40th Anniversary of Strange Paradise Oct.20

It has been many years since I watched "Strange Paradise" when it first aired. I don't remember much of the plot...but I do remember the exotic location, the laboratory...kinda spooky storylines, odd characters, the scientist and of course, the cliffhanger at the end of each 30 minute episode. Weekday afternoons were spent with several of us kids gathering at a friend's house after school hunkered around the television in rapt attention and anticipation spending an hour of delightful escapism away from the rigors of daily life (and homework) to eagerly watch back-to-back Strange Paradise" followed by "Dark Shadows" ". Why "Strange Paradise" lasted less than a year is a mystery to me. My juvenile mind loved the suspense and quirky storylines and it made a strong impression on my fifth-grader mind. Can't say that about many programs on television nowadays.

Happy Howl-oween!

This Halloween Hounds photo was sent to me in an email a few years back and I have kept it ever since because it is so cute! Dogs will do the darndest things for their pets. The origin of the photo is lost to me but I have seen it listed as a reference point on Google Images quite a few times so apparently it is very popular and has been used in many blogs.

woof!

Who'd a thunk! Yesterday while watching the CBS News Sunday Morning a segment about The Twilight Zone was aired in celebration of it's 5oth anniversary. Yep, the first episode aired on October 2, 1959. I still remember watching the show in reruns when I was five or six and feeling creeped out by the episode that dealt with the dolls in the donation bin. My favorite was "The Bewitchin' Pool". Over the years I have enjoyed watching them again during marathon runs on Sci Fi channel (now SyFy...what gives with that?). Twilight Zone truly made a lasting impression on my young, impressionable little brain. Happy Anniversary Twilight Zone. Thank you Rod Serling.


I highly recommend a biography on Rod Serling written by Joel Engel, "Rod Serling: the dreams and nightmares of life in the twilight zone: a biography", published in 1989.

Ah...the month of Halloween!

Years ago just for fun I started a tradition in watching horror movies throughout October to celebrate the Halloween month. Hey, why not? This year I couldn't wait so I started a month early and have been enjoying many fun, scary movies: The Black Cat, Young Frankenstein, Dracula, The Mummy (Hammer), Mad Monster Party (taped back in '99 on AMC and it has the introduction by Roger Corman who presented a Halloween film series for AMC at the time!). The Hammer version of The Mummy I taped off of AMC, gosh, back in the 1990's (before they changed their format-boo!- and also started showing commercials, yuck!) is showing a few little pops and markings on the tape but is still enjoyable to watch.

The photo above (image source here) is from The Black Cat, a rather bizarre, fascinating, expressive, twisted, kind of creepy film and truly fun to watch. It's right up my alley. In one scene, Polzeig (Karloff) and Wedergast (Lugosi) play chess to decide the outcome of a young insuspecting couple who accidentally get in the middle of the personal vendetta between the two men. Be afraid, be very afraid for you are trapped in a remote location (of course) and surrounded by some wierd characters out for blood/revenge (of course), with a coven tossed in for good measure. A solid foundation for any scary Dark-Old-House-type thriller recipe. The film's imaginative storytelling visuals (see photo) tickle your imagination. It is expressively told with the beauty of black and white.