A Paul Frees fix for Jay:

This is the opening to a tragically amusing CBS offering in the late sixties:






Paul Frees did a standout narration. No-one says "man" quite like he.

In Other News...

Met with Vidad and family on Monday. He had written a commercial for Aardvark Screenprinting.

A ten-minute commercial.

We recorded it. Riatsila voiced Jean-Luc Picard and Mr. Scott. I voiced Kirk, McCoy, Stan Aardvark.

Vidad stole the show. In our ten-minute radio ad.

It will be put up on YouTube, with a link here in a few days. I will shop it to podcasts and college stations. (We have a couple of 'casts already). If anyone likes it and wants to link it in Reddit, feel free. We want this to go viral.

I feel like a kid waiting for Christmas!

The Creature...

Been to Orlando and back. I'm sure this sounds fun.

I am SO busy (or at least, so disorganised in my time management) that I have little time to read dead-tree books. No leisurely hour-long lunches spent scarfing whilst vacationing on Perelandra, or Camazotz (reminds me of Orlando with less color), or time-traveling through the 20th century. I have a Kindle, which seems to lend itself to shorter stints, but as my reading speed drops by half when I use it, it frustrates.

Ah, but audiobooks! The Kindle supports them, and Riatsila and I spent the 20-hour round trip listening to a horror story, a true one. Not Mengele's diary, nor Mussolini's train schedules, no. This is global horror, and a tale I have wished to read for years.

The Creature From Jekyll Island By Edward Griffin

 (The Creature From Jekyll Island is also an hour+ long audio presentation. The link sends you to a .pdf transcript with a link to the audio as well.)

Creature tells the story of the creation of the Federal Reserve, starting with a secret meeting of men who controlled 1/7 of the world's wealth. From this compelling start, Griffin weaves a tale which not only will make your jaw drop and raise your hackles, but will explain simply and plainly How Money Works, and Why It Doesn't Anymore. It may be the most important secular book book I have ever read.

I cannot recommend it more highly.

My new hero!

The Monolith Monsters

Svengoolie was running "The Mummy's Hand", which I opted to shake off. Instead, the Dread Dormomoo and I are watching Universal's "The Monolith Monsters", one of the finest late Fifties SF thrillers. No A-bombs, no giant bugs; instead a meteor lands in the desert and becomes a force of nature. No malevolent will, just mindless mayhem.

I am reminded of Washington, DC.

The obsidianesque shards begin to grow when wet. The rains descended, the floods came, the rocks grew. They grow into towering crystals until the ground no longer supports them, and they topple, crashing to splintered ruin on the ground. Then those shards begin to grow and spread. Dreadful catastrophe approaches the little desert town of San Angelo.

I cannot recommend this movie enough. It was a refreshingly different concept when made, and remains so today. The visual effects are well done, the miniature work is apparently shot at high speed to give a feeling of weight and menace to the growing monolith crystals, as well as to the solution at the end of the movie.

Les Tremayne is standout in his portrayal of the town's frustrated newspaper publisher. SF stalwart William Schallert has a fun little bit as a meteorologist being pressed as to when the rain will stop.
Here is how I got it.

The 'Vark Opines, wherein he deals with Him who is Who.

Peter Capaldi announced as the new Doctor

------------------------

I do not know about this actor. I did not know about Eccleston, Tennant, or Smith, so it's up for grabs. I am reasonably assured that despite the darker opinions on the Internet, Moffat and Co. have no interest in torpedoing their cash cow. (Pause and meditate upon that image). We've had Dark and Brooding, Pretty Boy, and Pardon Me, I Have a Face Like a Shoe. This guy has the Look that may make for an interesting personality. I'm willing to give him the chance.
As I said on Facebook when tasked by a young friend, I really could care less. It is a good show, I will watch it, unless it is unexpectedly execrable. I believe that it transcends the actor. Doctor Who survived Colin Baker.

Yeah. I went there.

So here's the thing...I see people kvetching about members using Biblical texts in their comments on other sites, particularly conservative or Tea Party-type fora . "Some of us don't want Bible verses thrown in our faces..." or somesuch. (That was a quasi-quote, NOT an attack.) The hilarious thing is that attitude is what has placed us in our current situation (and I speak of the West in general, not just the YouEss of AY). A culture inculcated in the attitude of "Do to others as you want them to do to you." is going to be a more pleasant place to live than one where it is everyone for himself. The West was built on the foundation of the Biblical text; from the Law of Moses to the Golden Rule, our system of laws was based upon that. (Please note: I am not making the absurd assertion that "everyone was Christian".) Law was at least somewhat viewed as an objective authority by which to govern our lives, passions and behaviors. England has quite self-consciously denied that foundation, and is in the painful process of crashing and burning to the music of Islamic ululation. These United States have done similarly, legal precedent (judges' opinions) rules the day, and we have no objective cultural plumbline by which to measure ourselves. By denying our foundation, we are cast adrift on the tide of popular opinion, so please view the inclusion of a Biblical quote as an attempt to provide an anchor point in our national slide toward the abyss.

We are where we are because it became chic to be irreligious, and to deny our cultural roots. The lawlessness of our "leadership" is the endgame to this scenario. Without an objective standard, it all becomes a battle of opinions, and mine is as valid as yours (or as in-valid).

The Bible quotes that you decry are ultimately attempts to rescue our culture, our nation. It will be good for you, too. "Rising tide" and all that.