Therapy

Since I started this blog last summer, I've really enjoyed having the opportunity to express myself in such a way that my thoughts can be shared with friends and family. It helps me therapeutically to have a forum that allows me to write about whatever I want and then garner almost immediate feedback. Please be aware, however, that the more feedback (comments) I get, the more incentive and creative energy I have to continue writing! Please take the time to register on Google and leave comments whenever you can - even if you don't agree with a particular blog entry. Not only does this give me an opportunity to enter into fun discussion and healthy debate, it also gives me an idea of how many people are actually reading this stuff. The more the merrier. Therapy is good. Therapy helps me to forget about $%#@# back pain! Thank you!

Truth

I've come to the conclusion that I, as a member of society, am part of a vast jury - forever judging the literal assault of information fed to me on a daily basis by the lawyers of the media. As I sift through the multiple layers of information and misinformation, it is not innocence or guilt that I am trying to decipher. It is simply the truth. The truth that sits precariously in the middle of a giant swamp of deception and blatant lies - some of it purposeful and some of it born of ignorance.

Movie Reviews of the Old, Odd, and Obscure (Part 3)

Advancing minerals about to crush a farm house

Doctor desperately trying to help the young girl before she turns to stone

Meteor crater with traces of the Monolith Monster minerals

Getting dangerously close to town

Growing in the rain

Salt water finally stops the menace

The Monolith Monsters (1957) Universal International Pictures

Near the Southwestern town of San Angelo, a huge meteor crashes in the desert and leaves strange black fragments scattered all around. After a young girl brings a piece of the alien mineral home and throws it in a tub of water, the police later find her house destroyed with large pieces of that black mineral spread everywhere and the little girl standing in the shadows in complete shock - her hand darkened and hardening like stone. The girls parents are then found in the rubble, dead and also hardened like stone. The town geologist (and main character) spends the movie trying to figure out what's causing these minerals to grow and whether it has any connection to the bizarre deaths happening in the small town. Eventually the geologist discovers that water is the catalyst for the rapid growth of the mineral fragments. Meanwhile, the little girl is found to be dying as the hardening of her hand is now spreading up her arm. A specialist discovers that the silicone in her body is somehow being removed and consequently causing the hardening of her body. Finally, the little girl's life is saved with a simple saline solution as the geologist discovers salt water stops the rapid growth of the minerals and renders them inert. Of course, a large rain storm hits the area and these mineral fragments out in the desert begin growing to the height of tall buildings. As they grow, they fall over, break apart, and those pieces continue to grow. This pattern continues as they grow, fall, and break apart while moving downhill toward the town. As the minerals approach the town, the geologist has a nearby dam blown up so that the water flows directly through a nearby salt mine. The mixture of flowing water and salt flows into a ravine just in time as the growing minerals fall into the salt water of the ravine (which just happens to be in between the town and the minerals).

I first saw this movie as a child on the "Horror Incorporated" show on KSTP Channel 5 (which used to broadcast old science fiction movies on weekends). To this day, I remember a couple of scenes in that movie that scared me as a kid. The first scene that freaked me out was when the police first discover the little girl standing in the shadows inside the wreckage of her house. At first the viewer can only see part of her until the camera zooms in to reveal her face in complete shock. The second scene that scared me was the discovery of the girl's dead parents under the rubble - wide eyed and hardened to stone. Because of these memories, I was thrilled to find this movie a couple years ago when Universal Studios released the first of two five packs of their old science fiction movies. The picture quality on the DVD is pristine.

This was another of many low budget science fiction movies made by Universal Studios in the fifties. Although the science used to explain the growth and destruction of the minerals is silly, the movie is very well made. Light and shadow are used very effectively to bring out the best of the limited budget's few sets and desert landscapes. The special effects are downright cool for a movie of this age. The model work used to show the growing, advancing minerals breaking apart and then crashing onto a farm house as well as the dam blowing up, washing through the salt piles and then flowing past the crashing minerals all looked fantastic - even to this jaded viewer. As a modern viewer, it's more than obvious to me when a model is used in an old movie like this, but I can also tell when special attention and care was given. This movie is full of that kind of care. For that reason, this movie deserves a top spot among the best of my science fiction collection.

Movie Reviews of the Old, Odd, and Obscure (Part 2)

The evil robot, Maximilian

One of the better action sequences

Beautiful set piece combined with matte painting

The ship lights and star field are breathtaking

The Black Hole (1979) Walt Disney Productions

In the year 2130, an exploratory spaceship encounters a huge black hole along with a long lost ship, the USS Cygnus. They discover that the USS Cygnus is run by a maniacal genius who keeps his previous crew as brain-dead slaves along with an army of robots to run the huge ship while he plans to take the ship into the black hole.

I saw this movie when it was first released at the theater back in 1979 while I was in 9th or 10th grade. I remember thinking back then that the movie was a bit slow and clunky with a mixture of good and bad special effects. I didn't give it much thought after that until recently when I decided to buy the DVD for nostalgia if nothing else. However, my 2nd viewing at the ripe old age of 45 revealed a few things I missed as a teenager. First of all, Disney spent a ton of money on the sets and matte paintings. The star fields have a beautiful blue hue to them, rather than the usual stark black, giving the space scenes a dreamy quality. Secondly, the sets and matte paintings used to portray the interior of the USS Cygnus are absolutely breathtaking when viewed purely on an artistic level. The interior of the main control room did not have the usual interior space ship lights and buttons I was used to seeing in movies at that time. These lights were more elongated and numerous, set in patterns that were probably not very practical but were certainly pleasing to the eye. What still doesn't work in the movie (and probably the reason the movie bombed at the box office) is the silly dialog and awkward pacing. Most of the dialog is downright cringe worthy. Also, the special effects used in the live action sequences were very old fashioned. In most of the scenes of people floating in zero gravity as well as many of the hovering robot sequences, wires were clearly visible - blatantly and embarrassingly visible.

The DVD itself was created in 2004 and still looks decent. The colors of the gorgeous set pieces pop, and the site of the black hole itself is nice to look at. The print of the film could have been cleaned up a bit more as spots and minor scratches were visible throughout. All in all, The Black Hole is fun movie to watch as long as one tunes out the dialog and just takes in the beautiful set pieces.

Movie Reviews of the Old, Odd, and Obscure

The creature oozing up the street

The creature flowing over a stone wall

When one gets too close to the creature

Glowing and ready to explode

X - The Unknown (1956) Hammer Studios

The British Army stumbles upon a radioactive creature that resembles glowing mud. Surviving miles beneath the earth's crust, the creature escapes through a crack in the earth and relentlessly seeks out radioactive facilities in order to absorb the radiation, killing anyone in it's path as it creeps across the countryside.

Rarely broadcast on television (at least in the Winona area), few people have seen this movie that I'm aware of. A few years ago, I happened to catch this movie on AMC and was pleasantly surprised. The movie was well directed by Leslie Norman who later went on to direct a long list of British television series through the 60's and 70's (including some episodes of "The Saint" and "The Avengers"). Wonderfully eerie black and white photography adds to a number of well constructed scenes of suspense and terror - including two shockingly graphic scenes depicting people melting when the creature gets too close to them. The acting and dialog are extremely well done for a low budget movie made in 1956 (which was typical of British cinema at the time).

I found this movie on DVD and bought it earlier this year. The sound and picture quality are top notch for a movie of this age. The print shows very few spots or scratches while the light, shadow, and contrasts in each scene look beautiful. All in all, "X - The Unknown" turned out to be one of the best in my science fiction movie collection.

Lee's Progress

Lee has successfully completed Army basic training and is now about one week into MP training. I don't know if this is good or bad but Lee received the top score in using grenades. He also did really well in weapon accuracy (it is my understanding that he would have had "sharp shooter" if his gun hadn't jammed). His graduation date is still scheduled for April 22nd.

I know Lee is missing home, but now that basic training is over, life isn't quite as regimented. At least he is allowed to take longer showers (rather than 30 second showers) and has more free time on Sunday.

He still has a good chance of being deployed over seas either before, during, or after he attends college. Because of this, please send him positive thoughts in hopes that he is not sent to one of the more dangerous zones.

Lee really enjoys getting letters and has appreciated all the well wishes from friends and family.

Here are the original instructions in how to write to Lee:

Remember to write a 1 on the back of the envelope so it gets to him.
On the front:
Pvt. Kulas, Lee 1
E-787-1
Bldg 932
Fort Leonard Wood, MO 65473

Remember, no food, no books, basically nothing fun in the envelope except your letter.

The War on Science

Despite the fact that science and technology continues to advance at warp speed, a gradual groundswell of scientific backlash threatens to throw our basic understanding of science back into the dark ages.

I first became aware of this trend back in the 1980's when Ronald Reagan was president. Happily stuffed into the back pocket of the Republican Party (as well as the pocket of some democrats), powerful lobbyists working for the big energy companies were already starting to twist reality, convincing misguided conservative folks that environmentalists were evil. These lobbyists were even better than the tobacco lobbyists (who, as I recall, tried really hard to convince us that cigarettes did not cause cancer). All they needed to do was pay certain doctors and scientists insane amounts of money to twist the facts as convincingly as possible.

These tactics continue to work to this day. Apparently, the east coast snow storm was ample proof for Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, and a number of republican politicians to proclaim that there is no such thing as global warming. Good grief! Global warming means just that - the trend that the entire planet is gradually warming. Averaging the temperature of the entire planet showed that the previous decade was the warmest on record. This average temperature is increasing despite parts of the world being really cold and SNOWY in the winter. Duh!!

This dumbing down of America is showing in other areas as well. The way things are going, I don't think it will be long before the state of Kansas outlaws science text books completely. Despite the fact that "intelligent design" is a religious belief and not actually a scientific theory, a large number of folks in Kansas want it placed side by side with "evolution". I find that extremely frightening. Soon the day will come when a child is asked to open his or her science text book and that child will be opening the bible. A science field trip will consist of a trip to the "Creation Museum" http://creationmuseum.org/ at which our children will learn all about how the earth is only 6,000 years old and that people used to live right along side dinosaurs just like Fred Flintstone. These kids can then grow up - no longer advancing technology and medicine. Illness will need to be cured with superstition and magic. Good luck with that, America.