For the next few days I'm heading north with the family. So, enjoy another 'assortment' blog of stuff I like.
Friday, June 9, 2017
Thursday, June 8, 2017
The IT Spot: rereading part 16
Bev returns home and almost gets killed, and it is awesome!
The scene, again, is similar to the mini-series, but with several important differences.
In the novel the old lady doesn't just start to rot: she turns into the witch for Hansel and Gretel as the house around them becomes a candy trap. The process by which Bev becomes aware something is wrong is also much slower, with smaller details changing and her pretending not to notice, thinking she can escape IT if IT doesn't see that she's seen.
When IT starts wearing he father's face, the remarks become...foul. Essentially, IT blurts out Bev's deepest fears and suspicions; that her father wanted her sexually. There will be more of this later (earlier), but it's hardly a surprise by this point.
The other main takeaway is how Bev escapes IT. She says "The grackles know your real name!" and IT recoils. This hearkens back and forth in the novel, where Bev's memories are blocked my images of grackle birds, and she doesn't know why.
Despite the sheer uncomfortable of the section, or perhaps because of it, this is probably my favorite of all the encounters. It's written amazingly, and touches on a story that's universal among the readers, unlike lepers and library demons.
Next up, Ritchie plays allllllll the hits.
SPOILERS
The scene, again, is similar to the mini-series, but with several important differences.
In the novel the old lady doesn't just start to rot: she turns into the witch for Hansel and Gretel as the house around them becomes a candy trap. The process by which Bev becomes aware something is wrong is also much slower, with smaller details changing and her pretending not to notice, thinking she can escape IT if IT doesn't see that she's seen.
The other main takeaway is how Bev escapes IT. She says "The grackles know your real name!" and IT recoils. This hearkens back and forth in the novel, where Bev's memories are blocked my images of grackle birds, and she doesn't know why.
Despite the sheer uncomfortable of the section, or perhaps because of it, this is probably my favorite of all the encounters. It's written amazingly, and touches on a story that's universal among the readers, unlike lepers and library demons.
SAFE
Next up, Ritchie plays allllllll the hits.
Wednesday, June 7, 2017
Scarecrow's Pants
So, in honor of LGBT pride month, Billboard released a list of the top 20 gay anthems. Somewhere over the Rainbow is number #14. Should have been higher in my opinion, but hey, I'm not LBGT.
Something people have also attributed to The Wizard of Oz is Jack Haley's performance playing the Tinman as gay.
Now, if you're less of a Wizard of Oz fan than I (and lets face it, who isn't less of a Wizard of Oz fan than I) you probably haven't heard the interview where Haley says the voice he was using in the movie was the same one he used to read to his kids. I.E. at least not trying for a "gay" voice.
More than that, I'd argue that the Tinman isn't gay because in the movie (unlike the original book or Wicked) he's just a being made of tin. No sexual organs, no sexual feelings, no purpose for the tinsmith to include those as options, if he even had the ability.
We can clearly see the lack of sexual organs here:
The Lion is a biological being, so presumably could be attracted to another lion (or whatever, I'm not here to judge). But of the animated inhumans, the only one you could make an argument for is Scarecrow, since he has pants.
Not that I'm saying he DOES have straw-man-bits. It's merely possible. And I'm sure there are a bunch of X-rated parodies where things go on, but I'm not looking for them, you sickos.
In short: let the Tinman be nothing, because he literally cannot be anything else. Or don't. I'm not the boss of you. But at least look at the logic and facts in this movie about magic shoes taking a small-town girl to a glittering city where she and her three male friends go to the salon.
....I may need to rethink my argument.
My letter falls under the Q, or A however.
Something people have also attributed to The Wizard of Oz is Jack Haley's performance playing the Tinman as gay.
Now, if you're less of a Wizard of Oz fan than I (and lets face it, who isn't less of a Wizard of Oz fan than I) you probably haven't heard the interview where Haley says the voice he was using in the movie was the same one he used to read to his kids. I.E. at least not trying for a "gay" voice.
For more info on sounding gay, watch this. Seriously. It's fantastic.
More than that, I'd argue that the Tinman isn't gay because in the movie (unlike the original book or Wicked) he's just a being made of tin. No sexual organs, no sexual feelings, no purpose for the tinsmith to include those as options, if he even had the ability.
We can clearly see the lack of sexual organs here:
The Lion is a biological being, so presumably could be attracted to another lion (or whatever, I'm not here to judge). But of the animated inhumans, the only one you could make an argument for is Scarecrow, since he has pants.
Not that I'm saying he DOES have straw-man-bits. It's merely possible. And I'm sure there are a bunch of X-rated parodies where things go on, but I'm not looking for them, you sickos.
In short: let the Tinman be nothing, because he literally cannot be anything else. Or don't. I'm not the boss of you. But at least look at the logic and facts in this movie about magic shoes taking a small-town girl to a glittering city where she and her three male friends go to the salon.
....I may need to rethink my argument.
Tuesday, June 6, 2017
The IT Spot: Rereading part 15
Eddie's trip down memory lane (or at least Kossuth lane) is at least as horrifying as Ben's if not moreso. It's another case of visiting a spot where he had some solo joy, only for IT to come by and fuck everything up with lepers and corpses.
Kossuth lane is home to an old shipping yard where Eddie used to watch older boys play baseball, and sometimes go after fouls. As an adult he sees that the place has been abandoned, by owners and shipping company alike.
IT comes as the leper, as the owner of the business, and as a girl that Eddie sort of knew and fantasized about, all dead and rotting. Unlike Ben's encounter, IT doesn't emphasize that IT will kill Eddie if he tries anything. I'm not sure if this is because IT thinks Eddie can't hurt IT, or because IT knows IT will end up killing Eddie. Spoilers: of the reduced loser's club, Eddie is the only one who dies.
It's another short segment, but a nice jaunt to classic King-style creeps.
Next is Bev, who may have my 'favorite' solo encounter.
SPOILERS
Kossuth lane is home to an old shipping yard where Eddie used to watch older boys play baseball, and sometimes go after fouls. As an adult he sees that the place has been abandoned, by owners and shipping company alike.
IT comes as the leper, as the owner of the business, and as a girl that Eddie sort of knew and fantasized about, all dead and rotting. Unlike Ben's encounter, IT doesn't emphasize that IT will kill Eddie if he tries anything. I'm not sure if this is because IT thinks Eddie can't hurt IT, or because IT knows IT will end up killing Eddie. Spoilers: of the reduced loser's club, Eddie is the only one who dies.
It's another short segment, but a nice jaunt to classic King-style creeps.
SAFE
Next is Bev, who may have my 'favorite' solo encounter.
Monday, June 5, 2017
Friday, June 2, 2017
The IT Spot: Rereading, part 14
So, the losers are walking around town, waiting for IT to come to them, and horrible memories to be unearthed. These sections are relatively short, but packed full of prose and psychological baggage. Let's get crackin'!
Ben goes to the Library, the site of his positive (but solo) childhood memories. There's a lot of musing over the passage of time and how Ben now feels like an outsider before Pennywise shows up.
This scene plays a bit like the one in the mini series, despite Ritchie (for some reason) taking Ben's place.
Curry's Pennywise is spot on. What they don't get into is him becoming Dracula (hey, there's another Universal monster form I referenced before!). Ben is also not dumb enough to reply to Pennywise's taunts and come-hither words aloud. Also, there's no cloud of balloons, just one that constantly changes slogans.
Ben's holy ground being fouled by Pennywise, and by Dracula the unholiest of the Universal Monsters, isn't exactly deep, but it gets the job done.
What's more important is Pennywise's insistence (repeated insistence) that the Losers cannot stop him, as they're too old, and he will kill them if they try. These threats were present during the Loser's childhoods, but it wasn't insistant: IT was just telling them a fact. This time IT knows IT can be hurt, and the people that hurt IT have returned. IT is angry, and IT is sure...but not completely.
IT is scared. Not much, but the fact that IT can even feel fear is amazing. We'll get more on that later, when King delves into IT's mind.
IT uses a few more taunts, screaming that Ben killed the kids (of course, nobody else can hear), doing one of Ritchie's voices, etc. IT even offers to talk it out with Ben, as the library is neutral ground. I'm sure if Ben went up Pennywise would have simply pushed him over the railing, but it's still weird that IT even offered. Out of character is serious business: IT is spooked.
Next we'll walk with Eddie to a baseball diamond, and meet a few old horrors from his past.
SPOILERS
Ben goes to the Library, the site of his positive (but solo) childhood memories. There's a lot of musing over the passage of time and how Ben now feels like an outsider before Pennywise shows up.
This scene plays a bit like the one in the mini series, despite Ritchie (for some reason) taking Ben's place.
Curry's Pennywise is spot on. What they don't get into is him becoming Dracula (hey, there's another Universal monster form I referenced before!). Ben is also not dumb enough to reply to Pennywise's taunts and come-hither words aloud. Also, there's no cloud of balloons, just one that constantly changes slogans.
Ben's holy ground being fouled by Pennywise, and by Dracula the unholiest of the Universal Monsters, isn't exactly deep, but it gets the job done.
What's more important is Pennywise's insistence (repeated insistence) that the Losers cannot stop him, as they're too old, and he will kill them if they try. These threats were present during the Loser's childhoods, but it wasn't insistant: IT was just telling them a fact. This time IT knows IT can be hurt, and the people that hurt IT have returned. IT is angry, and IT is sure...but not completely.
IT is scared. Not much, but the fact that IT can even feel fear is amazing. We'll get more on that later, when King delves into IT's mind.
IT uses a few more taunts, screaming that Ben killed the kids (of course, nobody else can hear), doing one of Ritchie's voices, etc. IT even offers to talk it out with Ben, as the library is neutral ground. I'm sure if Ben went up Pennywise would have simply pushed him over the railing, but it's still weird that IT even offered. Out of character is serious business: IT is spooked.
SAFE
Next we'll walk with Eddie to a baseball diamond, and meet a few old horrors from his past.
Thursday, June 1, 2017
Ashkia or Ashia?
I’ve had two strange dreams. Nightmares. Not sure what to make of them.
In the first one I was being stalked by a grudge-like Japanese ghost demon lady, called either Ashkia (aaaahhh-ski-uh) or Ashia (aaaahhh-shee-uh).
I don’t remember much, but I had to let the thing come to me for 7 days, where it would rip off a piece of my soul while being generally creepy, then at the end pass the curse on to someone else or get killed. I did so and forgot all about it.
Then this week, in my dreams a little girl (again Japanese) come by my house, dropped a blue rubber ball, smiled at me (clearly an evil, taunting smile), whispered “Ashkia (or Ashia)” and left. I was angry: I just got rid of the curse, why was it back?
This time it was different. The demon ghost lady was an American teen girl. She spoke to me almost normally at times, but taunted me when I was too weak banish a random ghost head, still ripping away pieces of my soul. At the end of this dream one 'soul rip' had happened, and I had led her to my room to try and figure out how to help her, so she would move on. In the dream I was only a little older than the girl, and my bedroom was still arranged like it was in high school.
I recently watched a video about Japanese urban myths, so I’m not clueless about where the imagery came from. There were a lot of recurring dream demons in the 40 or so legends.
What’s weird is I’m sure I’ve heard the name, Ashkia or Ashia, somewhere before. I thought it was from a World of Darkness RPG or Magic the Gathering, but my husband couldn’t identify it.
If I didn’t hear that name anywhere, I guess I could have conjured it from thin air. But I really think I’ve heard it elsewhere. Any thoughts, readers?
Wednesday, May 31, 2017
The IT Spot: rereading part 13
You'd think with the 13th part of this series, I'd get down to something really scary, right?
Bill takes a cab ride to have lunch with the surviving losers, and there's a lot of talk about how Ben lost the weight, how Ritchie's vasectomy reversed itself, and about how nine children have been murdered by IT.
The section starts with Bill getting a call from Mike about lunch where Mike advises him that Stan is dead. He waits until the lunch to let everyone know it was a suicide, but Bill already suspects IT as a culprit. Not that that's big leap at this point.
Most of this section boils down to change and similarity. Bill watches the altered streets of Derry go by, but can still spot landmarks buried beneath the exterior, much like how IT is buried below the town (both literally and figuratively, but more on that later).
The remains of the Losers club are the same: the remnants of childhood echo in their faces, and await excavation as time spent with each other goes on.
They all marvel at how the murders haven't been brought to national attention, except Mike. Mike postulates that IT feeds every 27 years or so, and in turn has made the town semi-prosperous. In turn, the citizens either leave, or sort of turn a blind eye (again, more on that later).
The section ends with they voting to actually kill IT this time, though without Stan it may not even be possible. In the Mini-series Ritchie holds out until the end, but here he agrees pretty quickly. As they agree to walk around town, their fortune cookies explode into gouts of blood, bugs, eyes, and anything else currently haunting them: IT is up to IT's old tricks.
Oh, and one other thing of note in the section: on the ride over, Bill half-heard about an escaped mental patient who was dangerous. Later, that person will turn out to be Henry Bowers. King really knew what he was doing with this one, folks.
This is the first time the adult losers join up, and for the next large chunk of the book they'll be separate again, letting IT come to them. It's a nice echo back to their childhood circumstances.
So next, we go back with Ben to the library, and see Pennywise up close. Oh boy!
Bill takes a cab ride to have lunch with the surviving losers, and there's a lot of talk about how Ben lost the weight, how Ritchie's vasectomy reversed itself, and about how nine children have been murdered by IT.
SPOILERS
The section starts with Bill getting a call from Mike about lunch where Mike advises him that Stan is dead. He waits until the lunch to let everyone know it was a suicide, but Bill already suspects IT as a culprit. Not that that's big leap at this point.
Most of this section boils down to change and similarity. Bill watches the altered streets of Derry go by, but can still spot landmarks buried beneath the exterior, much like how IT is buried below the town (both literally and figuratively, but more on that later).
The remains of the Losers club are the same: the remnants of childhood echo in their faces, and await excavation as time spent with each other goes on.
They all marvel at how the murders haven't been brought to national attention, except Mike. Mike postulates that IT feeds every 27 years or so, and in turn has made the town semi-prosperous. In turn, the citizens either leave, or sort of turn a blind eye (again, more on that later).
The section ends with they voting to actually kill IT this time, though without Stan it may not even be possible. In the Mini-series Ritchie holds out until the end, but here he agrees pretty quickly. As they agree to walk around town, their fortune cookies explode into gouts of blood, bugs, eyes, and anything else currently haunting them: IT is up to IT's old tricks.
Oh, and one other thing of note in the section: on the ride over, Bill half-heard about an escaped mental patient who was dangerous. Later, that person will turn out to be Henry Bowers. King really knew what he was doing with this one, folks.
SAFE
This is the first time the adult losers join up, and for the next large chunk of the book they'll be separate again, letting IT come to them. It's a nice echo back to their childhood circumstances.
So next, we go back with Ben to the library, and see Pennywise up close. Oh boy!
Tuesday, May 30, 2017
Kaiju!
So, apparently I have strong feelings about Godzilla.
I've only seen the original, the one where he fights King Kong. the Godzilla in Name Only 90's film, and the newest one. Hardly a dent in the almost 30 total films.
But lately I find myself caring more, especially after watching the same-universe prequel, Kong: Skull Island. And if you haven't seen that, go see it.
I realized I cared more about Godzilla than I thought when I read a blog that in short order: (a) spelled lizard 'lizzard' repeatedly, (b) stated that Godzilla was "Kaiju" in Japanese, and (c) the author stated their favorite Godzilla movie was the 90s one. The one most of us call G.I.N.O. (Godzilla in Name Only), and the Japanese call Zilla, since the God was effectively removed.
Needless to say, I found myself getting ticked.
It all got me pretty steamed. So apparently, I care about Godzilla. I had no idea.
But, there's a lot of good reasons to care! Firstly, I really liked the newer American movie.
Secondly, Godzilla: King of the Monsters will have practical effects! It's been confirmed by director Michael Dougherty.
You may recall the director's names from such projects at Krampus, Trick r Treat, and X-Men 2. All excellent movies. So...as for my hopes...
And third, the Godzilla vs Kong movie that's coming has to be better than the original.
Whelp, now comes the time to try and convince myself I don't have to watch all the Kaiju movies to prep for this new universe...
I've only seen the original, the one where he fights King Kong. the Godzilla in Name Only 90's film, and the newest one. Hardly a dent in the almost 30 total films.
But lately I find myself caring more, especially after watching the same-universe prequel, Kong: Skull Island. And if you haven't seen that, go see it.
Come for the cast, stay for the plot, effects, and general quality.
I realized I cared more about Godzilla than I thought when I read a blog that in short order: (a) spelled lizard 'lizzard' repeatedly, (b) stated that Godzilla was "Kaiju" in Japanese, and (c) the author stated their favorite Godzilla movie was the 90s one. The one most of us call G.I.N.O. (Godzilla in Name Only), and the Japanese call Zilla, since the God was effectively removed.
Needless to say, I found myself getting ticked.
For an in-depth detailing of that films flaws, I refer you to the Nostalgia Critic.
It all got me pretty steamed. So apparently, I care about Godzilla. I had no idea.
But, there's a lot of good reasons to care! Firstly, I really liked the newer American movie.
Secondly, Godzilla: King of the Monsters will have practical effects! It's been confirmed by director Michael Dougherty.
You may recall the director's names from such projects at Krampus, Trick r Treat, and X-Men 2. All excellent movies. So...as for my hopes...
And third, the Godzilla vs Kong movie that's coming has to be better than the original.
Whelp, now comes the time to try and convince myself I don't have to watch all the Kaiju movies to prep for this new universe...
At least I can watch MST3K handle a few.
Monday, May 29, 2017
Happy Memorial Day
(Yes, I know where it's from, and that it's Mel Gibson. The man may be a horrible racist, but Damn, can he yell "Freedom")
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