special effects well and never breaking the illusion that it is all happening as we see it.

trailer:


10/27/2008:
You can see a South Park spoof of this movie here. (HT: /film)

The Satanic Rites of Dracula

The Satanic Rites of Dracula, R-rated for nudity and violence, is a 1973 horror film. It is the 8th Hammer Studios Dracula movie and stars Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee.

Moria says that with this film "The whole Hammer cycle was about milked to an end." StompTokyo closes with this: "It turns out the one thing that kills vampires for good, however, is bad moviemaking." Weird Wild Realm says "It has the feeling of a film with no script, just made up before each day's shoot."

Underworld

The Offspring are watching Underworld tonight, but since it's so late and I've seen it I'm skipping it and going to bed. It's a 2003 horror film about warring vampires and werewolves.

The New York Times says, "Len Wiseman's ''Underworld,'' which opens nationwide today, achieves only loudness, aggressive confusion and one of the silliest head-splittings in film history."

The Slate reviewer didn't like it much either:

The first hour is evocative and creepy: You can't tell if there's a ghost or a devil cult somewhere, or if we're in Shirley Jackson country. But once the trajectory is clear and the squeamish New York intellectual Quaid has to stand up and fight for his homestead, the boringness seeps into you like the damp.

Roger Ebert makes it 3 out of 3, saying

This is a movie so paltry in its characters and shallow in its story that the war seems to exist primarily to provide graphic visuals.
...
It's so impossible to care about the characters in the movie that I didn't care if the vampires or werewolves won. I might not have cared in a better movie, either, but I might have been willing to pretend.

trailer:

Young Frankenstein

The Younger Son saw Young Frankenstein for the first time tonight. This 1974 parody film is a riot, especially if, as we do, you love all those old Universal horror movies. It's a Mel Brooks film, starring Gene Wilder, Marty Feldman, Teri Garr, Peter Boyle, Cloris Leachman, Gene Hackman and Madeline Kahn.

trailer:

The New York Times review calls it "Mel Brooks's funniest, most cohesive comedy to date" and says, "Perhaps the nicest thing about Young Frankenstein is that one can laugh with it and never feel as if the target film, James Whale's 1931 classic that starred Boris Karloff, is being rudely used."

SciFi.com says, "From the very first moment of its release, this parody of the Universal Studios monster films of the early 1930s was hailed as a triumph."

Atom Age Vampire

Atom Age Vampire is a 1963 Italian horror movie. It's directed by Anton Giulio Majano and starring Alberto Lupo. It's a mad scientist film and the vampire of the title is not an actual vampire.

1000 Misspent Hours says, "If you enjoy this kind of junk, then you should enjoy Atom-Age Vampire immensely."

Alraune

Alraune is a 1928 German horror film starring Paul Wegener. It is based on a book written in 1911 that is in turn "rooted" in German folklore.

from The New York Times review from the time of the film's release: "If you like this sort of thing you'll find it a superior product. ... A most engaging evening's display of erotics."

Fright.com says,

This German silent is the most famous of the many adaptations of Hanns Heinz Ewers’ ALRAUNE, and with good reason. The film’s chilly atmosphere, perverse storyline and stunning lead performance by the incomparable Brigitte Helm make for a unique and impacting viewing experience.

Blood Tide

Blood Tide (no Wikipedia entry) is a 1982 horror film starring James Earl Jones and Mel Ferrer.

This is a real period piece. And very slow. The Younger Son says this is one of the slowest-moving films he's ever seen, and although he has seen the whole thing, I didn't finish this one.

The Thing from Another World

The Thing from Another World is a 1951 film believed to have been directed by Howard Hawks. James Arness is in this film as The Thing. I like the music in this one.

"Watch the skies!"

1000 Misspent Hours calls it "the world’s first alien paranoia movie, the film that spawned the entire “commies from space” sub-genre in the 1950’s". Moria agrees it's " the very first alien invader film" and "one of the best." Slant Magazine says, "The Thing From Another World's titular vegetable creature may not have the cache of a Freddy or Jason, but there's no denying that this chilling Hawks production is a must-see for science fiction and horror aficionados." Only the Cinema has a post.

4/5/2009: SFSignal is featuring it in their Sunday Cinema post.

5/26/2009: Ferdy on Film has a review.

Mr. Sardonicus

I remember seeing Mr. Sardonicus, a 1961 horror film directed by William Castle, on late-night tv when I was a younger teen. The scene I remember best is the one with the dogs which had been used in the experiments.

WTF Film says, "one of the better films in Castle’s filmography, especially for people with an interest in Gothic horror beyond the initial Universal wave, Corman and Bava."

The Woman in Green

The Woman in Green is the 11th in the Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce series of Sherlock Holmes movies. There are some still shots and parts of the dialog printed here.

via Youtube:

Fog Island

Fog Island (there's not even a Wikipedia entry for this one) is a 1945 black and white horror film starring George Zucco and Lionel Atwill. The people are all stuck on the island but can move freely around, and move around they do. In and out and 'round about, folks go through doorways and follow each other down passageways generally skulking through the old house. And one by one they die.

via Youtube:

Song of Solomon

I read Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon in observance of Banned Books Week. Luminarium.org has numerous resources on the novel.

Reynolds Price wrote a review for the New York Times. Oprah selected it in 1996 for her book club. Toni Morrison won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993, and the press release describes this book as "an excellent introduction to the work of Toni Morrison".

After reading the book I can certainly understand objections to its placement in elementary and middle school libraries, but I don't understand objections to its placement in libraries used by more mature readers.

Toni Morrison has endorsed Barack Obama for president.

The picture at the top of the post is the picture on the cover of my paperback edition.

Bluebeard

Bluebeard (1944) is a thriller directed by Edgar Ulmer and starring John Carradine.

via Youtube:

1000 Misspent Hours says, "As the most ambitious of the PRC horror films, it definitely merits a look." Bright Lights Film Journal has an overview of Ulmer which includes their take on Bluebeard, including this on Carradine:

Bluebeard is distinguished first by Carradine’s superb performance, easily one of the best in his career, as Gaston Morel. Carradine’s career is made up almost entirely of character parts, at which he excelled; given the chance to carry a film, he does it beautifully here.

The Devil Bat

The Devil Bat is a 1940 black and white horror movie starring Bela Lugosi.

This bat makes cawing sounds. Terrifying! And a mysterious ingredient involved in the murders comes from Tibet.

via Youtube:

1000 Misspent Hours says, " It’s reassuring to know that even after all these years, I can still find movies that leave me wondering how they could possibly have gotten made."

Sunday Psalm

Psalm 80
verses 7-19

7 Turn us again, O God of hosts, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.

8 Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt: thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it.

9 Thou preparedst room before it, and didst cause it to take deep root, and it filled the land.

10 The hills were covered with the shadow of it, and the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars.

11 She sent out her boughs unto the sea, and her branches unto the river.

12 Why hast thou then broken down her hedges, so that all they which pass by the way do pluck her?

13 The boar out of the wood doth waste it, and the wild beast of the field doth devour it.

14 Return, we beseech thee, O God of hosts: look down from heaven, and behold, and visit this vine;

15 And the vineyard which thy right hand hath planted, and the branch that thou madest strong for thyself.

16 It is burned with fire, it is cut down: they perish at the rebuke of thy countenance.

17 Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand, upon the son of man whom thou madest strong for thyself.

18 So will not we go back from thee: quicken us, and we will call upon thy name.

19 Turn us again, O LORD God of hosts, cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.

KJV

Masaki Kobayashi

Today is the anniversary of the death in 1996 of Japanese film director Masaki Kobayashi. There is a Facebook page for him.

from FilmReference.com:

By Japanese standards, Kobayashi made few films, working slowly and painstakingly with careful attention to detail.
...
an increasing concern with formal beauty characterized his work, most notably in Kaidan. This film, based on four of Lafcadio Hearn's ghost stories, carried for once no social message, but developed a strikingly original use of color and exquisitely stylized visual composition.

Kwaidan is a series of four ghost stories based on stories by Lafcadio Hearn which can be read online. The first film is based on a story called The Reconciliation, the second is from a story about a snow woman, the third is based on The Story of Mimi-Nashi-Hoichi, and the fourth is based on "In a Cup of Tea". You can watch it online at Youtube for $3, or in two parts at Internet Archive.

trailer:

1000 Misspent Hours has a review which describes the plots of each story in some detail. The New York Times review of the first 3 sections from the time calls it "a symphony of color and sound that is truly past compare." Ferdy on Film has a post (4/21/2009).

Mystery of the Wax Museum

Mystery of the Wax Museum is a 1933 Technicolor horror film directed by Michael Curtiz (We're No Angels and others) and starring Lionel Atwill and Fay Wray (best known for King Kong but she was also in The Vampire Bat).

Moria says it's "one of the genuine genre classics to emerge out of the 1930s Golden Age of Horror." 1000 Misspent Hours calls it "a miserable old clunker". from the New York Times review from its release:

It is all very well in its way to have a mad scientist performing operations in well-told stories, but when a melodrama depends upon the glimpses of covered bodies in a morgue and the stealing of some of them by an insane modeler in wax, it is going too far
...
After witnessing this unhealthy film, it is very agreeable to gaze upon a short subject dealing with the wonders of Yellowstone Park.

Classic-Horror.com says,

it was one of the earliest experiments with color film as well as one of the earliest treatments of a now well-known mystery plot, topped with an intriguing visual style and some horror icons in fine form for good measure.

10/29/2008: House of Mirth and Movies has a review.

The Ghoul

The Ghoul is a 1933 Boris Karloff horror film.

There are 2 versions of the film -one was reconstructed from an incomplete and partially decomposed print and the more recent DVD version was made from an excellent print found in the BFI archives.

The New York Times review at the time said, "A newsreel of a Sunday school picnic would have been more thrilling." 1000 Misspent Hours calls it "one of the better horror films of its era, regardless of nationality". There's nothing like a difference of opinion, and what a difference! It's hard for me to find fault with Karloff, since his Mummy is so brilliant, and this bears a couple of poor-relation similarities to that classic. Moria says, "Despite the film’s creakiness, an undeniable atmosphere does come through."

Dead Men Walk

Dead Men Walk is a 1943 movie with Dwight Frye, whom we have always enjoyed (Dracula, Frankenstein, The Invisible Man, The Vampire Bat), in his final horror film role.

I found the music to be particularly intrusive and even oppressive at times, but this movie just lasts an hour and is well worth that much time spent.

100 Misspent Hours calls it "one of the most imaginative and independent-spirited vampire movies of the 1940’s". BlogCritics has a negative review.

Steve Fossett's plane has been found

I had heard earlier this week that a hiker had discovered Fossett's ID, and now the remains of the plane have been discovered. Some human remains were also found. The New York Times reports:

Mark V. Rosenker, the acting chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, confirmed the finding, saying that while the remains were “very little,” he believed that Mr. Fossett’s identity could be confirmed genetically.

We used to follow Steve Fossett's exploits and enjoyed reading about his accomplishments.

Werewolf of London

Werewolf of London is a 1935 Universal Pictures horror movie with Henry Hull as the first feature film werewolf. Spring Byington plays a dippy aunt and is a real scene-stealer.

This film starts off in Tibet and in that segment misplaces one of the actors who is never seen again. I still wonder what happened to the good Dr.'s companion. I picture him still sitting on that rock. Ah, well, that's not the worst thing about this film. I honestly couldn't tell whether or not some scenes were supposed to be funny.

The New York Times review written at the film's release says

Designed solely to amaze and horrify, the film goes about its task with commendable thoroughness, sparing no grisly detail and springing from scene to scene with even greater ease than that oft attributed to the daring young aerialist. Granting that the central idea has been used before, the picture still rates the attention of action-and-horror enthusiasts.

100 Misspent Hours offers this mixed praise:

Despite its sometimes dragging pace, often ridiculous script, unnecessary and unfunny comic relief, and implausibly portrayed supporting characters, Werewolf of London is among the more entertaining 1930’s horror films I’ve seen.

Arbogast on Film examines Valerie Hobson's scream. Goatdog has a review.

trailer:

The Monster Walks

The Monster Walks is a 1932 horror movie. TCM has some information.

I didn't finish this one. Besides being slow and tedious, it was racially offensive. Too many other movies worth seeing to waste time on this one.

London After Midnight

London After Midnight is a 1927 mystery/horror film directed by Todd Browning and starring Lon Chaney, Sr. The last known print of this film was destroyed in a fire in 1965, but this restoration of pieced-together stills with inter-titles gives a hint at what we're missing:

100MisspentHours has a review. Moria says, "London After Midnight is one of the famous lost films of the great silent screen actor Lon Chaney [Sr]".

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

There are several film versions of Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and this one is the 1923 silent starring Lon Chaney, Sr.

Silent Film Sources begins their review with this caution: "The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a stilted spectacle that fails to live up to its legend" but adds one note of understanding: "Hunchback has few peers for lavish spectacle in the early Twenties (basically just Robin Hood, Orphans of the Storm and The Ten Commandments). It's easy to see what the public found so fascinating."

1000 Misspent Hours has a review that details the plot and describes some other aspects of the film and concludes:

this version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame remains the one to see. It has all the high-dollar production value of the 1939 version, an even hotter Esmeralda, and a far more thematically honest spin on the basic story. Plus, it has Lon Chaney in one of his best roles, which ought to be enough all by itself.

TCM has some information.

Le Manoir du Diable

Le Manoir du Diable, an 1896 short film directed by Georges Melies, is considered to be the first horror film and the first Vampire film.

via Internet Archive:

Moria says,

The Devil’s Manor was one of his earliest films and in this case it is simply he playing with stop-action camera effects. These allow the Devil to appear and manifest all manner of items – ghosts, witches, acrobats and angelic visions from out of a cauldron – and to transform back and forth into a bat. The film is a single note joke but it is made with a sense of humour

1000 Misspent Hours says,

an impressive piece of work for all its primitiveness, and it’s easy to forget that you’re really just watching the same trick being played over and over again on different objects and characters. There’s also a whisper of storytelling in the film, however faint and infrequently uttered

There is a review at Weird Wild Realm that says, "The set costumes are quite amazing, with some pyrotechnics thrown in." WiseGeek mentions that Melies himself plays the devil.

Danse Macabre

Danse Macabre is a 1922 film short starring Russian-born ballet dancer Adolph Bolm set to Saint-Saens' Danse Macabre.

HT: Arbogast on Film

It's a Wonderful Life: The Reckoning

I have it on The Highest Authority that if you actually like It's a Wonderful Life you should not watch this parody:

The Thin Man

The Thin Man is a 1934 comedy/detective film based on the novel of the same name by Dashiell Hammett. In the film Nick and Nora Charles are played by Myrna Loy (Mr. Blandings Build His Dream House) and William Powell. Although there are no other books, this was the first of 6 films. This movie takes place during the Christmas holidays.

Roger Ebert describes it as "a murder mystery in which the murder and the mystery are insignificant compared to the personal styles of the actors".

trailer:




1/10/2009:
The Husband chose this to watch during our chili supper tonight. He was aiming at a comedy with a happy ending, and everybody did think it was funny.

1/26/2008:
Only the Cinema has a review.

Interview Palin

Yes, you! Even though Sarah Palin is being shielded like a hothouse flower, you can get answers from her. Well, you can get answers that sound like they came from her, which is the best we can do right now.

Click here for a randomly generated question and the Palin-speak answer. Here's a sample:

Q: What is the role of the US in Iraq and Afghanistan?

Afghanistan will lead to war and it doesn't have to keep. I do bring to this table, and that's the beauty of American elections, of course, and democracy, is with new leadership, and that's with the energy source that is needed to help us, diplomatic pressure. We need to have a good guy who is saying that. Now, one who would seek to protect the good guys in this, the leaders of Israel and her friends, her allies, including the United States of America, where do they go? It's Alaska. It's just right over the border. It is from God. What I think God's will has to be a multi-faceted solution that has much to do things better.

HT: Andrew Sullivan

7 Fascinating Literary Works for Bookworms

Bookstove has an interesting list of 7 books for bookworms:

One Hundred Years of Solitude (by Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
Midnight's Children (by Salman Rushdie)
Breathing Lessons (by Anne Tyler)
Rabbit Is Rich (by John Updike)
White Noise (by Don Delillo)
Catch 22 (by Joseph Heller)
Everything That Rises Must Converge (by Flannery O' Connor)

I've read all of them except for the Rabbit book. I really ought to read the Rabbit series. I've had good intentions along those lines but lousy follow-through.

Michaelmas

Today is Michaelmas. I remember that on more than one occasion Michaelmas was the day we went to the Mid-South Fair. Michaelmas is the Feast of St. Michael and all Angels, and it is a fall festival close to the Autumnal Equinox. Lots of celebrations focus on the story of St. Michael fighting a dragon. Here's a recipe for Dragon Bread.

Rudolf Steiner, founder of Waldorf education, wrote a booklet on Michaelmas.

The Michaelmas Daisy pictured above is from janerc's Flickr stream.

Earl Hurd

Today is the anniversary of the death in 1940 of cel animation patent-holder Earl Hurd. The Bobby Bumps cartoons were the first to be produced using the cel animation process.

Later he worked for Walt Disney and is credited as a writer for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and as a character designer on the Dance of the Hours segment of Fantasia.

Bobby Bumps Starts a Lodge (1916):

Lectio Divina

Lectio Divina, holy reading, is a scripture-based form of prayer. That wikipedia article is odd in places, but it has links to some helpful sites. The Order of St. Benedict's site has helpful resources, as does the Carmelite Order. Thomas Keating of Contemplative Outreach has a short explanation and clear instructions.

An example of this practice within the Methodist tradition is at The Upper Room. Another specifically Methodist example is at this story from this year's meeting of the General Conference. It is used as part of this Methodist prayer service, it is recommended in this Methodist newsletter article, it's a part of this 5-week Methodist Bible study. I'm not sure why some Methodists are suspicious of the practice and claim it's "too Catholic", but it is consistent with Methodist practice and belief to participate in this form of prayer.

This site provides short, clear instructions for lectio divina in an easily accessible 1-page format, and this may be the best short explanation I've seen.

The photo at the top of the post is from knowhimonline's Flickr set.

Sunday Psalm

Psalm 78
verses 1-4; 12-16

1 Give ear, O my people, to my law: incline your ears to the words of my mouth.

2 I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old:

3 Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us.

4 We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done.
...
12 Marvellous things did he in the sight of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.

13 He divided the sea, and caused them to pass through; and he made the waters to stand as an heap.

14 In the daytime also he led them with a cloud, and all the night with a light of fire.

15 He clave the rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink as out of the great depths.

16 He brought streams also out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers.

KJV

Hakuho Wins Autumn Grand Sumo Tournament

The International Herald Tribune reports:

TOKYO: Mongolian grand champion Hakuho snatched his eighth championship title on Saturday after scoring 13 wins at the Autumn Grand Sumo Tournament.

The Daily Yomiuri Online says,

Yokozuna Hakuho sent out a warning to those who would deprive him of his eighth Emperor's Cup with a comprehensive defeat of ozeki Chiyotaikai in Thursday's final bout at the Autumn Grand Sumo Tournament.

from day 12:


The picture at the top of the post is from Wikipedia.

Banned Books Week

Today is the beginning of a week-long celebration of the freedom to read. There's even a current political link as there are reports Gov. Palin may have been interested in removing books she found objectionable from the public library of Wasilla when she was mayor there, so she has a connection to the subject.

Many books that have been banned or which have been subjected to attempts at censorship can be read online. A list of such books is here, with links to the books.

There is a Facebook page and a Wikipedia article. The USA branch of Amnesty International tells stories of individuals who are in prison or suffering persecution because of their writings.

The American Library Association has information, including links to lists of banned books. Their list of Most Challenged Books of the 21st Century (2000-2005):

1. Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
2. "The Chocolate War" by Robert Cormier
3. Alice series by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
4. "Of Mice and Men" by John Steinbeck
5. "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou
6. "Fallen Angels" by Walter Dean Myers
7. "It's Perfectly Normal" by Robie Harris
8. Scary Stories series by Alvin Schwartz
9. Captain Underpants series by Dav Pilkey
10. "Forever" by Judy Blume

Their list of Banned and/or Challenged Books from the Radcliffe Publishing Course Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century:

The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger
The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck
To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
The Color Purple, Alice Walker
Ulysses, James Joyce
Beloved, Toni Morrison
The Lord of the Flies, William Golding
1984, George Orwell
Lolita, Vladmir Nabokov
Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck
Catch-22, Joseph Heller
Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway
As I Lay Dying, William Faulkner
A Farewell to Arms, Ernest Hemingway
Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad
Their Eyes were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston
Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison
Song of Solomon, Toni Morrison
Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell
Native Son, Richard Wright
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Ken Kesey
Slaughterhouse Five, Kurt Vonnegut
For Whom the Bell Tolls, Ernest Hemingway
The Call of the Wild, Jack London
Go Tell it on the Mountain, James Baldwin
All the King's Men, Robert Penn Warren
The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien
The Jungle, Upton Sinclair
Lady Chatterley's Lover, DH Lawrence
A Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess
In Cold Blood, Truman Capote
Satanic Verses, Salman Rushdie
Sons and Lovers, DH Lawrence
Cat's Cradle, Kurt Vonnegut
A Separate Peace, John Knowles
Naked Lunch, William S. Burroughs
Women in Love, DH Lawrence
The Naked and the Dead, Norman Mailer
Tropic of Cancer, Henry Miller
An American Tragedy, Theodore Dreiser
Rabbit, Run, John Updike

Ones I've read are in bold print. To celebrate this week I'm going to see which of these book I already own but have not yet read, and I'll read one of them.

Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon is the first one I saw on the shelf, so I'll start it today.

R.I.P. Paul Newman

Paul Newman died of lung cancer yesterday at the age of 83.

Obits and notices:
Obscure Classics (with more here)
Grandprix
Sun Herald
OregonLive.com
AP
Reuters
Guardian (film clips)
Westport Now
CNN
Telegraph
Washington Post
Cinematical
NYDailyNews
NPR
People Magazine
AFP
Wired.com
Slate
Edward Copeland on Film
Roger Ebert
Huffington Post here, here, here, here
Culture Kitchen
Entertainment Tonight Online
MSNBC
Bloomberg
Green Daily
The Nation
Famous Dead DB
GreenCine
NYTimes
Cinema Styles
Arbogast on Film
Reason Magazine
PajamasMedia
/film
Bible Films Blog
Strange Culture
SFScope
Self-Styled Siren

Sylvia Pankhurst

Today is the anniversary of the death in 1960 of British suffragette Sylvia Pankhurst. There is a short biographical sketch here at the main Sylvia Pankhurst site, and the BBC has a couple of paragraphs as part of a women's history timeline. There is a list of resources, mainly books, here.

excerpt from lyrics to the Sister Suffragette song, celebrating Emmeline Pankhurst (Sylvia's mother's) suffrage work, from Mary Poppins:

"From Kensington to Billingsgate
One hears the restless cries!
From every corner of the land:
"Womankind, arise!"
Political equality and equal rights with men!
Take heart! For Mrs. Pankhurst has been clapped in irons again!
No more the meek and mild subservients we!
We're fighting for our rights, militantly!
Never you fear!""

Debate Re-enactment

Stage your own debate re-enactment with these fun finger puppets.

HT: BoingBoing

The Boy With Green Hair

I discovered this movie when the kids were little. I liked it, but they never did. I'm not sure why it struck me so while it didn't impress them at all. It's possible I was so touched by the plight of the boy that I didn't see the lack of any real child-appeal. I found it by coming across it on television and was able to videotape it. I'm pleased to see it's readily available online now. [Well, not so readily, as the Internet Archive has removed theirs, but youtube has it online divided into small sections.]

part 1:

The other parts are linked from here.

The Boy With Green Hair is a 1948 film starring Pat O'Brien, Barbara Hale and Dean Stockwell, TCM devotes some space to it. Coffee Coffee and More Coffee has a review. The New York Times review opens with

A novel and noble endeavor to say something withering against war on behalf of the world's unnumbered children who are the most piteous victims thereof is made in the RKO picture, "The Boy With Green Hair," a fantasy-drama in color, which opened at the Palace yesterday. But the fact that the effort is earnest is no surety of its success. For all its proper intentions, the gesture falls short of its aim.

August Mobius

Today is the anniversary of the death in 1868 of August Mobius, who figured out the Mobius Strip. This can keep a simple mind like mine happily occupied for hours. Try it. Entertain your friends. It's a cheap form of entertainment, something we'll be needing more of once the government takes all our money and gives it to all those rich, powerful Wall Street guys.

The picture is from Wikipedia.

Lewis Milestone

Today is the anniversary of the death in 1980 of film director Lewis Milestone, probably best known for his 1930 All Quiet on the Western Front, which can be viewed online at that link. Interestingly, Erich Maria Remarque, who wrote the book on which that film is based, died on this date in 1970.

FilmReference.com has an article on Milestone that sums up with

Milestone has yet to receive the critical reassessment that he undoubtedly deserves. Films as diverse as A Walk in the Sun and The Strange Love of Martha Ivers indicate that his later films contain moments of high achievement comparable to his two great early efforts. They also suggest a greater correlation between his technical innovations and his sensitively handled theme of men in groups than many scholars give him credit for.

He also directed The Front Page (1931):

The NYTimes has a review here.

He directed Joan Crawford in Rain (1932):

The NYTimes and Alternative Film Guide have reviews.

Dana Andrews and Lloyd Bridges in A Walk in the Sun (1945):

The NYTimes has a review, and TCM has comments.

and Barbara Stanwyck, Van Heflin and Kirk Douglas (in his debut film) in The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946):

TCM has some information.

The Sky Is Falling

Maybe the sky is falling, but I feel less like I'm in the middle of Chicken Little and more like I'm in the middle of The Boy Who Cried Wolf.

First there was the Iraq War, which we had to go do right now, by Jove, or civilization as we know it would come to an end because of all those weapons of mass destruction and Al Qaeda. So we panicked and agreed and sent our young people to die, and why was that exactly?

Then there was the Patriot Act, which we had to do right now, by Jove, or civilization as we know it would come to an end because of all those spies and terrorists. So we panicked and agreed and gave up our Constitutional rights, and why was that exactly?

And now there's a 700 billion dollar bailout, which we have to do right now, by Jove, or civilization as we know it will come to an end because of the impending financial meltdown.

So we are panicking again. It's just that I don't believe them. After all, aren't these the same people who have been saying that the fundamentals of our economy are sound and that everything is fine, just fine? I get the distinct impression that they are making all this up as they go along.

And how exactly will it help for McCain to suspend his campaign and rush back to Washington? If he's that indispensable in the Senate maybe we should draft someone else to run for President. I also don't see the sense in "postponing" the debates. Now of all times, with less than 6 weeks until the election, I need to hear them debate each other.

Oktopodi

Dr. Seuss

Today is the anniversary of the death in 1991 of Dr. Seuss. Just hearing the name brings back fond memories...

Bartholomew and the Oobleck:

Shuffle, duffle, muzzle, muff.
Fista, wista, mista-cuff.
We are men of groans and howls!
Mystic men, who eat boiled owls!

Green Eggs and Ham:

Would you like them
in a house?
Would you like them
with a mouse?

I do not like them
in a house.
I do not like them
with a mouse.
I do not like them
here or there.
I do not like them
anywhere.
I do not like green eggs and ham.
I do not like them, Sam-I-am.

The Sneetches and Other Stories is filled with treasures. "The Sneetches" opens with

Now, the Star-Bellied Sneetches had bellies with stars.
The Plain-Bellied Sneetches had none upon thars.

"The Zax" had those two stubborn Zax in each other's way "not budging". I could always identify with those Zax.

"Too Many Daves" begins this way:

Did I ever tell you that Mrs. McCave
Had twenty-three sons and she named them all Dave?

and the names suggested as better than "Dave" are wonderful:

And often she wishes that, when they were born,
She had named one of them Bodkin Van Horn
And one of them Hoos-Foos. And one of them Snimm.
And one of them Hot-Shot. And one Sunny Jim.

Many more are named, and we had the whole list memorized. We had this whole book memorized.

"What Was I Scared Of?" scared us with those pale green pants with nobody inside them. Definitely creepy!

And a perennial favorite even now is How the Grinch Stole Christmas, which The Elder Son could recite from memory when he was no more than 2, like Cindy Lou Who.

There is a Dr. Seuss Memorial Garden in Massachusetts.

The American Library Association gives the Geisel Award annually

to the author(s) and illustrator(s) of the most distinguished American book for beginning readers published in English in the United States during the preceding year. The winner(s), recognized for their literary and artistic achievements that demonstrate creativity and imagination to engage children in reading, receives a bronze medal. Honor Book authors and illustrators receive certificates, which are presented at the ALA Annual Conference. The award was established in 2004 and first presented in 2006.

Kockroach

I would never have picked this up, but The Elder Son passed it along to me saying I might enjoy it for a bit of "mindless fun". Well, it's about a cockroach, so I'm not sure why he thought I would find that appealing. On the other hand it's truly weird, so that might explain his reasoning.

Kockroach, the first novel by Tyler Knox, is a backwards and lesser Metamorphosis, taking the cockroach-cum-human through his ambitious, hungry experiences in society. It felt predictable from the beginning, and I thought I knew exactly where it was headed. In a way I was right, because the story ends up right where I thought it would. The plot, though, has some moves that surprised me, and I'm glad I read it. The characters are clearly drawn, described in a way that brings everything to life in my mind. I think the character descriptions are the strongest part of the book.

from the back of the book:

It is the mid-1950s, and Kockroach, perfectly content with his life infesting a fleabag hotel off Times Square, awakens to discover that somehow he's been transformed into, of all things, a human. A tragic turn of events, yes, but cockroaches are awesome coping machines, so Kockroach copes. Step by step, he learns the ways of man—how to walk, how to talk, and how to wear a jaunty brown fedora. Led by his primitive desires and insectile amorality, he navigates through the bizarre human realms of crime, business, politics, and sex. Will he find success or be squashed flat from above? Will he change humanity, or will humanity change him?

There is a Reading Group guide.

Reviews:
The NYTimes
The Seattle Times
EW

Who's the elitist?

Watch Michael Moore's "Slacker Uprising" Online Free

Watch it, download it, share it.... Michael Moore is giving Slacker Uprising away here.

from Wikipedia:

Slacker Uprising is a movie of Michael Moore’s tour of colleges in battleground states during the 2004 election, with a goal to encourage 18-29 year olds to vote, and the response it received.

There is a Facebook group.

David Langford's Top 20

This is a top 20 list that excludes books written after 1989:

20) Terry Pratchett, Guards! Guards! (1989)
19) Frederik Pohl: Gateway (1977)
18) Iain M. Banks, Consider Phlebas (1987)
17) C.J. Cherryh, Cyteen (1988)
16) Barry Hughart: Bridge of Birds (1984)
15) Christopher Priest, The Affirmation (1981)
14) Roger Zelazny, Lord of Light (1967)
13) Philip K. Dick, The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch (1965)
12) Alan Garner, The Owl Service (1967)
11) Alfred Bester, The Stars My Destination (1956, alias Tiger! Tiger!)
10) Algis Budrys: Rogue Moon (1960)
9) Greg Bear, Blood Music (1985)
8) Frank Herbert: Dune (1965)
7) Mervyn Peake: Gormenghast (1946-59)
6) Ursula Le Guin: Earthsea (1968-72)
5) Keith Roberts, Pavane (1968)
4) J.R.R. Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings (1954-55)
3) Arthur C. Clarke: The City and the Stars (1956)
2) John Crowley: Little, Big (1981)
1) Gene Wolfe: The Book of the New Sun (1980-83)

Ones I've read are in bold print. The list is annotated on this page with explanations and descriptions.

He also has a list of "Good Stuff Since 1990":

1990: Dan Simmons, Hyperion Cantos
1991: Pat Cadigan, Synners
1992: Kim Stanley Robinson, Red Mars
1993: Michael Swanwick, The Iron Dragon's Daughter
1994: Greg Egan, Permutation City
1995: Stephen Baxter, The Time Ships
1996: Mary Doria Russell, The Sparrow
1997: Tim Powers, Earthquake Weather
1998: Avram Davidson and Grania Davis, The Boss in the Wall
1999: Vernor Vinge, A Deepness In the Sky
2000: China Miéville, Perdido Street Station

Again, ones I've read are in bold print.

There are several books from both of these lists that I have been on the look-out for at my favorite used book store, but I may have to give that up and try another source. I think some of them are out of print.

A Boy and His Dog

A Boy and His Dog is a 1975 post apocalyptic film based on a Harlan Ellison short story by the same name.

The movie is in the public domain and is available at the Internet Archive:

Roger Ebert calls it, "a weird, offbeat sci-fi movie about one of the genre's favorite subjects: the survivors of a nuclear holocaust."

Marcel Marceau

Today is the anniversary of the death in 2007 of Marcel Marceau. I actually got to see him in concert once when I was in college.

This Salon article is from 1999. There is a Marcel Marceau Foundation. He did a lot of live performances over many years, and GoogleVideo is a treasure trove of his work.

The picture is from HeyValera's Flickr set.