...
Friday, January 15, 2016
Listen to church bells ringing "Space Oddity"
This may be the most amazing tribute to David Bowie that has been done in the past few days: Dom Tower, the tallest church tower in the Netherlands, built in 1382 and with bells dating back to 1505, tolling out "Space Oddity".
I've grown ever more fascinated with Bowie since it was announced that he had passed. Having listened to his final album and watched the last two videos he made ("Blackstar" and especially "Lazarus"), one most certainly...
Thursday, January 14, 2016
And now, Alan Rickman is gone
We are losing an unfortunate amount of truly extraordinary talent this week...
Hans Gruber. The Sheriff of Nottingham. Rasputin. Marvin the Paranoid Android. The Metatron. So many roles that Alan Rickman had in his amazing career.
But for me, there is really only one that best exemplifies Rickman's profound ability. The role he had throughout eight films for more...
Monday, January 11, 2016
"And the stars look very different today..."
Very sadly, they certainly do.
A true artist in every possible sense. I think what fascinated me most about David Bowie, other than his musical and acting talent, is that he was never afraid to grow and change as he got older. He had the strength to adapt, and become even better. Too many performers try to cling to their younger days. Bowie didn't flee from his age, he embraced it and made it his own. A lot of artists would do well to emulate...
Tuesday, November 17, 2015
THE STAR WARS HOLIDAY SPECIAL aired 37 years ago tonight
It was on this night in 1978 that The Star Wars Holiday Special - arguably the WORST two-hours of television in history - aired on CBS.
Y'all won't buh-LEEEVE what is going on here.
So in honor of this misauspicious occasion and thanks to some poor tortured soul on YouTube, here it is (absent some music for copyright purposes):
It's all here: Chewbacca's son Lumpy,...
Tuesday, November 10, 2015
"When the skies of November turn gloomy..."
Forty years ago tonight. Here's the post that I composed on this evening in 2005. But YouTube wasn't as pervasive as it is today.
So here is Gordon Lightfoot's forever haunting ballad, "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald".
The tradition will continue today. The church bell at Mariner's Church will ring thirty times: one for each man on the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald, and once more in memory of all who have perished on the Great Lakes.
As...
Wednesday, October 14, 2015
The state of things
Hello.
It's been awhile. Maybe the longest that I've gone between making posts. I'm making this one because a lot of readers have asked if I was okay (alive, semi-comatose, joined the French Foreign Legion or what have you). Neither have I been active on Facebook and that led to family insisting that I make some indication there that I was still among the living.
So many of you are asking how things are. And things have...
Tuesday, June 30, 2015
Two weeks in Hell
I debated whether to make this post. No wait, scratch that: I debated whether to make any post ever again on this blog.
In the midst of the madness, a lot of thoughts raced through my mind. One of them was to give up this blog. Wondering what was the point of it. Wondering what was the point of anything. So faced with the stark meaninglessness of life in this pale shell. All was vanity, with no redeeming grace.
It's...
Tuesday, June 23, 2015
Rest in peace James Horner
It was as many feared when the news came that the airplane he owned had crashed: James Horner, one of the most acclaimed composers in film history, died last night.
Aliens. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Braveheart. Apollo 13. Titanic. Avatar. Glory. Field of Dreams...
And so much other work too. His score for Krull is...
Monday, June 22, 2015
Here's a photo of a Dachshund family
My favorite breed...
Maybe if Tammy the Pup will stand still long enough, I can get her to pose for a picture that sweet :-)
Photo credit goes to @TheDoxieteers (Cindy, Pepsi and Misty) on Instagr...
Saturday, June 20, 2015
"We're gonna need a bigger boat."
Happy anniversary to Jaws. The original blockbuster that set the scene for every big summer movie to come. Released 40 years ago today.
...
Reconsidering Hobbits
When he came to visit in early April, my longtime friend/collaborator/partner in crime "Weird" Ed Woody gave me a birthday present. It was The Lord of the Rings, Extended Edition on Blu-ray. It's been sitting unopened on my shelf ever since, 'cuz I haven't really availed myself of its beauty (I hadn't actually watched any of it by that point but having seen the...
Thursday, June 18, 2015
Why is it that too many Christians are bitter, hateful, resentful and generally mean to others… and especially other Christians?
People shouldn’t be like that anyway, to each other. But for those of us who are in Christ, our behavior is far more dire. We aren’t supposed to be like the world. It’s supposed to be different, among us. We are meant to be a radiant, shining witness for Christ in this fallen world.
Instead, I see...
Tuesday, June 16, 2015
Monday, June 15, 2015
FALLOUT 4 gets a release date and a REAL Pip-Boy!
Game studio Bethesda unloaded the big guns last night at their first-ever E3 presentation. Since its announcement months ago the hype had been stoked about Fallout 4. Then two weeks ago Bethesda lifted the cover on that mega-anticipated title with this toad-strangling doozie of a trailer. So what else could Bethesda bring before us at this point?
By the...
Sunday, June 14, 2015
Pistol-packin' President: Reagan had a .38
The greatest president of the past half-century - at least - and he kept a sidearm during his time in the Oval Office.
I don't care what your political persuasion, you gotta admit: that is severely hardcore.
The New York Daily News has an eye-opening story revealing something that until now only members of the Secret Service were aware of: that Ronald Reagan not only believed...
