When I saw that the 2013 special Halloween edition of Martha Stewart’s magazine wasn’t available in my area, I decided to order it online. There were a bunch of back issues available, and I thought, “Hm. The 2012 and 2011 issues don’t look familiar. Obviously I have holes in my collection. Lo! I must order them as well.” So I did. And they came in the mail. And when I went to file them, I discovered that I had both of the back issues because I am more alert than I thought I was.
So. I have an extra copy of the 2012 and 2011 issues to give away to two commenters who might actually be missing them.
If you would like one, leave a comment by Friday, October 18. If you have an issue preference, mention that too. Two commenters will be chosen at random. (Non-US people can play along; I don’t mind shipping overseas if you don’t mind waiting however long it takes cheap postage to arrive.)
And next year, somebody remind me that I have all of the back issues.
Update:random.org spat back magic numbers 3 and 7, so KJ and Gail FC win these silly back issues. I’ll send email separately to get your mailing addresses. Thanks to everyone who played!
Musician Max Ablitzer performs “dark and melancholic” violin pieces. Here’s one track from his album “Dark Violin Songs.” You can listen to the other tracks (and also buy the album) on his site.
The Secret Pumpkin gift exchange is a long-running tradition amongst the Halloween-L listserv members. It’s similar to a Secret Santa exchange, only it takes place in April (six months in either direction from Halloween) and the gifts are supposed to be spooky in nature.
I’ve been managing it for the group since 2004, and a couple of years ago I finally realized it might be a good idea to mention it here. You can read that post, with more details about the way it works, here.
And now it’s time to open up registration for next April’s exchange! If you’d like to participate, go to the Secret Pumpkin site and:
1) If you did not participate in the last exchange, click the “Join” link and fill out the form.
2) If you DID participate in the last exchange, log in, click the “Update Profile” link and change the “Activate My Membership” option to Yes.
I’d previously suggested that participants should join one of the two mailing lists, but they’ve withered away to the point that it’s now optional; I’ll send occasional reminders directly to the participants instead. All that I ask is please, PLEASE don’t sign up for the exchange unless you’re serious about following through. We occasionally have participants flake out, and their Pumpkins are always sorely disappointed.
The deadline for signups is October 15, and non-US residents are welcome as well. C’mon and join! It’s lots of fun, and getting something unexpectedly Halloweeny in April is a treat.
London After Midnight was a famous 1927 silent film staring Lon Chaney. Based on the short story “The Hypnotist” by Tod Browning, who also directed the film (and also directed the 1931 version of Dracula and the horrifying 1932 cult classic Freaks), the last known copy of the film was destroyed in an MGM fire in 1967.
The film is one of the most sought-after “lost movies.” In 2002, Turner Classic Movies aired a reconstructed version using the original script and film stills. Barring an unexpected discovery in somebody’s aunt’s attic, this is probably the closest we’ll get to the experience moviegoers in 1927 enjoyed.
I recall reading about Chaney’s self-applied makeup for the film. He used wires to give him pop eyes, and they caused him injuries which plagued him the rest of his life. He was definitely a “suffering for his craft” kind of guy.
Posted in Whatever|Comments Off on London After Midnight Reconstructed
Netflix has recently branched out from its video rental/streaming services into creating original content. One of its new offerings is Hemlock Grove, a supernatural thriller based on the novel by Brian McGreevy. The 13-episode first season recently finished up and it’s been renewed for a second season. Reviews for both the book and series have been somewhat mixed, but if you like lycanthropic goings-on in a small town setting then this might be worth a look.
Intrepid commenter Sisifo sent me a note about this recently, along with the comment, “Not sure whether to be excited or facepalm.” I am similarly torn.
The series premieres next month on Fox. They’re touting it as a “modern-day retelling” of Washington Irving’s short story, but their official synopsis is, quote, “Ichabod Crane wakes up from the throes of death 250 years in the future to find the world on the brink of destruction and learn he is humanity’s only hope…forcing him to team up with a contemporary police officer to unravel a mystery that dates back to the founding fathers.” I am having a spot of trouble reconciling that plotline with “Superstitious schoolmaster gets pranked by a guy with a pumpkin.”
Pronunciation Book is a strange and little-viewed YouTube channel which provides guidance on pronouncing words and phrases in American English. The channel has been running since April of 2010, and the words it chooses to highlight tend to be rather odd: “Zosia Mamet,” “one million dollar commercial,” “Yggdrasil,” “goodbye lyrics,” and “tsundere” amongst them.
It also occasionally features how-to guides with unusual example phrases: How to State an Unpleasant Fact in English teaches you how to pronounce, “I have no choice but to complete the mission.” How to Bargain in English has, “I’ll tell you where it is if you promise to leave this city.”
On July 9, the words suddenly stopped and a countdown took its place. A new video is posted daily, counting down from 77, which promises that “something is going to happen.” Each message is followed by a series of clicks which were originally thought to be Morse code. However, some users exploring the mystery have used spectography to convert the audio files into visual data, revealing an image file that seems to be the lower part of a man pointing toward the camera.
CNet has more on the puzzle, and there’s a public Google Doc with a detailed analysis. The best guess is that this is the start of an alternate reality game by a company called Synydyne; if so, they have certainly committed to the bit: A three-year lead time is pretty impressive (CNet notes that phrases in some previous videos may have hinted at what was to come; How to Argue in English uses “I’m trying to tell you something, but you’re just not listening” as an example).
At its present rate, the countdown will end on September 24. I’ll be curious to see what comes next.
In this poignant short film, a murder victim’s consciousness is uploaded to a computer and interrogated in a bid to catch his killer. (Yes, that is Paul Reubens.)
A thing that occasionally bubbles up in various fannish circles–gaming, SF, fantasy, and comics amongst them–is the infuriating argument that women who claim to enjoy that fandom are posers. That we’re (at best) only shallowly familiar with the fannish thing or (at worst) simply pretending to be fans in order to wear revealing costumes. Dork Tower encapsulates that mindset here and here, and Scalzi has a couple of the most marvelous takedowns here and here.
Girl band The Doubleclicks has released a song addressing the issue, and the video is just splendid:
You can buy the song on Bandcamp (or get the whole album). They’ve also started a Tumblr for submissions that didn’t make it into the video and are expanding the project by asking people to submit their stories.
London After Midnight was a famous 1927 silent film staring Lon Chaney. Based on the short story “The Hypnotist” by Tod Browning, who also directed the film (and also directed the 1931 version of Dracula and the horrifying 1932 cult classic Freaks), the last known copy of the film was destroyed in an MGM fire in 1967.
