Corrupt Auto Reflex

I don't know. Maybe it was the work of hamsters -- intelligent hamsters.

Earlier in the week, while attempting to add another post to this blog, I dropped a small container of medication on the floor. Worried that it had busted open, spilling it's contents all over the basement floor, I quickly rolled my chair backward and bent down straight forward toward the floor, right arm outstretched. As my hand was within an inch of the medicine container, I felt what I can only describe as an intense jolt in my lower back, worse than anything I've felt before. As the forward momentum carried my clutching hand on the rest of it's journey to the safely closed med container, my mind literally went black. Somehow clutching the container, I snapped back in my chair to a backward leaning position, totally immersed in waves of pain so intense I thought I was outside of my body. If I could ever imagine my body being broken in half at the waist, that must be what it feels like. I can think of nothing worse.

It took only a few seconds for the most intense pain to fade. After which I was left with about 20 minutes of less intense sharp jabs and an overall burning sensation.

Today is the first day I've felt comfortable enough to creep down my basement steps and go back on the computer.

One thing I've learned since the onset of my back problem is that I seem to have little control over my automatic response in trying to catch things that I drop. I have a history of doing this. Back when I used to work in housekeeping at the hospital, years before my back injury, I remember walking into a room in which I was helping a couple of guys remove floor finish. I had a razorblade floor scraper in my hand and dropped it just as I entered the room. My automatic response was to quickly grab it in mid air. Of course the part I caught was the blade instead of the handle.

I don't know. It really must be the work of hamsters - intelligent hamsters ----- evil intelligent hamsters.

Classic "B" Movies Part II

During the early seventies when I was about 10 or 11 years old, I got my first viewing of a strange movie imported from Japan entitled "Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster" (The picture shown in the title of my blog at the top of this page is from that movie). Again I have to thank my mother for taking me to this movie and introducing me to what turned into a lifelong love of Japanese monster movies - and what better movie to start it off than this bizarre, psychedelic, in your face rant on the dangers of pollution. This was my introduction to Godzilla (who had been in a number of movies since his debut in 1954 as "Godzilla: Kind of the Monsters"). This was also the first movie I ever paid to see at the theater more than once. It was also the first time I realized that my taste in movies didn't always measure up with the rest of the human population (as I found out a number of years ago when I read about this movie winning the "Golden Turkey Award" for one of the worst movies ever made). Apparently I'm able to see qualities in this movie that many other people cannot, or what I see as unique and eccentrically amusing, others find to be a painfully awful waste of time. However, once I realized later in life that some of my friends agreed with me as well as a huge following of people on the Internet, I finally felt vindicated in my belief. We're all different. We all grow up in different environments and are exposed to different kinds of entertainment as children. Most importantly, though, I've found that a person's imagination - the scope of it's vividness and openness to strange ideas - plays a large role in shaping that person's taste......either that, or I'm just plain weird.

"The Blob" and Other Classic "B" Movies

Further down along the right side of this blog, I've posted a series of pictures that showcase a tiny fraction of the classic "B" movies I love collecting on DVD.

Just like my love of classic rock and roll, my fascination with this type of cinema started when I was really young. I recall staying up late on weekends just to catch "Horror Incorporated", which was broadcast out of the Twin Cities. Week after week, an eerie, low-pitched, growling voice would introduce me to another golden treasure of sci-fi celluloid. Transfixed, I soaked up every creepy moment with absolute glee. Apart from the usual Frankenstein, Wolfman, and Dracula pictures (which were okay), Horror Incorporated showcased what I really loved - 1950's and early 1960's science fiction! One week it was "The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms" (1951), which was inspired by a short story (The Foghorn) by Ray Bradbury and featured early stop motion model work by Ray Harryhausen (The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, Jason and the Argonauts, Clash of the Titans). The next week it was an attack by giant ants in the movie "Them" utilizing state of the art, life-sized mechanical ants. I was on cloud nine during the week they broadcast, "The Land Unknown" (1957), which contained my all time favorite childhood love - dinosaurs!! I didn't care that the Tyrannosaurus Rex was just a guy lumbering across a cheap set in a dinosaur suit. The movie had decent acting and eerie atmosphere that somehow worked. Other movies shown were more highly regarded such as the original "The War of the Worlds" (1953) with outstanding effects work for the time, and the original "The Thing" (1951) with a good script, acting, and a creepy alien played by James Arness (before his Gunsmoke days).

When I hit age 9 and my imagination was really peaking, I was on pins and needles looking forward to watching the late show with my mom because it featured the sequel to "The Blob" entitled "Beware: The Blob" (1971). I remembered really enjoying the original "The Blob" (1958) when I was younger and couldn't wait to see this newer version. Well, by the time this cheaply made movie (the only movie ever directed by Larry Hagman) was 20 minutes into it's running time, I was so frightened that I needed to stop watching and go to bed. It had something to do with the creature's blood red color, the way it kept growing every time it "absorbed" someone, and it's ability to silently seep under the cracks in doors. It did this in the original as well, but just didn't seem as creepy when I was younger. The idea of this creature freaked me so much, I was unable to sit with my back to an open dark room and I had to constantly keep my feet off the floor near the couch. After this behavior continued for a while, my mother seriously considered sending me to a therapist! Fortunately I finally got over my fear (for the most part) while my love for these kinds of movies has only increased.

Now, as a father, I can enjoy collecting these movies as they slowly restore and release them on DVD and then watch them with my kids. However, as polite as they try to be to their father, asking them to watch these movies has been almost as bad as asking them to watch TV static. Apparently shaped a bit too much by slick, fast pacing and modern CGI (computer generated images), my old favorites must appear to my kids the same way silent movies appeared to me as a kid. No matter. Hopefully, some day my kids will learn to appreciate these movies as a sign of the times in which they were created and view them through the respectful lens of history.