They were still so young they hadn’t learned to count the odds and to sense they might owe the universe a tragedy.
–Norman Maclean, Young Men and Fire
(Why.)
Quote of the day.
July 1st, 2013Typecasting?
June 30th, 2013Last night after the SDC, we went over to the home of our anonymous friends to watch movies. (Hi, anonymous friends! Thanks for hosting! Especially since you were a bit tired! Hope you enjoy the Shaq Soda!)
We wanted to honor the late great Richard Matheson, and ended up watching “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet” and “Little Girl Lost“. (Speaking of “Nightmare”, yeah Shatner, yeah Matheson, but how many of you realize that was directed by Richard “Superman” Donner?)
Anyway, I don’t have a lot to say about these episodes: they are classics, and I was kind of distracted (for reasons I’ll probably talk about in the near future). But I bring this up because Lawrence’s original desire was to watch “Trilogy of Terror“. I don’t remember seeing this, or even hearing much about it, when it first aired, but apparently it is one of those things – like those TZ episodes – that people really really remember from their childhood. Especially the last segment, with Karen Black fighting off the evil doll: I get the impression that was nightmare fuel for a lot of kids in the 1970s.
It is odd what sticks with you. As I said, I don’t recall “Trilogy”, and my parents weren’t big on letting me watch “scary” stuff (though I do remember watching part of the first “Godfather” on TV with my dad, and that had big violence warnings all over it). There’s one episode of what I think was “Night Gallery” that sticks out for me: I only remember part of it, but it also involved an evil doll that killed the kindly (?) grandfather by setting the house on fire.
(I wonder what would have happened if my parents had let me watch this crap when I was a kid. Would I have grown up to be a rich and famous science fiction writer with groupies and a cocaine habit? Maybe my parents had the right idea.)
Anyway, my point (and I do have one) is that “Trilogy” isn’t on NetFlix. But you can watch the entire movie for free on YouTube.
You can also get a “special edition” DVD of “Trilogy of Terror”
(Already ordered it, Lawrence.)
(Obligatory reference to The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black here.)
(Did you know Karen Black blames this movie for “forcing her to accept many roles in B-grade horror films”? Yeah, neither did I.)
(You can also watch “Trilogy of Terror II” on YouTube, but I don’t have a strong opinion about whether you should. One the one hand, it has the same creepy Zuni fetish doll from the first movie, plus rats. On the other hand, it lacks Karen Black and Richard Matheson. You make the call.)
Here in my car, I can’t make a call, because the system doesn’t work at all…
June 29th, 2013More:
Why do you need cars signaling that their windshield wipers are on to warn of a rainstorm ahead? I have a close friend who recently bought a 2013 Ford: it has weather information integrated into the navigation system. As I recall, his 2011 Ford had the same feature.
But my primary reason for blogging this is so I can link to episode 11 of the Neutral podcast, in which John Siracusa, Marco Arment, and Casey Liss discuss why car software stinks. I think all of the Neutral podcasts are worth listening to, but if you’re only going to listen to one, this is the one I’d recommend.
Christmas in June!
June 28th, 2013The temperature here in Austin is projected to hit 106 today. We’re not even into July yet.
What better time than now to think about Christmas?
(Previously. Previously.)
Found in the supermarket.
June 27th, 2013I understand that there are a lot of folks into the gluten-free lifestyle these days. Whether it is because of real or perceived health issues, I don’t care: as long as you’re not imposing your food choices on me, it isn’t my concern.
But I have to ask this question:
Aren’t gluten-free appliances carrying things just a bit too far?
I have no joke here. I just want to say…
June 26th, 2013Obit watch: June 26, 2013.
June 26th, 2013Alan Myers passed away on Monday, though I did not find out about it until today.
Myers…
I’m trying to find some appropriate links. I’m not sure this one shows Myers or the rest of the band well, but it is from the right era as well as being one of my favorite Devo songs. Plus, does anyone remember “Fridays”?
And now, here’s something we hope you’ll really like:
Also, a shoutout to my homeboys at Popehat:
Hey! @nytimes! Richard Matheson died two days ago. Where’s the obituary? “All the news that’s fit to print” indeed.
— Popehat (@Popehat) June 26, 2013
Random notes: June 26, 2013.
June 26th, 2013Richard Matheson obits: NYT. Lawrence. LAT.
Please refrain from tasting the knob.
(Note that the musical in question, “Somewhere in Time” is based on the movie, which in turn was based on a novel, “Bid Time Return”, by Richard Matheson. I’m not linking to Amazon, but you should be able to find the novel easily: the cheaper editions are listed under “Somewhere in Time”, and the editions carrying the original title are pricy.)
You know what NYC needs? Strict pen control. And perhaps strict costume control, too.
More:
(Hotlinked: click on the photo to read the Daily News article.)
Random notes: June 25, 2013.
June 25th, 2013The NYT, LAT, and WP have not yet published obits for Richard Matheson. However, the A/V Club has a very nice tribute.
I feel kind of blocked when it comes to paying tribute to Mr. Matheson. The one thing I can say is: whenever I was trying to think of “who wrote this story?” – the box with the button, the family fleeing their home planet, the girl who falls into the fourth dimension – at least seven times out of every ten, the story I was trying to think of was written by Richard Matheson. It is impossible to overstate the depth of his influence on the genre.
In other news, I’m sure some of my readers remember the 2003 documentary Capturing the Friedmans about the child abuse convictions of Arnold and Jesse Friedman. Since the documentary was released, there’s been a lot of back and forth about the guilt or innocence of the Friedmans, leading up to an investigation by the Nassau County district attorney.
More, and I apologize for the length of this quote:
Additionally, the report points out that Jessie Friedman had “competent legal representation, weighed his options intelligently and pleaded guilty after determining it was ‘the optimal strategy’ in light of the available choices.”
About that: the investigation was overseen by a “four-member independent advisory panel” that included Barry Scheck of Innocence Project fame.
Obit watch: June 24, 2013.
June 24th, 2013My brother forwarded me a report (from a site I do not link to) that Richard Matheson has passed away.
I will try to do a fuller appreciation with links tomorrow.
Historical note, suitable for use in schools.
June 21st, 2013A thread on FARK led me to the 1931 movie The Viking, which I was previously unfamiliar with. (This should not be confused with the 1928 movie The Viking.)
The Viking is somewhat interesting because it was the first talkie shot in Canada, because it was one of the earliest films shot in a documentary style (inspired by Nanook of the North) and because of how it was shot:
The basic story of The Viking is your classic “young man runs away and joins up with seal hunters to prove himself worthy of his girlfriend’s love”:
But other than the location aspects, and the seal hunting, why is The Viking interesting? After it premiered, the producer, Varick Frisell, decided “What this movie needs is more footage of ice floes.” So he and some film crew members went out to get pickup shots of the ice floes while their ship (the real ship named Viking) was hunting seals. The Viking (the ship) got stuck in the ice…
….and, on March 15, 1931, the good ship The Viking exploded, killing Frisell, his dog, and 26 other members of the crew.
As far as I know, and have been able to determine, this is the largest number of people killed in a single accident during the making of a film. I’m a little surprised I’d never heard this story before today.
TCM page on The Viking. Wikipedia. Entry on The Viking from the Canadian Film Encyclopedia.
Perhaps he should consider Kickstarter.
June 20th, 2013(I looked around a while back: there are several people who have registered Kickstopper-like domain names, but the associated sites seem to be dormant. Which is a shame, as I think a Kickstopper blog dedicated to highlighting possible scams and stupid projects is something the Internet needs. If I thought I could make money off of it, I’d do it: after all, my hero April Winchell parlayed Regretsy into a book deal. But right now I’m putting my energy into job hunting, not starting new blogs.)
Another Ranger.
June 20th, 2013This is the “front” side of the Armstrong family monument in Oakwood Cemetery.
This is the John B. Armstrong side:
Who was John B. Armstrong, other than a Texas Ranger? A serious badass, most famous for capturing John Wesley Hardin. Armstrong had been shot in the leg previously (according to his entry in the Handbook of Texas Online, it was a self-inflicted wound), and was using a cane:
(Some accounts say the bullet fired by Hardin’s man went through Armstrong’s favorite hat, seriously pissing him off, and that Armstrong’s blow knocked Hardin unconscious for two hours. These accounts are not well sourced, so I would take them with a grain of salt.)
Armstrong was also involved in the capture of Sam Bass, which is probably worthy of another post and some more photos next time I’m out near Round Rock.
Armstrong’s Texas Ranger Hall of Fame page. Armstrong on the “Badass of the Week” site (a little overwrought, but entertaining). Handbook of Texas online.
Chapter 9, Chapter 9, Chapter 9…
June 20th, 2013But if Detroit does file for bankruptcy, one of the great tragedies (at least, according to the NYT) is that the historical society might have to sell off all or part of its collection of “62 lovingly maintained classic cars”. This collection includes a 1924 two-door Hupmobile, Henry M. Leland’s 1905 Cadillac Osceola, a 1960 Chevrolet Corvair…and an AMC Pacer as well as a 1984 Dodge Caravan.
Obit watch: June 20, 2013.
June 20th, 2013James Gandolfini roundup: NYT. LAT. A/V Club.
This makes me kind of sad: one of Gandolfini’s pending projects was “Bone Wars” with Steve Carell, about the 19th Century paleontologists Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh. The Cope/Marsh story is fascinating, and I would have enjoyed seeing what Gandolfini and Carell did with it.
Also among the dead: thriller writer Vince Flynn. I’ve never read any of his novels, but I was aware of them: the Mitch Rapp books are ubiquitous in my local grocery stores, right up there with James Patterson and Lee Child. (I don’t say that with any snark intended; when your books are in every grocery store, you’re pretty much doing okay for yourself.)