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Posts Archived Under Horror
 "Turkey good! Football good! Lip-synching in Macy's Parade bad!" |
There's lots to say about arts and entertainment over the next few days. Let's start at the top, with Boris Karloff, born November 23, 1887 . The erstwhile William Henry Pratt labored as a truck driver, farmhand, and occasional character actor until 1931, when he landed the role of the monster in "Frankenstein." Even though he went unbilled in the original release of the movie, he became an instant star whose name was linked with horror until his death in 1969. In a nice coincidence, Forrest J. Ackerman, the man who became one of Karloff's best friends and biggest boosters was born a day later (albeit in 1916). Ackerman was the longtime editor of "Famous Monsters of Filmland" magazine, and cultivated a love for monsters and psychological horror in a million youngsters in the 1950s and '60s.
But we've only scratched the surface when it comes to entertainment. For example, in 1889, the first jukebox went into operation at the Palais Royale Saloon in San Francisco. (We'll add that "juke" was slang for ... well, a "house of ill repute," and leave it at that.) This distant ancestor to the iPod contained a tinfoil phonograph with four listening tubes and a coin slot for each tube. So popular was it that it took in $1,000 in the first six months - a nickel at a time. Musical entertainment has evolved significantly in the century since. On Wednesday, we'll note the 142nd birthday of composer Scott Joplin. Joplin didn't invent ragtime music, but was one of its foremost composers, his "Maple Leaf Rag" virtually defined the era.
Joplin isn't the only great artist who's an exemplar of his chosen genre. On Wednesday evening, PBS will broadcast an all-star concert celebrating the 80th birthday of Stephen Sondheim, composer and lyricist for some of the best - and most important - musicals in theatre history. And on November 25, 1949, Robert May and Johnny Marks' "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" made its debut/ Gene Autry's recording of the tune eventually sold more than 25 million records.
If those are the heights musical genres can reach, we note what some might consider the nadir, represented by tonight's episodes of "Glee" (featuring Carol Burnett) and the (tainted?) finale of "Dancing with the Stars." (And we mention the 1871 founding of the National Rifle Association purely in passing here - in case someone wants to emulate Steven Cowan.)
Music can have an effect even in the world of science. Wednesday is the 36th anniversary of Donald Johanson and Tom Gray's discovery of the Australopithecus afarensis skeleton that they named "Lucy," after the Beatles song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds."
The fine arts are also represented this week. Tuesday is the 118th birthday of Romain de Tirtoff, who, under the name Erté (taken from the French pronunciation of his initials) virtually defined the Art Deco style of the early 20th century, and Wednesday is the 146th birthday of French illustrator Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. Toulouse-Lautrec captured the lives of the Parisian demimonde of the late 19th century. And while it's not exactly "art," the first issue of "Life" magazine was published in 1936. Over the next 36 years, the photojournalism magazine featured some of the finest photography in the world - though none of its photographers could have used a zoom lens until it was invented this week in 1948.
In performing arts, Agatha Christie's murder-mystery play "The Mousetrap" opened in London's West End in 1952, and has been running ever since, making it the longest continuously-running play in history. (There was even a recent controversy over whether the surprise ending should be revealed on Wikipedia. It was, so if you go over there, consider yourself warned.). Pity movie producer John Woolf, who bought the movie rights to the play, on the condition that he not film it until it closed. Woolf died in 1999, but the play runs on. It sounds like a disaster almost profound enough to be filmed by producer Irwin Allen, king of such disaster movies as "The Poseidon Adventure" and "The Towering Inferno," and whose 94th birthday would have been Wednesday. It could be a disaster, but not a cosmic mystery suitable for solving by Doctor Who, the venerable BBC television series that began broadcasting this week in 1963.
Crime and criminals also figure into this week (like every week, probably). On November 24, 1971, D.B. Cooper skyjacked a Boeing 727, collected $200,000 in ransom, and parachuted out over southern Washington state, never to be seen again.
We mention an odd birthday coincidence in passing. Wednesday is the 122nd birthday of motivational author Dale Carnegie, and Thursday is the 175th birthday of industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. Dale (whose last name was originally spelled "Carnagey") wrote the book "How to Win Friends and Influence People" (which is still a best-seller on the self-help charts, nearly 75 years after it was published). Andrew made his fortune in the steel business and ended up giving most of it away, endowing libraries, schools, universities, along with numerous charities and foundations. By 1919, he had given away over $350 million (about $4.3 billion in 2010 dollars), with the remaining $30 million distributed after his death that year.
In animal events, President Obama is scheduled to give an executive pardon to a turkey on Wednesday, and Thursday (in addition to everything else) is the National Dog Show in Philadelphia.
Lastly, we mention what is, for many, the most notable event of the week: Thanksgiving, with its attendant gorging, football. T-Day also brings us the Macy's Parade, which gives television viewers across the country the chance to watch b-list actors and singers lip synch to lousy music, and this year will feature such traditional holiday entertainers as Jessica Simpson, Jimmy Fallon and the Roots, and Kanye West. Truly a Thanksgiving smorgasbord!
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Archived under: 1910s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1970s, 19th Century, Actors, Africa, Agatha Christie, American History, Ancient History, Animals, Anniversaries, Archaeology, Artists, Arts, Authors, Balloons, Barack Obama, Biographies, Birds, Birthdays, Black History, Books, Boris Karloff, Broadway, Celebrities, Christmas, Coincidence, Composers, Concerts, Crime, Criminals, D.B. Cooper, Dancing With the Stars, Disappearances, Doctor Who, Dogs, Eating, Entertainment, Events, Food and Drink, Football, Guns, History, Holidays, Horror, Horror Films, Jazz, Journalism, Journalists, London, Magazines, Men, Millionaires, Monsters and Creatures, Movie History, Movies, Music, Music History, Musicals, Musicians, Mysteries, NFL, New York, News, Parades, Performing Arts, Pets, Philanthropy, Photography, Rap and Hip-Hop, San Francisco, Science, Scientists, Songs, Sports, Stephen Sondheim, TV, Talk Show Hosts, Thanksgiving, The Beatles, Turkey, Wikipedia, Writers |
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 Upside down? Right-side up? Beats the hell out of us |
It's quiet this week. As we look over our files, we see little of consequence. We assume folks are still getting into an autumnal mood, but we persevere and submit herewith our own events and commemorations of the week.
Monday:
We begin the week by noting it's a big one for Thomas Edison. On this date in 1878, his company made electricity available for household usage. In 1931, on this day, he died, and Thursday marks the 131st anniversary of the demonstration of his first light bulb at his laboratory in Menlo Park, New Jersey, now known as "Edison."
It's a notable week for other inventions, too. For example, in 1954, Texas Instruments introduced the transistor radio. Up until the '50s, radios were big bulky things, full of vacuum tubes and wires. With the invention of the transistor in 1947, it was suddenly possible to make radios, televisions, and pretty much anything electronic small and portable. The transistor radio came along just in time for post-war teenagers to carry rock and roll music anywhere, driving their parents and other adults crazy. And Friday will mark the anniversary of the creation of the first Xerox image in 1938. Before then, people actually had to write or type things on a sheet of paper to duplicate them. Now, plagiarism is only the push of a button away.
Speaking of "crazy," "The Talk" debuts on CBS today, featuring Sara Gilbert, Sharon Osbourne, Leah Remini, Julie Chen, Holly Robinson Peete, and Marissa Jaret Winokur in a show that's absolutely nothing like "The View." (We mention that it's also World Menopause Day - completely in passing ...)
While we've mentioned science, let's not forget art. In 1896, the world's first comic strip, "The Yellow Kid," debuted. It wasn't so much a "strip" as a daily cartoon featuring something outlandish in society that the otherwise-mute Kid would comment on with writing on his nighshirt. What he would have had to say about Henri Matisse's "Le Bateau," we can only imagine. It went on display at New York's Museum of Modern Art on this day in 1961 - and it wasn’t until 116, 000 viewers and 47 days had passed that someone noticed that the painting had been hanging upside down.
We finish by noting it's Alaska Day, commemorating the transfer of Alaska from Russia to the United States in 1867. (No jokes about seeing Russia from your house, please ...)
Tuesday:
Only two events of note today. One is the 1745 death of Jonathan Swift, the cleric, novelist, and satirist who gave us "Gulliver's Travels" (whence originated our corporate name) and "A Modest Proposal." One is tempted to hope he was eaten by cannibals, but, alas, he met his end via a stroke.
In 1945, Harris Glen Milstead was born in Baltimore. Glenn led an ordinary life until he met aspiring filmmaker John Waters, who cast him as "The Smoking Nun" in his film "Roman Candles," renaming him "Divine," the name he used the rest of his life. Divine was described by "People" magazine as the "Drag Queen of the Century" (though was there that much competition?) and spent the rest of his career going from one outlandish role to another in Waters' films before his untimely death at the age of 42.
Wednesday:
We have three seasonal events today that are absolutely appropriately for this time of year. In 1967, Roger Patterson and Robert Gimlin, took out their home-movie camera, photographed a guy in a gorilla suit, and claimed they’d filmed a Bigfoot. The veracity of the footage has been the subject of debate ever since, though we're prepared to say it's a fake.
In the otherwise-sleepy hamlet of Circleville, Ohio, the annual Circleville Pumpkin Show will begin its four-day run today. Since 1903, the festival has presented thousands of these flavorful squashes to an adoring public who come for the sculpting, bands, and beauty contests, but who stay for the World’s Largest Pumpkin Pie, baked fresh every year by Lindsey’s Bake Shop.
In 1882, Bela Blasko was born in Lugos, Romania. At 12, the stage-struck Bela dropped out of school, became an actor, and changed his last name to Lugosi. As Bela Lugosi, he was a matinee idol in his own country, before coming to America in 1921. He worked as a laborer and occasional actor until 1927, when his continental good looks and accent made him a natural for the title role in the Broadway production of “Dracula." While the play was a smash hit, and led to a Hollywood contract, his accent baffled casting directors, who could see him only as a romantic vampire, and he was soon type-cast in horror films. Despite some occasional “straight” roles (most notably in 1938’s "Ninotchka," his career quickly headed to not-very-good parts in B-pictures, usually parodying his image. He always gave his utmost, even when the material was sub-par, as in his final films with Ed Wood, Hollywood’s worst director. He died of a heart attack in 1956.
Thursday:
More unrelated (but still interesting) events for the day:
In 1849, the first tattooed man to be put on public exhibit, James F. O’Connel, was put on display at the Franklin Theatre in New York City. Not sure what more can be added to that.
Except perhaps noting that today is Reptile Awareness Day, so we encourage you to go out and be aware of some reptiles -- perhaps while enjoying a big plate of nachos, since it’s also the International Day of the Nacho.
Friday:
When we compile these lists, we’re overwhelmed with celebrations of "National This Day" and "International That Week," so imagine our surprise and disappointment when we discovered that one of our sources lists October 22 with this note: “There are no holiday events on record for this day,” Is it possible that only one day out of 365 is bereft of some kind of celebration? It may be true, though (alas!), as the only other events of note we could find are the 107th birthday of Stooge Jerome "Curly" Howard, and the fact that it’s International Stuttering Awareness Day.
Curly is probably the most popular of all the Stooges, combining a unique physical and vocal style into a characterization that was breathtakingly bold in the 1930s and has been a boon to adolescent boys (of all ages) in the decades since.
Saturday:
Looking for something fun to do today? We have three suggestions.
1) Celebrate the 80th anniversary of the world’s first miniature golf tournament in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The tournament was won by J.K. Scott, though the record neglects to state whether he was better shooting through the windmill or the castle.
2) If you’re near Oklahoma City, you might join the Ghouls Gone Wild celebration headlined by The Flaming Lips and participate in their annual March of 1000 Flaming Skeletons. Be warned, though, you’ve got to handle a live torch - and those costumes can be flammable.
3) You can celebrate Mole Day. The “Mole” is a method of counting the Avogadro number - 6.02 x 10 to the 23rd power of anything. Amodeo Avogadro discovered that the number of molecules in a mole is the same for all substances, which allows chemists are able to precisely measure quantities of chemicals in the lab. Mole Day is intended to help everyone become enthusiastic about chemistry. If you understood a word of that, the first two events may be too strenuous for you, so our advice is to stick with the chemistry.
Sunday:
To finish off the week, we’ll note the near-irony of it being the Feast of Good & Plenty, because yes, we had a number of good events this week, but not plenty of them.
It’s also World Origami Day, which somehow runs through November 11 (must be that those origami artists are able to fold time and space, as well as paper).
Speaking of folding, we also have to mention that, on this day in 1901, Annie Edson Taylor became the first person to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel. How she didn’t end up folded herself is one of the miracles of the age - especially considering she did it to celebrate her 63rd birthday. She’d sent her cat over the falls in her specially-padded barrel the day before, and when the feline emerged unscathed, she figured it was safe enough for her. Mrs. Taylor suffered a cut on her head, but was otherwise unharmed, though she did tell the press, "If it was with my dying breath, I would caution anyone against attempting the feat. I would sooner walk up to the mouth of a cannon, knowing it was going to blow me to pieces than make another trip over the Falls."
If all the above sounds like a lot of baloney, we merely note the appropriateness of today being National Bologna Day, and leave you make up your own mind.
See you next time!
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 Welcome to the Bates Motel! Greetings from Norman Bates, your genial host |
(Editor’s note: Even though we’re discussing a 50-year-old movie, SPOILERS AHEAD.)
Imagine that you’re a filmgoer in 1960. You see that Alfred Hitchcock's new movie, "Psycho," is going to open on June 16th. You like the star, Janet Leigh, and Hitchcock's recent pictures -- "North by Northwest," "The Trouble with Harry," and "Vertigo" -- have combined suspense, drama, and even comedy. Even his television show ("Alfred Hitchcock Presents") tends to combine thrills and chuckles more often than not.
You head down to your local movie theatre (one screen, 800 seats), expecting to kill a couple of diverting hours. You have no idea what time the movie starts, but (as usual) the friendly ushers will seat you in the middle of the picture and, when you reach the point at which you came in, you’ll leave.
You arrive at the theatre and are met by a strange sign; one that tells you that no one will be seated once the picture has started. (That's odd.) Fortunately, the show is about to begin, so you plunk down your 50 cents admission and head into the cool darkness.
The movie begins and it seems to be a standard caper. Leigh's character steals $40,000 from her boss and goes on the lam. After a long drive, she checks into a roadside motel that has seen better days. After dinner with the somewhat-odd owner, she takes a refreshing shower -- and is suddenly stabbed to death in a brutal attack.
What the hell? She’s the star! She can't be dead.
And yet she is. And that was only one of the many shocks that faced the 1960 audience when "Psycho" opened. The movie, which was based on a novel by Robert Bloch (which was, in turn, based on the life of serial killer Ed Gein) was something audiences had never seen before in a mainstream Hollywood film. Leading and supporting actors brutally murdered on screen, blood pouring down drains -- even a flushing toilet.
Here in the oh-so-sophisticated 21st century, "Psycho" no longer packs the punch it once did. Nowadays, a "horror" film that doesn't feature graphic violence and oceans of gore is considered old-fashioned and tame. But Hitchcock was interested in more than shocking an audience (though he was a genius at that); he wanted to make them sweat. He often talked about the difference between surprise and suspense. Surprise is when a bomb suddenly goes off; suspense is when the audience knows that bomb is going to go off at any minute but has no way to warn the characters. It's one thing for an audience to suspect that characters are going to be murdered, but when the leading lady is butchered in the first half hour, their world is upset and anything can happen.
Contemporary reviews ranged from lukewarm to outraged (the film critic of the London Observer was so offended that she quit her job), but audiences couldn't get enough, and "Psycho" was the highest-grossing film of Hitchcock's long career, even garnering four Academy Award nominations. Its cultural impact has been long-lasting: the shower scene has become iconic, as has Bernard Herrmann's screeching score. And in spite of the changes in audiences' tastes over the last half century, recent polls still rank it as one of the scariest movies ever made.
So, if you get a chance, why not load the DVD into your player, turn out the lights, and give yourself a good scare. Just be careful if you shower afterward.
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Archived under: 1960s, Alfred Hitchcock, Anniversaries, Black and White, Cross-dressing, Directors, Entertainment, Filmmaking, Horror, Horror Films, Movie History, Movie Trailers, Movies, Murder, Secrets, Serial Killers, Spoilers, Vintage |
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Vampires, be they sullen and sparkly, lustful and lascivious, conniving, cuddly, or just plain creepy, have always held enormous sway over our collective imagination. Over the years, "count"less novels, films, stage works, and television shows have told fascinating tales concerning all ilk of vampire, but today the frenzy seems to be at a bloodthirsty high. Thanks in large part to Stephenie Meyer's angst-ridden "Twilight" saga and Alan Ball's HBO series "True Blood" (based on author Charlaine Harris' pulpy "The Southern Vampire Mysteries" series), everyone seems overcome with vampire fever. But Edward and Alice, Bill and Eric, and all of their fine fanged friends would probably have never been brought to "unlife" without Bram Stoker and his terrifying vampire spawn, Count Dracula.
First published on May 18, 1897, Stoker's "Dracula" is an epistolary Gothic novel amalgamating Eastern European folklore and vampire legend into an adventure story set alternately in Victorian London and the title character's Transylvania environs. He wasn't literature's first vampire, but Count Dracula is certainly its most enduring and influential. The novel was fairly well-received in its day, but gained broader appeal when filmmakers started immortalizing the Count on celluloid. Unforgettable films like Tod Browning's "Dracula" with Béla Lugosi and F.W. Murnau's "Nosferatu," starring Max Schreck, drove Stoker's story deep into the imagination of audiences like a sharpened stake through the heart. Variations of the story are myriad and, over a century later, Stoker's work continues to find its way into popular culture and new media.
It's interesting to note that the Count actually appears in very little of Stoker's novel. Most of what Stoker shows us is the effect of Dracula's presence in the lives of Jonathan Harker and his circle of companions, and the aftermath of his failed plot to conquer London (a common thread in much of the "invasion literature" popular at the time). Dracula's most terrifying deeds occur "offstage," so to speak, which serves to brilliantly heighten the tension and terror. Stoker's vampire exists in the shadows and our protagonists must battle a foe they rarely see and can barely comprehend. It's a testament to Stoker's vivid imaginings and compelling storytelling that such a reclusive and shrouded character continues to inspire playwrights and poets, TV and film writers, and composers and artists alike.
Can we expect a bloodsucker backlash from all this Transylvania-mania? It appears to already be happening, but history has shown that, love them or hate them, vampires don't die easily. Imposters will certainly continue to emerge from the dusty coffins of pop culture, but the original Count Dracula is one vampire that will never suck.
Suggested Sites...
- BramStoker.org - features free downloadable copies of many of Stoker's novels and short stories, as well as information about the author.
- The Bram Stoker Awards - presented by the Horror Writer's Association for superior achievement, named in honor of the author of the seminal horror work, Dracula.
- The Twilight Saga - official website for Stephenie Meyer's series of vampire love stories, the Twilight Saga.
- True Blood - official website for the HBO series, featuring videos, images, schedule information and episode guides.
- Cult Vampire Magazine - BBC magazine showcasing classic stories, modern fiction, artwork, and interviews with vampire experts.
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Archived under: 1920s, 1930s, 19th Century, Anniversaries, Authors, Bela Lugosi, Blood, Books, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Entertainment, Fiction, Horror, Horror Films, Monsters and Creatures, Movies, Mythology and Folklore, Paranormal, Vampires, Weird Stuff |
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A musical based on "The Addams Family" debuts on Broadway
tonight, more than seventy years after they first appeared in The New Yorker in comic form. Since debuting in 1938, "The Addams Family" has been adapted into television
shows, cartoons, video games, movies, and now a theatrical production. With such a large oeuvre to build upon, it seems only natural that America's oddest and most macabre family would easily take to the stage. However, reviews of the show's preview run in Chicago were mixed. It's too early to make a prediction as to whether the show will succeed, but if the cast's performance on Late Show with David Letterman on April 6th is any indication, it'll at least be energetic.
But are perfectly-designed costumes, bubbling tunes, and an A-list cast enough? In Broadway's never-ending search for that next must-see hit musical, have producers gotten lazy in their quest for new material? In the 1960's, it was Hollywood that turned to Broadway for inspiration; now it's the other way around. In the last decade, a slew of new musicals have been churned out based on stories that first made their debuts on the silver screen. "Hairspray," "The Lion King," and "The Producers" all
performed extraordinarily well on Broadway, with two of the three shows leading to film remakes of the originals (with music added, of course).
However, for all the acclaim musicals like "Spamalot," "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels," and "The Full Monty" have garnered, should Broadway be looking to Hollywood as its main source of inspiration? "Legally Blonde" was charming the first time around, but did it really need a sequel and a musical on top of it? How will Spider-Man hold up when all his special effects and computer-generated imagery are stripped away? (Despite a score by Bono and The Edge.) Does "Footloose" retain its charm without Kevin Bacon doing men's gymnastics in an empty warehouse?
The question Broadway ought to be asking itself is not whether musicals based on movies are a safe bet, but whether it wants to be in the same company as producers who take a good story and beat it to death with sequels. A remake is only as good as the story that's left to retell. "The Addams Family" musical may sell tickets, but let's hope it's not a slippery slope to "Transformers: The Musical."
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Archived under: 1920s, 1960s, Broadway, Charles Addams, Comics, Entertainment, Events, Hollywood, Horror, Humor, Movies, Musicals, Performing Arts, Sitcoms, TV, The Addams Family, The New Yorker, Weird Stuff |
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We Buy Old Jukeboxes Buying Antique Wurlitzer, Seeburg, AMI, & Rock-Ola Jukeboxes www.WurlitzerJukebox.u...
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