Till All Are One

These past few days, we lost a bunch of celebrities, and I tried to put a little tribute to them on Facebook, but I didn't really have anything to say about Hayden Panettiere (I mourned her loss, but never met or worked with her or . . . a third thing) or Dolly Parton (although, wow, it was nice to hear such fantastic tributes to her, half for her talent and half for, well, being nice).

I just posted about Tim Curry (who I also never met or saw in person), but I figured I'd say a few words about Peter Cullen, who I did see at a voiceover panel at San Diego Comic Con one time.  But even if I hadn't, well . . .

This was a "life-sized" Optimus they had at SDCC in 2010.  I realize now that it just looks like a cardboard backdrop or Photoshop, but no, it was real and you could "stand" in his hand.

I was a much bigger fan of the Decepticons than the Autobots as a kid, particularly the ones voiced by Frank Welker, but dang, when they killed Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots, in 1986, that was something.

What I found strange (though not so much anymore) is that, in the intervening years, the loss of Optimus Prime became more and more significant to me, especially when discussing it with others of my generation.  I went to a signing for the 1986 movie, and while waiting in line, I saw grown men shed tears when Prime says, "Do not grieve.  Soon, I shall be one with the Matrix."  

And Cullen's performance was a really significant part of that.  His work was always excellent, but Optimus had a gravitas to him, a decency and caring that made him the kind of leader everybody wishes they had in their lives, to give them a reason to fight for the right side, and who will always be there when they need him.

The fuggers will say, "Oh, that show was just a half hour toy commercial," and even though they're pretty much right, the show was more than that (and they're still fuggers).  Marvel and Sunbow pumped real character and talent and charm and heart and sweat into that cartoon, to the point where my friends and I knew not just characters' names and what they turned into, but their personalities as well.

You can never predict what will have an effect on someone, especially in childhood.  But, having said that, when Dolly Parton died this week, her loss was felt by people who hadn't even been born the last time she had a hit song--who were literally too young to have EVER heard a Parton song on the radio.  And yeah, as an adult, it's always been emotional to see the Autobot leader die . . . but I imagine it'll hit even harder the next time I see that.

Cullen lived to be eighty-six, and has voiced Optimus Prime for forty-two years or so, and was also known as the voice of Eeyore (Winnie the Pooh), Monterey Jack (Rescue Rangers), Venger (Dungeons & Dragons), Mario (Saturday Supercade), and I just discovered, did the vocalizations for the title character in 1987's PREDATOR.  Not too shabby.

Till all are one, Mr. Cullen.  Until that day.

Tim Curry R.I.P.

My Uncle Jim died in September of 1990, and before too long, my mom came home from cleaning out his place with a box of LP records, which I pretty much claimed as my own.  There were Elton Johns, The Human League, David Bowie, Gilda Radner, Rod Stewart, and Billy Joel in there, but the one album that most grabbed me, that I listened to the most times, was the soundtrack to THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW.

The songs really grabbed me, and not having seen the movie, I sort of imagined what might be going on in my head as I listened, and who the characters might be.  Of course, the one that most clearly self-describes is Doctor Frank-N-Furter, who proclaims that he's just a sweet transvestite from Transexual, Transylvania (and that he's a sort of Doctor Frankenstein besides, making a man up in the lab, and that when he saw KING KONG he wanted to be dressed the same as Faye Wray).  

I shared the soundtrack with my sister, and we used to listen to it together, first on cassette (I had made a copy from Jim's record) and later on CD (and even later on mp3, I suppose), and one October, I dressed as Frank N. Furter for Halloween, which some of my coworkers suspected was just an excuse to wear fishnet stockings.

I didn't actually see the movie until 2003 when my sister and I went to a midnight screening in Santa Monica, where they drew big Vs on our foreheads and the two of us were "deflowered" by the entire cast in the front of the theater.  

While I didn't think the film itself was particularly good (and I didn't go back and see it again since that night), I have never not loved the songs in it, and very often think of my Uncle Jim when I hear them.

Oh, this is a roundabout way of mentioned that Tim Curry died this week.  He was eighty, and had been wheelchair-bound since he had a stroke in 2012, but he still did appearances and occasional roles (mostly voice-work, though he did play the Criminologist in the ROCKY HORROR remake (the one with Victoria Justice), who was in a wheelchair in the 1975 film.

A delightfully weird dude, he had a bunch of famous roles, from the Butler in CLUE to Long John Silver in MUPPET TREASURE ISLAND, from the awesome Darkness in LEGEND (a film I've never otherwise liked) to the concierge in HOME ALONE 2, and of course, Pennywise in the 1990 IT miniseries.  But to me, he was always that sweet transvestite, and so I wanted to quote one of his songs when he passed.

After much deliberating*, I picked:

"I've seen blue skies through the tears in my eyes:

And I realise, I'm going home."  

That's from the end of the album/movie, and I listened to the song as I went for a run that evening.  Cool.

In a way, Curry's only-partial recovery from his stroke enabled him to see how beloved he had become (and not just from Rocky Horror devotees), with him doing panels and photo ops at conventions in the last years of his life, and getting honors that might not have been given had his mortality been so visibly clear.  I'm not sure if I expressed myself well there--I just meant that, when we see our relatives or colleagues or heroes ailing, we're often more likely to tell them we appreciate them than if everything's fine until . . . it isn't.

Regardless, I never knew my Uncle Jim was sick or that the last time I saw him would be the last time I saw him, but I think he'd have been thrilled that one of his records made such an impact on me.  My uncle was not Tim Curry, but hey, we feel what we feel.

*This is only semi-amusing (and really, what in my blog is ever more than that?), but I was trying to remember the various songs to put a quote next to a photo of Curry on Facebook (since I couldn't very well put "Come up to the lab, and see what's on the slab"), and I did a search for "I've got to get out of this trap, before this decadence saps my will" (that one is Don't Dream It), and the phone came back with "This appears to be a reference to a song in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, however, if it is instead a description of how you are feeling, maybe you should seek counseling."
I kid you not.  I know A.I. gets a bad rap (and often rightly so), but come on, that was pretty nice.

Nate & Hayes and Marshal & Rish

I like to watch Indiana Jones knock-offs with Marshal over at the Outfield Excursions podcast.  And when it was my turn to pick, I remembered that John Hughes's first produced screenplay was NATE & HAYES, a pirate adventure from 1983 starring Tommy Lee Jones. .  But *is* it an Indiana Jones knock-off?

Check it out HERE to find out!

Rish Outcast 336: I Hate What You Like

Rish talks about seeing opposition to things people love (brought on by backlash to OBSESSION and TOY STORY 5) and wonders why that is. Is it human nature? Is he guilty of it himself? Will he talk about Olivia Rodrigo again?  And of course, recent American politics comes into it as well. Can we still be friends?

Note: So, this episode turned out much longer than it was supposed to (*especially* the Patreon version), because I mislabeled one of the recordings and thought it was lost, then tried to replace it with some (now-redundant) additions, only to find the lost recording after I was nearly finished editing. Sorry, but not super sorry.

You can download the file by Right-Clicking HERE.

You can support me on Patreon by clicking HERE. 

Logo by Gino "I Ate What You Like" Moretto.

Back On The Horse

Of productivity, not heroin.  Sorry.

So, I had a deadline to get an audiobook finished, and it became my priority, my podcasts being secondary (or tertiary, or whatever not-a-priority is).  But as of today, I have it all finished (barring inevitable retakes), so I'm back in the podcasting game.

Next up is an episode about hating what is popular, followed by a Bram Stoker story, followed by a sketch with me and Big Anklevich, followed by another In Security episode.  After that, I guess I'd better find a story to present, either one by me or one by someone else.  I am also considering wrangling Marshal Latham and Keith Teklits to do an episode about stuff people (not necessarily us) find overrated.

So, worry not.  The worst is yet to come.

Is This What I've Become?

You may or may not follow me over at Facebook, but I will sometimes take a picture with a potty training book from the children's library and try to make an amusing caption for it.  YMMV, of course.*

I walk past that section of books approximately ten times a week, so it's something to keep me occupied . . . since I'm definitely not writing stories. 

Anyway, in the local toy group, someone mentioned they were looking to buy a Galactus figure (which I still have one of), and another guy posted, "Try the poop book guy."

His reply was "Poop book guy?"

Then: "I forget his name, but he likes poop books alot."

Well, that's where we are, I suppose.

Guess you know what to put on my headstone, huh?

Big Anklevich made this for me, specifically for this post.  Thanks, I guess.

*I alternated between Your Mileage May Vary and the abbreviation . . . and now I've done neither.

Check For Radiation

This is a very brief one, but the last time it rained, water was getting into the underground parking garage at work, and it was pooling along the walls and under people's cars.  And under my car, specifically, I thought it made a familiar pattern, so I took a picture:

What does this look like to you?  Is it my own brain playing tricks on me, or is that the spitting image of a famous fictional(?) character?  And is Tokyo safe right now?

No More Embarrassing Than Usual

 I saw a young lady walking out of the library today that I hadn't seen in months.  I stopped her and said, "Didn't you used to come in here, like, every single day?"  

She asked me how long I had worked here (guess that makes me pretty darn memorable) and when I told her, she said, "Yes, I used to come in here pretty much every night to study."  

"That's right!" said I, and I guess she sensed I found her attractive because she said, "I used to come here with my boyfriend."  

"Right," I lamented.  

"He's not my boyfriend anymore," she added, to which I exclaimed, "Thank god," before she finished, "...he's my husband now."

Ah.  Well, that is, was, uh, is a good thing then.  "I, uh, guess it worked out then," I said, and she walked away.  Not a huge embarrassment, but there's a wedding tonight I have to wait for, so I wrote it up anyway.

You Sweet Summer Child

There was a toy sale the other day, and I somehow convinced my nephew to come with me and help me set up and watch the booth*, which was a major coup for me.  We traded off watching the booth and looking at what other vendors had, and to my nephew's surprise, he probably sold seven to nine items, making it well worth his while.

One of the times it was my turn to watch the booth, he went off to look, and came back with a purchase from somebody down the way.

"What did you get?" I asked him.

He had a Star Wars Black Series figure in his hand, and said, "It was only five dollars.  I didn't even look it up, I just grabbed it!"

"What is it?" I asked again.

He held it up so I could see.  It was Jar Jar Binks.

"I don't know who this guy is," my nephew said, "but he's so cool, I just had to get him."

"Huh," I said, and still say.

*It's terrible to go to one of these things and not be able to sneak away and see what other vendors have, or worse, have to ask a stranger to watch my booth while I run to the bathroom.  I've done it before, and while it's embarrassing, I usually find a couple of friendly folks who are happy to help.

Rish Outcast 335: In Security 11 (Are You Seeing This?)

After a bit of political talk--what can one do against such reckless hate?--Rish talks about a possible intruder in the building.

Also, dealing with criticism, a book signing, A.I., sickness, a possible Halloween program, a couple with unbelievable stamina. And Trump--did he need to be brought up in this episode? Probably.

If you want to download the episode, Right-Click HERE.

If you want to support me on Patreon, click HERE.

Logo by Gino "Are You Peeing This?" Moretto.

Probably Not A Ghost

The jury is out on whether I believe in ghosts, though it has been interesting hearing people's ghost stories and theories here at the library, but I saw another one today.

If you look here, you can see that the woman entering the building appears to be missing her face.

It's not just missing details, but it seems to be completely smooth.

Yes, Rish, but that is a notoriously shitty camera, you might be saying.  Uh huh, but look at the side view here:

It's complelely smooth.  At least it looks to be.

Now, you MAY be saying, "Rish, you did this to her, you twisted phuck.  You took an image and erased her face in some kind of Photoshop program."  To which, I say, Hey, you're giving me an awful lot of credit.  I suppose I could figure out how to do that, but to what end?  

There was just a faceless woman in the library, and I noticed it, otherwise I would never have written this post.  

You understand.

I tried to get a close-up before she reached the stairs.  It didn't help.