I'd like to share a few memories of Halloween costumes I wore as a kid...and as a little older.
My first trick-or-treating costume, at age six in 1985, was as a simple ghost with the face cut out of the sheet (no Peanuts stuff there). From there, things got a little fancier over the years. The following year I wore a makeshift Superman rain poncho, going practical since in my hometown of Winona, Minnesota it rained practically every Halloween; in '87 was the Go-Bot Cop-Tur (an obscure character which would foreshadow my several costumes of Marvel villains during young adulthood); in '88, after we moved to Santa Cruz, California, I had a pretty good Frankenstein getup.
1989 saw almost no Halloween at age ten, because the Loma Prieta earthquake all but crippled Santa Cruz and all but scarred my psyche forever. Still, I wore a black cape and sparkly gold top hat as a sort of magician. Then as the 90s came on, my costumes really started to delve into popular culture.
'90 gave me a very token Bart Simpson disguise, back when I still watched the show (let's not get into my explicit television attitudes), and I started concentrating on movie-themed costumes from there. I was a Ninja Turtle in 1991 according to their movie sequel of that spring, and next the Terminator at thirteen (maybe a year late, as that was in '92). 1993 inspired me to try a makeshift look of Jack Skellington, who is now a classic character, although my disguise as him looked a lot more like Beetlejuice, if anybody.
I wore one of my proudest costumes to date in high school in '94: The Shadow. Though all black, hardly much above foolish for trick-or-treating, I enjoyed having that one on. 1995 tried a look of "Batman Forever's" Riddler, but it almost didn't work out. My first non-trick-or-treating costume, the next year, was The Phantom (as interpreted on the big screen by Billy Zane), and '97 hit a proverbial gap in the movie costumes, as that year I decided on an anniversary look instead, and commemorated The King's passing with dressing up as Elvis.
I wore a really rag-tag costume that I tried to put together as "Archer" from "Small Soldiers" in 1998, and was a Jedi knight in '99 for the latest "Star Wars." One problem I had in 2000 with a costume as the X-Men's nemesis Magneto was that the paint I put on the helmet myself kept flaking off; otherwise it worked. I almost chose General Thade from version 2.0 of "Planet of the Apes" in '01, but instead decided on a more rad costume that impressed more people: Jack the Ripper, as in the film version of "From Hell." Complete with fake blood across my face.
In '02: the Tooth Fairy killer ("Red Dragon"); in '03, when I visited San Francisco for the parade, Leatherface ("Texas Chainsaw Massacre" v. 2.0); in '04, a zombie (movies featuring those were very popular that year); in '05, Doctor Doom ("Fantastic Four" movie); in '06, the Juggernaut ("X-Men: The Last Stand"); in '07, Michael Meyers ("Halloween" v. 2.0); in '08, Iron Man; in '09, Sabertooth ("X-Men Origins: Wolverine); in '10, my first repeat costume as Iron Man again (as per the sequel); in '11, Thor; in '12, Bane ("The Dark Night Rises"); and my final costume ever consisted of mainly a cardboard machine gun, as Roadblock ("G.I.Joe: Retaliation").
I hope you all have a very happy Halloween.
Sunday, October 28, 2018
Tuesday, October 23, 2018
On one of my favorite horror movies.
In honor of Halloween, I'd like to discuss one of my favorite horror movies.
While "Hellraiser," written and directed by Clive Barker, may have always been cinematically under-appreciated by most, I consider it a work of genius. "Hellraiser," released in 1987 from New World Pictures and now hailed as a cult classic, is a horror picture I have loved for years. It's the kind of existentialist fright-film that has been done the right way by Barker.
I say "existentialist" because the story is all about the borderline between pure pleasure and pure pain blurring, on an inter-dimensional scale. It has to do with Larry and Julia moving into the house once resided in by Larry's brother Frank, who—little do they know—has gone out in a horrific way, thanks to an ominous puzzle box he sacrificed perhaps his soul, but definitely his flesh, to. Later, courtesy of Larry losing blood in a moving accident, Frank is partially resurrected...and that's when things really start getting weird, and slick. Especially when you consider Julia and Frank had been romantically partial to one another...and then there's Larry's young-adult daughter, Kirsty, and...of course...the CENOBITES.
While its sequels have mainly gotten a bum rap, the original "Hellraiser" is truly awesome. It's a positive mark of Clive Barker's admirably demonic intellect, and frames well how his mind works, pondering carnal desires and how they relate to the human spirit, and to the concepts of afterlife too, and how that makes for a mind-blowing fright story. The main Cenobite in the movie has become legendary as well, with the frame of pins embedded in his head and his horrifically rasping voice ("The box. You opened it. We came"). As horror goes, "Hellraiser" definitely one-ups in intelligence all the old slasher venues of the 1980s, taking fright-cinema in a new and imaginative direction for its time. There wasn't anything like it from Barker until 1990's "Nightbreed," based on his novel Cabal. I'd recommend "Hellraiser" to any modern horror connoisseurs, not least for the pin-faced main Cenobite's most memorable line in the whole picture, as a warning against disobedience of his kind: "WE'LL TEAR YOUR SOUL APART!"
While "Hellraiser," written and directed by Clive Barker, may have always been cinematically under-appreciated by most, I consider it a work of genius. "Hellraiser," released in 1987 from New World Pictures and now hailed as a cult classic, is a horror picture I have loved for years. It's the kind of existentialist fright-film that has been done the right way by Barker.
I say "existentialist" because the story is all about the borderline between pure pleasure and pure pain blurring, on an inter-dimensional scale. It has to do with Larry and Julia moving into the house once resided in by Larry's brother Frank, who—little do they know—has gone out in a horrific way, thanks to an ominous puzzle box he sacrificed perhaps his soul, but definitely his flesh, to. Later, courtesy of Larry losing blood in a moving accident, Frank is partially resurrected...and that's when things really start getting weird, and slick. Especially when you consider Julia and Frank had been romantically partial to one another...and then there's Larry's young-adult daughter, Kirsty, and...of course...the CENOBITES.
While its sequels have mainly gotten a bum rap, the original "Hellraiser" is truly awesome. It's a positive mark of Clive Barker's admirably demonic intellect, and frames well how his mind works, pondering carnal desires and how they relate to the human spirit, and to the concepts of afterlife too, and how that makes for a mind-blowing fright story. The main Cenobite in the movie has become legendary as well, with the frame of pins embedded in his head and his horrifically rasping voice ("The box. You opened it. We came"). As horror goes, "Hellraiser" definitely one-ups in intelligence all the old slasher venues of the 1980s, taking fright-cinema in a new and imaginative direction for its time. There wasn't anything like it from Barker until 1990's "Nightbreed," based on his novel Cabal. I'd recommend "Hellraiser" to any modern horror connoisseurs, not least for the pin-faced main Cenobite's most memorable line in the whole picture, as a warning against disobedience of his kind: "WE'LL TEAR YOUR SOUL APART!"
Tuesday, October 16, 2018
A bit on Slash.
Guns 'N' Roses' own Saul "Slash" Hudson, years hence, has become a veritable living legend, as one of the most talented and accomplished rock guitarists of modern times.
A lot of rock fans, myself included, have thrilled to the licks Slash has put down on several hit GNR songs; there's the sentimental and yet grooving opening bars of "Sweet Child O' Mine," and equally sweetly moody—and also rocking—solo in "November Rain." Slash can also play hard and nasty on tracks like "Welcome to the Jungle" and "You Could Be Mine." He balances out Axl's singing in the all-time great way for the band.
Individually, Slash has had his rises and falls. He broke away from the band a couple of times, performing in other groups; "Slash and the Snake Pit" was one, sometime in the Nineties, with the lead singer of Jellyfish. We can't remember how successful that was, but more recently, he's done solo concerts, playing both original songs and GNR covers.
And he has at times become another victim of the indulgent rock 'n' roll grind; I heard once that Slash—this is a direct quote—"once urinated on his road manager, who was carrying him at the time." Well, at least on the rock scene, one could more or less come away from that all right, unlike in, say, politics.
But as for the man's guitarist talent, it is unique; we watch Slash pulling away with liberality at the guitar, that trademark hair in his eyes, and are amazed at the skill with which he makes quality rock music emerge. The hard-driven licks come with ease for one as successful in the ability as he is; few are comparable to Slash on the guitar, even really Eddie Van Halen (though they both have done background music on Michael Jackson songs). As an axe man, Slash can genuinely be remembered.
A lot of rock fans, myself included, have thrilled to the licks Slash has put down on several hit GNR songs; there's the sentimental and yet grooving opening bars of "Sweet Child O' Mine," and equally sweetly moody—and also rocking—solo in "November Rain." Slash can also play hard and nasty on tracks like "Welcome to the Jungle" and "You Could Be Mine." He balances out Axl's singing in the all-time great way for the band.
Individually, Slash has had his rises and falls. He broke away from the band a couple of times, performing in other groups; "Slash and the Snake Pit" was one, sometime in the Nineties, with the lead singer of Jellyfish. We can't remember how successful that was, but more recently, he's done solo concerts, playing both original songs and GNR covers.
And he has at times become another victim of the indulgent rock 'n' roll grind; I heard once that Slash—this is a direct quote—"once urinated on his road manager, who was carrying him at the time." Well, at least on the rock scene, one could more or less come away from that all right, unlike in, say, politics.
But as for the man's guitarist talent, it is unique; we watch Slash pulling away with liberality at the guitar, that trademark hair in his eyes, and are amazed at the skill with which he makes quality rock music emerge. The hard-driven licks come with ease for one as successful in the ability as he is; few are comparable to Slash on the guitar, even really Eddie Van Halen (though they both have done background music on Michael Jackson songs). As an axe man, Slash can genuinely be remembered.
Thursday, October 11, 2018
Bad news on the email front.
I'm going to have to change email servers with Comcast this Saturday.
It turns out my current email server, which I won't name for legal reasons, has become totally unreliable, in particular in the area of loading my email so I can read it. I've first had cutoffs, and then freeze-ups, the latter of which has forced me to restart my entire computer. That was an intense experience, thinking I would lose some things on it. Thank heavens, I lost nothing. But probably I could have.
I only hope Comcast and Xfinity, with whom I have Internet service, will help me in easily switching to a more reliable server for email. There's a good chance they will. In any eventuality, they had better, because I haven't had the courage to check my email since Sunday. They're backing up. Wish me good luck. I don't know if I'll need it, but I can't keep putting this off. Not even with all the things I have to do this week that are also important, like errands for the family.
It turns out my current email server, which I won't name for legal reasons, has become totally unreliable, in particular in the area of loading my email so I can read it. I've first had cutoffs, and then freeze-ups, the latter of which has forced me to restart my entire computer. That was an intense experience, thinking I would lose some things on it. Thank heavens, I lost nothing. But probably I could have.
I only hope Comcast and Xfinity, with whom I have Internet service, will help me in easily switching to a more reliable server for email. There's a good chance they will. In any eventuality, they had better, because I haven't had the courage to check my email since Sunday. They're backing up. Wish me good luck. I don't know if I'll need it, but I can't keep putting this off. Not even with all the things I have to do this week that are also important, like errands for the family.
Friday, October 5, 2018
Vacation hopes for '19.
What I was hoping to do in the spring of 2019, was take a certain kind of vacation: a Mississippi river boat cruise.
I was wondering if that sort of vacation is available. I wonder if it would only last a few days, since with promoting (and composing) my books, I don't think I have much purchase to take long trips these days. I also wonder if it's necessary to set up an appointment to speak to an agent at my local AAA office. Probably I could just go in and talk to someone.
In case Mississippi river boat cruises aren't available per se, I could just set up a reasonable alternative. Actually, I don't rightly know if it would have to necessarily be one in which I'd have to fly somewhere. Air travel has gotten inconvenient over the years. One trip on my own that I enjoyed was taking a train to Reno, I believe it was in 2014. I didn't have to fly anywhere for that.
Still, a Mississippi river boat cruise would be a great idea. I'll talk to someone at AAA next week.
I was wondering if that sort of vacation is available. I wonder if it would only last a few days, since with promoting (and composing) my books, I don't think I have much purchase to take long trips these days. I also wonder if it's necessary to set up an appointment to speak to an agent at my local AAA office. Probably I could just go in and talk to someone.
In case Mississippi river boat cruises aren't available per se, I could just set up a reasonable alternative. Actually, I don't rightly know if it would have to necessarily be one in which I'd have to fly somewhere. Air travel has gotten inconvenient over the years. One trip on my own that I enjoyed was taking a train to Reno, I believe it was in 2014. I didn't have to fly anywhere for that.
Still, a Mississippi river boat cruise would be a great idea. I'll talk to someone at AAA next week.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)