Fangs For The Memories, AIP

I love my new job. One of the advantages of working closer to home is that I feel so much more connected to the people around me. I reckon in the last two weeks I've seen more people socially than in two months at my previous job. I was even able to hook up with misteroblivious for a combination picnic and DVD/CD swap last weekend.

I lent him copies of Manos - The Hands of Fate, the Star Wars trilogy, and my Tomorrow People boxed set. I fully expect to at least see a review of Manos on the blog sometime soon. I ended up with the ELO boxed set and Bryan Ferry's Taxi. Plus, misterobvious was finished with my Midnite Movies double feature of Count Yorga, Vampire and The Return of Count Yorga.

With Lamont traveling to George Romero country to retrive children from summer camp, I spent my evening down at my mom's house. Steak dinner, swimming at the pool, nap and movie... It really doesn't get any better than that. My mom had requested that I bring along a movie to screen on her gigantic Phillips widescreen television. We had recently exhausted all the Hammer horror classics, so for a change of pace I brought along The Return of Count Yorga.

As a horror film fan, my adoration of the genre really runs towards the aforementioned Hammer films and Roger Corman's Poe series. But there's something about American-International Pictures of the early seventies that really fascinates me. No one will claim that the seventies found AIP at the top of its game. So maybe it's nostalgia that fuels my interest -- I remember catching a lot of them on TV back in elementary school, or maybe it's just knowing that these movies were the last gasp of fangs and castles before the genre was taken over by demon possession and mad slashers.

Take the Return of Count Yorga for instance. The acting, cinematography and makeup really aren't that great, but somehow the film hangs together as an experience much more than the sum of its individual parts. Scenes of Robert Quarry in pancake makeup running in slow motion should induce laughter -- instead, it's terrifying. The vampire brides attack on a family during a wind storm is particularly unsettling, even if it looks like their fake fangs are going to slip out of their mouths at any moment.

It was dark by the time the movie had finished and we all thought we could faintly hear the Santa Ana winds...

Like most AIP films of the era, The Return of Count Yorga is just plain fun, and isn't that what watching movies is all about?

That's Easy For You To Say

REDNECK:
ah was tryin' t'do some freelance writin' today, but ah developed a splittin' haidache. ah thunk thet perhaps ah c'd write a bit on th' blog an' thet might git th' creative a six packs flowin'. Alas, no luck. Shet mah mouth! So ah jest said, "th' heck wif it," an' came acrost this hyar right fine website which translates o'dinary text into diffrunt dialecks.

HACKER:
"i was tryuing to do some rfeelAnc ewriting troday,, but i drevelopde a splityingh Eadache i Thought that perhaps i could writ3 a bbit on the lbfg andthat m1ht fget tyeh creative juices fl0\/\/ing.. ALAZ,N OP LUXR0!!!!!!11~~ so i jusT saiD, 'Teh heX0r with 1t," and cam3 acorsz thia 733y wbes1re which transl8s oirdinary text into diufferent dialecs... LOLOLOLOLOLOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11~"

JIVE:
I wuz tryin' t'do some freelance writin' today, but ah' developed some splittin' haidache. ah' dought dat puh'haps ah' could scribble some bit on de blog and dat might dig de creative juices flowin'. Alas, no luck. Ya' know? So's I plum said, "de heck wid it," and came across dis waaay coo' website which translates o'dinary text into different dialects.

ORIGINAL POSTING:
I was trying to do some freelance writing today, but I developed a splitting headache. I thought that perhaps I could write a bit on the blog and that might get the creative juices flowing. Alas, no luck. So I just said, "the heck with it," and came across this cool website which translates ordinary text into different dialects.

Surf on over to THE DIALECTIZER and check it out!

Quote of the Week: Kindness

"If you want to be holy, be kind." -- Frederick Buechner

Table Fellowship

Lamont and I went to a cookout last night with twenty of our friends from church. It was nice to spend some time with them with no other agenda than just "hanging out." Today we're doing a fundraiser dinner at church and Lamont went for extra credit for buying tickets for my extended family. It must be the weekend for eating and talking.

It's got me thinking... I think there would be fewer problems in the world if more people ate together. People may disagree about finances, lifestyles, politics, but pretty much everyone can agree that chicken tastes delicious and that pecan pie is a good idea.

Maybe fast food isn't just physical malnourishment, but spiritually and emotionally debilitating as well.

Read the Gospels and notice how many events (and miracles) take place around food. For instance, what churches now call communion started as a Passover dinner that Jesus threw for his friends in a rented banquet room. The first miracle took place during a wedding reception, for Pete's sake.

Start world peace -- invite someone over for dinner tonight!

The Name Game

Celebrities do some pretty strange things, from mouth-kissing Larry King on TV to wearing a swan costume at an awards presentation. And don't even get me started on Michael Jackson. But I still find it hard to believe that famous people are giving their babies such whacked-out names as Banjo, Apple and Moxie CrimeFighter. My pet theory? That celebrities publicize these bogus crazy names so their offspring can be protected from stalkers and other people that would otherwise invade their privacy...

But what do I know. My parents named me I.F.!!!

Beam Me Up, Scotty

It's 4th of July week and it seems like everyone is on vacation -- even celebrities. I tuned into Larry King Live tonight and the subject was:

UFO's -- REAL OR FAKE?

I guess in lieu of celebrities or actual news makers Larry had to slip into Art Bell territory. Maybe he'll interview Sasquatch tomorrow.

Mood Music

I commute. A long way. I've spent the last seven months or so listening to just about every Book on CD that the Prendergast Library has had to offer. But summer is here and it's just not the same cruising down the highways and byways of Western New York with The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People blaring out of my speakers.

It's time for music.

Here's my top five picks for music that never fails to put me in a good mood:

1. Delirious - King of Fools
2. The Kinks - Village Green Preservation Society
3. The Soundtrack to Rushmore
4. Roxy Music - Avalon
5. "Pretty much anything by The Beatles"

So what music makes your commute go nicer? Leave a comment and let me know.