Statuesday - "In Soviet Russia...."

From the January 1933 issue of "Popular Mechanics"

"Soviet Russia calls the attention of its people to organizations or doctrines considered antagonistic to the country by caricatures and effigies. The Park of Culture and Rest in Moscow today is decorated with a number of such effigies intended to represent three "enemies' of the workers -- the church, the militarists, and the fascists."

Yes. What child of the 1930s would have failed to learn the lessons on fascism by gazing at the visage of Nazi Duckman on the right? Or the cycloptic proto-Cylon soldier in the middle? And not one, but two Bunsen Honeydew's on the left?

According to Google, the Park of Culture and Rest is the famous Gorky Park.

Green Lantern Restaurant

In brightest day, in blackest night...

A postcard from the 1950s of the Green Lantern Restaurant in Fayetteville, NC. Just one of many establishments across the nation bearing the name of the popular DC Comics superhero.

Magritte Monday: Wayne D. Barlowe

Cover art from an issue of Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine depicting the short story "The Loom of Thessaily" by Wayne D. Barlowe. It is in the style of the artist René Magritte, in particular this painting.

Barlowe is the author of Barlowe's Guide to Extraterrestrials. I discovered one of my favorite science fiction authors from reading Barlowe's entries on Piers Anthony's aliens.

"The Loom of Thessaly" was by David Brin. His name is not known to many. But I did read his excellent story "The Postman" in the pages of Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine. Is the name of it familiar? It should be. It was adapted into the poorly-received Kevin Costner movie "The Postman". Regardless of the movie, the original story was very very good (I love post-apocalyptic tales), and David Brin happens to be one of the best science-fiction authors around.

Dairy Festlval

Today was the second annual "Traverse Colantha Walker Dairy Festival".


It's on the grounds of a former asylum that has happened to have a gravestone for a cow since the 1930s. Have you ever heard of a gravestone for a cow? Nope, nor have I, other than this one.

There looked to be hundreds of people there. There were many tends selling such things as cow logowear, strangely flavored marshmallows, red hot cayenne pepper vinegar (not just flavored: but vinegar with giant intact peppers in the jars), gelato, sorbet, and ice cream.

. The ice cream vendors included Moomers, which was chosen to be the best ice cream in American on the "Good Morning America" TV show a few years ago. The main Moomers and the place where they make the ice cream is located a few miles to the west.


There was an antique fire engine giving ride, and also at least one wagon towed by a farm tractor. These went between the main festival area and the cow's grave site, which were actually a long walk apart. One of the main events was a kazoo parade to the site of the cow's grave, which appeared to have fresh flowers at it.

Lord Vader Your Car is Ready (Vaderday Saturday)

No literary pretentions on this one; no elaborate wanderings through different subjects. Just a picture of a car that has some resemblance to Darth Vader.

Is this a little too ominous for a weekend morning? Then let the jolly face of this Mazda3 cheer you up:



Zoom zoom.

Shuffle Off to Buffalo (Christine Baranski Friday)

Christine Baranksi's birthday was last month. And this blog feature missed it this time. Anyway, she was born in Buffalo, New York on May 2, 1952. And here are some live buffalo. I snapped this photo last night. It's on digital zoom, so it is a little blurry.May is a good month for buffalo. I usually eat buffalo at an annual picnic that takes place in May.

Back to the actual city:
Picking at random a historic view of the great city of western New York State, this hundred-year-old postcard view below is of the Temple of Music. It's Buffalo's version of Washington DC's "Ford's Theatre". It is where President McKinley was shot on September 6, 1901. This interesting building was built for a world's fair, and did not outlast the fair.
The title in this blog post refers to the old song "Shuffle Off to Buffalo", from the musical "42nd Street.

The song. mostly about a honeymoon train ride, includes the lyrics

To Niag'ra in a sleeper
There's no honeymoon that's cheaper
And the train goes slow
Ooh-ooh- ooh
Off, we're gonna shuffle
Shuffle off to Buffalo

So yes, Buffalo is one of those cities that has its own song. Gary, Indiana also has its own song from a musical ("Gary, Indiana" from "The Music Man"). Of course Chicago and New York have their famous songs. Dallas has a TV show theme, and Cleveland has its song which became famous as one of the theme songs from "The Drew Carey Show".

Does your city have its own song? Do you wish it did?

"Rise of the Planet of the Apes" - a really serious "Jumanji" ?

I admit I was a Planet of the Apes fan back in the day. In those years after the first "Star Trek" was cancelled, and before "Star Wars" and the return of "Star Trek".

The franchise still lives. The last movie was underwhelming. Marky-Mark seems to have the opposite level of charisma that Charlton Heston did. The real saving grace of that movie was Paul Giamatti as an orangutan slave trader... played as a drunken Jimmy Stewart.

There's a new one out later this summer. I first heard of it a few years ago billed as a remake of the 4th film, "Conquest of the Planet of the Apes"

There is a longer trailer, and there is one embedded below:

.

Someone told me that the CGI was really good in this, but first seeing these trailers today, it doesn't seem so to me. It looks like a version of Jumanji or something. Starting with the baby chimp in the box, it clearly looked fake. The face close ups of Ceasar look a lot more real than the distant shots. So how real do these apes look to you?

For those more literary-minded, check out Pierre Boulle's original Monkey Planet novel which began the whole franchise.

Rock me, Dr. Zaius.

Christine Baranski Friday - Camping with Pugsley

In the 1993 film Addams Family Values, Christine Baranksi (shown here with Peter McNichol) plays Becky Martin-Granger, a counselor at a summer camp the Addams Family children were sent to.I was reminded of this when I drove by Camp Pugsley the other day. Yes, Camp Pugsley. No, it is not a place where they send bratty little boys like Pugsley Addams. Well. maybe it is, depending on how Pugsley Addams would grow up. It's actually a prison.

It's a little out of the way, but near by on the highway there's a sign with an ominous warning not to pick up hitchhikers.

No, I haven't picked up any there. Not that I am likely to pick up hitchhikers anyway. Sorry, Michael and Lincoln Scofield, you'll have to walk,

Below is a photo I got of the inmates at Camp Pugsley playing baseball and running.