Wednesday, January 13, 2016

A WHAT On His Head?

Sister just got home, turned on the news, and announced "What's Cam Newton doing with that condom on his head?"

Monday, January 11, 2016

The Words Obama Won't Say

"Gun Control" joins the list of words that President Obama refuses to say.

Other examples include "Islamic Terrorism," "I'm sorry," and "My fault."

Sunday, January 10, 2016

Angus Scrimm, 1927-2016: R.I.P.

The Tall Man from the film Phantasm has passed on at the age of 89.

Entertainment Weekly reported the news of Scrimm’s passing. “Angus Scrimm passed away peacefully tonight surrounded by his friends and loved one,” director Don Coscarelli wrote in an e-mail to EW. “[His] performance as the Tall Man is a towering achievement in horror film history. He was the last in a long line of classic horror movie stars. He was a terrific actor and an even better friend. He will be missed.”

Born Lawrence Rory Guy, he pursued acting for most of his life (he portrayed Abraham Lincoln in an Encyclopedia Brittanica short that appears on Shout! Factory’s PHANTASM II Blu-ray), but found steadier employment for many years as a journalist and author of liner notes for Capitol Records, winning a Grammy for the latter. He appeared in the early-’70s fright films SWEET KILL and SCREAM BLOODY MURDER, but the seeds of his greatest success were sown when he took the role of an abusive father in the 1976 drama JIM THE WORLD’S GREATEST. That movie marked the directorial debut of Coscarelli, whom he referred to, upon his induction into the FANGORIA Hall of Fame at our 1994 Chainsaw Awards ceremony, as “a magician of filmmaking, a man without whom there would be no PHANTASM, no Tall Man, and no ‘Angus Scrimm,’ ” the name he adopted for the 1979 hit.


Sure, they were cheesy movies, but tell me you weren't horrified the first time you saw one of those flying steel balls in Phantasm impale a man's head and drill into his brain?

So long, "Angus." Thanks for all the frights!

Faux Poe Toaster?

Apparently.

Looks like Baltimore, which lost one of its few tourist draws a few years ago when the Poe Toaster retired, is trying to bring back the magic by running in a ringer "faux Poe Toaster." This will end badly, because it is being done for commercial purposes, whereas the original Poe Toaster did it for free, for the fun of it, and for the tiny bit of fame that his anonymous tribute brought.

Myself, the next time I'm in Wilmington, NC, I plan to toast at the grave of Edward Hall "Ned" Adkins, the "Old Man" of Robert Ruark's coming-of-age classic book The Old Man and the Boy. That will probably be later this year.

Tuesday, January 05, 2016

Criminal Tactics - - The Good Samaritan Ambush

Using a good person's good intentions toward helping the helpless as a pretext to victimize them.

A person with a concealed carry license who is aware of this scenario and still stops to render aid might be looking to engage in a gunfight. Not wise. A better course of action is to drive a safe distance from the ambush sight, call the police, and await their arrival while remaining in one's own vehicle. The 911 dispatcher should be made aware of the possibility of an ambush, and inform the responding officers of that possibility. The Samaritan should remain in the area to give a report to the responding police.