Monthly Archives: October 2009
Jolly Halloween tidings in the Cotton Club style
Here’s an incredible cartoon clip from the Golden Age of animation, perfect for today. It’s from the 1933 Max Fleisher film “Snow White,” starring Betty Boop … and Cab Calloway as a smooth-movin’ clown who turns into a limber ghost. … Continue reading
Filed under Uncategorized
In which I finally fix what bothers me about ‘Nightmare Before Christmas’
So: I love The Nightmare Before Christmas. I saw the original in the theater, including the theatrical return a couple years ago in 3D. I’ve seen it scads — scads — of times on video, then on DVD (even before … Continue reading
Filed under Uncategorized
Fall TV: What’s punching my dance card
What I’m watching this fall: Community: I’ve already talked about how this show roared off the blocks — and as I predicted, the pilot was so good it made itself a tough act to follow. Subsequent episodes haven’t been as … Continue reading
Filed under Uncategorized
Harry Potter and the Maddening Movie Logic
Just watched Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban with the boys. After this, my second viewing, I am compelled to speak out. Spoilers ahead, Potter neophytes. In the Potterverse, a rare wizard may turn himself into an animal at … Continue reading
Filed under Uncategorized
How to desensitize your children to their natural fear of deadly monsters
Some years ago, we added a spookity battery-operated ghoul-thingy to our sparse Halloween display. I’m not sure why. Maybe it was on sale. The thing is, it had a motion detector that made it shake and laugh maniacally when you … Continue reading
Filed under Uncategorized
District Nine(teen Dollars): Another friend’s design has landed at Threadless
OK, I made a big deal when a person I hardly know got her shirt design in the Threadless gauntlet. But was I there when my friend and colleague C.J. Gammon did the same? I was not. I refuse to … Continue reading
Filed under Uncategorized
OK, ‘Clash of the Titans’ remake, you have my full attention
… because of this: Compare that design to its neon-powered predecessor: That’s Laurence Olivier in the original Clash of the Titans, and I think we can tell which Zeus would win in a thunder-off. I take Liam Neeson and his … Continue reading
Filed under Uncategorized
The art of the con: How fearmongering money-grubbers honed in on my dad with dementia
My father has some mild dementia. He’s still himself in all the important ways, but he exhibits strange habits and deficiencies, and most notable among them: He is utterly powerless to resist the siren call of the political action groups … Continue reading
Filed under Uncategorized
