tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43031099019183524612024-03-14T05:00:15.338-04:00Joseph BlochGamer and writerGreyhawk Grognardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13929743865700766901noreply@blogger.comBlogger393125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4303109901918352461.post-8839946467480727242017-12-31T00:19:00.002-05:002017-12-31T00:19:37.236-05:00New Year's Eve Gone ByWhen I was a kid growing up in New Jersey, naturally we watched television out of New York City. This was back in the 70's, when there were only three networks (2, 4, and 7) and three independent channels (5, 9, and 11).<br />
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But what I remember most about New Year's Eve wasn't the ball dropping on television, but rather the movies that were played. I have no idea why, but channels 5 and 11 always played either Yellow Submarine or 2001: A Space Odyssey.<br />
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I've decided to celebrate both my long-past youth and the holiday by watching both films this year on the eve of the new year. We had planned to have people over to celebrate, but bronchitis has swept through the house, and we'll have a small, cough-filled, family celebration this year.<br />
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With Chinese food. That's the other tradition. You always have Chinese food on New Year's Eve.<br />
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Happy New Year, everyone.<br />
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<iframe allow="encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" gesture="media" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vefJAtG-ZKI" width="560"></iframe></div>Greyhawk Grognardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13929743865700766901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4303109901918352461.post-87058525484038089392017-03-12T00:07:00.001-05:002017-03-12T00:07:13.658-05:00Songs with Twist EndingsIt's always cool to listen to the lyrics of a song and discover that it's not at all what it seemed to be.<br />
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For most of the song, you are led to believe that "Marie" in the song is the singer's girlfriend, forced apart from him by her mother. It turns out it's his six-year-old daughter, separated from him by a divorce or separation.<br />
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99% of the song is Meatloaf bragging about how he had sex with a girl in a car. You don't find out until the very end that the whole thing is a lament, and he can't stand the girl, whom he had ended up marrying. "I'm praying for the end of time, so I can end my time with you!"<br />
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It's that classic tale. Boy is supposed to meet his sweetheart, ends up waiting for her in the rain, wondering why she's stood him up. Then he realizes he's been waiting in the wrong place all along.<br />
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Guy offers to hire a girl as his driver, to show off how successful he is. Turns out, he doesn't even own a car. Yet.Greyhawk Grognardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13929743865700766901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4303109901918352461.post-6679980405721039272016-12-25T00:01:00.000-05:002016-12-25T00:01:05.198-05:00Happy Life Day!<div style="text-align: center;">
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Greyhawk Grognardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13929743865700766901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4303109901918352461.post-27121577720653953222016-09-08T19:26:00.001-04:002016-09-08T19:34:27.035-04:00Happy 50th, Star Trek<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I was just a bit too young to remember watching Trek when it was in first-run on television (but I was alive then, and it's certainly possible that I was present while the TV was on), but I vividly remember watching it in reruns in New York City, on channel 11 right at dinner time on weeknights (sandwiched around The Odd Couple and Beat the Clock, at least for a time). I don't know what it was about that show that struck a chord with me, but something definitely did, and I tried to never miss an episode. My parents didn't think anything of it, and happily indulged my passion with Star Trek toys, model kits, and action figures (back then we had the big 8" action figures, with uniforms made of real material, not just molded plastic, and removable phasers, communicators, tricorders, etc.). I had almost every one of those things you could get (in some cases more than one, and I would put the uniforms on other figures to beef up my team of red shirts to go down to the planet and get vaporized). I remember getting up extra early to watch the Animated Series once I discovered it, and being bewildered when I couldn't find it any more.<br />
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I had the earliest of the books; one of the first book reports I remember doing was on "Spock Must Die!" The old James Blish adaptations of the original Trek scripts were favorites, and I devoured "making of" books like "The Trouble with Tribbles ("the book on how to write for TV," as the subtitle claimed), "The World of Star Trek," and "The Making of Star Trek." I got several copies of the Star Fleet Technical Manual by Franz Joseph, and still have a rather large collection of 1st printings, for which I scour used bookstores when I have the opportunity. I have no idea if they're worth anything, but I like having them and other things, like the original Star Trek Maps, blueprints, and so forth.<br />
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In the aftermath of Star Wars, Trek became once more a hot property. Star Trek: The Motion Picture came out, and with it a slew of new novelizations. From the awfulness that was anything by Diane Duane to the ultimate coolness that was the John Ford Klingons, it was a great time to be a Trek fan. (Trekkie? Trekker? I didn't, and don't to this day, consider one cooler or more derogatory than the other.) Wrath of Khan followed, and things were rolling. A few friends in high school shared my passion, but not to the same extent as me, and it wasn't until college that I actually met others who were into Trek as much as I was. My best friend Bob and I took in our first Trek convention together that year in Boston, and I was in hog heaven. Bob had even written his own Trek novel, set on a ship other than the Enterprise (which at the time was a novelty), and even had insignia made up for the ship (I still have one, Bob, if you're reading this).<br />
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Over the years my love of Trek never diminished, and gradually turned into full-blown fandom. Conventions, uniforms, Trek-related games, fan clubs (I performed a wedding at a Shore Leave convention in Maryland, dressed as a Mirror Universe chaplain; "Let us prey... upon those who are weaker than ourselves..."). In fact, it was while in a Star Trek fan club that I met my wife*, and to this day some of my closest friends stem from those grand days of friendship and fellowship, built around our mutual obsession. Sure, I'm a fan of most if not all science fiction that comes down the pike, and Star Wars holds a place dear in my heart, Dr. Who is mostly great, but to this day I'll watch Star Trek if it's on in any form; whether it be one of the series (yes, I even like Star Trek Voyager), the movies, or even a special on a channel like Biography. My wife and I spent a great few months having our "can't miss together time" around watching Star Trek Deep Space Nine on DVD from start to finish.<br />
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Trek's made a lasting impression on my life, and made me some of the best friends I've had. And I don't think it's any odder than being able to quote baseball statistics or spending hundreds of dollars on football tickets.<br />
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* The first year we were married, we both tried to get the other a print of "New Borg City" for Christmas. Trouble is, the store only had one, and we were both trying to do it behind the other's back! It was a hoot once we and the guys at the store all realized what was going on.Greyhawk Grognardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13929743865700766901noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4303109901918352461.post-54370672427872901192016-03-23T21:33:00.001-04:002016-03-23T21:33:21.056-04:00A bit of horror from my childhood<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Back when I was a kid, I couldn't get enough of horror movies. We're talking like 1975 and earlier horror movies. So no <a href="http://joebloch.blogspot.com/2010/10/sunday-matinee-halloween-1978.html" target="_blank">Halloween</a>, Friday the 13th, or anything like that. I was enthralled with the classics; Universal films like <a href="http://joebloch.blogspot.com/2015/10/31-days-of-halloween-franken-ranking.html" target="_blank">Frankenstein</a>, Dracula, and the Creature from the Black Lagoon. Hammer films like Horror of Dracula, <a href="http://joebloch.blogspot.com/2015/10/31-days-of-halloween-franken-ranking.html" target="_blank">Curse of Frankenstein</a>, etc. And of course Tojo films like Godzilla, Godzilla vs. Mothra, King Kong Escapes, and so forth (plus their rival studios' offerings like Gamera!).<br />
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And of course there were a lot of other movies in there as well. Science fiction back then was tossed into the horror movie mix with abandon, and vice versa. So include wonders like <a href="http://joebloch.blogspot.com/2008/12/reflections-on-planet-of-apes.html" target="_blank">Planet of the Apes</a>, Silent Running, those wonderful <a href="http://joebloch.blogspot.com/2013/05/remembering-ray-harryhausen.html" target="_blank">Ray Haryhausen movies</a>, and <a href="http://joebloch.blogspot.com/2010/09/sunday-matinee-colossus-forbin-project.html" target="_blank">Colossus: The Forbin Project</a> into the mix.<br />
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Of course I was a huge <a href="http://famousmonsters.com/" target="_blank">Famous Monsters of Filmland</a> fan, and had a thick stack of magazines in my room, most of which got quite worn over the years. But when I was about 8 years old or so, I got a pair of books about horror movies from a local bookstore, and they were my constant companions. I had completely forgotten the titles (and indeed one title still eludes my memory and my Google skills), but I recently found one on eBay; <a href="http://amzn.to/1pzntZH" target="_blank">A Pictoral History of Horror Movies</a>.<br />
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To say I had read this book repeatedly when I was just a youngin' is an understatement. These books were my constant companions. I read them and read them and read them, and viewed all the wonderful photos of movies I had seen - usually on <a href="http://www.dvddrive-in.com/Chiller/chiller.htm" target="_blank">Chiller Theater</a> on channel 11 in New York, which showed all sorts of movies from the 30's onwards - and drilled them into my memory.<br />
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So when I found that one book, <a href="http://amzn.to/1pzntZH" target="_blank">A Pictoral History of Horror Movies</a>, it was like being transported back to 1975. I still remember every picture, every caption, and even a lot of the text. That was a simpler time in horror movie-dom; fewer serial killers (and the ones that were there were kitschy and flashy and usually played by <a href="http://joebloch.blogspot.com/2015/10/31-days-of-halloween-vincent-price.html" target="_blank">Vincent Price</a>) and more monsters. And I loved it. There's a certain classiness, and of course more than a little self-aware silliness, in there that modern horror movies (which seem to veer more and more into torture porn, body horror, and SHOCK, none of which I particularly like) simply lack.<br />
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Hell, I still love it.Greyhawk Grognardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13929743865700766901noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4303109901918352461.post-13927937116400328492016-01-28T09:53:00.001-05:002016-01-28T09:53:08.774-05:00STS-51-LTonight I will drink a toast to these brave adventurers, as I did last night for the crew of Apollo 1.<br />
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Greyhawk Grognardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13929743865700766901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4303109901918352461.post-10761666054810097222016-01-26T09:56:00.002-05:002016-01-26T09:56:55.188-05:00Happy Australia Day<div style="text-align: center;">
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Greyhawk Grognardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13929743865700766901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4303109901918352461.post-5751083285877742922016-01-21T18:08:00.003-05:002016-01-21T18:08:59.131-05:00The Future<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Greyhawk Grognardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13929743865700766901noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4303109901918352461.post-49486309042544866552016-01-20T10:21:00.000-05:002016-01-20T10:21:01.740-05:00New Suicide Squad TrailerAnd this one looks a lot more fun than the dark, serious tone of the first one. Obviously, you can't judge a movie by its trailers alone, but this could be as fun as Deadpool looks to be.<br />
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Greyhawk Grognardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13929743865700766901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4303109901918352461.post-71531217337599480292015-12-25T00:01:00.001-05:002015-12-25T00:01:06.643-05:00Merry Christmas!To all of my Christian readers (and others who might celebrate the modern secular Christmas holiday), I say Merry Christmas!<br />
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<br />Greyhawk Grognardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13929743865700766901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4303109901918352461.post-987290157890406122015-12-25T00:01:00.000-05:002015-12-25T00:01:00.246-05:00The true meaning of Christmas<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Greyhawk Grognardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13929743865700766901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4303109901918352461.post-17253377691160914382015-12-14T11:51:00.001-05:002015-12-14T11:51:07.150-05:00Star Trek: Beyond TrailerGods this looks terrible.<br />
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Greyhawk Grognardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13929743865700766901noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4303109901918352461.post-13496068854648476132015-12-11T09:13:00.000-05:002015-12-11T09:13:07.616-05:00X-Men Apocalypse TrailerDamn this looks great.<br />
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Greyhawk Grognardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13929743865700766901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4303109901918352461.post-86343515417210605192015-12-06T19:53:00.001-05:002015-12-06T19:53:45.300-05:00My Top Three Favorite Holiday Movies'Tis the season, and our televisions are inundated with holiday movies, specials, and the like. I thought I'd share my favorites.<br />
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<b>Miracle on 34th Street</b><br />
<br />
The 1948 version, of course. This is just such a wonderful movie, with outstanding performances (including especially Edmund Gwenn as Kris Kringle), the theme of "wonder vs. the scientific mindset" and a wonderfully "nice" twist ending, it's hard to find anything to disagree with it. Plus it has the iconic scene where the Post Office brings in bags and bags of mail "to Santa" into the courtroom; that's a scene that stands up against any other in cinema. "Christmas isn't just a day, it's a frame of mind."<br />
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<b>How the Grinch Stole Christmas</b><br />
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This is one of those films that's worth it for the soundtrack alone. With all due respect to Jim Carrey, Boris Karloff will always be the Grinch to me. A wonderful tale that demonstrates that the spirit of the holiday is made up of genuine emotion and feeling for one's fellow people, rather than a particular religious event or commercial spend-fest.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3w6txs_g1o6Ri_djYwHuKt-w4onG-xPbJxsAcG6-HEiEO8ObHBJpK9-1nRRvyp4NkRuf60SV_xMPMviOdFLTKK01o9GVvsm_f1f87K66WUrc98NER31gnRJVoVlhg_rIS2P6Rb5GNNfro/s1600/a-christmas-carol-george-c-scott-screenshot.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="136" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3w6txs_g1o6Ri_djYwHuKt-w4onG-xPbJxsAcG6-HEiEO8ObHBJpK9-1nRRvyp4NkRuf60SV_xMPMviOdFLTKK01o9GVvsm_f1f87K66WUrc98NER31gnRJVoVlhg_rIS2P6Rb5GNNfro/s200/a-christmas-carol-george-c-scott-screenshot.png" width="200" /></a></div>
<b>A Christmas Carol</b><br />
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There are a number of excellent interpretations of this story by Dickens (and more than a few awful ones), but I can't get enough of the George C. Scott version (1984). Mr. Magoo (1962) is a close second, though. I especially like it because it reminds us that in the Germanic mindset, Yuletide is the time when the veil between worlds is thinnest, and the shades of our ancestors walk the Earth (something that's reflected in the stories of the Wild Hunt, among many others). And the production values can't be beat.<br />
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<b>(Honorable mention)</b><br />
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Hehehe...<br />
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Greyhawk Grognardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13929743865700766901noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4303109901918352461.post-73528984382454972762015-11-11T08:01:00.000-05:002015-11-11T08:01:07.760-05:00Veterans Day<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Greyhawk Grognardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13929743865700766901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4303109901918352461.post-39867735815399749352015-11-02T12:50:00.000-05:002015-11-02T12:50:01.957-05:00New Star Trek coming to TV<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8v__MYRR4U0Re-MRNwxgm5aWMxJt7DnVlRJCh48p4rNWBSHj1PsrcXgY76x4FfGplNxex6A5VG10Q7IoV_ttRXgXZaskDFpUMJMiSUzJo04gvhAPXUZlc-qxIFTtQzH9EBgROwxEqd8xE/s1600/TOSopeninglogo.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8v__MYRR4U0Re-MRNwxgm5aWMxJt7DnVlRJCh48p4rNWBSHj1PsrcXgY76x4FfGplNxex6A5VG10Q7IoV_ttRXgXZaskDFpUMJMiSUzJo04gvhAPXUZlc-qxIFTtQzH9EBgROwxEqd8xE/s320/TOSopeninglogo.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<a href="http://www.cbs.com/shows/star-trek-series/" target="_blank">CBS just made the following announcement</a>:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
A totally new Star Trek television series is coming in January 2017! The new series will blast off with a special preview broadcast of the premiere episode on the CBS Television Network, and the premiere episode and all subsequent first-run episodes will then be available exclusively in the United States on CBS All Access.</blockquote>
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The brand-new Star Trek will introduce new characters seeking imaginative new worlds and new civilizations, while exploring the dramatic contemporary themes that have been a signature of the franchise since its inception in 1966.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Alex Kurtzman will serve as executive producer for the series. Kurtzman co-wrote and produced the blockbuster films Star Trek (2009) with Roberto Orci, and Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) with Orci and Damon Lindelof. Both films were produced and directed by J.J. Abrams.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The new series will be produced by CBS Television Studios in association with Kurtzman’s Secret Hideout. Kurtzman and Heather Kadin will serve as executive producers. Kurtzman is also an executive producer for the hit CBS television series Scorpion and Limitless, along with Kadin and Orci, and for Hawaii Five-0 with Orci.</blockquote>
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The new program will be the first original series developed specifically for U.S. audiences for CBS All Access, a cross-platform streaming service that brings viewers thousands of episodes from CBS’s current and past seasons on demand, plus the ability to stream their local CBS Television stations live for $5.99 per month. CBS All Access already offers every episode of all previous Star Trek television series.</blockquote>
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Okay. So. They want me to pay six bucks a month to see the new series. I'm pretty sure that will not be the case come 2017. It'll be available on some other platform I already get, like Netflix or Hulu, of that I am certain. But here's the clincher:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The new television series is not related to the upcoming feature film Star Trek Beyond, which is scheduled to be distributed by Paramount Pictures in summer 2016.</blockquote>
That tells me it will be part of the original continuity (TOS, TAS, TNG, DS9, VOY, and ENT), rather than the Abrams-verse. If that's the case, count me in!Greyhawk Grognardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13929743865700766901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4303109901918352461.post-57863293369253047462015-10-31T00:01:00.000-04:002015-10-31T19:40:51.898-04:0031 Days of Halloween: The Big Day<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Here we are.<br />
<br />
I've somehow managed to make thirty-one different posts about Halloween, horror, the supernatural, and related subjects.<br />
<br />
But now I want to tell you about my personal thoughts about Halloween. It's my favorite time of the year. Not because it's got a somewhat morbid reputation (it does), and I've got a somewhat morbid personality (I do). Not because it's the time of year when the veil between the worlds is thinnest and the dead come to haunt the living (in my religion, that comes in late December, around Yule - think "A Christmas Carol" with its ghosts).<br />
<br />
I love this time of year because it's a time of year when you can really indulge yourself. Not just physically, gorging on candy (although I certainly will do so), but those impulse that are frowned upon during the rest of the year can be explored. Want to dress up like a sexy witch? Nobody will bat an eye. Want to festoon skulls, demons, and zombies around your house? You might win a neighborhood contest. Want an excuse to have a house full of people get drunk in costume? That's practically a given. There's merriment, and good-natured frights, and nostalgia from childhood memories of trick-or-treat. It's like Christmas, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7xw-oDjwXQ&ab_channel=NickLannon" target="_blank">without the pressure of gift-giving</a>.<br />
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So, my friends, have a wonderful holiday. And with that, I leave you with this precious little earwig. Happy Halloween. Muahahaha...<br />
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Greyhawk Grognardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13929743865700766901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4303109901918352461.post-56545954702679461472015-10-30T00:01:00.000-04:002015-10-30T00:01:00.218-04:0031 Days of Halloween: One last trip to the grooveyard of forgotten hits<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Ah, Halloween Eve.<br />
<br />
Mischief Night.<br />
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Devil's Night.<br />
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Hell Night.<br />
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While I'm off wandering the neighborhood tonight, taking pics of neighborhood hooligans vandalizing homes, and making sure they steer clear of my street, I'll have a few tunes in my Discman.<br />
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Yes, I still have a Discman. What, did you think I still had a Walkman? (Well, I do, but not for tonight...)<br />
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Note the Lovecraftian lyrics in this one...</div>
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This song inspired one of my tattoos...</div>
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More Lovecraftian goodness in the lyrics here...</div>
Greyhawk Grognardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13929743865700766901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4303109901918352461.post-50805862989554129922015-10-29T09:29:00.002-04:002015-10-29T09:31:02.433-04:00Cosplay circa 1973<div style="text-align: center;">
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The sound will start up around the four minute mark.<br />
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(h/t <a href="http://file770.com/" target="_blank">file770</a>)</div>
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Greyhawk Grognardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13929743865700766901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4303109901918352461.post-5953045062001065212015-10-29T00:01:00.000-04:002015-10-29T00:01:00.371-04:0031 Days of Halloween: The Addams'I'm a huge fan of the Addams Family, and the cartoons of Charles Addams in particular. From the 1960's television show starring John Astin and Carolyn Jones:<br />
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...to the two wonderful movies starring Raul Julia as Gomez and Angelica Huston as Morticia...<br />
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...to the 1992 cartoon (also starring John Astin as the voice of Gomez)...<br />
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...there's just something wonderfully compelling about this family who does exactly what they want, the way they want to do it, without any regard for what the rest of the world thinks.<br />
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The original one-panel cartoons were of course the genesis for this phenomena:<br />
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The Addams Family was so popular and hit such a place in the public consciousness that it was even parodied in the Flintstones!</div>
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Greyhawk Grognardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13929743865700766901noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4303109901918352461.post-46193054390992900752015-10-28T00:01:00.000-04:002015-10-28T00:01:00.190-04:0031 Days of Halloween: Memento Mori<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Today, the <i>memento mori</i>, a genre of art and music that spans history from the Middle Ages through today. It was particularly in vogue in times when death was of particular concern to people; during the Black Death, for example, or in Puritan times. It was also said that the phrase "memento mori"-- which means "remember you are mortal"-- was repeated by a servant to Roman generals receiving a triumph. They often consisted of depictions of Death personified as a skeleton, skulls and bones in general, and images related to time, such as hour glasses.<br />
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Greyhawk Grognardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13929743865700766901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4303109901918352461.post-82694241040761117772015-10-27T00:01:00.000-04:002015-10-27T00:01:00.441-04:0031 Days of Halloween: War of the Worlds<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
On this date in 1938, many parts of the country were thrown into a panic by a broadcast of an adaptation of H.G. Wells' novel The War of the Worlds. Orson Welles produced the adaptation for the Mercury Theater of the Air, framed as a series of fictional news bulletins simulating an invasion of the Earth by invaders from Mars.<br />
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People have debated for decades just why the country was so willing to be fooled by the broadcast, and the question of whether or not Welles had an inkling of what would happen was never answered. It is certain that he denied it at a later Congressional hearing, but in subsequent interviews he answered the question rather coyly, implying that he might have known what could happen.<br />
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Here is the 1938 broadcast, in its entirety:<br />
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Greyhawk Grognardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13929743865700766901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4303109901918352461.post-73168080384252608272015-10-26T00:01:00.000-04:002015-10-26T00:01:00.210-04:0031 Days of Halloween: Creepy Cartoons<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq2ituwjnqQPFqaIoRT-suBGNsNqTE3m9Ln5l4ar8svd5Rx2ahpmoV54S7AQpx7EgA3Iq_L4iX-jngOQB5MQpktSHzm6r3lsnKpnPksLXHmOn0rxdVH5bMI-5V_NCLXeb3_-pd5qKalNJp/s1600/groovie_goolies_bandoct19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="195" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq2ituwjnqQPFqaIoRT-suBGNsNqTE3m9Ln5l4ar8svd5Rx2ahpmoV54S7AQpx7EgA3Iq_L4iX-jngOQB5MQpktSHzm6r3lsnKpnPksLXHmOn0rxdVH5bMI-5V_NCLXeb3_-pd5qKalNJp/s320/groovie_goolies_bandoct19.jpg" width="320" /></a>Just a few selections of creepy cartoons, spooky silly symphonies, and alarming animation.<br />
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For those who aren't aware, that last one comes from the Groovy Goolies, which was a horror-comedy themed Archie cartoons in the 70's. I personally thought it was a lot more interesting (I was also 8, which might have something to do with it), but the Groovie Goolies never had a pop hit single like "Sugar, Sugar", so they never really caught on. Alas...<br />
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<br />Greyhawk Grognardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13929743865700766901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4303109901918352461.post-40472913183380345722015-10-25T00:01:00.000-04:002015-10-25T00:01:00.156-04:0031 Days of Halloween: A little more musicHello again, kiddies! Here's another selection from the grooveyard of forgotten hits...<br />
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Greyhawk Grognardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13929743865700766901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4303109901918352461.post-62269254315065759772015-10-24T00:01:00.000-04:002015-10-24T00:01:02.933-04:0031 Days of Halloween: Lovecraft Films<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It's well-known that H.P. Lovecraft is one of the fathers of modern horror - the "weird tale" as he would have put it. Many people also know about modern films such as Dagon, Re-Animator, In the Mouth of Madness, and others. But many don't know about the wonderful <a href="http://www.cthulhulives.org/HPLHSPress/PressIndex.html" target="_blank">H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society</a>, which for years has been producing faithful adaptations of many of Lovecraft's works, and for the most part these films are much, much better than their Hollywood counterparts.<br />
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For my money, the best adaptation of a Lovecraft film is <a href="http://www.cthulhulives.org/cocmovie/index.html" target="_blank">The Call of Cthulhu</a>, a silent film done by the HPLHS. It's a faithful adaptation of both the story and the period in which Lovecraft was writing. It's done as if it was done while Lovecraft was still alive, and it works beautifully.<br />
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There are also several other Lovecraft films to be had, such as the Whisperer in the Darkness:<br />
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In addition, the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival has been going on in Seattle for many years, and they've put some of the films (both features and shorts) on DVD. Most of these have been available on Netflix, which is where I saw them, and they are every bit as good as anything you'll see in a theater.<br />
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<br />Greyhawk Grognardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13929743865700766901noreply@blogger.com1